The Freehold of Healing Waters (Closed Story Part 2)

Ursarius
Wildgardian

Posts: 333

The Freehold of Healing Waters (Closed Story Part 2) Oct 9, 2014 23:52:17 GMT -6

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Post by Ursarius on Oct 9, 2014 23:52:17 GMT -6

Days later, They had finally arrived at the Freehold of Healing Waters. The Air was now biting cold, and the very breath in thier lungs danced out of thier mouths like clouds of smoke. It hadn't snowed yet in the Freehold, but Ursa could sense it was very close. The urge to Hibernate was nudging at her internal instincts, telling her to drop her luggage and go find a good cave... but she knew the Human in her wouldn't survive the winter without nurishment. On top of that, she hadn't really tried to shift into a Bear since Mother Nature or Valourie, or Whoever took her Shifting powers away. A breif moment was spent recapping what the last few days in Wildgard were like and where her strange Druidic Power had come from, and gone, during the time the Valkyrie had possessed her.

She shuddered and continued on her way. For being in Bear Country, she didn't see many Bears. Something about it didn't sit right with Ursa, something she couldn't quite describe. Edging closer to the chatter and the gathered townsfolk, she spotted her Mom and the other bears she had travelled with, beginning to wonder if the Kintu here preferred a more Human physique over the Feral form. Someone came into view and stopped right in her path. Disoriented, she had to take a second longer to focus on who was in front of her. A Stranger she had never met, holding out to her a Bundle of Light colored Cloth.

"For you!" He said, with a mad grin spread across his face. "I hope it fits!"
Ursa blinked a few times, Suddenly confused and trying to tear her gaze away from his wild blue eyes and to the bundle he had thrust at her. "Um, Thank you?" She smiled awkwardly, as the stranger bowed his head and side-stepped out of his way. Only to be replaced with " Blessed be Deary." - a strange wizen old woman, who placed a Vial of water arround her neck on a rope, gave her forehead a kiss and waddled away. Ursa was determined to reach her mother, no matter how many strangers she had to press passed and gifts she had to endure. It took a bit of determination, but finally, she closed her hand around a peice of her mom's garb.
"Mom!" She said, over the voices. "What's going on?"
Urza looked up and smiled. She was wearing a Black leather crown, much like the one Ursa wore as Queen of the Dauntless Mountain. A Long and over sized Green tunic, Which Ursa realized was the one she wore in Wildgard. "Good, you're awake" was all she said, As a complete stranger adjusted Urza's crown. it had a Shield on it that Ursa had never seen. It was Divided down the center, with Blue on the left and Green on the Right. Three wavy white lines crossed the Middle like water.
"Yeah I'm awake but I don't have a clue what's going on, Where's Indigo?"
Ursa and Urza both scanned the crowd.
Her mother replied.. "He was around here somewhere a minute ago... Whisked away in the crowd I suppose."
"Nah, he's not much for Crowds. He'll be off in a corner somewhere."
"Well, run off and find him. We're to have a Private lunch with the Town Council in a hour. Put on your Court Garb."

Ursa opened her mouth to Object, and thought better of it. Looking down at the 'Now Obvious' garb bundle in her arms. She turned on her heel, Pinching the Tunic at the shoulders and letting the rest of it unravel as she briskly walked to the far side of the Area. The Tunic was the same as the Shield on her Mothers' Crown. Healing Waters heraldry. 'Well, a new look couldn't hurt. My Mother is wearing my old Court Garb. Which makes no sense at all...' She thought. And suddenly visualized a tormented Indigo under a pile of Healing Waters gifts and surrounded by Strangers. She pulled the Tunic on over her head and hastened her steps.

"Indigo?" She called, squinting against the day's harsh light. "Indigooooo!?"

Indigo
Apprentice Roleplayer

Posts: 53

The Freehold of Healing Waters (Closed Story Part 2) Oct 12, 2014 23:37:33 GMT -6

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Post by Indigo on Oct 12, 2014 23:37:33 GMT -6

Some sort of entangling mass was meandering down a stretch of road, more or less away from the center of town. It made made up almost entirely of clothing, some weapons, many bags and packages... and a black and white tail sticking out the back.

"Fmuhh! Urhmfa puhbemkuhpuh! Uh HUAT OO FUH MUUHHK RUIFF NUHHHH!"

Indigo was not only carrying what possessions he had left, but many new ones he had come to 'mysteriously acquire' since arriving... Via gifting. Much. Violent. Gifting. After the initial onslaught, he did his best to try and get away from the concentrated welcoming party that had been arranged for Ursa. Though he thus no longer knew where he was, he was glad he wasn't followed. After all, it's not that anyone there actually knew anything about him, or cared about him at all even. They all just seemed to be throwing possessions around out of pure excitement, and for no other reason.

'Why do only BEARS get to be telepathic? Ursa, where the HELL ar-'

Indigo's thoughts were cut short by a low hanging branch at the edge of the road taking a good swipe at his arm. "Aaaaughhhh!" Violently, he threw all the stuff he was carrying down on the ground in front of him, and then spun in a few quick -- but dramatic -- circles with his arms outstretched. Then flopped down on top of the pile with a muffled, "Fwump."

'...Maybe if I lay here and mope long enough, Ursa will find me... hopefully before more of her insane relatives do...'

Ursarius
Wildgardian

Posts: 333

The Freehold of Healing Waters (Closed Story Part 2) Oct 12, 2014 23:56:32 GMT -6

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Post by Ursarius on Oct 12, 2014 23:56:32 GMT -6

'There!' She almost jumped at him when she caught sight of him. "Indigo!" She called out again. Hastily making her way through the crowd to him.
Finally she looked down upon his slump, and she couldn't help but grin widely. "I thought so." She muttered pointedly. "Come on. I'll help you get this stuff to our Quarters."
She reached down and hoisted as much as she could onto her own pile with one hand, balancing it on her arm, and using the other to help the boy up. "Mother says we have a big lunch ahead of us. Hope you're hungry."

Ursa worried about the poor boy. It was one thing of her to take Humans up to Ursus Dauntamontis and back. But bringing a young Collie halfway across the Map into Bear Country, Hundreds of miles from home to have his belongings ruthlessly stolen away in the night and thrusting him into a position of Stolkholm Syndrome* all in the same week seemed Cruel of her. 'It's not my Fault he followed me all the way up here. I Mean, I hardly know him... Aside the fact he's obviously Allied himself with me, and shares my views on Unruly Children...'

She shooed off some more of the townsfolk as they began to swarm them again. Politely bowing her head to them as they passed. Then Quickly looked around for the nearest escape route.

*Or some other Medieval equivalent.

Indigo
Apprentice Roleplayer

Posts: 53

The Freehold of Healing Waters (Closed Story Part 2) Oct 13, 2014 0:30:27 GMT -6

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Post by Indigo on Oct 13, 2014 0:30:27 GMT -6

With probably be biggest groan of his life, the border collie let Ursa peel him off of the ground. The then turned to pick up everything that was on the ground, bundling it all up in his arms, and then gently placing his broken belt, with his belt pouches still attached, on top. "I hope there's at least a new belt for me in here somewhere..." he mumbled, mostly to himself. Reluctantly, he turned to follow the scout, keeping close behind her on her right side. He was relatively surprised when he caught himself not being hungry, and thinking of trying to skip out on the 'grandeur' of the lunch ahead of him. Though just this morning, he had felt the pangs of hunger through his whole body, even making him a little bit weak and queasy.

With a steely grimace, he knew he'd would have to attend. Not just for the social aspect, but for the sake of his own two legs getting him through another day...
Hopefully, the smell and appearance of food would bring back is appetite.

Despite Ursa attempting to shoo everyone away, one rather overtly mindless woman came up anyway. Oblivious as to the social ques of them wanting to be left alone, she came straight up to Indigo and started to rattle off her tongue a million pleasantries, questions, and other drivel all at once. Not only was the speed much too fast for the tired and starved dog to follow, but even on a good day he would have been hard pressed to decipher her heavy accent. Her voice was like molten lava, poured into his ears and muffling out the sounds of the world, settling his brain on fire with his sorrowful attempt to keep up. He screwed up his face, and tried to turn away in escape, but awkwardly bumped into Ursarius in the process. "Uaaagh... I'm sorry..." he bumbled, "Just, please tell me it's not always going to be like this..." His muttering was disgruntled and heavy with exhaustion. Just looking at him, and at the bags under his eyes, one could see that he was in dire need of sleep. Or maybe even a temporary coma...

Ursarius
Wildgardian

Posts: 333

The Freehold of Healing Waters (Closed Story Part 2) Oct 13, 2014 0:48:29 GMT -6

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Post by Ursarius on Oct 13, 2014 0:48:29 GMT -6

Ursa grimaced as the Woman pressed her way between them. She was only eager to help, but it was getting on Ursa's Last nerve. "Excuse me, Ma'am?" She squeaked. A Pathetic attempt at being authoritative. She Cleared her throat to try again. "Excuse me, I apologize but we have urgent business to Attend to, Leave us be. Thank you." Ursa nodded and the woman met eyes with her. Nodded slowly and walked away smiling meekly.

"Sorry Indigo, I know it's a bit much, But I come from a long line of Nobility... This is just custom. They Will shower us in Gifts for the first day, and the next while will be food and beverage. Then they will leave us alone when our Arrival isn't as new and exciting..." She Trailed off, her sentence becoming a small void in her throat. Her eyes fixed on the strangest creature she had ever seen. Just then, As the woman had gone, another figure stood just behind where she had been. A Centaur. Ursa Had never seen a Centaur before, only read about them, And she was sure the Species was nothing more than a Myth.

'He's... coming this way...' She thought. Closing her gaping mouth.

Koningar
New Member

Posts: 8

The Freehold of Healing Waters (Closed Story Part 2) Oct 13, 2014 1:13:00 GMT -6

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Post by Koningar on Oct 13, 2014 1:13:00 GMT -6

Quietly, the centaur approached the group currently socially mauling the newcomers. He watched with a raised eyebrow as the one he presumed to be Ursarius attempted to wave everyone away, while at the same time attempting to not drop the huge mound of gifts in her arms. He contemplated turned an walking away, since they were obviously having enough difficulty with the horde as it was. However, he knew he couldn't turn away, no matter how cumbersome his over-sized form was for the current situation. Loudly, he cleared his throat, letting the reverberation of his voice carry. Even the rather oblivious crowd moved out of the way as he stepped forward. He foudn it quite useful that most people were already naturally wary of him, since the average horse was usually rather... 'jumpy', to say the least.

As he met eyes with Ursa, he noticed her gape a little. It wasn't anything unusual for him, but it still made the corner of his mouth quirk up ever so slightly into the shadow of a smile. As the crowd cleared slightly, it allowed him enough room to give a proper bow. The human portion of his body leaned forward, curling around his poised left arm. The section where his human half met his equine half wasn't meant to straighten fully, so he wasn't able to stoop very far. However, his bow at least brought him down to Ursa's height for a moment.

"Greetings. I'm Koningar Fletcher. Would you like some help carrying your new belongings?" he queried politely, "I'm sure I'm capable of carrying much more than you. ...Both of you." He added on the last bit as he finally noticed Indigo, almost entirely hidden behind Ursa. He'd heard of an unknown guest who had arrived with Ursa unexpectedly, but didn't know anything besides that. 'I suppose that would be him, then...' he mused with slight interest.

Ursarius
Wildgardian

Posts: 333

The Freehold of Healing Waters (Closed Story Part 2) Oct 14, 2014 9:54:55 GMT -6

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Post by Ursarius on Oct 14, 2014 9:54:55 GMT -6

Gathering what little wits she had, Ursa held out a hand for the Centaur to take. She had to arch her head to see eye-to-eye with him, as he stood nearly three feet taller than her, "I'm Ursa Burdenkeeper. _{Formerly Dauntless}..." She said reluctantly, in response to the Man giving his name first. She was still used to being in Wildgard where the name Dauntless had no hold. And even those familiar with her name associated it with Urstrid's Wrong-doings. She tried not to let it bother her. She was a Dauntless born and raised and her Father made that name something to be proud of.

She pushed the shame out of her mind and smiled at him to address the rest of his introduction. "My Queen Mother, has returned to Healing Waters after many years away, And thus the People of Healing Waters have bestowed gifts of respect upon me and my Companion... As you have assumed correctly... too much for us to carry." She turned to see Indigo in the corner of her eye, half to see that he was still there, and the other half to make sure he was being respectable.