Thoran's Story -- Story Board

[ Show ]

Support VoyForums

[ Shrink ]

VoyForums Announcement: Programming and providing support for this service has been a labor of love since 1997. We are one of the few services online who values our users' privacy, and have never sold your information. We have even fought hard to defend your privacy in legal cases; however, we've done it with almost no financial support -- paying out of pocket to continue providing the service. Due to the issues imposed on us by advertisers, we also stopped hosting most ads on the forums many years ago. We hope you appreciate our efforts.

Show your support by donating any amount. (Note: We are still technically a for-profit company, so your contribution is not tax-deductible.) PayPal Acct: Feedback:

Donate to VoyForums (PayPal):

[ Login ] [ Contact Forum Admin ] [ Main index ] [ Post a new message ] [ Search | Check update time ]

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Date Posted: 06:49:18 12/13/03 Sat
Author: Lavender the ottermaid
Subject: Thoran's Story

Whirling snow, winter's cold,
The icy grip on land it holds,
Covering, making drifts and dales,
Forcing down heads with its gales,
This cold has entered my heart,
No longer can I live a free beast,
I must find the one who took part,
In ruining my life,
My life has been changed,
My heart is made of stone,
I must wander o'er this world,
Either with friends or all alone.

Once he had known happiness. Once, he had laughed and joked with
others.
Once, he had never known killing. But that was so long ago. That had
been
before his heart turned to stone. Before his life had been shattered.
Now, he lived with only one purpose: to find that otter or die trying.
He
would go through anything, he cared not what, to find that otter. He
had
lived in pain for so long. Now, he would make that otter suffer the
same
pain as he once had. He rubbed his paws together and smiled coldly.
That
otter was suffering, oh yes, suffering.

Chapter One:
The sun was shining down on what appeared to be a peaceful scene. Small
babes wrestled or shared food together in front of a row of thatch
houses. Their mothers relaxed in the sun, talking and laughing. Their
husbands were gathered, making arrows, sharpening blades and making
bows.
No one noticed the single male sitting by himself in a shady patch
beside
a oak tree. It was the otter, Thoran. Several weeks ago, his wife had
been killed and his babe, a little male he had named Laylen, had
disappeared. Thoran knew who had done it and wanted to go after the one
but the elder's of the village would not let him. They said he was
still
grieving and that when he came to his senses, he wouldn't want revenge.
Thoran shook his head and sighed as he leaned back against the tree.
Nobeast understood. He had to go after the creature. Not for revenge.
He
just wanted his son back. Thoran slumped forward and silent tears
coursed
down his face as he thought of the little babe, Laylen. He had to get
him
back!

The creature lay, gazing into the fire, his eyes half shut. He smiled
as
he thought of the otter, Thador. He was suffering, not a bodily pain as
he had but a pain that wore away at him, worrying always over his son.
Laylen. The creature sat up and glanced to his right. There, lying
wrapped in a cloak, was the babe. He was sleeping, snoring softly, his
little whiskers twitching. The creature crept over to him and looked
down
into the babe's face. A softness came into the creature's eyes as he
gently arranged the cloak. His whisper tickled the babe's whiskers.
"You wouldn't be here little one, if it weren't for your father.
Remember
that. If it weren't for your father."

Thoran had not moved from his position. He had not eaten since dawn but
was not hungry. Thoran barely twitched as a sturdy red squirrel dropped
out of the tree above him. He didn't turn as the squirrel spoke.
"Thoran, will you not come and have some dinner? You've been sitting
here
since after breakfast."
Thoran's voice was low.
"Leave me alone, Kala."
Kala shook her head.
"You come and eat, Thoran. I won't see you waste into a skelton."
Thoran half-turned to face the squirrel.
"You don't understand, Kala. I can't eat with...with them."
He spat out the words with hatred plain in his voice. Kala's eyes were
sympathetic.
"Ah, Thoran, you forget. I have endured the pain of losing my two
daughters for over 15 seasons now. But I don't let it consume me. It
does
no good."
Thoran abruptly stood up. He looked down at Kala, his face hard.
"Don't talk to me about that, Kala. That's what everyone says. But no
one
understands. I don't even think you do."
The squirrel leapt up and matched him eye to eye. Her voice was low,
almost choked with anger.
"Listen to me, Thoran! If you go to find your son, then I will come. I
will prove to you that I am not like them!"
Thoran and Kala glared at each other for several minutes. Then Thoran
looked away, out across the grass.
"If I go. It's not if, Kala, it's when I go."
Kala stepped back.
"And when is when?"
Thoran's eyes were hard.
"Tonight."

The babe stirred. He yawned and stretched, mumbling happily to himself.
A
face appeared over him. The otter babe wriggled with happiness as the
face spoke.
"Hello, you wake now? You hungry, huh?"
The babe squeaked and pinched the face's nose. The creature drew back
and
disappeared. The babe lay, content and warm in his cloak. He yawned
again, making a faint squeaking noise. Soon, the creature came back. He
was carrying his tunic over his shoulder. He spilled out the contents
of
his tunic. Button mushrooms, watershrimp and cress. The creature re-lit
the fire and positioned a small black cauldron over the flames. He left
and returned, carrying water. This he dumped into the cauldron and
began
chopping up the cress and mushrooms with a long slim knife. The babe
poked his head out and silently watched the creature work. Soon, the
watershrimp, mushrooms and cress were bubbling in the pot, sending off
a
cloud of aromatic scent. The babe pushed the cloak away and rolled
over.
His quiet dark eyes watched the creature as he stirred the pot. The
creature walked over to a pack lying on the ground. He undid the
strings
and pulled it open. The babe watched as he took out two bowls made of
clay. Going over to the pot, the creature dipped some of the broth up,
carefully avoiding getting any shrimp, mushrooms or cress in the bowl.
Sitting down, the creature placed the bowl in front of him, reached
over
and pulled the otter babe onto his lap. Picking up the bowl, he blew on
the broth and then offered some to the babe. The babe drank the broth,
his eyes fixed on the one holding him. The creature smiled down on him
and spoke softly, stroking the babe's headfur with one paw.
"Always remember, you would be safe and snug with a momma if it hadn't
been for your father. Never forget. If it hadn't been for your
father..."

Kala had pursauded Thoran to join the others at dinner. Since the night
was warm and mild, the elders had given way and let the meal be spread
out on the grass. Thoran joined the others but stoutly refused to sit
anywhere near the elders. Kala only rolled her eyes but didn't protest.
Thoran ate, hardly tasting the potato-leek stew or the muffins studded
with herbs. Kala brought him a beaker of lemon wine. She sat down,
watching him in silence. Thoran took a gulp of the lemon wine and
glanced
at her.
"What're you staring at?"
Kala shook her head.
"You've changed so much, since your wife's death and your son's
disappearence."
"Wouldn't you too?" Thoran asked, his voice bitter.
Kala slapped her paw on the ground.
"See! There you go again, acting like I'm the enemy. Listen, Thoran.
I'm
going to help you find the babe, if it'll make you any happier. But to
do
that, you have to tell me who was the one who took the babe."
She sat, staring expectantly at him. Thoran shook his head slowly.
"That I can't do, Kala. Even I'm not sure and I don't want to tell.
Please. Leave me alone for now."
Kala stood up. She looked down at him once last time.
"For now, Thoran. But not forever."

The moon rose in silver splendor, shining it's beams down upon the
thatch
houses. All was silent. A few birds whistled now and then and the
leaves
of the trees rustled in the slight wind. Kala was sitting by the oak
tree, waiting for Thoran to appear. She counted her arrows, then shoved
them back into her quiver. Kala sighed and stood up. She started
slightly as Thoran's voice sounded close to her ear.
"You ready, Kala?"
The squirrel swung her quiver onto her back and picked up her bow.
"Of course I am, Thoran. What took you so long?"
Thoran started to head east, away from the thatch houses and towards
the
woods.
"Old Tano caught me in the kitchens, loading up on food. He gave me a
scolding and tried to stop me leaving but I got out of there."
There was something in Thoran's voice that caused Kala to look sharply
at
him.
"Thoran, how exactly did you get out?"

The moonlight coming through the trees lit up part of Thoran's face.
His
eyes glittered cold and hard as hard as his voice.
"I got out of there, that's all you need to know, Kala. Now, are you
going to chatter all night or are you going to get moving?"
Kala sighed and followed him without another word.

The otterbabe lay in his cloak, listening to the fire snap. The
creature
was asleep nearby. The babe sighed happily and closed his eyes. He fell
into a deep sleep almost immediately. Near the middle of the night, the
creature woke up and checked on the babe; then he sat by the fire,
thinking. They would be moving on by morning. The creature looked
around
at the silent woods and thought of the otter. Hate filled his eyes and
he
bit his paw, trying to get that otter out of his mind. Drawing his long
slim knife, the creature looked over it's hilt. A single blood-red ruby
sparkled and caught the firelight. Red. What an appropiate color, he
thought. And soon, the blade will match the ruby. It'll be red, red
with
that otter's blood.

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]