[center][img]http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d94/Malfoys_one_and_only_girl/Signatures/scar.gif[/img][img]http://i1150.photobucket.com/albums/o620/Vicier/Vicier%20-%20OUAT%20RP%20-%20Characters/ezgif.com-resize%201_zpsbiyrop3j.gif[/img][img]http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d94/Malfoys_one_and_only_girl/Signatures/Freya.jpg[/img][/center]
[center][h1][color=DarkOrange]Scar Lionhart[/color], [color=MistyRose]Odette Swan[/color] and [color=DarkOrchid]Freya Beauchamp[/color] - Present Day - The Pride Lands[/h1][/center]

With the small favor now payed in full; his Gypsy dancer once more in the immaculate condition in which she had arrived in, there was only one thing left to do before Scar could rid himself of the witch completely. Once more saying very little as they walked, Scar led Maleficent through the confused jumble of identical hallways until they reached the stone, spiral stairs that would take them below to Scar's grotto where he had left Odette that morning. He felt a very small pang of guilt in having left her there all day; he just hoped that she had used the time that he was gone to rest up from her journey from Swan Lake to The Pride Lands and not spent it thinking that he had abandoned her.

Leading the way, Scar was the first to emerge from the staircase and into the grotto, his bared skin immediately coating in a light sheen of what looked like sweat though it was due to the drastic change in humidity that had miniscule droplets of water covering his body. Paying it and the sudden climate change from the otherwise stale air of the castle no mind, Scar continued down towards the waters edge, not finding Odette swimming there and had to assume that she was still in the area below the stone bridge where he had left her, either swimming around the deeper side of the pool or perhaps resting in the grassy area.

Shooting a quick look over to Maleficent, narrowing his eyes as though to discern that she would still uphold her end of the bargain, Scar returned his attention forward and squatted down at the waters edge, eyes wide and watching the opening of the bridge.

"Malaika!"

He had been gone all day… or at least, it felt like he had been gone all day- time was easier to discern when she was able to see the sunlight properly, though with only the small streams that she could see coming from the roof of the cave-like grotto, it made it hard to tell the exact time of the day. All Odette knew was that hours had passed her by- hours of swimming around the waters, hours of resting upon the grassy knoll so that she could rest up from her journey… at one stage, she was pretty sure that she had also spent almost a full hour hobbling up the large stone staircase only to find her path blocked by the large door that kept her separated from the rest of the castle. He hadn’t abandoned her; she knew for a fact that he would never do that, he had promised to protect her like his own- after all, she was his daughter…

Her head shot up from under her wings the moment that she heard it- heard him calling out her name from the other side of the grotto. He was back; she knew he would be. Not even bothering to lift herself up properly from where she had been resting on the edge of the knoll, Odette slid herself down and into the water, using her webbed feet to push her forward through the cool liquid before eventually she broke free through the surface on the other side of the opening, her wings lifting from her body slightly and her feathers ruffling causing stray droplets of water to go flying about as she made a beeline directly to where her father was waiting for her at the bank of the pool- her neck extending out towards him and her wings folding in neatly the moment she got close enough to him in a sign that she wanted to be picked up and held close to him.

Relief flooded into Scar the moment he saw the blur of white swimming towards him; she hadn't left. There was no telling what that sorcerer who had brought her to The Pride Lands in the first place was capable of. It would be all too soon if he ever saw him again. But she was still here in his private grotto, and she was still safe.

"Take it easy, kid." Scar told her gently, though he made no move to pick her up. Instead, he stood himself back up to his full height to look over at Freya, giving her a curt nod, dropping the very subtle air of gentleness he had in his voice. "You promised me you could do this, now do it."

It was the first time that Odette had noticed the woman that was standing in the shadows- she had seen her before at Swan Lake, had heard whispers about the woman with the horns growing from her temple; though she had never once been this close to her… never once officially met her, nor had she seen what she was truly capable of- though if her father felt as though the woman could help, that she was here to help them both, then she would give her trust in his decisions.

“..as you wish; my lion King…” Moving herself forwards and out of the shadows that seemed to always follow her around whenever she felt the wish for them to do so, Freya lifted a single hand up from her side so that the tips of her fingers were brushing ever so lightly against her lips, her warm breath flowing out an over her palm as she flattened it away from her, the simple action seeming to cause a small ball of her normal purple smoke to appear, the contents ever swirling around though this time with a slight difference, light streaks of gold flashing through it much like bolts of lightning striking the ground from the sky above them. It wasn’t magic that she used often; stuff from the old religion- things that she had learnt during her time in Camelot as King Uther’s ward… magic that was long lost, though still known to those few such as herself, the druids… and Emrys…

Slowly allowing her feet to carry her until she was standing beside Scar himself- it wasn’t something that Freya had done in a long time; let alone a language that she had spoken in quite a long time… She was extremely rusty; she hadn’t needed to enchant spells for years, not since she was still under the lessons of her Mistress... however she knew that she could do it; even if she hadn’t been as practiced as of late, the magic was simple, something that she had used many times when she had been living in the castle. Reaching out her hand over the water, her eyes seeming to gloss over slightly, once again turning a bright golden color as she spoke softly though fluently, “Illumina tenebras videam aquam per asperam libera lunam mare Agnus ad nos de..!”

Turning her hand over the moment that the last word slipped through her soft pink lips, Freya watched as the ball of magic fell from her palm only to hit and break apart over the surface of the water, thick purple lightning smoke slowly seeping out, covering the grotto’s surface and forcing the young swan to quickly back away from her protector and back into the water as she tried to get away from the magic that seemed ready to consume her completely. Smirking softly to herself now that her work was finally completed here in the Pride Lands, she took a couple of steps back, her arm dropping back down to her side as she once more slunk back into the comfort of the shadows, watching on as her magic took care of what it was that Scar desired- the lightning smoke seeming to soon calm itself before disappearing completely, leaving the water clear and calm once more save for the perfectly reflected moon that rested peacefully over the surface.

Odette could feel it- she could feel the pull of the moonlight once more against her before she had even seen the light of it against the pool of the grotto. It was like the light called out to her, like a beacon in the night- it was hard for Odette to resist, and in this case she just couldn’t. She couldn’t wait to be able to wrap her arms around her father and thank him for all it was he had done for her. Pushing herself forward through the water, she made a bee-line straight for the shallower part of the pool; it had already begun, the magic was already starting to make its change, causing her to come to an abrupt stop where she floated, her small eyes closing delicately as she bowed her head down towards it, her wings lifting up from her body as the water began to raise around her; circling her body with small beads of light that could only be compared to the gentle light of fireflies until she was completely hidden from view. Her stomach was twisting with the familiar sensation as she felt herself beginning to once more rise from the water- her body changing its shape, its form, until the water once more settled down around where she stood, the once beautiful swan now the young girl that he had met during the small time he had spent at Swan Lake all those months ago.

Odette was reluctant- her soft pink lower lip quivering softly as she slowly but surely opened her stunningly light blue eyes, her body shaking slightly as she lifted her hands up from her side so that she could look down at them; make sure that she wasn’t dreaming- that she was no longer the white swan, but that she was actually… [i]her[/i], “I-… I-I am myself again… I am not a swan…”

Scar watched quietly from his position, crossing his thick arms across his chest and tilting his head a bit in curiosity at what was happening before him. The spell, the incantation, the faux-moon reflecting on the water, the transformation... it was all new, unfamiliar ground to the King of The Pride Lands and he didn't like it one bit, but it what was going to help Odette with the curse the two of them shared so he held his tongue.

His shoulders seemed to become less rigid as Odette spoke and he nodded, confirming her small train of thought he knew was meant out of her own surprise and not a statement towards either of them. The witch had done it, despite having seen it with his own eyes, he didn't know how, exactly, but he didn't care. She was the beautiful, young woman he had met at Swan Lake all those months ago, not some honking bird that would ruin his image when he tried to talk with her.

"Alright, what are the rules?" Scar asked gruffly, keeping his arms crossed on his chest but moved his head to look at Maleficent. "Magic always comes with a price... if it were that simple to dispel The Great Animal's curse, I'd have done it long ago."

“The curse, darling, is still very much active upon your precious young Princess; however I have just been able to give her more liberty- more freedom throughout the day…” Doing the magic was easy; explaining it to others however, not so much- especially when it came to the magic that was born of the old religion. While it was old to her and few others, it was new to everyone else; and while it carried the same three core rules- there were ways to get as close to breaking them as one could. Lifting her hand up from her side as she let her back rest against the wall, Freya ran her fingers softly through her hair, pushing it all back off of her face and back between her strong auburn horns so that it was no longer covering her face, “..it’s simple; the pool before you now shares the same waters as that from Swan Lake- the moon you see is a reflection of the one in the sky above us; no matter in the sky it is, as long as its light is able to be seen, it shall be reflected in this pool and your sweet little Odette shall remain the perfect young lady you see before you now.”

Lowering her hand once more before bringing both together in front of her body, Freya shifted her position slightly against the wall behind her, being sure to take her time making herself comfortable before she even thought about continuing on with her explanation, “However we are all… intelligent beings here; and all know that the moon is not always in the sky- at most, on a normal day, she will have to spend but a few hours as a swan, again to change back into the young woman she is, she will have to return to the water. Though on moonless nights, she will be forced to spend a full days cycle as the cygnet she was moments beforehand.”

Scar nodded his head a few times. Though there was very little he understood about magic, Maleficent's explanation was easy to understand. Essentially, Odette would be spending less time as a swan and more as a young woman. It wasn't necessarily breaking her curse, like he had promised he would, but it was at least a few steps closer. He stole a glance over at Odette from out of the corner of his eye, still standing in the water, amazed at what had just happened. He would have liked to show just a bit more enthusiasm for her sake, but with Maleficent around, there wasn't any way he would be opening up like that anytime soon.

"You're welcome to stay for the feast, if you would like, Witch. As my guest, of course." It was clear that it almost pained him to extend the invitation, but hidden underneath even that was a small sense of pride, as though he did indeed want her to accept. His dancers would be providing entertainment, after all, and with his new enchanted weapon and the Gypsy once more physically flawless, it was bound to be a good time. "I can promise you two things. You will have never eaten so well in your life, and you will have never witnessed better dancing entertainment. The Pride Lands is known for many things, among them being the food and... talented women..." Scar stole another glance over to Odette before deciding to just give her his full attention altogether. "You hungry, kid?"

Freya had barely been paying attention to what it was that Scar was saying to her, instead focused on the look that she could see as clear as day in his eyes whenever he chanced a look over to the young swan Princess. It was the same look that she sometimes caught herself giving to her young ward, Aurora- and even if he didn’t want her catching onto it, she knew that he cared for the young child that stood before the two of them in the pool of crystalline water; and it was clear that while his invitation for her to join them for the feast was completely sincere, he wanted to have some alone time with his young Princess. Doing her best to (though failing to completely) snap herself out of her daydream and away from her wandering train of thought, Freya slowly turned her head so that she was looking over in his direction, her eyes taking a moment to refocus on him as she did all she could to give him her complete attention, though her mind seemed to be quite far away and on thoughts that she wasn’t ready to share with those around her.

“..it would be an honor to accept your invitation, and to dine with you tonight Sire…” Closing her eyes as she bowed her head towards him out of both respect and gratitude for his invitation and thought towards her, she lowered her arms slowly back down to her side, the pointer and index fingers on her right hand nervously rubbing against her thumb over and over as she tore her gaze away from the both of them, her attention seeming to focus in on the waters that surrounded them for only a moment before she once more gave him her full attention, her usual playful though still quite malicious smirk playing over her lips as she continued on with her thought, “I look forward to enjoying such festivities in your company- however, I believe it rude of me to enjoy such hospitality without looking the part of course; please excuse me while I go and freshen up for tonight’s feast…”

“Bedyrne ús... Astýre ús þanonweard..!” Not bothering to wait for a response from either of the others within the room, Freya lifted her head up slightly higher than she had been holding it moments before, her eyes for the third time flashing over a beautiful gold in color as her fingers came to a stop at her side, a thick plume of purple smoke slowly wrapping around her body starting from her bare feet before working its way up, the small flashes of lightning that she had used earlier once again mixing with the smoke as it consumed her completely, dispersing only when she had disappeared completely from the grotto, leaving the two of them alone in the silence that she had left behind.

Odette barely had enough time to open her mouth with a response to her father’s question before the woman who had helped them both disappeared in a flash of lightning and smoke- the sight of it causing her to flinch and take a couple of steps backwards, moving her further back into the water that she had spent most of her day in. She still had no idea what was going on- one moment she had been a swan, and the next… Turning her head down so that her gaze once again dropped down to her hands, she couldn’t help the small and gentle smile that crossed over her lips as she shook her head softly from side to side, as though she was still trying to wrap her mind around the fact that she was no longer the bird- that she no longer had to worry about honking and confusing her father and the others around her, but instead that she could actually talk and be herself completely.

Lifting both her head and her gaze back up until she was once more focused on her father’s figure standing on the bank, Odette quickly did her best to pull her mind back to the present, her hands dropping to lift the remains of her dress under the buffalo cloak that she wore as she waded her way over towards him, her feet picking up their pace as the water became shallower with each step that she took. She could finally hug him- finally show him the affection she wanted to; finally hold a true conversation with him, without the confusion about what it was she was trying to say. Slowing down once she had gotten close enough to him, she let the material of her dress slip through her fingers, her arms reaching out only to soon wrap as tightly as they could around his midsection, her sky-blue eyes fluttering closed the moment that she felt her body pressing against his own, “..father, I have missed you…”

Scar seemed rather taken aback by Odette's gesture; feeling her thin arms wrapping around his torso, pressing her body into his for a hug, for a moment it seemed as though Scar hadn't the faintest idea as to what it was she was doing - let along what a hug was. Tentatively, however, and after a short period of time, Scar raised his hand to pat her gently on her back, feeling the material of the buffalo hide cloak he had given her when he had left Swan Lake all those months ago.

"I know, kid. I've... missed you too..." Scar said slowly, seeming as though he were trying to think of what words to say or he was having some sort of difficulty in getting them out. He removed his hand from her back to then take hold of her shoulder, moving his free hand to do the same on the opposite side and pulled her away from him so that he could look down at her and into her eyes. "But don't think that just because you're no longer a swan that I'm not still upset with you. It was a dangerous thing you did by coming here. And throwing in your luck with that [i]sorcerer[/i]? Do you even know him?"

“I-I understand father… but you have my word that Dominic meant no harm- he only wished to see me safely to the castle, to make sure that I was not hurt along my journey… if it were not for him, I would have been left wandering the wood through to the dawn on the night that I set out…” Odette knew that this had been coming- she knew from the beginning that she was always going to get into trouble for her rash actions, her choice to come here to the Pride Lands to see her father was something that had put them all into danger… she knew that there was going to be consequences for what she had done, and now that she was human again and could explain herself, she knew that the punishment would soon be following the conversation they were going to have…

“I will admit to you father that I truly have not known him for very long… but he has been by the lake side watching over me for many years it seems; the wise owl, ever watching over me- and while it may be that we only formally met on the day that we both set out, he has taught me much.” Bringing her hands together in front of her body as she lowered her gaze, Odette let her fingers nervously play with themselves, the weight of his hands on her shoulders feeling heavier than ever, though it was still a comfort to have his touch upon her skin, letting her know that even while she was in trouble, he was still there for her, “He-… He is like us father- once set out to destroy Rothbart where he stood, though just as with all who defy him, that monster set a curse upon him… I was truly lucky that the day we arrived within your Kingdom was the very day that he was once again allowed to roam freely upon two legs…”

A muscle in Scar's lip twitched. Clearly, he wasn't liking what he was hearing though for many various reasons. The poor girl truly was naive, and that could cost Odette her very life. This... Dominic... even [i]if[/i] his intentions were just as Odette was saying... well... she only got lucky, but no one was that selfless; Scar knew this for a fact; experience taught him that.

"Magic isn't to be trusted, Malaika. Ever." Scar told her sternly, though the concern he had for her was held in his black eyes. "Magic is what made us the beasts we are and though I went to magic to help alter your curse, magic will never cure it. Magic is forbidden here in The Pride Lands, which means your friend, Dominic, should he ever show his face here again, will be ki- imprisoned. For a very long time." 

Scar sighed as he retreated his hands from her, standing back to his full height and crossed his arms over his chest mostly out of habit, but also to keep her from trying to hug him again. It's not that he didn't want her to hug him, he just didn't know what to do with such an open expression of love. He could try to explain the ways of The Pride Lands to her until his face turned blue, but right now it wasn't time for a history lesson. Right now, she needed to eat.

"C'mon, kid. Let's get you out of this cave." he then said, shifting his tone a bit as he jerked his head to the side, gesturing towards the staircase before he headed there himself to ascend the stone steps.

“I-I… yes father…” She wasn’t truly happy with what it was he had said to her- she understood where it was that he was coming from when he said that magic could not be trusted, it had made them into the creatures that they were, and kept them in a never-ending cycle… however the mere thought of Dominic being imprisoned- it was just something that she didn’t want to live with, something she [i]couldn’t[/i] live with; not when she knew that it would be her fault in the first place. She had brought this on them all by leaving Swan Lake; her impatience to see her father again had led them all into the situation that they were now in, and for that she would never forgive herself.

Dropping her hands back down to the front of her dress as he began to lead the way, Odette quickly collected what was left of the ragged and dirty material that covered her, holding it up only slightly from the ground as she hurried to follow along behind him, her bare feet lightly making soft thuds against the stone as she began to ascend the stairs after his lead. From what she had seen the night before, dinner was more than just a show… though hopefully they would this time be able to enjoy their evening without the interruption of any flashy spectacle of magic that seemed to cause a Kingdom wide panic…