(no subject)
Vanilla #8. My Hero with Whipped Cream, Hot Fudge, and Malt
Rating : PG
Timeframe : 1244
Word Count : 1237
Malt Prompt : Teeny's stocking stuffer - "Antiquis temporibus, nati tibi similes in rupibus ventosissimis exponebantur ad necem..."
(In the good old days, children like you were left to perish on windswept crags...)
This is, in a roundabout way, a response to Falootin's request for Kairn's return to the necromancers. I realized I can't just delegate whatever Sethan doesn't do to Kinu, and a major story point didn't seem like the place to arbitrarily introduce new folks. So, I'm working in more necromancers
The thud of boots on hard packed dirt thundered through the yard, punctuated, not surprisingly, by the occasional sharp impact of either fist or boot on flesh. Sethan hunched low over his work, cross legged on the ground, the short span of a broken branch tucked between his fingers like a pen. He traced line after line into the earth, forcing his hand to stay steady as he strained to block both the jeers of the mob and the cries of their latest victim.
He didn’t bother to look up. He didn’t need to; the scene was always the same. The young, weak, little thing at the center of all the commotion never did much to start the whole thing, beyond showing a distinct lack of ability to fight back. Sleights were imagined, insults thrown. In the end the older boys’ fists were bloody and their egos thouroughly stroked. All very dull indeed.
“Leave him alone!” Now that was highly unexpected. Sethan frowned at the smudged line the sudden outburst had cost him. He rubbed the mistake out with his thumb and sat back to study this new turn of events.
“Leave him alone!” the newcomer repeated. A scrawny thing, not much bigger than their usual prey, with heavily patched clothes and a shaggy mop of black hair that fell over his eyes, Kairn was poised at the edge of the fray, limbs tense and fists clenched, as if prepared to leap in and haul the boy on the ground to safety.
Aldo, current leader of the pack, by virtue of his bulk, turned to laugh at Kairn, the squirming victim dangling from his grip by one small wrist. “Aww, look at that,” he said, hoisting the boy up until the knees folded beneath him barely skimmed the dirt, and pointing him at Kairn. “Seems you’ve got a knight in shining armor come to rescue you.”
Snickers ran through the crowd as Kairn trembled under the larger boy’s gaze. Kinu scuffed a foot along the ground and a stone flew at him. Kairn winced, but held his ground, as it bounced off his arm.
Aldo jerked his hand back, and the boy yelped as he fell in a heap at his feet. “Too bad he’s no bigger than you are.”
“Doesn’t matter,” Kairn said. The fists braced before him trembled. The older boys laughed and Kairn flinched as more pebbles came hurtling his way, pelting his arms and his chest. “I’m not just going to sit and watch you beat him when he’s done nothing wrong.”
“Really?” said Kinu, sidling up as close to Aldo as he could without actually taking the lead. “What are you going to do?”
Kairn glared at him, small fists tightening. “Whatever I have to.”
From the edge of the crowd, Ril lobbed a stone at his head and Kairn ducked, arms thrown up to cover his face. The mob roared with laughter as he struggled, on shaky legs, to regain some semblance of balance.
“Gee,“ said Aldo. “Looks like we’ve got ourselves a real challenge here. This one means to put us in our place.” His companions were quick to return the broad grin he cast them. “Can’t have that now, can we?” He let loose of his captive’s wrist. The boy took no more than an instant to shake himself off before racing out of sight without so much as a word of thanks to his would be savior.
There was a chorus of cracking knuckles throughout the crowd, and Kairn’s legs all but crumbled beneath him. “Knight in armor my ass,“ said Kinu. “Useless orphan runt.”
“One reject fighting for another,” agreed Ril, tossing another stone Kairn’s way.
“Don’t know why he bothers keeping any of them.” Aldo closed the distance between himself and his new prey in two broad steps.
With a sigh and a slow shake of his head, Sethan tossed the stick aside and pushed himself to his feet. By some stroke of luck, Kairn managed to duck beneath the first swing of Aldo’s fist. He shuffled a few paces to one side, nearly tumbling to his hands and knees, Kinu closing in on him.
Sethan made his way leisurely across the dusty yard, arms folded across his chest. Kinu caught Kairn by the shoulder and sent him pitching forward, where his gut met with Aldo’s knee. Kairn let out a cry of pain as he rolled away, but lashed out with his fists anyway. His assailants laughed as they easily sidestepped the blows, and Kairn landed in the dust.
More boys closed in on him. Sethan could see a hand, now and then, amidst the swinging feet, desperately flailing as if to ward off the blows. The harsh thumps and the sharp cries that filled the air gave little hope that he was having much success.
Sethan planted himself a fair distance outside the scuffle. Slowly etching a broad arc in the dirt with the toe of his boot, he focused on catching the eye of one of the smaller figures on the edge of the fray and cleared his throat as loudly as he could. Dayl spotted him first, the boy’s facing growing a shade paler as he looked from Sethan to the crude lines forming at his feet and back again. He dove into the fight, frantically jabbing at his fellows until all eyes were on Sethan.
The crowd fell away, leaving Aldo at the center, foot lodged in the back of a no longer protesting Kairn. He folded thick arms across his chest and glared down at Sethan. “What do you want?”
“You’re making too much noise.” Sethan shrugged, eyes on his boots. “It’s hard to concentrate.”
“That so?” said Aldo, his voice quickly fading as Sethan scratched out the last line of the sigil. “Well,” he said, giving Kairn a shove with his foot as he backed away. “I think he’s learned his lesson, hasn’t he?” There was an incoherent groan from the body in the dust.
“But-” Kinu started. There was an open handed gesture of confusion as the silver haired boy looked between Aldo and Sethan before the former shot him a look that rendered him silent.
“We’re done,” said Aldo, as Sethan traced over a few of his lines, digging them deeper into the earth. “Not much fun anymore,” he added with another jab from his boot to Kairn’s ribs. “Besides, it’s almost time for dinner.”
There was some grumbling from the rest, but no one made any open protest as they turned to follow. Dayl strayed behind, wide eyes still on the markings at Sethan’s feet. Sethan straddled the sigil and shot him a glare, and the boy raced off after his fellows, tripping and stumbling over his own feet as he hurried to catch them.
When they were all out of sight, Sethan strolled over to the form sprawled on the ground. He hoisted Kairn by the back of his collar, the smaller boy spitting out mouthfuls of dust as he rose. “You know,” he said, setting him down on his knees. “You have far too much in the way of guts for someone so small. It will get you in trouble someday.”
Kairn looked himself over, swiping his hands along his thighs in a feeble attempt to swat away the dirt. “You’re one to talk.”
Sethan grinned. “I seem to be in one piece.”
Rating : PG
Timeframe : 1244
Word Count : 1237
Malt Prompt : Teeny's stocking stuffer - "Antiquis temporibus, nati tibi similes in rupibus ventosissimis exponebantur ad necem..."
(In the good old days, children like you were left to perish on windswept crags...)
This is, in a roundabout way, a response to Falootin's request for Kairn's return to the necromancers. I realized I can't just delegate whatever Sethan doesn't do to Kinu, and a major story point didn't seem like the place to arbitrarily introduce new folks. So, I'm working in more necromancers
The thud of boots on hard packed dirt thundered through the yard, punctuated, not surprisingly, by the occasional sharp impact of either fist or boot on flesh. Sethan hunched low over his work, cross legged on the ground, the short span of a broken branch tucked between his fingers like a pen. He traced line after line into the earth, forcing his hand to stay steady as he strained to block both the jeers of the mob and the cries of their latest victim.
He didn’t bother to look up. He didn’t need to; the scene was always the same. The young, weak, little thing at the center of all the commotion never did much to start the whole thing, beyond showing a distinct lack of ability to fight back. Sleights were imagined, insults thrown. In the end the older boys’ fists were bloody and their egos thouroughly stroked. All very dull indeed.
“Leave him alone!” Now that was highly unexpected. Sethan frowned at the smudged line the sudden outburst had cost him. He rubbed the mistake out with his thumb and sat back to study this new turn of events.
“Leave him alone!” the newcomer repeated. A scrawny thing, not much bigger than their usual prey, with heavily patched clothes and a shaggy mop of black hair that fell over his eyes, Kairn was poised at the edge of the fray, limbs tense and fists clenched, as if prepared to leap in and haul the boy on the ground to safety.
Aldo, current leader of the pack, by virtue of his bulk, turned to laugh at Kairn, the squirming victim dangling from his grip by one small wrist. “Aww, look at that,” he said, hoisting the boy up until the knees folded beneath him barely skimmed the dirt, and pointing him at Kairn. “Seems you’ve got a knight in shining armor come to rescue you.”
Snickers ran through the crowd as Kairn trembled under the larger boy’s gaze. Kinu scuffed a foot along the ground and a stone flew at him. Kairn winced, but held his ground, as it bounced off his arm.
Aldo jerked his hand back, and the boy yelped as he fell in a heap at his feet. “Too bad he’s no bigger than you are.”
“Doesn’t matter,” Kairn said. The fists braced before him trembled. The older boys laughed and Kairn flinched as more pebbles came hurtling his way, pelting his arms and his chest. “I’m not just going to sit and watch you beat him when he’s done nothing wrong.”
“Really?” said Kinu, sidling up as close to Aldo as he could without actually taking the lead. “What are you going to do?”
Kairn glared at him, small fists tightening. “Whatever I have to.”
From the edge of the crowd, Ril lobbed a stone at his head and Kairn ducked, arms thrown up to cover his face. The mob roared with laughter as he struggled, on shaky legs, to regain some semblance of balance.
“Gee,“ said Aldo. “Looks like we’ve got ourselves a real challenge here. This one means to put us in our place.” His companions were quick to return the broad grin he cast them. “Can’t have that now, can we?” He let loose of his captive’s wrist. The boy took no more than an instant to shake himself off before racing out of sight without so much as a word of thanks to his would be savior.
There was a chorus of cracking knuckles throughout the crowd, and Kairn’s legs all but crumbled beneath him. “Knight in armor my ass,“ said Kinu. “Useless orphan runt.”
“One reject fighting for another,” agreed Ril, tossing another stone Kairn’s way.
“Don’t know why he bothers keeping any of them.” Aldo closed the distance between himself and his new prey in two broad steps.
With a sigh and a slow shake of his head, Sethan tossed the stick aside and pushed himself to his feet. By some stroke of luck, Kairn managed to duck beneath the first swing of Aldo’s fist. He shuffled a few paces to one side, nearly tumbling to his hands and knees, Kinu closing in on him.
Sethan made his way leisurely across the dusty yard, arms folded across his chest. Kinu caught Kairn by the shoulder and sent him pitching forward, where his gut met with Aldo’s knee. Kairn let out a cry of pain as he rolled away, but lashed out with his fists anyway. His assailants laughed as they easily sidestepped the blows, and Kairn landed in the dust.
More boys closed in on him. Sethan could see a hand, now and then, amidst the swinging feet, desperately flailing as if to ward off the blows. The harsh thumps and the sharp cries that filled the air gave little hope that he was having much success.
Sethan planted himself a fair distance outside the scuffle. Slowly etching a broad arc in the dirt with the toe of his boot, he focused on catching the eye of one of the smaller figures on the edge of the fray and cleared his throat as loudly as he could. Dayl spotted him first, the boy’s facing growing a shade paler as he looked from Sethan to the crude lines forming at his feet and back again. He dove into the fight, frantically jabbing at his fellows until all eyes were on Sethan.
The crowd fell away, leaving Aldo at the center, foot lodged in the back of a no longer protesting Kairn. He folded thick arms across his chest and glared down at Sethan. “What do you want?”
“You’re making too much noise.” Sethan shrugged, eyes on his boots. “It’s hard to concentrate.”
“That so?” said Aldo, his voice quickly fading as Sethan scratched out the last line of the sigil. “Well,” he said, giving Kairn a shove with his foot as he backed away. “I think he’s learned his lesson, hasn’t he?” There was an incoherent groan from the body in the dust.
“But-” Kinu started. There was an open handed gesture of confusion as the silver haired boy looked between Aldo and Sethan before the former shot him a look that rendered him silent.
“We’re done,” said Aldo, as Sethan traced over a few of his lines, digging them deeper into the earth. “Not much fun anymore,” he added with another jab from his boot to Kairn’s ribs. “Besides, it’s almost time for dinner.”
There was some grumbling from the rest, but no one made any open protest as they turned to follow. Dayl strayed behind, wide eyes still on the markings at Sethan’s feet. Sethan straddled the sigil and shot him a glare, and the boy raced off after his fellows, tripping and stumbling over his own feet as he hurried to catch them.
When they were all out of sight, Sethan strolled over to the form sprawled on the ground. He hoisted Kairn by the back of his collar, the smaller boy spitting out mouthfuls of dust as he rose. “You know,” he said, setting him down on his knees. “You have far too much in the way of guts for someone so small. It will get you in trouble someday.”
Kairn looked himself over, swiping his hands along his thighs in a feeble attempt to swat away the dirt. “You’re one to talk.”
Sethan grinned. “I seem to be in one piece.”