Changed For Aisha

"Not housebroken? NOT HOUSEBROKEN? What do you think I am, a dog?"

The green-tinted woman merely laughed, the sound moving like the wind, seeming to fly past only to circle, return, surrounding us both. He hissed, rising to his feet in one fluid motion and padding a few steps closer to the river and to what I guessed would be a Dryad, putting himself between the lady and I.

Still confused, and now dripping wet, I made my way out of the river, nearly falling twice. A few more steps, bringing me closer to my guide... and again I fell, this time because my shoes seemed to be sticking to something.

I crouched, wary, not wanting to take her eyes off the two strangers who were now spitting what could only be insults at each other in a language I was pretty sure I'd never heard before and quite sure I couldn't understand. My fingers dug into the dirt and grass beneath one shoe, trying to figure out what it was caught on. When I felt the tiny roots moving and twisting beneath me, growing at quite an unnatural rate and made from the same material as the soles of my shoes, I couldn't help the tiny gasp of shock and worry.

A second later the other two stopped arguing long enough to glance at me... and two seconds more had my guide beside me, plucking what felt like strands of my hair. Silently he held them out to me, each one a perfectly-formed ivy leaf. I took them, stared at them, back up at him... shook my head, trying to deny this new insanity, and I could feel the leaves brushing my cheeks, rustling against each other softly.

"Feral?" He glanced over his shoulder at the Dryad who shook her head.

"None of us would harm her - whether Aisha is..." she trailed off, silent for a moment. "Whether a stray human is found or not won't affect us. I know you and yours are on her side. Which leaves exactly one option."

"Dai Colere. I didn't think there were any Dryads with them... to have one in this area, willing to lay such a trap, speaks of careful planning." He shook his head in turn, looking disgusted and worried. Frankly, at this point I was pretty disgusted and annoyed myself.

"Err... excuse me, could one of you please explain why I'm turning into shrubbery, and maybe DO something about it? Please?"

When I spoke my guide nodded, looking just a bit sheepish.

"Naisae, can you give a bit of help here?"

"I think so, but only a slight stay. She'll have to find someone more powerful soon... girl, what name do you use?" she asked as she stood, walking through the shallows until she was beside me.

"Use? Oh, that's right. You never give your true name to strangers if you're in a fucking fairy tale being turned into a tree while looking for a friend who got lost in said fairy tale. Not that I'm upset or anything," although I'm sure my expression said just the opposite, "and you can call me Kate."

"Kate, what I'm about to do is going to-"

Naisae dug her fingers into the ground beside my feet, closing her eyes, shivering as her entire body seemed to glow for a moment, the light rushing into the dirt, feeling like fire as it met the rootlets, worked upward, flashing through my feet, up my legs, through my hips, my stomach, my chest, and finally burned itself out a few inches below my throat.

"-hurt."

I didn't even get to finish screaming from the pain before I was out cold.



Stock gleefully kidnapped from ~ serp-stock, ~Mustang-Chaser (who makes a lovely Evil Dryad), *virgin-stock who seems to have landed the official Kate role, and of course *barefootliam-stock .