This is a disclaimer. It is a wise disclaimer and would like you to know that it comes from a proud line of equally wise disclaimer. This disclaimer knows things.
For a while he stood there, the chilling waters of the river circling around him until finally he turned. He wondered if he should go after the brownie, but somehow he wouldn't find a reason for doing so. Quietly he crossed the river, emerging on the other side, steams of water falling from his sopping clothes.
No expression crossed his face as he once again emerged into the tree line and continued to walk forward, stumbling over roots and occasionally bruising his shoulders or sides as he knocked against branches and rocks. Still he walked. After all, there was no reason to stop, so why not keep going. That was what Misaki had said to do. Dark it was, so much so that where he too have put his hand before his eyes he would not have seen even an outline. He did not do this of course. The darkness, pressing in on all side, closing in, faster and faster, did not register. Lavender eyes stared straight ahead, unwavering as he advanced.
Presently he was able to see a light through from between the thick trunks. A shimmering glow, only half there, and gone if he were to look at it directly. He headed toward it, following its path out of the corner of his eye, until he found himself standing before a small orb of light, bobbing in the air at about the height of his waist. This too he found to disappear when he stared at it straight on, but if he were to turn his head slightly and look straight ahead, there it was, just to the side of his peripheral vision. Beyond it he could see another one and another after that, forming a trail. He didn't changed directions though and the trail of wispy lights disappeared behind him.
A few hours passed, his clothes no longer soaked but damp all the same and clinging uncomfortable to his skin. Suddenly, in a hurried flutter of wings, something small and dark landed on a branch directly before him. It chirped angrily and he paused to look at it.
It was the robin from before, the one he and Misaki were supposed to follow. It was glaring at him now in what he was able to clearly interpret as impatience. He blinked at it and it chirped again. After all, it had been given a task to do by its master and this foolish human was not helping it in the slightest.
The robin took off and Akihiko continued on. Walking, farther and farther, into the impenetrable black.
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White splatters against charcoal black tree trunks. A howl of anguish and pain. Misaki struggled, talons ripping through layers of cotton and flesh. His own feathers flew, being ripped away before they could grow. And he clawed back, his talons cutting deep into the naked midnight skin of the predator. He was fast, pecking at the black beady eyes of this sluagh sídhe, this Unseelie fae. Milky white liquid pulsed from the gashes and the owl creature reeled back. The claws that had been so deep in his arms loosened and Misaki did not waste a moment. Completing the transformation he flew away.
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Akihiko stopped. No, that wasn't right. Akihiko was stopped. With a firm hand pressed flat to his chest. It was thin but warm. He took a moment to study it, forgetting to wonder where the light which allowed him to do so had come from. The hand belonged to a male and the longer he stared the more he realized how familiar it was. Slowly, languidly, blank, washed out lavender eyes traveled up the arm to the shoulder. He took in the appearance of the man, now drenched in the moonlight that somehow had managed to shoot through the canopy above.
It was Takahiro.
No, that wasn't right either. It wasn't Takahiro. It was the corrigan. The corrigan named Usami Akihiko.
She, he, it, smiled.
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"Ok, that's just not fair." Hiroki gestured at the glow of the bon fire's blaze in the distance, shooting Nowaki an annoyed look. Their 'steed' gave a snort of amusement. The doctor sighed.
"How was I supposed to know the will o' the wisps would lead us to an actual revel?"
"You said they would lead us to Akihiko and the brat."
"No, I said they would lead us to where we needed to go. Not where we wanted to go." Hiroki cocked an eyebrow.
"So we need to go to an orgy?"
"I'm not some kind of card reader Hirosan, I can't just interpret the ways of the universe with a wave of my hand."
"Bloody annoying—Hey! Where do you think you're going?" For indeed while the men had been talking the phooka had not received any order that would indicate he should not walk towards what promised to be an exciting party. So he didn't. "Hey! You stupid horse! What are yo—HEY!"
Hiroki found himself suddenly experiencing the sharp sensation of large clumps of his hair being pulled in several different directions. Hard.
"OI!" A certain witch's hands though came to his rescue as he found himself being drawn back against Nowaki's chest while the man worked to shoo the mischievous pixies away. The little creatures, looking like some strange hybrid between a twig and a blossom, each sporting a pair of insect wings, giggled at the couple before quickly fluttering away. The distraction had proved to have taken too long though, for before Hiroki could actually get around to giving the order to stop, the three travelers had broken through the tree cover and cloven hooves had set themselves firmly inside the toadstool circle. Hiroki groaned.
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Moonlight glinted off a too wide smile, so bizarrely foreign on the face of his secret love. He knew Takahiro's smile, like he knew the back of his hand. He tried to think of it now, to super impose the memory over the sharp teeth he now found himself faced with. But he couldn't. Slowly he realized he could not remember the sound of Takahiro's laugh, or even the light behind the smile he had once basked in.
The corrigan laughed for him.
"Hello my sweet." He stared at her, unable to look away from the rows of teeth presented before him. "Oh, come now, you can do better than that. Say hello."
"…Hello."
"Now that's a good boy. At this rate you'll get your name back faster than ever." Reaching up, still smiling with eyes that had become slits from the force of, he ruffled Akihiko's hair. Somewhere, deep in the recesses of Akihiko's mind, that still clinging refuge that had not yet left to follow his name, that sentence lite a spark. Small but still there, he forced himself to focus.
"…My…name?" It took a great force a will to get the words out but somehow he managed.
"Yes my dear little hedge-pig, your name. Didn't you know, I was going to give it to you all along?" Now she took both hands and pinched his cheeks, pulling at them before leaning forward and planting a sweet little kiss upon one. "See, I've got it here."
And suddenly, without any movement between the kiss and now, she, the current Usami Akihiko, was holding a small chest before him, Takahiro's finger's reached forward and unclasped the lid and as it opened a golden light shone from within, illuminating the small space between them. Inside, lying so innocently upon a small pile of gold was his name. It was beautiful he realized, the kanji scripted to perfection. But at the same time it was so fragile and small, lying there all alone. He felt a shiver pass down his spine as he reached out to it.
"Ah, ah, ah," She pulled it back and the golden light shut off as the lid snapped shut she hugged it to her chest like a small child. "It's mine now you see?" She glided one of Takahiro's fingers over the golden filigree that decorated the outside of the chest, watching as it shown white in the moonlight. "And don't mind the container my fig. I had a…tiff with a leprechaun. Poor dear, he should have just given it to me when I asked. Didn't know what was good for him he didn't, silly thing. But you," looking up suddenly that same hand came to skim the author's cheek, Takahiro's fingertips soft against his skin. "You know what's good for you."
He looked at her blankly. She allowed Takahiro's face to conform into a frown before she looked to the chest once more and the smile returned.
"Well, you will know what's good for you. You'll see kitten of mine, you'll see." One of Takahiro's hands dived into the brunet's jean pocket before extracting a small flower. Usagi stared at it, unable to name the colour. The chest was opened once more, the warm glow appearing once more, illuminating his name. She gave the human another smile before abruptly crushing the flower in her fist, squeezing and grinding with Takahiro's fingers. Swiftly and precisely she held the fist over Akihiko's name.
Together they watched, one drop after another landing on the name until it was floating in a small puddle of the nectar. She was looking at him, the beastly light flaming behind Takahiro's eyes when without warning they widened in terror.
With the chest closed and not a word spoken she fled, Takahiro's body disappearing into the pitch black of the wood.
Akihiko stood there, not moving, not wanting to move, just looking at the spot of darkness where the corrigan had disappeared.
Without warning a thunderous crash came from his other side. A great beast broke through the shadows, its mane flying and its coat shining like a pearl in the light of the full moon. Eyes, a serene blue, like robin's eggs or a northern sea on a bright summer day, looked down at him as it came to a halt, hooves with feathered coronets just barely touching the earth. And there, jutting proudly from its forehead, fetlock settling around it, was its noble horn, spiraling forward and seeming to be made of pure crystal.
Akihiko stared.
I'm sorry this is so short. I have huge writers block for this story. I mean, you people are only getting this because I watched Legend again. Three cheers for unicorns. Again sorry, I just like horses. I used to teach riding lessons. I also used to teach archery and martial arts. Btw, I'm raising an army. Be afraid.
So I totally stole the will o' the wisp idea from Brave. I love that movie. In most mythologies though, will o' the wisps are the souls of the dead that lead travelers into swamps to drown them. I like this idea better.
This is just me staking my argument but hedge-pig is totally a word, no matter what Microsoft Office says. Shakespeare used it in Macbeth. 'Thrice, and once the hedge-pig whined.' It was also used as an insult. 'Thou frothy tickle-brained hedge-pig.
Talking about Shakespeare, can anyone see where this is going? Faerie revels, strange flowers that squeeze juices, lovers separated…yeah, I have so much writer's block. AAAAAAAARGH!
Other fun fact, phooka can also be spelled Bookha or Bwca. Aren't you glad I went with the phonetic welsh spelling. Or at least I think that's the phonetic one. Phookas are shape shifting horses that can be heard of all over the U.K. Mostly Wales. Give me a break, I'm welsh, so thus most of the lore I know is Welsh. Anyways, Phookas are also known in Scandinavia where they are called Kornbockes and look like goats. In Wales they look like horses or pigs. In Ireland they have human male heads and horse bodies. Phookas can fly, but have no wings. Just wait till Hiroki finds this out. They are trooping faeries. They run in troops. They like wild parties. In Wales the phooka is believes to be able to enter your home through your chimney. Only in Scandinavia and Germany phookas are considered helpful. They assist in the raising of crops, like corn, hence the name. In the U.K. it is believe that anything not harvested after Samhain (which is coming up! EEEEEE!) belongs to the phooka, so don't steal it. I mean, who in their right mind steals from a faerie anyways. They are also known to kill cattle, but then again, which malevolent fae isn't. Ditto for eating babies. The term poofed, you know, as in to disappear, comes from the term pooked. It means a phooka took you/it/whatever. Just as brownies like milk/honey/ale, phookas like potatoes. In Ireland it is believed the tastiest potatoes are dug after sunset, but also that these potatoes belong to the phooka. A traveler who encounters a phooka at night is said to be enticed onto its back where it will be taken on a wild ride until finally being dropped in a ditch somewhere.
So there you go. Everything I know about phookas. Everything else you encounter in this fic is made up. Sorry, not sorry.