FSE

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Tik Tik holds on to dear life as the massive black stallion leaps over the foliage and to an unknown road, uneven and overgrown with gnarled roots and branches. The kobold has little chance to think about her traveling companions or the spectral steeds of the Dullahan's Coach now that this wild beast has taken her over the river and through the woods.

Claws dig into the creature's mane while her legs clamp alongside its muscled back. Its snorts and whinnies echo through the countryside as the old road takes them past the forested way and out into the rocky and hilly mountainside beyond. There, the magnificent beast leaps and gallops, throwing its head back, almost sounding as if it's laughing as it leaves behind everyone and everything.

The clouds have finally parted from the dismal sky, letting the half-moon's light shine down on a spring just ahead, its water clear and burbling.

With its hooves digging into the gravelly road, the horse stops preternaturally, and this launches the kobold off of it, clawing at its hide before she splashes into the water.

Tik Tik sinks into the cold water, thrashing about and righting herself before breaking the surface with a large and desperate gulp.

When she scrambles to the surface, she is cold, dripping wet. She blinks her bleary eyes as she clings to a nearby stone, staring toward the east, where the first crack of the sunlight penetrates the oppressive predawn hours.

She whirls around, but Tik Tik sees nothing. Not a hoofprint nor a horse. The shivering kobold pulls herself onto the rock, flipping onto it sprawled out and shivering.

She immediately peels her wet clothes off, tossing her top aside and slipping out of her leggings with the practiced ease of an eroarcanist and sex fiend. She's left in her leg wrappings when a voice catches her attention.

"You are new here, I think."

Blinking, Tik Tik stares ahead, only to see a tiny bench in front of her. Sitting on the bench is a shaggy, rabbit-like creature, its bright yellow eyes wide and staring at the kobold, a smile spreading over its lips as it brings a pipe to its mouth. "New here and ready to show off."

Tik Tik sits up on the rock, hands supporting her from behind, crossing one leg over the other. "You speak the dragon's tongue?" she asks eloquently.

"I speak many tongues," admits the rabbit, puffing out a circle of smoke. "But the dragons are some of the oldest and most conversational creatures out there, so, of course, I speak their language." A glimmer flashes in the creature's eyes.

"I see," Tik Tik says, resting an elbow on her propped knee, her chin upon knuckles. "And let me see here. This is your bench, I take it? Your spring? Your... horse?"

The creature chuckles. "Many years ago, I used to live in this place" he says with a wistful sigh. "Come, sit. We can chat."

Tik Tik stands up, sauntering toward the creature and sitting beside him, hands on her knees. "You're quite casual," she growls, "for some, getting a free show."

"You've been around as long as I have, lass. You see a lot of things."

"Lots of kobolds?"

"Nah," he says, puffing his pipe. "They keep to their mines and their holes, to be sure. T'isn't often you see them."

"What are you, then?" Tik Tik asks, gripping her knees. "A wolpertinger? No, you don't have wings or antlers. You're certainly not a rabbit person."

"Is it that obvious there's something special about me, lass?" he asks.

"Obviously, we're both here because you want me to be here. That's why you took me from my friends and that fascinating coach."

He chuckles. "Ah, so you figured me out, did you?" He says, his voice echoing in the lightening day as his form disappears from view.

A snort behind her makes Tik Tik whirl around, gripping the back of the bench, only to see the large, yellow-eyed horse staring down at her.

"A shape-shifter!" Tik Tik says, her tails swishing. "This could be interesting after all."

The horse disappears, and behind the kobold speaks a feminine voice, kindly, motherly. The rabbit stands behind her, hands clasped together in front of her. "Oh, yes, there is much we can discuss, miss. Especially since you smell of magic--ancient magic, indeed."

Tik Tik lounges on the bench, elbow on the seat, cheek on her palm, another hand upon her thigh. "Yeah? Well, I don't kiss anything I don't know personally. I'm Tik Tik, and you are?"

The original rabbit creature appears, perched on the back of the bench. "I've gone by many names, miss. As many as I have forms, and then some. But for you, you can call me by what they call me and my kin, as I have no use for the familiar."

"That or you don't want me to know your true name," Tik Tik says, sprawling on the bench.

"You look cold, miss," the rabbit says, slipping to the bench beside her feet. "I have a cottage not far from here. Why don't you come inside?"

"Why don't you?" Tik Tik asks.

Taking a deep puff of his pipe, the creature chuckles. "Spirited away by the fair folk, the first thing on your mind is what's going on between your legs? You are an interesting one. I'm glad I chose you. Tik Tik, was it?"

"And you?" she asks, draping one leg over the back of the seat.

"They call my kind the Pooka," says the Pooka. "And with the sun rising there, it seems you've stumbled upon my home on the dawning of my day."

"Oh, your day, is it? And what do we do on your day? Let me guess: you?"

"If you are so inclined, but be warned, I am a trickster!"