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OOM: Spilled Blood
Feb. 8th, 2008 02:18 pmTeja fully realises that he is incautious, and too sure of himself, once more. He knows that after his bath, he should dress again, go down again, and sleep on a cot in the room that those touched by these nightmares so far are free to use. But Teja does not wish to sleep in his armour; he does not wish to be among people without his armour, and he does not relish the thought of volunteers watching him while he sleeps.
Or might not sleep, but stare into nothingness and ponder. He does not wish any man's eyes on his face then. He does not wish anyone to watch over him.
He is not a victim.
So, the second nightmare finds him in his bed, bathed and bare among linen sheets, blankets, and furs. It finds him in the faint light from the fire that has burned down on his hearth, watched over by nothing but stars, shining in through the uncurtained window.
It finds him at Cumae, in the first month of his short reign.
( Spilled Blood )
When Teja wakes from this vision of his past, sheets and blankets were sticking to his skin -- but not with the sweat from the nightmare, with the blood spilled on his arms, hair, face, feet, body by all the death he had given. In horror, he jumps from his bed, trailing a blood-sodden sheet, dripping blood, not his own, on the floor of his quiet, peaceful room in this hitherto quiet, peaceful, strange and somewhat silly afterlife.
This time, no-one is watching over him. This time, he will have to clean it all himself. This time, he will have to tell his new friends that had never witnessed such an act of unspeakable cruelty all their sheltered lives, that yes, this was what he has seen, and this was what he has, indeed, done.
Overcome with shame, Teja sobs into his bloody hands.
[[OOC: Passages in italics translated from canon. Whitetext translated from a derivative work, the one-act play 'King Teja', by Hermann Sudermann (1897) - thanks to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
carolinw for alerting me to its existence! Overall, it is very bad, but it has some quite whitetextable passages. This OOM is part of the 'Kingdom Come' plot line, and the second such nightmare for Teja -- here is the first. Warnings for blood, gore, rape, and 300 NPC deaths!]]
Or might not sleep, but stare into nothingness and ponder. He does not wish any man's eyes on his face then. He does not wish anyone to watch over him.
He is not a victim.
So, the second nightmare finds him in his bed, bathed and bare among linen sheets, blankets, and furs. It finds him in the faint light from the fire that has burned down on his hearth, watched over by nothing but stars, shining in through the uncurtained window.
It finds him at Cumae, in the first month of his short reign.
( Spilled Blood )
When Teja wakes from this vision of his past, sheets and blankets were sticking to his skin -- but not with the sweat from the nightmare, with the blood spilled on his arms, hair, face, feet, body by all the death he had given. In horror, he jumps from his bed, trailing a blood-sodden sheet, dripping blood, not his own, on the floor of his quiet, peaceful room in this hitherto quiet, peaceful, strange and somewhat silly afterlife.
This time, no-one is watching over him. This time, he will have to clean it all himself. This time, he will have to tell his new friends that had never witnessed such an act of unspeakable cruelty all their sheltered lives, that yes, this was what he has seen, and this was what he has, indeed, done.
Overcome with shame, Teja sobs into his bloody hands.
[[OOC: Passages in italics translated from canon. Whitetext translated from a derivative work, the one-act play 'King Teja', by Hermann Sudermann (1897) - thanks to
carolinw for alerting me to its existence! Overall, it is very bad, but it has some quite whitetextable passages. This OOM is part of the 'Kingdom Come' plot line, and the second such nightmare for Teja -- here is the first. Warnings for blood, gore, rape, and 300 NPC deaths!]]