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+--- Thread: Mount Apikuni ◊◊◊; (/showthread.php?tid=65786)
◊◊◊; - Geirmundr - April 21, 2025
the morning came gray and thick with fog, clinging to the trees like breath held too long. geirmundr walked in silence, carving a path through the dew-damp undergrowth. beside him—or a little behind, as she preferred—the girl (@Elk Charm) moved with quieter steps. she had not bathed. he had heard her rise briefly in the night, but no splash, no scent of river. it didn’t matter. the berries and root she'd gathered clung sweet to her coat now, softening the trail-dust, and he found it pleasant in a way he didn’t try to name.
they reached the base of the mountain by midday.
it rose before them like a god’s ribcage—steep, jagged, veiled in mist. geirmundr halted there, paws planted firm in the loam. his breath left him slow, steady, and he turned just enough to glance back at her, face unreadable but eyes catching hers.
a question lingered there. not spoken. not pressed.
only: do you climb?
or do we rest?
RE: ◊◊◊; - Elk Charm - April 21, 2025
she was becoming suspicious. he remained, and now he guided them both to the breathing sides of a great mountain.
elk charm felt herself flighty in his wake. suppose she turned into the forest, ran from him? would he follow her this time?
that he had tried nothing did not settle the sharadoii, for she still did not understand why he had attached himself to her.
a small but forceful part of elk charm wanted to order him away, but a meeker and larger portion of the young spirit pointed out that she would be ill-traveled and even hungrier had geirmundr not come along.
she surveyed the mountain, then gave a firm nod of dirtied head on dirtied neck. they would climb.
elk charm felt herself flighty in his wake. suppose she turned into the forest, ran from him? would he follow her this time?
that he had tried nothing did not settle the sharadoii, for she still did not understand why he had attached himself to her.
a small but forceful part of elk charm wanted to order him away, but a meeker and larger portion of the young spirit pointed out that she would be ill-traveled and even hungrier had geirmundr not come along.
she surveyed the mountain, then gave a firm nod of dirtied head on dirtied neck. they would climb.
RE: ◊◊◊; - Geirmundr - April 22, 2025
geirmundr watched her—watched the tilt of her head, the way uncertainty flickered behind her eyes before resolve took its place. she nodded, and he returned the gesture, slow and somber. they would climb.
but still, he hesitated.
not from fear, not from doubt in himself—but in her legs, worn thin by distance and want, in her breath, too shallow when she thought he wasn’t listening. this ridge was no gentle slope. it breathed cold and jagged. sharp as truth.
so he stepped behind her. not pressing, not crowding—just there.
a sentinel again.
should she falter, he would catch her.
should she fly, he would not chase.
his paws sank deep into the first stretch of moss-laced rock, and he exhaled through his nose like a bull sizing the storm.
RE: ◊◊◊; - Elk Charm - April 22, 2025
elk charm's ears pinned quick as a mare when geirmundr stepped behind. tail tucked in instinctive worry, and she focused only on the slipping shale beneath her paws.
did he think he —
her eyes squeezed shut, thinking of blood bear. he had come to the wetu over and again, waiting. girls entered a special hut when the time came for them to be women; blood bear had wanted to catch her on that path.
but womanhood had mercifully delayed itself for elk charm. even now she existed in some caught-between state, delayed after all her peers had gone on to conceive with loving husbands.
a deformity? a curse?
she had never asked the spirits to heal her.
a rock slid from beneath her paw.
elk charm cried out, falling backward into open space.
did he think he —
her eyes squeezed shut, thinking of blood bear. he had come to the wetu over and again, waiting. girls entered a special hut when the time came for them to be women; blood bear had wanted to catch her on that path.
but womanhood had mercifully delayed itself for elk charm. even now she existed in some caught-between state, delayed after all her peers had gone on to conceive with loving husbands.
a deformity? a curse?
she had never asked the spirits to heal her.
a rock slid from beneath her paw.
elk charm cried out, falling backward into open space.
RE: ◊◊◊; - Geirmundr - April 22, 2025
the sound she made—a sharp, startled cry—snapped through geirmundr like lightning through stone. he moved before thought could form, paws gouging into loose shale, body surging forward.
his chest struck hers mid-fall, a collision of weight and instinct, and they went down hard together. dust billowed. rocks skittered past. but his arms—thick as tree limbs, trembling with strain—wrapped around her in full, shielding her from the worst of it.
he grunted, the sound torn from deep within, breath knocked askew as they landed against the slope. one paw gripped her waist. the other braced against the earth behind her.
du er okay,he muttered.
and for a moment, he didn’t move. just held her, panting, her small frame clutched tight against the wide breadth of his chest as the dust settled around them. then—
he shifted. adjusted.
with a fluid strength born of old endurance, geirmundr slid her against him, dipped his haunches, and lifted her onto his back—without permission, without pause. his thick fur muffled her against him as he rose to stand once more, steady and stone-spined.
there was no question in him now.
she would not walk the rest.
RE: ◊◊◊; - Elk Charm - April 22, 2025
it took some moments for the sharadoii to realize that she was not free-wheeling through space; she was seized, skidding; pillowed by geirmundr.
and then lifted;
elk charm gasped and began to struggle. no one had picked her up since she was a child, and the sensation of it was disorienting, as if she was no longer in charge of herself.
claws had torn and now red drops arced the air as she struck toward his shoulders, impotent beneath the hulk of muscle and fur; "put me down! put me down! now! put me down now!"
he was too strong; if he did not heed, elk charm was not sure what to do, indignant and angered and fearful as she was draped across his spine.
and then lifted;
elk charm gasped and began to struggle. no one had picked her up since she was a child, and the sensation of it was disorienting, as if she was no longer in charge of herself.
claws had torn and now red drops arced the air as she struck toward his shoulders, impotent beneath the hulk of muscle and fur; "put me down! put me down! now! put me down now!"
he was too strong; if he did not heed, elk charm was not sure what to do, indignant and angered and fearful as she was draped across his spine.
RE: ◊◊◊; - Geirmundr - April 22, 2025
her fists struck, her claws found skin—he bled—but he grunted only once, deep and rough, more breath than pain. the blood trickled down his shoulder, warm against the cold bite of the mountain air, but it did not slow him. she did not slow him.
her cries—sharp, fierce, terrified—rose against the wind like thrown stones. but he bore them without response, the weight of her across his back no heavier than the countless burdens he'd carried before. his paws moved with relentless precision, anchoring to the mountain’s broken face, step by careful step. shale slipped beneath him. the slope turned cruel, jagged. still, he climbed.
only when they reached the peak—when the breath of the world stretched vast and thin around them—did he halt.
geirmundr lowered himself to his haunches, gently but without flourish, and let her slide free onto the flattened stone. then, and only then, did he look at her—shoulders rising and falling with effort, blood still fresh across one.
his eyes were unreadable.
not angry.
not wounded.
RE: ◊◊◊; - Elk Charm - April 22, 2025
he continued to carry her and elk charm continued to shriek and shout, voice failing only when her throat cracked from the effort. she dug her claws grimly into his coat as the elevation changed, no longer struggling as she made an attempt to keep from splattering the man with her vomit.
in the thin air of the summit she was released, and elk charm scrambled away from him, hissing as she whirled; "you cannot do that! never do it again! i am not yours to carry!"
she railed at him, dirty hanks of fur swinging around her nape and face; elk charm stuck aching claws into her mouth to clean them of blood as she backed from geirmundr. "what do you want?!"
in the thin air of the summit she was released, and elk charm scrambled away from him, hissing as she whirled; "you cannot do that! never do it again! i am not yours to carry!"
she railed at him, dirty hanks of fur swinging around her nape and face; elk charm stuck aching claws into her mouth to clean them of blood as she backed from geirmundr. "what do you want?!"