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Post by Linx Exotic on May 6, 2008 21:59:10 GMT -5
"Well, these scars... Gonna be here for years. But that doesn't matter, because I'm gonna be next to nothing for as long as I live. Why do you think I'm so eager to... You know... Be so close to many? I'm not hedonistic." Everyone seemed to think that about him... But not everyone had seen him with his shirt off. Archon looked at Briala resignedly, realizing that this might change nothing and he could just be left the way he was... Helpless. Miserable. Ready to die. "You can help. Well, you can, but you already said no..."
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Post by briala on May 6, 2008 22:04:03 GMT -5
Briala took a deep breath. It was a choice between her, or Archon. Unfortunately for him, Briala had always been rather selfish. "I'm sorry. It's still no," she said firmly, her voice managing not to quaver. "If there's anything else I can do to help, I really would like to. But that...." she shrugged again. "Still no. I'm sorry," she whispered the last two words.
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Post by Linx Exotic on May 6, 2008 22:06:47 GMT -5
Archon heard the words sink in. They sank in far too deep. He felt something pass over him or... Something, and things got blurry. The mouse made to speak, but failed as his consciousness decided to take a break for a while. His paw he'd just raised slightly fell to the ground loosely as he collapsed onto his back, entirely senseless; her rejection had literally made him pass out, the emotional trauma it induced being so overwhelming that his mind just quit.
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Post by briala on May 6, 2008 22:10:22 GMT -5
"Oh crap!" Briala muttered as Archon collapsed on his back. She crouched by his side, frantically shaking his arm. "Come on, get UP! Please, get up! Shoot, I don't know what's wrong!" Briala cried in a frustrated voice. "If you don't get up, I'm dunking you in the river!" she shouted out of desperation, though she thought that might actually be a good idea.
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Post by Linx Exotic on May 6, 2008 22:16:04 GMT -5
Archon didn't respond. He lost consciousness entirely just before Briala started shaking his arm. The whole situation had been too traumatic for him. Having opened himself so wide, making himself so vulnerable, and being caught unexpectedly, the emotions he felt were so overwhelming that he just fainted, as his body did something to stop his mind from going down the tubes any further.
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Post by briala on May 6, 2008 22:20:54 GMT -5
Briala saw he wasn't waking up, and her panicked mind settled on an idea. "Desperate times..." she muttered, picking him up under the arms and dragging him over to the shallows of the river. It was only waist deep, so he wouldn't drown, and hopefully the water would wake him up. "Come on, wake up!" she hissed one last time, hoping it would work. Sadly, it didn't. She shrugged, and dragged him into the river. She made sure she kept a tight hold of his arm, and didn't let his head go under water.
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Post by Linx Exotic on May 6, 2008 22:26:39 GMT -5
Archon came to promptly with a yelp. He jerked violently away from Briala, to no avail; she had him held far too tightly for him to be able to just get away. "What... Stop it! No! Get me out!" He didn't even know that he was in the river right then. All he knew was that his body had been immersed in something freezing and wet, and it only served to remind him of a more degrading event that had taken place during his capture.
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Post by briala on May 6, 2008 23:26:14 GMT -5
As soon as Archon began to shout, Briala manuevered herself and him out of the river. She deposited him on the warm, grassy bank and sat down, putting her head in her hands. "Don't do that!" she hissed, relieved that he wasn't hurt, or dead. "I'm sorry about the river, but you scared me!" She sounded reproachful, as though Archon had purposefully made her think he was dying. "Seriously, please don't do that again."
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Post by Linx Exotic on May 7, 2008 6:25:55 GMT -5
The idea of Archon being unhurt was a far cry from the truth; of course, the damage he had sustained wasn't very physical. With most of his body soaking wet and his boots filled with water to the point of making the idea of mobility more of a joke than anything else, though, he wasn't going anywhere. Sitting awkwardly with his shoulders reclined and one elbow on the ground, he collapsed when he realized all he'd done was pass out and annoy Briala a bit. Then he started crying.
It wasn't the kind of bawling you'd get from a kid who was a good actor, nor the reserved sort of sniffle deemed acceptable among the wealthy for social situations. It wasn't even a typical reaction for a man his age, either. What he was doing was sobbing so violently and honestly that he expected it to kill him.
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Post by briala on May 7, 2008 8:04:49 GMT -5
A long, long list of curses ran through Briala's head, but all she managed to say again was, "Oh crap!" Now Archon was sobbing violently, and Briala wasn't too sure what had brought it on. God, what was she supposed to do? This wasn't supposed to happen! She was supposed to get through her life at the Fort as a good warrior, and probably die sometime within the next 20 seasons fighting in battle, or something. That's it. Very simple. But this....
She had an idea, but who knew what affect it would have on Archon, or herself. But she was pretty desperate by now. She sat beside him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, embracing him tightly and trying to stop the violent shaking and crying. "Archon, please stop! Please, please stop it," she pleaded, at this point only moments from tears herself.
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Post by Linx Exotic on May 7, 2008 8:32:19 GMT -5
OOC: Assuming she believes in a god!  BIC: Archon couldn't get himself to just stop. Despite Briala's best efforts, it was like trying to stop a fully loaded freight train with a sheet of cotton. He tried to at least return the embrace but realized that it wasn't going to work because he couldn't even feel his arms. They hung limply from his shoulders as he attempted in vain to cease distressing Briala so much. Can I at least speak? ...No. |
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Post by briala on May 7, 2008 18:24:58 GMT -5
Archon still couldn't stop sobbing, and wasn't moving at all. If it weren't for the crying, he might have been dead. Or unconscious. What was she supposed to do now? She couldn't take him back up to the Fort, and she certainly couldn't leave him here. But it hurt that he was so upset, though Briala didn't know what she was going to do about that. She finally decided the best thing she could do was the stay where she was, hugging Archon tightly and murmuring under her breath. "Hush, please stop, it's okay, nothing's wrong," she whispered, half to herself and half to the mouse. For the thousandth time, the question floated through her head: What do I do now?
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Post by Linx Exotic on May 7, 2008 21:23:42 GMT -5
"No... This is awful... I can't take this anymore..." Archon found himself suspended between two leaves with a gang of rats jeering at him while the largest in their group roughly ripped the clothing from his fur. The memories he'd done his best to suppress and try and eventually forget resurfaced in a flashback so vivid that he thought he could actually feel the first one of their number taking a hold on him and forcing him to... It was impossible for words to describe what kind of horror he felt right then. It obviously took a devastating toll on his current state.
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Post by briala on May 7, 2008 23:25:44 GMT -5
Briala felt her cheeks were wet, and for a second was confused. She didn't recall getting her face wet in the river..."Oh dang it, I'm crying now," she said in exasperation. She let go of Archon and wiped at her eyes, trying to stem her own tears now. "Look..." she began, but didn't know how to finish. She didn't know how she could help without...that.
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Post by Linx Exotic on May 8, 2008 6:34:05 GMT -5
"Look at what? These scars? Your not helping?" Archon didn't find himself actually angry. More accurately, the mouse was frantic; he couldn't stand just sitting there and doing nothing while his past came back to rip him in two. Or three, or ten. The fact of the matter was that he couldn't stand being conscious at all then. "I can't look at this mess!"
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