Lia followed along, alternating between listening, enraptured by by the apprentice to the godmother, and taking in the forest around her. She'd only been able to occasionally visit her mother's gardens, and the few times she was allowed to roam, it was a secluded alcove along the sea. Here was serene, and with the other princesses. . .Silverpaw couldn't help but feel a wistful longing to remain indefinitely.

At least, until another fancy took her.

"Purity manifests many forms," She responded to the girl next to her as she idly watched Anemone climb. "Pure evil, pure good, pure this, pure that. . .Why, if I were purely curious about the unicorn, I imagine it would find no issue with me." And she was curious, to be frank. The collection of unicorn hair only ever involved tracking the unicorn and picking up what was shed or lost to the branches. Unicorn horns were taken off those deceased, though sometimes they were given freely. It was ambiguous how such materials were acquired. Either that, or her studies had been carefully regulated to avoid certain grisly subjects.

Her parents were exacting folk.

Lost in thought, she wasn't quite paying attention as an apple fell. Slow to react, it was Kog who went for the treat. Leaping from Silverpaw's shoulders with a squeak of surprise from the half-elf, the fuzzy, barely five-pound familiar crashed into Shira on it's way to retrieve its snack.

Shira yelped as the tiny creature struck her arm. It didn't hurt, at least it didn't hurt the greatest of three masses in motion. She struggled to assure the other two also didn't fall, juggling and stumbling until the creature and apple were nestled in her arms as she fell to one knee.

Once the upset was quieted, the young teen looked down at what she was holding. She winced. Though Shira was pure to the ways of the world, her mind still held the natural impurities of a child; capriciousness, favoritism, forgetting the needs of the many... "Woe! Though you are my rival in this season of decline, I fear my heart shall break and melt like hanging ice in the sun should you do not win, creature of unyielding cuteness." Apparently, she was not disinclined to speak dramatically to an animal either.

"Creature so small, you wouldn't crave a prize larger than your head, would you? Perhaps you might share one side so I might present the other to our desired friend?" She let Kog have its way with the apple with a pout, a pleading pout that soon turned up towards Anemone in the tree, begging for forgiveness, and perhaps another apple.

The girl in the tree chuckled as her legs swung back and forth. Perhaps it was more pleasant in the tree than on the ground. Trees never judged humans. They were indifferent to the woes of mankind, but not in an insensitive way. They were immune to prejudice. Only the roar of mother nature, the wrath of insects and the axes of those humans who were in need could cause them to fall. The tree wouldn't decide that Shira was cruel because Anemone plucked another one of it's fruits from the long sturdy branches to feed their companions familiar, "But, of course. A unicorn is bound to approve of sharing. Particularly with a creature as cute as that."

She plucked another imperfect apple from the tree. The ridges in the food felt nice against her hand, and with proper aim she could easily get it to Shira. After all, the apple had a spherical shape.

Gently she flung the fruit towards the ground - only to hear the nearby bushes rustle. Leaves seemed to explode around the creation that left from the undergrowth. With wide eyes Anemone looked on. Whatever it was grabbed the apple in it's mouth. Juice sprayed everywhere from it's strong bite.

A white coat seemed to glimmer in the golden light of fall, with a similar hued mane, and ivory horn. Strong muscles pulled slightly as the equine creature bounded off quickly away from the group. Though, it was eating so it was slow enough for the girls to catch it... If they ran.

Anemone's wish bound duties sounded like extra work, but the girl was certainly clever and adaptive... maybe she liked the challenge?  Tarina noted her odd features, but when an elf was among their group... was unusual muscle strength and body hair really that strange?  Tarina smoothly took the apple that was dropped her way and then wiped it clean... to make it a more enticing snack.  The 'rabbit' and Shira interaction elicited a small chuckle from herself.

Tarina sucked in her breath when the white equine creature deigned to appear.  Clearly her apple strategy had worked (thank you, horse thief!).  Now the girls had to make contact with it... and then convince it to accompany them to the stables.  But it was leaving already!

"Spread out, girls... lets encircle it, so Shira can do her maiden thing.  Slow it down however you can, but don't scare or hurt it."

She gestured in various directions with her hands, sketching out her plan.  Time was fleeting, so Tarina simply gave orders and hoped that the group would accept them as valid.  Rosegold (the trapper) and Anemone (the fittest) were given the more difficult tasks of outpacing and blocking the unicorn's flight, the rest of the girls would follow in the creature's wake from the sides (Silverpaw and herself) and rear (Shira).  Tarina made sure their chosen maiden had an apple on her person too, handing her fruit to Shira.

"Good luck all."

Rosegold gave Anemone a brief, curious glance when she rolled up her sleeves and hiked up her dress, though she didn't comment. Instead, she replied to her instruction with "That's good. Don't throw any to me though, please." She wasn't really hot to discuss her disability, so she hoped it would just be obvious why catching things coming at her wasn't her strong suit.

She watched the interactions of the other girls and the little animal quietly, unsure whether she should say anything. Then the unicorn appeared, though, and Rosegold had the opposite instinct, as she'd assumed there would be some kind of actual discussion based on what the other girls had said. "Hello-- oh," she said as it quickly withdrew again.

She paused rather than dart after it, giving her time to hear out Tarina's plan. "All right," she said with a nod, before taking off at a run. She quickly snapped her umbrella shut as she went, since it wouldn't do her much good in speed.

Shira looked up in awe and a bit of fear as the large and elegant beast passed over her. She shook herself out of it and grinned in thanks as Tarina took control and handed her an apple. She set the other apple and animal down, and stood to pursue, giving the other girls a natural head start as she brought up the rear.

"Dearest Unicorn, you need not run to eat like a thief in the night. These fruits are yours! Why not rest for a time? The cold wind stops at the stable walls, and a hundred brushes clean more gently than the chilly falls." Shira's words wouldn't reach the mystic animal on their own, it seemed Rosegold was quickly catching up to the beast though.

As it turns out, the rabbity creature was far more intelligent than your average animal, as demonstrated by its expression adopting something akin to a very fuzzy "what" face. Still, apple in its paws, it didn't hesitate to chomp down on it. Even further, Kog didn't seem to notice, nor care, that the unicorn had been spotted, preferring to munch on its won snack.

Silverpaw, however, watched the exchange with a mixture of amusement and whimsy. Teasingly making a face at her animal companion, she turned as the unicorn revealed itself, blinking in rapid succession. She'd never seen a unicorn up close before, and for all her reading, nothing compared to the real thing. Strolling in step with the other girls towards it, their task forgotten in favor of taking in the magnificence of such a beast, she didn't seem to care whether or not she was the one to catch it. If she could just study that horn, maybe receive a few hairs in exchange for some scritches. Horse liked scritches, right? Silverpaw didn't know.

Mages rode brooms, not horses.

Anemone leaped from the tree, throwing herself as far forward as possible. She hit the ground roughly and was unable to summersault due to the long dress she was wearing. But, relatively quickly she did start running. She wasn't able to outpace the unicorn, though she was able to steer it down and to the side with a great effort... Towards Shira.

The great beast halted in the face of the youngest member of the group, pausing to kick up it's legs. They shook with a great force. However, tentatively the Unicorn did accept the apple... Once it was in it's mouth, though, the fun began.

The Unicorn turned towards Anemone, and charged... The girl, who was still running, got caught on it's side. Quickly the beast sprinted out of view, carrying the blown back human with it.

Shira silently shivered at the idea she was very nearly trampled. She breathed in sharply twice to calm herself, they turned around and ran. The Unicorn was in for it now, there was no way it was going to escape now, trotting between trees, a large girl on its back.

"Heeeeey! Anemone! Call out for us so we might hear youuuuu!" She looked towards the others before vanished in into the forest as well. The Heartstring Forest was a winding and mystic place, where few entered and less exited, but the headstrong girl paid that no mind as she dove in with no plan and few skills.

All in all, Rosegold had had very little time to appreciate the beauty and majesty and all that of the unicorn, even apart from her general ignorance of aesthetic matters. Now that it was carrying off one of her competitors outright, it ranked more as prey. Rosegold greatly preferred trapping to just running down a fast target, but it seemed like it couldn't be helped. She blew out a quick, surprised breath, then quickly took off after Anemone and Shira.

The unicorn took off into the woods, three girls along with it, willingly or not. The trees wind and weave, dappled in shadows, thin claws of wood scratching the children in their haste. It didn't seem like the two behind would catch it, nor did it seem the one that "caught" it would stop it.

Ahead though a pale woman in a dark shroud stood calmly in the beautiful woods. The unicorn suddenly stopped, pulling up onto its hind legs with a loud bray, and dropping the large teen from its back. The mythic beast turned and fled back the way it came, passing Rosegold and Shira just as they arrived at the scene.

The forest was eerily quiet. Even in the fall, the forest was often filled with the coos of birds, the barks of deer, and even more mystic sounds like the playing of pixies. At this moment though, there wasn't a sign of life besides the trio and the bone white woman, and even then just barely from the later.

Tarina was surprised to see the unicorn return and submit to them.  Ordinarily she might have smiled in delight, but the exhausted appearance of the beast seemed to suggest that something was wrong.  Slowly she approached and attempted to check it over for injuries or poisoning.

"Shhh it's alright.  Are you hurt?  We just want to check you over... and bring you back to the academy.  Silverpaw, can you see anything wrong?"

She had no idea what the rest of the girls were up to.  Hopefully they would return from the woods soon.

Shira huffed and puffed, leaning back against a tree to catch her breath. Chasing a magic horse really took it out of her... What was she planning to do if she did manage to catch it? She couldn't exactly gasp and spin poems as the same time.

She glanced around once she had rested, then went to look at the tree. The woman was gone it seemed... Another fairy? It was definitely magic. It seemed the Unicorn escaped too... But there were other concerns. "Is everyone okay?" She pushed her long hair back and looked to Rosegold and Anemone. Shira walked over to offer a hand to the fallen girl despite the clear size difference. The young poet didn't have a ton of height leverage over Anemone, even with the latter on the ground.

Lia had watched with some exasperation as the more athletically inclined heiresses bounded after the creature. She seemed to accept the loss with barely any sadness, sharing an amused glance with her familiar. Kog, having finished its apple, sat at Lia's feet and looked upward, where a few dangling apples were, still - Greedy little thing, it was. Still, she humored the Carbuncle, the book at her side flying open as it hovered over her palm, magical intonations spoken as she gestured towards the tree, an apple falling, and then another.

Of course, she could have saved everyone else the trouble of climbing, but they looked like they were having fun! That, and with Tarina the only one around, it wasn't as though they could protest.

The appearance of the Unicorn, however, startled Silverpaw out of her reverie, having nearly forgotten about the other Princess entirely. Blinking as she was called out to, Silverpaw approached carefully, kneeling on the opposite side of Tarina as she pulled off her gloves, beckoning her friend over and quietly making soothing noises - Kog liked it, so wouldn't a unicorn? A silvery palm lightly brushed the edges of its wounds, unseen power coalescing in the girl's fingers.

"Just a few scratches. . .Enough to be hurt," Silverpaw responded, slowly running her palm along a scrape - She was no master of healing, but simple cuts and bruises she cold handle, and she could soothe it. "It's alright, my friend," She cooed, carefully tending to the poor thing.

Kog, on the other hand, saw no need to be careful as it bounded up, half-eaten apple (easily twice the side of it's head) clutched between its teeth. Its tails twitched back and forth playfully as it made its way just under the unicorn's snout, where it dropped the remainder of it's snack, bounding around it and looking up at the unicorn expectantly.

Rosegold might be a hunter and fighter, but she wasn't about to try and stop a speeding horse running right next to her, so she didn't try. She just sidestepped to make sure she was out of the way of its hooves. Then she quickly turned her attention to the mysterious, pale woman. What was she doing out here, and why had the unicorn reacted so strongly to her?

Her strange rambling didn't shed much light on that, and Rosegold continued to watch her warily. She would have responded, save that she seemed to vanish entirely after she'd spoken. She waited for her to emerge, then, puzzled but cautious, went to look behind the tree and found she'd disappeared. Since Anemone didn't seem to be dying or anything, Rosegold's first priority was making sure the woman wasn't a lurking threat.

"Strange," she said softly before she turned back to answer Shira. "I'm fine, you?" She headed over to Anemone to lend a hand as well. "And you?" she asked her.

Anemone was sure her stomach was badly bruised. It didn't matter how muscular you were, you would still be injured if you were dragged through the forest by a stampeding unicorn. She took Rosegold's hand, and used it to tug herself up. Just like the muscle, Anemone weighed a lot more than she looked like. The girl looked back and forth, "I'll be fine. Thank you, so much. Thought I was a goner!"

She then glanced, stunned, at the spot where the woman who appeared before them had been, "That... Was the Witch. An exile, but a powerful enchantress," Though her dress was torn and her body hurt, the girl started to move at a decent pace out of the woods, "I - I have to tell Linda!"

A nod to Rosegold's question, Shira's face was flushed with tiredness, but she seemed to be in good spirits. "Cool air, The beauty of the forest. Like the leaves, even the fallen run with the wind on such a day." She twirled to watch Anemone dart though the forest. "We should go too, friend! We may have been bested for the moment, but let us not be separated."

Shira gave a tiny tug on Rosegold's sleeve, but didn't immediately take of running after Anemone. It was more than possible that she didn't know how to track their way back, but didn't seem likely to admit as much.

The unicorn relaxed and nuzzled under Lia's touch. It seemed to act less broken by fear than naturally tame at this point. It back and turned a little bit to see Kog running around, then turned it attention to the treat the creature left. It knelt down carefully, clearly very conscious of its horn, and too a bite.

When there was just a bit of the apple left, the mystic beast speared the fruit, corking the tip of its horn. It moved the bar over to Kog, offering a ride to the small animal.

Once it lifted it head, it stared deeply at Tarina. It seemed to sense something, something inside her, there under the slowly setting sun.

Still, for the moment, it seemed willing to be led back to the academy. If they led, it would follow the girls.

Tarina was glad of two things... 1) the Unicorn's apparent compliance and 2) the setting sun.  She breathed deeply, as if scenting a pleasant breeze.  Now she felt truly alive!  Meeting the unicorn's stare, Tarina offered a small smile and put her finger to her lips in a shushing gesture.

"Would you care to lead it back to the academy, Silverpaw?  It seems to like you the most.  I wonder what is keeping the others..."

Moving away slightly, Tarina gave a summoning whistle towards the woods (where the other girls had disappeared into).  If they were lost, her voice could help guide them back out.

"Girls!  Its time to head back.  Shira... Anemone... Rosegold..."

"I didn't really do much," Rosegold observed matter-of-factly after Anemone thanked her. Her delivery was blunt, but she meant it as modesty rather than argument. "The Witch, huh... Well, I'll come too." It wasn't like she needed to hang around out here, even without someone like that in the area. Plus, Shira was unexpectedly tugging at her sleeve and calling her 'friend,' which was unexpectedly kind of endearing, although it also made her twitch a bit. "All right," she added to Shira with a faint smile before she headed after Anemone.

It was no challenge to trace back the trail of a speeding unicorn and two human pursuers, and she emerged from the woods soon after Tarina called out to them. The unicorn standing right there with the other girls was a surprise, though, so Rosegold kept quiet. She just nodded to Tarina and Sia by way of greeting, then gave them a questioning look.

Kog's tails swished back and forth in typical happiness, watching the Unicorn snack on its offering, obviously pleased. While Lia finished up caring for the creature, the little animal rocked back on its hind legs, before leaping up onto the Unicorn's horn, tails wrapping around the base as it secured itself on the apple, chittering happily as it nibbled at the remains of the fruit, clearly satisfied in its new friend's willingness to carry it about.

Lia, on the other hand, had watched the exchange quietly, once she'd finished with her work. Confident she need not ride or tie something to the creature, she stood up, a guiding hand resting on its neck, lightly combing its mane as she encouraged it upward. Whatever exchange between Tarina and it, she paid no mind to - or didn't notice. Likely the latter, considering the dull glow of the setting sun prompted her to reach up and take her glasses off. The longer the shadows, the better she could see, and it showed in the straightening of her back and the more confident movements she took. Since she'd received her glasses, the gesture was essentially moot, borne more out of habit than anything, yet she found herself more comfortable, nonetheless.

Blinking, she glanced at Tarina, offering a nod and a smile, before sliding from the unicorn's side, holding out her glasses to the girl. "Here, take these. Kog always knows where they are, so you won't get lost." From there, she made to usher the unicorn back. Once this silly task was done, she could go back to the study and curl up with a good book. Or play with Kog.

Shira's eyes lit up brightly upon seeing the unicorn. "You found it! And tamed it even... Alas, do the brilliant hearts of noble Tarina and wise Silverpaw outshine the trio of ours?" She paused, then corrected herself so as not to offend her other two friends. She tugged Rosegold's wrist once with a thumb's up before letting go of her sleeve. Approaching the horse and rabbit like creatures, she started fawning. "Perhaps Kog makes three as well, surely no one could find fault in an innocent creature. Besides, on our side, we were disadvantaged with a fourth that gave our galloping acquaintance a fright..." She grimaced, remembering the woman in the forest as they approached the academy.

"A creature pale as bone stalks those woods... I know not if it was human, fay or otherwise, yet she spoke of doom, and spoke of reunion. I wish not to see her again." She gulped as she opened the stable doors once they arrived.

Tarina was glad to have the rest of the girls rejoin her and Silverpaw.  She pocketed the Elven girl's glasses too, upon request to do so.  Tarina indicated the unicorn with a nod of her head.  She seemed a little different then her previous demeanor, self assured with an impish smile... perhaps it could be termed roguish.

"Something spooked it back to us... I'm guessing it wasn't any of you.  Did you see any strange people around, asking for me?"

Rebels from her kingdom were certainly a possibility.  Maybe the Unicorn saw their darkness and bolted.  However Shira told her tale and it seemed a dark fortuneteller was the culprit instead.  Tarina breathed a sigh of relief.  The walk back was nice and she was glad to see the task completed.  The only downside was seeing Joanna again.

Anemone ran. Straight out of the forest. Straight past the other members of the group (Though she did shout something to them as she passed about getting back). Straight back to the academy. Each step was packed with a certain power. The ground seemed to nearly shiver underneath her heavy footsteps. She didn’t even bother grabbing her shoes from the base of the tree. Linda would have killed her in any other circumstance. But this? This was a worst case scenario. She had to make letting her Mistress know about the Witch.

Linda was waiting for them. All of them. Not just the group that had vanished, heading far away from campus, but all of the potential Queens. When she saw Anemone, her blue eyes popped open like a budding moonflower. The discussion about what Anemone was wearing was extremely short. The discussion about the Witch was shorter. Ending with a quick, “We’ll talk later, Miss Narcissus.”

The end only came when the group ended up approaching Linda, Unicorn in toe. The moment she touched the beast, it seemed to relax. In a soft, yet sturdy tone, she said, “Ah. It seems as though we have our first winners. Young Princess...es? Oh my! I didn’t anticipate there being multiple winners. Regardless, we’ll elevate your standing in the competition. Congratulations on a job well done, and thank you for your hard work,” She said with a wide grin, then turned to the group, “Now, all of you. Back inside! It’s almost night, and it’s never a wise idea to be outside after dark. Particularly not tonight.”

Rosegold twitched again when Shira tugged her sleeve, but managed to contain any further reaction. The movement itself wasn't offensive - Rosegold could tell it was meant companionably - but she wasn't used to it. In Harraf, an unexpected, light touch often meant an insect had landed on you and was about to bite or sting.

She nodded to confirm Shira's account of the witch's appearance, although it was more elaborate than she would have put it. Then she answered Tarina with a hint of curiosity. "Asking about... you personally? No." Assuming Tarina wasn't an egomaniac, presumably she had some reason for such a question. "Whoa," she added when Anemone passed them powerfully.

She duly, quietly reported in to Linda with the others, and nodded when she'd finished speaking. This had wound up a more physical task than Rosegold had expected, and she wouldn't mind turning in. So she headed inside to do just that.