Llevarta meets a boy who will change her life.

They're probably around twelve in this story, so of course it takes place well before those last few stories I posted... anyway, enjoy!

Llevarta's Perspective

It was a beautiful sight.
The unicorn swished its silver tail as it grazed, not seeming to know or care if there were prying eyes. Its white coat gleamed in the mottled sunlight, and its long, white horn spiraled gracefully off into a fine point.
Wouldn't Tannufia be jealous I'd seen a unicorn! But I couldn't call her over to look; a loud noise might startle it.
Suddenly there was a crunch of leaves as if some large object had just fallen to the ground. The unicorn pricked up its ears, but otherwise seemed undisturbed. I listened carefully. Pretty soon there was more movement: a slow, crackling crunch, like somebody trying to be quiet was stepping on a pile of leaves. The unicorn had lifted its head and was eyeing the noisy area warily.
“N-no,” came a soft voice from behind a tree. “Don't look at me... please don't look at me....”
Taking a careful look at where I was placing my feet, I walked slowly toward the boy's hiding place. Then I got far enough around the tree to see him and hesitated.
It was a fi. His wings weren't folded up all the way; there was no mistaking him. He was pale and shaking, his eyes shut tight and his body hugging the trunk of the tree.
Sure, he was a fi, but he was so scared that instead of being wary, I felt sorry for him. I stepped closer.
Suddenly he opened his eyes and turned his head away, trying to see around the tree. That didn't work, so he tried to see the other way around the tree. But he never got that far; he caught sight of me first and let out a little gasp.
“Well, hello there,” I said quietly, coming closer. “What brings you here on this fine day?”
“G-get away from me!” he whimpered, sliding down the trunk until he was sitting on the ground, holding up his arms to shield himself. “I d-didn't do anything!”
I grinned and sat in front of him. “What do you want from that unicorn?”
“...What?” he whispered, lowering his arms enough to look over them at me.
“You came to get something from the unicorn, didn't you?”
“Yeah,” he sighed, his arms falling at his sides. “What are you going to do with me?”
“Nothing yet,” I said. “What did you want from it?”
“Well,” he started, “...my brothers sent me to get a tail hair.”
“What do they want it for?” I asked.
“I don't know, probably to sell it. They're worth a lot in the Merfaen.”
“How much of the money will they give you, for getting it?”
“Nothing, they just won't beat me up for failing.”
“But that's blackmailing!”
“I don't care what color it is; I'm just not sure if I should be more scared of my brothers or that unicorn.”
I smiled. “There's no need to be afraid of her. Watch.” I stood and walked out toward the unicorn, who had gone back to grazing by now. She lifted her head as I approached.
“Confidence wins them over,” Tannufia had told me. “Just walk right up and start petting them. They really like it on their necks and shoulders.”
I reached out and ran my fingers along her neck. She turned and nuzzled my ear, which tickled. I laughed and petted her again, then reached up and pulled myself onto her back, petting her the whole time.
“See?” I said looking over at the fi. “You don't have to be afraid, so long as you don't try to sneak up on them; they don't like that very much. Come on out and say hello.”
He slowly edged around the tree to face the unicorn. His eyes kept darting nervously up at her horn.
“It's alright. You can pet her. Give it a try.”
He lifted a quivering hand and rested it behind her ears. She sniffed at his face, then stepped closer so he could run his hand down her mane.
“Now just run your hand all the way down to her tail and pull a couple,” I said.
“A couple?”
“You need something for yourself,” I said, eyeing his ragged clothing.
He looked up at me, wide-eyed. “Who are you?”
“Llevarta, who are you?”
“Drackio.”
“Nice to meet you, Drackio. Now pull those hairs.”
He did as he was told, and the unicorn didn't seem to care that much. He rolled them up carefully and put each in a different pocket.
“Now,” he said, “what's the catch?”
“The catch?”
“What do you want in return?”
“Nothing,” I said. “You just looked like you needed some help. Just don't tell anybody I helped you; they might not take it well.”
“But I've gotta repay you somehow!”
“Well...” I thought for a bit. “How much weight can you handle while you're flying?”
He got a mischievous grin. “You want a ride?”
“I don't know,” I said. “Is it... scary?”
“Nah,” he said. “It's fun! Wanna try it?”
“Well... okay.”
Drackio walked behind me and put his scrawny arms snugly around my body. Then he spread his wings and, after a few quick flaps, we left the ground. He curled a leg around mine to keep them from dangling, then ascended above the trees.
“We'll take this nice and slowly,” he said into my ear. “Just a bit of gliding at first.”
“Okay,” I said, nervously. Simply leaving the ground had been kind of scary, but I wasn't going to say anything. But just in case, I reached up and held onto his upper arms.
Drackio stopped flapping and angled downward a little. I half expected to plummet, but instead we gently floated along on the wind. It was almost relaxing, actually.
“Okay, now that you're not cutting off my circulation, let's get fancy!” said Drackio. He flapped until we were several hundred feet above the treetops. Then he glided in a circle, spiraling gracefully back down. But halfway there, he suddenly evened out and flew rapidly back up again.
“Careful!” I said. There's a group of scouts down there.”
“Ah, thanks,” he said. He quickly dove closer to the trees, then did a flip and flew, upside down, away from the dangerous area. Once we were safely away, he soared back up in a loop-de-loop, barrel rolling as we came down....

“Wow,” I said breathlessly as we landed five minutes later. “That was... amazing!”
“Glad you liked it,” said Drackio. “Well, I guess I'd better get home; my brothers don't like to be kept waiting. Thanks for the help, Llefar-ta.”
“Thanks for the flight, Drackio.”
“Well... see ya.”
“Bye.” We waved to each other and went our separate ways.
“That was cool,” I thought as I looked for Tannufia. “Too bad we couldn't be permanent friends.”
I had no idea how wrong I was.