Re: The wall

Leonidas walked among the battlements, letting his hands drift across the rough stones that made up the walls, feeling their texture and shape under his fingertips as he gazed over the edge. From his position on the inner walls, he could see the commander with his knights-to-be in shining armor, running drills in their heavy suits so as to be better accustomed to them. Though he was familiar with the sounds of their training - the shuffling of sliding steel parts, the heavy breathing, the shouted orders coming one after the other - he could not actually hear them due to the height of the wall.

Looking out past the outer walls, he could see the peasants running their daily lives of bargaining in the marketplace, and working the fields to supply the kingdom with its food. Farm animals grazed, and small caravans made their ways in and out of the more populated city around the castle, trading what could not be easily collected and maintained in the immediate area. Following the outward caravans, his eyes were drawn to the thick forests at the base of the mountain range, which encircled the kingdom to provide protection, and shone in the sunlight thanks to the snow covered peaks high in the sky.

It was a particularly clear day, with not a cloud in sight, which was what had drawn the prince out of the confining space of the inner halls, as well as what allowed him to see so far into the distance.

As his hand came to rest upon one of the lowered portions of the battlements that had been designed to allow for the guards to rain heavy bombardments on any potential invaders, Leonidas smiled to himself. He had another use for the crenellation. With a heave, he lifted himself up and over the wall, dropping down to sit with his legs dangling over the edge. Sitting atop the wall, rather than standing behind it, gave him a less cluttered view, and allowed him to feel the breeze in the air blowing past the entirety of his person.

Leonidas took a deep breath, letting the freshness of the cold air fill his lungs. Inside the castle, the air was consistently muggy and warm. He wasn't permitted outside of its walls very often, so days like this where he could sneak out to the battlements were the closest he got to being away. It gave him a sense of freedom, even if it was only a brief and half-imagined one. Though guards did patrol the area even up this high, he had done this so frequently over the years that they had given up trying to advise him against his actions. He knew that he had nothing to fear. He closed his eyes as he breathed the fresh air, and dreamed of sprouting wings, letting the wind lift him up and carry him away over the lands and seas, able to experience the world and all its wonders. The wind came up from the valley, carrying the smell of the trees from the forest mixed with the smoke coming from the bakery, a mixture itself of crackling fire and rising dough.

"Good morrow, Leonidas," came a soft voice from behind. Leonidas opened his eyes and turned back to see the source of the voice - a slender girl whom he had never seen before. "You looked like you might be needing of some company."

Leonidas took a moment to take her in before he responded. She wore a simple dress of soft green, with an azure pendant hanging from her neck, and her amber hair resting gently just below her shoulders. Her face was thin, but well composed, and her hair was draped around it in an almost picturesque way, and her matching brown eyes practically smiled up at him. "I did not feel particularly lonely," he informed her, "but if you are willing to sit as I do, you are more than welcome to join me."

The girl smiled and stepped towards the wall, much to Leonidas' surprise. He had expected her to leave immediately at such a proposition. She held a hand out to him, and he took it, helping to lift her up onto the wall so that she could take a seat beside him, her legs carefully draped over the edge beside his own. He looked at her once more, now not sure quite what to think of her. "Who are you?" he asked.

The girl looked at him and smiled gently. "Just a friend, your majesty," she responded. He looked into her eyes for a moment, pausing to read her face, then smiled. Together, they turned to look out over the countryside in solemn quietude.

Re: Angels and Kitsune

Erasmus' eyes opened as the wind rushed across his face. He didn't particularly remember falling asleep, although clearly he must have. The blue sky above him suggested that he had fallen asleep outside, which seemed like something that he would do. That also explained why the wind was on his face, though it must have been a particularly windy morning, as the wind was rushing in circles around him, blowing his hair wildly in his eyes. The rush roared in his ears, making it difficult to hear anything nearby, and a dull pain in his shoulder discouraged him from rolling over and trying to stand up. He seemed only to want to stay in his place and go back to sleep.

The searing pain that exploded inside him as he hit the ground made that difficult however. He had been falling from high in the air, gaining speeds far beyond any that any person should have been able to withstand before slamming into a tree, his speed and weight causing it to crack and fall beneath him. The impact felt as though it shattered his spine, but the shoulder opposite that which had hurt before was by far the most painful spot on his body. It felt as though something had stabbed into it, and he could feel every broken inch of that which was stabbing him, compounding the pain. He had never experienced anything like it before.

His vision, only a few moments before restored by his awakening, began to fade at the edges because of the pain. He fought with every fiber of his being to stay awake, unsure of what would happen should he fail but certain that it was less than desirable, and forced himself to sit upright despite the pain. A short ways away, on the other side of the broken stump of tree that remained after his fall, Erasmus could see a long pole with some kind of metallic end piece sticking out of the ground. He crawled his way over to it, and curled his fingers around it, intending to use it as a crutch so that he could get up on to his feet. He was surprised to find the cold feel of its shaft to feel familiar in his hand, shaped to a size that his hand fit perfectly around. With a painful tug, he removed it form the dirt, flipping it over to stick the butt of the pole in the ground before he fell over.

Now able to get on his feet and begin walking, Erasmus looked around to try and determine where he was and where he should go next. Nothing looked familiar. He had no idea where he was. Struggling to think, he realized that there were a great many things he did not know. The only thing he could remember was his name, and the short few events that had occurred since his awakening in the sky. He had no idea why or how he could have been so high in the air. Why he had fallen. Who he even was, other than Erasmus.

He didn't even notice that he had begun moving. His feet had simply picked a direction and started moving, and lacking any direction or clues, he really didn't have any choice but to go with that. He wandered the forest that he had landed in, looking around for any sign of life that might be able to help him, when he heard another's cry for help. He was weak and broken, but something inside him urged him to help so powerfully that he simply could not ignore its call. As fast as he could manage, which was quite slow, he made his way to the voice.

Arriving in a clearing, he was presented with quite a scene. A young woman with fox ears and tail hung by a rope around her ankles from a tree. She looked frustrated and pained, her face begin to turn a light shade of pink. When she saw him, she let out a panicked squeal and pushed her hands up to lift her skirt so that it was covering the front of her lower body.

"Are you the one who was calling for help?" Erasmus asked. He was surprised at the hoarseness of his own voice. He supposed that it was the first time he had ever heard it.

"I, uh..." The fox girl was clearly torn between something, but Erasmus wasn't sure what. "Yes, I am," she finally said. "I'm stuck. Do you think you can get me down?"

Erasmus looked up at her, at the rope around her ankle, and how it connected to the tree she was being suspended from. He thought about the best way to get her down, but he didn't know much about these kinds of traps. Or any kinds of traps. He looked at the polearm he was using as a cane, and particularly at the metallic end piece. It was triangular in shape, and one edge of it appeared to be sharpened. He thought that if he moved fast enough, perhaps he could swing this at the rope and get the pole back on the ground before he fell over.

His muscles, tired as they may be, took over immediately. As if by second nature, Erasmus lifted the weapon off of the ground and swung it around his head, severing the rope in a smooth motion. The moment the girl began to fall, the butt of his weapon swept into the back of her shirt, catching her as the head stuck into the ground, preventing them both from falling. Slowly he lowered the girl to the ground, her eyes wide, trying to comprehend what had happened in that split moment.

Erasmus shifted his polearm back into a more comfortable position as a crutch once she was on the ground. "Better?" he asked.

The girl turned to face him, face flat for a moment as she took him in right-side up, then smiled brightly and lunged toward him, grabbing him in a hug. "Thank-!"

Her words were cut off the moment her arms went around Erasmus, a howl of pain escaping his lips. She jumped back, landing on all fours, and watched him as he lurched in pain for a moment. "I'm so sorry!" she called out. "I didn't know you were hurt! Oh god..." her eyes widened once more as her eyes focused on the area where the protrusion from Erasmus' shoulder would have been. "Oh my god, your wing..."

Erasmus looked at her through half open eyes, trying to catch his breath. "Wing?" he asked. "What wing?"

Re: Wings

The princess leaned against the railing of her balcony, overlooking the east side of the city. As she observed the slowly dying lights as the people went to bed, she absent-mindedly fingered the simple necklace she wore around her neck, adorned with a single word: "Arianna." A gentle breeze was blowing, the lip of her nightdress delicately flicking around her ankles, the toes of her bare feet pushing her up just a little bit higher to try and see just a little bit further into the distant horizon.

She had not had a great deal of freedom as of late. It was understandable, of course. She had no disillusions about what it meant to be a princess - she was to do as she was told, be where she was meant to be, and speak politely only when spoken to. But as the tournament was being held, she had even less freedom than usual. Foreign knights would love nothing more than to take her away as a prize - or so she was told - and so she must restrict her movements so as to minimize potential interactions with them.

But staying in her room all the time was so boring. She let a sigh escape her lips as she slumped over the railing. Below, in the little light that remained, she could see a few children rushing home before it was too dark for them to see the path in front of them. She had often been told how fortunate she was not to be a trouble causer like those rascals, but she could not help but look upon them with envy. To be able to move about as they pleased, to do the wrong things and face the consequences for them, and be able to learn without being told to. That was a life she could only dream of. She could not spread her wings and learn to fly as they did. Her wings had been clipped so that she might not act out of turn.

Her attention was torn away from the city as she heard the pounding of feet racing towards her door. She turned around to see one of the servants pushing her door open in a blind panic, then quickly turn and slam the door shut, locking it before pushing a chair in front of it to lodge it in place.

"What are you doing?" she demanded.

The servant leaped in fear, turning to see the voice that had called out to him. "Princess Arianna!" he exclaimed, then quickly covered his mouth. His eyes were filled with an agonizing terror the likes of which Arianna had never witnessed. He rushed to her, pushing her out on to the balcony and closing the twin glass doors behind them.

"Princess Arianna," he whispered, "there's no time. Something has gone terribly wrong. Your father has instructed me to make sure that, by whatever means necessary, you are not taken."

The statement filled Arianna's mind with a dizzying confusion. She had so many questions. What had happened? Why was father so insistent on her protection? Taken by who? Her mouth, however, would not move. Her body had betrayed her as she was overcome with a freezing panic. Whatever had gone wrong was very, very wrong. More so than anything she had ever experienced before. That much was clear.

"Please, your highness," the servant continued, "you must get out of here. You have to escape, before it is too late. The fate of the kingdom itself may depend on it."

"B-but..." the words were barely able to escape her mouth. "But father forbid..."

"All previous orders are hereby rescinded," the servant insisted. "Please, you must-"

He was cut off by a thunderous pounding that came from Arianna's door. No human being could have hit the door that hard. One pound, two, three... The door exploded inward, wooden shards flying about the room as the two of them watched from the outside. The shards shredded curtains and blankets, stabbed into anything soft, and knocked over various pieces of furniture and personal belongings. Arianna's mind went numb as she watched it happen, all centering on the hulking mass that had broken the door down.

A single man walked into the room. His eyes were cold, glaring directly at Arianna through the glass, his face flat and emotionless. He was massive, easily a head taller than her father, his shoulders almost too broad to fit through the doorway. Slowly he raised his arm, pointing a single finger in her direction. She could feel the blood leaving her face.

She tried to back away from him as he approached the glass doors, but was stopped by the railing she had been looking out over only moments before. She had nowhere to go. As the mysterious man reached the door, he placed his hand on the glass, and with a single push, it shattered. A scream ripped from Arianna's voice as she stepped backwards, railing be damned, and the force of the man's push on the glass shook her soul. But it shook the railing as well. As she stepped, the railing gave way, and together they fell to the moat, hundreds of feet below.

The man was too slow to catch her as she fell. He picked up the servant instead, lifting him by the collar, and stared into his eyes. They stood in silence for a moment, until the sound of the splash reached their ears.

"That better not have been the princess," the man's rough voice whispered, threat clear in his inflection.

"It was," the servant responded, accepting his fate. "And you'll never have her now."

Below, the railing sunk to the bottom of the moat, pushing the princess' dress down with it. Above, a bluejay flapped its wings frantically, flying away from the castle as fast as possible, desiring to be anywhere. Anywhere but there.