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Fyresteed — The Irony of Existence

Published: 2011-02-28 04:39:21 +0000 UTC; Views: 1769; Favourites: 75; Downloads: 12
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Description You got to be crazy, you gotta have a real need
You gotta sleep on your toes and when you're on the street
You got to be able to pick out the easy meat with your eyes closed
And then moving in silently, down wind and out of sight
You gotta strike when the moment is right without thinking

And after a while, you can work on points for style
Like the club tie, and the firm handshake
A certain look in the eye and an easy smile
You have to be trusted by the people that you lie to
So that when they turn their backs on you
You'll get the chance to put the knife in

You gotta keep one eye looking over your shoulder
You know, it's going to get harder, and harder, and harder
As you get older
Yeah, and in the end you'll pack up and fly down south
Hide your head in the sand
Just another sad old man
All alone and dying of cancer

And when you lose control, you'll reap the harvest you have sown
And as the fear grows, the bad blood slows and turns to stone
And it's too late to lose the weight you used to need to throw around
So have a good drown, as you go down all alone
Dragged down by the stone

Gotta admit that I'm a little bit confused
Sometimes it seems to me as if I'm just being used
Gotta stay awake, gotta try and shake off this creeping malaise
If I don't stand my own ground, how can I find my way out of this maze

Deaf, dumb and blind, you just keep on pretending
That everyone's expendable, and no one has a real friend
And it seems to you the thing to do would be to isolate the winner
Everything's done under the sun
But you believe at heart everyone's a killer

Who was born in a house full of pain
Who was trained not to spit in the fan
Who was told what to do by the man
Who was broken by trained personnel
Who was fitted with collar and chain
Who was given a pat on the back
Who was breaking away from the pack
Who was only a stranger at home
Who was ground down in the end
Who was found dead on the phone
Who was dragged down by the stone
Who was dragged down by the stone

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The snow fell noiselessly, and he could only begin to fathom the number of children running the streets reveling in the first snowfall of the year. It settled on his ears and whiskers and melted on his fur, and the visibility directly in front of him was next to nothing. The lamppost he leaned against provided a bit of security, a pale yellow light wafting between the snowflakes and settling across the ivory-blanketed ground.

A loud swish greeted his ears, the noise of wings cutting through the cold night air, and Lucas groggily looked up, his good eye searching for the source of the sound. Out of nowhere a raven soared past the lamppost, dangling a horribly familiar pocket watch in its talons, the slight ticking reverberating through his brain and making him whimper in pain.

The bird landed a few feet away.

“You killed yourself.”

Lucas looked up and stared at the bird directly. “Then how am I still here?” the laugh present in his voice was anything but humorous. The bird clacked his beak and ruffled his feathers, and the fox looked back down.

“Sorry,” he mumbled. “How did…you know?”

The watch was tossed in front of his paws without another word. It read six o’clock.

“It can’t be six,” Lucas mouthed quietly.

“Exactly.”

The raven said nothing more but still didn’t move an inch, the expression on his face one of mixed anger and maybe the slightest bit of pity. They shared a pointed look and both bird and fox seemed to reach some sort of unspoken truce between them.

“So you…overdosed on laudanum? You couldn’t think of anything more original?” Lucas laughed despite the situation, and the raven joined in, a raucous, almost inhuman laugh. The raven hopped a few feet away and stared out across the snowy expanses towards the city that lay less than a mile away.

“Why don’t we head back to town and have a cup of tea and play a hand of cards?” Lucas smiled as well as his vulpine features could possibly do.

“I’d like that.”

“I know.”

No one would be able to tell the two of them had sworn to be enemies from the start. Really, neither of them probably wouldn’t be able, either.


-----

So, here's Lucas again, with Salazar (the raven) this time. A bit of backstory here; Lucas is immortal, or at least will be for 500 years. In exchange, he has to do whatever Salazar tells him for that long, or until his pocket watch stops ticking. 'Whatever' happens to be being an assassin for him and picking off whoever he tells him to. Lucas couldn't take it anymore and killed himself by overdosing on laudanum. Well, that doesn't work, immortality isn't subjective. So he came to, freaked out by the fact he killed himself and he wasn't dead, or maybe just because he went through it in the first place, and wandered in a drunken daze as a fox and found himself out in the middle of nowhere freezing in a snowstorm with only a lamppost for security.

Salazar realized the watch had stopped momentarily and knew something fishy was up. He headed out as a raven (they're both shapeshifters, btw, which explains how he could've overdosed and how cards and tea were possible) and finally found him. The two of them aren't really friends, but they seemed to share some sort of really strong bond at certain times, and even though Salazar probably would repeatedly deny it, he went out because he was worried for him, and not just because he's his hitman and he tried to betray him.

Drawing related, I had fun with this. The background is all done via Photoshop; I just drew the characters, fallen snow and lantern. (Thanks to *redheadstock for the brushes and an image off of Google to ref. for Salazar) But I really like how it turned out, actually.

I really like these two for some reason. They're sort of antagonists in MNL, Salazar a lot more so.

Ah, I think I've rambled enough, bahaha.
Related content
Comments: 19

Sycremnia [2011-09-29 13:02:28 +0000 UTC]

That's cool!

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Fyresteed In reply to Sycremnia [2011-10-03 02:14:30 +0000 UTC]

Thanks!

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

Furzzy15 [2011-09-15 23:51:26 +0000 UTC]

IGNORE THE LINK!!!! I HAD A FAIL!!! <3 YOU!

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Fyresteed In reply to Furzzy15 [2011-09-16 00:34:47 +0000 UTC]

<3 YOU MORE.

YOU'RE HERE.

THIS IS AWESOME.

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

Furzzy15 [2011-09-15 23:50:45 +0000 UTC]

CAN HAS LOVE!!!!!!!!!!!!![link]

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

ihavedogseyes [2011-04-24 23:33:36 +0000 UTC]

safdhjkljhgfdsfghkjjhgfdsfgh. 8D

EPIC

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Fyresteed In reply to ihavedogseyes [2011-04-25 00:44:28 +0000 UTC]

dsgkgfkgfh, WHY THANK YOU <3

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

MattsyKun [2011-04-10 20:57:07 +0000 UTC]

Nicely done!

I'm trying to work on your commission. XD I've just been busy with college life. XD

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Fyresteed In reply to MattsyKun [2011-04-10 21:08:51 +0000 UTC]

Thanks!

Oh, don't worry, take your time <3

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

alderroots [2011-03-01 04:04:49 +0000 UTC]

beautiful, hums with my rather depressed mood at the moment :/
very beautiful, very haunting

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Fyresteed In reply to alderroots [2011-03-09 21:17:50 +0000 UTC]

Thank you very much! Sorry you've been feeling down

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

71-Blackbird [2011-03-01 01:25:56 +0000 UTC]

Corvids.... oh my goodness

I adore ravens and crows. This is just incredible!

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Fyresteed In reply to 71-Blackbird [2011-03-01 01:28:29 +0000 UTC]

I love them too, they're just so beautiful and fascinating <3

Thanks so much!

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

71-Blackbird In reply to Fyresteed [2011-03-01 01:34:05 +0000 UTC]

Anytime!

They really are, some think there are crows and ravens and thats it. There are so many, hooded crows, pied ravens, jays, magpies... really fun to explore :3

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

zephyrwolfen [2011-02-28 19:59:38 +0000 UTC]

This is just amazing - one of your best pieces, I think ^^
Both characters look gorgeous, and your use of colour is brilliant

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Fyresteed In reply to zephyrwolfen [2011-03-09 21:17:33 +0000 UTC]

Thanks so much! I think this is one of my favorite pieces I've done recently. <3

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

zephyrwolfen In reply to Fyresteed [2011-03-10 18:12:56 +0000 UTC]

You're very welcome, and I totally agree!

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

Apachethedragon [2011-02-28 13:46:51 +0000 UTC]

Reminds me of "The Raven," by Edgar Allan Poe.


I like it, great job!

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Fyresteed In reply to Apachethedragon [2011-02-28 14:34:33 +0000 UTC]

I was actually vaguely inspired by The Raven, actually! Thanks a lot!

👍: 0 ⏩: 0