Dawn
Chapter 1
Fate Be Changed
"Like you, I was abandoned as a child."
1700 Years Later*
A roar of a lion and another of a bear echoed throughout the forest. A clash of metal on metal mixed its strange tinny echo with the roaring of the two fighting animals in the forest below. Golden skin glittered and red hair flashed in the afternoon sunlight as two girls faced each other. They circled around each other, the imp facing down the human redhead. They both held swords in their hands, the imp was poorly balanced on an arm crutch but fearless, the tartan clothed princess facing her and not backing down either. Peeling their lips back like two snarling animals, light one and princess of Dunbroch charged each other, though no malice flashed in their eyes. Instead smiles tugged at their lips as playful growls rang from their throats. Goldenstar boldly lunged, using her tail to help balance her poor coordination and her crutches to launch herself into a pounce. She pinned Merida down to the tree and cackled in an insane, high pitched peel of laughter. "Nyahahaha! Pinned ya!" Merida sighed as if in disappointment then let out another ursine growl and lunged again, this time bowling Goldenstar over before laughing herself as they wrestled on the ground like cubs. Merida held the sword to her face. "And I pinned ye again! Nice try kitty!"
"Best two out of three then?" The Imp was out of breath, panting as she butted a sword with another, heated and panting even in the cool autumn mists of the highlands. She held a sword out in the air in defense though had a smirk on her face towards the redheaded princess of Dunbroch. Her and one of her few friends had been out in the woods play fencing. Merida was one of the few friends that Goldenstar had. Their unique asexual nature, title of royalty(and the fact they acted anything but regal), their shape shifting abilities, both predators in their animal forms, love for the motherland as well as the biggest commonality…they were immortal beings…had caused the girls to form a friendship. Merida carried the curse of the demon bear Mor'du, a curse that was carried through beginning with her great great grandfather and was passed down to her. Every fourth generation got it, and because of this Merida would never age, just like Goldenstar herself. They met in the woods once a moon to be their true selves, to play like a bear and cat, play fighting like grizzly and lion cubs and reveling in their eternal maidenhood. True, the imp was extremely frail and on arm crutches but still insisted on taking up fencing.
Though she'd never admit to it, she wasn't doing so to be included in Merida's fun. She didn't need to defend herself either, for if magick didn't serve her, and it always did, she fought like a cat, clawing and biting her opponent. When magick failed(which it never did) sharp bone crushing teeth and claws took its place. A week earlier Gorgon had been killed, and the new dark one was a war lord named Zoso who had come from a family rich in knighthood. Perhaps if she learned to fight like a human then the man who was supposed to be both mother and father would notice her.
Merida who was more than accepting of her friend didn't seem to mind that she was infantile and that she cried when she got something wrong. The imp rolled her eyes up at her and huffed, her tail swishing and rattling to show that she was playing and not truly being aggressive as she swatted playfully at her. "I tripped, dearie." Merida smirked. "As a result of me parrying ye, lass. Com'on." Merida helped Goldenstar to her unsteady feet, propping her crutches underneath her. The imp groaned as pain flashed through her. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. "Bloody hell.." her collar translated as she physically meowed lowly from the pain, tears welling in her eyes. Merida sighed, shaking her head. "I think that's enough for today, imp. Anyway, I've got to get home. Ye know how my mum gets when I miss supper." The redheaded princess rolled her eyes, tossing her curls as she brushed the dirt off her kirtle. "And if I show up looking like this."
The imp's ears flattened sadly, her brown eyes filling out with black out of emotion. "Oh. Right." Merida and her had much in common but having a family wasn't one of those things. She knew that things between her friend and Queen Elinor were complicated. At least she had a mother, one who had never raised a hand to her, or abandoned her. At least Merida had never waited by the door for lifetimes waiting for someone to love her. Goldenstar gulped and right away Merida bit her lip and gently scratched behind her friends ear. "It's only been a week, my friend. I'm sure he's just busy getting used to things." The imp shrugged and meowed. "Aye." the princess patted the imp's head like a cat. "Good luck to ye. Let's meet again next month, yeah?" And as they spoke, a glowing apparition appeared in the mists lining the forest floor. Light as a butterfly but eerie as a ghost, a magical little spirit shone blue among the leaf litter. The two immortal girls looked at each other. "Wisp."
Though she was distrustful of the fae and with very good reason, the imp's curiosity and love of magical power was getting the better of her. Her feline instincts were beginning to take over, her regression also making her want to chase after it like most children did. Instinctually, her hips began to wriggle from side to side as she made herself as quiet as possible, crouching down towards the ground and concealing herself in the tall heather. Sarabi had taught her how to hunt even though there was no need to do so. Her jaw began chattering. Merida began to slowly back away. "Bad idea, lassie. The last time I followed a wisp it didn't turn out so well. But because I know you're as stubborn as an ox…" the imp shrugged as if knowing that to be true. "I'll head home now. Good luck to you, your majesty." She waved behind her as Merida mounted her fussing black Shire and galloped away.
The imp's focus went right back to the wisp. It was said that these creatures lead you to your fate or your hearts desire. Perhaps she could find the new dark one. There was no shame in trying. Hope began to fill the beasts heart. Goldenstar sprang up out of the grass using her crutches and tried to pounce on the wisp, almost landing on her face when it disappeared. Luckily she always landed on her feet. Shaking off yet another wave of fierce pain, she sighed. "So. Follow. Don't pounce. Must all magical sources behave like gazelles?" The Queen of the beasts whined under her breath.
She followed the wisp through the forest floor. Once in a while she tried to catch it, batting in the air like a cub trying to catch fireflies. She followed them out into a clearing near the village. She sniffed the air, looking for any signs of her counterpart. Nothing. The wisp had stopped and disappeared. But there were people here. Probably peasants who were foraging or hunting. But still she was distrustful of humans, and to make matters worse she needed to change herself. Oh that's just bloody perfect. She waited a few minutes, ears pricked and listening to the hush of the wild. She smelled people but there were none. There were two males most likely, and they smelled like an older man(who might as well have been marinated in alcohol) and a young boy, who was giving off fear scent. Why would the wisp lead her here if it was just some drunk arse peasant and his poor unfortunate child? She was getting uncomfortable so she ducked behind a tree to lean up against the trunk and change her nappy. She had gotten so skilled at doing it herself after centuries of being this way. This was where her tartan dress came in handy. Wearing skirts and dresses without corsets allowed her to sneakily deal with changing her own diapers. But as she finished she heard crying in the woods. Crouching low behind the heather once more, she peered into the clearing.
There sat a boy of eight years old. He was sobbing hysterically, holding onto a corn husk doll like many children owned around these villages. The poor boy was dressed in worn clothing that was way too thin for the autumn season, especially for a boy his age. His brunette silky hair was a mop and his broken voice begged into the air of the glen. "Rhuel Ghorm…please. Please you've got to help me. He left me. My papa left me. I have no where to go. What am I gonna do..I'm afraid." The boy pleaded with that blue star in the sky as if it was his last lifeline. Goldenstar gulped and sighed, shaking her head. Poor boy. He was familiar to her, and she couldn't place why. Lifting her nose up in the air, she took another draw of his scent, even opening her mouth slightly to allow it to travel over sinuses. Her eyes widened with revelation. She did know him. This was the son of the black fairy, another sister of Rhuel. The poor boy was never going to be helped. She'd let him sit there and starve or freeze to death. If she resented Blue before she definitely did now. She had once asked Blue for help too after her own fairy godmother never came, not knowing that it was Blue that would be the cause of her violent way of becoming the light one. It was a dark one who had given her a second chance.
Suddenly an idea began to form inside of that young imps twisted mind. If one would look inside those eyes of hers they'd see the cogs turning in that beautiful brilliant madness of a mind of hers. In her insanity she rubbed her claws together and her paw gloves, giggling to herself as that insane smile tugged at her lips. Maybe the boy didn't have to depend on fairies that would never come. Just as a dark one had helped her once upon a time, maybe a light one could help the man cub. For her it had been too late. But it wasn't too late for him. She couldn't raise him, mentally being a child herself. But she knew of a spinner in the village who was infertile but had always wanted a cub of her own. Goldenstar had tried to help Agathe but for some reason she could never find the cause and could not cure her. Though poor, Goldenstar knew Agathe to be kind to animals, to be a kitchen witch who shared her beliefs and was one of the kindest humans she had ever met. He had her scent on his clothes, which meant that she already knew him. It was perfect.
But before the queen of the animal kingdom took one step the flutter of wings could be heard buzzing in her ear. "Don't." The blue fairy spoke in a commanding tone. The she imp smirked and just gave her a cocked grin, ears twitching from the annoyance of Blue's wings buzzing right in them. "Why, are ye gonna help him, dearie? Like ye helped me?" Blue gave her a steely look. "Don't you think you should be getting over this? It's been hundreds of years. As I said before your fate was determined. Nimue should have never have spoken to you. Your kind shouldn't even be allowed to exist in this world." Goldenstar let out a low guttural growl, her tail lashing angrily. "Don't ya dare talk about her like that." Her ears flattened and her lips tightened and curved into a snarl, letting out a little hiss and a warning bare of the fangs. A warning growl came from her throat and a small roar left her throat. Like most animals, light ones were bound to a code tree the dark one wasn't. She could only kill to survive. She could defend herself and her kingdom and anyone she loved, or to hunt if she needed to. She couldn't kill simply because she wanted to. But gods, if there was anyone she'd like to use as a chew toy, that fairy was it. When Blue insulted the only mother she had known, she longed to feed her to the dragons.
Goldenstar growled, the claws on her hands digging into her crutches to stop herself from tearing her wings off. "Ya know what Blue. I've had enough of your shite. Ya mistreat the poor boy the same way ya mistreat me. Ye speak of justice but you're cruel to those who need yer help." "Silence, she beast!" The fairy snapped. "Justice!" The imp yowled and roared back in her face before sneaking her way into the tall grasses. "Goldenstar! Don't you dare." The imp smirked and kept moving towards the boy. For a moment she hesitated. The boy was human. And a male to boot. It was his kind that murdered her when she was a human herself. It was a man who was cruel to her. Humans were cruel selfish creatures. Even after she had tried to help their kind in the last few centuries more and more had been painting her as a monster. What purpose would she be serving her kingdom if she saved one of them?
But then as she witnessed a deer nuzzling her fawn on the other side of the glen she closed her eyes and blinked back tears. If she chose to leave the boy and let the forest take him, would she be any better than those who hurt her? Like this man cub, she was once a lonely, scared child whose father chose his own selfishness over her. In many ways, she still was. She would be no better than her parents or Blue if she left him to die. The world was a horrible, unfair place and humans were selfish and cruel. It was the animals who made the world so beautiful, just like the deer had done now. Like her fellow beasts, the imp was going to lead by example. Goldenstar let out a soft mew, listening to the man cub cry for a father who was never coming back. She had been doing the same the last night…every night since Nimue died. "The world is cruel. And life's not fair. But I won't be. And I'll make it fair."
When she went to take another painful step Blues shrill voice barked once more. "I FORBID IT!" She slowly looked back over her shoulder with a smirk and a wicked look of amusement in her catlike eyes that were now slits. Loki's blood still flowed through her veins, and so did his mischief. "That settles it then." Tuning out the fairy's insults, she darted quickly despite her weakness towards the trees where the boy was hiding, her fluffy tail bouncing behind her as she cackled with glee into the air. "Nyhaaaaaa.." a puff of green smoke surrounded the imp, leaving a Eurasian she lynx with glittering golden spots in her fur. making her way towards the boy. No one told her what to do, not anymore. Especially not the Blue Fairy.