Horse of Nightmares (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
spiderhorse) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
bakerstreet2012-05-16 07:14 pm
spiderhorse) wrote in bakerstreet2012-05-16 07:14 pm
The LOCKED AWAY meme
Welcome to prison. Whether you're in a modern jail, a dungeon, or a lonely space station on the moon with one robot guard, you are behind bars and kept away from humanity. But what's this? You have a visitor? That's strange...
001 - Relative - you remember your father/uncle/mother/aunt as a great person who always gave you money for ice cream, candy, and comic books. Too bad your home was invaded at a certain age and they were taken away. You'd never heard of the mafia or assassins before, so it was a hard thing to swallow. But now you're of age to visit them on your own, and that's what you're doing. You just hope they got your birthday cards.
002 - Rat - your buddy in jail? He took the fall. For you. But he didn't take the fall so much as you pushed him off the rafters to save your sorry ass. Plagued with guilt, you go to apologize...depending how it goes, you may be rubbing it in his face, too. Or maybe you're going to cry for him to call of the hit on you because nobody likes a tattle-tell.
003 - Scapegoat - your buddy had to go to jail to keep something important from being discovered. Maybe it's some new scientific theory, maybe it's the missing half of the golden amulet that would lead to something Indiana Jones would cry at. But whatever it is, this special person in your life was either selected to take the fall or volunteered to do it themselves. A box of chocolate and a card every few months isn't cutting it; you're going to say hi.
004 - Conjugal visit - everyone has needs. Whether or not you're going for purely sexual purposes is up for debate. Maybe you want information, too. Maybe you're the wife/husband/SO of the convicted, and you really felt like giving them the best Valentines Day present imaginable. Maybe you're a business partner who's using it as an excuse to get alone time with the accused. Either way, this sex trailer is the only true time you can be alone with the person you're seeking.
005 - Victim - the person behind bars is the reason you've been in therapy for so long. They killed your parents, they set your house on fire, they stalked you to your workplace and tried to kill you. You can't help but confront them. Maybe you're going to ask why. Maybe you're going to simply stare at them until the time is up. You just want them to know that you haven't forgotten what they did to you.
006 - BREAK OUT - your friend shouldn't be here. Everything was falsified data. The people on the stand lied. Good thing you're a genius, or have connections, or simply have superhuman strength. No matter how you do it, you and your buddy are leaving the jail together.
007 - Wildcard - mix and match or come up with your own. Have fun!
1
And, now, he wanted to see his mother. Even if he was stuck in a special little prison made just for him, Sleipnir was still going to go. Not even Odin himself could stop him.
The strange cliclopcliclopcliclopclipclo of his hooves resounded through the hall on his way, snorts added whenever he felt someone dared look at him in a manner less than pleasant.
He didn't need any help opening doors, and soon enough he was standing in front of the place where his mother was contained, tossing his mane as he let out a whinny to announce his arrival.]
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It would seem that upon returning to Asgard they merely exchanged one insult for another, the muzzle for a dog cage. Or perhaps they were finally treating him as his true heritage demanded, which he suppose he should be grateful he still had his life. For now.
No one visited him in these lower dungeon areas. He would have thought himself forgotten if not for the meals delivered regularly, meager portions for a prisoner, not a prince, that he left alone more often than he ate.
So it was with great surprise that he heard the distance clip clopping of hoof beats upon the stone ground. It was a gait he recognized, and true enough, not more than a minute later, his son was there by his cell. Loki stood up quickly and approached the great horse with a strange expression of joy spreading across that tear stained face. ]
Sleipnir. [ His greeting was heavy with both awe and a mother's love for his son and he cringed at how rusty his voice sounded for having so long not been used. ] What are you doing here?
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I wanted to see you.
His voice heard in one of two ways, depending on the other involved: directly in the head or somewhere around, like a voice from a speaker that couldn't be seen. But his voice was meant only for Loki, not for anyone else who may have passed by. And, as such, Loki was the only one who could hear him.]
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He heard him, a soft voice with a horse's neighing accent deep in the recess of his mind. and he smiled as he reached to stroke Sleipnir's gray side. ]
I wanted to see you too. I have been lonely and there are few who I wish to see anymore. [ Less than those who wished to see him, as few as those already are. ]
Have you been well? Does Odin still treat you fairly?
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My rider has always treated me well, Mother. He would never stop, nor dare to think of abusing me.
The great black eye takes him in, nostrils flaring again.
You look ill.]
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I have not been well.
[ Trapped here where there is neither day nor night but just the darkness of his own company, how could he be? Even if he was physically well, his spirit was sick, poisoned by the very air of Asgard. He would rather hide away in a frost cave in Jotenheim, or journey to the land of the departed with Hel, it couldn't be worse than this cold prison where he was bound. ]
Sleipnir, my glorious son, can you free me from these bars?
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Or a few well-placed kicks, that could perhaps do the trick.
He tosses his head from side to side, looking around every bit of the cage that can be seen. Contemplating, it seems, how to go about it.
But then he turns his attention back to his mother and asks only:
But where will you go that the Allfather cannot fetch you from again? And on my back?]
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He glanced down, looking truly dejected as he realized there was nowhere for him to be. ]
Anywhere is better than here.
[ But this time, he sounded like he was trying to convince himself more than answer his boy. Reaching through the bars, he absently stroked Sleipnir's head. ]
If I left here, will you stay with me?
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Of all of Loki's children, Sleipnir had inherited the least of him. He had no quick tongue, no way with lies. He was as deformed and monstrous as the others, but his was useful and served a purpose. Whereas the great wolf, the great snake, and the keeper of the dead had been cast out by Odin for reasons Sleipnir neither knew nor understood, he had been kept. Loki had all tossed them away first, of course, but Sleipnir had been granted some sort of shelter. Perhaps it was because of how he "sold" him to Odin, stating him to be the horse of horses fit for the god of gods. Perhaps it was just to his half-sibling's misfortune that no one rode a giant snake or an angry wolf into battle, or the strange creature that was Hel.
And now, being asked a complicated question, it shows more than ever. He doesn't have the highest problem solving skills ever granted, certainly not. Loki is mother, life giver, and he's eternally in love with him. Odin, however, is caregiver, rider, and companion. He loves them both, and so it's a hard question he's being asked, and one that needs what could be seen as quite a stupid bit of clarification.
You mean...leave Asgard and remain with you?]
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And why would he be? He had all but handed Sleipnir off to Odin not long after his birth, and saw him during short trips and visits thereafter.
Neither would he have the means to take care of the great horse if he didn't even know whether he can take care of himself. It was not his most well thought plan, just stupid and impulsive. ]
No, just bear me where I wish to go and you may return.
[ At this point, Loki was convinced that if he took Sleipnir with him, Odin will chase him down wishing for his steed more than his wretched, adopted, frost giant son. ]
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He turns his head to the side so one eye can fully assess the scene in Loki's cage, the other to look around the rest of the room.
No.
It's simple, succinct, and not a word he uses very often.]
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[ The refusal shocked Loki and confused him. The simplicity of it didn't shed any light on what Sleipnir was refusing exactly either, to break him out, to take him away, what? and neither did watching his son sit down.
But there was no doubt it was a look of hurt that crossed his face after the shock dissipated, one that he tried to mask quickly by blinking rapidly and frowning. ]
What do you mean, 'No'?
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Usually, yes, he observed and took in every detail of the gods' and warrior's body language, from facial features to the way their small fingers rested against against each other, if they shook or twitched at all.
But Sleipnir had a logical reason this time. He may have had the brains and sense of a horse, but, sometimes, he was pretty sure that it was a good thing. Let him have a more...distant perspective than anyone else.
I meant no...nay. Neigh I will not take you anywhere. You have nowhere to go, and taking you somewhere would only be leading to your probable death. I will not let you use me to take yourself on a suicidal retreat. No.]
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He stepped back, brows furrowing together in anger as he withdrew from his son. ]
You think I cannot care for myself?
You would rather see me... rot in this cage than set me where I am not surrounded by enemies pretending to be generous?
[ The venomous accusations hurled themselves from his lips as he stepped back further, backing away from one who he knew, deep in his heart, still cared. But he cannot help himself, he was desolate, desperate, and Sleipnir would rather lay down than refuse to help. ]
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Well, not quite.
He knew his mother could be cruel in word and deed, had heard it for the majority of his life. But it was never attributed to anything other than a penchant for pranks, a bit of mischief, an imagination run wild with the help of magic. But it was not well known, first hand, to Sleipnir just how nasty he could be with his words. If this was what he was going to give him, his son, he would rather not hear him around his uncle, his rider, or the Allmother. He simply didn't want to hear his mother's spoken terrible nature if he could help it.
He sits extremely still for a moment before leaping into action, hooves thundering against the floor as he rises to them and crouches.
His head twists to the side and those monstrous, terrible teeth seem to be headed right in the direction of his mouth. As if the maw of the beast was going to consume him, as if son was going to take mother back to her final resting place.
But no. Those teeth clamped around the bar as far back as he could get them to do so, and with everything in that great beast's body he was, quite literally, chomping on it. Pulling it, tugging it, body twitching all over as nostrils flared into life, as saliva frothed and fell on the floor...]
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And that great maw came down around the cage about him, Loki stared into the great darkness... and then it was pulling, tearing the bars of the cage and twisting them as if they were no more than twigs that snapped to his great teeth.
And suddenly Loki was free... and did not know what to do. No doubt there will be guards running towards here soon enough, but now that the prison that held him was shattered about him, he no longer worried. Rather, he stepped up to his son's great body and rested a hand upon his side, able to run it over areas he wasn't able to reach before. ]
I'm sorry. [ Yes, he may be hopeless in the eyes of many, but he was still decent enough to apologize to those deserving of it. ] And thank you.
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You should run, Mother. You can take care of yourself.
He did not get down on four knees as he would if he was going to be mounted. He stood on all eight legs, slightly surrounding his mother, that one great eye watching him dully.]
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Sleipnir had made it clear that he will not bear him away and Loki will not press. There were other ways besides the Bifrost to travel to other realms and he had done it before. Given, he was not at the height of his power anymore, but it will come back, he just needed to give it time.
Unable to reach Sleipnir's head anymore, Loki just gave the horse's side one final good pat, then stepped back. ]
Good bye. [ Said sadly, possibly for the next several years, centuries, eternity even. Sleipnir will be able to take care of himself. Now it was time to prove he can as well.
Loki looked up to meet one great black eye for a final time before he vanished... just as the first guards came in. ]