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The Unicorn Herd
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The Unicorn Herd
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SunBlind recieved a very cryptic note one night. She was sitting in her library as she usually was at this time of the night, reading a large book of spells, when she heard a strange tapping at her window. At first she ignored it, her castle was filled with creatures of the night and she figured the ghosts must be practicing their ghostly art. Sometimes she liked to pretend she was scared to make them happy, but she was having trouble with a certain spell and didn't want to be disturbed. The tapping didn't stop. Finally she got up with a sigh and went to the window to open it. In flew a tiny hummingbird! Though common in her Realm, hummingbirds rarely came up to the haunted castle.
The little creature flits over and settles on SunBlind's shoulder. Then she noticed the piece of paper the bird clutched in its miniscule claws. As soon as she had taken the little scrap, the hummingbird left instantly, probably only too happy to leave this strange place. "Weirdness," she muttered, as she absentmindedly opened the paper. Of course, it would be weird if things weren't weird here, so she didn't dwell on it.
There was a sharp sound, almost like a sword being unsheathed, and a speck of light floated from the paper to the floor. As soon as it hit, it exploded into a miniature fireworks show, before slowly spinning itself into a portal. Aghast, SunBlind looked to the paper for an explanation.
She was suprised to see the distinctive handwriting of her fellow Realm Keeper, Shyara.
"Please proceed through the portal," is scrawled on the paper in hurried writing. "And please be sure to pay attention to everything once you get there."
SunBlind peered into the portal, wonder if it was completely safe, and hesitantly stepped inside.....
There she encounted other Realm Keepers, but not Shyara herself. They milled about for a bit, each one as confused as the other. Finally, the sounds of someone, or something coming out of the brush silenced everyone. They watched expectantly, then saw her. It was Shyara, struggling through the branches, riping her dress along the way.
She began to explain, "You see, my world was burned during a great fire. As you can see, the plants and trees here regenerate very quickly, that's why there are few signs of the damage it did. But, through this fire, I made a great discovery." At this she pushed apart some branches and led the others through to a large field. "I didn't even know this was here till the fire exposed it." She then called out to something SunBlind couldn't see. A group of horselike creatures came forward, some kind of unicorn, but somehow different. "These are the orphans of the great fire. I call them the Ki'rin as they resemble the mythical Chinese unicorn." With great difficulty she managed to get them lined up, and then introduced each Realm Keeper to their charge.
A sun colored colt peered out from the line, anxiously awaiting his turn. "SunBlind, I thought you and Dolu'leahn would be a good match. He has a mutation, a horse-like tail. It reminded the herd so much of dandelion fluff that that's what his name is - Dandelion." Dolu promptly searched Sunblind's pockets for anything good before contenting himself with a rub between the ears.
Each of the Realm Keepers thanked Shyara for trusting them with the care of these wonderful creatures. SunBlind was too busy lavishing attention on her golden one to noticed that the others had already left. Shyara gently tapped her on the shoulder. With a smile she thanked Shyara and in a swirl of black and silver, returned to her Realm with the orphaned Ki'rin. She knew the other unicorns would be eager to meet this one. But for now, she let Dolu'leahn sleep in her library. He was tired after the day's excitement. SunBlind put away the book she was reading, and searched for a book on Chinese legends.........
SunBlind was so engrossed in her reading, she didn't notice the little hummingbird which flittered back and forth by her window. The bird, getting rather frustrated at this rather dense sorceress started tapping at the glass. *Finally*, SunBlind looked up, saw the green speck, and opened the window to let it in. The little bird lands on the windowsill. Then suddenly, without warning, it had transformed into a rather large Ki'rin stuck half in, half out of the window. With a bit of effort she crawled all the way through, looking not just a little embarassed.
"Lohe, and apologies," she says quickly.
She shakes out her mane, looking relieved to have all her limbs back. "I was sent by the representatives of the second reform party," she says, trying to sound important but too tired to do so. "My name is Ashda, I'm responsible to show up periodically to check......who was it who was fostered here? Dolu? Yes, I'm here to check his progress." She sighs. "Unfortunately, the records were a bit skewed, sabotaged, we believe.." Her eyes darken, but she quickly shakes it off. "Yes, skewed, and we weren't sent to check Dolu when we should - as he was mid-adult. The wrinkles have been smoothed, however, and things seem to be working just fine around here." She grins, actually a rather pretty mare. "As such, I'd be inclined to write this up as a success. Thank you, and we shall try to keep in touch." She shakes out her black mane again. "Please have him speak to us if he's got any questions or wants to visit home. We don't intend to alienate our brethren through this program.." With that, the mare is...gone. Not a puff of smoke or any sort of noise, simply...vanished.
SunBlind stared at the spot where the deer-sized Ki'rin had just been. "What did she mean," she wondered. Time moves in strange way sometimes in her realm. Apparently this was one of them, for the next thing she knew, a bright yellow Ki'rin stallion, that could only be Dolu, came trotting into the room.
He speaks excitedly, "Could you open a portal so I can visit Mana'dai and Jae? I haven't seen them in sooooo long. I want to see what they look like now that they've grown up!"
Ah yes, SunBlind thinks, The trio of terror. Always up to something those three friends. SunBlind sighs as she opens the portals, things probably weren't going to change that much after all. She watched as the schemer stepped through the dark void and vanished.
Stats:
Name: Dolu'leahn (Dandelion)
Gender: Stallion
Mate: None
January 8, 2000
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