"Yes," she said, unable to hold back the entirety of her tears, but all in all she did a remarkably good job of keeping all of them from falling. "I haven't food. But yes. Yes, I do."
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
The Marrow Man, for that was what he was, snorted and stepped around the bear. His feet ended in a pair of hooves branching out of the big toes of human feet. The other toes were curled up beside each hoof uselessly. "Why you want die, stupid girl?" he asked, coming to stand in front of the bear now. He was limping heavily; it seemed something was wrong with his hooves. "Why you come out here and throw yourself away like foolish lemming? Try to be tasty? Try to feel better?"
Last edited by Ljungtroll on Sat Feb 26, 2022 2:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
What a horrifying thought that was, making herself 'tasty.'
"Some lives aren't worth saving." She tried to lift her chin, but she couldn't. What had she turned into? Declaring some human life worthless? She was no better than Aleth. "Mine among them."
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
"All life worth living unless Death say you live forever," the Marrow Man retorted. "You come from that way?" He pointed in the direction of the camp. "They smell good, have horses and hares and peoples. Peoples tasty. Peoples always stay by fires so I can't eat."
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
(this just in, Ky is a big enough disaster a monster is playing therapist, confirmed)
"Well, there's no fire here," she said, voice weak as she mustered every last bit of willpower that she had to follow through. "So you may as well get on with it."
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
The Marrow Man shook his shaggy head. "No, no fire here. Just bear. Stupid bear, I chase her two days, make her tired. Her mama not tell her, no fighting Marrow Man. She fight me and she lose." He sat down on the bear, folding his foot over his leg to massage the hoof. "I run too long, I think. Foots all sore."
Last edited by Ljungtroll on Sat Feb 26, 2022 2:51 pm, edited 1 time in total.
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
(hahah, also confirmed: Ky can make friends with literally anyone xD)
Ky stared at him in shocked silence, unable to process what was happening. Why was he sitting down? Was he... venting to her? Maybe he was playing a psychological game of cat and mouse rather than a physical one. She didn't like it. She wanted to order him to kill her, to see if he'd obey like the guards had. And yet something within her couldn't bear the thought of being mean to someone when they were clearly in pain. "I'm sorry to hear that."
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
(XD Man I had this scene planned all out last night I was so excited)
The Marrow Man looked up at her. "You smart? You see horse foot hurt before?" He showed her his hoof, which looked soft and swollen underneath the hard outer toe. "You fix for me?"
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
Ky was still stunned. What was even happening right now? Was this some sort of sick, twisted dream? Or was he trying to get her near enough he could just bash her over the head and not have to risk her trying to run despite her saying she wouldn't? She didn't know.
But she also couldn't very well refuse. She wouldn't be herself anymore if she stopped helping people who asked her. Besides, she'd spent a fair bit of time with horses the first fourteen years of her life. He probably just had a stone lodged in his hoof.
"I... I'll try," she murmured, bending to get the knife to use as a lever if she needed it. She haltingly started towards him, each and every step as hard to manage as it was when Aleth whispered 'come here' to her from her jail cell after she'd gotten arrested while under his watch. It felt just as likely that she was going to get severely injured.
But, then, that's what she wanted, wasn't it? Hopefully he'd take compassion and make his blow a good one.
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
(My boy so hungry but he just wants to have social connections)
The hoof was badly inflamed; it looked like hoofrot. "It start hurt on second day, I still run and now I pay price," the Marrow Man lamented. "Hurt to walk, hurt to run, hurt to stand, hurt to sit. Still hungry on top, too, bear never help."
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
"I'm sorry," she murmured again, finally to him. She knelt down next to him, still violently trembling, and squinted at his hoof, unable to see much in the darkness, but it had the telltale smell. "I think you've caught rot."
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
"Rot?" The Marrow Man took his foot back and stared at it, wrinkling his muzzle. "Rot, so hard to go away." He reached around to his cloak and ripped off a strip, then offered it to her. "You fix? You rub off?'
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
"I-I don't know if you can rub it off," she said timidly. She'd only ever seen it treated with antibiotics, and she certainly didn't have any of those on her. Though, she supposed, she was still supposed to be putting salve on her stitches to continue fending off potential infection. "I can try, but it's going to hurt."
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
"Hurt is not new." He shook the strip of cloth at her. "Have hurt for a hundred hundred years, many more."
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
She hesitantly took the cloth from him, being sure not to touch him in the process, then realized it didn't actually matter since she was going to have to break the touch barrier anyway to be able to clean his foot. She started to reach for his foot, then her hand stalled, but she forced herself to power through it and gently take his hoof in her left hand and, very, very carefully began wiping away some of the infection with the cloth in her right.
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
Being a hero doesn't mean you're invincible. It just means that you're brave enough to stand up and do what's needed. — Rick Riordan, The Mark of Athena
