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To Catch a Unicorn [DragonSong]

Started by Juno, June 03, 2016, 08:24:58 PM

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Juno

It was a mistake to take the job.

It was the most overcast day he'd seen in months and the sky looked angry, like it might pour down the awful rainstorm dangling above them at any moment. The wind howled menacingly as it whipped and whistled through the trees, but it was the icy chill in his bones that frightened Kynton.

He was weak, weaker than the others but he stayed quiet about it. He kept himself bundled in a thick coat despite how the others in the party seemed entirely unbothered by the sharp turn in the weather. The brothers, Lev and Raidin, led the way while Nel scuffed her boots along behind them with Kynton bringing up the rear.

A wealthy lord of Whitesands had sent them to this wretched place. The man had seemed a little...unrealistic in what the brothers had told Kynton upon bringing him on. They were to bring him a unicorn. Alive. What he wanted with such a beast he was afraid of knowing, but it was really none of his business or any of theirs for that matter; a job was a job.

Nel was the bait. Whatever that was supposed to mean. She was bitter and mean and Kynton had no idea how she got put on this job or what a unicorn could possibly want with such a woman.

As they all shuffled along he found himself lagging further and further behind in an almost comical slowness for what he was. The others didn't seem to notice, but even as they pulled out of sight in the growing darkness of evening he was unbothered. He could sense them still in the distance, a faint scent in the air giving him confidence to continue on through the trees at his own pace.

As day slowly became night and the chill in the air became stronger he was feeling less certain of where they were. Perhaps it was just paranoia but as he navigated his way through the woods, turning this way then that, it seemed like what he could sense of them was becoming weaker. He didn't realize he'd gotten himself completely turned around, accidentally following the path they'd first walked, putting more and more distance between them until Kynton realized his own scent mingled with theirs.

He stopped dead in his tracks, tense as his expression twisted to a scowl of pure irritation and exasperation. The darkness didn't bother him, but it was colder than before and he knew that the brothers had most of their supplies for a fire; he didn't quite remember what he'd hastily thrown into his own small pack.

Kynton slowly turned to follow the correct path again, shivering terribly as he hugged himself and prayed there weren't more than a few miles between them all and he might be able to find them again once they stopped to rest for the night.

DragonSong

Belladonna was dozing when she first heard them, curled into the roots of a massive willow tree. But the hunters' footsteps drew her from sleep and she raised her head, peering through the long, leafy vines of the tree in an attempt to identify the source of the noise.

She could vaguely see shadows moving in the trees, but couldn't make out anything specific. Humans carried a specific scent though, and she recognized it almost immediately. With a soft breath through her nose, the unicorn got to her hooves and began picking her way out from under the tree.

Delicate head held high on a long, graceful neck, she silently made her way from the willow to the bank of the small stream it grew over, large ears flicking as she listened to the continued sound of footsteps.

She was curious- what we're humans doing out here, so deep into the woods? She rarely saw two-leggers put such effort into a hunt, if indeed they were hunters. She flicked her tail lazily as she raised her head. Perhaps she could ask them- but she's never actually spoken to a human before, and the idea was a little nerve wracking.

It never even crossed her mind that she could be their intended prey.

Juno

By moonlight her light coat was easy to pick out among the darkness and shadows of night. They noticed her immediately, the brothers pausing to study the light creature but quickly turning away and continuing on their journey, too convinced in their own opinion that she was simply a deer and a unicorn would have been a bit larger. Nel's eyes lingered on her, but the woman continued along after them, willing to trust their silent judgment of the odd creature despite how she noticed her horn and the brothers had not.

They moved swiftly through the brush and it took Kynton nearly an hour to catch up to where they'd seen her. He smelled her first, the scent of something unfamiliar grabbing his attention as his eyes were drawn to the blurry white of her in the distance. Could he really be so lucky? Had she not been there when the others had passed through? She must not have been or he didn't understand why she might still be around at all.

He paused, an ache in his bones for the lack of movement in the chill. He adjusted his coat, trying to draw every bit of warmth he could from it as he inched closer to the unfamiliar creature. "Um, hello?" he mumbled, uncertain if it was correct to alert her to his presence but not wanting to alarm her if she hadn't noticed on her own. The last thing he wanted was to scare off their "prey."

DragonSong

The unicorn snapped her head around as she heard the voice, ears pricking forward curiously.

She looked the stranger up and down. Why had this one approached her when the others had moved on? Intrigued, she took a few careful steps forward, tilting her head to the side as she observed him.

Human. Yes? No. Maybe? She got a sense from him, something distinctly other, but she couldn't quite place it.

Curiosity piqued, Bella picked her way across the stream toward him, her whole body seeming to glow gently in the moonlight. She didn't speak, but fluted a soft breath through her nose, eyes large and gleaming.

Juno

He'd expected their search to be long and difficult, yet here she was. Kynton stared at her, wide-eyed and momentarily drawn away from his own troubles as he watched her form cross the stream. "It's real," he murmured in disbelief, frozen in place as he looked all around.

It was confusing to sense the others, it was clear they'd been through the area but he assumed she hadn't been there when they had. Of course it was just his luck only he had happened upon their prey. The brothers had almost all of their resources, certainly all their rope at least. He wondered if he could coax her to stay around until he could catch up to them again.

Slowly he lowered one hand and then the other, carefully outstretching one to her as he would any livestock and unaware she was capable of any more meaningful greeting. He prayed she might be curious enough to approach him on her own, his mind racing as he wondered how he might keep such a creature on his own while being so weak.

DragonSong

Bella snorted as he stretched his hand out, arching her neck and eyeing it warily. What was he doing? Was it a human thing? Her kind greeted each other as any equine creature might, a brush of noses and a breath of air to teach each other their scent.

But if this was what humans did... She picked another few careful step forward, trying to reconcile the two ways of greeting by stretching her neck forward and lightly nosing his palm.

She liked this human. Somethings about him called to her, some strange sort of innocence. She snorted softly and pressed her nose more firmly into his hand, looking up at him with limpid indigo eyes.

Juno

Kynton was startled by how easily she approached him, her actions seeming unusually human to him especially with the way she looked at him. No animal he'd ever known had ever tried to do such a thing intentionally.

He gulped nervously, his cold hand warmed by the gentle contact and her breath that was a balm washing over his skin. "Hey there," he whispered, intrigued by the glowing quality he could see in her now that she was closer. He'd never imagined such a creature would be so... well, small.

Cautiously he cupped his hand around her chin to run his fingers along her muzzle, privately relishing in the odd warmth. "I've been looking for you," he spoke gently, smiling at the irony of her practically walking into his grasp.

DragonSong

She tilted her head, a little surprised by that. He'd been looking for her? What did that mean?

His skin was cold, almost unnaturally so. She nuzzled against his hand, her healing instincts trying to soothe.

"Why?" the unicorn asked quietly. Her voice was light and airy, almost musical as it chimed softly through the air around them. She gave a little toss of her head, mane and horn glinting like starlight.

Juno

He blinked in stunned silence. Had he just imagined that? Kynton shivered, pulling his coat tighter around himself with his free hand even though it didn't help at all.

"You- No." He shook his head, letting his hair fall forward as he scrunched his eyes closed against a wave of dizziness. He'd just imagined it, that was all. He was sick and delirious.

"They don't talk," he mumbled. "Get it together."

DragonSong

Bella's ears flicked back a bit, not in an angry way, more confused- the human equivalent of furrowing her brow.

"They- but I just did talk," she protested, tossing her head again. Tilting her head at him, she blew out a soft breath and blinked. "Are you alright?" He didn't seem to be. He looked rather uncomfortable.

"Here." She took a step closer, lowering her head in an attempt to touch her horn to his chest, just over his heart.

Juno

And now it was asking after him. What a strange day. Part of him knew it was true, knew the voice came from the smallish creature before him, but he desperately didn't want to believe that the creature he'd been hunting was sentient too.

Eyes glazed over a bit Kynton tried to wave her off. His hand hovered above her mane, though, quite drawn to it and almost forgetting himself to reach out and touch it. As she took the necessary step to close the distance between them, though, he shied away as her horn reached out to him.

What she'd intended he had no idea but it looked sharp and the last thing he needed to add to his day was being impaled by the very creature he'd been hunting. "I'm f-fine," he muttered, narrowing his eyes in discomfort as he shivered, his teeth clattering uncomfortably. "You just- You stay here," he ordered firmly, not knowing what he could really do to keep her from wandering away.

Kynton turned his back to the hoofed creature, reaching around in the dark until he was able to pull some vine down from a tree. Not confident in his skills at building a proper halter he fashioned it into a messy collar with the tail as a leash and turned to hold out the open end to her, as if he expected her to just accept even a mild form of confinement. "Wear this for me, girl. Won't be long, just a little while," he promised, speaking as though she were a child. He bit at his lip in anticipation, desperately trying to keep his teeth from chattering painfully even as his jaw trembled.

DragonSong

The unicorn snorted again as he stepped away from her, confused. All other creatures knew that a unicorn would mean them no harm, that the touch of her horn could heal ills.

But perhaps it was not something humans taught their young. After all, she'd be told by other members of her herd that only certain humans could hear their voices- she'd assumed that because this two-legger could hear her he would know all about her kind, but apparently that wasn't true.

She tossed her head and took a few steps back when he approached her with the makeshift lead rope, glancing from his face to the vine. "But why?" she asked, flickering her ears in confusion again. She shuffled her hooves, sort of prancing in place, but not running yet.

Juno

Kynton fidgeted anxiously for her questioning, not really expecting her to think that far ahead. Her prancing made him nervous, too, afraid she might just bolt and be gone for good before he had the opportunity to show the others he'd found her.

Hesitantly he lowered the offered loop a little, not wanting to scare her off. "I- Well... So you don't run away." Honesty might be good, right? He didn't have much patience -or time- to be talking about it with her, though. While he had no idea she'd been trying to help him all he had on his mind besides her was how desperately he needed to find shelter for the night and soon.

DragonSong

If she could have frowned, she would have. "Run away?" Bella snorted, pawing at the ground lightly. "If anyone is running away, human, shouldn't it be you? I belong to these trees- you do not."

She gave another toss of her head, horn and mane glittering. "I assume you want me to stay with you? Do you need healing?"

She pranced a few steps closer, then one back. "Or perhaps someone else? Someone you know? Is that why you were looking for me?"

Juno

He opened his mouth to protest, eyes narrowing at the surprising burst of confidence from the unicorn. No words came, though, and he snapped his mouth shut again and pouted instead.

Healing? He supposed he certainly needed it in ways but none he thought a creature like her might be capable of. How did a unicorn heal anyway? "Um," he finally mumbled, nodding. "Yeah. Healing. Just- Just stay with me, please? And there's someone else. Someone really far away. He needs you, too." Maybe she would believe that. It wasn't exactly lying anyway.

DragonSong

"Oh!" If she could have beamed, she would have. Bella nodded easily, stepping toward him and lowering her head so he could slip the "rope" around her neck.

"I will go with you then." She fidgeted a little, nervous, excited energy. Not excited that someone needing healing, oh goodness no, of course not. But with her particular...oddity Bella had never really had the chance to be a healer, not like other members of her herd.

She was pleased to get the chance. Even if this human was rather odd and felt the need to have her wear some sort of vine necklace.

Juno

Kynton couldn't believe his luck. He hadn't thought she might actually buy that, but she had. He felt a little bad for "tricking" her, especially not really knowing how exactly a unicorn could help with such things. For a moment his thoughts turned bitter, reminding himself to not get his hopes up about what this odd creature was capable of.

He forced himself to smile for her, trying to be as non-threatening as possible as he slipped the makeshift collar over her head, careful not to touch her horn. The lead was held awkwardly in his hand as he looked all around them. Everything was still the same and he honestly had no idea where his companions might have been at that very moment.

"I came here with other...people," he began slowly, squinting in the dark but not aided much by it. Digging the toe of his boot into the dirt distractedly he tried to reorient himself, tried to pick up their scents again without being too obvious about what he was doing. She was an animal of sorts after all, he expected her to pick up on a rather animal behavior if he wasn't too careful about hiding it.

"I need to find them. Then we can go," he explained, finally forcing himself to take steps out into the direction he believed was correct. As much as it pained him, his body feeling like it might shatter from the cold, he tried not to look too stiff. Fire. Heat. He focused his thoughts on that instead and just hoping he didn't freeze to death before they found the rest of the hunting party.

DragonSong

Bella gave a little toss of her head as the lead slipped around her neck, not sure that she was entirely comfortable with the feeling. She followed after the strange human though, picking her way delicately through the foliage.

As they got further into the trees, it became clear that the unicorn was not reflecting moon and starlight, but rather sort of emitting a soft glow of her own. She kept casting concerned looks to her companion, noticing his shivers and general discomfort.

"Are you sure you're not the one who needs healing?" she pressed, head cocked slightly to the side.

Juno

It still surprised him to hear her speak and he jumped slightly for the sound. He turned to look at her, scowling for his discomfort as he studied the odd little creature of light. "What makes you ask that?" he growled, wincing at the unintentional bite to his tone but not apologizing for it.

His hand tightened on the lead as he mulled it over. He wasn't so sure willingly offering himself for her to use her magic, or whatever it was, would be such a good idea.

"It's not something you can help with," he decided instead, somehow not wanting her to think he was really rejecting her offer to help him. He desperately wanted help, but he was already comfortable in knowing his existence was permanent. If the cold didn't kill him, that was.

DragonSong

Bella snorted and jerked her head back from him slightly, startled by the bite to his tone. "You just seem...uncomfortable," she defended herself. "I can sense things like that. I just thought I could help..."

She sighed, shaking her head a little so her forelock fell over her eyes. "So, who is it that really needs the healing then?" she persisted, oblivious to the fact that her chattiness might be making him uncomfortable.

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