Gabriel stretched and cracked his neck in the rays of sunlight with a large yawn. His nest of foliage was damp from the morning dew and he shook himself; his shiver shook the water from his skin and fur. He dug his cloven hooves into the branch as he flexed his fingers on his hand. The sun was rising and Gabriel blinked rapidly to wake up. He gave the tree he was in with a soft pat. "Thanks for putting me up for the night, babe." An angelic face lifted from the wood and she gave him an adoring smile, fluttering her delicate eyelashes and an bark textured hand ghosted out from the bark, blowing him a welcome kiss.
"Any time, lover." The tree nymph smiled coyly as he slid from her branches. She slid down the trunk of her tree to view him better. "The birds say there's a commotion at the sea near here."
"It's not another boat, is it?" Gabriel ran his fingers through his damp hair, combing it back and it curled naturally around his goat horns and ears.
"No," she said wistfully. "It's a beast we've not had in the forest. Larger than a man. Larger than you they say. It is shaped like you, but not." Gabriel quirked a brow. Nymphs were beautiful, wise in ways of the forest, but when it came to anything new, they were not well versed in descriptions.
"So, like me, but bigger, and not like me." It didn't make much sense to Gabriel but she nodded.
"Tis what the birds say," she said, gazing up at the sky and the silhouette of a young virile woman drifted up the trunk to the higher branches. "I must catch my sun." Gabriel nodded and looked towards the treeline that led to the shore. His curiosity was piqued about a new creature. How could he resist? He stretched up again and his horse tail twitched behind him before he started bounding over the rocks and roots of uneven ground. He skipped through the well known forest as swiftly as any deer or bird. His pan flute hung by a cord around his neck and it bounced with each movement. He jumped around trees and over logs, startling some animals out of their hiding spot.
The sea was not a place Gabriel visited often. There was no cover in the sandy dirt and normally an invitation to draw humans if they saw too many creatures. But it was part of Gabriel's territory so he wanted to make sure it was nothing threatening to his forest. As he drew closer, he found the wild goats, birds, and curious fauns peaking at the edge of the forest. Fauns, those other, smaller goat creatures. They were more like rabbits; small and scattered quickly. They had small, twitchy goat tails and their horns never grew past small nubs. He heard humans liked to say they were children of satyrs -Gabriel's species- but they they weren't his kin. Faun may have looked like small satyrs, but they never 'grew up'. They kept their child like appearance and naivety. They were creatures that were favored by Pan, god of the wilderness, and they never strayed to human vices. Gabriel on the other hand was a follower of Dionysus and was a lover of lust and drinking; not that he mingled regularly with humans, but some things were interesting. He never stayed long with them unless he was traveling with the god.
Gabriel dug his forked hooves into the dirt, and several fauns scattered, poking around trees to look to their forest guardian and then back to the shore. The weasels and badgers that had slid out to take a better look ducked back into the safety of the foliage as Gabriel huffed, "You guys are way too nosy for your own good." He looked around first, seeing Helios had just finished pulling the sun out of the sea. Past the grass, into the sand was a dark figure that looked like it had dragged itself up from the water. Gabriel trotted out of the treeline and bent down, crouching a few feet away from it. Well, the nymph wasn't too far off. It was big and shaped like him; Satyr shaped. The hooves were cloven but the horns were smooth and curled forward. One horn was broken. Then there was the metal collar around the neck. That was human; so the creature had been human-owned. The question was, was it's will broken? Further more, was it still alive?
Gabriel tiptoed around on his hands and hooves. The new being had a horse tail like his, but it was ragged and uncared for. Dark, brown fur from the haunches to the cloven hooves. Muscular back and long hair that matched his fur, as well as the two ears of a cow. When Gabriel got around to the face he blinked. The creature just had the cutest dark, furred nose. Shaped like a bovine's, but it was marred by an ugly nose ring; the kind humans used for cattle. It was cute though, like a goat's or a young kid. Gabriel reached out, using two fingers to stroke the soft fur on the human looking face.
There was a snort from the nose and bright green eyes flew open. Gabriel hopped back, halfway to the forest in one leap before he looked back to the creature. It grunted. He grunted. The creature was definitely male. He arched his back and coughed, water spilling onto the sand. His body curled up, slowly dragging himself up further onto shore. Gabriel turned back to him, not as threatened by his slowness. He blinked and his fingers curled through the small beard at the end of his chin, twisting it around as he watched the stranger come to terms with his surroundings.
"Hey, you alright there?" Gabriel asked. The creature grunted, head lifted to look at Gabriel through long locks of hair. He stood faster, or at least tried. Gabriel stood straight and still. There was the sea and the forest. Gabriel didn't want to corner any human trained animal and have it run into his forest. Beyond the sea was the short peninsula town of Knossos. It was the closest human place to where they were. "Hey, did you swim that?" It was a long way away and Gabriel could see the outline of in the lifting fog. The ugly stone thing in the distance. Poseidon was not kind to boats there and it kept this tiny shore free from humans for the most art, as Gabriel was thankful for. So seeing this stranger was something new. "Hey, you speak plain Greek, don't you? Come on now. Communication is key when you're coming into my territory."
"Go 'way." The stranger gave him a bull like snort, hooves kicking at the dirt. Gabriel eyed the creature. There was no way it was up for defending itself or picking a fight with Gabriel, a forest guardian. Not in that condition. Not when he was tired from the sea and swaying back and forth like he was. Gabriel crouched, raising a brow, but still meeting eyes with the stranger.
"I'm Gabriel, the guardian of this place, so I can't really 'go away'." Gabriel waved his hand. "Come now, come now, let's be civil about this. We're not humans here." The stranger eyed him and his tongue darted out, pushing the nose ring ever so slightly. The ring was brass and it glinted in the light as it moved. "What's your name?"
The stranger eyed him and settled down a little, crouching like Gabriel had, but still on guard. "Sam." He paused. "Just Sam." Gabriel's ears perked up, smiling.
"Nice to meet you, Sam. What are you doing here?" Gabriel's eyes flickered to the collar around his fur-less neck, then -out of habit- down his chest, abs, and thighs. Sam looked like he could use a meal, his stomach was extra tight. Little scrapes and scars covered Sam's skin, all sealed closed with the salt of the sea and time, but the weariness was clear. "Not here to make trouble I hope." Sam used his hands to support him on the ground.
"I just wanted air." Sam muttered, knees finally hitting the ground, burst of defense draining out of him. "I need to find..." He paused, looking pained. "I just got out." Gabriel inched closer, pointing to the collar around his neck.
"You got out of some human's lead?" Gabriel asked and Sam tensed up, eyes capturing a fear and fierceness all in one.
"I'm not going back!" He reared back and Gabriel held up his hands.
"Well I'm not looking to see any humans or take you back, so relax." Gabriel inched closer again and quirked his head. "So you're a runaway, eh?" Runaways normally led packs of humans to go find them if they were important enough. Gabriel wasn't one to assist any humans though so he had to give the beast credit if he escaped Knossos on the island of Crete. Gabriel smiled. "Hungry?" Sam stared at him and he groaned along with a loud belly whine that left Sam's body. Gabriel chuckled softly. "Yeah, I'd say so." Gabriel stood and backed up. "Stay right there." Gabriel skipped back to the edge of the forest where a few animals dove once again back into the woods. Gabriel ignored them and petted a few of the trees, drawing out their lovely nymphs. He asked them sweetly to donate a little of their fruit for him and their guest. Within minutes he had a small cornucopia of loquats, apples, figs, and oranges. He thanked them and returned to the shadeless plane of grass, where Sam was laying on his chest, resting. Sam immediately sat up when Gabriel came trotting out of the forest. Sam's nose flared, taking in a deep breath around the ring and Gabriel smiled as he pulled out a orange.
"I am presuming that you like fruit of course." Gabriel mentioned and Sam backed up onto his hooves, backing away from Gabriel's approach, crouched low. Gabriel raised a brow but he crouched as well, rolling the orange in the sandy grass until it bumped into Sam's hand. Sam picked it up and inched away, taking a bite out of the rind to open it as he put some distance between himself and Gabriel. Gabriel watched, amused as he took a bite of an apple. Gabriel flicked his tail out of his way and he sat on his rump, taking in the many scars that were lashed into Sam's back and the sun dried sea hair that looked matted and unclean; even whilst bathed in the sea. Sam was panting hard after each swallow of the sweet fruit and he wasn't clean or neat about parting the fruit into delicate sections. The seeds may have also been swallowed. When every last drip of citrus was gone from his hands, Sam looked back to Gabriel, who was only on his third bite.
"Another?" Gabriel held up a loquat and Sam nodded, his ferocity changing to just pitiful hunger. Gabriel held out the ripe yellow fruit and Sam crouched still, eying it. "Come now, I'm not here to hurt you and you're a big boy, you can take it nicely." Sam slinked forward and his hooves were as far from Gabriel as he could be but his long arm reached out to take the loquat, making sure not to have any skin to skin contact. Sam backed away two steps and took a moment to figure out how to eat it, as though he'd never had one before. Gabriel just ate his apple and cradled the horn of fruit to his side in the grass.
"So what are you?" Gabriel asked as Sam sucked the pulp from the thin rind, nearly swallowing the seeds as well for how fast he was gulping it down. He had juice all over his face. Gabriel didn't like all those signs, the ones that told Gabriel that Sam had been a caged animal. Sam took his time to answer, not very enthusiastic about the questions.
"Centaur," Sam muttered and licked the juice from his fingers. Gabriel twisted his beard thoughtfully around a finger.
"You don't look much like a centaur," Gabriel informed him. "Centaurs are like horses, and they have four hooves and two arms." Sam grimaced as though remembering.
"I am a centaur," Sam insisted and looked to the cornucopia again, licking his lips. "But... my father was a minotaur." Gabriel's brows rose high.
"Oooh, I see." Gabriel grinned. "I've heard of minotaurs. They're exceptionally rare and strong. Gifts from the sea, they say." Sam looked pained at his words, flicking the loquat pits and skin away.
"A curse, I think," Sam said. "My whole life is a curse."
Gabriel chortled. "Curses do not swim the gulf and make it to shore alive." Gabriel took up an apple and rolled it down one arm, letting it travel across his shoulders and down his other before flicking it up over to Sam who ducked the apple instead of catching it. Gabriel rolled his eyes because Sam picked it up anyway and his teeth crunched into it. "A little skittish, aren't you?" Sam didn't reply, chewing and gulping down what he could as fast as he could. "You act as though you've never had fruit before." Sam chewed hastily, glancing back to Gabriel. He swallowed, actually taking a break with food in his hands.
"It's been years," Sam said, eyes watery and sad and it tugged on Gabriel's heart a bit. No beast, especially a majestic minotaur, should go years without a bite of fruit.
"You thirsty?" Gabriel asked and Sam nodded. The sea had clearly left him parched. Gabriel stood and Sam watched him warily again. "There's a spring just a little ways into the woods. I will allow you to drink and rest here for a time." Gabriel picked up the basket, still overflowing with edible goods and walked back a ways to his forest. He looked back at where Sam stayed. Sam bit down into the rest of his apple, the only part of it he didn't eat was the seeds or the stem. Even after he was done he didn't move towards the safety of the trees. Gabriel shook his head. "Come on, I'm not leading you with a line of food like a faun."
"I like the open," Sam murmured.
"So do humans," Gabriel said offhandedly. Humans had spy glasses and were sure to see a large minotaur like Sam on the beach if he lingered too long. "Food and fresh water are in the forest, not here in the sun." Gabriel waved the cornucopia at Sam, gaining the minotaur's eyes. "I'll give you the lot here if you be good and listen to me. This is my forest, my rules." Sam licked his lips, tongue bumping the nose ring. "The dry grass out here won't support a big guy like you." Sam huffed and was coaxed to his hooves. He took slow, tired steps towards Gabriel, eyes flickering to the shaded forest of cypress, chestnut, pine, and plane trees . Gabriel jostled the basket and Sam trotted a little quicker. Gabriel chuckled and Sam stopped for a moment, just before the tree line. He took a deep breath and put a hand on a tree for support, stepping into the line of sticks and dirt, out of the baking sun.
Sam was a little distracted by the interior of the forest, as though he'd stepped into an alien world. He looked about and Gabriel was not surprised that everything in the area had left. The birds were silent, the rabbits were in their holes. Fauns hid without peeking and the nymphs were retreated into their trees. Gabriel hopped upon a large boulder and instantly felt better in the shade. He cradled the cornucopia with one arm and lifted up his pan flute, playing a few one handed notes. Sam's ears lifted with the sound and he looked cautiously at Gabriel. Gabriel just smiled and nodded his head before he hopped off the rock and took a couple skips towards the spring. Sam was not so spry on his legs though. He tiptoed through the brush, making a racket of stepping on everything from sticks to logs and Gabriel was going exceptionally slow for the minotaur.
"You've got flat hooves." Gabriel sat on a low tree limb after a few minutes of travel, nearly to the spring and Sam was huffing and puffing, sweat slicking back his hair.
"You're jumping too fast," Sam quipped back and Gabriel's lips curled into a smile.
"Almost there." Gabriel bounded up the slope and when he reached the top of the hill. He played a few more notes and heard an exhausted sigh head his way. Gabriel leaned down and took a sip of fresh, crisp water from the small pool that trickled down the rocks and moss. A few cute water nymphs peeked their heads up curiously since their guardian was there, but when Sam appeared, stomping through the bush, they faded out into the water. "Everything is hiding." Gabriel complained but Sam didn't seem to hear him. Sam hit the edge of the spring and dunked his head right into the water, startling Gabriel as well as three of the nymphs, who swam up the stream so fast that they disappeared once again into their element. Sam came back up for air and panted heavily. Gabriel blinked and started laughing before Sam started drinking the water down in large gulps.
"Does that ring make it hard to breath?" Gabriel laid on one of the slick rocks as Sam took a break from drinking and he laid down to rest.
"Yes." Sam breathed heavily through his mouth as he spoke. "Told you... going... too fast."
"You're also not up to snuff." Gabriel rolled his shoulders and turned onto his back. He lifted his flute and played a few low notes, enjoying the spot, nymphs or not. Sam didn't answer, he just snuck one of the fruits from the horn and started eating again. "I said you could have the whole cornucopia." Sam blinked.
"You were serious about that?" Sam asked.
"Of course." Gabriel glanced over and Sam dragged it closer, as though Gabriel was going to go back on his word. "So, you look like you've got a story to tell." Sam took a slower bite of an apple and he glanced at Gabriel.
"I don't really." Sam said quietly.
"Oh come on, everyone has a story." Gabriel looked over at Sam, "You came from Knossos, right?" Sam slowly nodded.
"If you mean the human town, yes, I..." Sam took a deep breath and stared at the bitten fruit. "I was in this place. This dark, maze of tunnels, and..." Sam took another deep breath. "They called it a labyrinth."
"Labyrinth," Gabriel repeated curiously. "THE Labyrinth?"
"I guess so." Sam shifted uneasily, looking up at the trees where the sun was shielded by the tree leaves. "The stone was carved into slabs and made patterns. It was all flat, mostly. It was dark. With no sun or trees." Gabriel frowned.
"No sun or trees?" Gabriel had heard of a maze in Knossos, but Gabriel's life was in the forest. His survival depended on the woods around him. "How did you survive?" Sam 's head bowed and ears lowered.
"There were pools of water that would gather in holes but... they didn't bring me food. They would lock humans in there with me... and I had nothing else to eat. It was me or them." Gabriel stared at Sam and Sam's shoulders hunched up. "I finally found a fault in the wall and I charged it until it broke." Sam touched his broken horn gingerly. Neither horn was sharp, but one was truly broken recently and the other was just worn down with time. "And then there was the sea..." Sam's shoulders relaxed. "And... it was either going to kill me or save me, so I jumped." Gabriel blinked slowly at Sam and Sam slowly looked up, eyes watery and a big minotaur like Sam should not have looked so innocent.
"You're blessed by the sea." Gabriel smiled. "You have a god watching over you." Sam shook his head and took another bite of fruit.
"I wouldn't go that far," Sam said around the mouthful. "If I had a god's favor, I wouldn't have been taken from my herd and..." His throat swelled up and he closed his mouth as he had trouble swallowing. Gabriel rolled off his rock, letting his flute hang around his neck. He didn't want to make Sam cry or anything.
"Well, you're out, right?" Gabriel reminded him. Sam nodded slowly, licking his juice slicked lips. Gabriel gave him a smile, crouching so he was eye level, "And now you're fed and watered. So, what you looking to do now?" Sam took another bite of apple and thought it over.
"I need to find my herd. My brother... I'm sure my brother is worried about me." Sam took a deep breath. "Him and mom were the only ones who ever cared about me."
Gabriel blinked. "Well, there are no centaurs or minotaurs around here."
Sam visibly saddened. "Oh... I... Do you know, maybe there the nearest field or valley is? I could probably... start searching."
"You don't seem to understand." Gabriel waved a hand. "This earth we stand on," he patted the grassy earth with his hoof, "is Crete. It is a blessing of the sea. It's a large isle of rocky sand, trees, and stone. There aren't any large fields or valleys. Not even any big predators. In fact, I think you're the biggest thing out here." Sam's mouth fell open, blinking.
"So... that's where they took me," Sam said softly.
"They put you on a boat?" Gabriel inquired and Sam nodded.
"A long time ago." Sam sucked in a deep breath. "I was in a place called Athens for 7 winters, and then they put me on another boat to be brought here. I wouldn't listen any more and I got put in the Labyrinth." Sam tossed the core of the apple away. Gabriel nodded slowly.
"I've heard of Athens." Gabriel nodded again with a knowing firmness. "It's far north of here over the sea. Part of the main land." Gabriel chuckled. "It's much farther than where you swam from. Even with a god's favor, you would probably drown if you tried to swim it." Sam gave him a sad, hopeless look and Gabriel's smile dropped. Humans had access to boats and rigs to cross the sea, but creatures like Gabriel stuck to their territory, to the place they called home. "Well, if nothing else, you can stay. I mean, if you can't find a way back, you're welcome here. Welcome to remain free." Sam took a moment, looking around the forest. Sam took a deep breath, as though it was the first time he was realizing it; breathing and being free.
The only thing really hindering him was that ugly nose ring.
"How about we get rid of that metal in your nose first." Gabriel stood and Sam stared at him and his tongue darted out to touch the brass ring.
"You can do that?" Sam asked hopefully.
"I can damn well try." Gabriel waved for Sam to follow him and Sam curiously stood, holding the cornucopia in both hands awkwardly. "Follow me!" And Gabriel took off up the hill and Sam groaned loudly, trotting instead of jumping, which made him slower than Gabriel's grand leaps.
