Shedding Ones' Skin

[mmat 7460]

The biting winds of the great high northwest were almost too much, even for the grizzled, outwardly stoic Wood Elf who now trotted down that unnamed mountain pass on his blindingly coloured steed, bright white as it was. Though Khaine had found little to smile about through the previous months, this steed made him happy. Flake was her name, and she was the very first Arcasian horse he had discovered in the wild, as well as his swiftest. Nevertheless, he slowed the overly hasty horse to almost a crawl through this pass, gazing around in search of any nook or cranny in which he could keep her safe from the cold while his task was completed. Though the task was made almost impossible by the blustering head-on winds, one was spotted - a small, open topped but enclosed alcove accessible by a small, conveniently sized gap in the cliff’s edge which was shaped like an arch. Shielded from the hostile winds, it seemed to be an oasis of nature in an otherwise windblown desert of short grass and rock. In short, it was the perfect place for a solemn, devoted ritual to the aspects.

 

After vaulting from the strangely well-behaved Flake, Khaine stroked his beloved steed’s head and pinned its lead under a heavy rock, rendering the horse relatively immobile, but with enough room to move so she could eat the present grass and walk around somewhat. With that done the armoured elf set to his task and, on the other side of the reasonably sized alcove, lit a fire which intensified and dulled in turn.

 

“Witness this, gods of the wild, for I shan’t do it again.” the words from his own mouth struck the Elf as odd, they were the first he had spoken out loud in such a long time, even his horse had not suffered the monotony of it, he thought.

 

Despite the jarring insight, it froze him only for a second before he once again began moving about. First he placed his helmet on the ground, then removed his chestplate followed by his boots, and then his jointed legplates. Laying the pieces of his panoply out in what seemed like a ceremonial manner before the flame, the tan-skinned, brown-haired Elf was left with but his undergarments and his Elven form, now stripped of the heavy armour that usually adorned it. No other descendant was present for leagues around him, and yet he felt watched by sapient figures unseen to him. Good, he thought, they were watching.

 

Before the watching flame, the almost comically half-naked Khaine now went back to his horse, and withdrew a shovel from the liberally sized satchel he had brought with him, and began to dig. After what seemed like hours, but what was in fact probably only half of one, the hole was filled with Khaine’s iconic helmet, and chestplate and leg armour and sashes, all of which he had experienced his past with.

 

“It shall be a new beginning.”  were the only words the skin-bare, lonesome Elf spoke into the fire. “Trust that vow.”

 

And with that, the garb of the past was left behind, and Khaine mounted his horse. Riding away, he grimaced somewhat. He had done what he wished, but it might have been a good idea to pack replacements. It was cold. No matter, he knew what he would don instead.

 

[osumanduas 1442]

Moved to The Great Library. It shall be sorted into the appropriate category shortly.

 

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