The Cynic And The Royal Bastard

[WuHanXianShi14 0]

It was the dead of night, and the streets of Kingston lay dead silent. A light breeze swayed the leaves and branches of the apple tree, and street lamps cast a dim light on the cobblestone paths. From the west gate enters a man, hooded and cloaked from head to toe, he pulls his attire tighter over his person as he enters the city, concealing his identity further.

He had promised himself he would not come back here, not until he had made his decision. A decision he had required to put himself in a state of solitary isolation in order to make.

He had lived in the forest for a month now, away from any place he dared call home. All his time not devoted to keeping himself alive, pondering his question, but tonight, that could wait. Tonight he had something to retrieve.

 

Elsewhere in Kingston, a child awakens, he rubs his eyes, and looks out the window, the darkness and silence of the streets almost surreal to him, compared to the hustle and bustle of the day. This child had a goal, and was determined to live up to it.

The young one climbs out of bed gingerly, soft socks muffling his steps as he creeps down the stairs. He jumps for the door handle, freezing, as he hears the sound of stirring from upstairs. He tries again, carefully, standing on his tippy toes, and he got it. The child trotted out the door, closing it very gently behind him.

The first few steps out the door, and already he was terrified. Shadows loomed, what was a lamp post by day was a monster by night. Almost immediately the child began to back back into the safety of his home.

 

The city was empty, and the man walked the main road. His eye's darted from left to right, up and down. Being amongst other sentient beings, sleeping or not, was an experience he had deprived himself of for a long time. And then he saw it.

From a small house on the corner of the street, a single small figure. A child, stepped hesitantly out his door. The man should have known better, after all, he had promised himself: 'Find what you're looking for, and leave. You don't belong here, not until you've made your choice.' But against the will of his mind, he approached the child,

 

The child had almost grasped back onto his door handle, wanting nothing more than to get back inside, and then he froze. What he saw was a monster. A moving monster, a real monster. Backed against his door wide eyed he stared, unable to move a muscle as the shadowy mass approached him. And he heard the shadow speak. It wasn't a raspy, dark, deep like a monster should have been. This voice was somber, even and quiet.

 

"Who are you, child?"

 

The boy didn't want to reply, he wanted to shut his eyes, and wake up back in his bed, and try to forget the nightmare. But the shadow was still looking at him, head tilted, expectant.

 

"C-Ciaran..." He managed out in a barely audible voice.

 

"Ciaran?"

 

"C-Ciaran...C-Ciaran Horen-Hightower."

 

 

The man folded his arms in front of him, a hint of a smile tugging at his lips, he looked left and right, and turned back to the child, still frozen in place.

 

"Why have you snuck out, Ciaran?"

 

Unable to say or do much else, the child thought of nothing but to tell the shadow the truth.

 

"I-I wanted...to see the secret forest..."

 

The shadow made a sudden movement, a flash of motion, and the child flinched. Shutting his eyes as tight as he could. A second passed, two seconds, he gathered the courage to look up. The man was no longer a shadow, his cloak was gone. And in it's place was a face, watching him with a calm, weather worn expression. A tint of red adorned his forehead, his hand was extended to the child.

 

"Well? Come on then."

 

"W-what...?"

 

"You wanted to see a secret forest, didn't you? Come on, let's go."

 

A while later, and the pair had left the city, a breeze blew against them as they walked up the north road. Ciaran shivered, and soon found himself wrapped up in the man's cloak, he clung to it like a blanket.

As they crossed the bridge leading to the Thersist checkpoint, a wolf howled. An eerie, foreboding sound. The child clung to his new found friend, terrified once more.

 

The man gently pried away the child's rigid arms, he lifted the child by the waist and placed him on the bridge, an inch in front of him, giving him a stern look.

 

"Do you know what inspires the greatest fear in us all, child?"

 

"N-no..."

 

"Your mind. Your mind has the ability to make you believe things, make you terrified of anything you could possibly imagine up. Do you let your mind control you, child?"

 

Ciaran shook his head helplessly, not understanding much.

 

"N-no...I-I don't..."

 

The man smiled once more.

 

"Execellent, let's keep going then, shall we? We have a ways to go yet."

 

Ciaran swallowed, and pushed on, always clinging to the man. Always trying to ignore the monsters and beast he was sure lurked in the shadows of the trees around him.

 

The pair did not stop at Malinor, they went further onward. Eventually, the trees around them thickened, shrubbery grew more and more out of the ground, and they were in the wilderness. An untamed forest, no paths, no organization. Just wilderness.

 

An owl hooted, the wolves continued to howl, a snake slithered in and out from a bush, and the swaying of leaves in the night wind was ever present. Ciaran shut his eyes as tight as he could, clinging on to the man's leg for dear life. He was certain he was going to die here, he would be eaten up, the shadows would swallow him. And so his eyes remained shut, and he prayed once again to the creator for it to all be a bad dream. He would wake up in his bed, and he would apologize to his sister for ever wanted to do something as foolish as leave his home.

 

"Child, open your eyes."

 

Ciaran only shut his eyes tighter. The idea was unthinkable. He couldn't open his eyes. He would be eaten.

 

"Child." The man said again, his voice soft, but stern. "Open your eyes."

 

Once again, Ciaran's eyes remained shut, and his body rigid.

 

"Do you let your mind control you?"

 

Ciaran had thought about that question. Did he let his mind control him? What did that mean? And there, in the wildest part of Anthos, beside the mysterious man, he understood.

The child opened his eyes, and he didn't see monsters, he didn't see shadows, and he wasn't scared. Ciaran saw a forest. Trees growing up to the sky, leaves, flowers and berries of every colour, insects and animals going about their business, under the moonlight of the night sky.

 

Ciaran gazed around in wonder, and Artimec Akkaris smiled.

 

"Welcome to the secret forest, child."

 

The sun had just begun to rise when the two had arrived back in Kingston. Merchants had begun to stock their stalls, few people walked the streets. The day was about to begin. Ciaran lay asleep in Art's arms, it had been a long night after all. Together they walked back into his home, and Art lay Ciaran back down in his bed, just as the child's eyes blinked awake.

 

Art had no final words to say or a moral to live by to preach.

 

"Tell Kaila I said hi, alright?" He asked simply, and walked quietly out the door, not waking a soul.

 

((Both Art and Ciaran are my characters, I had nothing better to do, so I wrote an RP post with the two of them interacting.))

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[meg 1994]

((While this is a nice post, I think it's against the rules to have your characters interact. Sorry to burst your bubble :I))

[WuHanXianShi14 0]

((Even in a forum post which won't effect either character in game in any way of note? Ergh. I'll delete this if I have to.))

[ĔṀĔŔĨĨČĶ 519]

((Wait, why is it against the rules for your characters to interact? And how would it harm anything in the way these two are interacting right now?))

[WuHanXianShi14 0]

((Well, if I am told by a GM/admin/Fm to remove it I will, I just didn't think I was doing any harm ._. That said I would appreciate any further posts on this thread to be roleplay please.))