A Faraway Shore

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Melisendre

Post by Melisendre »

She didn’t dare tap her foot in annoyance as she waited for the silly, dangerous creature to get it through his head, it was an offence she would probably be skewered for. Melisendre was forced to wait it out, even as other funny-men came into the grove. Watching the number of foes increase through the reflections cast into the pools of water, the Halfling was fill with two things; dread and curiosity.

Strange, yes, very. Scrunching her face and squinting in order to afford herself a better image of just what the creatures were, the girl took note of their motionless mouths, even as they spoke in their utterly incomprehensible manner. Masks?

Growing tired of the suspense, knowing not exactly what they planned to do with her, the Halfling girl was relived when the weapon was removed from it’s position at her back. Finally, they gab like old women! Almost instantly the world went dark as she was blindfolded by one of the creatures, followed by more restraints than she would have thought necessary. They were quick for such big things, she hadn’t even the time to think of putting up a struggle against the bondage. It wasn’t until they lifted her off her feet that she began a mostly passive struggle. “Hey... Wait a flicker now... If you’d just untie my feet, I could walk... I‘ll get rope burn this way... Don‘t forget my dagger!”

After that, she was silent, at least for the majority of the journey. There were paths cut to where ever it was they were going, probably pretty nice ones at that. She hadn’t come across a single beaten path, which suggested to the Halfling that they were not going anywhere she had been before. Not that she had done any great exploring on the island anyway, so it was no surprise.

Recalling the captain’s words, Melisendre decidedly liked the man even less now. Hoping that the man would rot at the bottom of the sea, the girl huffingly added,Uncharted, my ass. Just not by his folk.

It was easy enough to tell when they broke from the shelter of the trees, from her position on the shoulder of one of the heathens, closer to the sun than normal for the small Halfling. A sudden, panicked ‘realization’ surfaced in Melisendre’s mind and her body grew stiff. People were gathered here. “You’re going to eat me! You can’t eat me! I’m too tough.. And small, too! There is a giant in the lake, still fresh!”

Her screams died upon entering the stone structure, the echoes shutting her up. Pouting, the girl wasn’t really quite sure at all what they planned to do with her. Though she did still suspect she would end up in what would have to be a very yummy stew. And then she was dropped onto her side like a sack of garden potatoes, cutting out all her thoughts long enough to be shocked by words she could actually recognize.

Opening and closing her mouth, the Halfling said nothing, but instead began to wiggle about like a fish out of water until she was seated upon her rear. Lifting her chin ever-so-slightly, a scowl replacing any fear, confusion, or shock left upon her features. In her own language, the only one she knew well, Melisendre addressed the voice, her own none too pleased. “It would seem I had little choice in the matter. Though you might have preferred that I drown, I was not in favour of such a scenario.”

Scrunching up her brow, the girl was still frowning when she added, “And here I thought being trussed up like a pig and carried into your home, assuming this rock here is your house, was an invitation, not an intrusion.”

She knew damn well that the faceless voice meant the island was the home, but Melisendre was just a tad pissed off now.
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Post by Guest »

The voice seemed about to continue in its husky tones, but was cut off by the halfling's salvo. It seemed that Melisendre could almost hear the catch in the throat- the point at which words failed, and the eyes must surely have widened. The halfling could feel strong hands holding her in a kneeling position- and it seemed the inevitable would be coming... but then high and sweet laughter filled the air.

The voice whispered in the gravelly, alien tongue of her captors- and the notes were honeyed with laughter- the hands released their hold without question. "My my my... we've got a live one, it would seem." The voice was easily recognizable now as female- and the pitch indicated that it was likely that of a halfling. "Well, my dear interloper- you who would trespass and blame it yet upon me..." the voice chuckled a bit more, clearly filled with good natured mirth. "This whole island is my home- from coast to coast. From the plains in the west to the mountainous interior with its flows of igneous rock. This is my domain, and you are intruding."

Almost as an afterthought, the voice whispered something in the gravelly tongue- and Melisendre felt rough and calloused hands at her face. They removed her blindfold with surprising tenderness- and then retreated, revealing the scene to Melisendre.

She was in a dimly lit room- the walls and floors made of bricks of some sort of hard stone, very different from any other found on the island. The ceiling was surprisingly high- easily capable of fitting two of the massive behemoths vertically- perhaps as many as four Melisendre's. Torches hung in small alcoves- giving the entire place a sense of tribalness- and of religiousness at the same time. The things who had brought her here kneeled now, the group of ten or so all prostrate- their faces (which were, by now, recognizable as masks) were resting on their backs, hanging about their necks by a thick string. Underneath the masks, they seemed not so different from the inhabitants of Amun Rah- although their noses were slightly broader, and their complexion more bronze than darken.

Before her was a high throne- shining in the light- for it was golden, inlaid with silver and gemstones, the seat covered in pillows and blankets. It was clearly made for someone three times the size of a normal human- and explained the height of the room. However, seated upon it was not a giant- not even a human sat in the massive perch. Instead, there was an elderly woman halfling- her eyes a brilliant green, but faded slightly with rheumatism. She tilted her head at the Melisendre and chuckles again.

"This is my home. Now why are you here? Shipwrecked? Did the shoal work? Are there any others upon this island?" She seemed entirely too excited for a woman trapped on an uncharted island.
Melisendre

Post by Melisendre »

Shoved onto her knees as she was, the Halfling could not help but think that it would be her end that was met here, though just as she was about to snarl and rage, her ears were filled with laughter. At first she thought that maybe her death would be amusement to the creatures surrounding her, the savage men, which only served to tick Melisendre off even more, but only flickers later she was released. No longer convinced she was about to die, the girl scowled anyway, just for good measure.

Melisendre was quiet as the woman spoke to her, shrugging nonchalantly at the summary of her current situation, and again at the broad scope of what this good-humoured voice’s home was. The other, very strange, language still confused her utterly, and the Halfling was not expecting the hardened hands after the odd whispers of the woman. Flinching just a little, but enough to be noticeable, at least to the owner of said hands, the small woman was relieved to have her vision returned.

Staring openly, the Halfling’s gaze very slow traveled the room, wandering from ceiling, to walls, to the bronze men, and then finally upon the giant throne and the one seated upon it. And quite the curious sight it was, the old Halfling woman settled into the cushions of the gilded perch. Melisendre had to crane her neck to look up at the wizened woman, who was entire too excited.

Perhaps she had been an outcast from society, just as the younger Halfling was, maybe even shipwrecked. Or was it that she came to the isle voluntarily. None of that really mattered now, as the very small woman obviously held dominance over the men with masks.

“I suppose your shoal might’ve worked. Though I can’t say for certain what caused the wreck.” The girl began slowly, lowering her gaze as she collected her thoughts, her brow furrowed. After the brief pause, Melisendre blinked and looked up to the elder woman again. “There is a room full of others right here. Of course, if you mean from the ship, there were others. Dead now, or at least all the ones I know of.”

Quirking an eyebrow, the Halfling couldn’t help but wonder out loud, “Does the lake beast happen to have a name?”
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Post by Guest »

"Excellent! A shipwreck!" The halfling woman giggled excitedly. "It had to have been the shoal- not even the most idiotic of captains would sail blindly through the Straits of Abandon. One of the advantages of placing a shoal in the midst of an otherwise clear passage." The tiny ruler practically squirmed with excitement. "The rest died? No matter- I am quite sure that they will come around. Besides, the only specimen missing is a swanmaiden- and everyone knows that they don't tend to ride boats."

"The lake beast..." she grew sour. "An accident- a mere causality of a failed project. If you want to name it, you could call her Molly, I suppose. That was the name of the old bitch who dared to fail me in my fifth year at University." The halfling grinned wickedly. "But I showed her, didn't I? Oh yes I did!" Her smile broke into raucous laughter- quite a bit louder than necessary.

"Tell me of your companions on the ship. Why did you set sail here? Did Molly eat them all? Every one of them? Is there a chance that others could yet lurk on this island?" The woman smiled hopefully, her eyes gleaming like dual gemstones. "Oh, yes, of course- and what is your name? I can't simply call you Halfling Specimen Twenty Seven Bee, now can I?" She smiled sweetly and innocently. "As for me, you can call me Haiwen. Doctor Merideth Haiwen." With that, her flurry of questions and statements ended, and she looked intently and ominously down at Melisendre.
Melisendre

Post by Melisendre »

Watching the elder Halfling with narrowed eyes, Melisendre unease grew as she listened to the woman. There were more than a few screws loose in that woman’s mind, that much was now very much obvious to the girl. Glancing back around the room, to the dark men that surrounded her, she felt ill. The only change since the removal of her blindfold was that she would see them coming to snuff her out this time.

Blinking, her eyes snapped back upon to the woman on the throne, and the Halfling girl frowned. She didn’t remember a swanmaiden, whatever that was, though that was not what specifically bothered her. Melisendre wondered what the rheumy-eyed madwoman meant by the others coming around. They were dead.

Before she worry further on that issue, another was placed before her. The woman spoke of a failed project, to which the lake beast -- Molly -- was the result. And university. The girl wondered just what university the old woman had been failed from, and what her subject of study had been.

Then she was assaulted with a myriad of questions, though perhaps the most daunting was the one requesting her name. Halfling Specimen Twenty Seven Bee. Melisendre knew that couldn’t be good, especially after being told about Molly the Failed Experiment. They weren’t going to eat her, or kill her, she was going to be used like a rat, another little project.

Clearing her throat, and hoping to bide herself some more time to think, Melisendre’s gaze met with that of Haiwen, she would need to answer at least some of the questions. “Two were slain by Molly, that I know of. If there were others before them, or after, I cannot say. Just as I am not certain whether there are other survivors lurking about, or not.” There was a brief pause before the Halfling girl continued. “I kept to myself as much as I could, both on the ship and on the island, I had no companions.”

Glaring up at the older Halfling for several flickers, Melisendre wondered if she really wanted the woman to her name. She wondered if the knowledge would make any difference. Finally with a shrug and a sigh, the girl threw it out there for the mad Doctor Merideth Haiwen. “Melisendre.”
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Post by Guest »

The doctor smiled. "Don't worry. I used to be a loner too, and I think I turned out quite alright. Of course, my life was filled with challenges, but I overcame them all- every last one. Yup." She nodded benevolently. "Being a loner is a good thing, for sure."

"Melisendre... such a pretty name. But I notice you don't seem to be as pretty as the name might suggest. A good smile would do much to remedy that, however. Your eyes aren't bad." She shrugged vaguely. "It's a shame that I already have an Alpha Halfling Specimen. You would have done nicely." She strode about on the vast chair, thinking out loud.

"Molly ate two, yes? Hmm... interesting... well what if? No... no.. no... that won't work until nightfall. Well, let's see... hm..." Merideth trailed off, fumbling her fingers in front of her lips in a nervous habit. "Well, Melisendre... you sadly don't have much use. A group of halflings passed through here just last month, and all of the halfling demand was thoroughly appeased." She smiled sadly- as if the stubborn halfling would be immensely disappointed at this revelation.

"Well then, my pretty little one. You don't remember a swan at all? I saw one in the skies this morning- but she was distant, and it may have been a mere seagull, although I do so hate for my ornithology to be disproved." Doctor Haiwen frowned. "I did excel in that class at University, you know. Father always said I would be a success... yes, he did."
Melisendre

Post by Melisendre »

Melisendre could only blink as the doctor babbled being a loner, and about a lack of prettiness and smiles, it seemed like a most absurd and ridiculous issue to be discussing. Her plight over already having an ‘Alpha Halfling Specimen’ was another cookie, however, and the girl wondered if it meant she would be keeping all her toes.

Then the mostly one-sided conversation drifted back to the topic of the lake monster. The younger Halfling nodded, even if she was unsure whether they’d been eaten, Molly had killed both the large man and the Dwarf. Mid-way through her second nod, however, Melisendre grew very still, listening to the woman mumble in such a way that suggested only one thing to the girl. Haiwen was attempt to form a plan. No doubt something that would lead to a gruesome death.

To Melisendre’s relief, the mad doctor stopped short and admitted to her that there was no use for her. The Halfling youth shrugged lightly, mimicking Haiwen’s sad smile. Best not to show how weight it lifted from her, she did not even dare roll her eyes. The woman was seriously cracked.

Furrowing her brow as she tried to recall the presence of the swan, the Halfling girl realized an earlier mistake. The bird she’d wanted for supper wasn’t a goose, it was probably the swan that Haiwen seen. Looking up at the doctor, and decidedly leaving out the part where she wanted to eat the bird, Melisendre indifferently said, “Molly ate it, too.”

Straining her hands against the increasingly annoying ropes, Melisendre frowned. If she wasn’t going to end up as some specimen to appease the doctor’s curiosities, the girl wondered just what was in store for her.
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Post by Guest »

"Molly ate a swan?" The words were spoken like a question, but Melisendre could sense the extreme ecstasy behind them- the electricity that danced across the face of Doctor Meredith Haiwen. Her expression was childlike and enchanted, her eyes brilliant despite her previous countenance of relative collectedness. "Tell me- was there a woman there, in the same region as where you saw the swan? Were her lips tinted with orange, as if by some sort of... fruit had been eaten?" The doctor seemed at a loss for explanation- but her words were in as bountiful supply as ever. "Were her feet webbed together? Did she carry with her a mantle of feathers?" Her eyes were more than slightly bulged out as she inquired in rapid suggestion.

It took a moment for her to compose herself, and she straightened her hair with her hands. "Tell me dear- what do you want from my island? You know that you cannot go home- no ships can approach near enough to this island. There are no winged creatures capable of carrying mounts here. There is nothing- no way to depart from these shores. Knowing this, what fate would you choose to live?" Her eyes were inquiring and inquisitve, seeming to stare straight through Melisendre- containing a sparkle that the younger halfling found all to familiar.

The doctor had a plan already.
Melisendre

Post by Melisendre »

Melisendre was nodding slowly as she watched the doctor in her moment of... Well, she really wasn’t sure what was going through Haiwen’s mind, but the woman did look pleased that Molly had eaten the swan. The young Halfling was still a little sore about it, however, she would have liked a nice bird roast for dinner, but instead it was wasted on some lake beast.

“A woman? Yes. I don’t know about any of that other stuff, but...” Tilting her head to the side, the girl blinked, trying to summon an image of the all too annoying woman that had also been on the shore of the lake for a time. Try as she might, she could not remember a damn thing about her, except for how Melisendre wanted to stick a knife in her belly. “She whined a lot.”

There was silence from the stranded Halfling as the doctor spoke, and for a burn afterward as well. Melisendre had no chance of leaving the island, according to Haiwen, which might only be a problem if the crazy old woman still wanted to turn the girl into another little project.

“Things have been a little hectic since washing up on shore, so I hope you’ll understand that there was hardly time for me to consider what I want out of the island. And there certainly was not a thought in my mind regarding your home while the ship was still intact and I was still upon it’s decks.” Her tone was dry and matter of fact, purposefully avoiding any suggestion as to what she might like to do. Not that Melisendre had any idea about what the island could offer her. Still, she thought it better to remain indifferent.
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Post by Guest »

Meredith grinned, her eyes dancing like candles in a sputtering wind. "Excellent... excellent..." The doctor's mental gears were clearly clicking very quickly. "So then it is only a matter of time... and then the project Rho is complete. Absolutely and totally finished!" She laughed lightly, her face poignantly expressing disbelief and triumph. Haiwen looked intently at Melisendre, with that oddly consumptive manner- as if trying to find out where to fit the last piece of the puzzle. "Most intriguing, to say the least..."

She smiled pleasantly. "I think it may be best if you rest for a brief while, right? You are no doubt exhausted from your long ordeal... yes... I think it may be best if you rest." Her voice was somehow hypnotic- but only vaguely so, her intensely luminous eyes reflecting Melisendre's entire body in their scope- the torchlight entrancing in rhythm with the elder halfling's voice. "Just rest, my sweet... a few moments of relaxation and all things will return to normal." With nothing more, she gave a low and guttural growl- and a variety of clicking noises, which seemed to instantly stir the guards who had brought Melisendre in, lifting her as they had previously, and rapidly leading her out of the temple this time- sans her former restraints.

It was only a matter of burns before Melisendre found herself in a small and neat bed. It was decent, if a bit uncomfortable- the pillow apparently filled with some sort of herb that gave off a soothing and relaxing scent into the room. The door was shut, then- and the halfling was left alone in her resting place. The rest of the cell was bare- although there was a large basin of water and a smaller empty one- and a small chair that would pass as an ottoman for larger beings. Overall, the surroundings were pleasant, if not fancy or extremely impressive. And the relaxing tones of the doctor continued through her head- insistant in their own quite way.
Melisendre

Post by Melisendre »

“Project Rho..?” Raising an eyebrow and curling her lip in a very confused manner, Melisendre couldn’t help but draw a blank. She hadn’t the slightest idea what the crazy old woman was talking about. What really got to her was the fact she did not know if it was good, bad, or if had nothing to do with her at all. It was irritating, really.

As Haiwen continued in the oddly calming voice, the Halfling girl was still uncertain just what the old doctor had in store for her, other than having Melisendre rest. She kept telling her that, time to rest, need to relax. She was starting to feel a little tired, now that the woman mentioned it, but it was hardly the time. She needed to protest.

“I would rather not...” But she was already being led from the temple, freed from her restraints. It wasn’t long before she realized she was under another roof, though Melisendre wasn’t completely sure just how she’d gotten there, still confused by Meredith Haiwen. What was even more bewildering was how they’d gotten her into the bed without a fight. Something just wasn’t right.

She tried shaking the thoughts, the voice of the doctor from her mind, but it still lingered. It probably didn’t help that the pillow seemed to be filled with drugs! Grabbing the cushion out from under her head, she pushed it onto the floor, hoping to eliminate at least one of her obstacles.

With an angry grunt, the Halfling sat up and looked around the room before slumping forward and falling onto the floor. The relaxing aroma from the pillow and the persistent voice in her head rendering her rather sluggish, steadily growing more sleepy.
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Post by Guest »

Despite her best efforts, the halfling could feel unconciousness slipping over her like a gentle rain, slow and gentle as a lover's caress. With little warning, Melisendre felt the incombatable pull of sleep- the voice of the doctor echoing, along with that soothing aroma of the herbs in the pillow. In throwing it, she could almost see the vapors rising as they were irritated from their slumber within the aromatic cushion. The room began to dance before her, beneath her body... slowly undulating in an uneven and chaotic dance. It wasn't very long before the motion forced the closure of her eyes... the whispered words of Meredith Haiwen drawing her closer to the land of dreams... and her body felt so heavy...

When next Melisendre awoke, her mind felt cloudy- her eyes dragging as if lined with leaden weights. Still, the hypnotic words and the drugs seemed to have worn off by this time, at least to the extent that the halfling was able to awaken. The large window, high off the ground above the bed, revealed a narrow stream of moonlight flowing in- but it was unclear exactly how long the halfling had been asleep. Torchilight could be seen beneath the door of the hut- and the sound of guttural conversation could be heard as well.

From beyond the window, the halfling could hear a soft singing voice, clearly rather aged... but still beautiful, speaking of probable training. The voice itself wasn't what drew her attention, however- it was the fact that the song was a traditional hymn of the Mistress of Leaves.

The voice belonged to a halfling.
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