Here there be thorns. [Spiiiicinator!]

Rhindeer · June 10, 2013, 03:17:32 PM

This was embarrassing.

Rowan had decided to take a shortcut through the woods, or what he perceived as a shortcut, and instead he found himself hopelessly tangled among a patch of thorns and brambles. He hadn't realized they were brambles until he got in too deep to easily turn around, and it hadn't looked nearly as thick or large until he'd gotten entangled.

Grimacing, he tried to turn around and back up, but thorny vines had somehow gotten themselves wrapped around his legs and snagged in the long hair of around his hooves and flowing down his tail, thorns scratching his skin and threatening to pierce flesh if he moved much more. Already some thorns had drawn blood from shallow cuts.

After a moment's struggle that did nothing but further entrap him, he took a deep breath, froze, and took stock of his situation. Arms crossed over his chest, he chewed his bottom lip and tried to think this out.

This was ridiculous!

He was a bold adventurer! He wasn't one to be slain by a briar patch! But it was becoming depressingly clear as to what he was going to have to do to get free, and the thought alone made him wince.

It was going to hurt.

Ah, if only he'd brought a knife or something that he could hack at the branches with! But no. All he had were his arrows and bow, and a fat lot of good those would do him here! Wasn't his fault he'd never dreamed that the worst enemy he'd encounter would be a bush!

He shifted his weight, and thorns dug deeper into his legs. Alright, then. Maybe...maybe he'd try another plan first before ripping himself free.

He cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted, "Hello? Is anyone out there?"

visualspice · June 10, 2013, 04:12:30 PM

OOC: one word-
OWE

D:

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The dreams of the running horse came to her again, and she tossed and turned fitfully at her camp side, her body becoming sweaty, despite the fire having long since subsided. And he was tearing across the plains, strong, bold, beautiful...
and he was free, nothing but the winds and sun around him, and earth beating beneath his hooves. And she could feel herself. She was with him, in spirit and in heart; as the two rode onward into a blood red sunset, leaving behind a world cast in deep, purple rain. ANd it was out of this darkness she felt the sum of all her fears- as the shadows, the nightmares creatures would reach out for her. So she held on fierce to the horse, even as the darkness loomed. They could out run it..
In the dreams they always did, and like the dreams before it, the image began to fade and crack, split apart, like glass, before the shadows swallowed in all around her, consuming her vision with a million black birds until she woke up with a jerk.

It was hard to tell the meaning of such a dream. Black birds meant many things, and it was hard to tell if they were attacking her, or simply keeping the darkness at bay. And like always, Namia looked down at herself to see if she had been pecked at all while she slept.. but there was nothing. Sighing, she blew a loose piece of black hair away from her face and stretched her arms above her head as she studied her camp. The fire had gone out, smoking lightly before she snuffed it out with her boots, scraping at the remaining coals until even their faint light finally snuffed out. Then she turned to her bed of leaves, her other supplies and took out a brush ad began to run it through her hair, picking out leaves and seeds and pebbles every once in a while throughout the brushing. Then rising to her feet, she stretched again and slung her back over her back as she lifted a hand to shield her eyes as she peered over at the sky. And she smiled. It looked as if it were going to be a beautiful day.

Starting off into the tall grasses, she stepped with confidence. She feared no animal, for she had learned (somewhat from her mother ) how to connect with them, and the earth; how to respect them and instead of fearing the unknown of nature, to welcome in with confidence and understanding. Now that she had set out on her own, she felt as if she was beginning to understand...

Little did she know she had a long way to go before that. But man, she was feeling kind of grimy, and found a wide creek running along a wide briar patch set within the woods. She scanned the area. The creek was wide open, no real spots of shade beneath trees, or privacy. But what did she need to be private about in nature? So, with a shrug, she set her supply bag aside and peeled off her clothing, letting them hang near a more tame looking branch of brambles before she slipped one foot into the waters to test the temperature. It was cold. Her skin bumped over as she shivered. But as she shivered, sh took in a breath, then steppe out into the waters, letting herself sink down into it until she was mostly modest and was enjoying the cool water on her skin, the current pulling away all dirt and sweat.

And just as she was closing her eyes to relax, dark hair fanning out around her upon the surface of the water... she heard a noise. Or more specific, a voice. A very human sounding voice. And a male's.

Shit! She sunk down into the waters, so that only her chin stuck out as her eyes searched the briar patch. Had the man heard her!? So much for taking a morning bath in private... she grumbled inwardly to herself and remained uncertain if she ought to speak and call attention to herself just yet... or not.

Rhindeer · June 12, 2013, 09:08:06 PM

Rowan's ears perked up and he frowned, brow creasing. He thought he'd heard something--a splash, and close by! So there was water near? Curious, he stretched up as far as he could, raising as high up onto his hooves as he could manage and craning his neck. Now, a splash could mean many things, like birds or otters and nuts dropped from overhanging branches, but desperation had made him hopeful for sentient life. Even a squirrel he could communicate with would do!

He could just barely see it then, a little sliver of creek. So he wasn't crazy! Though he was about to feel awful crazy if it turned out he was talking to himself, but it was worth a try! And it was also a great way to stall the inevitable, painful escape.

"Hello?" he repeated, still straining to look. "Ah, this is very embarrassing! But if there's someone out there--well, of course there's plenty of someone's out there--but I mean someone who can understand me, and who I can understand, it would be wonderful if you could maybe help me? I'm in a bit of a, ahem, bind. This doesn't normally happen."

He scratched the back of his neck. Some adventurer he was! "I suppose I should be flattered that something loves me so much it can't bear to let me go..."

visualspice · June 13, 2013, 07:50:54 PM

Well, from what she could gather, apparently who ever it was was stuck, and seh cringed, realizing he was stuck in the briar patch. Well that has got to hurt. It sounded like a man by the sounds of it, a young man, perhaps her age. How the heck did someone manage to get in a tangle like that. Drawing in a breath once she realized it was safe (though her eyes gave an extra scan across the river bank) she slipped onto shore and made quick work to get her skirts and tunic back on. Then fluffing her hair out from under neath said tunic, she began to carefully approach the briar patch. Blinking,s he eyed it over, but didn't see anyone.

"Hello?" she called back hesitantly, her voice barely carrying over the jumble of thorns. "If you're out there still.. where are you? Maybe.." she bit her lip, cursing herself inwardly before saying, "Maybe I can help you out?"

Though she really didn't want to have to crawl through a bed of thorns.

Rhindeer · June 16, 2013, 07:22:42 PM

Rowan felt like crying with relief when someone answered him, but that wouldn't have been very manly, so he didn't. Instead, he let out a sigh and twisted his torso just enough so he could look behind himself and, still stretching as tall as he could, he gave a frantic wave.

"I'm over here!" he called, relief pouring from his voice. "I'm...in a bit of a bad way, so if there's anything you could do, or if you have a knife, or a sword..."

He grimaced. "I don't advise coming in here! It would be terrible if we both got stuck!"

visualspice · June 18, 2013, 09:20:55 AM

She had a knife on her, one she kept on her person for hunting and defense (though thankfully she hadn't had much use for it) Until possibly now. But at his words, Namia frowned.
"Then how am I to cut you out if I can't get in there?" she strained up on her tippy-toes, trying to see if she could see the poor bloke, but he must've been buried in there too deep. Sighing,s he looked down at the thorns before her.

"I don't suppose there is a path you see I could take that's got less thorns in which I could get over to you?" Sighing, she then added, "And I cna't see you, so I'm not sure how far you are within there."
Really, he might be too deep for her to even get in there without getting tangled up int he thorns herself. But then as she looked up, she noticed the trees lining the bush, a few with limbs outstretching over the briar patch. That's when she got an idea.

"Say.. is there a tree branch or something over top of you?" It was a long shot, but hey, maybe she could use the trees to get to where he was. It was better than climbing through thorns, that was for sure.

Rhindeer · June 19, 2013, 03:18:21 PM

There was a path--the path Rowan had taken--but considering how bad of an idea that had been and where that path had taken him, Rowan thought it best not to suggest it. However, that left them all in a terrible fix, and he was busily wracking his brain for ideas when the girl suggested branches.

A tree branch! That was brilliant! He looked at the trees above, and broke out into a bright smile. There was hope yet! He'd just have to find a way later to reclaim the masculinity he'd lost here today. Not that there was any shame in accepting help from a female; the women of his tribe were fierce and every bit the warrior as the men--sometimes more. A female in this same situation would have felt the same!

"Yes! There's a couple branches above me!" he said. "If you could possibly just...climb over here and hand me a knife, I could do the rest, I'm sure! I just need to cut these away from me...ugh. I knew I should have braided my tail today!"

visualspice · June 19, 2013, 08:13:04 PM

Namia raised a brow at the tail comment. Heh.. he must have long hair.
Glancing to the trees, she sighed and secured the knife on her person, then began to make the slow climb up into the tree, though when she was just about half way, she leaned across to reach for the first low reaching branch, it was only then she noticed just WHAT Rowanm having only seen the man for the first time and gasped.

"You have the body of a horse!" and inadvertently, her grip let loose.
In a yelp, she crumpled into a patch of thorns, and found herself swearing up a storm, limbs flailing about to cut herself loose. Thankfully she had only been a few feet into the patch before she scrambled back to the tree.

Panting, she rubbed at the thorns still digging in to her skina nd began itching htem out.
"Why.."s he began, still trying to catch her breath and let her mind catch up to her.
"Why didnt' you tell me you were a horse!?"

.. well, a horse man.. thing! Ugh! Her midn was going a million miles a minute, and her heart beat was clean within her ears.

Rhindeer · June 19, 2013, 09:40:59 PM

That had to be the strangest, most shocking thing Rowan had ever heard come from a person's mouth!

Rowan gave her a look of sheer puzzlement, lips parted, brow furrowed, and ears cocked. He waited until the young human had freed herself from the thorns and scrambled back up the tree, not wanting to distract the poor thing, before he spoke.

"Ah...well...I'm not sure how that's entirely relevant..." he said, chewing his bottom lip. "You didn't tell me you had the body of a human. Is that...is that how people here normally introduce themselves? By announcing the sort of body they have, or their species? What a very strange culture--no disrespect intended! It's just, we normally start with our names..." And he looked genuinely concerned about that, rubbing his chin with a hand and feeling the fuzz that was beginning to grow there.

"I'd hate to be rude! My apologies, let's start over! I'm a centaur, and very much not a horse! Though my lower half looks as much. Oh! And my name's Rowan! It's very nice to meet you, even if under such odd...um...are you okay?" He noticed then that she was sort of still covered in thorns and scratching them out.

visualspice · June 20, 2013, 05:28:35 AM

Namia blinked, craning her neck so she could see him from where she remained perched beside the tree. She could barely see him from this angle, and sighed as she continued to itch out the remaining thorns.

"I'll be fine.." she winced, plucking out another one. "Ugh.. thorns." And witha shake of her head, she sighed.

"I'm sorry if you took offense, I've.. never met a .. centaur before," she began, saying the word carefully. "So you've go a body of a horse?" But before she could question it, she shook her head again. "Oh, and I'm Namia. ANd you guessed it, I'm just a regular old, boring human." she said with a roll of her eyes, and moved to go back to climbing the tree. This time she was more successful and paused up on the lower branch to take a good look at Rowan, the horse-man who was still stuck in the thorns down below.

"Man, you're really stuck, aren't ya?" she made a face, gritting her teeth. "That looks.. really bad." Then, tucking back some of her hair, she began to climb her way out and over the tree branch that reached out over where Rowan was trapped. "So like... didn't you see this enormous valley full of thorns when you came through here? I mean, I'd think it's pretty obvious, not many animals wonder here and the thorned bushes stretch as far as the eye can see."

Rhindeer · June 22, 2013, 09:46:39 PM

Rowan let out a sad sigh, ears drooping. This was so embarrassing, and her questioning the logic of his decision only made it worse!

"Well, there was a path going in," he muttered, "and then once I got in, I realized it was a lot bigger than I thought, so I tried to turn around and, well..." He motioned to himself. When you had the body of a draft horse, turning around in tight quarters was not an option, and once he'd gotten tangled, simply backing out wasn't an option, either.

"That's when I realized I was stuck."

He tried to back up a step and winced as the thorns scratched and dug in. With another sigh, he looked back up at the girl as she climbed the branch that hung over him. "I'm not normally this stupid," he said with a smile, feeling even more dumb when he saw that human was quite pretty, even if she was missing half her body. How did humans even walk on two legs?

visualspice · June 24, 2013, 10:47:21 AM

Namia, now having positioned herself completely over the poor horse-man, leaned downwards from the tree, looking around at him, to his body, and to the thorns as she hung upside down, her dark hair reaching towards the ground. "Yeah.. this looks sort of bad." Then with a frown, she tried to contemplate what she ought to do before pulling herself back up into the branch. "I'm not sure how I'll be able to cut you out without stepping in the thorns myself," She said with some mild hesitation, but hten her green eyes lit up over an idea.

"Oh! I know! I could just land on your back side and then start cutting from there. Once I clear the thorns closet to you, then I can work my way out. That er.. is to say," she began, tucking back some of her dark hair from her face. "If you'd let me down onto your back that is. YOu know... to sit like how humans do when they er.. ride horses that don't have human heads."

Ok.. muttering things like that just sounded weird! But hse just hoped this boy would agree, or else she hadn't the slighest idea on how to get the boy out.

Rhindeer · July 10, 2013, 12:40:22 PM

Despite the pain he was in, Rowan couldn't help but laugh at that, the sound rich and mirthful. She phrased that so tenderly, as though afraid of offending him!

"That's fine!" he said, and then added quickly, because she did say land on his back, "But, ah, just be careful! Don't, you know, just jump on me. That doesn't sound very pleasant." Not from where she was up in that tree!

And he'd seen how humans rode horses and wondered how the poor beasts took it. It didn't look the least bit comfortable, especially with all that stuff all on their back adding to the weight. Seemed...itchy.

"But if you can do that, that would be excellent! I mean, I won't fault you if you land a little heavy. That's better than these thorns!"

visualspice · July 10, 2013, 01:21:22 PM

Namia just let herself drop, seeming to all but ignore Rowan's rambling. She landed with a noise, then a laugh once she realized she had scored a safe landing and shot a victorious fist into the air.
"I made it!"

OOC:... lol. Poor Rowan's back XD

Rhindeer · July 11, 2013, 07:52:57 PM

OOC: xDDD Namia is so cute.

Thump! The girl was not large or particularly heavy, but it still hurt to have the full force of her weight drop down on him from above! Especially since he wasn't a horse! He wasn't used to carrying any weight on his back at all.

"Ahh! What did I say about dropping down on me!" he groaned, drumming his front hooves on the ground in front of him and twisting around to throw her an agitated look over his shoulder. He could swear that had popped his spine! Though maybe he was being a little dramatic. His mouth was open, ready to say more, but then he froze as he got a good look at the human girl, up close.

She looked so happy, so victorious.

...And she was really, really pretty, even if she was missing half a body.

It was a moment before he realized he was staring, and he cleared his throat and faced forward again, ear flicking.

"Anyway, yes! You did it! Now maybe we can get me outta here!"

visualspice · July 12, 2013, 02:10:23 AM

Namia gave a pleased grin, then moved to reach down to the knife strapped to her side. Unhitching it, she went to work, hacking at the thorns most easiest to reach, before finding herself soon needing to lean dangerously out from upon his back side, muscles aching and straining and sweat collecting across her brow as she stuck out a tongue and furrowed her brow in concentraton.

Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! And more and more of the damn thorns began to fall away in a few clean slices, and once one side was visibly clearer, she slipped off the side of his back and began to crawl underneath him, hacking away what sharp thorns were piercing his poor belly.

"Gods.. there are so many brambles here," she groaned, then an "OUCH!" as a few pricked her arm, one even to her finger hwihc she put into her mouth to suck away the blood. Shaking off hte pain (and the little tricklets of blood) she steeled herself, drawing in a breath, then continued about her work, getting on her hands and knees and working at the thorns now around his hooves while her dark hair fell around her shoulders in a mess.

"Man, you really got yourself tangled in here good."

Rhindeer · July 12, 2013, 10:21:33 PM

Rowan felt a little bad, putting her to work like this, but not the guilt eased away with each cut bramble as the thorns began to slide away from him. It was feeling of relief unlike any other, and Rowan let out a pleased sigh, only wincing when some of the thorns had to be pulled free. That was never pleasant, but it felt better once they were free of his hide.

Soon he could move his legs again, though he was careful not to move too much. The girl was beneath him, and he didn't want to accidentally stomp on her. He spread his front legs out a little and leaned forward so he could peer down between them as she worked, dreadlocks hanging down as he watched her.

"Are you okay?" he asked in response to her pained sounds. "Boy, I really owe you for this! I swear I'll pay you back for this somehow! What kinds of things do humans like? What kinds of things do you like?"

visualspice · July 12, 2013, 11:37:36 PM

Namia peered up at him as he posed his question and blinked.
"Are you seriously asking me now? Why can't you wait until I'm done cutting all these damn thorns out?" She grumbled and turned around, her ass now pointed towards his face as she went about hacking away at the thorns around his back legs. Man he had a lot of brambles tangled into the tufts of his leg hair. And though it was sweaty and annoying ot do this, she paused a moment to wipe at her brow, and sighed, admiring the fact his legs seemed rather powerful. You know. For a horse. She wasn't sure she had ever seen a horse so erm.. large before.

Blinking, she then looked over at Rowan's front. "And you don't have to repay me for this. I couldn't just leave you here. Just think of it as my good deed for the day." And then with a shrug, she went back to work, cutting away the last bits of thorns.
"There." she said, rising up beside him with a triumphant smilea nd a mess of black-blue hair over her face. "You should be all free!"

Rhindeer · July 13, 2013, 12:37:57 PM

Rowan blushed, and scratched at an ear sheepishly. "Er, I was only trying to make conversation," he said to her backside, staring at it more than was proper. But it was only out of curiosity and fascination, because he'd never really seen a human up close like this and he couldn't help but wonder how everything worked. Huh! She didn't even have a tail or anything! Not even a stump that he could see. It was so funny, and yet so interesting!

They also wore so many clothes, and he had to wonder why. Did they find their own bodies funny? Though she did have an interesting shape...

"You know, to make the job go by more...pleasantly, maybe? But I suppose the timing could have been better...ah!"

He felt it when the last of the brambles cut free, and he swished his tail and shifted his legs experimentally, and once again sighed in relief when he could move without pain. "Ah! So much better, thank you! Let's get out of here before those brambles decide they haven't drank enough blood!"

He turned around slowly, careful of the thorns and careful of the girl, and then paused. She was down here now, and there was no easy way for her to get back out unscathed.

Except...

Catching her eye, he nodded toward his back. "Want a ride out?" he asked. He supposed his back could handle a little more abuse!

visualspice · July 13, 2013, 05:29:25 PM

Namia stared up at him with a curious blink, then stared around at the world of thorns they were still submerged in. She grit her teeth then.
"If you ride me out of here, you might get more tangled in these thorns. Here, let me make sure we have a clear path." And she moved forward, sucking in a breath and studied the only logical looking escape route. It appeared clear enough anyways, an she moved forward, testing a few more branches before hacking enough away to widen the way to their escape.
"There!" she said with another triumphant smile. Two good deeds in one day! But unfrtunately for her, she had brambles and dirt all strung out through her hair and clothes. So the bath she tried to have but moments ago was for naught, for she was also quite sweaty and would need another, lest she fester in this itchy mess.
Itching at her arm, she peered up at him, some of her long hair covering her left eye.
"I guess I could do for that ride now. And there's a nice stream nearby. It would do well for us to get the itchy remains of those pesky thorns all nice and washed away." And as if to make her point, she began to itch at her upper arm again, then her cheek, which she smeared a bit of dirt on it just above a light scrape from the thorns she had received.