A familiar burning sensation fills her throat and she clenches her jaw. She will NOT cry again. She will not. Quickly she sits up, banishing his face from her mind. With shaking hands she pulls on her clothes, then steps through her doorway. Expecting to see Leannedra sleeping on the couch, she's surprised to see both her and Nettle passed out cold on her living room floor.

Veil frowns and walks closer, immediately reaching out from within her to check the vital signs of her two students. When she senses the drug coarsing through their veins she sighs quietly to herself. Is it regret, or sorrow? Even she does not know. The numbness that has enveloped her these past few days make it hard for even her to determine what she is feeling.

Nettle breathes very deeply, the sounds muffled by her face pressed down firmly into the couch cushions. Veil kneels down beside Nettle and reaches out to touch her forehead, stroking back the long blond hair from her face. As she runs her hands lightly down Nettle's hair, the drug is coaxed out of her system.

"Nettle," Veil says quietly, careful not to wake Leannedra.
Nettle moans quietly, adn turns her face to the side-- her chin shiny with drool.
Veil shakes Nettle's shoulder, whispering her name again.
Nettle blinks slowly-- her eyelids feeling like they're glued shut-- and finally gets them open. "Veil..." she rasps in embarrassment.
Veil 's mouth quirks up in the pantomime of a smile
Nettle pulls herself to a sitting-position-- her face hidden by a curtain of messy hair. "What time is it...oooh..."

"I don't think I'll ask what exactly it was you did after I left.." she says, "I just hope you have sense enough not to mention anything to Alec about this!" Veil chuckles wryly

"Oh no...Alec!" Nettle tries to stand, and almost falls.
Veil quickly catches Nettle, letting her small frame support her friend
Nettle finally focuses on Veil. "Oh we didn't do anything like THAT, Veil!" Nettle grins a painful grin and thanks Veil for catching her.
Veil: "Don't worry, we'll call him to let him know you're alright"
Veil: "But I want you to come with me today. I think.. I think you're ready for something new."
Veil looks at Nettle with pain-dulled eyes. "We will probably be gone all day, and into most of the night."
Nettle looks around and finds Veil's phone. Picking it up, she quickly calls her cell phone number.
Veil sees that Nettle is calling her husband, and disappears into the kitchen
Nettle turns to Veil as the line is ringing. "OH! Where are we going then??" Nettle sees her mentor's pain, but just then Alec picks up.
Nettle: "'Ello?" says Alec.
Veil shakes her head, waiting for Nettle to get off the phone
Nettle: "Alec-- it's me. I'm at Veil's. I'm SO sorry I didn't come home last night!! Veil's new pupil gave me some...faery wine...and I just woke up from it. Please don't be mad!"

Veil finds a pen and a piece of paper and begins to write a note for Leannedra when she wakes up
"Expanding your mind again, Nettle? Crikeys-- I WAS wondering where you were!" Alec exclaims.
Nettle grins when she hears Alec's calm, sexy voice. "You're so understanding, Alec! I don't know how you can be so calm all the time! Veil has just informed me I'm going to be with her all day and into the night some-- is that OK?"

Veil finishes writing the note and sets it down on the coffee table where Leannedra will see it as soon as she wakes up
"Thank you, luv! Just what time you coming home?" Alec asks.
Nettle: "I'm not entirely sure, but I'll keep in contact with you over the cell phone, so keep it on, OK baby?"
Nettle and Alec exchange a few loving and naughty endearments, and then Nettle hangs up and goes to find Veil.
Veil puts on an old sweater and looks at Nettle
Veil: "We'll take my car," she says, leading the way out of her apartment.
Nettle looks down at her rumpled clothing and runs a shakey hand through her hair.
Nettle: "Um...do I look OK for going out, Veil??"
Veil grins half-heartedly at Nettle
"Don't worry, you won't need your clothes for long.." Veil winks
Nettle pulls her hair over her shoulder and starts braiding it into a long braid as she follows Veil.
Nettle: "I WON'T?? Veil...why didn't you say so sooner!" Nettle grins and quickens her pace.
Veil: "We'll be going to the Realm at first. It'll be easier for you there.."
Veil lights up a clove as soon as she walks outside, and steps over to her car, unlocking it for Nettle

The two drive to the chantry, and once there Veil leads the way straight into the altar room and down the steps to the Sanctum.
Veil sees Herne meditating in the corner and motions for Nettle to be quiet.
Nettle wonders where Alec is, and then quickly reins her thoughts before they start wandering down a dark path.
Nettle sees Herne there and wonders why he still hasn't left.
The mirror begins to glow as the two women stand before it, and the ghostly image of Dalthania becons them forward.
Nettle smiles and nods again to Dalthania, and follows her mentor quickly.
Veil walks forward and steps through the portal

Twilight in the realm, a gibbous moon hangs low over the horizon, small insects playing an orchestra in the grass. Veil takes a deep breath, breathing in the scents of the plantlife around her. As the peace and tranquility of the Realm settles around the two women, Veil feels a measure of peace that has been lacking.

Nettle walks next to Veil and peers at her anxiously-- feeling the new relationship of mentor to student rather than friend to friend, and not wanting to disrespect her by asking how she's feeling.

Veil looks across the meadow, into the dark forest that surrounds it. Veil glances back at her student, giving her a mysterious smile. As the sky darkens, the light from the moon illuminates the ground.

Nettle inhales deeply and looks around. "Oh Veil...I've never noticed how beautiful and peaceful it is in here before...last time I was out here at night, Tania had to come out and tell me and Alec to keep it down!" Nettle looks around in awe.

Veil's skin seems to glow with a pale luminescence, her eyes large and dark.
Veil: "Follow me," she says simply and walks off the pathway leading to the Palace
Nettle watches Veil quietly, feeling a new peace eminate from her.
Nettle nods and obeys.
Veil pauses and discards her shoes so that she can walk barefoot through the thick green grass that carpets the meadow
The haunting cry of an owl disrupts the silence, sending chills down Nettle's spine.
Nettle watches Veil, and also discards her boots-- rotating her ankles and sighing in relief.
As the women near the forest, they can sense the infinite age of the trees. Large and dark, they loom over the soft earthen ground. Whispering to themselves as the breeze dances about their branches, they seem to spread out welcoming arms to the Mages.

Veil seems to disappear into the forest, leaving Nettle standing alone amongst the trees
Nettle looks around nervously, feeling embarrassed for not seeing where she was supposed to follow.
"Nettle," she hears a whispered voice echo around her
Nettle suddenly feels chilled even though it's warm, and turns around, searching for the source of the voice.
She sees a flash of something moving ahead of her in the brush
Nettle thinks of all the ghost stories she's read growing up, and feels great apprehansion. "Veil??"
Nettle feels her feet start moving towards the white flash, even though she's telling them to stop.
The owl cries again, this time closer, sending out it's call of lonliness for the forest to hear
"Nettle," the voice whispers again, caressing her skin
As she walks through the forest, the whispering of the trees seems to grow louder, the cold breeze of the forest brushing coldly past her, intent on it's own errand
Nettle turns quickly as she's still walking forward. "Veil!!" She calls desperately.
The owl startles, and flies off of it's perch, swooping down towards Nettle then off into the forest before her.

Up ahead, she can see the orange light of a fire through the trees.
Nettle exhales and starts running towards the fire.
As Nettle bursts into the clearing, she stops short at the scene before her. A large bonfire burns brightly in the center of the clearing. Standing beside it, clad only in her skin, is Veil. Her arms are outstretched to the heavens, and she is calling out in a strange gutteral language. Blood runs in rivulets down her arms, across her chest and belly and legs. She doesn't seem to notice her student at first, but as Nettle is standing there uncertainly, Veil seems to see her for the first time and becon her forward.

Nettle gasps as she stops-- not sure what she should do!
Nettle nods in relief that Veil sees her, and hurries forward again. "Veil..." she murmurs, but realizes she doesn't know what to say, and shuts up.

As Nettle gets closer, she can see the runes that Veil has etched into her own skin. As Veil completes another phrase, she stops and picks up a bone-handled dagger, cutting another deep rune into her stomach. Fresh blood wells up and begins to run down her skin with the rest of the blood. She looks over at Nettle, something feral in her eyes.

Caught up in the magic, she speaks to Nettle in the same incomprehnsible language, gesturing for her to stand in front of her.
Nettle opens her mouth-- shocked at the deepness of the cut Veil as made. Nettle loves pain and cutting, but this cut is into the tissue! Nettle realizes there's much she doesn't know about her mentor...
Nettle doesn't know what Veil said, but she hurries to stand where Veil is pointing.
It seems to Nettle that behind the roaring of the flames, she can hear the chanting of many voices, and the tribal beat of drums echo in her ears.
Veil begins tracing runes on Nettle's face with blood stained hands, then waits impatiently for Nettle to disrobe so she can finish.
Nettle closes her eyes, feeling the sensation of Veil's fingers on her skin, and when she opens them, she sees Veil's impatient and is confused. Remembering what Veil said about not needing her clothes, and seeing Veil naked, she quickly gets out of her pants and shirt and other articles. Nettle feels the heat from the fire and the coolness of the wind on her skin, and goose-bumps raise up.
Nettle covers her chest self-consciously and watches Veil in fearful silence.
Veil trails her fingers over her blood soaked skin, then again begins to trace on Nettle's exposed flesh.
Nettle can feel a strange heat eminating from the blood and soaking into her bones. Her whole body starts to tingle
Veil hands the dagger to Nettle and turns again to the fire, raising her hands to the air in supplication
Slowly Nettle realizes that she is beginning to understand Veil, and hears her pleas to the Goddess rising up in the wind
Nettle looks at the dagger, wondering exactly what to do now. Should she also carve that rune into her stomach? She looks to Veil and touches the knife to her stomach with a questioning look in her face.

As Veil invokes the power of the Goddess, the air seems charged with static electricity.
The fire roars brighter, illuminating the area with a demonic red glow, emphasizing the stains running down Veil's skin.
Nettle remembers the drawings Veil put on her skin. Looking down at her chest, she sees a spiral-shape and presses the knife-edge into it. Pulling the blade down and around, she sighs in ecstasy-- feeling herself disconnect for a moment.
As Nettle pulls the blade across her skin, a wave of ecstacy and pain rush into her, filling her with the rapture of the Goddess.
Nettle gasps-- almost dropping the knife-- and looks into the flames with her mouth hanging open.
An urgency begins to fill the young Mage, and an itching that is becoming unbearable. As she watches, Veil crouches on all fours, still chanting in her strange tongue

As Nettle watches, Veil's skin begins to ripple as her bones begin to remake themselves. Veil screams, either with pain or rage, then Nettle is overcome with a sharp pain in her abdomen and she doubles over.
Nettle finds herself in a similar position as Veil is in-- unable to move or get up, she crouches in pain on all fours.
The scream sharpens, then is suddenly cut off by the fierce roar of a cat.
As Nettle looks up, she comes face to face with the sleek black form of a jaguar, which snarls and screams, flexing it's claws into the soft earth.
Nettle opens her eyes and mouth wide, and shrieks.
Veil is nowhere to be found
The animal slowly walks towards Nettle, growling low in it's throat.
Nettle still can't move out of her crouch, but she continues to screams-- her body shaking with the energy of her screams.
Nettle is wracked with pain, it feels like she's going to split out of her skin, and she can hear the cracking of bones.
She is minutely aware of every atom in her body, every fibre of hair, every inch of skin.
Nettle digs her fingers into the earth, wishing she had had time to tell Alec good-bye-- hoping he knows she loves him.
Her body feels unbearably hot, and alternately so cold she feels it in the marrow of her bones.
Nettle screams again, and suddenly the sound of a howling wolf errupts from her throat.
Nettle's form shifts, forcing itself into something new. Her vision blurs, and she screams again as her bones crack, forcing themselves into new shapes.
Standing tall where Nettle once was is a beautiful golden wolf with green eyes. It lets out a mournful cry to the moon.

The powerful jaguar crouches down at the wolf's side, growling.
Just then, the most wonderful smell wafts into the clearing, above the frightful smell of smoke and fire.
Tantalizing, it draws the two animals outwards into the forest.
Loping along on padded feet, they follow the smell until a frightened rabbit bursts out from it's hiding place and zig zags through the trees
Blood pounds in the wolf's ears, it's sensitive nose picking up every slight smell and taste of the air.
The wolf leaps forward with a growl, and chases after the rabbit-- feeling a bit unsteady, but quickly growing accustomed to how to build speed, turn quickly and follow the scent.
The jaguar paces along at the wolf's side, watching the hunt intently
The wolf follows the trail-- the only thought in her head is to catch this rabbit and fill her belly with meat. Getting nearer, she tries to cut it off as it turns.

The wolf watches with satisfaction as the rabbit turns to the left sharply as she anticipated it would, and pounces on it-- grabbing its neck in her jaws and crushing down powerfully.

The wolf lays down and begins eating the rabbit hungrily, when suddenly things start getting hazy. Blinking her eyes, everything goes dark.

- - - - -

Nettle opens her eyes, and finds herself laying on her belly in the cool grass-- the wind carresssing her back and legs.
Veil is sitting up in the grass, her arms hugging her knees to her chest
Veil: "Hey Nettle," she says casually when she notices her student waking up
Nettle raises up on her hands and knees, and then slumps to her side. "Veil...what just happened??"
Veil turns to Nettle
Veil: "The Goddess chose to give you a gift," she replies. "Your understanding of Life is now such that you may use it to take on the appearance of other living things.."
It takes Nettle a moment to comprehend what Veil has just told her, but then she smiles and laughs excitedly and grabs Veil in a hug.
Nettle: "I have been hoping for this gift ever since I turned my skin hard like armor! I'm so honored and excited, Veil!!"
Veil smiles and hugs Nettle back tightly
"You must be very very careful," Veil warns. "The Paradox you would incur were you to do this in public would be horrendous."
Veil: "And it's not something to be taken lightly...use it only in extreme need."
Nettle: "Oh I can imagine, Veil!!"
Veil brushes back her hair from her face, shading her eyes from the sun
Nettle nods obediantly, already starting to get ideas she wants to try in her mind.
Nettle feels guilty, knowing her ideas have nothing to do with emergencies.
"We'd best get inside...the last thing I need right now is a sunburn.." Veil gets to her feet, squinting in the light.
Nettle quickly gets up and stretches. "Something about what just happened has made me very horny! But instead of being dominated, I want to dominate!"
Veil reaches out and takes Nettle's hand in hers then runs through the grass with her towards the Palace
Veil turns to Nettle and laughs
Veil: "Is everything about sex??" she asks
Nettle looks at Veil with a raised eyebrow.
Nettle: "In a perfect world, yes."
Nettle tries to dead-pan, but then breaks into a smile.
Veil sighs, shaking her head. Letting go of Nettle's hand she sprints towards the palace. "Race you!" she calls, and for the first time in a week, her laughter is genuine
Nettle smiles happily for her mentor. "Oh Veil!" she says to herself in relief, and quickly chases after her, hoping that her long legs will be to her advantage.

Hosted by www.Geocities.ws