A/N: Here's the next chapter! Thanks to:
-vreader, Fireblade K'Chona, Dyslexic Angel, Nightshade-013, and Stormy Phoenix for reviewing the first chapter!
In the end, I used a stick to scrape a depression in the ground, and I carefully shoved my nice formal tack there and then pulled some branches and bushes over it, hopefully hiding it enough that no one would notice it for a day or two. Few people came upon this road... what was the chance they'd look carefully enough into the tree line that they'd notice a hint of blue underneath the brown? With this thought, I, and very regretfully, took some dirt and rubbed it into the saddle, smearing it as brown as I could get. That will take so long to clean...
And so, standing as naked as I had been my entire life but only now doing so shamefully, I jogged down the road. My magic kept me warm, kept my endurance up, and let me run at a pace fast for a human, but it didn't protect my skin and for once I missed having hooves. By the time I'd run a mile my soft, newborn like feet were cut and bleeding from the bits of gravel in the dirt, but I ignored them and kept running- some things were more important than pain. Hopefully these wounds wouldn't transfer over once I got back into my own body, having hooves like my feet surely were would be awkward to say the least.
After what felt like hours I saw the buildings and shapes of a town rising up from the flat horizon and soon I was standing at its gate, its locked, closed gate. I sighed and sat down on the side of the road, wincing as sharp, half frozen blades of grass pressed against my human buttocks. Hair, I realized, is something we Companions take too much for granted. Never again will I wish for hands.
Despite feeling wide awake, I must have fallen asleep waiting for the dawn to come, for when I woke it was to the curious face of a Guard. She jumped backwards when I opened my blue eyes and I smiled again, relieved to finally know this adventure was over. However, the Guard didn't look too delighted, and she eyed me warily.
"Who are you?" she asked, her fingers hovering around the hilt to a sword.
"Daneric," I replied, forming familiar words in an unfamiliar way, telling her my true name, "And I am so glad to see you."
"Why is that?" she asked, looking up and down my pale body, "You look half dead."
"I feel half dead," I lied, because a normal human should have frozen to death. Then again, I wasn't human at all, but I only said, "I'm a traveler. Bandits overtook me last night, they took everything I had."
"Except your life," the Guard finished for me, looking suspicious, her eyes looking as harsh as her voice sounded.
I almost felt like crying- except that Companions can't cry. She didn't believe me. An older, wiser Companion would have known what to do, no doubt, but I was just barely full grown and this was my first time out of Haven! I looked back up at her, trying to put a pleading expression on with my unfamiliar face.
"Please, I waited all night for the gate to open. All I ask is for some clothing and maybe a bit of money," I said softly, hugging my arms around myself to feign the feeling of cold, "I don't know why they didn't kill me, I'm just glad I'm alive."
She seemed to believe me now for her frown eased and she put out a hand to help me, "All right Daneric. The Guard can spare you that much. I'm not one to leave a poor man out in the cold but I can't help you further than that. Do you have family or friends near?"
I shook my head and accepted her hand, pulling myself up to my feet and stretching awkwardly, "It doesn't matter. I can handle the rest, when it comes."
"Where were you going anyway?" she asked as she led be through a smaller, side gate into the town and then over to the Guard's house.
It was blessedly warm and I quickly dropped my warmth spell- it was draining me unexpectedly. The front room, clearly part of the Guardhouse and not her home, simply had a desk, a few chairs, and a bright fire burning merrily, giving the room more light than the cloudy morning could provide through the windows. I sat down and the Guard, whoever she was, disappeared back farther, without waiting for me to answer. No doubt she would expect a further story from me when she got back.
She came, holding some bundled furs and old cotton under-things for me. She set them down on the desk and then, with a grin, said, "I'll leave you to yourself while you change. These are some of my son's old things- he's long gone, don't worry about him."
I nodded gratefully and the moment she was gone I pulled the pile apart, quickly pulling on the warm clothing. It fit loosely, either her son was a large guy or I was small for my age. As a Companion, I was about average, but either way, clothing was clothing, and even though I wasn't used to it, if I looked like a human, I need to dress like one to get any help or respect.
The boots too, were a tad large, but she must have guessed that and the extra three pairs of socks helped fill them out and I felt more like a human. Being naked hadn't bothered me- I had been a Companion long enough that I was used to walking around without garments hindering my movements, and if anything, the clothing only made me feel more uncomfortable, not more comfortable.
I moved over to the door she had left through and knocked, telling her I was done and asking a few questions at the same time. The door opened almost immediately and she looked my up and down once more and then with a wry smile asked, "So it wasn't just the gray landscape then- you really are albino?"
I nodded, it was easier than trying to pass as a Mage, "It makes for trouble in the summer. Sunburn, you know."
She grinned and said, "Well, I'll get you some breakfast and see if I can't spare some change for you Daneric, in exchange for your story."
I nodded, hopefully I'd be able to think of something good off the top of my head, and if not... well... the worst that could happen is she'd call me a liar.
"Get me a town chit too, while you're at it," I said and when she looked at me curiously I replied, "Please. If you can spare one, I like souvenirs of where I've been."
In truth, I would give it to the Crown when I returned, after all, didn't help for a Companion count as much as help for a trainee? Even if they never knew what gave them the tax cut, I still felt they deserved it. She accepted this however, and disappeared again, reappearing with a slice of thick bread smeared with jam and a mug of some steaming beverage.
I accepted, hoping my taste buds had changed along with my body. Well, even if they hadn't, I imagined bread and jam wouldn't taste bad to a horse shaped creature. She sat down across from me and watched quietly as I ate, or rather devoured the food. In the shock of changing, I hadn't noticed how hungry I had become. The beverage turned out to be tea, no sugar or milk but good just the same. It was nice, feeling the hot liquid seep down my throat and into my stomach.
After I was down I paused before speaking, letting my food digest a bit and she let me sit quietly, basking in the warm firelight. It also gave me a chance to gather my words together to tell my tale.
"As I said, my name is Daneric," I said, looking down and then reaching up to finger the fine, long white hair that fell in front of my eyes before continuing, "I was born up in Haven twenty years ago. My father is an advisor to the Queen, and since that clearly isn't a job you can inherit, I had to seek my fortune elsewhere. He was wealthy enough that I could gain an education at the Collegium, so I didn't enter the world without a skill. Anyway, I've always wanted to explore the reaches of Valdemar so... I gathered up the money I'd saved and earned and set off. I was planning on writing a novel on my travels through Valdemar, or perhaps on something else. Writing is something I've always enjoyed… I might become a recorder of some sort when I return to Haven. I'm sure I can find someone who needs something written nearby."
Most of that was truth, but only part of it actually referenced my current life. As I spoke, I realized if it came down to, I probably would have to get a job and writing was definitely something I could do. My mother, not father, happens to be the Companion of the Queen, so she is technically an advisor to the Queen.
The Guard nodded slowly and then smiled, "Well Daneric the scribe, my name is Julianne, and I hope you manage to get back to Haven safe and sound or continue your travels without further trouble."
With that, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a small coin bag, heavy with Valdemaren coin, and a chit from the town. I accepted it gratefully and pocketed it in the thick pants she had lent to me. The chit said Poldale, a name unfamiliar to me- but it was a small town, unlikely to be on any map but a detailed one of Valdemar or one of this area.
"I will always remember this- someday I will find a way to repay you," I said truthfully, although I already planned on handing over the chit once I got back to Haven- knowing I was helping them here would ease the irking fact that I'd have to return without my Chosen. But the sooner this was done with the better.
"And I'll always remember the day a naked albino turned up in front of the gate one wintry morning," she said with a wink and with a sudden blush I realized she was flirting. It almost made me shudder- as a Companion I don't really think about humans that way anymore, but something in the change must have been working on me because I realized, to my horror, that she wasn't really that bad looking.
So I only smiled sheepishly and stood up with another thanks and a, "I guess I'd better be on my way then, Guard Julianne."
"Goodbye, Daneric," she said, standing up as well and following me out the door and back to her post.
I went straight back out the Gate I'd come in and headed back up the road across a road that had previously hurt my feet- and indeed they were sore inside my new boots. As I trudged I felt a depression hanging about me, pressing on my back. How terrible it was to be a Companion returning home without his Chosen.