The wind whispered through the tree leaves as the soft roll of dark clouds covered what little light there was left in the forest. Twilight had fallen, sucking from the world all it’s light and warmth, leaving behind a trail of color before descending the world in a blanket of darkness.

She’d left quickly and quietly but not before locking Aqua in her room. The puppy couldn’t come, not this time, she was far safer back at the castle then alone in the woods.

The woods.

She sighed, sitting on the trunk of a fallen tree while looking at an invisible watch on her left wrist before back up at the canopy with squinty eyes. She’d hoped to catch a glimpse of the rising moon. The anticipation was the worst part. The wood, in itself, were also unsafe for children, especially at night.

Regular children, she reminded herself. Because she was far from ordinary.

Her brown hair fell in thick careless ringlets around her face and ended just passed her shoulders, giving it more body then tamability. It was unlike some of the other girls she’d met at the castle who always had perfect hair, in perfect ponytails, or hair that seemingly never moved. Hers was wild, too wild. She rolled her eyes, eyes she found boring, for they held no life or color either - they were white. All of these were the typical problems of a prepubescent eleven year old girl.

She tapped her foot impatiently, still watching the sky, or what little she could see if it. Did she dare bring the moon closer? No, she didn’t have that kind of control over her powers, not yet. But she was alone, she noted glancing around her. Save for the wind, the trees, and the critters that came out at night.

No, she wouldn't practice her magic. The castle wasn’t too far and someone surely would notice.

She glanced at her invisible watch again growing more irritated and more bored. She should have brought a book but hadn’t for fear that she’d lose it somehow. She could be unpredictable. Books and Aqua were safer within the confines of walls. Walls built of stone and mortar.

She was about to sigh for a second time when the familiar tingling started to ripple up her spine. Phase one, the warning. A warning she was already prepared for - the whole reason she left the castle in the first place. Phase two would come soon and far less painful then it actually looked. Most of the time she didn’t even remember it, perhaps it was her minds way of coping. She honestly didn’t know, she’d never met someone else like her. But if she had, she’d ask. She glanced around one last time, satisfied no one had followed and wasn’t being watched as she undressed herself. Folding her clothes carefully, a simple light golden dress with little bits of white lace, and stuffing them into a brown leather bag. She tucked it behind the tree amongst some overgrowth attempting to camouflage it. A place she’d remember in the morning.

She shivered, but not from the cool night air, from something else.

A silent scream was ripped from her throat as her back suddenly arched in an animalistic way. Her hands reached up to the sky and clawed towards the full moon that peaked between branches. She collapsed onto the ground, her body instinctively pulling itself inward as she convulsed.

It didn’t take long. The act of shedding her human skin for the She that lay dormant underneath. Where a human child once lay was now replaced with a beast. A beast with a hide of horse-like fur and a few shimmering scales. It’s head more dragon-like then horse with horns protruding from the base of its skull. A long whiplike tail with something similar to feathering down the base. She lifted her beastial head and pulled its front two legs underneath, using the momentum to push the rest of her body up to stand. She shook her whole body from head to tail, tendrils of hair fell into a more natural place.

Fiora has always referred to her as She, for as long as she could remember. She’d always felt foreign inside this body, like she was watching through someone else’s eyes even though she was the one in control. She felt like a separate entity that just took up space inside her own human form, only to come out when the moon was at its fullest.

She was a longma. A mythical creature, a chinese dragon-horse.

Large eyes shifted left to right at the sound of a snap deep within the forest. Fiora had been so sure that no one had been watching, but She had far superior senses then her human form. She turns, lips curling back revealing an unnaturally toothy snarl and She narrowed her eyes into the swirling darkness of the woods.

Fiora