Awakening, Quickening

A New Arena pt 1

Carefully, Harmony stood up and lifted off the tunic, and walked over to the stream. She lowered herself to the ground beside it, and washed herself off as best she could. The water was cool, but not terribly cold, and at least it was clean. She rinsed her face off, rolled up her hair, and pinned it with a stick, and then stepped into the stream; watched, as it turned red, and scrubbed off any patched of blood or foulness she could find. There would be more, she knew, but this would help keep her from wearing it for a little while.

Then she remembered the wand; was it still there, beside the fire? She glanced at Muse; Muse had turned one hand into a wide cat's paw, and was carefully bathing Kyir. Kyir was studying her face as if he were memorizing it. He still had not made a sound other than his initial squeaks. Harmony thought that was odd, for an infant, but right now she was only grateful. Too many things could respond to an infant's cry on a dark night, and she was not prepared to fight or flee after such an ordeal.

The wand lay in the grass beside the fire, and Harmony found it after a few moments of careful searching. Lifting it, she reached into her reserves. She didn't have a lot to spend, just now... but the mountain and the forest were replenishing her, healing and refilling her mana, even now. A good night's sleep would have her magic at full strength again, in a place like this. She ran the wand across her skin, measuring here and there, and then tapped the cast off tunic; it unraveled and re-wrapped and another garment appeared, similar, but cleaner, longer, and narrower. A simple dress, a wide belt band, simple underwear. Then she gathered some leaves and tapped these; they became a small baby's hat, shaped like a curled leaf. Harmony slid on the clothes; wrapped the belt tightly around her waist, and tucking the wand into her new pocket, walked back to the fire with the hat.

Muse's purple eyes looked on approvingly as Harmony took Kyir back into her arms, and pulled the leaf-hat onto his head, then tucked him into the cloak, before sitting back down by the fire. Muse herself became a massive white bear, and laid down facing the forest, her back to the fire. Harmony and Kyir snuggled in on the fire-side of Muse, covered with the blanket--and soon fell asleep.

It was a cold and restless night for Harmony, even with the exhaustion, Muse's warmth, and the forest's goodwill seeping into her bones. The crackling fire seemed to whisper into the darkness, and the small, hot form of Kyir on her chest made her painfully aware of how vulnerable they were. A few hours after she fell asleep, she awoke with a moan, body aching, flinging off a horrible gross nightmare about slimy blood-creatures that kept coming out of the grave-door and trying to smother her. Then she realized that Kyir was asleep on her chest, and could fall off if she moved in her sleep; after that her eyes would not close so easily.

The bleeding stopped overnight, thanks to Harmony's healing skills and the mana of the forest. Harmony found herself in need of relieving herself. She wrapped Kyir tightly in her cloak and left him in Muse's fur, and walked off a few trees away. She managed to squat awkwardly behind a bush while hanging onto a tree with one arm and another tree's branch with the other... not the most comfortable of positions, but it worked, and she hadn't soiled herself or her clothes. She heaved her still-heavy body back up to standing and kicked some forest leaf-trash over it, then hobbled back to the fire. Muse was already awake, staring at Kyir who slept peacefully between her huge bear-paws.

When Harmony approached, she glanced up and whuffed a sigh. what do we do now?

Harmony shook her head. I don't know...Kyir needs clothes, diapers, and shelter. We all need food...and a place to stay. We should find a village, or something.

Muse raised her paws to let Harmony take the baby, and Harmony re-wrapped him in the blanket, then tied him to her chest. Muse stood up, stretching out to nearly three times her seated length, arching her back, and then finally standing up tall on her hind legs. She turned her huge head eastward, where a glimmer of sun could be seen staining the sky pink and gold, and whuffled her huge white nose.

A village is there, that direction. I smell fire, bread, and iron. And more than a little piss.

Harmony went up the hill a few paces and looked; a faint black outline of a wall, tall trees, and other shapes–house-like shapes–stood black against the far horizon. That's a least a day's travel by horseback, Muse... We can't walk that far.

Muse grinned a huge, toothy bear-grin. have you forgotten so soon?

She shrunk, lept into the air, and came down, now a white war-horse with a beautiful, flowing mane and tail. Harmony smiled in admiration and appreciation. I guess I did forget. That's lovely, you should use that one more often!

Muse tossed her head in agreement, her huge purple eyes gleaming merrily. Harmony used the wand to gather some water from the creek and pour it onto the campfire, until it was all the way out, and the ashes flowed away into the grass. Muse knelt down to let them mount, and soon they were all cantering across the ground, Muse's hooves missing the rocks and branches in a way that could only be described as magical.