Forced Entry

[Churn]

Cutting wind bit deep into the clothes, the snows piled high about the boots, biting stingingly into the flesh. The once warm cloak was now soaked, kept wet only by the little warmed that remained underneath. Eyes one a light blue now darkened to a dull, near black blue from weariness. Legs struggling forward, stiff from an indeterminate time pushing forward and straining against the oppression of the cold, once startling white skin now blue from cold felt stiff and hard as cold rock yet broke under the slightest pressure or flaked off.

Travelling through the Nyxm was nightmarish at the least if sleep could ever be safely attained and consciousness returned. Having slept some time ago in a small cave had been little comfort. Ancestors of old had travelled into the Nyxm in secret following a leader to live away from the world to 'reach enlightenment'. Fools following a fool. They had settled between two hills- almost mountains- and dug in, hoping that by doing so they would save themselves from the worst and instead invited death upon themselves.

It took nearly a dozen generations for the then nomadic survivors to settle into anything remotely resembling a village. It would take another three generations to re-establish any form of contact with the southern areas where, if things were bad, they were nowhere near as bad as the 'enlightened' were, whom had decided to keep the contact as secret as possible and pass themselves off as travellers and merchants. It had worked, for a time; each generation sent more further to find the means to survive.

The mistake made by the ancestors of old, other than going so far, was inter-breeding, crossing the blood and not seeing the signs. At least some had seen the errors and kept themselves from doing the same, but they had always been in the minority.

Having been born to that very minority and seeing that what they saw was true, Nalda was more than just horrified when she he been forcibly removed from her small abode, snow packed high in an oval for shelter, to be forced to marry a close cousin or locked away in shame, Nalda did the only thing she could do. She struck out, breaking her cousin's arm and seriously hurting one of her abductors. Once she had struck out she knew that there was nothing left for her but to flee as far as she could and she did after returning home to gather what little she owned.

Now she moved mechanically, unseeingly, unsure how far she had gone or if she was even going in the correct direction. It wasn't until she could feel less bite in the next strong blast of wind that she blinked leaden lids over downcast eyes, wetting them and really seeing. It was a shock. The snow she had been struggling through was gone, leaving a slightly bluish green ice in its place. Slowly her eyes moved to the left and right, seeing no snow to either side for some distance, and then her head moved, a stiff neck protesting, a slight ache behind the eyes caused her to move lids over now burning eyes. A few seconds later she reopened her eyes and strained to life her head enough to see ahead.

Gasping, Nalda forget straining muscles and burning eyes to gaze over a site she had never before imagined. A large area without snow or at least as much as she was accustomed to. Moments passed without her moving, her split end tail, slightly raised now instead of hanging limply as before, her hands slackening against their hold on the cloak. A gust of wind stealing away the cloak, jerking Nalda back slightly as the cloak flapped with the force of the wind, choking her slightly and stealing what warmth she had managed to keep. Hands snatching at the cloak and pulling it back close to her body, Nalda gave a soft whimper. Not of fear or worry, but of loneliness and pain.

Sighing and shaking herself, Nalda began walking forward, her legs feeling as if they were heavier than they had been in the snow.

Later that day, or was it night? It was always difficult to tell in the Nyxm but the further south she went the brighter both day and night grew. She stumbled into what appeared to be a village. She had never seen any shelter other than ones made of snow or hidden in a cave. Now before her was a place filled with shelters that varied in material and quality. The few that were about in what counted for streets noticed Nalda as soon as she was near enough. She was clearly exhausted and looked to be on the verge of death. Having grown accustomed, though not by any means comfortably, to the more open if rockier terrain, Nalda had resumed her mechanical way of movement; Dragging stiff feet, limp furred tail, head board forward, shoulders slump forward, eyes downcast and a death grip on her cloak.

The shock of seeing someone in such a state entering the village held until she tripped up on a rock jutting up. Her movements were even mechanical in quickly regaining a balance. Rushing toward her to offer aid, the locals gently, if firmly, stopped her, speaking concern, asking after her health. As soon as they had touched her, she would have jumped if her body have responded properly, as it was, lifting her head seemed difficult enough and her vision wouldn't stay focused on any one spot at a time.

Something of her extreme state much as shown as one of the locals, a strong man, lifted her from her feet. Feeling something in her knees, Nalda struggled to look only to see her legs dangling in the air. Try as she might she couldn't get them to move.

Blinking, Nalda found herself seeing thing oddly, everything was upside down. That couldn't be right, she hadn't lowered her head, and she had been trying to make her legs move. Everything moved up and down slightly though. Why? I'm being carried. Sluggishly the thought floated through her head. "I...Water."

At least she intended to ask for water, all that came from her open mouth was a slight rasp of air. Blackness consumed her.


Waking, Nalda felt odd. Warm. This wasn't her abode. No. Something had happened....cousin. Sitting bolt upright, Nalda's mouth clamped shut as a scream burst out of her, making it sound as if she were gagged. Slumping down where she lay proved to be as painful. Instinctively her body attempted to curl up. The pain that exploded from the motion was enough to knock her unconscious and wake her forcefully several times before she finally lay still, hardly daring to breath more than enough to fill her lungs slightly.

"Ah, you are awake I see." Nalda turned her head to see who spoke. "Don't move girl! You'll set yourself off again." Nalda groaned as her neck protested the little she managed to move. "Water," She croaked, her voice gone to a wheezy rasp. Speaking causing a pain of its own in her throat. A creaking noise and sounds of movement something being poured, then more sounds and then something warm touching her lower lip. What slowly trickled into her throat burned, bringing pain as it slid down her gullet. With the pain came a slight rejuvenation where it left. She'd have moved her hand to take the cup is it wouldn't have set her off again.

The trickle stopped and the cup left her lip. "More." Her voice was back, if sounding a bit hoarse. Most importantly her voice didn't hurt her.

"Just a moment girl, breath first, and don't you mesh your face at me young lady or I'll flip you over and paddle your bottom!" Nalda's face smoothed out quickly enough as she took in a deep rattling breath it seemed as the voice returned. "That’s better now here." The cup returned to her lip and the trickle returned with a bit more flow. Swallowing convulsively, this time her hand did move which did cause her to cry out slightly. More like a gurgle with the warm liquid flowing into her mouth. Grasping at the cup, Nalda took it and tipped it further, increasing the flow. "Easy girl, not too fast or else."

The voice warned her ominously. Nalda regretfully obeyed, not gulping it down. When the liquid was gone, Nalda felt a bit better, some of the pain was gone from her body. "You will feel more pain in a moment girl. Do try to relax though. After the pain you'll feel much better.

Nalda's brow came down in consternation, "wha-" Her wailing scream was bloodcurdling as something heavy and hot was suddenly dropped onto her legs. It burned her from foot to waist. Her tail, which had been the warmest of her the whole time, only felt a slight, cosy warmth. Not that she noticed right away. Her still cold hands attempted to push whatever it was off her, but had to come away from it feeling unbearably hot.

Before she could empty her lungs any further than they already were, something was shoved into her mouth and a hand pushed her chin up. All Nalda could do was breath through her nose and thrash wildly where she lay. in moments, what seemed forever, the heat having gotten a little more bearable, the hand was removed and the heavy, hotness was removed. Jolting up didn't seem to cause too much pain, just a very painful protect of very sore muscles Nalda saw her legs for the first time. Other than a mesh of cuts and gashes where the snow had cut into her flews and frozen the blood before it could more than line the wounds her legs were unmarred by anything but a slightly red tinge.

Looking up just enough to see whatever was on her was a thick blanket being set atop a large...blackish thing, Nalda fell back, unconscious.





EDIT: After taking all the physical aspect of the Kalus Species, I forgot about their clawed feet. Can I get away with saying that the boots Nalda is wearing are a custom set? If so, I will be more than happy with explain how they are customized when I get to putting Nalda up.

[Silver Hawke]

Specially made boots are fine. Post was a little long for just showing me how you write but other than that you're good. Welcome to the site :3