Categories > Games > Zelda > Four by Four
The Nature of Courage: Rusl part 1
0 reviewsSpeak not of monsters, least they seek you. The begining of Rusl's tale.
0Unrated
Four by four: Prologue:
Glimpses on the Edge of Sight
Rusl: Nature of Courage
Chapter 5
He half woke, the warmth at his side, her warmth, calmed him enough so that he slid back into slumber. Still, though half asleep he trembled, lips forming one tortured word that had been the crux of his nightmares. Those of the waking and dreaming breed.
"...M...Monsters..."
Monsters; one word, taboo. You must never speak of them outright nor dwell upon them in your mind. Else you call them in, and with beasts of dark come vile burdens. So spoke the goddess. So abjure from all thoughts of wickedness, purge the taunted from your presence, and speak not of monsters. Else they hear and come seeking you...
So spoke the goddesses, the elders, and the wise.
"Not here my love, no more." Slender hands clasped over his wrist. In that impossible land between waking and dreams he hovered. Her touch called him back, but still he dithered between the boundaries. Beyond pain for the moment, he indulged in instinct. Instinct caused him to close his hand, and for the motion he was rewarded. From knuckle almost to nail -where the skin had been striped by some horrid scraping ride she could only imagine, the image enforced by the scare on the very earth itself that had lead the searches to him those days long ago- settled hot bars of pain. He gasped, the agony waking him in full, forcing him to step out of that twilight line between waking and sleeping. Nothing new there, he'd woken such so many times before she'd lost count. Still, unlike the others he did not turn back, did not turn back to dreams to better ward the pains. One eye opened, opened wide and sure. With purpose it sought her face, found it, and stilled, and there was something of a horrid wonder to his face. Perhaps he wondered why he could only see half as well. She could have answered, spoken of the other eye, told him it was bound in rust stained swaths of bandages.
She did neither, only met his gaze for the longest of times.
"Uli..."
"Here."
Her touch shifted, settled so that her hand was under his. Comforted by the caress he smiled. To that promising, Goddess sent sign she tried to smile back. Though tears burned behind her eyes she blinked, willing herself not to break. Not now, he was here, and for now that would have to be enough. To her brave front (flawed only by the glint of unshed tears about her eyes) Rustl spread his fingers wide, slipped his red raw digits through the spaced provided by her own.
Offered her what poor comfort he could.
"Where else would I be, my love, if not here, with you." Uli assured.
One breath, another, both released with ever so soft hisses of pain. She blinked back tears, willing herself not to cry. Confident he hadn't seen. he was ill, hurt, certainly he could not see so well just yet, not with only one eye working in full. This was the first time he'd been awake, awake enough to speak, awake enough to understand. She'd not spoil it for him by crying like a hurt child.
"...Colin..."
"No one knows where..." Her voice broke and determination aside she shook and her eyes burned, her vision blurred. "... where any of the children are, dearest..."
Monsters...
The sentence hung between them, uncompleted, a thread of ice for both their spines. A shattered gate, hoof prints (cloven and crescent... a horses... and something else) a trail of gashes on the banks of the sacred spring itself. It took no stretch of the imagination to imagine that horrors had come, that he'd seen them. His eyes, his face, whatever he'd seen had taken great offence at his seeing. Why else had they struck at his eyes? She shivered for that thought, and he tightened his hold for all he was worth. It must have been all the more awful for him for he had seen, his state bespoke that the faces behind their terror were awful beyond words. That must be true. And the minds behind the faces, the warped, craven souls... must be vile beyond all comprehension. And so filled with their evil they inflicted horrors on those who'd been where they should not be, spying on what should not be seen.
Her Rusl's state made such speculations a horrid, bloody truth, at least in her eyes. And it was the only truth for her, for them. Swallowing, she banished such thoughts from her mind, focusing on his question for a time.
"Bo's looking." Her smile was so taunt it shivered, nearly snapping from the force she summoned to hold it in place. "The mayor's a reliable man, a good man," she was babbling, knew it, inane statements known by all, redundancy at it's supreme, still she said them, she'd say anything to bring hope to his horror filled eyes. "He'll find them, never fear."
To her assurance he sighed, eyes sliding shut, grip turning flaccid. From grasp to caress, from caress to limp weight, his strength fled in stages. It was only when the last of his strength left his hand that she slipped her own free. He was asleep, and he must sleep to heal all the quicker.
Closing her own eyes, holding the hand he'd held tight, Uli heard Fado as she'd heard him on that day. Boyish face pale, voice all a shiver, his cries had roused the whole sleepy town. Waking them all to the first part of this living nightmare.
"Monsters in the wood, 'ware!"
Glimpses on the Edge of Sight
Rusl: Nature of Courage
Chapter 5
He half woke, the warmth at his side, her warmth, calmed him enough so that he slid back into slumber. Still, though half asleep he trembled, lips forming one tortured word that had been the crux of his nightmares. Those of the waking and dreaming breed.
"...M...Monsters..."
Monsters; one word, taboo. You must never speak of them outright nor dwell upon them in your mind. Else you call them in, and with beasts of dark come vile burdens. So spoke the goddess. So abjure from all thoughts of wickedness, purge the taunted from your presence, and speak not of monsters. Else they hear and come seeking you...
So spoke the goddesses, the elders, and the wise.
"Not here my love, no more." Slender hands clasped over his wrist. In that impossible land between waking and dreams he hovered. Her touch called him back, but still he dithered between the boundaries. Beyond pain for the moment, he indulged in instinct. Instinct caused him to close his hand, and for the motion he was rewarded. From knuckle almost to nail -where the skin had been striped by some horrid scraping ride she could only imagine, the image enforced by the scare on the very earth itself that had lead the searches to him those days long ago- settled hot bars of pain. He gasped, the agony waking him in full, forcing him to step out of that twilight line between waking and sleeping. Nothing new there, he'd woken such so many times before she'd lost count. Still, unlike the others he did not turn back, did not turn back to dreams to better ward the pains. One eye opened, opened wide and sure. With purpose it sought her face, found it, and stilled, and there was something of a horrid wonder to his face. Perhaps he wondered why he could only see half as well. She could have answered, spoken of the other eye, told him it was bound in rust stained swaths of bandages.
She did neither, only met his gaze for the longest of times.
"Uli..."
"Here."
Her touch shifted, settled so that her hand was under his. Comforted by the caress he smiled. To that promising, Goddess sent sign she tried to smile back. Though tears burned behind her eyes she blinked, willing herself not to break. Not now, he was here, and for now that would have to be enough. To her brave front (flawed only by the glint of unshed tears about her eyes) Rustl spread his fingers wide, slipped his red raw digits through the spaced provided by her own.
Offered her what poor comfort he could.
"Where else would I be, my love, if not here, with you." Uli assured.
One breath, another, both released with ever so soft hisses of pain. She blinked back tears, willing herself not to cry. Confident he hadn't seen. he was ill, hurt, certainly he could not see so well just yet, not with only one eye working in full. This was the first time he'd been awake, awake enough to speak, awake enough to understand. She'd not spoil it for him by crying like a hurt child.
"...Colin..."
"No one knows where..." Her voice broke and determination aside she shook and her eyes burned, her vision blurred. "... where any of the children are, dearest..."
Monsters...
The sentence hung between them, uncompleted, a thread of ice for both their spines. A shattered gate, hoof prints (cloven and crescent... a horses... and something else) a trail of gashes on the banks of the sacred spring itself. It took no stretch of the imagination to imagine that horrors had come, that he'd seen them. His eyes, his face, whatever he'd seen had taken great offence at his seeing. Why else had they struck at his eyes? She shivered for that thought, and he tightened his hold for all he was worth. It must have been all the more awful for him for he had seen, his state bespoke that the faces behind their terror were awful beyond words. That must be true. And the minds behind the faces, the warped, craven souls... must be vile beyond all comprehension. And so filled with their evil they inflicted horrors on those who'd been where they should not be, spying on what should not be seen.
Her Rusl's state made such speculations a horrid, bloody truth, at least in her eyes. And it was the only truth for her, for them. Swallowing, she banished such thoughts from her mind, focusing on his question for a time.
"Bo's looking." Her smile was so taunt it shivered, nearly snapping from the force she summoned to hold it in place. "The mayor's a reliable man, a good man," she was babbling, knew it, inane statements known by all, redundancy at it's supreme, still she said them, she'd say anything to bring hope to his horror filled eyes. "He'll find them, never fear."
To her assurance he sighed, eyes sliding shut, grip turning flaccid. From grasp to caress, from caress to limp weight, his strength fled in stages. It was only when the last of his strength left his hand that she slipped her own free. He was asleep, and he must sleep to heal all the quicker.
Closing her own eyes, holding the hand he'd held tight, Uli heard Fado as she'd heard him on that day. Boyish face pale, voice all a shiver, his cries had roused the whole sleepy town. Waking them all to the first part of this living nightmare.
"Monsters in the wood, 'ware!"
Sign up to rate and review this story