Kiernan
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Tua Culpa, Culpa Mea
Posts: 384
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Post by Kiernan on Jan 20, 2013 23:43:39 GMT -5
[46th of Summer, following their breakaway from A Game at Dinner in Farin. Open to Kai and Sil only for now, we'll see what happens about other ponies joining in. I don't mean to make all these private threads, they just happen. I'll try to make some that are more open when my characters aren't in their houses, or somewhere that they actually own. I long to interact with other ponies aside from these two. Not that they aren't all kinds of fun, but there's other characters that I could meet... Anyway, since it's just Kai, I'm not going to color the text.]
When the white column arrived in Canterlot, it made its way into the stonework in front of a pale green house. A young brown colt, who lived in the house, saw the glow from the pillar shining through his bedroom window. He thought it odd, but just went back to fetching a glass of water despite the odd happening.
When the light finally stopped, it split into two pieces, and from the shards of light materialized two ponies: One with mechanical wings, the other with a fiery mane.
Kai collapsed against the wall. He looked back at his left wing, which had been torn off. A decent amount of skin on his left legs had also been left behind. His right seemed to be fine, but it also seemed to be pressed up against the stone wall, which was the only thing holding him upright at the moment. Powerful bursts of pain seemed to pulse and surge through his body, and his vision and hearing blurred. Still, he had brought Sil safely to the cavern where he had last seen Fireweed: the largest subterranean farm he owned, and probably the largest in all of Equestria, located right beneath his mother's house. Here he had written three books on botany, and underground plantlife.
He had several different chambers, all filled with plantlife from every climate he had been to. Each chamber was kept lit and at a constant temperature and humidity via enchantments. Thankfully, he had guessed the right chamber, and growing atop a rock, just in front of him, were three shoots of Fireweed. He was so happy, he could collapse. Or mayhap, it was the exhaustion.
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Post by Person on Jan 21, 2013 1:23:18 GMT -5
Shortly after materializing, Silent Storm dashed forward and snatched up one of the three fireweed shoots. He separated the leaves from its central stalk, and tossed them into his maw, chewing for several moments, then swallowing the pulpy substance. Normally, this would cause the consumer to burst into flames after about thirty seconds out of pure thermal release, but in Sil's rare case he ate them to provide his body enough energy to safely undergo a single stage of growth without requiring energy from his other cells. When that much energy was taken from his preexisting cells, the processes had painful consequences, and had once caused him to lose consciousness for close to a week.
He felt the fireweed begin to do what it always did deep within him, and he stumbled forward, then fell to a sitting position as his organs started to churn, changing exact size or shape or both. Just because the fireweed kept the extreme pain away, it didn't mean there still wasn't a decent amount of hurt involved. Sil kept his eyes shut and teeth gritted, beads of sweat forming upon his brow.
Once the churning ceased, there was a substantial amount of residual energy left in his body, so he loosed it into the environment by diverting it though his blood stream, which set his back hooves on fire. He still needed something to get the last of it out... an impact. The rest of the energy should release through carried physical momentum. He glanced around him and found a bricked a wall without anything on it or supported by it, and approached it. In two swift movements, Sil drew back his hind legs and shoved them back into the wall which, to his surprise, gave way and left a gaping hole slightly larger than the average door in Kai's nice room, leading into a large similarly bricked area filled with rows of rooms with bars over their doors.
"Mister Akaitora, where exactly are we?" Silent Storm asked, then turned to see Kai leaning heavily on the wall for support, one of his wings torn of in transit and not looking so great, "Mister Akaitora!" Sil exclaimed worriedly, and ran over to the older unicorn.
He bent down and placed a shoulder beneath Kai's midsection, taking at least a small amount of the stallion's weight onto his own body, but made sure not to accidentally place his shoulder beneath a single rib, as to avoid any further damage. The concerned young pegasus looked into the face of the unicorn, and could clearly see he was unwell. He wished in earnest to help Kai, but did not know how, so he waited, in silence, for Kai to let him know how to best assist.
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Kiernan
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Tua Culpa, Culpa Mea
Posts: 384
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Post by Kiernan on Jan 21, 2013 2:46:11 GMT -5
Kai was very thankful for the help of Sil in standing, though he would just continue to use the wall as a support until he needed to be mobile. Still, he had not expected Sil to kick through the wall as he had. He looked through the hole, where the dust had finally settled. He looked through it and saw a small unicorn colt, weeping softly. The boy was under the scrutiny of a royal guard, who was talking to him in a stern voice.
"You will stay here until you have learned your lesson. There is no place in the world for little colts that draw pictures of mutilating their ruler." Without so much as a look through the hole, the guard walked off, and two more took his place. One continued on his path, but the other stopped and looked at the colt. After a few monents, he turned around, walked over to the wall, and sat down. His helm was different. It was that of a jailor, rather than a guard, so he must have the key.
Kai momentarily contemplated going in there and letting the poor boy out, but then he recognized the boy. Medium length mane, long tail, no cutie mark, Light blue coat, light blue eyes. This was no visual. This was a memory.
He hobbled over to the hole in the wall, trying his best to stay upright. upon arrival, he saw that there was nopony in the dungeon, just some cobwebs, dust, and rusty bars. Even the key that hung from the wall was covered in rust. "This... This is the dungeon... beneath Canterlot Castle..." he said, trying his hardest to remain conscious. "And that..." he indicated the cell to the right of the door, "That is where I spent..." tears welled in his eyes as they closed, "...Eighteen months as a child..." Now the tears were falling from his chin, and creating clumps of mud in the dust. "...For daring to dream!" His voice cracked during this last part, and he began to sob.
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Post by Person on Jan 21, 2013 15:47:24 GMT -5
"The castle d-dungeon?" Silent Storm managed to slip from his vocal chords. This was the place most, if not all, of his fears were centered around, and he was literally in the exact position he feared the most. Standing before one of the gated... cells were they called? the shaken pegasus turned to see a quite disheveled Kai. He listened to the unicorn's words and felt his heart go out to Kai, his own fear now seemingly selfish.
With eyes wide with unease for his elder, Sil looked Kai straight in the face, bringing the unicorn's face up slightly from its downcast position with a hoof in an attempt to lock gazes. He to0k a deep breath and closed his eyes, trying to get over his timidness, then opened his eyes, which now emanated part determination, part worry.
"But it didn't stop you, did it?" Sil started, his voice filled with as much courage as he could muster, "You're here and you accomplished what they didn't want you to. You did the impossible and came back for more. Don't let the past tear you apart when the present already has its blade out, run past all that and let yourself live in the moment."
Sil sighed and tried to hold everything in, but a single tear of desperation rolled down his cheek, "Right now, you aren't the only one who needs you, so please don't let yourself descend into thoughts of what happened then. I need you here and now, and the rest of Equestria, no, the rest of the world can't let you slip between its hooves."
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Kiernan
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Tua Culpa, Culpa Mea
Posts: 384
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Post by Kiernan on Jan 21, 2013 16:25:51 GMT -5
After hearing what Sil had to say, Kai took one more look into the prison block. "You're right," he said, as one final tear rushed down his face. The rest were choked back, along with the other tears that he had promised to shed when he could find the time. "They couldn't stop me from building th--" He momentarily cried out in pain, remembering that his left wing was gone. He cursed himself for not bringing his cape.
If he had any vis left, he could at the very least, seal up the wounds, but he knew that he had none. In fact, he had used more than he could have throughout the day, already, and with the library out of operation, he would have no choice but to wait, like everypony else.
He looked back at Sil. If he was depending on Kai to bring him back to Whinnyapolis safely, then there was no choice. But there was something he needed, first. "This cavern lets out in a modified garden shed in my mother's back yard. We need to make it there before I can be of any help."
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Post by Person on Jan 21, 2013 20:50:57 GMT -5
With a curt nod, Silent Storm repositioned himself beneath Akaitora as before and helped him maintain balance as the two started toward the end of the cavern, where Kai's mother's garden shed supposedly was, taking care not to trample any plants along the way. Only after a few moments did Sil realize how heavy a fully grown stallion really was, and started to quietly grunt with the effort of carrying the one presently supported by his shoulder, but didn't say anything and merely continued helping him over to the end of the cavern. When they were nearly there, Sil paused for a moment to catch his breath and awaited instruction.
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Kiernan
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Post by Kiernan on Jan 21, 2013 23:55:21 GMT -5
Kai was very appreciative of the help. He was completely certain that he would never have made it to this point without Sil being right beside him every step of the way. Luckily, the cavern was mostly flat, with a few inclines every so often for vertical movement. But now, they came to the part where Kai had not planned for. The leg of the tour that had he planned for, he would have dreaded. On any normal day, it would have been no problem. It's just a simple task, one that he performed all the time. he went from leaning against Sil to leaning against the wall, as he thought about an idea, while glaring at his newest enemy: Stairs.
A few moments of thought later, and he realized just how stupid he had been for the past half hour of walking. He reached back behind him with his teeth, and pulled out the pin connecting the frame of the wing to the ersatz joint lodged in his back. The entire wing fell to the ground, and he felt ten ponds lighter. In reality, he was only four pounds lighter, but at least he weighed less than he had on the way here.
After about three minutes to himself, he spoke. "It's two floors up, followed by a short hallway. With each flight of stairs, there are two platforms that we can rest on, if you'll continue to help carry me. If that proves to be too much, I might be able to crawl my way up, but that would take longer. I leave it to you to choose our path."
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Post by Person on Jan 22, 2013 20:57:48 GMT -5
Silent Storm was shocked momentarily as Kai's good wing fell to the ground with a clank, then figured it must not have been directly attached to his body. With a careful look over his sloped adversary, Silent Storm considered his options. They could climb the daunting steps and get out of the cavern sooner rather than later, but it make take no small amount of strength and balance. The only other valid option was to go another way, which would probably be easier but take more time and be more tiring on the long run. Well, we aren't going to get anywhere just standing here, I suppose, Sil thought and resolved to climb the double flight of stairs.
"I believe shall help you whenever you're ready." the pegasus iterated and walked over to Kai leaning on the wall. He wondered why the mysterious unicorn had done all that he had just to help a dragon freak he'd only just met, then had his house nearly destroyed by. What could a stallion want or need so badly that they'd go through this much pain for him. Sil supposed he'd find out eventually and was filled with a small amount of unease in anticipation of that moment. He offered his support by means of his shoulder and upper back, waiting for Kai's choice to begin the strenuous, ableit short, trek.
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Kiernan
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Tua Culpa, Culpa Mea
Posts: 384
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Post by Kiernan on Jan 23, 2013 12:39:47 GMT -5
It was no small feat of strength (or strength of feet), that Kai and Sil had made their way to the third platform. "Almost there," said Kai, once more leaving Sil's support for that of the wall. "Let's take a short break. I want to get to the top, but I don't want to pass out on the way."
Looking back at the way they came, Kai noticed that he had left a dark red trail behind him. Anypony who went into the prison block whose wall had been knocked down would easily be able to follow them up to this point. He grew uneasy about it for a moment, then remembered to look up. The ceiling was made up of glowing white crystals, but since this particular agricultural development was in a populous area, he had added an extra enchantment. every room had twenty crystals embedded in the ceiling, and they were all the same shade of white, save for two that glowed blue instead. This indicated that, aside from the plants, there were only two living beings in the caverns: Himself and Sil. This eased his mind, knowing that the two of them weren't being followed.
He turned back to Sil, who seemed to be ready to go after the short break. "We're close, now. Ready when you are."
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Post by Person on Jan 23, 2013 23:35:15 GMT -5
After the brief respite, Silent Storm was indeed ready to conclude their journey by scaling the remainder of the staircase. They took the steps, well, one step at a time, and a flight of stairs later, they'd reached a flat area with a large wooden door at one end of it.
That wasn't too bad, thought Sil despite the fact that his legs were wobbling beneath his body. His mind turned to the outside exposure that may or may not lie behind the slab of oak between them and where they wanted to go. The young pegasus had never been to Canterlot before, and was both intrigued and fearful of a settlement of such size.
It should be dark soon, if it isn't already, he considered, fewer eyes out and open to see and a blanket of shadow to hide beneath. And even better, the moon and all those stars. Sil relished the nightly constellations as well as the mysterious moon that shed light upon the world during times of darkness.
Focusing on the task at hand once again, Sil helped Akaitora over to the door so he could unlock it or maybe disarm any protective wards he'd placed on it, or perhaps just open it. The door was quite old, a mere glance a the bare wood that showed near the frame was a clear marker of that, but appeared as though it had been repainted recently with a thick, dull brown coat of paint similar in texture to poorly melted chocolate.
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Kiernan
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Tua Culpa, Culpa Mea
Posts: 384
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Post by Kiernan on Jan 24, 2013 3:33:13 GMT -5
Kai pushed open the door to reveal a slightly larger room, roughly the size of a shed. In it was a dresser, a medium-sized trunk, and a small bed. "Well, you've seen where I spend my time on the weekends," he said, turning to Sil and smiling a bit. "Welcome to where I actually live, nowadays."
A moment or two later, he realized that he was wasting time. His energy was starting to recover, though not nearly as quickly as he would like. Nevertheless, he could take the step and a half to the dresser and open up the top drawer. He fished around in it for a bit, going through all the things he kept in there: Wires, repeaters, splitters, splicers, switches, buttons, all manner if metallic chunks, a few bars, some single use soaps and shampoos that came with hotel rooms, a few rags that had seen better days, three forks, a spoon, some broken shards of a dinner plate, two tiaras, five brooches, a pin that read "Aviation Technical Services," a half empty bottle of hot sauce, a cat toy, three different sizes of funnels, a box of staples, two candy bars, and a stick of chewing gum. Finally, he found what he was looking for: A small golden statue of a pegasus, a unicorn, and an earth pony, situated on three separate pedestals.
"Here we are," he said, carrying it over to the trunk. The lock on the trunk was one of Usu's more clever designs, if a bit silly. But then again, if you have to be insane to figure out how to pick this lock, then his belongings would be protected. This lock was special, because it didn't need any particular key, three forks could be used, and it would still open, if used correctly. What was special about this statue is that the three ponies at the top would rotate at three different speeds, and that is exactly how this lock was opened. The statue even lined up perfectly with the holes, as it was designed to. With four full counter-clockwise turns, a small click was heard, and the lid to the trunk was pulled open. "Sometimes, that Turnkey can be pretty smart..."
Out of the trunk came a box, and out of the box came a white rag, a large roll of gauze, a small bottle marked 'hydrogen peroxide,' and a medium sized bottle labeled 'dark rum.' Kai took a long swig from the bottle of rum before sitting down on the bed. He extended his left legs so that every open area could be seen. He turned back to Sil, who hadn't moved much, which was not unheard of, because there wasn't much room to move around in the first place. "I hate to ask but, would you mind assisting me with patching myself up before we start moving again?" he asked, tearing the rag in half , and pouring a small amount of the hydrogen peroxide onto the half he still held, then carefully dabbed at the open wound on his front leg.
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luemas
Member
SHE BLINDED ME WITH SCIENCE!
Posts: 88
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Post by luemas on Jan 27, 2013 18:29:35 GMT -5
[My nerd at heart twinges at that. Mostly because hydrogen peroxide doesn't kill bacteria or anything, and really just scars wounds and makes it more difficult for them to heal. But whatever. I'll go back to my cubby hole and rant against the world.]
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Post by Person on Jan 27, 2013 20:35:38 GMT -5
Silent Storm grasped the other half-rag and wetted it as well with the disinfectant, then proceeded to Kai's injured back leg that he wouldn't be able to reach as easily. When he first applied the damp cloth to his friend... yes he supposed that was what Kai was to him now, he felt a slight retraction from the limb, but cleaned the wound quickly and efficiently, then took the roll of gauze from where Kai had set it down. He wrapped the now clean absence of skin loosely enough to allow air to circulate, but tightly enough that it wouldn't shift and rub against the raw flesh, causing unnecessary pain. He reached toward his sheath to cut the gauze with his dagger, but quickly remembered that he left it in Kai's house as his hoof met only empty air. His eyes widened and he went pale momentarily, then remembered that it would probably be relatively simple to retrieve when they returned to Whinnyapolis.
He set both rag and gauze back on the bed and took a look around the small enclosure, his mind still lingering on his absent dagger. It was a tight place, and had the scent of necessity, no flowers or scented soaps, merely what was there for survival, some medical supplies, a minimal amount of food, and tools. It smelled like how he had lived before he found, rather, before somepony else found him.
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Kiernan
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Tua Culpa, Culpa Mea
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Post by Kiernan on Jan 28, 2013 0:31:47 GMT -5
[Ah, Lue. Sometimes, I love being told I'm wrong. It helps balance me out from being right. This was one of those times.]
Kai picked up the gauze from where Sil had left it, and proceeded to wrap his front leg. He thought to himself, 'I should probably wrap it tighter than this,' but decided against it, as the bandages would be coming off tomorrow. He would heal it himself, he just needed to make sure that it stayed clean and covered until he had the chance to.
"Sorry about the mess," he said to Sil, as he began work on the final wound on his body. "Had I known I was bringing company, I would have cleaned up when I was here this morning." He proceeded to wrap the space where his left wing used to live in gauze, now that it was clean. "Oh, bottom drawer of the dresser, there's a few cloaks. I'll be needing one, and I imagine you'll want one as well, if you don't want all eyes on you. Anything except the two light blue ones." Those two were reserved. Besides, a bright colored cloak this late at night would draw attention, and would thus be counteractive.
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Post by Person on Jan 28, 2013 23:48:01 GMT -5
After rising from his seated position, Silent Storm opened the lowest drawer of the dresser with his hoof. He removed from within it two dark cloaks made of a fabric that was seemingly more dense than what was used for the average cloak. One of the two was placed beside Kai and the other Sil draped on his own back, spending a few moments to adjust the cloth as to better mask his wings.
Once his membranous appendages were as well-concealed as they could be, a thought hit Sil like a bunny rabbit; if that particular hare weighed several tons and had the muscle structure of a lion: The two of them were going out. Not only that, but they were going out into Canterlot, the biggest city in Equestria. A flood of questions and concerns poured into his head, but he suppressed them until he correctly knew what was happening. Confirmation of his inference was necessary before he made a fool of himself.
"Mister Akaitora?" the young pegasus tentatively inquired, "Are we going someplace?"
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