⚘(Video)⚘

[lilacwood]

(A slender, white figure is sitting on the shore of a peaceful river. She is dripping wet, her knees drawn up to her chest. Warily, she glances at her communicator, pushing back her thick mane of white hair absently.)

You mustn't move too much or too fast in this heat. When you feel overwhelmed, find the shade of a tree or cool water.

(Amalthea closes her eyes and stretches out in the grass, resting on her side.)

This forest is like mine. I could rest...

(If her skin wasn't so sensitive to sunlight...bugs... How do humans stand it?)

Does anyone remember me?

Comments

[video]

[affiances]

Your forest?

[that's the first thing she picks up on, the second is the mark on Amalthea's forehead. Chise may not be well versed in the realm of the fey and magic, but she's learning.]

Are you a neighbor?

[video]

[lilacwood]

Neighbor? To you? (She shakes her head slowly.) I do not know. I like this forest, but I cannot sleep under the trees at night.

[affiances]

No, I meant... are you a fairy?

[She feels a little awkward asking that, now. But..] Why can't you sleep there, if you like it?

[people go camping, afterall. But it would be kind of uncomfortable.]

[lilacwood]

I am a woman. (Sort of? She is currently a woman.) I have a key and I know where I lodge.

But I wish it could be here. (She sighs.) I wouldn't be comfortable.

[affiances]

[she seems so sad, somehow.]

At least you can visit without much trouble. It should make coming back to the forest something to look forward to every day, at least.

[lilacwood]

(She used to be a silly, innocent Unicorn who rolled in the grass and took naps in the sunshine.)

Every day feels new. I do not always remember the day before.

[affiances]

Oh. [That doesn't really sound like a good position to be in. If it does indeed imply what it sounds like it does.]

Is that... why you were asking if anyone remembered you?

[lilacwood]

...yes. (It's embarrassing to be so confused.) I thought I was dreaming. When I emerged from the river, I realized I was not.

[affiances]

[Chise lets out a breath, her eyes watching Amalthea through the video.]

Maybe you could keep a diary. That way if you forget again, your diary would remember for you.

[lilacwood]

I cannot write. (But she can read! She learned from the laps of Princesses.)

[affiances]

If you already know how to read, writing's not that hard to pick up. [She considers for a moment, something twisting in her stomach as she remembers things that have been said to her about moving forward.]

I could try to teach you, if you'd like to learn.

[lilacwood]

(She cannot hide her interest. The Unicorn is a being that devours knowledge. It's just hard to come by when you're in a forest all the time.)

It might take awhile. (Does Chise mind?)

[affiances]

[Chise shakes her head to dismiss the concern.]

I don't mind if it does. I only have the small apartment you get when you first get here, and Elias will be around too, so it might be a little cramped. He might be able to help when I can't.

[alternatively, they can also study in the woods occasionally. Hopefully after the heatwave is over.]

[lilacwood]

(She is torn between wanting to learn and pretending to be the cold, detached noble lady. But Chise is so warm and the sea knows Amalthea needs a friend.)

I am not large. (Anymore. Though, in truth, the Unicorn is quite sleek and slender too.) Who is Elias?

[affiances]

We'll make it work someway.[At least with Chise, there's no reason for the noble lady facade. She's not going to hurt Amalthea, woman or unicorn or whatever she might be.]

Ah. [The final question hits Chise harder than it should, and a flush splatters onto her cheeks before she shakes her head to chase it away.] My teacher.

[also her husband, technically? She's just easily flustered by that part.]

[lilacwood]

(She is interested by the reaction. Humans are sort of strange about mating, though, aren't they?)

Do you believe in Unicorns? (Just...a complete shift. But she has a point behind asking.)

[affiances]

[thank you subject change.]

Unicorns? I've never met one before... but I've met elves, ariels, dragons... [Even the king and queen of the other world, honestly. But there is still so much she hasn't seen yet, as a mage apprentice.]

But just because I haven't met one doesn't mean they don't exist. ...Why?

[lilacwood]

Ariels? (Guess who is always up for meeting fellow magical creatures? That isn't the point of this line of questioning, however.)

You have met one. (She can think of no more concise way to put it.)

[affiances]

They're wind faeries. The kind with wings, but they prefer to be called neighbors. [Hense her question in the beginning. She's met others of course, like the ones that helped her return to Elias after her wand was finished.]

... [wait.] I have? [Amalthea, Chise is kind but she is naive. She's not quite caught on.]

[lilacwood]

I have not seen faeries since... (Before. She cannot quite recall what they look like or how they act.)

Yes. She is speaking to you.

[affiances]

[She'd been so focused on the first part of their conversation she missed the obvious answer to the second part.]

Ah.. OH! I'm sorry, I didn't realize. [It explains a few things, her otherworldly looks and the mark upon her forehead.]

I didn't know that unicorns took a human appearance.

[lilacwood]

(Their conversation isn't ordinary in the least, so Chise can be forgiven her distraction!)

They do not. (Usually. Her voice is colder - but only for a moment.) I am under a spell.

[affiances]

A spell? A mage did this? [Or, a sorcerer? She can't imagine... But she knows witches work with curses. She frowns.] or is it a curse of some kind? You don't seem happy with it...

[lilacwood]

He is a Magician. (What is the difference? She is certain there are classes - otherwise Schmendrick would be a Wizard.) I did not choose it. He did it against my will.

[affiances]

[Chise sits up a little straighter at that.]

Do you want it undone? I can try to help.

[they've gone from learning how to write to undoing spells, ok.]