Saving the Wolf (On Hold)

Chapter 4

=="There was a time, many, many years ago when humans were like us.  They were one with nature and shifted as we do.  But their change goes back to a story of two brothers. 

These two brothers, Jiga and Leon, were from a pure line of pegasi, an animal of the earth and sky, very rare indeed.  As you well know, there are no pegasi today, and if there are, they have been lost to us.  The reason is what happened between Jiga and Leon.

Jiga was a startling pure white pegasus, handsome beyond all and was only matched in beauty and skill by his twin brother Leon.  Leon was as black as the night sky without stars, and to everyones knowledge, so was his heart.  He was bitter that he had been cursed to be seen as a literal shadow of his twin.  He thought it an injustice.  The only time he felt equal to Jiga was in man form.

In man form, only their hair differed in color, his black, and Jiga's white.  They both had pale, porcelain-like skin, and ice blue eyes. 

Though Jiga was known to have a good heart, there were certain weaknesses which corrupted his character.  He always wanted to be the best and was on the extreme side of vain, making sure he was the center of attraction for every woman that passed by. 

Leon was well aware and annoyed by this.  They only went after pegasi women, and all of them were infatuated with Jiga.

One day, after an especially frustrating day of trying to court a young pegasi lady named Flora, Leon found himself storming off into the woods, in his man form, fuming with rage.  He had been so close to catching her fancy until Jiga had flown in with flowers and dropped them at Flora's feet with a big smile. 

After that, Leon had, again, become just a shadow in the presence of Jiga.

As Leon stomped through the woods, he stopped, picked up a rock, and threw it hard as he could towards the setting sun.  Watching as it landed, he heard a great yelp as it disappeared into the bushes.  Curious, he went to search for what he had hit.

When he parted the bushes, he found an old hag, sitting and rubbing her head with a very hurt expression.  She looked up when he cleared his throat and quickly got to her feet.

"I'm sorry I hit you with that rock, I didn't know you were there," Leon apologized as she looked him up and down.

"You threw that rock?  What has made you so upset?  It was dripping with anger and frustration."  She looked at him curiously as he tried to figure out what she was about.  Finally, he decided it was harmless to tell her his problem.  Besides, she was just an old hag.

"I'm frustrated because my brother always has to best me in everything and all I am to everyone is but a shadow of him.  I cannot find a wife, for he has all of the women's fancy, and I do not want to spend my life alone under his image.  He again interrupted me courting someone and they decided to go with him."  By this time he felt heat in his face and his anger was boiling at the brim.

The hag smiled at him and said, "I can help you with that if you would like.  Would you not outshine him if he stayed as a man and you as a pegasus?"

Leon thought quickly, "Yes I would, but he can always change back into a pegasus."

"What if I told you there is a way to make him stay as a man, and he'll never change back again?" The hags smile grew as she saw that she had his full attention. 

"It is not as hard as it seems.  He only has to want to stay in his man form, and be willing to give up his pegasus side."

"He would never do it, he knows he will always best me as a pegasus."

"But from what you have told me, women's opinions matter to him, so what if he falls for one who will not have him unless he is human?  Here is what I propose.  I will send a woman who is so beautiful to him that he will not help but fall for her, and she will convince him to give up his pegasus half to stay with her.  My payment will be his half that he has given up and you will have to worry no more about him outdoing you.  He will only be after one woman AND he will be in man form always.  The rest of the women will be there for you.  You outshine the rest of the pegasi men so there will be no problem."

Leon pondered for a bit.  "He will never change back?"

"Never."

Finally greed overtook his senses, "Then we have a deal."

The hag laughed, the harsh sound making Leon flinch.  "Very well, head back to your home and she will arrive by night fall." 

Leon thanked the hag and left. What he did not see was as soon as he left, the hag laughed again and with a wave of her arm, shadow wisped around her and she transformed into a beautiful young woman.  She giggled as she tugged on her beautiful brown locks and started off in the direction Leon had gone."==

After a moment of silence, Nanita yawned and smiled at the entranced audience.  "That will have to be all for tonight, I am much too tired to continue on and it is indeed a long story."

The crowd grumbled but then started clapping and laughing after they realized that they had been caught up in the tale.  Shadow had not realized that he too had been captivated until Moxy shook him and told him to stand up.

"You should see the look on your face, it was as if you had just walked into a room made of pure diamond, haha!" Moxy started shaking with laughter as they went with the crowd to clear out into the night.

Shadow growled and shoved Moxy, "I was not, I was merely interested.  You have to admit that that is a very good beginning to a very good tale.  She is far better than all of the other storytellers that I can remember." 

Moxy agreed and they headed out into the cold night, not noticing a pair of dark blue eyes watching them intently as they left from beside the fire.