Dawn

Chapter 7

Stable Song

"The world for once, in perfect harmony, with all its living things."

"Long live the Queen.."

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!"

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" she screamed and roared, jolting out of her sleep in a cold sweat, foaming at the mouth against the muzzle she had put on herself while sleeping at her patient's side. Her heart raced, her claws were scraped and bruised from clawing the floor of the cave, held back only from the leather restraints she had tied around her wrists. As much as restraining herself made her anxiety ten times worse she had to. She wasn't in control of herself in any way when she slept and the last thing she wanted to do was to hurt the man she was trying to save. Intentions were meaningless. She was still a monster. She snapped her clawed fingers, making the muzzle and the restraints disappear into thin air. Though she didn't like to change herself instantly with magick she did so this time so she could tend to the patient. Her body shook violently and she hugged herself once dry and once her fingers bandaged themselves, burying her head in between her arms as her hard breathing filled the cave, she let silent tears fall as she tried to gain control of herself. It had been thousands of years since her violent death and since she had been at that bastard's mercy, yet she still relived it every night.

The only thing that kept her from uncontrollably sobbing was that someone needed her. Her concern now was Rumple. True, she did feel slightly bad for slipping medicine and sedative into his whiskey but she had done it for his own good. For some reason she wasn't able to instantly heal his injury like she had for so many others. And that bothered her. He was human just like any other human. She should have been able to instantly heal him. She then remembered something. He wasn't completely human. His mother was the black fairy, and for some reason after she had become queen Blue forbid their species from being able to wield or break past fairy magick. Blue had always hated her, but would she let an innocent man die for the sake of petty jealousy? "Aye, she would." Her translator grumbled, translating her growl. A sudden feeling of dread sprang up within her. She heard the spinner groan. The air around him was getting warmer. "No no, no no no.." she mewled miserably as she crawled over to his side.

He was beginning to have that smell of near death that prey had when close to their time. He was sweating and shivering. His eyes could barely open and he kept mumbling nonsense in his sleep. "Milah..don't leave…s..stay…my son…" she placed her clawed hand on his forehead, the she imp yowling in alarm. He had a high fever. Just as she had feared, infection had set in. Though she couldn't heal his leg, she could still save him from this. Looking around the cave she decided that she needed to move him. Circumstances had changed. She needed to get him to a warmer and drier place. The Na'vi Right of Passage cave was good for hiding but he needed a drier climate. Unlike Milah they couldn't just go to the Pridelands. If she was to save him from this fever she'd need every ounce of her power to do so. She was going to need to find a safe place nearby. One place came to mind. She had subjects nearby living on a dairy farm on the king's row. Fortunately most animals if not all were loyal to her. She hated using her crown but surely her friends would help her. Her time on the Savannah, in the jungle and in the highlands and tundra hadn't changed her love for the farm animals she had grown with.

The she imp wrapped Rumple in another cloak and gathered the material by his neck into her jaw. She had to save her energy, which meant that there was no shapeshifting this time. She only hoped that she could find the physical strength to carry him the half mile from the cave. As he groaned in feverish misery at being moved, she gently and on arm crutches attempted to carefully grab him by the scruff. She stepped outside of the cave. To her horror a snowstorm had sprung up. Snow was already blanketing the ground and more was falling by the moment. The lingering cancer in her bones ached and she could barely see but a few feet ahead of her. Snow kept stinging at her scarred eye and with no cloak to cover herself even her thick tartan dress was no match for the cold. Yet she had to carry on, if no one else than for little Simba, and for his father who clung to life in her claws. Tears threatened to well up. True the spinner had shied away from her like everyone else had, but he seemed to be tolerating her presence. Save Loki and a few others no one had done that in centuries. The thought of losing her only friend even if her feelings of friendship weren't returned…she couldn't think about that.

Tears were useless. She had to keep moving. She lowered her head, ears flattened against the driving wind and snow as she carried him carefully. She hobbled, progress slow. That damn illness was slowing her down. She could barely hold herself up in her fatigue and the weather let alone carry Rumple by the scruff. She somehow managed to keep him from being dragged by holding her chin up high. The other difficulty she had was that she was the same height, and though he was on the thinner side he was still a grown man. The one ray of hope that kept her and the power within her rising was that he kept mumbling and complaining in his feverish sleep. There was still hope as long as he was making an attempt to communicate with her. "My son…where's my little boy…" he mumbled and moaned. Luckily she could keep talking to him even while carrying him as her translator just kept going no matter what she had in her mouth. "I'm taking ya to him my friend. We're gonna go see your boy right now. But ya gotta keep breathing and stay awake? Alright? That's the deal, dearie." A serene smile graced his feverish features, a grin crossing his face in near childish excitement at becoming a father.

As she hobbled through the driving storm, a thought that she wished would stay away came into her mind. It was so strange to see a father act so happy to see his child. Her father certainly never smiled at her like that. Could a father really care that much? An empty cold feeling spread through her bones and heart as she saw him smile like that at the prospect of seeing his child. "Forget it, imp." She scolded herself internally. There was always hope however small that a parental figure would smile at her like that or even at the prospect of seeing her. But as no dark one since Nimue had given a damn her hopes for a father or mother were fading away, wilting like the rose that tracked her sanity. Love and bonding with a parent was not something that she deserved. She was alone. And she'd always be alone. And as far as her friend the spinner and her hope deep down that he'd look at her like he looked at his son….She saw the way he looked at her. Fear. Disgust. Annoyance and judgement. "It's no use." She scolded herself again, being her own worst critic once again. "He will never see me as anything more…than a monster." But as her own hopes were dashed to the ground time and time again, it did not have to be this way for Rumple's son. The fact that she couldn't have a happy ending was no excuse for depriving anyone else of that. It was no reason why Rumple and the little one couldn't have a family.

Her hopes for his survival however kept going with every complaint he had. She wanted him to keep talking to her. It let her know that he was still aware and awake. Her spirits lifted with every mumble he made. "I'm tired..and my nose is froze…and my toes are froze…and my ears are froze…and my toes are froze…" he whimpered in a feverish stupor and she couldn't help but snicker and smile around the cloth that was in her mouth. Her sensitive feline ears pricked and her nose caught a scent of another approaching animal. She could nearly cry with relief as she heard barking traveling over the wind and a collie came bounding over the hill. She was exhausted. She nearly shed tears when the male herder came bounding towards them. "Your majesty!" He cried out in a relieved whimper. "With this weather we feared you wouldn't make it." He bowed before her, tail wagging in his relief. The she imp lowered her own head in respect to her subject and purred with pleasure. "Sir Towser. Thank gods. Ya mean ya don't mind? We need somewhere safe." The collie nosed her and licked her cheek. "Come with me. Anything for our queen. The dairy barn isn't Pride Rock or the Dark Castle, but all we have is yours." Goldenstar's legs felt even more weary and the spinner more heavy in her grasp at the mention of shelter. "Thank ye my friend. We're eternally grateful. I..I can't go on much longer and he needs to be warm."

Crossing the lane to the dairy barn felt like crossing an ocean of snow as she clicked and hobbled her way into the warm stable. It wouldn't phase her to sleep in a barn again. It wasn't as if she was going back to her parents old farm. She knew the human farmers who lived there. Towser's humans weren't so bad for people. They took good care of their animals and had been the ones to come to Goldenstar when they had been struck with smallpox. She could always bring that up if they had any questions of her and the spinner needing a place to stay. As she laid Rumple in a bale of hay she dragged her weary legs and body in next to him. The cows mooed and bowed their heads. "Your majesty." Constance, one of the cows lowed in concern and fondness. "We were beginning to fear the worst. The entire kingdom is talking about how you saved the poor man's life." At that she began involuntarily shaking from exhaustion, hunger and fear. "We don't know that yet." She mewed and couldn't stop the tears from welling up in her eyes.

She knew better then anyone else that when the sun set on a creature's time on earth, not even she had the power to stop nature from taking its course. There came a certain time in every living thing's life when they were beyond her help. Death was a part of life and that was why the darkness existed as well as the light. Though she could heal temporarily or give an animal immortality by having them live within the royal limits of her kingdom, the sun eventually set on everyone…except for her. Not even her biological father's rage frightened her more then the prospect of losing Rumple too soon. Towser brought over some slices of corned beef. "It's not much, and not worthy of our queen, but you must keep up your strength, your majesty." She didn't want to eat, her heart hurt. Everything hurt. But she knew he was right. If she had any chance of saving the spinner, she needed her strength. She ran her fingers affectionately over his ears making the collie wag his tail. It was akin to being kissed by a princess in human language.

After eating she laid down next to Rumple. Wrapping her fluffy tail around him, she placed her clawed hand on his head, the other on his leg. Both began to glow. She started to will whatever bacteria that was causing the infection to leave. Whatever he had she was hoping that it wasn't viral. She had power over life on earth but viruses were more difficult to control. As viruses were only half alive she needed more effort to bring non living mindless replicating elements into submission. His skin was already beginning to cool. To her relief, he gave a relaxed sigh as his dangerously high temperature began to lower a degree. He was breathing easier. It was going to take all night, but her determination was growing stronger. If it took all the energy she had, so be it. She wasn't giving up on him, not like the dark ones had given up on her. Two hours passed before his fever finally broke and the last bit of bacterial infection left his body. He was beginning to peacefully sleep, his breathing easier. She felt herself finally able to rest.

To keep him warm, she huddled next to him, curled up against the crook of his arm and into his side. "I'm just keeping him warm. It means nothing." She told herself inwardly. It couldn't mean anything. Only the dark one was allowed to be her parent. She knew that. She knew that if he was awake and aware right now he'd push her away…or would he? But his warmth was what mattered. She tried to ignore how his fatherly and gentle smile at the prospect of meeting his son made her feel safe, and how calming his presence was to her. She was too exhausted to stay awake any longer. She involuntarily began to purr when she felt him at her side. Her hands immediately began to open and close in a kneading motion. It meant nothing still. Or at least that's what she told herself. She had never slept next to a person before. It felt safe. It felt comforting. And between that feeling and the exhaustion, she felt herself drifting.

Using the last of her energy she snapped her fingers and leather restraints wrapped around her wrists, a muzzle tightening over her mouth. Goldenstar slowly drifted off beside him. He began mumbling in his sleep, and she felt a strange sensation that she hadn't felt since the last time Loki came to see her a century earlier. The spinner had wrapped his arms around her and was hugging her in his sleep. "My boy…my beautiful boy. Yer papa's here." Though he was dreaming of meeting his son, that fact didn't stop silent tears leaking down her face and the comforting thought that those words were meant for her. For the first time in two thousand years, the night passed in silence as she slept without a single nightmare, the only sounds in the stable being the man's snores, the queen's quiet purring and the lowing of cows, creating an odd but comforting lullaby. Feeling safe for the first time since her death, the imp involuntarily began to suck on her thumb through the muzzle's breathing allowances, showing vulnerability that she could never show in the waking world of reality.