Killington
Scrublet
Posts : 16
Join date : 2012-05-25
 |  Subject: The Adventures of Alexander Carver Sat Sep 01, 2012 7:39 pm | |
| The Ice Giants - Year One My boots did not touch the warm and soft dirt, of my homeland, nor did my fingertips touch against the green, lush trees. A great distance above the trees, I climbed, for the mountains showed no weakness in their appearance and gave no mercy, with their icy wrath. My numb and senseless fingers gave no signs of what rocks were secure and what would send me to my impending doom and my lack of heat, that seemed to nearly drain my soul, kept my body and mind frozen. What little strength I had, carried me up the sides, cliffs and edges of the mountains and when needed, to rest in a smaller cove within. Darkness at this time of my life, was not my main fear, since light was still pure and easy to bring-fourth from my body. The fear, which drove me, was the cold. Though, I had thickened blankets and skins from the lower animals, the cold seeped through and into my mind. For these games the cold played on my body, were not one of naturalism, nor were they from the gods, but from the mountains themselves. I felt watched, yet the snow at times was blinding enough, so that I could no longer see, in its stinging fury.
Fear of what the mountains brought, was what forced me to my knees time and time again, in the snow, where I would then crawl to a cave that was deep within the mountains. Though still, darkness was around me, my lights would keep company and keep company well. Inside of these quiet caves, untapped by civilization itself and undiscovered, questions of why these mountains, which had harmed me so dearly and frozen my insides to the core, had created these. Why, such a titan in size and fury, would allow lonesome travelers the space to pass through. These colossal frozen monsters, that were imprisoned by their masters of the land, had created environments within themselves, to keep the one thing alive, which they disliked the most. Life and the living itself, pure in the flesh. With the light I had, and the company I did not, time passed slowly at first. At first, time was no-longer moving, except for the nature around myself and I. To keep myself sane within the coves, that were wide, narrow, long and vast, depending on where I crawled into… I thought. My mind, became creative. My mind, had become my best tool for survival, that I could possibly imagine. The frozen beasts, which surrounded me for miles, no longer took my soul away and imprisoned it in ice. Within these caves and while the winds were calmer, along the ways, I defeated the cold.
The frozen monsters, as I thought of them at the time, could no longer consume my soul, as I have said. Yet in every way they were defeated, the physical surroundings were no longer at my disposal. Food, ran short rather fast. For the cold that struck my body, was stronger on the climb up towards the peak. The higher I climbed, the more I would stop for surviving. The meat of goats, after skinning them, became a frozen meal for me. Though, the diet took weeks of getting used to and had nearly crippled my body, so that physically and a tad mentally, I thought there was no strength left within my body. For as I said, the mountains had a way still, of bringing me to my knees, yes, they did. The first weeks, on this diet, had turned my stomach and stopped my thinking on keeping the cold out, and more upon the survival. But, as time passed, the sickness became less and more strengthened, I became.
In the mountains, surrounded by giants who wished to capture my body and destroy my soul, I felt no such strength to trick the great beasts. For they were masters of their terrain and I was merely a pilgrim, wandering through them towards the other side… Towards the warmth across the mountains and in the distance. Not once, did I try to cheat the rock and ice, snow and cold from their games, for they had played them with stronger people than I. At the slightest sense of trickery on my behalf, I felt as if they could watch, even in the darkness which I slept and bring their anger down upon my body for one last time. People stronger than I, had died in these frozen monsters and only by my logic there, do I believe I survived.
Where I lacked companions and people to speak to, inside of the caves where the wild and wind would easily be at our doorstep, I learned of the beauty of these beasts that played a game of death and life with me. For their pure, untouched and white beauty, was a mask of their destruction, yet a lovely mask none-the-less. When the sun first shined up and into the mountains, there was nothing more beautiful in that time, than watching the burning flames of the sun, touch down against the untamed frozen wilderness, rock and ice… Against my wrapped face, from the furs and apparel which I had made and brought with me. In that brief moment, where I saw the tip of the sun slowly peak over the white caps and blackened rocks that nearly imprisoned me, there were no worries in the world. Bliss was mine, for a shortened period of time and it was what strengthened me, during my times of sickness, besides of imagination and creativity, of course.
Not many can climb well, nor can many climb great lengths, like I had. Mercy from the game, which the ice giants played on me, was given while I climbed. For nearly always, my hands were firmly gripped onto the sides of a ledge and when I slipped one hand, the other grasped tighter. The only trickery, was from the body of these mountains in these times. Perhaps a sharpened surface was above, that I could impale my hand on, or a slippery ice patch, which would lead to my inevitable fall and demise. Though, doing these tasks bare-handed was no good and some wrappings of cloth across my face, eventually covered my fingers and palms fully. Strength, eventually came through these climbs and I found myself climbing more than walking, to some extent. Yet, more than the mercy that the mountains gave me, was the beauty from these climbs up and towards the skies. Not only, had few men seen such a surrounding in my opinion, yet few had actually appreciated what was around them, in what they saw. Man-made art, statues and buildings did not hold a match up to the cooled beauty of these beasts upon my climbs. At my first look down and around though, I felt intimidated and not only had the height which I climbed look larger than anything I had ever imagined, but the world in which I had yet to view felt larger than anything I could travel.
If I am not mistaken, there were few moments where I saw other people. These people, were interested in what I had to say, what I was doing and where I was going. Sadly, for most questions at this time, I had little answers. My mind, told me to continue moving, after the first sign of trouble. For there was no need for violence and bloodshed, or for magic and fighting. The monsters that swallowed men whole, through frozen and bitter mouths of white snow. These people, that wished for trouble, were of no interest of mine. I saw naturally what people wanted. Not through speech, but their actions told me more, that words could. Though none-the-less, words were a great thing to use, with some. My actions spoke for themselves and my abilities proved my stories to be true. But words… Words, merely sentences strung together, were what some people wanted to hear. Actions, were not the best company, nor was I the best with words. Yet what little I did, had the few I met, intrigued. Magic, was what they had seen in their daily life, yet from the ways they described what I had done, I had turned magic from something that may frighten the people, to something that people themselves would appreciate in common-times. I thought nothing of it, since I had nothing to think of that thought. Truly, I would still agree with myself at the time. I think nothing of it, yet use the gifts which I have been given, to my advantage in peaceful and passive ways.
As I have said before, the beauty of these mountains were inspiring and left me awestruck by how the sights made me feel in comparison. These monsters, kept me realizing how minor I am, within the world, yet how this world has so much beauty left to be seen and understood. Natural beauty, from my perspective, is the greatest in the entire globe. When the clouds rolled-over the tips of the mountains and whirled across the land and over the frozen surroundings. Even, my magic did not seem to have much power, at this time, compared to the natural powers that whirled around me for the year I spent in the mountains. The clouds came in fast, flowing ways and especially felt excellent against my cold skin and the crisp breath of air, that it brought, was the freshest type of anything that a human such as I could breath. Ironically, it was one of the more breath taking experiences, at the top of my first mountain.
The end of my travels for the first year brought up questions that I, Alexander Carver, could not resist. Like when viewing the beauty of the mountains, I wished to explore more, yet at the same, wished for less struggles in the future and more comfort from the foundations my homeland brought. Sitting atop another mountain, with my feet and rear dug into the white snow. Though my fingers were numb again, my mind kept racing between these two options. However, eventually, the option of not returning back to my homeland became clear. There was more beauty out within the world that had been undiscovered and untapped. I started west-bound, out towards the deserts. There was more of the world to be seen and touched, more natural things to be learned and more animals unseen to my eyes.
Last edited by Killington on Thu Sep 06, 2012 7:32 am; edited 1 time in total | |
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