User:Fox/Fae of the Forest
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Author: [[User:{{#ifeq: User |User| Fox | {{#ifeq: User |User| Fox | Fox}}}}|{{#ifeq: User |User| Fox | {{#ifeq: User |User| Fox | Fox}}}}]] [[Author::{{#ifeq: User |User| Fox | {{#ifeq: User |User| Fox | Fox}}}}| ]]
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Author: [[User:{{#ifeq: User |User| Fox | {{#ifeq: User |User| Fox | Fox}}}}|{{#ifeq: User |User| Fox | Fox}}]] [[Author::{{#ifeq: User |User| Fox | Fox}}| ]]
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Authors: [[User:{{#ifeq: User |User| Fox | {{#ifeq: User |User| Fox | Fox}}}}|{{#ifeq: User |User| Fox | {{#ifeq: User |User| Fox | Fox}}}}]]
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Author: [[User:{{#ifeq: User |User| Fox | {{#ifeq: User |User| Fox | Fox}}}}|{{#ifeq: User |User| Fox | Fox}}]]
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Fae watched from a distant cliff as the local kingdom set about it's business, scoffing in anger. The new king was more than determined to increase his expanse of property, regardless of the fact that his plans for expansion included the nearby forest. Fae was always at home in the wild, considering herself more of a ranger than a standard citizen, and after the recent accession to the throne she has decided to move into the forest that she had come to love. The workers from the castle town carried many tools with them, their plans for clear cutting and expanding the town were well set, and the promise of coin in the pocket garnished much support amongst the working class.
She sighed to herself, cursing her inability to do anything about the situation at hand. The forest was indeed large, but would the newly crowned dictator stop at his already set plans, or continue to overtake the forest in a sort of conquest. Sabotage only got so far, there were too many workers to have enough impact with the destruction of a few tools here and there. The local druid grove had done what they could, they loved the forest as much as her, but knew fighing the king would be fruitless. The elder druid, however, saw the passion in Fae's eyes and gave her an old, worn, furred glove, saying it would help her in her quest to stop the kingdom from destroying more.
The wind began to below across the treetops, creating a symphony of rustling branches and leaves, the rest of the forest falling silent as the first sounds of saw blades cut into the wind's song. It was time to move again. Fae traveled her normal path through the wood, a path only known to her and the animal denizens of the forest, arriving a short distance away from the camp of makeshift lumberyards and lumberjacks. She eyed the tents for sources of tools and workers, planning her attack, wary after almost being caught the last time by a few of the kings knights, sent to protect his expansion. Her gaze quickly fell on two such soldiers, cursing her luck once again, she'd need a different approach this time, for they guarded her target, and one woman against well armed knights would be almost suicidal.
The rustling of a nearby oak tree and chattering of upset squirrels caught her attention, the red furred creatures fussing over their home being disturbed by the obtrusive humans. She smiled, the oak tree was prime for firing on the tool storage tent, all she needed to do was climb to a lower branch and light one of her arrows aflame. one shot would set the tent ablaze, and hamper the efforts of the workers for at least a short while. She would risk being spotted, but this was more important, and she was faster than a knight in full body armor.
Fae moved quickly towards the tree, wearing the glove the old druid had given her, she looked around it's trunk for an easy foothold and began to slowly scale the old tree. It was hard going at first, thick from age and very few low laying branches left from the ravages of weather and time, but after a short while she seemed to find the scaling easy, nestling on the low branch that was her target. She winced a little as she prepared an arrow, her hands hurt from all the climbing, but she had a mission to tend to. She lit the arrow aflame, using lamp oil and some flint, and let it fly right into the tool tent, setting it ablaze and gaining the attention of the two knights, who quickly spotted the assailant on the tree branch.
They quickly ran to the base of the oak as she strung another arrow, this time aimed at a knight, a sharp pain in her wrist lead the arrow to go wild. she grabbed her wrist in pain, it was the hand that she had stuck into the furred glove, which she tried to pull off to no avail, it seemed stuck steadfast. She stared at it in confusion, almost falling from the tree as she spotted the growing claws from her fingertips, and the reddish fur seeming to spread down her arm from the glove itself. She had no way of explaining what was going on, her adrenaline pumping quickly and keeping her on her toes, even with the fur progressing fully down her arm.
The knights also seemed to notice this, backing away a bit and calling for support, workers and other knights gathering around the tree to trap Fae where she was perched, staring up at the shifting woman. the reddish brown fur had spread over her chest, down her other arm and even down her legs it was moving, brining a soft warmth with it as it crept over her form. Her other hand soon began to look like the gloved hand, claws growing from her fingertips, and soft pads growing on their palms. The fur moving down her legs seemed to pick up speed, much to both her horror, and the horror of the onlookers. Her feet cracking and shifting, causing her to kick off her shoes to reveal the clawed, furred feet, soles turned to pads much like her hands.
The knights began to mutter to one another, a few of the workers crying out in terror, some cries of the devil afoot sending a few running back towards the city. A pain in her rear made Fae double over, her pants ripping and tearing to make way for a snaking appendage that quickly poofed outwards in fur, curling over a bit at the tip and staying straight up along her back. More workers fled, and even one of the knights started to back away, noticing the squirrel tail that had sprouted from their attacker.
Fae stripped herself bare, noticing the red fur covering every part of her body, save her head, her fear seemed to be calming itself, something re-assuring her that this was the right thing for her. The fur crept up her neck and onto her face, she could feel her nose and face being pulled outwards slightly, her teeth reshaping inside of her mouth, large buck teeth dotting the middle of both upper and lower mouth. She clicked her tongue and smiled, ears pulling upwards into rounded rodentine ears, tufts of red fur growing higher atop them, almost like a lynx or bobcat would have, her once green eyes staining a dark brown, turning beady. She gazed down at the humans below and flicked her tail, the once human seeming to suddenly relish the changes she had just feared.
"Woe be to those who disturb this forest! Those who transgress upon these sacred grounds shall find themselves joining the local denizens, or finding themselves filled with my arrows! Begone humans, this be not your place!" Fae cried out in a defiant, commanding tone. A tone more than enough to send the rest of the workers running in fear, the knights backing away before taking their own quick paced leave, believing the transformation of the woman into a fox squirrel to be the work of some higher being, or devil.
Fae chuckled, looking herself over, not seeming to care about what had happened to her anymore, this felt better than the thought of being human again. With this she could guard the forest from the intrusive humans, and finally be one with the forest. The old druid must be smiling right now, Fae thought to herself, he had planned this all along. She leaned back against the oak tree, plucking an acorn from a branch and sampling the oak's fare. This would be a much better life than she had before.