Entwined

Rikyn So, not that I need another boost to my ego, but arriving to have the stallion back off like a wary dog, and Glacia snuggling up beside me after days of not even managing eye contact definitely does it for me. My head raises, my eyes focus on the dirty black stranger, and I feel every inch of me become the picture of man, defending woman, the most honorable thing even a cretin like me could possibly do. That the fight deflates quickly is a bit disappointing; I’d hoped to at least have to push him around a little bit, so I could glean a bit more attention out of Glacia, seeking pity for my wounds. Regardless, with the aggressive bits put aside, I can get a better look at the fellow – emaciated, filthy, perhaps deranged, the hardness of my heart feels cracks run through it. A man of the north, as I’d so proudly proclaimed moments before, I had been raised among the mad, the broken; as mother said, they would often do things that were offensive. What was important was forgiving them (or at least pretending to, the manipulative, golden snake had darkly smirked), because a friend was a friend, and mad folk were keen on doing things others would refuse. As if to remind me of her words all the further, the man procures from the weeping of his own wounds upon the earth some strange magic. The wobbling bead of blood rising through the air makes my belly lurch, the sort of thing that even a guy who manipulates people’s brains can’t stomach. Tensing, snorting and focusing upon it with suspicious curiosity, it’s particularly strange to watch blood bloom into something so beautiful. His words are strange, but distantly familiar; like ghosts of my childhood they dance through the air, and elude my sight, but I recognize them as being there, none the less. As he turns to leave, the splash of white revealed by the rain through the filth upon his rump catches my attention, also. I think of Gwyn. "Wait," I command, willing to grab his mind and make him, if I have to, "what language was that?" ’cause we need a little controversy