#oswc2022

[little-mouse-gardens]

OSWC2022 Day 29 "Mystic"

⁙⁛⁘⁙⁛⁘⁛:⁘⁛⁙⁛⁘⁙‥…⁘⁛⁏:…⁚⁝⁖․·․·․⁞⁞⁖⁛⁛⁚‥⁚⁚…:⁘⁖⁙⁞⁛⁙⁖⁙⁛⁘⁖⁘․·․·․

"Laurel! laurel look at your window!"

"What now?" laurel groaned, looking up from her new grimoire to turn and face the window her cousin Adwin was pointing at.

It took laurel a few seconds, but she eventually registered what was circling and floating around the closed bay window

tiny orbs of light danced around the edges of her window.

The faint yet sweet sound of bells jingling as they sought a way to enter the home.

The fae were here to deliver her magic, and laurel was completely unprepared for it.

"Oliver! kat! wake up! laurels magic is here!" Adwin squealed excitedly, standing up to gently shaking their brother and cousin awake

"what's here?" Oliver groaned, slowly sitting up in his bunk and putting on his glasses

"for real? Holy shit Really!? where are they?!" kat exclaimed, the teenager immediately flipping over in the loft bed to look at where her cousin Adwin was pointing

"right there! I told you it was going to happen tonight! " Adwin said, helping Oliver down from the bunk "you still think I'm wrong, olive?" Adwin teased, smiling as Oliver rolled his eyes

"whatever" he groaned, climbing down the latter, turning his attention away from his sister and over to his cousin laurel who remained glued in place in front of window.

her greenish brown eyes filled with wonder as she remained fixated on the lights floating outside the window

Oliver slowly approached his cousin. a soft smile on his face as he placed a hand on her shoulder.

the sudden contact snapping her out of her trance.

"Well?" he asked, gesturing to the lights "aren't you going to let them in? they came all this way for you"

laurel just slowly nodded.

she still was.... a little bit stunned

just like the mystic lights, The feelings of happiness, confusion. relief and excitement danced around in her head like fireflies.

happiness and excitement for the Fae to give her magic earlier than her grandma had anticipated.

The feelings of relief in knowing she wasn't going to be skipped over.

though it was practically impossible since every child in the family received some form of magic since her first ancestor, maya, saved the realm of the fae

then, there was the feelings confusion and self-doubt

because it was quite strange that the fae would give her magic at least a week before her 17th birthday, much less at their own home.

which led her to doubt herself about being prepared to take that kind of responsibility

so many doubts were running through her head

a tiny part of her didn't even want to believe that this could be happening to her right now or that she was nowhere near finished studying her grimoire to be ready for this level of responsibility

all of it. the concerns, the anxiety, the fear of the Uknown or what would lay ahead for her.

all of it was almost overwhelming enough for her to keep herself from reaching for the window lock to let them in and claim her birth right

and she would have

had it not been for her grandmother's speech repeating over and over in her head. her gentle yet commanding voice ringing in her ears.

"The unknown can be an intimidating and scary place, mdogo"

"it's like sailing on a tiny lifeboat in an ocean without a map. you don't know where it's going to lead you. you'll never know if the waters are going to be calm or if they're going to leave you shipwrecked. hell, there might not even be an island in sight."

"But that's the best part of it all"

"Despite the fear, there's something beautiful and mysterious about the uknown"

"It takes you to faraway places you would never get to see if you didn't take those first steps, you could make amazing friends who will lift you up, it gives you courage and the kiss of freedom"

"It can be scary, dangerous and you may not even get lucky when you make it to the first island, but you'll miss so much in life if you don't take those first steps and set sail.

"So don't be afraid, mdogo. take those first steps and live the life you want to live. chase your dreams and live life to the fullest"

...........

Those words.

the message behind them.

The ideas and goals laurel dreamed of reaching and the places she wanted to visit

these were the only things making her reach out.

to claim her birthright and see what the unknown had to offer.

even though she was still a bit scared, she chose to take that first leap and begin sailing into the unknown.

"Almost seventeen years of waiting" laurel breathed, her cousins and sister waiting with bated breath and excited eyes.

slowly, she twisted the metal latch up and off its hinge. pressing her hands against the cold glass of the window and giving it a gentle push.

"I think I'm ready now"

The moment the windows opened wide; the lights snaked their way into the teenager's room.

circling around laurel and her cousins, who had already received magic a year ago.

laurel could only watch with wonder and anticipation as the lights slowly surround her right hand.

settling on her hand. leaving a subtle warmth on her skin as they grew brighter and began to form specific shapes.

In a brief flash of light, the lights floated away from her hand

a marking was now etched into her smooth caramel skin, which immediately sent Oliver, kat, and Adwin rushing over to see what had been etched in.

It was a circle with three smaller symbols and runes within.

The rune for water, the rune for ice, and the rune for healing.

these runes are what her magic would revolve around for the rest of her natural life.

water, snow/ice and healing others.

which laurel was excited about being able to use

not only was the water rune one of the big three, but she was an avid swimmer and would take any opportunity she had to go for a swim in the ocean or the lake. so she was more than pleased with the fae's selection.

Once kat, Oliver and Adwin registered the runes, they immediately began congratulating their family member on receiving their powers.

"Sweet! you got one of the big 3 Laurel!" kat said, pointing to the water rune on her sister's hand "mom and dad are going to be so proud of you!"

"Yeah! congrats laurel!" Oliver said, patting his cousin on the back "that's a pretty nice powerset! can't wait to see you test it out Tomorow"

"Thanks guys" laurel laughed, confident and proud of herself for gaining the courage to just open the window.

even though it was such as simple task. it really did make laurel feel less afraid of what the future would offer her.

all of the self-doubt and fear of the unknown was far out her reach for now as she sat with her family celebrating her newfound magic.

her grandma was right.

even though the Uknown could be a scary and dangerous place, there was so many things waiting for her on the other side.

she really did just have to let go of her fear, set sail and enjoy the adventures that would lay ahead of her in the great unknown.

[bitletsanddrabbles]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

*SLAMS LINK DOWN!*

*COLLAPSES!*

“Just do one a week” I said. “They’ll be short little things” I said.

HAH! Clearly I do not know me! 2k plus...on once chapter....which is late because my brain wants to think about stories, but not write them.

Self, you are delusional, you know that? Yes? Okay, good.

[moonlightuponthepond]

"Fuck," she whispers, stumbling to a stop. A branch catches her shin and she hisses, almost slipping on the muddy trek.

A noise behind her. Her head whips around, and she presses her hand to the scaly bark next to her. Freezing, stilling, deadening the noise of her breath. Her heart beats, a rabbit-quick thump.

She imagines the thing looking for her hears it, too.

All is quiet. The world is limp in silence. No bird cries, no mammal scuttles, no bat squeaks, and not even the cicadas sing.

It will kill her.

She knows this.

But, for as long as possible, she will survive to see another sunrise.

She doesn't deserve to live. But she's too spiteful to die, especially not to the curse Kaitlyn cast on her.

Slowly and yet so suddenly, life returns to the world, and she knows the creature has gone. Somewhere to her left, a discouraged cicada reluctantly begins anew its song, and abovehead a bat suddenly takes off. She jerks at the noise, eyes scanning the blackness above her, before fear loosens its grip and reason returns.

Her shoulders relax an inch, and she takes a breath. Glancing once more behind her, she carries on through the forest.

[eternalwritingstudent]

The Writer's Handbook Spooky Writing Challenge 2022 - Day 1 "Curse"

This is going up as a rough draft, so apologizes for typos and such.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

I stared at the emerald-colored moon as it crossed the sky towards the white moon that hung stationary in the sky. Our world turned slow, but the white moon took a whole month to circle the planet. We had a total of four moons. The other two were in their dark phases tonight.

It was mid-October and this was the only night of the year when the emerald-colored moon, called The Hunter Moon, would cross directly in front of the white moon, called The Great Eye. Old rituals said that when the Hunter Moon aligned with the Great Eye, the gods looked down on the world and chose the Curse breaker.

The Curse breaker. I shook my head. I'd been waiting on the mysterious Curse breaker for twenty years now, but no one had ever come to my prison to free me. I turned away from the window. Maybe no one even observed the festival of the Cursed any longer. My parents had submitted me to the pool of the cursed to get rid of me. They were paid a hefty amount of gold once I was chosen. They cared not what I suffered.

My slit eyes swept around the room as I prowled the tomb that had become my home. I didn't believe for a moment that the people who were place in charge of finding a new cursed when the old one died knew what they were doing. Or what they were sentencing a person too.

The stories said the cursed went to sleep and awaited a kiss of true love. If only that were the case. First, the cursed was rechosen when the old one died. Why were these cursed people dying if there was a Curse breaker to free us?

Maybe it had something to do with the fact that we weren't fair princes and princesses waiting in tower to be kissed away by a handsome love we'd marry forever. Maybe it had to do with the fact that there was no tower, castle, or hidden pretty cabin in the woods. Maybe it had to do with the fact that I had not been human since the moment I entered the Chamber of The Cursed.

The magic had washed over me, leaving me in agonizing pain as my body twisted and jerked. The gods didn't answer me as I screamed and begged for mercy. Neither did the priests in charge of the ritual. They didn't want to face the results of their lie. I didn't blame them. What little I had seen of myself was enough to make me race out the door that had opened in the back of the chamber. There had been a bright flash of light, then I was in this place I would come to call home for two decades.

Twenty years of waiting on someone to find me and free me. Twenty years of disappointment. The building likely stopped them before they ever heard the sharp claws of my feet on the stone floor of the angry growling I did in my frustration. I had only one window, but I could lean enough to see that this building was a tomb. It was covered in vines and what I could see during the day through the dirty glass told me the ground was swampy and treacherous. Simple to bury the old dead Cursed if they were already in their burial place.

Never once in the twenty years, had I seen a single soul make their way down the trail towards my tomb. It reinforced the idea that they gave up on assigning a Cursebreaker. The world had come to accept our curse after so many centuries. I had even wondered if they knew how to break the curse. I surely didn't.

Why change it now? Why care that children were taken by the curse? Most people just accepted it was part of life. It had become second nature after so long. I had been unwanted despite the curse. Yet, children were too valuable as a status symbol to give me up except for the Curse. Then it was a sign of purity and piety.

I turned to pace the small room again. They made sure I was fed, so that was something. I never saw who put in the tomb. It always came while I slept.

Sleep. That sounded like the best way to spend another night cursed and alone. I walked to my bed and curled up, my tail twitching behind me in my irritation, only stilling once I dozed off.

I heard a noise some hours later and expected it was my food being delivered so I stayed still curled up in my bed. The sound grew louder and I heard stone crack. What was happening? I could hear whispers outside.

"I'm telling you; this place is sealed up so tight there has to be something good inside."

"There better be. I didn't hike through the mud for nothing."

Why would anyone dare break the seal of the Cursed? What if it brought the gods wrath down on us? I backed away as moon light began to spill into the hole that was made.

I felt stupid. Here was my chance to get out and I was panicking and scared. If I left without the Curse breaker freeing me, I'd be stuck in this monstrous form for the rest of my life.

I growled, trying to make them leave. The sounds stopped and I could see someone looking in the hole through the door.

"Oh, no. Tinya, we've done it now."

"What now Corm? I'm already having a shit night."

"I think this isn't a regular tomb."

"That's not telling me anything. Let me see."

There was a scuffle outside and I saw another eye peek in the hole they'd made. I roared and moved forward. I stood taller on two feet then I had before my curse, but not that much more.

There was more cursing than the hammer came again and the hole doubled in size. I roared again. They had to leave. I didn't want to be trapped in this form because of foolish people. The sounds kept coming and I began to back away, looking for a place to hide. Something I could use to defend myself without hurting them too badly, but I didn't see anything.

A body fell through the larger hole and I growled low. They got up, reaching towards the hole, and came forward, a lantern n their hand now. I lifted a clawed hand to block my eyes lest they ruin my night vision.

"Renna?"

My head snapped up and I stared at the person in front of me. I knew her. What had the man called her? Tinya. Tinya? As I stared at her, I saw the much younger woman who had lived next door to us. She'd been submitted to the pool of the Cursed, but hadn't been picked of course. I had. We'd been friends. Perhaps more than friends, but we'd been too young to really put a name to it.

"Tinya?" I turned my face away, ashamed and trying to hide now. "You have to go. You're not supposed to be here."

"The hell I'm not. I've been looking for you since you disappeared."

"What? Why? You knew I was chosen for the Cursed."

"Of course, I knew. Didn't stop me from looking."

"Please go. If I leave with you, then the Curse breaker will never find me. I'll be stuck like this forever."

"There hasn't been a Curse breaker named in a century, Renna."

"What? No. I remember them being named when we were kids." I hated that my voice had a growl and grasp to it as I spoke. It wasn't the first time I'd thought there was nothing left of the woman I'd been before.

"It wasn't true. They dismantled the church a decade ago for lying."

"About all of it?"

"No, just the part that they were picking a Curse breaker. Only the gods can do that. They never had the ability."

"So, I'm stuck like this? Forever?"

"I don't know. Please, come out of the corner. I can't see you back there."

"I don't want you to." I crept forward though. "What do I do? I always thought I'd die here alone or be saved. Not in some in between limbo."

Tinya was as pretty as I remembered. Her long hair fell in golden waves. How she always managed to have a smudge of dirt just across her nose, I'd never figured out, but there it was. And those pretty chocolate-colored eyes.

"You can stay with me. I've looked for you for too long to let you go now."

"Why? Why were you looking for me?"

It looked like I'd hurt her. I didn't want to do that, so I gave her what she wanted and moved closer to her. I did stand taller than her now in this bi-pedal feline form.

"Because, I knew I loved you even then, Renna. Maybe you didn't feel the same…"

"No! That's not true. I knew. Well, I knew I liked you as more then a friend, but I didn't understand what it was."

"I didn't either until they took you from me." She reached out a slim hand, fingers shaking towards me.

I wanted to pull back, but I couldn't as I stood there and stared her in the eyes. The moment she touched me, she began to curse, shaking her hand. I hadn't done anything.

She looked down at her hand an eye burned into her palm. "What the hell?"

"I don't know. I didn't do anything." I carefully took her hand, making sure I kept my claws pulled back and not touching her.

There were words around the center of the eye as I studied it. I hadn't read anything in a long time, but I clearly hadn't forgotten how.

"Those who seek with pure intent the curse will break."

It wasn't an unknown expression. It was written over the doors of the church. They had always claimed that it would take a virgin Curse breaker to find the cursed and free them, thus freeing the world from the curse. Why had it appeared on her hand?

"I'm sorry if I caused it."

"Don't be. Let's get you out of here. You can come stay with me and we'll figure this out."

Why stay here alone when no one was coming? I had suspected, but hearing it was worse.

"Alright. If you're sure."

"I am. Come on." She held her hand out for my paw and I took it, claws clacking on the stone as I prowled forward.

"You should warn your friend."

"Ah, right. Corm, get back. The person coming out with me is a friend."

"Whatever you say Tinya." The voice sounded bored.

I didn't appreciate he'd left her to do this on her own, but as she squeezed her way out, I waited, staring up at the moon. Damn that thing and it's stories. I huffed and worked my way out, the stone hole a lot tighter for me.

I stood there breathing in fresh air. It felt nice not to have the walls pressing in on me. I looked to Tinya, seeing her smiling at me.

Corm had backed far away from me, but he was pointing up. "Look, the moons are crossing."

Tinya took the hand she was holding and put her other one on top of my paw. "We'll break the curse one way or another, Renna.  I promise. I won't give up on you. I've looked this long. I can keep fighting for a while longer."

"I believe you. I'll do whatever I can to help. And I'll do my best to protect you while we figure it out."

The light of the combined moons swept over the swamp and us. My whole body went stiff and I fell to the ground with a scream. Was this why I'd been locked up? To keep the moons light from killing me? That was what it felt like. I was dying. I was being burned up front the inside out. My skin felt like it was too tight for my body. It kept getting tighter.

I could hear Tinya screaming my name over and over. It was drowned out by the feeling of my skin ripping open in long slices. I screamed in agony writing in pain.

All I could see was the light of the moon in my eyes. It filled everything. It burned me and cooled me all at the same time. The Hunter Moon shifted a little off center of the other moon and it all stopped.

I lay there gasping for breath. My body shook. I was cold. The wind felt like it was slicing across my skin. Tinya's face filled my vison, but she was crying. Was I really dying?

She held her hand up for me to see, the mark had changed again.

"No purer intent exists than unconditional love."

That had never been on the church. Had they hidden this too? As I stared up at her, everything seemed to click.

"You're my Curse breaker."

"And you're no longer cursed."

"What? I…" I looked down at myself, realizing I was very naked. "Oh gods!"

She laughed as I tried to cover myself. I'd never seen my adult body. I'd been ten when I'd been cursed. But I had my body back. Tinya pulled a blanket from her pack, giving it to me.

"Let's get you home, Renna." She gave me a smile. "The world hid the truth from us. Why don't we let them find out the curse is broken on their own?"

I laughed softly and nodded. "Alright. Seems fair to me. And let's not tell my folks what happened either."

Tinya nodded, leading me and a confused Corm back home.