Author's Note: I'm really sorry I have so many unfinished fics guys. I'm having trouble getting inspired… my KH obsession might be winding down. Or maybe not? Either way, I hope you enjoy this!

The day had started out shitty and was going downhill rapidly.

Roxas licked his lips and narrowed his eyes, considering the thin patch of skin visible between the jailor's cuirass and his helmet. His arms were chained behind him, and his feet were shackled together, restricting him to a shuffle. He still thought he could strangle the man with his thighs if he tried. Of course, the two other jailors behind him would be a problem. He could take one of them out with a jump kick to the throat but then the other two would have him. There was no good option.

There hadn't been any good options for a while. He'd been hired to rescue a noble child from a rival family. The seething blood feuds in the Steel Vale were good for business, and the riches from all the iron mines had left the noble families with coin to spare. Roxas was as an assassin and sometimes spy, preying on their paranoia and hostility. He specialized in all kinds of deception, including seduction and long, careful poisons. Rescuing someone wasn't his usual line of work, but he'd done a few kidnappings, and what was a rescue if not a kidnapping in reverse?

Unfortunately, things had gone wrong. Each mistake or misfortune had been small, but the cumulative effect had been devastating. Roxas had been partnered with a rather good mercenary wizard, and the man had managed to spirit out the child. Roxas had deliberately chosen to save the boy and not himself. Not because he had that much feeling for children, but more a matter of professional pride. It was galling to come this far and fail on the last leg. So instead of taking an emergency teleport, he'd let the other two go and trusted to his wits to see him through.

For a while it had seemed like he might get away too. When the teleport had punched through the wards, the enemy had been thrown into confusion, but it hadn't lasted as long as he'd hoped.. So he'd been captured. The blonde morbidly wondered what the good Baron had in mind for him. Torture with hot irons? Being slathered in honey and covered in ants? Buried head down in a pile of dung? None of that would have surprised him. Baron Muldovy was notorious for his vindictiveness, even among the viciousness of the Vale. Fortunately he wouldn't have to endure it for long. Roxas idly prodded a tooth with his tongue, ready to make the pattern that would activate a suicide spell. They wouldn't even be able to raise him from the dead after his head exploded. Still, that was a last resort. Roxas' eyes narrowed as he was taken outside, into the courtyard behind the mansion. Was it going to be the ants after all? If so he was going to be using his spell quickly. He'd seen a man eaten by ants once. It wasn't a fast or clean way to go.

"So, this is the little saboteur. A hireling, Markus tells me." That was the Baron, a dark, tall man in very rich clothing. He looked down his beaky nose at the blonde with an air of bored disdain, but Roxas could easily detect the anger underneath. He nodded shortly, barely glancing at the Baron's chief wizard. The man had already questioned him thoroughly. The magic had been somewhat painful, but it had verified that he was only a hired assassin, not a loyal retainer that could be squeezed for information. "I think we're going to try something new for you. Untie him."

"M'lord?" One of the jailors said uncertainly. The Baron gestured peremptorily and the wizard began to chant. Roxas groaned as his muscles locked up, one by one. It felt like the worst cramps in the world, but he could still move his tongue.

"Untie him." He repeated and the jailors hastened to obey. Roxas seethed in silent frustration as he found himself unable to move, unable to seize the wonderful chance for escape. Then the wizards' tone changed and anguish unlike anything he'd felt before flooded him. It felt like his very bones were on fire and he felt his body elongating, shifting into something alien and wrong. He tried frantically to use the suicide spell but realized with horror that he'd left it too late. Even the shape of his mouth and teeth were changing and the pattern was no longer there for him to…

Finally, the pain was too much, and darkness pulled him under.

The first thing Roxas was conscious of was sun on his face. He instinctively scrambled to his feet and wobbled for a moment, eyes still closed. Something was not right. Something was very, very wrong.

When he opened his eyes he realized that thought had been a massive understatement. His vision was beyond strange. Sharper yet oddly flat, some colors seemed more intense while others were oddly flat. Roxas blinked and shook his head. There was a strange blind spot right in front of his face, but his field of vision was much wider. It was disorienting and he had to lock his legs to hold himself upright. He tried to speak but only a strange whistle came out.

"He's confused I think." The wizard. Roxas raised his head as he suddenly realized this was a perfect chance to escape. His muscles weren't frozen anymore and he could punch…

Panic abruptly ran through him as he realized he couldn't punch anyone. He didn't have arms. He was standing on FOUR legs, not the two he'd assumed. Instinct had gotten him to his feet and instinct was saving him now, but it couldn't stop the terror as he looked over his own body and saw pale fur on a long, familiar shape.

Polymorphed. I've been polymorphed. That thought brought a certain level of calm. He slowly stopped shaking and began to assess the situation. What was he? Roxas thought he was a horse, although a mule or a wild ass of some sort might be possible as well.

"Beautiful conformation. But then, he was a nice looking boy." The Baron observed and Roxas considered trampling him. Then he rethought it was he spotted an armsman with a crossbow, pointed down but ready and cocked. "Get him put in the field with the bachelor herd." The Baron ordered and Roxas hesitated, still debating trying to escape. Particularly when a nervous groom came up to him holding a bridle. Roxas tossed his head to avoid it, then spotted the armsman hefting his crossbow ominously. It would probably be much less fuss for them to shoot him…

The blonde reluctantly submitted to being bridled, annoyed by the feeling of the leather and the bit in his mouth. To his surprise, the groomsman threaded a chain through the bridle and over his nose. The heavy links added more irritation but the man seemed more relaxed when he was holding the end of the chain.

"That's what's called a stud chain. If you resist, you'll find out why." The Baron chuckled cruelly and Roxas flicked his ears in annoyance as the wizard laughed. They'd see who was laughing if he took that bit between his teeth and –

Ow! The pain was unexpected and Roxas flinched as the groomsman gave the chain a pop. It tightened around his nose and he suddenly realized the purpose of it. Any misbehaviour could be given a very direct and painful consequence with a simple flick of the man's wrist. Roxas hated it, but followed obediently as the man led him to the pasture. The Baron and the wizard, bored with the show, both went back into the mansion. But the armsman with the crossbow followed and Roxas put aside any thoughts for escape. It would probably be easier to jump a fence when no one was looking anyway. When he was released into the field, Roxas blew a sigh of relief.

This might be sucky but it had to be better than the fire ants.

The next few weeks gave Roxas plenty of time to brood and think.

His first regret was that he'd never really paid attention to horses before. As a city dweller, owning one had always been prohibitively expensive. Also unnecessary since there were plenty of hacks around. Depending on the city there were sometimes magical trams, with very limited but useful routes, or gondolas to get around in the wetter places. If he needed to leave the city, Roxas often hired a carriage. If he had to go someplace really out of the way he'd buy a horse and hire someone to tend to it for him. That was expensive too, but that came under business expenses and he'd always gotten his employers to pay it.

So he really had no idea how horses interacted with each other. He received a few painful nips and kicks finding that out. But his mind was still human and after watching for a while he began to get a feel for how the horses did things. It wasn't easy and he was clearly at the bottom of the pecking order, but once he understood the warning signs he got fewer bites.

Roxas considered the fences as he chewed his hay. He wasn't sure he could get over them. He was actually pretty short for a horse, not surprising since he'd been short for a man. And they were fairly tall fences, meant to hold in a bunch of geldings and studs. There were a few weak points though, places where he thought he could kick a piece of wood out if he applied himself. It was something to keep in mind if the situation became desperate.

It wasn't desperate yet. Being a horse wasn't the worst fate in the world, particularly since it was temporary. The polymorph was a very good one, so he was in no danger of losing his mind. Roxas knew from a few idle conversations that shape changing was a bit tricky. Not enough instincts from the animal and you ended up with a very confused human mind trying to figure out how to walk with four legs. That could be disastrous with something like flying. Too many instincts, and the human mind could be subsumed by the animal. Even if you polymorphed the person back, it would take years for the mind to recover… if it ever did. Roxas wasn't worried about that happening to him though. That wizard had clearly been a good one, so he had time.

And staying here might actually be safe in the long run. Roxas had been thinking about it for a while and was pretty sure he knew what the Baron was thinking. While taking revenge was fun, a hireling was a substandard target to someone like that. To the Baron's way of thinking, Roxas was a knife that had been placed in the drawer for a while. He could be pulled out at any time, told he would give the Baron a freebie and sent on his way. With a geas to ensure he did what he was told. Not exactly the ideal outcome since it would be something very dangerous, too dangerous for his usual servants, but that wasn't really unusual. Roxas specialized in that kind of work.

So for now, he patiently cropped grass and waited for something to happen. As he waited, Roxas did his best to stay in shape. It wasn't easy but it wouldn't do him any good if he was transformed back to a human body that was completely out of tone and covered in extra weight. The other horses didn't find his antics odd, and the young ones even played with him. Roxas found his status in the herd moving up a bit.

None of the humans would have anything to do with him though. Roxas watched almost wistfully as other geldings and stallions were taken out, to ride or for breeding. Not that he wanted a bridle or chain on his face, and god only knew what a saddle would feel like, but it would be something to do. He was bored. So very, very bored… was it possible to go mad with boredom? Roxas wasn't sure. He knew it was possible to go mad without human contact for long periods. Solitary confinement was a form of torture. But this wasn't the same, since the horses were company. Roxas didn't think he was in danger of losing his mind. Getting entirely too fond of horses, perhaps.

Roxas' thoughts had wandered to considering the various types of grasses and grains, with their subtle flavors that had been lost on him as a human, when everything changed. He lifted his head in surprise at the sound of an explosion, followed by another. Several of the horses were also alarmed, milling around at the strange sounds. Several were completely unaffected, ignoring it in favour of hay. Those were the older ones and Roxas thought they had likely been around explosions before, magical or the more dangerous gunpowder. But what was going on? There was smoke coming from the direction of the manor house. Was something on fire?

Something was definitely on fire. Probably more than one something. Roxas flicked his ears and paced by the edge of the pasture as he watched the smoke billow into the air. The fire was getting bigger. Was the mansion on fire? It seemed likely and it wasn't going out. But he couldn't see what was happening! He was too far away to even hear shouts. No one came to feed or water them in the evening, which was fine since there was still a small pool and plenty of hay, but didn't tell him anything either. Roxas was impatient to the point of screaming when a human finally appeared, late the next day.

Several humans in fact. Roxas eyed them with disfavour. He'd been in the company of mercenaries often enough – technically he was one – to know the various types. These were the more unsavoury sort, the kind of hired swords who often got swept up in large recruiting campaigns. All on the older side, their gear had a faint patina of rust under the recent bloodstains. They all showed signs of past abuse in scars, badly healed noses and crooked, dirty teeth. No dental shields had affixed to those teeth.

"Looky here! A lot of horses. Think the lord missed this pasture, eh?" One of them said with a snaggle-toothed grin. A few of the other horses trotted over, hoping for food and attention. One of the mercenaries gently scratched a bay gelding over the fence.

"Looks like. Think we could take some as our share of the loot?" Roxas let his attention wander as he pondered the new situation. Clearly the Baron had suffered a reversal in fortunes. It didn't exactly surprise him. There was a value in being ruthless, but being utterly ruthless was never a good thing. Someone who was utterly ruthless would often create enemies who had nothing to lose. Several of his had probably ganged up on the Baron and settled for a frontal attack. That was the only explanation for men like this being here. "Nice palomino. Is he a stallion?" One of the mercenaries was eyeing him and Roxas snorted, pawing the ground in irritation. "Yep, he is. Wonder why the Baron didn't geld him?" If he'd still been human, Roxas would have rolled his eyes. The Baron would probably have done the fire ants before he would have – "We'll have to have those off first thing."

Roxas stood still for a moment in pure shock, then flinched away as he realized the man was serious. He suddenly wondered where all the servants and armsmen had gone. Had they all fled? Hadn't any been captured, or had they all been massacred? Roxas glumly reflected on the likelihood of that. Steel Vale was a barbaric sort of place, and it wouldn't be surprising if no quarter had been given.

"Ha! It was like he understood what you said." The men laughed at the joke and Roxas wanted to trample them. He cantered away, staying just within earshot. He needed to know what was going on. That was a wasted effort, though, since the men spent the time talking about what horses they would pick and how much money they would make. Bored and frustrated, Roxas finally trotted away to find the weak section of the fenceline. He eyed it critically. The board on the top was loose, but it was really going to take a lot of work.

He waited until the men wandered off, then began his work. It was much harder than he'd anticipated. He had to turn around and kick blindly, which didn't help. He also had to kick very high to reach the top board. Finally he landed a good hit and felt the fence shift under his feet. Bouncing forward, Roxas turned around and considered the fence. It was definitely damaged. Maybe if he reared up and put his feet on it?

That did the trick and the top part of the fence broke off with a groan. Roxas looked at the jagged edges and began to smash them down with his hooves. He reflected on the fact that very few normal horses could do this. Maybe none of the, although he wasn't sure of that. There might be an equine genius in a field somewhere, but certainly not here.

With the height of the fence reduced, Roxas was fairly sure he could make the jump. He took a short break to rest, eat a bit of grass and drink. He wasn't sure where he would find his next meal, although it was summer. There would be fresh grass outside the grazed down pastures. What would he do in autumn though?

First things first. Your balls are in danger. Roxas reminded himself. He was absolutely certain any damage did to this horse body would translate back to his normal one. Severe damage might even break the spell, but that would be cold comfort if it meant losing his twins. He was not willing to part with those. Taking a deep breath, he backed up and then charged the fence.

If anyone had been there to see, they would have agreed that it was a titanic jump. Roxas had largely succeeded in staying in shape and the palomino was highly motivated. Hooves sailed over the fence and he landed easily on the other side, snorting as he glanced back. None of the rest of the herd showed any inclination to follow him. Roxas had to fight off an urge to stay with them as he turned away and trotted off into the wilderness.

He wasn't sure what was out there but it had to be better than here.