Post by Terris on Aug 1, 2014 19:32:03 GMT -8
Terris awoke covered by a blanket of small warm bodies and released a put upon sigh. This was not the first time his echee had decided to use him as a personal heating pad, and, he thought, as the temperature began to drop further, it would probably not be the last. The knight yawned, stretched and very carefully slid out from under his sleeping hides.
All the care in the world would not have prevented at least one echee from being disturbed, however, and he was accosted by Romeo's angry chitters as the little brown critter thumped softly to the floor.
He picked the furry little beast up, placed him back in the pile of sleeping bodies and, still half asleep, moved to get dressed.
He sighed as he took in his heavily mark armour. This particular suit (aside from the aketon, which got replaced every few years), had been with him for well over a century, and had yet to fail him, but it was obvious it had seen better days. Oh, he kept the plates in good repair, but if one looked closely enough, that armour would tell a very bloody and brutal story....
There, on the chest, the carefully repaired split that was still dented after several trips to the forge...the place where a battle axe had struck, cleaving the armour and marring the skin beneath. Terris rubbed absently at the spot on his chest, where the faint silvery sheen of a scar could still be seen if one were to look hard enough.
That had been a brutal battle, a senseless one, too. Two lords, brothers, had a dispute over the borders of their lands, and he and his men, being under the control of one of them, had been sent out to settle that dispute. The fight had not been a long one, but there had been a high casualty rate, many good men had died over a space of land that was really not much larger than the town he was in now, if you included the few outlying farms surrounding it.
"Who did win that battle?" he muttered to himself, and shook his head, he could not for the life of him remember, but he guessed, in the long run, it didn't really matter all that much. The men who fought were all long dead, as were the lords that had commanded them. Only he, his memories, and his scars remained.
He dressed then, silent and reflective, and was surprised, when he was done, to find the purple spirit animal, Morse, sitting nearby, studying him. He gave the doberman puppy a sad half smile and padded over to stroke the soft head.
"Don't worry about me, friend. Just an old man thinking of times long past" said softly. The dog licked his hand, a comforting gesture.
That does not need to be your life anymore, is NOT your life anymore. Instead of thining of the things you did then, think of the things you can do now. People here don't fear you. That life is done with. You are your own person now, not bound to honor the whims of some lord in his castle. Become what you always wanted to be, the protector of those who cannot protect themselves. Here, in this town, that is your new role, forget the old one. The dog sat perfectly still, his eyes locked on the knight's.
"I will not forget the past, Morse. I will learn from it" he said with some resolve, then, strapping on the twin swords, he strode out the door and into the town, not a new[/p] man, but one with a new purpose.
(500 word challenge, hide, mark, aketon - 600ish words)
All the care in the world would not have prevented at least one echee from being disturbed, however, and he was accosted by Romeo's angry chitters as the little brown critter thumped softly to the floor.
He picked the furry little beast up, placed him back in the pile of sleeping bodies and, still half asleep, moved to get dressed.
He sighed as he took in his heavily mark armour. This particular suit (aside from the aketon, which got replaced every few years), had been with him for well over a century, and had yet to fail him, but it was obvious it had seen better days. Oh, he kept the plates in good repair, but if one looked closely enough, that armour would tell a very bloody and brutal story....
There, on the chest, the carefully repaired split that was still dented after several trips to the forge...the place where a battle axe had struck, cleaving the armour and marring the skin beneath. Terris rubbed absently at the spot on his chest, where the faint silvery sheen of a scar could still be seen if one were to look hard enough.
That had been a brutal battle, a senseless one, too. Two lords, brothers, had a dispute over the borders of their lands, and he and his men, being under the control of one of them, had been sent out to settle that dispute. The fight had not been a long one, but there had been a high casualty rate, many good men had died over a space of land that was really not much larger than the town he was in now, if you included the few outlying farms surrounding it.
"Who did win that battle?" he muttered to himself, and shook his head, he could not for the life of him remember, but he guessed, in the long run, it didn't really matter all that much. The men who fought were all long dead, as were the lords that had commanded them. Only he, his memories, and his scars remained.
He dressed then, silent and reflective, and was surprised, when he was done, to find the purple spirit animal, Morse, sitting nearby, studying him. He gave the doberman puppy a sad half smile and padded over to stroke the soft head.
"Don't worry about me, friend. Just an old man thinking of times long past" said softly. The dog licked his hand, a comforting gesture.
That does not need to be your life anymore, is NOT your life anymore. Instead of thining of the things you did then, think of the things you can do now. People here don't fear you. That life is done with. You are your own person now, not bound to honor the whims of some lord in his castle. Become what you always wanted to be, the protector of those who cannot protect themselves. Here, in this town, that is your new role, forget the old one. The dog sat perfectly still, his eyes locked on the knight's.
"I will not forget the past, Morse. I will learn from it" he said with some resolve, then, strapping on the twin swords, he strode out the door and into the town, not a new[/p] man, but one with a new purpose.
(500 word challenge, hide, mark, aketon - 600ish words)