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She snuck, in her other form to allow the shadows to encase her. The world was dark, the light circle in the sky resting and allowing the changing circle its time in the sky.
Cass thought it was nice, that the pair shared the sky. Rarely, had Cass seen anything that was so willing to share.
Once, she had been staying with a man who did not allow her anything. He forced her to do what he wanted her to do, and if she didn’t she would be punished. From him, she learned how to read what someone was going to do by reading their body. She had learned how to read a body better than she could understand what was being spoken.
Of course she could; as the man from that time would not allow her to share his skills with language.
Cass had been trapped there, trapped under the man and his demands. He had wanted to turn her into a weapon.
Into a weapon of death.
Cass had only figured it out when he had forced her to end the life of another man. The man from that time had become obsessed/pleased/hungry , frightening Cass. She had seen him make the demand for her to do it again; and she knew that he would make her do it over and over again.
He would not share with her the times of rest he would get. He was not like the circles in the sky.
So Cass had escaped. She had fled from the man who would not share his language, she fled from the land where she had been held. She had hidden in the shadows and darkness, never seeing the bright circle in the sky.
That was where she had met the Light. It had found her, hiding in the darkest of caves. It was black like the shadows, with light dots like the world above. Silver eyes had looked at her, and Cass had felt seen . Light knew what she was, what she had been created to be. It saw the weapon of death that she was. It saw how she could not speak, how she did not know what others of her kind should know.
But it had not cared. Light had come to her, tail swishing and hooves silent on the leaves between them. Cass had bowed her head, unable to meet the eyes of Light.
She felt unworthy; dirty. As though what the man from before had forced her to do had tainted her forever, and by looking at Light she was ruining it.
But Light had not cared that she was dirty; tainted. Light had not cared about how unworthy Cass was. Light had bent its head, touching her head with its horn of silver-trimmed black. Cass had felt its cared, its love for her filled her.
It gave her many things; many things that Cass had not even known that she was lacking.
It gifted her some of the man’s language as much as it knew - she now knew. It gifted her the power to become one with the shadows, just as it could. It gifted her another form; a foal’s form of its full-grown unicorn, as she was still a human foal in her first form, for her to shift into when she so wished. It gave her the ability to traverse the stars, to enter the skies while the silver circle was above. It gave her the ability to move silently through the lands, hooves not making a single noise like a horse of usual ability would.
But for Cass… the most important, the most wonderful thing that the Light had given her was a name of her very own.
It had taken things from her, too. But Cass had not minded. It had taken the first form she should have been able to change into, a being of water and singing. Cass had never known that she could shift, so she did not miss the form. It had taken her from the place she had been in and placed her in a new land.
Cass had not minded that, either. For it took her from where the man could reach her.
The Light had told her, without using words, that she would be able to swim without being taught - and she could possibly learn to sing again one day. Light simply could not have her keep the other form.
Cass still did not know how to speak, so she did not worry about what had been taken from her. Cass had a name, she had a new world, she had a new form - Cass was happy with what she had.
Light warned her that she would not be safe if the humans knew of her form. It warned that she would be hunted forevermore. That she was a myth to myths now; and she would be cursed to keep herself hidden.
Cass understood; she had been cursed before, too, then. And that was why the man had not taught her the way the others had been taught.
The Light had left her, and Cass knew within herself that she would never see it again.
No one would.
She had spent much time in her new form, as her new form had not been tainted by what the man had made her do. She knew that the Light had warned her that she would not be safe, but Cass had never been safe before. So she would stay in the form that brought her comfort, and she would only change back when she became threatened.
Cass just hoped that the threats would not come from that man once more.
She had come across more humans after many days alone; humans that could shift into something else like she could and humans that could not shift into something else like the man.
Cass had found that the humans were amazed by her form. They did not fear her. They did not find her horrible.
But that did not stop them from hunting her.
She had fled once more, but not from taking a life. She had fled to stop the humans from taking her life. They had only stopped hunting her when she looked human on the outside, because they could not see what she had on the inside.
She had hidden in the shadows with her two legs, creeping along in silence as she did what she knew how to best - listen.
She had heard them, the just-humans and the more-than-humans both, speaking of how they had the prize unicorn to hunt. How they would stalk the lands until they had found their prize. They would not rest until they could claim the prize of the star unicorn foal for themselves. They spoke of how they had been blessed to be born in the time and the place to hunt the foal, as star unicorns only appeared to those who were the most worthy.
Cass did not see how she could be the most worthy, not after the man had forced her to end the other man’s life. She could not see how she could be worthy of seeing and becoming a star unicorn after what she had done.
Light had left her with love, for Cass knew that being what she now was wasn’t a punishment for what she had done. Cass simply couldn’t see how she could be worthy of what she had been given.
Maybe she would understand when she was no longer a foal.
But now she was creeping through the town in her unicorn form, using the shadows to hide herself. The hardest parts to hide were the light spots on herself, the stars in the skies reflected on the black of her coat.
Cass was now able to remember that the moon, the changing circle in the sky, would make her more powerful. She was of the night and the darkness, not of the day and the light. The sun was the bright circle in the sky.
Cas did not like that the man from before had not even told her what the names for the skies were.
Cass was finding that she did not like anything the man did.
Cass appeared at the water’s edge, looking out at the vast sea. It called to her, in a way that only Light had ever called to her before. But it was muted, as though it should no longer call to her.
This must have been what Light had taken from her.
Cass found that she still did not mind. Maybe if she had felt it before she had come to be what she now was, she would mind. But she did not mind as she currently was.
So she would not be found by the humans, Cass slipped down so that the wood that she had been walking on was high above her. Foal her was light, light enough that she could walk along the top without sinking into the water. She liked the smell of the water and being on top of it soothed a muted portion of herself.
Cass wondered if she would be able to live on the water one day.
She would be safe from those that wanted to hunt her if she could.
As Cass wandered along the water’s top, she turned her head towards a massive ship. Faintly, she could head muffled screams coming from within its depths.
But what made her curious is that those screams did not sound as though they were from pain. Those screams sounded as though they came from a place of joy, of happiness.
Of love.
Cass had never known that someone could be so carefree. She had to go and find the source.
She just had to.
So Cass trotted around the bottom of the ship, frolicking as the joy and love from above filled her stars and soul with the same feelings.
Cass was restless; she needed to find the source of the joy that was above her and she needed to do so now . She had never experienced anything like this before, the man had kept it from her.
And with Light gone, this may be the only way that Cass could ever get another taste of this feeling.
Finally, Cass found the power within herself to fly herself to the top of the ship. She stumbled when she landed, legs wobbly and unstable from using magic she shouldn’t be able to yet.
She was just a foal, she shouldn’t be able to fly.
But she was on the ship, and she could feel the joy from the muffled screams better. So she didn’t fight as her body went back to being human.
Or as she fell asleep from magical exhaustion.
Slowly, she woke up to a gentle rocking motion. She didn’t feel good; she was hot and cold and stretchy and messy feeling, and her head really really hurt. She whimpered softly; she must have been sick again and the man was going to hurt her.
The rocking stopped. She waited for the pain to start.
“Sweetheart?” That wasn’t man’s voice. Man didn’t know how to talk so soft. She didn’t know that voice.
Had man given her to someone? But why would…
But she wasn’t with man anymore. She was Cass, and she was on her own. Light wouldn’t stay with her.
But who was with Cass now?”
“Have they woken?” That was someone else; older than the first. He was just as soft. Cass was being held, she could feel the body’s arms holding her. She was in no danger of falling.
She was safe.
Cass had never been safe before.
“I thought they had whimpered, but maybe it was the rocking chair.” The rocking started again.
Cass… she felt the care the one holding her, and the one watching them, held for her. They didn’t know her, but they cared for her…
Cass thought she could feel the care shifting and turning into something else that Cass didn’t know what to do with.
But she was safe. She was safe, and the rocking was soothing.
Cass hummed quietly.
“They hummed.” The first soft man said, still soft. The rocking stopped again, and someone moved.
“Little one? Little one, can you open your eyes?” The older soft one asked her.
Cass did, because she wanted the rocking to start again. There were two men above her, one that was holding her and one that was kneeling beside her.
They were both too blurry for Cass to read their body and what they wanted, and it sent a bolt of fear through her - despite the caringness she could feel coming from both of them.
If she couldn’t read them, she wasn’t safe.
“Sshh, ssh sweetheart. It’s okay. We aren’t mad that you snuck onto our ship, I promise.” The one holding her said gently. He shifted, and Cass waited to be hit, but he only gently rubbed her neck where it met her head.
It felt wonderful, and Cass closed her eyes with a soft hum. It made her hurty head feel better.
Maybe it wasn’t so scary, being unable to read the people.
“Does that feel good, sweet?” Cass hummed, hoping that that would count as an answer.
She still didn’t know how to speak; Light couldn’t give her that.
“I’m glad that it feels good, sweet. But can you open your eyes for us? We need you to drink something to help with how icky you’re feeling.”
They knew she was feeling icky, and they were still being nice to her? They were going to help her not feel icky and hot and cold?
Cass decided that she liked them and this place.
So she forced her eyes open, and she didn’t fight as the man holding her sat her up. The one that was kneeling held a cup up to her mouth for her to drink, and once she was done, they let her lay back down in the first man's arms.
He started rocking her again, and Cass let herself go limp.
She could tell that the care had shifted to love; the same love that he held for four others that were like her.
Cass thought that meant that he wouldn’t try to hunt her foal form.
It was going to be so nice, exploring with her siblings. Their parent looking after them, keeping them safe and knowing they were loved.
As Cass drifted off to sleep, her mind was filled with dreams of fun things that she might get to do…
And that made it her best night’s sleep yet.