Eyes blinked in the morning light as she ran across the deserted land. Her arms hugged herself tightly, trying to warm the bare arms as a bitter wind battled her side. With bare feet she went, her breathing erratic but the single notion in her mind that she could not stop. Behind her the coast was melting away, and that was what she wanted.
The woman was clothed in nothing but a thin but gorgeous blue silk gown. At her side, slung over her shoulder, was a weathered but strong piece of rope. Attached to it was a battered iron rapier and a hastily tied riding crop. Her eyes wide she tried to pick up speed, but it was difficult with the harsh terrain she was on and the wind. It was an open plain like a tundra, with tufted grass and bare rocks for the vast majority of the land that angled up from the sea steadily. A forest was in the distance, and it was only by circumstance that this was where she was heading. Her main purpose was to get away from the ship that was lounging a mile or so offshore.
As a harsh whisp of wind battered against her she lowered her head and tried to continue on. Her heart was hammering in her chest, and she felt awfully exposed as the sun peeked out from a cloud and she groaned at its brightness. She closed her eyes for a moment as she ran and winced. She wished honestly that she had something on underneath this dress but circumstances were what they were … she did not. There was not anything under her, even underclothes and she knew there was only so long that she could continue like this.
But she had to run. Run fast and not stop, for though she could not see it she imagined the various rowboats behind her that were angling to shore, each one of them with an impatient rider and horse. His blood after all would only just be going cold, as it dripped through the decks.
It hung on the bare rapier still, dry on the metal. Her skill with such a thing was not strong, though, for she knew little in the ways of fighting and much in the general ways of reading people and subjecting them to her wants. But that skill even had not served her well, for she had been disoriented for too long now. Sunlight was barely even tolerable. And it was only getting brighter and brighter.
A noise behind her - a shout. She sucked in her breath and dared to look behind her. A single sailor had come onto land and was looking in her direction. Though he was over five hundred metres away he still seemed to recognise her, with her long streaming pure white hair.
He was pointing at her and yelling. Likely something like, “I see her.”
“Damn,” she whispered, her eyes wide with fear. Then she turned and ran like she had never done before.
And she enacted her final option. It would be make the men see what she could become but currently she considered it her only option. Now they could see her she had little time before mounts would begin to be summoned to chase her down.
She, the one who had killed their captain. She, the one who had technically killed her master.
Well, at least she was not a slave to anyone anymore. Or a prisoner. How many years had she spent below ground now? She was not sure, it had never been clear. But it had been long … far too long. And since she had felt power flow back into her she had become her other form once, just once.
As the sun was beaming bright in her eyes, she took time to strain in it, before she twisted her head back and saw her guess was true. A small but lithe horse was being guided onto shore, an eager rider already trying to get onto its back. It would be but minutes before it would be sent towards her, and even though she ran she would not last long.
“Damn,” she swore, and unlooped the rope from over her shoulder. Narrowing her eyes to protect them from the blazing light she kept running. Her bare feet felt cold and suffering. At least - at least she'd be fine with her hooves.
Holding the rope and weapons in one hand she used her other arm to drag the dress off her back. Her feet stumbled with the awkwardness of the action, and she had to slow at least somewhat. But she managed it, and then suddenly she was stark naked. Running.
Quickly and awkwardly she tied the dress in its own savage knot onto the rope. Then, slinging the whole matter over her body she sucked in breath before allowing her wilder side to talk over. A lithe wind began to gather around her, but not of the larger mass. Instead this was individual breeze of her own making. It picked up around her and she closed her eyes to suck in the breath as she ran. Her hair was raised upwards and she let go of the rope. The rapier slapped against her uselessly but it was at least in a place where she could find it later. Then she titled back her head as it began to enlarge and her neck began to enlong. Fur, white like her skin, burst out sudden from every pore. Her arms began to contort and straighten, her back itself twist. She let out a groan of pain as she continued to run and got more and more awkwardly.
Then, mid-stride she threw down her arms - and they were suddenly legs. Four hooves bore her weight now and she was suddenly a pure white horse with a long, trailing mane and tail. The weapons slapped against the rope that was now about her withers. The most distinguishing mark, however, was the small horn that sprouted from her forehead.
Now she raced. Now she sprinted, excelling in speed and ferocity as she ripped up the dirt and fled towards the forest. She could already here the rumblings of other hooves coming up from the shore and she knew her decision had been a good one. Despite what it meant - exposing her other form and its potential to her current hunters - she let it happen for the sake of survival.
And now she was a unicorn, flying over the plain. Her mane and tail streamed from behind her and she was then twice the speed of before. Facing into the bitter wind she galloped with a renewed sense of purpose.
Because, now, she believed she could escape.
The other equine creatures with their riders resounded behind her but she was going faster. Head facing the wind she charged, horn piercing what air before her. The rapier, riding crop and dress continued to slap against her side. Her breathing became a regular tempo as she huffed and ran, now turning the chase into a real hunt.
The forest was getting comfortingly close now. But the beings behind her - they were fast also, she was sure. Most of the crew had the dark skin and the vivid eyes that marked them out as drow. The same as the captain who had tried to have his way with her, and whom she had killed with his own rapier.
With a burst of speed she headed into the woods, crossing the treeline.
My name is Vixen Crowsfoot Quansaldo. Often, however, I forget the last part, for the origin of the name is a way of denoting my parentage according to the traditions of my planet. And I have no great love for my father. Indeed, I have not seen him in over three thousand years, but neither have I seen the sky in half that time and I did not forget the beauty of the sun. Thus, I have not forgotten the cruelty of that god who rules a planet, and cares little for his creations.
I ran - she ran, me as Unicorn, my alter self - into the woods and charged headlong away from the crew who had enslaved me. Into an unknown world Unicorn charged, horn down and ready to spear anyone who was in her way. She left behind Vixen and became the beast of legends, thundering double the speed of those idiot horses beneath their drow riders. Her chest heaved and she focused on the better side of ourself, for the darker half was me. Had always been me. She passed by countless trees, trampling shrubs, with knowledge that they would return to some degree. However, those small creatures of the earth who would die were her iron hoof to descend, she avoided at all costs, even veering off a good, steady path and forcing a new road up a steep slope.
I concluded later that it had been worth it, for despite the tracks left no serious rider, who's horse had just come off the ship, would not be keen to drive their steeds to death so soon. Not even for the murderer of their captain.
Unicorn galloped until she could no more, and slumped, exhausted, down by an old tree. It had wicked branches and spoke gloriously of death and decay, with its wood long dried out and a lack of any foliage. Only dirt surrounded it, but it was sturdy and useful for her needs. She placed herself, using a head to nudge my weapons and dress into a comfortable position.
She kept sitting for a while as her chest heaved, ears pricked up for any signs of noise. She waited … then nothing came apart from the whistling of the wind, and not even a small footstep of a wolf. It was becoming dark, and she could see little, only the sorrowful dim branches of other dying plants. Pulling in her breath as a sigh, Unicorn lowered her head and huffed. I decided to remain in her form as it was the best one to flee from in, if danger came, she was the form in which we had a better chance of escape. That said, she was the one between us with the greatest weakness.
She lay beside the tree for sometime, letting her weary body rest as it needed to. Her head remained up, pink eyes half closed but still looking into the world around her. Steadily she moved her eyes across the clearing and steadily she breathed. She kept up this act, full of readiness in case we became in honest danger.
Last edited by Vixen Crowsfoot; 01-03-2018 at 06:22 PM.
Several hours had passed since Unicorn had settled down by the broken, dead tree. Spent, and needing rest she had eventually let her head settle down upon the ground, nostrils flaring with each breath and the snow white splendour that was her mane falling around her muscled neck and frame. Her tail twitched as she slowly fell to sleep, taking in each sound and assessing it, dividing it between the groups of 'friend,' 'foe,' or 'really nothing'. Her eyes slid closed eventually and our minds, because we really are two beings in one body, rationalised that we needed rest above everything and that we deserved it. Yes, in her form we could be trapped, but in mine we were weaker, withough the strength of her hooves.
And also in the last good long hours that we had spent here we had heard no danger at all. The crew were far away, and this dead tree provided with some shelter. There seemed to be no wolves, or natural hunters - indeed the worst we had found had been a squirrel. A big, fat grey one.
Dreams as Unicorn are different to those as myself. Indeed, I had forgotten that they were so different in all the years that I had had my powers reduced by the Sorcerors of Hern - my original masters. And that had been a little over three thousand years ago. Slowly my powers had been taken from me, until I had just been immortal and able to project my euphoric essence - an ability to calm those around me, make them pleased and even aroused. Those they had left to me for obvious reasons. What I had lost last, however, was my Unicorn form, and just before that, my healing. If my Unicorn form was back, even in a weaker state than I remembered, then it stood to reason that what I would gain back next was my healing.
Healing is after all, connected to unicons in both myth and legend. And it was what Unicorn dreamed of.
Blue skies and warm lakes in the middle of a clearing. Birds of paradise flocked around her, and instead of a forest of dead trees, there was growth. Creatures came to greet Unicorn, many asking for blessings, including the Great Forest Guardian, who looked after the forest and all that was in it. Sometimes the Guardian came in the guise of a Quilin, othertimes a hude stag and other times a small mouse. There was a belief within Unicorn that the Guardian truly existed somewhere, whether in our origin world or here. And that belief fueled her dreams, her being, her soul. She was filled with hope, with love and joy ... I realised that she was nearly the same person as we had been when we first left our home planet. She was what I had been like before my years of slavery.
Thus I happily watched her dreams, lived them and was happy to not be having the nightmares that we had when we slept in my form.
"Oh my Great King Atron ..."
Unicorn opened her eyes, startled. Lifting up her head she stared around, seeing all the grey trees around her, the dead and dying branches with the thin dirt. Ragged, old and decaying leaves made carpet in some areas, but only a little could be found. Else, by the new lightness of day, we could see some greenery, with ferns reaching to the sky, their spindly leaves uncurling. Her concentration, though, and rightly, was on a tall figure before her eyes. He had deep red skin, exenuated by dark grey, black eyes and white hair. A long, pointed beard fell down from his chin, and he had two very raised brows. He was dressed in a long, grey monk's robe and leant over a gnarled stick, possibly made of the same grey dead wood as that Unicorn lay against.
The monk stared back for some time, his expression one of shock. He did not move to attack - in fact he stood quite perfectly still which was surprising. Lips hanging open to reveal pointed yellowing teeth the old demon seemed entirely lost for words.
Cautiously - very cautiously, Unicorn began to get up, first pushing herself around into a sitting position, and then sliding her front legs beneath her form to stand. The demon gasped and took a couple of startled steps back, holding up a hand as he did so.
"I mean you no harm, great one," he said quickly, "No harm, at all. Only to see one such as yourself here ... It is a miracle." His voice was like a low thunder.
Unicorn huffed, raising herself up onto all four legs. As she did my equipment on her side, still tied around her girth swung and it caught the monk's attention. His eyes went wider, if it were possible, his black pits of his eyes full of confusion but also with awe. "You have a rider?" he whispered.
Not wanting to turn immediately into my humanoid form and cause the old demon to freak out, Unicorn faced him fully, coming to a height of about his shoulder, when her nose was held at a natural dip. She came close to him, and snorted in his face before slowly shaking her head. No, I screamed in her mind, wishing he had some telepathy, No, not a rider, just ... me.
Her great pink eyes blinked and she pushed her side around, gesturing with her nose to the dress specifically.
The demon paused, looking suddenly far more bemused. He leant away, brow furrowing. His act had gone from being completely absorbed in wonder, to now at a loss. His hand that was not on his staff rose and he held it up in a a confession of ignorance. "Great one, I know not of what you mean. You are here, in this dying forest, a force of life and - and you try to communicate. Perhaps if I - are you here for rest? Comfort? Food? I could get you food perhaps or-"
Fuck it, I thought.
And I transformed. The small lithe wind that was the demonstration of my powers whistled in unseen and unnannouced. He, the demon monk, let out a small cry as the wind picked up around me, swirling in a light hurricane around Unicorn's hooves first, then gliding upwards over her torso. The blue dress - my blue dress - flung in the air, and her mane too flicked wildly as she lifted her head to the sky. Breath whispered out of her lungs, the sigh becoming more human with each passing second until suddenly she reared. Back hooves became feet, front legs hands. The tail withdrew into my skin, as did her fair coat and the mane became my hair, falling down around my waist, loose and long. Then - she was done and I was there, naked except for the thin piece of rope around me. I landed, with a light thump in the soil, immediately leaning down into a crouch. Turning one leg to cross it partly over my lower half, and grabbing my dress to pull it over my breasts I smiled awkwardly at the man, who I now was certain was not going to try to attack.
In fact he seemed to revere me. Which was an odd concept, I thought, for demons who either worship each other as lords, themselves or nothing. That was what I knew anyway. By what he had said it sounded like he followed the guidance of the Demon King, because Atron had been it some time ago. But Kings were not gods, not in Haide, anyway. Awkwardly, I raised a hand and waved. He gawped.
"Hi ..." I said, without smiling, because, in all honesty, my adventures from when I had escaped from my cell beneath Hernsford to now, did not deserve one.
The monk swallowed a little before descending, quite suddenly, into a deep bow. His eyes withdrew from me, and I took that oppurtunity to throw the rope off me, pull out the blue dress, which was dirty and horrible, and half shove it over myself. He remained in that bow, perhaps deliberately, so as not to need to stare at my nude form. After a moment I coughed very lightly.
"Um ... sir?"
He glanced up, eyes wide. A sigh left his lips as he saw I was now in clothes, even if it was just the ragged remains of what had once been a glorious dress. Slowly, I stood back up, my hands curling around the rope that now just had the riding crop and the rapier tied onto it as I shifted it over my shoulder again.
"Yes, Great One?" he murmured.
"I am not Great," I said quickly, even though, I was once worshipped as the daughter of a god ('a' god because the general populous of the planet I was from had no idea that they were actually all created and ruled by a singular entity), and also honoured as a princess of the uniano people. Recently, though, I had been a slave more than anything ... and on that dreaded ship once more ridiculed to a life of rape.
The demon shook his head, a smile creeping onto his face. "Anything, anyone, who takes the form of one so pure and holy as a unicorn is great, no matter how little you might not believe that yourself."
His name was Undun, and he was a hermit. He followed no particular god, but had rather left the demonic lifestyle behind of war and punishment and fire, to begin his own peaceful existence. Without asking my name or where I had come from he invited me to come to his home and join him for dinner. His 'home' as it was, was no more than a small hollowed out tree about twenty minutes walk from the tree he had found Unicorn. The trees in this forest were all dead or dying, and it went with the name that he told me of it - the Perishing Coppice. Apparently he could remember a time when it had flourished, and he told me about the greenery and the various plants that used to grow there as we walked. I allowed him to keep talking, as I did not want to. Perhaps I would tell him the truth of my situation if he asked.
If he had been here since it had died, then I concluded he was old. Perhaps close to my age, which I knew to be over three thousand years of this world and a few hundred of my home planet. I found some comfort in that fact that there were perhaps others here who knew a similar lifespan, but people who had lived it in freedom. It was a comforting, yet despairing fact.
“So, Great One,” he said, using a hand to gesture into the tree. It was a relatively sized one and had a fire into the centre that used the old trunk as a chimney. I saw him pointing towards a cushion and I paused before making my way over and sitting down slowly on it. I kept my eyes on him, my arms wrapped over my body and my weapons.
He gave me a warm smile. “So. Why don't you tell me now what your troubles are, and I may be able to help.”
The sentence stunned me. I blinked, still uncertain, but this was the best comfort I was getting so far. I bit my lip, eyes darting to the fire and the bright, crisp light it gave us. “I …” I began.
“I don't mean you any harm at all, child,” he said gently, “Only-”
“I'm definitely not a child,” I responded quickly. “Please don't call me that.” I felt cold, despite the fire, and that word made me feel like a knife made of ice had stabbed me in the head. Even though I might be naïve, I was not a child.
He seemed taken aback. He blinked at me, stunned for a moment, before he inclined his head. Taking a seat opposite me, and deliberately one so that I could get out of the tree if I needed or wanted, he nodded.
“Alright. Not child then. How about you tell me your troubles anyway. And whilst that … food? Drink?”
I blinked slowly. “It's not … poisoned?” I said quietly. “Are you going to take me prisoner?”
He paused a moment, and his lips parted. “... What? No! Why would you-” He stopped a moment, stunned. Then he pulled in a gasp. “You're the one they are looking for.”
I sat up, alarmed, eyes wide. ‘They’ had to be the crew. Close by enough. Searching for the murderer of their captain. My heart began to thud heavily as I suddenly felt very exposed and threatened. My hand went to the hilt of the rusty iron rapier I had stolen.
Quickly he raised his hands. I saw his staff was lying away from him, near the entrance. That was a weapon than that he could not use. He looked at me with wide, pleading eyes as I began to draw the blade.
“No - wait!” he said quickly, desperately. “I mean you no harm! Honest.”
I paused, the rapier an inch out of its scabbard. And I was still tense, ready to use this thing even if I was entirely out of practice.
“Just please, hear me out!”
My heart was beating hectically, but he was the unarmed one. And so far he had been kind to me. So I gave a slow, tense nod. He let out a sigh, and looked at me sadly. He paused, before letting his hands drop, and cupping them on his lap. I still looked at him with great uncertainty.
Last edited by Vixen Crowsfoot; 01-06-2018 at 08:46 AM.
“Great one … I'm not going to hurt you in any way. The people looking for you, they won't come here. They asked me if I had seen anything in the Perishing Coppice and I said, quite honestly at the time, no I hadn't.” He paused, and I stared. “They - they said you killed a man?”
“The captain. He was going to rape me,” I hissed. “They took me as a slave when I did not want to be. I'm done with that life. All of it.”
Undun looked at me, then nodded slowly. “I understand. You killed to survive.”
Quickly I nodded, and he let out a long breath. Still I did not move.
He breathed. “And … You were a slave. Just before they took you?”
“Bought me, technically, but yes,” I growled. “But I'm not going back to that life. I've been a slave and prisoner for three thousand years and-”
I was stunned when he gasped. Blinking in shock I was surprised to see his eyes wide and a hand at his beard. “Oh my … dear girl. You - three thousand years? And you only just escaped?!”
My jaw tightened, so did my hand on my rapier. His brow creased and he sighed again. “Great one, I am not going to harm you. I swear on my whole being.”
“How can I-”
He suddenly put a finger in the air. I saw his ears suddenly prick back as if they were a beast's. Eyes going large he shook his head at me, making me stare in confusion. But I went silent, not sure what to do or say, or what he meant by this. My lips were dry, I was starving, this was … what?
“There are people in the Wood,” he hissed. “I would not be surprised if they were the crew of the ship looking for you. Stay here, and I will not be long.”
I frowned, and looked out of the doorway that was the large crack in the hollow of the tree. Certainly I could not see anyone there just now, never mind hearing anyone. Undun looked at me, his fully black eyes, including the scelera, deep and passionate.
“I have attuned myself to this place,” he whispered. “Now, stay here, and I will see them off.”
And with those words he stood, and he bowed to me. “Stay quiet. If you must eat, then food is in the compartment there.” He pointed to a chest. “I will move them off, and then maybe you will trust me more.”
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