Scotland was nice this time of year, but she had decided on Ireland in the end. It was green without end, and whenever she had looked at the pictures or read the old stories, her heart had ached for something like home, which was nonsense; she'd never been there, and neither had her family for around 500 years or more. There was also more open space, fewer people cared about tourists and no one would look twice at the odd wild horse.

She was a werehorse... that would look odd walking through downtown Portland, Oregon. She was getting tired of city life, too. The noise, the stress, pressure, the polution, oppression, minimum wage. She wanted freedom. So she took her latest paycheck and splurged money she didn't really have on a passport, a hotel and a rental car for a week in Ireland. It was a one way ticket... she would think of a way to stay there. When it came to living off the grid nothing did it better than an animal. Who knew, maybe she'd find a legal way to stay there. She wasn't holding her breath for one of those 'love a first sight' legal green cards.

And you could only be deported if you got caught.

So that was why she found herself driving in a strange car on the wrong side of the road in a country she'd never been before. Ireland was perfect, beautiful... so many rolling hills of green, the skies gray and overcast, her favorite weather, and the life. She could practically smell the magic in the air. When the pagans were driven out by St. Patrick, they were forced to leave a lot of it behind and the christians, they didn't know how to tap into it, so it rolled wild... she could feel it. It was an incredible feeling. One with nature. It sounded corny as hell, and she'd never say it out loud, but she loved this place from the moment she got off the plane in Dublin.

The little rental car wasn't anything new or flashy or fancy, but it was nicer than anything she'd ever driven and it was a dark cherry red. It would stand out, but that was alright. If she was ever too far away from a rental place when she was done with it, that meant it would be found and towed. And the card she'd used to rent it was no longer valid, and had no address attached to it here, so let them come find her if they wanted to.

She drove in a random direction and parked by the side of a dirt road, far enough off that the car wouldn't be hit, and she started undressing... she left her clothes on the driver's seat with a little note she kept in her wallet that said 'will return soon'and started to change.

Shifting from one shape to another was both painless, and a little painful. She weighed a hundred and seventy pounds in her human form, and at five foot two that was a little overweight. In her horse form, she trippled in all aspects, so it was a little painful. But there was magic involved, too, so it was over in such a little time that she never minded the pain.

In the end she was a handsome mare with a white coat, honey-colored mane and tail and silvery dapples on her middle and lower halves, like an apaloosa. She decided to start out at a full-out gallop, and with a wild shriek of a cry, she tore across the green green grass and decided to roll in it, soaking up the scents and sounds and everything of this Old World. Then it was more running, muscles stretching, until she ached. She ran until she trembled all over, and went in search of a lake.

This far away from the road, she couldn't see any road or buildings anymore.. she wasn't worried about anyone seeing a stray horse drinking from a lake. She took a few drinks, and decided to go for a little swim to rinse off.

The water was cold, and the iciness swept the heat ache away nicely, and then it was just a matter of rolling in the grass again. Really this had been worth every penny. She was so broke she probably wouldn't be able to buy herself dinner that night, but she'd never been one to think ahead- she preferred to live life as it came to her, and she always figured out a plan in the end. As a horse, she didn't mind eating grass or the occasional wild fruits. It translated to her human belly well enough that really she didn't see a reason to live in the cities at all. Sure there were places like this she could've gone in the U.S. but Ireland... the very meaning was island, secluded and free.

She rolled over again until she was just laying there in the grass, and looked around her, revelling in the absolute silence and breathing in the wild scents. The water smelled fresh and the grass smelled clean. Even the sky had a smell. She could roam this place forever. It felt like home already.

She didn't notice what was watching her from the water. From below the surface of the lake, a small ripple appeared and above it, a round, silvery orb of an eye. It was the sort that would reflect any light shone at it much like a dog or a cat's, but it belonged to a creature that many people feared around those parts. This one in particular was ancient, and immortal as many of the fae folk were, and he didn't like intruders on his lake.

It looked like an ordinary horse, but she had left her scent in the gentle waters. Mostly horse yes, but he also smelled human. Perhaps she was owned, and had gotten loose and perhaps she wasn't what she appeared to be, but any who intruded upon his waters was fair game.

And he was always hungry.