Under The Full Moon

The Aftermath

It wasn't long after ingesting the contents of the bowl that Gale felt like her head was swimming, the words of the woman and the man muffled and far away. She was aware that the woman had moved, and she could just barely make out what she was saying. "These objects of your past life free thee, giving you the true form that has been stripped from you so unjustly," She croaked, almost crooning to Gale as she stood beside her. She reached out a wrinkled old hand, and Gale was powerless to move away from it as it caressed her cheek. "Soon, child. Soon. You will know what true power is," She whispered, sounding more like a grandmother than what she really was, and Gale understood now that she was a witch, and the man a wizard of sorts. Gale began to reach the edge of unconsciousness as the room swam around her, the chanting all but nonexistent as the contents of the bowl took their hold. "First, the pearl. The source of your magic, your power," The Witch moved, resting a palm over the pearl that had been placed at her throat. It had been recentered, as her struggles to get away from the bowl and its contents had disrupted it. She could feel warmth at her throat, like a cloth placed there for a moment when ill to clear away the fever sweats.

"The feather, the source of your flight, the gift that all those who cannot partake envy. From the heights you will rain down terror on those that have wronged you, placed you in the body we work to release you of," The Witch went on, placing a hand over the feather at her breasts. This time the warmth seemed to spread over much of her upper body, leaving her feeling like she was going to melt. When she moved to the unknown object, the Witch looked at the Wizard at Gale's head. "And lastly... the scales that will provide you with protection from most anything that may come your way, providing you with the ability to cause destruction before you can be downed," The way she watched the Wizard was almost as though she were warning him to keep a close eye on her, to make sure that she had been kept on a tight lead. One wrong move and Gale could turn, and he would be on the losing end of the battle that would come. A final wave of warmth washed over the lower half of Gale's body before something else began to take hold.

It was an urge that Gale had never felt before. Her entire body shifted, moving in an almost unnatural manner as she tried to release herself from the bindings that held her down to the marble altar, an echoing scream releasing from her lips as she arched her back, the pearl rolling from her throat. The Wizard jumped from where he had been standing to catch it, the woman that had been helping him taking his place at Gale's head. "Keep her steady!" The Wizard shouted, moving to try to get back to his place before the following events of the ritual took place.

Gale's screaming turned into what resembled a scratchy cry, though this soon dwindled down into a growl. There was a sudden rush of energy to the room, followed by a blinding light as Gale began to take another form aside from the one she had known her whole life. Soft white skin began to take on a scaled texture, tufts of fur forming at her throat and between her breasts. Her face began to elongate, her ears soon following. Then came the change that, when she looked back on it, Gale was glad she couldn't really feel. There was a dull crunch as her back stretched, two knobs forming behind her just below her shoulder blades. "Undo her bindings!" Shouted the Witch, the chanting figures moving to do as they had been told. When they did, Gale slid off the marble altar, rolling to her right and falling to the hard stone floor. The knobs began to grow, as did the length of her spine. "Get her outside, hurry! And bring the Binding!" The Wizard caught Gale up by her shoulders and escorted her quickly for the exit, though he all but carried the young woman as she could barely walk on her own. When they were outside, Gale let out another screeching roar as the knobs on her back exploded into half feathered wings, drooping heavily to either side of her body, beating once as they tried to dry themselves. Before she could move, something with tremendous weight was clasped around Gale's throat, keeping her in place as the changes finished taking effect.

In place of what was once a young woman with soft, white and pink hair, gentle purple-blue eyes, and skin like the softest ivory, half lay a dragon. Her fur and scales were a blinding white, her mane, tail tuft, body tufts, and wings tipped with the same pink of her hair. Slowly, she gave a low whine of a grumble in her throat, though she didn't move, her large tail still behind her. When they opened, her eyes were the same shade of purple-blue that her human eyes held, though they seemed to swirl with knowledge and power she had never had.

This was the being that they had sought after. The one they wanted to control. Gale shuddered, her body aching with something she had never experienced before, though the contents of the bowl that had been forced on her still had their hold. Unable to fight, and unable to move, Gale soon fell into a state of unconsciousness. Her breath left her in a rumbled exhale as her body collapsed to the grass beneath her.

Gale felt her eyes flutter open as she began to wake some time after the effects of the bowl's contents and the transformation had completed. Shifting her body, she tried to sit up but found her new form to be cumbersome. Her limbs were heavy and her wings got in the way as she tried to move. Letting out a low rumble of disdain, Gale squeezed her eyes closed against the world, allowing herself to settle back down in the grass. She wasn't ready to sit up just yet. Aside from being burdened by the weight of her new form, it hurt to move.

As she remained lying in the grass, Gale felt the soft ruffling of her mane and fur on the back of her neck. Slowly, she finally allowed her eyes to open, finding that she was alone. The sky was dark, and she couldn't tell if she had missed the day or if it was still dark from the previous evening. Gale drew her front legs under herself, carefully pressing down against the ground and sitting up. As she drew her wings in against her sides, she let a small whine escape her muzzle, the ache renewed. She stopped moving after this, giving her body the chance to catch up. When she felt that she could move without hurting too much, she rose to her feet again and made the attempt to walk.

It was difficult, her tail dragging behind her and making her already awkward manner of walk even more so. With a frustrated grunt, she bared her teeth at her hand like front paws. With a small snort, she sat back down, her long ears drooping to either side of her head. Through her annoyance, something else began to rise. Regret at having followed the light that brought her here, as well as the fear of what her father might do when she didn't come home. It was like ice running through her veins, making her feel cold all over. Instinct seemed to kick in at this point, and ignoring the pain, she quickly rose to her feet. With a few quick steps forward, Gale lifted her wings and thrust them toward the ground. Lifting into the air, she fought to steady herself, the force of her wings tossing her to the right as her tail all but flailed behind her. She felt like a baby bird learning how to fly.

Gale had only been in the air for a few minutes before she felt an excruciating pain erupt from the large golden collar that had been placed about her neck. A startled roar rushed from her muzzle as she threw herself backward. Her wings beat the air in a haphazard manner as she tried to escape the pain that coursed through her. Losing her hard-fought-for balance, Gale crashed through the trees that she had been flying over, rushing over the ground and into a small lake. Closing off her nostrils, Gale allowed herself to sink down into the water for a moment or two before she allowed herself to swim to the surface. Using her wings as she had been in the air, she broke through with a snort. Swimming to the shore, she took note that the pain had begun to fade. It was at this point that she had put together what it was that had happened.

Gale lowered her head as she pulled herself to shore. The collar wasn't just an ornament, it was imbued with a spell that kept her from traveling too far from where she had been placed. Coming to a stop, Gale allowed herself to drop to the sandy dirt at the water's edge. Overwhelmed by anguish, she stared into the forest. Ignoring the water as it lapped at her lower half, her body up to her waist still in the cool water, she closed her eyes as tears began to burn at her lids, blurring her vision. It seemed that even in this form, she had the ability to cry.

There wasn't much in the way of sound as Gale lay half in the water, tears rolling down the sides of her face and seeping into the soft fur that covered her cheeks. When she heard something that sounded as though someone was approaching from the forest, her head snapped up and her ears perked. With a low growl of warning, Gale lifted her wings a little in an attempt to make herself look bigger, baring her teeth in the direction in which she had heard the noise. Her once perked ears laid back against her head and her eyes widening some, she stood. Over the water that lapped at her feet beneath her, Gale could hear the rustling sounds again. However, she found herself relaxing when a deer rushed from the underbrush and bolted past her. She allowed her upper lip to lower back down over her sharpened teeth, her nostrils flaring and contracting as she drew in a breath then exhaled. Listening for any other sounds, Gale shook the water from her fur and wings before she started walking back toward where she had flown in from.

She didn't want to take the chance with flying. She could still feel the residual effects of the collar about her neck, and she didn't want to risk taking a wrong turn and setting it off while she was in the air again. She figured that it might do the same if she were walking, though at least she didn't risk breaking something if she were on foot. Head low, Gale made her way back to the clearing, though she found it wasn't as unoccupied as it had been before.

Standing in the center of the clearing was a dark-haired figure clad in a pair of dark pants with a bow rested about his shoulders. In his hand, he held a feather that had fallen from one of Gale's wings. Curiously, he stroked it through his free hand, his head tilted to the side some as he studied the soft white and pink.

Pinning back her ears, Gale tried to tuck herself back into the trees a little to try to keep out of sight. As she moved back, her foot caught a branch that had fallen in a previous storm. The snap that resulted seemed to echo into her very core. Ears pinning hard enough to hurt, Gale froze in hopes that the figure would not be able to locate where exactly the sound had come from. However, to her dismay, the young man turned and faced her directly. The two locked eyes for what felt like an eternity, and before the man could move, Gale turned and tried to make a quick exit into the trees. As she turned, her front foot found the branch she had stepped on, tripping her up. Her wings expanded in the attempt to balance herself as she tried not to fall though it didn't do much to help her. Instead, her wing ended up in the tree to her right, tangling her feathers in the vines that grew within the branches. Letting out a terrified call, Gale lashed her tail hard against the tree beside her as if that would help free her.

Over the sounds of her own thrashing, Gale could hear the man approaching behind her. Turning her head, she gave him a vicious growl over her shoulder as she tried to pull her wing free. "Easy, I'm not going to hurt you!" He tried to speak over her growls and the sounds of her struggle, but Gale ignored his words. Instead, she swung her tail, taking aim at the man's middle. He seemed to read her movements, however, and ducked under the large appendage that swept in his direction. As she tried again to pull her wing free, Gale felt the figure move to climb up onto her back. Snapping her head around, she tried to shove him off with her muzzle but was stopped by the turn of her body pulling on her wing. The pain that shot through her from not only the pulled feathers, but the joints of her wing, made her entire body feel as though it had gone white-hot with agony. Hissing, she pinned her ears back against her head, baring her teeth at the young man as he moved up her back. "Relax..." He said softly. Something in his voice made Gale resist the urge to close her jaws around his leg as he drew closer to her head and shoulders.

Reaching up into the tree once he was close enough to the branch, the young man hauled himself carefully up as close to her wing as he could get. Eyeing him, Gale narrowed her eyes as he reached out to touch her wing. "Don't..." She snarled at him, trying to move it out of his reach.

"If you don't let me pull it free, you will be stuck here. You're stuck in the vines," The figure looked down to Gale, moving his hands away from her wing and resting them on the branch above her feathers, his dark green eyes watching Gale from where he was perched above her. Ears moving back a little further against her skull, Gale thought about this for a moment. Being stuck meant that the man who had done this to her would find her much easier. Uttering a low growl, she turned her head away from him. She could feel his gaze on her for a few seconds longer before she heard him move, then felt the pressure of his hands on her feathers as he began to work her wing loose. Her growl rose in volume when he pulled the vines, tugging on her feathers in return. "Sorry," he muttered, the pressure loosening some as the vines were cut away. When she was finally free, Gale drew her wing quickly close to her body, sidestepping away from the tree with a huff. She turned as the man dropped down out of the tree, her blue eyes on him as he reached to brush a leaf from his long dark hair.

There was a silence around them for a moment as Gale and the young man locked eyes for the second time that night, and slowly the dragon allowed her ears to rise away from their pinned position. "Thank you..." Gale spoke slowly, shifting a little to face the young man. He hadn't moved from where he stood beneath the tree. His only movements had been to brush the leaf from his hair and to rest a hand on the bow that still rested about his shoulders. The expression on his face changed from that of a neutral gaze to a soft smile, a gentle welcome leaving his lips.