2024 Anthology

[Nyx Queen of Darkness]

Jan-None
Feb- Sharks
March- Didn't Do
April-Bunnies  

[Nyx Queen of Darkness]

Beatrice had wandered into a canyon looking for some arid flower for a poultice when she realized that there was something blocking the path in front of her. Already on edge after the tales of the bunny shifter chasing others last year, she couldn’t help it when her heart started beating wildly at the sight of the soquili with long, floppy ears blocking her path. She couldn’t help but edge a little closer, only to see that the bunny soquili’s hair was covered in a dark reddish-brown hue like blood. Beatrice started to stumble backwards away when the bunny looked right at her.

Desmond had been enjoying the long meandering path that he and his rabbit Bonnie had been on. Being new to this place, he really had no idea where he was going, and he was trying to make the best of it. It wasn’t like there were many soquili to ask directions of. It seemed as just that thought popped into his head, he turned and saw another soquili. She reminded him of a deer, ready to flee at any moment. Her hair was a soft summer green, and she looked pleasant enough to ask directions of, except she looked at him like she’d seen a ghost. He noticed she was carefully backing away and that the pulse in her throat jumped as he looked at her.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I really didn’t mean to frighten you, but it seems I’m terribly lost.” He took a few steps toward her to bridge the gap.

From a scrubby plant ten yards away a bunny twitched its nose as if in thoughtful debate. The two soquili looked at odds with each other, as though one was frightened of the other, while the second soquili seemed to have no clue. The bunny twitched its nose as it laughed silently. She wondered what had the mare so spooked. If maybe she had heard the stories, wouldn’t it be funny if she was right? Just not about the right thing. The bunny edged closer to try to better hear the conversation between the two soquili so that she could judge what her next move would be.

Beatrice stammered as she backed into the canyon’s wall. “I… I know who you are. You’re that shifter. The one that chased everyone around last year to try to get a meal. I mean, make a meal out of them. You ate them!”
Desmond looked aghast at what she said. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I only just came here. I don’t even know where here is. Actually I was going to ask that. I was going to ask you, because I have no idea where I am anymore. We were following this trail. And then it rained. And there was no trail. Why am I explaining this to you? You think I eat others.”

It was hard to blend in or keep still when all of this disastrouly bloody talk excited her. They were talking about her. It made her positively giddy. And the last time she’d been this giddy is when she’d chased all those idiots through the woods. Maybe these two would keep arguing with each other long enough that she could get just a little bit closer.

“Wait,” Beatrice paused. “You don’t eat others? You’re not that shifter that terrorized everyone last year? The bunny one? I mean…” She made a kind of ‘You know’ shoulder gesture. “I mean, you are a bunny shifter, right?”

Beatrice felt herself getting embarrassed. Maybe she had made a mistake. Maybe this wasn’t the soquili she had heard about last year. Come to think of it, wasn’t that soquili female? And wasn’t her coat white? But by now she’d heard it so many ways, she wasn’t sure which parts were fact and which were fiction. Maybe she was making a terrible mistake assuming who this soquili was. They didn’t seem to be dangerous. And they certainly did seem to be lost. And they had a small rabbit with them. As far as she knew, shifters couldn’t be in their shifted form and animal form at the same time.

Desmond made an irritated face as he said, “Look, I may be a bunny, but I’m not a bunny shifter. Those are two different things. Do you even know if this whole story has any merit to it at all? Maybe it’s just an urban legend.” He let out a huff of frustration.

Now the stupid idiots were believing that Sans Merci was some story told to terrorize folds at night. That’s exactly what she wanted. If they didn’t believe she existed or accepted that she was real, that made it so much easier to get her next tasty morsel. And one of them was a deceitful, conniving male.

Without wasting any more time, Sans Merci took her opportunity while they were both distracted. Bursting through the mesquite into her bunny form and shifting into her cursed form, she laid siege on them both. All hell broke loose.  

[Nyx Queen of Darkness]

Tessasilme
Vanealote was finally stirring the actual pot of food, instead of the pot. She couldn't help it if she had big opinions that she thought should be heard (especially when others said or did dumb things). She was running low on a few things when Tessasilme showed up.

"Hello sister," Tessasilme slid up smoothly beside Vanealote to take a whiff of what was cooking. It looked to be a hearty vegetable soup--and it smelled pretty good. She blinked her eyes slowly, "Soup in this heat?"

"Naw need for ta small talk, what have ya got ta trade today," Vanealote handed off the spoon to Sungrass to keep stirring. Sitrring was a fully body excercise for them. Vanealote shook back her hair, it was curling in the heat given off from the soup. She blew another wisp out of her face before focusing on Tessasilme.

"Saffron," came the coy answer from Tess.

"And where ya be gettin' that?" Vanealote raised her brow looking at the other mare.

"That's neither here nor there, sister. Do you want it or not?" Tessasilme knew without a doubt that Vanealote wanted it, and probably pretty badly. It wasn't something that was easy to come by--for most, but Tess had a stash of the spice. She'd started cultivating a little garden for use in trading a few months ago and it was finally going to pay off. She had a small store hidden within the Flock in a small, innocous lawn gnome that her sister Vanraulimore had made. It didn't look like it but the hat of the gnome came off and opened to the hollow inside like a jar. The hat screwed back on and there was no way of telling or smelling what was inside.

"I've got a pinta of lavendar honey, tae it or leave it," Vanealote smiled triumphantly. This honey wasn't easy to come by, you had to have exactly the right thing to trade for it or the answer would be no.

The two stared at each other for a moment, "How'd that happen?" Tessasilme tossed back her long,silky hair. The sun struck it just right and made it look like a sheet of moving fire.

"Go on with ya," Vanealote laughed. "I've no real need of it, but I knew you'c come about sooner or later with somethin' I wanted.Can't help it if he doesna wanna trade with ya."

"Three threads of Saffron for the lavendar honey then," she reached for the bag at her side.

"Away with you, three's not enough."

"Four's too many," Tesss smiled. "Fine then, a half dozen portobello mushrooms to sweeten the deal."

"Let's see em," Vanealote said. The bag was passed between them and there was the half dozen mushrooms in perfect condition and good size. The three threads of saffron were wrapped neatly in paper package tied with string. Opening it, she took a sniff though she needn't have worried. Tessasilme always brought quality stuff. Putting the bag in her pantry area, Vanealote laughed. "That's all ya brought. Ya already knew what you''d trade exactly?"

"And not a bit more," Tess laughed. She was a canny trader. The pint of lavendar honey was passed between them and Tessasilme secured it in her other satchel. "This will make a fine addition to the mead I'm brewing. The cloves will be perfect with some of this honey.

"You'll have em willing to trade anything to get that hooves on that," Vanealote laughed. The trading part-- the serious part-- was done and now they were back to talking freely. "Why does he not like to trade with ya?" Vanealote asked as she started prepping the new spices and mushrooms for use at a later time.

"He says, someone has to tell me no, so it might as well be him," she laughed bitterlfy. "It's a shame too, would make this all easier."

"But then you'd not trade with me."

"True.You'd not have anything I wanted."

"Is that so Tess? I'm pretty sure I still have things you want." Vanealote's smile was cutting before she changed the subject. "Will you be trying new blends this year or refining the tastes you have?"

Tess shrugged her shoulders, "Depends on what's up for trade. I won't know till I see it." She had an intuition for what would go well with each other.It was a gift she had cultivated over the years until she could make mead and trade it of rhte things she wanted but couldn't make. "I may have something really rare for you soon."

"Rarer than saffron?" Tessasilme nodded her head.>"What be rarer than that?"

"You'll see," she laughed. "See you next time Vanealote.And with that their trading concluded.