Lunari woke up shivering. A bleak dawn light was beginning to seep through the thick tree cover above her, along with a cold rain. Lunari forced herself to her feet, every joint aching. Glancing down, she realized she was covered in mud. For the first time, she hesitantly inspected her new... real?... appearance. She ran her hands along the horns that protruded from her forehead just above her temples and below her hairline. She examined her hands, less monstrous than she had originally found them to be. Her nails were longer, yes, and her fingers as well, but not so much so that she couldn't probably blend in. The horns could easily be covered. Reaching back, Lunari pulled up the hood of her simple robe. The hardest bit would be the eyes, she knew. Looking into those black depths, she had nearly screamed at herself. How could she possibly pass for human with such demonic features?
 
Lunari wasn't sure where she was, or how far she had run. She didn't recognize anything about her surroundings, but that's didn't mean much. She had rarely ventured outside the walls of the temple, and then only to accompany the High Priestess on ministry runs to aid the sick and poor in the nearby village. Lunari turned, inspecting the woods, and realized she may as well simply pick a direction. So she did, picking her way down what looked like it may have been a a game trail at some point, though it was overgrown now. As she walked, she tried to force her foggy mind to clear, to decide what she should do, where she could go. 

Though she had never been further than the village, she knew there was the great city of Sundreda to the north. Supposedly a major highway led all the way there from the village. Not that she had any idea how to find it now. Lunari's stomach growled, and she realized that the one thing she must urgently find was food, and shelter. It had been a mild winter so far in the Fasriddian mountains, but the days had been growing colder of late, and she could not risk being caught in a snowstorm with nothing more than her thin robe. She marveled at the fact that she had not already frozen to death, but dismissed it as another symptom of her breeding: perhaps she burned hotter than a human.

Admitting to herself that she was not, in fact, human, felt strange. In a way it was freeing. Lunari never had felt as if she belonged, yet she had always felt as if it were her own failing. Now... it was easier to excuse her temper, her awkwardness, her inability to get on the good side of the other girls and priestesses. She had been born strange to them, and no amount of effort could change that. But remembering her true physical appearance, she shuddered in revulsion. It would always be that way now, she realized. Now she could not risk allowing anyone close enough to care about. Who could possibly care about a monster who had murdered the only person who ever cared about her? Lunari felt the tears well up again, leaving tracks as they slid down her dirty cheeks. Pausing, she reached down and used the hem of her robe to wipe her eyes. An idea dawned on her, and she began to tear the bottom hem of her robe into a strip of cloth a few inches wide. Pulling down her hood, she fitted it around her eyes,like a blindfold, then pulled the hood back on. There... she could pretend to be blind. An old woman she had seen once in the village wore a similar strip of cloth to avoid giving others a shock when they looked at her milky white cataracts. And with the cloth over her eyes, she was certainly close enough to blind to pass as such. Pushing it up to her forehead for the moment, Lunari satisfied herself that if she came into contact with anyone, she would rely on this disguise. 

Suddenly, she heard a twig snap, and she froze. There was a grunting noise that came from the trees to her left, and she peered around, straining to see in the dim dawn light. A large shape moved in the mist, and Lunari instinctively felt the urge to run. Before she processed the thought, she was already stumbling down an embankment, panting in fear. The grunting noise grew to a roar behind her, and she risked a glance back to confirm her fear: a bear. The creature, much more graceful in moving through the woods, was gaining on her and she felt panic snake through every limb as she sprinted through the trees, limbs and rocks tearing at her clothing and skin. She took a few sudden turns, and the bear, whose hot breath she could nearly feel against her back, had to double back to catch up. Having gained a few feet, Lunari suddenly spotted what looked like a clearing through the trees, and she ran toward it, hoping to gain distance. The bear followed, grunting and growling aggressively.

Suddenly, the world turned upside down as Lunari had the wind knocked out of her and landed roughly on her shoulders. She had run full-speed into a fence without even noticing it. Unable to breathe, much less regain her feet, Lunari shuffled back in horror as the bear broke from the woods and came galloping toward her. Surely its massive bulk would break right through the fence and she would be devoured. But the bear abruptly slowed, looking around itself in what seemed like confusion. After a moment, the bear sniffed around the weeds on the ground, then turned and headed back into the forest.

Amazed, Lunari stood, watching the bear go, and completely shocked at the apparent miracle of its loss of interest. Distantly, she heard a bleat, and turned, to see sheep grazing nearby. "Oi! Are you alright?"

Lunari jumped at the sound, and groped immediately for her blindfold, turning as footsteps approached. "I saw the whole thing, miss. You were nearly that brute's breakfast. Are you okay?"

Through the thin white fabric, Lunari could vaguely make out the shape of a young man. She stammered, unable to come up with a response, and instinctively reached out a hand to steady herself.

"Must be in shock. And blind too? It's a miracle you outran it! Those things are fierce. We wouldn't have any of our sheep left if my mother hadn't charmed the fence." He took her warm hand in his own cool ones, and muttered something about her running a fever.

"Charmed?" Lunari managed at last.

"Aye," the young man replied, starting to lead her carefully toward what she assumed was his house. "Ma's a decent slight. The charm was her idea."

"what dos it do? It's like the bear forgot I was there."

"That's basically it. Soon as you look at it you forget whatever you saw. Obviously it doesn't work as well on people, but it keeps the dumb animals away from our herds."

Lunari murmured in amazement and allowed herself to be led closer to the farmhouse, praying silently that her meager disguise would protect her from discovery.

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