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Post by Ruby on Jan 21, 2013 22:16:37 GMT -5
Numb. She couldn't decide if it was the most horrible of feelings, or the most euphoric, although she was leaning towards the latter. She felt...nothing. No pain, no sadness, no joy, no laughter, she felt empty. Devoid of any and every emotion she had ever known. Emerald eyes were hollow and cold and she moved slowly and with a definite limp. She could still feel the blood caked upon her inner thighs. She had almost reached the edge of the city. Just a few more steps... just a few more minutes and she would be lost to her home. Numb. It was such a euphoric notion.
"Red! Red!" The werewolf stopped midstride her head turning, to face the foreign voice. A guard. Did she know of any guards? She did not think so, if they did they knew her only by her wolf and with direct orders from Snow not to shoot it. He skidded to a halt directly in front of her, panting and wheezing for breath. "Snow says your deadly with a bow! We need help! I need to inform the Queen! Its Trolls! On the borders! They are decimating a small village, please we need help!" And with that the guard was gone racing towards the castle as fast as his legs would carry him. Red's gaze moved down to the bow he had thrown at her and then at the towering city gates. She tilted her head to the left listening intently, focusing. The roar and bellow of the trolls could be heard for miles. The screams of the townspeople were drowned by it.
Her fingers coiled around the bow before releasing it... why had she never thought of numb before? It was such a blissful notion. Her fingers quickly undid her skirts and let them fall, she pulled the shirt up over her head and let it pool a top the rest of her garments. She cracked her neck, willed herself to fight the throbbing burn between her thighs and then... she was gone.
When next feet hit the ground, they were paws, thick and covered in ebony fur. rocketing through the city and out of its towering gaits faster than any stallion could ever dream of matching she raced. The beasts heart beat in tune with her own and together they shot across the terrain. There were three. Monstrous, hideously ugly trolls with milky white flesh, great boils oozing pus, fat flab's with thick blue veins supplying their life's liquid and each wielded a weapon more nasty then the last. The villagers stood no chance. Red roared and the trolls turned, she snarled and snapped pawed the earth and screamed and their attention turned to her.
She sped across the earth, using momentum to lunge and topple the creature over, claws tore through his thick fat and teeth tore into his throat. A great club, covered in spikes smashed into her right back leg and with a sickening crack, she was sent careening off of the downed beast, taking a vast majority of his throat with her. She whimpered, the pain in that leg causing her to limp, but the numbness was helping, already masking such pain. With a snarl she raced for the second, she managed to dig her talons into its flesh finding a foothold and ripping away any potion of flesh she could grab with her mouth... but in her distraction she paid no heed to the third.
The third troll coiled his arms around her chest and lifted her free of its companion before squeezing. The cracking of bones resounded through the air and golden eyes blew wide with pain as he snapped her ribcage like twigs, massive jaws splayed wide and a screeching howl of agony tore its way from her throat. Carelessly he tossed her away and she skidded through the thick snow. The transformation receding and Red gasped in pain the likes of which she had never felt. Darkness swarmed her vision, but there was still a ringing in her ears, vaguely, her mind supplied her that it was her own screams, before her world went black.
Numb. She couldn't decide if it was the most horrible of feelings, or the most euphoric, although she was leaning towards the latter...
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Post by Dorian Gray on Jan 21, 2013 22:41:06 GMT -5
Dorian had lay in his bed for quite some time, thinking on what he had done and already missing her body by his side. What had he done? He'd been a bad man, and he had lost all physical and mental fortitude because he refused to let her help him. This was it; he never learned his lessons because they were not necessary to one whose only ambitions in life were pleasure. Not held down. Not committed to anyone or anything. And now he'd been tied, if unwittingly, to Ruby. She had captured him and he could not help but let himself be captivated. All of the recent events had led to his anger, and now he felt the remorse.
He sat up slowly, looking around and noticing the stains he'd left on his bed. He looked away. He had hurt her so much, and now it seemed she would never come back. He had wronged her in ways that no human should ever be wronged, and now he knew what it was like when someone was hurt. Pain had finally won its silly game; he was a bastard who did not deserve her.
But he got off of his bed, clothed himself in warm woolen clothing so that he might go chase her. He wore his riding attire and his darkest black boots. Everything was black, from his mantle to his hat, and he was ready to go. She might not want to see him and he knew so, but he was going anyway. Because now, his sobered mind saw everything for what it was and he was ashamed, angry now only at himself. She had nothing to do with this. He had to make it right, if only for her. He had to stop being so selfish.
He and Byron, his mount, followed her, sought her out until several long hours later he knew where she was and kept in the shadows to gather his courage. The night was disapating and he was having more and more trouble staying away from her sight. He knew how keen her senses were, wondered if she could actually smell him on the breeze. He hid, though, until three atrocious trolls appeared and Ruby was called away. He followed her, ever her stalker, but lost her as the wolf was far too fast.
It took him a half-hour to get to the action, and what he saw of it was the most awful thing his life had yet to see: Ruby, there at the mercy of a troll she'd apparently not noticed, was dangling in his hold, and what Dorian saw next made him scream, grimace, cry out--the thing had snapped her! He yelled, pulling out his quiver immediately to shoot seven, eight, nine arrows at the beast, hitting him twice in the eye. He was shocked and he was scared. And more than that, he had to get to Ruby. He raced off on his steed to where she lay, dismounted sloppily, and knelt at her side, tears already in his eyes. Why had he been so bad to her? Why so angry? Why so misunderstanding? What a bastard he was! What a coward and murderer and thief!
He did not know what to do but place one gentle kiss on her lips. He was certain she was dead. Dorian took her hand in his and cried.
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Post by Ruby on Jan 21, 2013 23:31:07 GMT -5
She remembered... in the darkness of her thoughts why numb could not be a chosen state of living. It was simply because it was a temporary state and nothing more, it was in human nature to struggle for survival. No one person could be blessed enough to live without emotion. Even if that emotion was only ever pain and despair, it still thrummed within the confines of one's heart. Even Regina... the seemingly heartless witch was fueled by her vengeance. Fueled by her hatred and her bitterness, to kill the one responsible for destroying her only love. She understood such things now. One could not be numb because one could not exist without feeling.
But... Red didn't want to exist and the numbness was so soothing, like an old lover, an old friend, it caressed her and coiled her in its safe embrace. She did not want to feel anymore. She did not want to remember why she hurt so bad, she did not want to know what caused the hollow emptiness in the dark cavern of her chest. She liked this feeling of nothingness. She had no cares, no worries, no concerns... here nothing hurt and no memories tarnished her brain, but... the numb began to fade and she started to remember. She clawed for that sweet fog of bliss but it still retreated despite her desperate pleas and her soft cries for it to return. She didn't want her memories, she didn't want her pain! She wanted the numbness to take her, claim her, damn her, do whatever the hell it wanted with her, just so long as it didn't go away.
"You know that injury would have killed anyone else... advanced healing that's gotta be nice." She spun uselessly in the never ending darkness, she had no shape no physical form, and of course there was nothing there, but she knew that voice. She knew that goddamned voice she just couldn't remember from where. "C'mon! Don't tell me you forgot all about me just cause some pretty boy called upon you for a good lay a few times." It hit her like a ton of bricks.
"P-peter." She spun back around and he was in front of her, hands casually stuffed in his pockets, a teasing smile on his mouth as he shrugged casually. "H-how?"
"Hey don't look at me... this is all happening in that pretty little head of yours, not mine." She backed up and he walked towards her, blood beginning to drip from his mouth, his forehead. His arm was ripped away and she could remember her talons ripping through his flesh, his chest fell away revealing his dismantled rib cage and still he walked towards her. "Just remember babe, when you die... I'll be the one here... waiting for you, we will run away together see?"
Red screamed and everything else happened at once.
Every memory, every pain, every deal, every sin, every moment with Dorian, from him loving her to him raping her flew burst through her fog filled mind like the bursting of dam. She remembered how badly it had hurt, remembered the farm lands, remembered the trolls, remembered her broken leg, remembering her cracked ribs, and then she remembered only the cold.
Green eyes snapped open but they saw nothing. Darkness swirled before her and pain... so much pain, her entire body was flooded with agony. It hurt to breathe. Nothing should ever hurt to breathe. Her right leg and her chest screamed the most, with each beat of her heart sheer agony shot through both and it was all she could do not to scream. She would die here, Peter was wrong, no one could survive an injury like this.
Her vision slowly cleared and she tried to scream to release some of her agony if only mentally but she could not do as such, her body wasn't responding to her and her vocals were barely letting out a whisper, a whine, a desperate cry of something. To kill her, to save her, to stop this agonizing pain, she didn't care, she just wanted it to end. Her fingers found material and she coiled them as tightly as she could manage. She could move her toes, she could move her fingers. She wasn't paralyzed at least.
Her eyes followed the trail of her fingers, her vision swimming in and out of focus as she struggled to see who kneeled over her. Her other hand felt warmth and she was so very cold. She squeezed whoever it belonged too, perhaps they were here only to comfort her while she struggled through her pain. She appreciated it all the same. But when her vision had cleared enough to see just who was above her, her heart caught in her throat and her not breathing had nothing to do with her broken ribs.
"D-Dorian." She could taste her own blood and could feel her body convulsing. "Don't cry." Wild, hacking violent coughs, had blood dribbling down from her lips. "You don't have to t-talk to Gold anymore." The coughs were weaker now, more feeble and she gave up trying to speak. She allowed the cold of the snow to numb her leg and her side. Her eyes fluttered, the darkness threatening to suck her down and she was tempted... so very, very tempted to let it.
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Post by Dorian Gray on Jan 22, 2013 16:45:33 GMT -5
Dorian had been a long time hurting, but he had not felt pain like this before. He knew what it was like to hurt, but he'd alway ignored it, thrown it onto the shrine of his soul. Now he understood: the painting was a representation of what had been inside him all along, and he'd only thought it actually took away the pain. It had always been there, but his mental block had allowed him to go on seemingly unfazed, allowed him to forget everything and focus on the life that Lord Henry and his fellow Victorian society had constructed for him, full of poisoning defects and blatant lies. He was not his own person; he had been made to be who others had mapped him out to be. Because to influence someone was to give them one's soul.
He knew it! He had known it! And more than that, he'd absolutely blown his last chance with Ruby. Some alcohol would do good now, to numb the pain, or some opium--but no, he'd ignored the blissfulness of being a numb man. That was what had survived him through all these years; that was the reason his morals had not hurt his heart or mind. That was why he could stand himself once, every morning when he arose from his bed.
Her body, now so broken... He would gladly lay there in her place, either dying or dead, he couldn't tell which it was. There was a moment when he thought he saw her face relax, like she was thinking, but Dorian then thought himself crazy for thinking it. What he'd seen from that troll inflicted upon her body was not something that would leave, and not something she was likely to survive. He knew how strong she was, knew that she could heal incredibly, but this time... this time he thought the worst instead. As he knelt over her, his tears falling upon snowy ground and her feeble body, he wanted to know why.
Why she died. Why he'd let her go. Why, why, why? It was all his own damn fault.
"Ruby," he whispered through tears, the first he had ever shed. He bared his teeth and removed his outer cloak, placing it gently atop her. If it was just a token, it made him feel the slightest bit better. But then something remarkable happened and he was paralyzed by both wonder and fear. She spoke. She was alive. In his haste, he had not checked her to find a pulse. "Don't speak, Ruby. There, l-lay you still." He was still fighting his tears.
And he wondered for a minute. There was not a way that he, just Dorian, could save her. But what if there was someone who could? He had to find a way. He called out for someone to help, anyone. He wanted to get her inside but was afraid that if he moved her, she'd become paralyzed. Why was this happening? Why his Ruby, taken from him, because of his own damn greed and self-pity? Why?
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Post by Ruby on Jan 22, 2013 21:16:55 GMT -5
Her methods of healing were working. She could the shattered bone trying to med itself and she wasn't sure which hurt worse, the act of so much trauma, or the act of the bones rebreaking to mend themselves. Her bones were used to the shift from woman to wolf but not when they were so badly disfigured and she whined, tears leaking from the corners of her eyes as the blackness swam in her vision. She faded in and out of consciousness as though in a fog. Her fingers clung to the warmth the figure beside her provided like a vice. Flexing her muscles with every beat of agony that trailed along her body. Even her healing could not save her life, if her ribs were not enough, she knew her leg was just as damaged, who knew how badly she was bleeding internally? She would be lucky to survive the next few minutes, much less enough time for help to even consider reaching her.
She forced her vision to stop swimming, it was making her ill, it was making her tremble. She squeezed her eyes shut and fought back the darkness, even if she was riding the pity party train to hell there were others that still needed her. Snow, Charming, Granny... it was so terribly selfish of her to simply give up and so she fought it... not well, but she fought it and when she opened her eyes once more, she had subdued the darkness to the far edges of her sights and was actually able to see, and the first thing she saw was Dorian's tears. She frowned, lifting one hand, which seemed a herculean task, to trace the line of his cheekbone and brush his tears away.
"My D-Dorian... did you follow me for? You should be home... not here in the c-cold?" She didn't stutter from the bitter chill of winters breath, but rather from her lack of oxygen. She believed she had heard it once called flail chest... but it scarcely seemed to matter. Something seemed to eat at her and she frowned, using all of her strength to keep her hand against his cheek. "Were you ever mine D-dori?" Just as fast she laughed which quickly became a wheezing, hacking cough. "Don't answer... l-love you anyway." A peaceful smile drifted across her face and she relaxed back into the snow, she supposed if she was to die... right next to someone she loved wouldn't be so bad.
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Post by Dorian Gray on Jan 22, 2013 22:36:02 GMT -5
Dorian knew of all her powers as the wolf... or at least several of them. He wondered, though, if she might be too broken this time to mend. Would her body just give up? Would she--dare he even think such a thing--be dead by nightfall? His heart he could feel breaking, and the pain was so great that it almost didn't even hurt. He had been wrong. So, so wrong. And right now, he thought, he would noiselessly take her place if he were bidden. Emotions that had so long been blocked out and masked were tearing now at him, his heart feeling the sting of fifty unrepented years of immorality. He could not bear to see her like this. And he would never say he loved her but what he felt was pretty damn close. That was simply the one salvation he had still to his name--loveless.
He nodded, wondering how clearly she was able to see him, if at all. "Sweetheart, of course I did. I've wronged you so badly... I wanted to take you back but..." another tear down his cheek, and his voice had been arrested by his heart. He could not say more. He swallowed hard and tried to choke back the emotions that he didn't want her to have to see. The face of a killer, his was, once more.
He held her finger on his hand. He wanted to do everything to warm her; the poor girl was so cold and so helpless and all he was able to do was stay and watch her die. He scratched his head, and decided she was certainly more worth the warmth than him, in all his coldheartedness. He took off the other two layers from his chest and wrapped them around her along with his cloak which was already there. He was bare but the suffering was no worse. She'd told him not to answer, but his words came anyway. "You've always been mine. I was too stupid to see it." His voice was soft and gentle.
He got to thinking. Who could save her, if not him? There had to be someone. "I have to save you, Ruby," he whispered, mainly to himself. He would not go on without her.
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