- Posting Speed
- 1-3 posts per week
- Writing Levels
- Adept
- Advanced
- Preferred Character Gender
- Male
- Genres
- Fantasy, Magical, Fandom(depending), Romance(depending)
Birds. The song of birds. The distant calls of one bird singing to another, talking in their singsong voices, communicating in a beautiful way that filled the forest in an almost enchanting melody. Vale could recall Audrey's love for birds. Oh how she adored them. She would sit in the garden for hours outside, listening to their songs alone, a soft smile to her lips while her eyes were closed. Hiding the beautiful blue orbs of her eyes as she listened to the birds sing and talked, un-bothered by any of her other surroundings, even as the gentle wind blew small strands of her hair into her face. Vale could see it so clearly, as if he could reach out into the vision and actually touch her, but he knew it was only a memory. She sometimes reminded him of a bird: Such a beautiful and delicate thing, with a singsong voice and an unpredictable thing, and a quick personality changer. Could be kind and gentle one moment, but anger her(which was rare), and she came up fighting. Though small she was feisty had many ways to take down her enemies, no brute strength necessary. All she needed was her smarts and cunning. But she reminded him of a caged bird, chained so that it could only fly so far, her freedom limited so much. Forced to act and behave as she should, to do things that she may not want to, and thus was a slave in her own way. A caged bird....Then her eyes suddenly opened, and she glanced at him, a quick light pink color filling her cheeks. She had caught him staring at her. "What?" She was embarrassed, and he could only smile in response, finding her even more beautiful with the light color on her ever lighter color of skin.
"What do you think about?" He had asked her, looking at her in wonder. "When you hear the birds sing, I mean. You sit there and you're lost, not fully here. Where do you go?"
She looked away from him, her eyes drifting to the trees as if to try to spot the feathered friends, and could see quite a few of them flying around. She didn't speak for a long time, seeming to lose herself once again as she gazed around the trees and flowers, and he believed that she wouldn't answer him. But after another long while, she finally spoke, but before he could get the answer, the scenery suddenly began to change. It all faded away, drifting as if a strong yet gentle wind had started to tear about the small particles and carried them along with it, Audrey included. He watched as she faded out of existence, and suddenly the song of the birds that suddenly seemed so far away, were coming in clearer.
Before he had been sitting in the garden with Audrey, but now he was in darkness, having no idea where he was. He tried to locate the sound of the birds, wondering if he followed then he would return to the garden, but there was no clear path around him. Just darkness. Then.... He saw it. Far ahead, a small orb of light, a faded gray. He squinted, but couldn't quite make out what it could be, making it uncertain if it was safe or not. The sound of birds was stronger from there, and he was compelled to follow, his footsteps already beginning to move. As he drew closer, the song grew louder, and the orb of light began to grow bigger and brighter. Soon it was so close and bright, he had to squint his eyes and lift his hand to keep it from lighting directly into his eyes, yet he did not hesitate. He kept walking, till it was right upon him...
. . . . .
Vale work with a start and a gasp, his eyes darting around quickly, his heart pounding in his chest as if he were terrified. And he was terrified. But of what he was uncertain, his mind still half asleep and barely drawing in what was going on or what had happened. He took his surroundings in quickly: He was in a forest, and pretty deep too judging by how thick the brush was, the trees clustered together and making it nearly impossible to see passed them. The next thing he knew was the pain. It had just been an ache before, but now it was growing into a pierce, flaring pain that ran through his shoulder and down his arm. When he moved the arm, his mouth opened in a silent cry, but uttered not a sound while his eyes shut tightly. When he opened them, he glanced down at his shoulder, seeing a poor make-shift bandage made of moss and strong sea-weed and some of his old rags, already coating a bit with blood. How....?
Then he remembered. The bleeding prince, the traitorous Gerald, the knights chasing him, the window... It all flashed inside his mind, as if he was reliving the whole thing on fast forward, and even recalled what had happened afterward. He had blacked out in the river, which had slammed him up against rocks and dragged him under to the ground beneath the water, carrying him far from the castle. How he had not drowned was somehow a miracle, one that he was deeply grateful for, and how he wasn't caught was another miracle he was grateful for. As a matter of fact, he did not go very far, for the river had carried him to the very spot he had taken Audrey to see the river that day. There the waters were calm and gentle, only dangerous during and after a storm in which the water would carry away the extra water brought from the rain, but on such nice days it was safe enough to wander and walk in. Even swim.
It was there that he had washed up onto the shore, and had somehow revived quickly, coughing up water once he woke up and began to breath. Perhaps there was some sort of higher being or beings out there looking out for him. Whatever who or what they were, though, he was grateful and gave his thanks. But the instant he woke up, he knew that the knights were still looking for him, for he was not too far from the castle. Of course... They would be searching the river. Why wouldn't they? So before he could allow himself to rest or even adjust to the situation, he pushed himself up out of the water and onto his feet. His mind was already working, the adrenaline from before still pumping through his body, making him forget for a moment that there was an arrow sticking out of his shoulder. He had to cover his tracks. If the knights couldn't find him, didn't find any sign of the fact he crawled out of the river, then perhaps they would think he was dead. If they thought he was dead, then they would stop searching for him.
So he did his best to cover his tracks, making sure to keep himself from making any footprints in the soft ground around the river, then made his way carefully but carefully to the trees. Though that required moving slow, too slow for his comfort, for the knights were likely to catch up to him if they moved fast and spread out far. Spread out they did, but they, too, were moving slow, looking for any sign of him in the river or any possible tracks. Tracks he took care in covering. Providing him the time to get away quickly before he was far away enough to make a straight run for it, and from there he ran. He ran and ran and ran, deeper into the forest, the opposite away from town. It was the smartest move he could make, for the knights will believe he'll try to keep to civilization, but it was too dangerous for him. The city was far too close to the castle, and he'd be caught instantly, and he knew that the news of the prince's assassin will spread like wild fire. Anyone could recognize him. They would turn him in, dead or alive, and never bother to hear his story. No... He had to stick to the wilderness till he could figure out what to do next.
The next thing he knew, he had fallen asleep. After running for so long, till night broke the sky, he found a tree and leaned against it. Sitting down at it's roots. He had planned to rest his eyes only for a moment, to catch his breath, but instead had passed right out. Now it was the next day, the sun was high in the sky, telling him it was passed afternoon. His body was stiff from sitting up against a tree, and his shoulder ached. During his run, he paused briefly to bandage his arm by a river, pulling the arrow out(which had been extremely painful) before keeping it soaked while the moss would soak up the blood and keep it clean. Of course he had washed the moss itself with clear water he had found, and after getting plenty to drink, he moved on. He inhaled sharply, letting the pain pass as he leaned his head against the trunk, his eyes looking up at the branches above him.
Now what? He was wanted by the kingdom, he was far from civilization, and he was wounded. If he wasn't careful, the wound would get infected, or he could bleed out. The make-shift bandage was tight, but he needed something better to keep it from bleeding too much. He ran a hand over his tired eyes. Yet despite his predicament, his thoughts began to wonder towards Audrey. Was she at the castle by now? Had she heard the news? What would she think? Was she distraught? Did she believe he was dead? What was everyone telling her? He knew he didn't need to worry about her believing he was a murderer. She would never believe that he would try to kill Marcellus. Ever. Still, it must still be something hard for her to hear, to be slammed with all of this after just coming from a vacation with Benjamin. He definitely didn't need to worry about anything happening between them, with her hatred for the man. Yet he had no idea that Benjamin would actually force himself on her. If he found out, he would go storming into the castle despite being wanted, and he wouldn't kill Benjamin(at least he believed he wouldn't)but he would sure beat the crap out of him.
He lowered his hand, listening to the birds above him that had woken him from his long sleep. He was hungry(he was always hungry, but right now, he was even more so.), he was tired, he was hurt, he was lost, and he had no idea what to do. To anyone else, perhaps they would have allowed themselves to fall into a pit of despair, blaming whatever gods there was for putting them in his situation, wallowing in their own self pity. They would break, not even try, give up right then and there. And it was tempting, to just give up and let the darkness and sadness and pain overtake him, to destroy him and just end it. But no. Vale wouldn't allow himself. What would Audrey think if she found out he died there, alone in the forest, after working so hard to get away? Audrey... If he allowed himself to give up, he would never see her again, would never taste her sweet lips and feel her soft skin, or hear her singsong voice. It was that thought alone that strengthen him, that determined him, that ignited the fire in his eyes.
Slowly, painfully, he pulled himself up. His hand grabbing the bark of the tree and using it as support, flinching as his stiff muscles slowly unwind, and a shot of pain went through his arm. But he ignored it. He took a look around the forest, before choosing a random direction and began to walk, began to move for survival. He had to keep going, had to clear his name and reveal Gerald for who he really was, to right the injustice that was done to him. He couldn't do that being dead. He had to bring himself back to Audrey, tell her about her fiancee's(he almost puked at the word) father, to warn the king as well. So began Vale's resolve. So began his mission, his goal. So began small journey.
So began his life as a fugitive.
For days, she had kept up her own spirits with polite conversation away from her usual crowd. With unfamiliar faces brought forth by the news of the engagement between two royal families. Some of the nobles associated with the Lord Benjamin sat around her, chatting about life back at their own homes. She'd heard it all before. The same, monotonous yet nasal telling of villas by the sea and a comparison of how many hand maids one had, it was always the same story with a few minor variations.