A Unicorn's Love

~Bear with me, it's my first posted story and I kind of wrote it on the fly. I welcome comments (good and bad) so please send in comments. Hopefully my writing will improve as I go. Otherwise, enjoy! :)~

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Deep in the night a full moon shines overhead. Illuminating the way as the figure of a woman presses through a near-bare wood. The woman pushes through the underbrush pressing through the trees and undergrowth with determination. Behind her, deeper in the forest, wolves call out victory in their hunt. Overhead, clouds wisp through the sky, casting long shadows on the ground below. The shadows break up in the sparse foliage of the trees' branches.

She continued on, pressing forward, away from whence she came. Again, the wolf pack sounds their victory, she presses harder forward, only understanding a wolf's howl could mean death. Her tangled mass of brown hair catches in a low branch, bringing a startled cry from her already sore throat. Turning, she pulls and yanks at the trapped hair, tears streaming from her face. Clouds cover half of the moon's full face, casting eerie shadows on the ground ahead of her.

With a sob the woman falls against the trunk of an old elder tree. Her tears rolling down her cheeks and pooling at her chin. Dirt streaks over her skin just barely hide the bruises caused by too many falls. Her body was undernourished and she had obviously been wandering the vast wood for several days. Exhaustion was settling into her bones, her tears just as much of fear as they were of frustration.

The clouds overhead cleared for a long moment, illuminating a path she hadn't seen before. Her weary body nearly refused to move, but her mind forced her body to comply. Something deep within her said the path led to safety and happiness. She pulled the rags that were once a beautiful gown around herself and began down the path. Each step seemed to grow stronger.

Soon she noticed the smell of flowers wafting through the air. Gardenias, white rose, moonflowers, snowbells, all manner of pure scent was flowing through the air like water, drawing her toward it. The clouds once again float over the moon, shading it for only a moment as the path she was following widened. The darkness slowly faded away as the clouds passed, revealing a large glade full of flowers and life.

The oasis of life and beauty overtook the woman's senses. It overwhelmed her with the sights of white flowers all over the glade, the scent of fresh, sweet, grasses filled her nose, and ripe berries hung heavily on vines and branches. The glade had an aura of calm, and her heart lightened as she allowed it to fill her. The calm spread through her, the floral smells filling her nose and mind with peace, and the berries filling her belly with the hope of a fine meal. Along one edge of the glade, a gentle stream bubbled over shining rocks. The water glistened like liquid diamonds, a willow shading the brook protectively.

She stood silent, taking in everything the glade had to offer. She only barely stumbled as she raced to the brook, falling to her already sore knees beside it. She cupped her hands and dipped them into the cool clear water and pulled them back to her lips, drinking deeply. The brook water was so clean, so crisp, she could barely believe it was real. Surely it had to be a dream. Several minutes later her thirst was quenched and her green-blue eyes turned to the branches and vines of berries. She barely had time to thank the gods of the wood and protectors of the land before her hands were plucking the juicy berries from their havens within the leaves.

Red berries, deep purple berries, green berries, it didn't matter how many she plucked from the heavily hung vines and branches they didn't seem to run out. The berries, all lumped together into a pile of vibrant colours, were deposited on a wide flat stone within the centre of the glade, their skins and juices sparkling in the moonlight. Her eyes took in the berries, the scents of which were making her mouth water. As quickly as they had been picked, she was gobbling up handfuls of the lucious fruits.

The taste of the first berries exploded in her mouth. The juice dribbled from the corners of her mouth as she struggled to swallow all of them. Rivulets of juice seeped away, only to be caught and licked from her fingers. The handful of berries was more than enough to saite her hunger. As soon as she had bit into them the flavours raced through her body, making her skin tingle, her nerves calm, and her muscles relax. Her ears rung with what sounded like music. The pain from the bruises seemed to fade away in the ecstasy of the flavour of the berries.

She lay back, staring at the stars in the sky. Slowly her eyes were drawn to the large full moon. Her belly full of the berries and clean water she let her eyes drift closed. Her breathing became deep and regular as the moon watched from its position in the star-speckled sky. She looked beautiful, despite her condition, in the moonlight.

The moon watched others that night as well. In a valley plain, not far from a babbling brook that shone like diamonds in the moonlight, a stallion stood tall and proud. His coat had been pure white before the moon rose, and as the light struck him he reared back. It was an ancient ritual, carried on for nearly as long as he could remember.

His hair was tossed back, cloven hooves becoming soft, fleshy, digited hands and feet. The moon's light shone and shimmered over the unicorn's body as the thick luminescent fur disappeared into near glowing white skin. The transformation was never painful to his body. Yet each night the stallion's heart would feel lost. He spent these nights seeking something he was never sure he would find; yet he continued.

As the moon's light fell over him through the clouds overhead, the last bits of his unicorn self faded away. His tail disappeared, leaving naught but a firm-toned backside and legs. His body was firm, toned, muscular and perfect. The last thing to fade away was his horn. A last brilliant flash emanated from his horn before it, too, disappeared, leaving behind only an eight-pointed scar on his forehead.

His white hair flowed behind him to his waist. It drifted like spider silk as he walked across the field. A trek he made each time the transformation overtook him. His bare feet carried him across the grass along the brook's side as he followed the winding sparkling water toward the glade.

It always seemed to him as though if he were to ever find what he sought, it would be in the glade. So he had made it comfortable. Enchanting the flowers and fruits to bloom and be ripe for him for his transformation. He had set protective magicks over the glade and the path leading to it that none but the pure would ever enter. The grass was sweet in his home, the fruits ripe, bursting with flavour, the flowers scented the area, and his own magicks made the area safe, peaceful. It had taken him many years to perfect his home and each transformation he longed to share it with someone, never knowing how, or where, to find her.

His muscles twinge in the moonlight. The sky, now clear, seemed to look protectively on the glade, and he felt something was different. Nearing his glade, he came to realize what it was. There, in the middle of his glade, beside the very stone he so often stood upon, watching the sky, was a woman. A human woman had entered his domain, his haven, and had lain down.

Fury threatened to creep into his muscles, and had he been in his former form his defensive nature would have had him charging forward to confront the woman. In his present state he was in no condition to take on human hunters if she were bait.

Slowly, his mind cleared. Hunters, if there had been any, would not have been able to enter the glade. Nor their 'bait'. And this woman was obviously not the typical woman a hunter would use. She was dirty, ragged, half-starved and brown-headed, the very opposite of what hunters would use to lure him from the safety of his glade.

Slowly he knelt down beside her. She was pure. Pure of mind and spirit. She had eaten of the fruits of his glade and the magic that had protected it had allowed her entrance. His sapphire eyes look over her body, noting the bruises and torn gown, a small emblem still remained on the sash loosely holding the remnants of the dress to her slender form. He recognized it as the sign of the royal family of one of the neighboring countries.

How had she gotten there? The question flashed through his mind for only a moment. His deep blue eyes took in the woman's appearance. Her body was bruised and several cuts showed through the tears in her ragged dress. Yet she seemed so at peace in his glade.

His hand moved of its own accord to brush some of the tangled brown hair away from her face. It was round, with a few stray freckles that were visible under the tear-streaked dirt that still lay caked on her face. But she had high cheekbones, a soft jaw and a button nose. To him she was a vision of loveliness.

In her dreams she smiled. The visions through her head were comforting and safe. She was at peace. Like so many nights before, the dream was of the woods, but unlike the nightmares she'd been having, these were comforting woods, and she trekked them with confidence in safety. In her dream she knew where she was going, knowing that her destination held her happiness. It was a dream she'd had every month since her birthday, and she never could explain it, but each time she'd had it she'd wanted nothing more than to search the woods until she found what her dreams wanted her to. This time she'd found that happiness. She found it in the form of a brilliant white light that shone in a glade much like the one she lay in now.

The smile that touched her lips made his heart leap. He could sense her dream, sensing the happiness she felt within her and it reached out to his heart. She was who he had sought for so long. This human woman who had stumbled into his glad was the very thing his heart had been seeking.

His chest swelled with pride. His silvery hair spilled down his back and shoulders, shining in the moonlight. A cry rose from the depths of his being and through his throat. A triumphant cry that sounded throughout the woods and was joined by the ecstatic calls of the animals within his green.

He had found his mate.