Unicorn Lost

Presents

K	amida moved away from the house at first, then turned around and looked at the home. She examined the smashed windows of the bedrooms and the broken down door. Then she turned and looked in the direction where the footprints disappeared.

As she looked into the distance, the leaves of the trees began to rustle and a cold wind moved through the area. The little skunkette shivered and wrapped her arms around herself. She looked down and saw she was still wearing the nightgown Jeanette gave her. Kamida thought for a few seconds, then moved in the direction the footprints disappeared.

As she moved away from the tree house a second cold gust of wind moved over her, this wave seemed to feel even colder then the first one. She looked thoughtfully down at her nightgown, then walked back to the tree house and entered. Going back toward Jeanette's bedroom where she took off the nightgown and dropped it on the bed, Kamida put on her own clothes.

Kamida walked out of the bedroom and noticed a pile of objects lying against the wall opposite the bedroom door, as if someone picked them up and threw them out. She examined the small pile and found a sheathed sword, a backpack, clothes and several other objects; some looking useful, others unknown to her. Kamida packed them all in the backpack and hung the sword on its side, where a loop seemed to be specially placed for that purpose.

The little skunkette blinked her violet eyes. The wind, that prevented her from running after the others in nothing but her nightgown. A pile of things, that might be useful on her quest later. It almost felt like someone was guiding her.

Kamida moved into the kitchen and looked around. She looked into a pantry and found several cans with different images of food on them, "Canned food, better find a way to open them too," she told herself. Kamida looked around the kitchen, and after a few seconds, she found what she was looking for. She took the can opener and placed it in her backpack. Then she took ten cans of assorted food and put them in her backpack. She read the label of three odd looking cans. "Haggis? what's haggis?" she wondered. Then shrugged and put those three odd cans in her backpack too.

Fifteen minutes had passed by the time she got outside again, with no trace other then the footprints leading off into the distance. Since it was a rather large group she had no problem following them. Unknown to her, the shackled chipmunks made the group move slower then normal, making it easier to catch up with them. As she got closer, her black nose twitched. Sniffing the air, she recognized the smell--a mixture of burning wood, oil and cloth. The typical smell that was spread around by a burning torch.

After a while Kamida saw the first lights shimmering between the trees. Then she heard the voices of her friends in the distance, and strange voices. There seemed to be an argument of some sort going on. Kamida started to walk a little faster. Without warning the entire area in front of her lite up from a bright white light. Blinded she turned away, because she was using her special night vision. At the same time, the magic of her bracelet flared up in a sickening pale green light to counter the magical light coming from the unicorn. Then, abruptly the green light from the bracelet flashed over the skunkette and she dropped unconscious to the ground, by the magic of the bracelet that imprisoned her.

When Kamida came around, she noticed that the night had made way for the day and there was no sign or sound from her friends. She slowly sat up and held her head in her hands. She looked around and wondered what happened. "Did I walk into a tree?" she muttered softly to herself. She scampered back to her feet, then she walked toward the place where she saw the lights and heard the voices. When she got there, the first thing she saw were empty cackles and weapons lying strewn out over the forest floor and a strange pile of ashes and burned metal laying in the middle of the path that meandered through the forest. The little skunkette looked surprised at the scene, wondering what could have happened here.

Kamida heard a rustling sound behind her, then the sound of small running feet. She turned around, and was pounced off her feet by a copper flash. It quickly moved its sharp, fanged mouth to the little skunkette, then licked her face.

"Mistress! I found you. I found you at last!"

Kamida screamed, then pushed the small copper dragon off her and scampered away from it; her left hand moving toward the sword.

The small dragon moved back and made a surprised noise. Crossing his forelegs in front of his chest, "Hello Pence, it's so nice to see you again too! How have you been? Did you take good care of my stuff while I was gone for over a month, even though I told you to wait for a little while until I returned? Hope you didn't spend thirty days searching for me in this strange world."

Kamida lowered her hand and looked confused at the small copper Wrymling. While her mind struggled to find any memory about the small creature in front of her. She shook her head confused, then pressed her hands against her forehead as she fought to suppress an upcoming headache. "Excuse me," she heard herself say. "But, do I know you?"

"Know me?" The little dragon looked almost shocked. "Know me? I left my mom's nest cave with you and became your familiar!"

"Familiar? But, only wizards and sorceress have familiars. I'm... only...a... sm..a.aa..l," Kamida's voice changed to a slur as her mind and the bracelet fight for dominance over each other.

The dragon looked a little angry at the small skunk in front of him. Then he saw the silver bracelet on Kamida's lower arm. "That's a nice bracelet. Where did you get it?"

Kamida looked at the dragon, then at the silver bracelet around her arm. "I don't...know."

The dragon shook his little head. "You don't know. Did you find it? Did someone give it to you?"

Kamida pressed her hands against her face and shivered. "It was... I got it from...I did, get."

The little dragon walked up to Kamida and made a fist with his hand, then tapped the top of the little skunkette's head. "Hello? Any coherent thoughts in there? Wake up! Make her stop talking nonsense!"

Kamida looked up at the small dragon, her face a grimace of excruciating pain. "Stop that you silly dragon, no biscuit, bad Pence, bad!"

The little dragon grinned. "It wasn't my fault those jars where shiny?"

Kamida blinked. Then anger grew in her, giving her strength. "You had to take the bottom ones! It took me hours to clean the honey out of my fur and all of my stuff! Not to mention the angry shopkeeper and being grounded for a week."

The small dragon shook his head. "And you, being a nice little girl listened to your mom and did not even think about entering the strange world that appeared in your closet onboard the Stardancer, right?"

Kamida groaned as the bracelet tried to suppress memories from the past. She hid her face in her hands once more, fighting the horrible headache. "You do not make sense. You said You're my familiar. You said you waited for me. Why?"

The small dragon looked at the skunkette. "Because you told me to wait. Because the other wrymling behind the door told you to enter the grove of the ancient unicorns alone, because they would not let boys pass. Hmmmpfh!"

"I felt you enter the grove, then something severed our special bond," the dragon sighed. The dragon smiled softly as the little skunkette hesitantly nodded in agreement. "I waited in front of the unicorn archway, but you never returned. I tried to follow you, but I could not pass under the unicorn statues. Something pushed me back each time I tried. I searched all the places we visited, but not a trace of you. I tried to ask the locals, but they ran away screaming, yelling and calling me a red dragon. Are they colorblind or what?"

The little skunk smiled. "They must have heard of your reputation as the devourer of evil scorpions and other yummy insects, huh?"

The little dragon beamed. Then he stretched out his four foot tall frame. Trying to look imposing, "Yes! Fear me! I am Pence, familiar of the mightiest sorceress in the universe! Tremble o ye tasty critters!"

Kamida giggled and the headache seemed to slowly disappear. Her bracelet suddenly started to glow. Two runes glowed in green fire, then burned away.

The small dragon squealed with joy, "I can feel you. I can feel you again!" Pence ran toward the little skunkette and wrapped his arms around her. At the same time, Kamida felt the dragon's overwhelming sense of joy growing in her heart. She wrapped her arms around him and held him tightly.

Kamida held the young dragon close, then she started to cry, "Oh Pence, I did something very, very stupid. There was no wrymling. It was a giant that could make himself sound like a little dragon, he tricked me."

The wrymling shook his head, "He tricked the both of us. It's okay, we can go home now."

Kamida shook her head, "No, we can't." Then she explained to Pence about Florence's mate. The hyena who turned into a Unicorn. The chipmunk girl who wanted to go after a dragon for a reason.

Pence cocked his head, "She wants to go after me?"

Kamida shook her head, "The Queen said there was a big red dragon. I think an ancient one."

Pence sighed, relieved. The little dragon watched the bracelet, "Can you take that off now?"

Kamida touched the bracelet, then yelped in pain as the bracelet gave her an electric shock. "I'm afraid not," she shook her head. "I've never seen a bracelet like this before. I think we should ask the chipmunk lady. I think she knows."

The little dragon nodded, then scampered off and came back holding a leather backpack between his hands.

"My backpack!" Kamida squealed, taking it from Pence. She openned it then stuffed everything from Jeanette's backpack into it--including the sword.

The small copper dragon grinned, "You just love that backpack of holding, huh?"

Kamida picked up a small staff from the ground and looked at the iron rings around the tips of the staff. Then looking at the footprints on the ground. "lets go."

"Yes mistress," Pence growled happily. Together they followed the rest of the group.

~~~~~~~~~~~{ }~~~~~~~~~~~

A majestic figure slowly faded into view and smiled tenderly at the two departing creatures, then disappeared again.

-page oo27-
written by Guest#1.

Copyright and Credit:
  · Florence from "Freefall" © Mark Stanley.
  · Magic Gardener © Hortmage.
  · Jeanette © Jeanette Isabelle.
  · Kathy from "Carry On" © Kathy Garrison.
  · Kamida © Guest #1.
  · ToraKiyoshi - Writer.
  · White Pony from "Cross Time Cafe" © S.Kidwell.
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