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picture_prompt_funTitle: Escaping the Clouds
Fandom: original
Character: original
Length: 583
Rating: G
Clouds rolled in as they trudged along. Great billowing clouds, rising far too high to be like any structure on earth -- or, for that matter, on this planet. Haldric kept eyeing them warily. Edmund said little; they were walking briskly, in silence, and with neither Haldric nor Garth so much as reaching for a weapon, he presumed that every beast, from the slate-blue deer to the long-eared lizard with rainbow-like scales was harmless, at least to them. But as the clouds turned slate blue, and charcoal gray, and darker shades, and the wind picked up, he would have known they were dangerous even without his companions.
When he saw a town appearing ahead of them, buildings gathered on the hill slopes, he breathed a sigh of relief. And his companions also looked relieved, and picked up the pace. The wind stung with bits of sand, but at least it was to their backs.
With the sky still showing violet in at least a third of it, the road reached a bridge, with a small cabin before it. The gorge it crossed was very deep, but he could clearly see the town behind, and the path to it.
Haldric, without hesitation, went to the cabin door.
Edmund kept his mouth shut, and went in with the others. It was plainly furnished, with a few windows, and shelf-like beds circling the walls, about a stove. Two people were already there, sitting on one bed, with recognizable mugs in their hands, both golden-skinned and dressed like his companions, and himself: a man and a woman, with a small creature, tan, and pug-like. Indeed, he was not certain that it was not a pug; it looked more like the Earth-creature than even these humans. It came over to sniff at him, and his companions, without distinguishing between them. They stared at him and him alone.
"Who are you?" said the woman. "And what are you doing here?"
His companions winced.
"My name is Edmund," he said. "And I was brought here by means I do not know of, from a far distant land."
She scowled, while all the others looked both wary and curious. "Who did it?"
"I do not know," said Edmund. "I do not think they meant me well."
"There's broth," said the man, hastily. "We kept it warm after we made ours, to succor any other travelers."
A roar sounded outside. Startled, Edmund glanced at the window. The gorge was filled -- filled to the brim, with water foaming and bearing along trees and even boulders. Anything smaller than that could not be picked out in the violence.
Haldric gave it a practiced eye. "Could probably still cross the bridge."
"But why risk it?" said Garth and Asteria in chorus, as if parroting back a lesson.
Mugs were passed about, and the couple were introduced as Lilya and Dostin, and Lilya's curious glances were not followed by more questions.
Minutes later, the sound of hammering rain followed. The windows were almost instantly streaked so with water that even the river could not be seen, certainly not the town. Edmund sipped at the broth, listened to the rain, and when it was dying down, went to the window. Through the diminishing drops, he could make out the buildings of the town, where, one way or another, he would have to start a new life.
Fandom: original
Character: original
Length: 583
Rating: G
Clouds rolled in as they trudged along. Great billowing clouds, rising far too high to be like any structure on earth -- or, for that matter, on this planet. Haldric kept eyeing them warily. Edmund said little; they were walking briskly, in silence, and with neither Haldric nor Garth so much as reaching for a weapon, he presumed that every beast, from the slate-blue deer to the long-eared lizard with rainbow-like scales was harmless, at least to them. But as the clouds turned slate blue, and charcoal gray, and darker shades, and the wind picked up, he would have known they were dangerous even without his companions.
When he saw a town appearing ahead of them, buildings gathered on the hill slopes, he breathed a sigh of relief. And his companions also looked relieved, and picked up the pace. The wind stung with bits of sand, but at least it was to their backs.
With the sky still showing violet in at least a third of it, the road reached a bridge, with a small cabin before it. The gorge it crossed was very deep, but he could clearly see the town behind, and the path to it.
Haldric, without hesitation, went to the cabin door.
Edmund kept his mouth shut, and went in with the others. It was plainly furnished, with a few windows, and shelf-like beds circling the walls, about a stove. Two people were already there, sitting on one bed, with recognizable mugs in their hands, both golden-skinned and dressed like his companions, and himself: a man and a woman, with a small creature, tan, and pug-like. Indeed, he was not certain that it was not a pug; it looked more like the Earth-creature than even these humans. It came over to sniff at him, and his companions, without distinguishing between them. They stared at him and him alone.
"Who are you?" said the woman. "And what are you doing here?"
His companions winced.
"My name is Edmund," he said. "And I was brought here by means I do not know of, from a far distant land."
She scowled, while all the others looked both wary and curious. "Who did it?"
"I do not know," said Edmund. "I do not think they meant me well."
"There's broth," said the man, hastily. "We kept it warm after we made ours, to succor any other travelers."
A roar sounded outside. Startled, Edmund glanced at the window. The gorge was filled -- filled to the brim, with water foaming and bearing along trees and even boulders. Anything smaller than that could not be picked out in the violence.
Haldric gave it a practiced eye. "Could probably still cross the bridge."
"But why risk it?" said Garth and Asteria in chorus, as if parroting back a lesson.
Mugs were passed about, and the couple were introduced as Lilya and Dostin, and Lilya's curious glances were not followed by more questions.
Minutes later, the sound of hammering rain followed. The windows were almost instantly streaked so with water that even the river could not be seen, certainly not the town. Edmund sipped at the broth, listened to the rain, and when it was dying down, went to the window. Through the diminishing drops, he could make out the buildings of the town, where, one way or another, he would have to start a new life.
