Seok Yan settled down on the ground like a cat, more of a loaf than was usual for a Soquili but she managed to make it look natural. She eyed the faces staring at her, that had attempted to do the same and smiled. "Now my children, ears open, pay attention, it's time for a story" she smiled softly, her lids closing slowly, in an approximation of a cat's slow blink of reassurance "Tonight's story is about a Princess, a Monster and an Angel" Seok Yan waited, watching the faces of her children to see who was paying attention, they all were at her mention of a monster, great, of course that was the word they caught onto, the one that had them hooked already. The cat like mare smiled, "now close your eyes and imagine.... and i will begin our story"
"Once upon a time there was a beautiful Princess, she was beloved in the small forest where her family, her parents the King and Queen along with her older brother, made their home. She grew up in a safe, wonderful wooded grove in the center of the forest, the trees more open than the ones outside their home, meaning the sunlight was prevalent in comparison to the outer forest. Now, our Princess grew up loved and surrounded by animals and nature, she learned how to care for the wounded creatures that came to their home. She was so beloved by everyone around her that her brother, the Prince, who was supposed to inherit the title of King someday, began to grow jealous because you see, his deeds in the outer forest, the hunting of the evil, wasn't praised as much as his sister's healing of the innocent and wounded, he grew bitter, seeing the affection heaped on his younger sister whom he had loved and tried to teach her how to defend herself but she had refused, laughing, asking him why would she need to, he would always be there to protect her. She had dismissed his efforts, not in a malicious way but she had taken him for granted, even if she didn't realise it. "
Seok Yan took a breath, watching the rapt faces of her children, she took a sip of water from the bowl beside her, since storytelling was thirsty work before she continued.
"Now our Prince wasn't an evil soquili by any means but as other stories and tales have taught us, jealousy can twist even the kindest of Soquili and make them do things they regret and his next actions, he would regret for the rest of the Prince's life, for the Prince had learned of a particular powder that could change a person, make them someone else, someone less loveable and the Prince, being still young, didn't really listen much to the warnings given with the tale of the powder, so he had searched the outer forest for more tales until one very strange looking fox told him where he could find such a power, all he had to do was bring his sister to the place and the fox would do the rest. This the Prince did, after all why wouldn't he trust a fox, a creature of the forest, sadly what he did not see as he ran to fetch his sister, was the strange, large fox, twisted and shifted into a very different looking creature once he was gone, one that was definitely not kind and good nor was it helpful. Later that day the Prince returned with the Princess, smiling cheerfully as he told her of his friend the fox, the Princess' familiar, a rather sweet little bobcat, tagging along. The reached the spot the Prince had met the fox but he couldn't see the creature anywhere when suddenly, a large, evil reeking shape emerged from the shadow of a rock, charging at the pair, before the Prince and the Princess could react, it raised it's big ugly paw and blew a powder in the Princess' face, making her choke and cough, she couldn't move, her eyes burned. The Prince, recognising something of the fox in the large creature, was horrified, he knew this was a creature called a shifter, an evil force, a beast that could have just as easily torn their throats"
Seok Yan paused again, wondering if this part was scaring the children but no, their eyes were now wide open, leaning forward to hear more. She laughed, took another sip of water and carried on telling the story.
"When the creature only laughed and ran off, the Prince turned to his sister, who was making some strange noises now, she didn't sound normal at all, her bobcat familiar by her side snapped at the Prince and told him to go get his parents, they might be able to help her. The bobcat tried to comfort her friend when the Princess collapsed to the ground but she could do nothing, especially when suddenly the Princess lunged and killed her friend right there and then"
Seok Yan halted again, just for a moment before she continued, the rapt faces of her children reassuring, for what was a fairytale without a little evil.
"The Princess had become a shifter, she had taken her familiar's form for herself but she was confused and angry, it was as if she had no soul and, when her brother returned with their parents, she had attacked them, severely injuring their mother and her brother before her father finally, with tears in his eyes, driven her off, shortly after that day the Prince also disappeared. It was many months before he returned, cautious as tales of an evil creature wearing a stolen face spread fear throughout the forest they called home, with him was a companion, an Angel of a soquili, which we would call an Angeni, who had listened to the tale the Prince had to tell and, taking pity on the small family, had agreed to hunt down the Princess, while the Angeni didn't have a cure for the curse, she did have a means to restore the Princess' mind to it once was, or at least, bring the Princess some peace from the evil of the curse. The angel and the prince spent many days tracking the Princess before the had found the cave she had been using for a sleeping place, it took a few more hours of the precious daylight they had, to make a trap to contain the Princess. Come nightfall when the Princess exited her cave she found herself caught in a large net, she growled, fought, twisted, bit, changed forms multiple times before she grew exhausted, the Angel and the Prince held her down in her smaller bobcat form while the Angel gently placed a shining gemstone in the middle of the Princess' forehead, it flashed a glow once, before fading again, the Princess grew still beneath the pair. Blinking hard the Princess looked at her brother the Prince before whispering his name, the Prince rejoiced, she remembered who he was! He cried hard and hugged his sister, refusing to let go even as she changed from the stolen form of her familiar, the pair of them sobbing. The Angel led the pair home to their parents who clung to the princess as if she would disappear if they released their embrace, eventually they told the Princess all of what had happened, they blamed themselves as much as the Prince. The Princess was heartbroken over what she had done but she forgave her brother, she had seen the ugly side of the world and had realised that her brother had not had malicious intentions, he had just wanted the same attention she had been lavished with, their parents, realising their mistake also forgave the Prince, particularly at the urging of the Angel. In the end, the Princess could no longer heal, the Prince was no longer to inherit a title, in fact the King and Queen rennounced their own titles, becoming caretakers of the forest instead of it's rulers. The four of them together, healed what they could and instead of seeing the world as good and evil, they finally saw that things were always a little of both. The End"
Seok Yan watched during her tale, as the children grew sleepy, one had even fallen asleep almost immediately after she had finished. "Now you see how jealousy can hurt those you love" she said softly before tucking her children into their beds of soft grasses. "Sleep well my little ones and dream of Princes, Princesses and Angels" She did wonder if any would dream of monsters but she would be here for any nightmares that may come from her story, before she too, curled herself up beside her children, close enough that if either reached out, they could touch her, or her them if needed and closed her own eyes to sleep.
