Newsgroups: alt.pub.dragons-inn From: hutch@ibeam.intel.com (Steve Hutchison) Subject: [AU] [Housebreaking] Shepherd Moon and Morning Hymn Message-ID: References: <1993Jul14.180410.9807@data-io.com> Date: Mon, 19 Jul 1993 19:24:38 GMT [ADMIN] Because people want to get on with things, I'm posting this in short succession to the prior post, Following Trails. This is a group concoction by the people named at bottom. The sky darkened, the moon rose high, and the forest came alive with a variety of noises; nocturnal creatures were using this time for their own purposes. The night went by calmly, peacefully. Thanks to ar'Elya's wards, nothing evil came near the party. However, something else did... <> Andrea woke. The sky was dark, the familiar constellations shining crisp and clear overhead. Why did I wake up? Andrea wondered. She sat up, looked around. No one else was awake--all were sleeping. What was going on? And when she saw what was at the far end of the clearing, she entirely forgot to wonder. At first Andrea thought they were mist, risen off the ground and floating into camp. Then she made out their shapes, the snowy-white forms of four unicorns standing at the opposite end of the encampment. They seemed to be peering at Sheryl and Jay. The leader snorted, and turned his head back to his companions. "What are these humans doing in our forest?" he nickered. Though the sound carried clearly across to Andrea, none of the others in the party even stirred. "And with one of the Breed in their company?" "Perhaps they captured her?" the second unicorn, a mare only slightly shorter than the leader, suggested. "Then why would this clearing be warded AGAINST evil?" the third, a stallion whose voice carried the same youthful overtones that a human teenager's might. "It doesn't make sense." "Perhaps she chose to be with them willingly?" the fourth, a filly perhaps the same age as the third 'corn suggested. The leader snorted. "Ridiculous. I have not heard of one of the Breed taking a human companion in many years." "None of the Breed has gone near human settlements in many years," the third 'corn reminded him. "You do remember the legends..." "How human virgins supposedly have the ability to charm us. Bah. I would say that as many humans were charmed by the Breed as it was the other way around." "I've always discounted the old virgin myths myself," the older mare agreed. "Very sensible of you," the leader replied drily, though she wasn't finished yet. "As *I* see it," she said, "it has more to do with the personality of the human and the Breed-born. If something in both is mutually compatible, then..." "It is a rather pointless discussion," the leader interrupted, "as none of the Breed has been with a human for many, many years. But here we seem to have an exception." He tossed his head amusedly at Jay and Sheryl. The pair were cuddled up against each other, and Jay had one of his arms around Sheryl's neck. A blissfully peaceful expression was on Jay's face. "Indeed," the mare replied drily. "What do you suggest we do about it?" The older stallion tossed his head and snorted. "Report it to the herd, of course. What else CAN we do?" The younger stallion had wandered over to where Jake was dozing, and was sniffing at him. He nuzzled him, to no effect. "Your sleeping spell worked," he reported. "Not even touching him wakes him up." "They are all asleep for the rest of the night," the older mare said. "But that was a most incautious way of testing it." The younger stallion tossed his head. "It's always worked in the past, no reason why it should fail now." The older stallion snorted something derogatory about the younger generation that Andrea wasn't quite able to catch, then said, "It is close to dawn. We should return to the herd." "Agreed," the older mare replied. The stallion reared, wheeled, and galloped out of the clearing, trumpeting a clarion call as the other three followed close behind. As the sound of their hoofbeats faded, Andrea watched bemusedly. She briefly considered following them, but shook her head. She'd just gotten together with some of her friends; she was not going to go running out into the unknown once again. Not even for a whole HERD of unicorns. And she wasn't sure she could control the change in the presence of more 'corns. Andrea chuckled, realizing that many young maidens would give their right arms for what she had just seen in the last five minutes. It would be considered the high point of their lives, and they would talk about it, and it would grow in the telling, for as long as they lived. Perhaps that was how the virgin legends had been started in the first place. There was a dim rosy color in the eastern sky, which was already beginning to lighten with the false dawn, in preparation for the real thing. Andrea stood, stretched. She wasn't sleepy in the least, so she guessed she might as well make herself useful rather than sitting around bored. It didn't look as though anyone else would be waking up for a while--even 'Raf and ar'Elya seemed to be asleep, though she strongly suspected they were faking it. They seemed powerful enough not to be overcome by even unicorn magic. As Andrea's gaze fell on 'Raf, he emitted a loud snore, and opened his eyes long enough to wink. Or did he? It was so difficult to tell in this light. ar'Elya, without opening her eyes, placed an elbow neatly in 'Raf's midsection, he OOFed without opening his eyes, and Andrea giggled. "Okay, okay, you win," Andrea said, shaking her head. She got up, rolled up her bedroll, and walked to the center of the clearing where the dying embers of the fire remained. She poked a stick in, stirred them around. Hmm, the fire had gone completely out; there were no coals left. She gathered some more wood and dropped it on the ashes. As she turned to get her flint and steel from her backpack, she heard a FWUMP! sound. She turned back, and saw that the fire had apparently ignited itself behind her back. Andrea glanced at 'Raf, who was the perfect epitome of innocently sleeping. She could almost see a halo above his head. She snorted, and looked around. She realized that if she wanted coffee, she would probably have to make it herself, since 'Raf hadn't left a pot out. It was no problem, she had her own pot. However, it was pretty small, and if anyone else wanted coffee, he would have to make his own. She went to get it... ...and when she came back, there was a large, shiny coffeepot sitting on the fire. Andrea looked at 'Raf. He hadn't moved. "Very funny, 'Raf," she said. She sat down by the fire. "Guess I'll just wait 'til the other folks wake up." The first to "wake up" was, of course, 'Raf. He came over, checked the fire. "Coffee smells great," he remarked, grinning. Andrea smiled. "Yes, it does, doesn't it?" She looked over at the sunrise. "Looks like it's going to be a beautiful day today," she remarked. 'Raf nodded. "There's definitely magic in the air." Andrea looked at him, but his face was perfectly serious. She shook her head. ar'Elya was the next up. She yawned, stretched, and walked over to the fire, sat down next to 'Raf. She was her blonde mage-self this morning, and the cries of her dragonets echoed faintly in the distance as they launched themselves into the sky, anticipating the thermal updrafts that would form as the rising sun began to heat the land. "Nice day for the trip home," she said to Andrea. Andrea fidgeted. "I don't know...I'm not really sure that I'm ready to go back to...to town yet. Something inside of me feels...hmm, insecure at the prospect of returning to a busy city, with lots of people, and houses so close together...I need the open plains, I need...space." ar'Elya nodded. "It's perfectly all right...We understand. It's merely a side-effect of the spell, it should disappear as the control-spell merges naturally into your aura." "I'll have to thank Enn Piecy for that ring the next time I see him," Andrea said. "I wonder where he got it?" 'Raf shrugged. "Probably some artificer-mage. It's funny, though...that ring would have to be specifically crafted to work, not only with the specific curse cast, but with the person the curse was cast upon as well. Whoever created it had to know, in advance, a great deal about both you AND the effects of the curse." "That is odd," Andrea agreed. "It makes the question of who gave him that ring even stranger." She shrugged. "Oh, well. I'm rather curious as to what your scan of me last night revealed." "Come to think of it, so am I. Let me check..." 'Raf pulled out the amber amulet that was the only item that the satyrlion appeared to carry in common with 'Raelf-who-Andrea-recalled. He muttered for a few minutes, the language unfamiliar but the meaning somehow clear: <> A fog formed in the air in front of them, the holographic illusion from 'Raelf's mage-deck, but in miniature. He growled at it, and muttered again <> and it grew larger. The image exactly resembled the one that Andrea had seen over a week and a half ago, in the Dragon's Inn. It showed a web of green light embedded in the faint grey of the illusion, following the shape of a human woman, outlining her body in a branching that resembled the lines of blood vessels or maybe nerves. The point of view shifted, panning and zooming in an impossible direction into the head, where there was suddenly the same network of lines and cloudy masses that 'Raelf had identified as being "personal image" when he showed the curse on Sheryl. There was a strange structure, a sort of overlay of unicorn on top of the human, with tattered fragments of black that disappeared even as they watched. The overlay gradually focussed over the course of a few moments, into a second image, a perfect Unicorn to match the human. It connected to the green fire web at the same place, and there was a silvery construction there, a ring spinning slowly. Blue fire went from a pool that fed into the ring, and was directed into the human shape, with only very small amounts being directed to the Unicorn. "That's it. Control mechanism." 'Raf pointed. "The scan shows what happened to your image over the last three-four days. Couldn't go further back, there's too much temporal noise. Anyway it looks like you have a nice little switch here, lets you be a human or a Unicorn at whim. I'd be careful about trying to be both at the same time, it might mess up the controls some." Ar'Elya gestured, making parts of the image come closer to her view from her vantage point. Somehow this didn't mess with what the rest of them saw. She nodded, calling a dragonet over to her. "That's pretty much what we thought. Strange, though, the ring will be fully integrated into your body in just a few hours. You should have no trouble controlling the urge to hide in the woods. Unless..." She zoomed in on the Unicorn. "Ah. Yes. It's closer to the Nexus archetype than the one Sheryl's carrying. That could be inconvenient, but since there's still time, we could adjust it for you. Afterwards you're stuck with it, and I doubt that there's time for Kardia to make a web to get you out of the spell before it sets in." "You mean, I'll always be turning into a unicorn when I least expect?" Andrea growled, thinking about how dangerous it would be to change in the middle of a high-wire approach to a merchant's treasure trove. "No, you should have absolute control. It's just that local Unicorns have some instincts that aren't really helpful." "So Kardia won't be able to undo the spell for me?" "She won't be able to undo it painlessly," 'Raf interjected. He had shut down the display, and the amulet was now just a yellow crystalline bauble hanging in the fur on his chest. "Oh," Andrea blinked. "What's required, then? How can I keep from running off to the woods every time I happen to turn into a Unicorn?" "Well," ar'Elya smiled, and held up three dragonets, "My little ones here, can eat excess magic. If we do the right things, we ought to be able to remove those unwanted additions now, before they set." Andrea looked suspicious. "What will it cost me?" "Not much," ar'Elya said, still smiling, but the smile was beginning to have a slightly greedy cast. "Just some investigative work for a friend of mine." "Investigative?" "Oh, nothing difficult. Someone's been making some _ugly_ toys and she wants them found, and stopped." The blonde sorceress teased one of the dragonets with a strand of her hair. Andrea shrugged. "I suspect there's more to this, but I'll agree for now." She remembered the words of her old friend and classmate Carson: "First of all, a professional thief must be a professional information collector." She had been doing just that for the last ten years, so she didn't doubt her own abilities. "Good. Now, you just sit there, and close your eyes, and let yourself think about going into Generica." The sorceress began making a slow, sinuous gesture with her left hand, and Andrea let her eyes drift shut. There was a wisp of wind blowing against her face, and she was tempted to open her eyes, but she knew there would be a dragonet there, and she'd flinch, so she just tried to envision going into the city ... The image came up, sharper even than dreaming. Illusion, she thought. Well, don't waste it, girl. There's the walls around the city. First walk up to the (flinch, flinch, rising panic) gates... No. No panic, how strange. Then into the noise and bustle (flinch, run) of the entry square... the urge to run faded away. Wow. Sneaking along the tops of the houses, moving lightly from building to building, to steal (WRONGwrong?) to take away that which she needed and they did not... Hm. Still felt somewhat wrong. How annoying. She considered being a unicorn in the city, and slid down off the roof on all fours, landing with unnatural quiet on the cobbles below. The smell was horrible, the water fouled and the ambience of sickness and malaise was all around, but she didn't feel any kind of compulsion to flee. She imagined seeing a virgin, like Jay, or maybe one of the children in the city. The sensation of purity, of something ritually unspoiled, was pleasant but not overwhelming. She felt no urge to go cuddle the virgin, no need to sacrifice her safety. "OK," she thought to herself, "This I can handle." She opened electric blue eyes to find three small dragons perched on her horn, crooning a song at her. Panic almost took her again, but she remembered the feeling of changing, and willed herself to be human again. Nothing happened. "Don't try so hard," 'Raf said in the speech of the Unicorns, and she gave him a startled look--he was still a satyrlion, but he'd grown a single horn in his forehead. It vanished, and he sagged a bit, as if that had been something difficult to do. Don't try so hard. She sighed, and remembered wistfully having fingers and standing on her hind legs. The horn vanished, and the three dragonets made a startled flurry in the air as they returned to their mistress. She had done it. She was human once more. As Andrea, 'Raf, and ar'Elya sat around the fire talking about Andrea's condition and then doing something about it, the rosy dawn crept higher above the horizon, just beginning to dilute into that pale color that heralds the rise of the sun itself and the start of a new day. In the large domed tent-like structure that 'Raf had referred to as a yurt, most of the rest of the unlikely party lay sleeping. Kardia lay curled up on her left side. It was an unnatural sleeping posture for her, but one she had to get used to. Lying any other way caused her ribs to hurt so that she woke up. Jake was curled up under a tree. The unicorns' sleep spell had hit him the hardest, since he was the closest to where they had been standing. He might not wake up for hours. Clyde was, like Kardia, sleeping on his side. It was kind of hard for the young centaur--if his horse part was lying down, his human body was still upright. How could he get to sleep like that? So he was trying sleeping on his side, and it was a bit uncomfortable. Being as heavy as he now was, he couldn't just turn over in his sleep if he wanted to--he had to get to his feet to change his position much at all. He didn't believe 'Raf's assurances that he could sleep standing up if he wanted to. Sleep standing up?! Did 'Raf think he'd been born yesterday or something? The last two members of the party were not in the yurt but were instead sleeping quietly in a secluced little niche, separated from the rest of the clearing by a few waist-high bushes and shrubs (Jay had been a little scared of the tent, and he was no stranger to sleeping outdoors). Jay and Sheryl were gently dozing, Jay lying on his back, Sheryl on her side next to him. There was a sudden rustling sound off in the underbrush; perhaps it was a fox in pursuit of a rabbit, or a quail taking off from its nest. Whatever it was, it caused Jay to jerk awake in the way that really light sleepers commonly do. He didn't just move; his whole body spasmed. In Jay's half-awake mind, he was back in his father's house, and his father had just come into the room, whip in hand, and perhaps made some small noise that startled Jay awake. That was why Jay had become such a light sleeper--his father took some sort of sadistic pleasure (or so it seemed) in catching him asleep. "Get up, you lazy lout!" he would yell, lashing Jay with the whip between words. "What'm I feedin' ya for, anyways? There's WORK to be done!!!" "Coming, father, coming..." Jay mumbled, half-raising his arms to ward off the blows he knew were soon to land. "Don't hit me..." Then he opened his eyes, and found the concerned eyes of a young unicorn filly peering into his. "Oh," Jay said, remembering where he was. She nickered softly, and blinked. "Oh..." Jay said again, peering into the young 'corn's eyes. There was nothing else he COULD say. He was absolutely enthralled by those eyes. They were so beautiful, so warm, so haunting...To his astonishment, Jay felt himself filled by a feeling he couldn't remember feeling before. It took him a moment to realize that this was happiness, TRUE happiness. It was as if his entire life up to now had been a scattered jigsaw puzzle, and the last piece had just now fallen into place. Not even when he had been in his secret cavern hiding place, away from all the abuse and all the shame, had he felt this kind of joy. Nothing in his meager 14-year existance had even come close to this. And gazing up into the eyes of the young unicorn filly looking down at him, he knew that she was feeling the same thing. They were soulmates, this Jay knew. And he also knew that they would always be together. Jay pushed himself up on his elbows, sat up, never taking his eyes off of Sheryl's. Then he couldn't help himself. Tears formed in his eyes, and he reached out and embraced her neck tightly, softly sobbing. Joy and sadness are but opposite sides of the same coin, so it is not uncommon for extreme feelings of the one to provoke responses normally reserved for the other. And thus it was that Jay muffled his sobs of joy in Sheryl's soft mane, and Sheryl seemed a bit misty-eyed herself. They both knew that they would never be alone again. Later that morning, the sun was a bit higher in the sky and it looked like it was going to be a perfect day. The clearing was brightly lit, birdsong of all descriptions wafted from the trees...the idyllic kind of day that is perfect for outdoors activities like picnics, swimming, or simply lying on the ground looking up at the sky. Jay and Sheryl were playing tag around the clearing, ducking and dodging around trees, rocks, Jake Pitzar (who was still under the unicorns' sleep spell), and anyone else who happened to be in the way. Andrea was leaning against a tree by the side of the clearing, still a little confused and emotionally drained from what ar'Elya had just done for her. She was watching expressionless as the two of them frolicked together. Andrea sighed. "I guess I knew all along I'd have to lose her one day..." "But you haven't lost her," ar'Elya, in her blond mage form, said from her right side. Andrea nearly jumped a foot in the air, but managed to control her reaction. How had ar'Elya DONE that?! Not even Fujiko could move that silently! "You haven't lost her," ar'Elya repeated, stroking the neck of a bronze dragonet that perched on her right forearm. It crooned happily. "She's still your sister, no matter what form she may have or who she befriends." She thrust her arm upward, launching the dragonet into the sky. It soared upward, catching the thermal updraft from the clearing and drifting amid the clouds. "Yes, but--" Andrea began. "Just look at them." Kardia came up on Andrea's other side. "See how happy they are?" Andrea sighed. "Yes. That's EXACTLY what I see." Her eyes shimmered between their natural color and the unicorn's electric blue. "She's found her virgin." She smiled mirthlessly. "And *I* was the one who found him for her." Kardia saw what Andrea was thinking. "Oh, no," she said, "Surely you can't believe that!" Andrea shook her head. "I've been having trouble deciding WHAT to believe lately. First I believed for ten years that everything somehow be all right if I could just get Sheryl changed back into a human again. Then I found that it was impossible, and wasn't what she wanted anyway. Then I believed that we finally had the curse behind us, and that son-of-a-lich wizard showed up and put it on ME. Only I think I'm beginning to like it too. And then I was nearly killed, and rescued by Jay, and now HE'S the one--" A single gasping sob escaped her. "--he's the one she's chosen over me." "Listen to me, Andrea." Kardia waited until Andrea focussed on her. "She has not chosen him over you. She was your sister, she is your sister, she will always be your sister. Nothing can change that. Nothing is changing that. Even though she's found him, she still needs you. They both need you. Be supportive, help them out, don't push them away because of jealousy. Be as much a friend to Jay as you have been to Sheryl. Nothing has changed except you." Andrea stared blankly at Kardia, "I--I didn't see it that way," she said. "You're right. I'm just being stupid." Kardia shook her head, "No, not stupid," she grinned, "you're being human. I am the one that should apologize, I'm just tired of dealing with angst and you looked like you could use a bit of debunking." "It's all right," Andrea said. "I once had to render someone a similar favor." She remembered her short friendship with the mage Jiriku Goldeies, and with his companion, Kyhra. Where were they now? she wondered. Dead? Lost? It didn't really matter at the moment. In silence, they watched once more as Jay and Sheryl ran around until they finally collapsed, exhausted, into a little equine and adolescent heap. "Look at them," Kardia said again. "Somehow, I just think that they're RIGHT for each other. It's almost as if they were FATED to meet." She mused, "I wonder if all virgin-unicorn pairings are this way?" Andrea nodded. "I think I'm beginning to see what you mean." Sheryl looked happier than she'd been in ages. How could she begrudge her that happiness? "That boy, Jay," Kardia was saying, "shows all the signs of serious abuse." Her furtive glance at her left leg was not lost on Andrea or ar'Elya. "Yes," ar'Elya said, slowly. "I could see it in his eyes when I spoke with him for a few moments at breakfast. He's been beaten regularly by a man, it was his father, I think. The boy's mother was a fragile woman, and she died in labor, having him. The man he saw as his father, held his mother's death against the lad all his life. He spent much of his life with the shame of having caused his mother's death. Even though he remembered the priest in town telling him it wasn't his fault, he also remembered his father striking him, cursing him for taking her from him. And the constant beatings... he would be beaten while being told he was a worthless burden, then set to working while his father stood over him and whipped him when he made any mistakes, when he slowed down to rest..." "His back is a network of scars," Andrea said, not even bothering to wonder how ar'Elya could know such things. "I saw that when he...rescued me. And some recent wounds, too, but I healed them. Or my unicorn-self did, somehow..." "I don't think anything could heal the internal scars," Kardia said, speaking with the voice of experience. "Anything except time, or Sheryl. I think that she'll be very good for him." "Perhaps he for her, as well," ar'Elya said. Andrea nodded. "Yes...there never is anyone around for her to play with, and she does like to play. I guess that Jay will make a pretty good playmate for her." "Not to mention an apprentice-thief for you," Kardia said. Andrea started. "That's right," Kardia remarked. "After all, he does seem to want to be a thief--you said that yourself last night. And if you're going to be taking care of them anyway, you might as well teach him..." As Andrea pondered this new idea, Kardia said, "I think I'll go up and talk to him." Kardia yawned, stretched, and walked out toward the twosome. Andrea and ar'Elya watched her go. A thought struck Andrea, it worried her. She asked ar'Elya, "Is it possible that--that *I* might--" "--become attached to some virgin?" ar'Elya shook her head. "No. For one thing, you're a mature unicorn mare, unlike Sheryl. Also, you're part human. And humans, as a rule, don't form that kind of attachment to other humans." Andrea chuckled. "Part human," she said, smiling. "A half-elven thief said something to me once: 'To the humans, I'm half-elf. To the elves, I'm half-human.'" ar'Elya nodded. "Sad, but true. Most beings do not look beyond appearances to see the true person inside." She turned away, then turned back around, as if to say one more thing. >Flick< and she was darker-haired, dressed differently, poured into a silk kimono and holding a long-stemmed ivory pipe in one hand, with which she gestured languidly. A heady floral perfume filled the air -- mimosa, Andrea realized. "But I would be careful of handsome unicorn stallions, were I you," the black-haired woman said, a rogueish grin on her lips. "Huh? What do you mean?" Andrea asked. "Oh, I think you know..." >Flick< and she was back to her travelling self, red-haired and holding an alpenstock. And still with the rogueish grin. This is getting weirder and weirder, Andrea thought. -- Steve Hutchison -- 'Raf, Clyde, hutch@ibeam.ht.intel.com Penny Hutchison -- ar'Elya in all her facets, penny@agora.rain.com Chris Meadows -- Andrea and Sheryl, CHM173S@VMA.SMSU.EDU or CMEADOWS@NYX.CS.DU.EDU Liralen Li -- Kardia Xvaramene, li@inigo.data-io.com