Skin deep

She told herself being an innocent wasn't everything. In fact it was nothing. It meant nothing.

Right?

She felt the first sting of tears burn at her eye balls. God! She must be a baby! She was no longer an innocent… So what! It shouldn't matter this much! But it did…

And it hurt!

The hot stabbing sensation spiked at her chest. She sniffled and rubbed the ivory horn on her forehead in a calming gesture. Her beast was silent. It was as if it wished for her to deal with the suffering alone. And boy… Did she ever feel alone.

One mistake… Just one mistake. And she was banished. No longer protected. No longer beautiful… No longer innocent.

It wasn't FAIR! Her fists slammed on the ground in her tantrum. She could still imagine hooves there. Beautiful hooves… With tuffs of fur round them, and thinner white fur covering her arms! Why? Why!

A soft gasp made her look up. She twisted to face the one whom had made that breathy noise. The silhouette quickly darted away. She rose, all senses on alert. That was one of the few things that hadn't dulled when they'd removed that precious part of her. The part that had made her innocent. The part that had made her beautiful.

Her breath hitched at the thought and her body sped up. Her legs were the same, she was slower than usual. Adjusting to the upright position and yet faster than the creature she pursued. Leaves were kicked up, both participants in the race were at ease with the forest. Weaving through trees effortlessly. It was like a dance... An intricate dance.

Catching up to him she sprung, swiftly moving through the trees and stopping it in its tracks. Her catch toppled backwards in surprise. Her discolored eyes widened in surprise.

"A… Halfling?" her tinkling voice said in surprise. She stepped closer to have a look at the creature. Through the shadows the creature appeared to have two pointed horns atop his head framed by chestnut brown curls. The creature panted, fearful of her. His jaw moved, his lips parted as if to speak, then shut abruptly. He lifted pale blue eyes to meet her own and he froze.

"A defiled innocent." He stated what he had known to be fact. She felt compelled to answer, though it seemed stupid to answer a creature so ignorant.

"I am no more defiled than you are human." She said with a clipped voice, in a cryptic fashion.

"Then… Then am I half right?" he pushed himself to his hoofed feet. Human arms, face and torso but with several goat parts mixed in... She shouldn't be talking to him. He was a lesser being. She would be reprimanded and- No she wouldn't. She wasn't part of that circle anymore. She was a lesser being now.

She allowed her head to bob. And he smiled, a gesture unfamiliar to her. She saw the movement through the shadows and her face turned fierce. "What are you doing?" she demanded harshly. His eyes widened feeling the change making that odd facial expression vanish.

"Nothing!" he denied. She narrowed her gaze.

"You did… You did this with your face." She tried to use unused muscles but couldn't and used her new appendages to push the corners of her mouth up. She felt suspicious of the creature. This was his turf after all…

The creature chuckled and her temper flared as she sensed it was at her expense. "It's called smiling. Most of us do it to show how we feel. In this case… I was kind of happy." There was something on his face reddening his features though it was covered by the shade of the dense forest.

"Happy?" she repeated incredulously. "I just chased you through a forest as you ran scared. And yet you claim to be happy?" He nodded.

"Though you chased me…. You have yet to harm me. And I find our conversation strange but funny." His lip twitched in amusement though she had no way to distinguish the action from happiness.

"What are you?" she asked in confusion. He was like no other she had met before.

"Well…" he began, taking a few steps back. The forest canopy ended a few meters away and he stepped into the light giving her a good look at him. Brown furred hind legs and tiny pointed horns on his head. "I am a faun… But I am better known… As Lightdancer." His light blue eyes seemed to glow as the sun framed his body. He seemed so bright, it was almost as if a star had settled on the earth. She was in awe at this strange and marvelous being.

"Your jaw dropped." He noted smugly. She shut it immediately. He tilted his head. "I have yet to see your form…" he held out a hand for her. She shook her head violently.

"I can't. I am deformed." She spat. "I can never be in the light again..."

But when he spoke again it was with an unearthly undertone. As if something was connecting them, binding them and bringing them closer. "Come... I will not judge. I will not turn from you. You have no cause to fear."

The same thing that had tugged at the faun pulled at her. She took those few steps into the light, fueled by something not herself. As his eyes turned to disks she wished to run into the sanctuary of the cool forest. Her pride would not allow such a defeat. "I'm hideous." And something in her was breaking. A fine thread that kept her rooted to the world.

"You are beautiful." He gasped. She didn't see what he did… She was a marvel to behold!

"My fur is in patches, my body is disproportional and I am ugly." She kept her eyes trained on her hooves, her ears down. She had fallen, stripped of everything she once held dear.

"What I see… Is someone crafted from a cloud. Soft white hair framing a face like mine, hands like mine and a pure ivory horn that mirrors my two. Your skin is smooth like cream; your two gold and green irises are like the green forests and bright sun. I see someone who is not perfect…" Perfect… Her most hated word since the falling… "But who is beautiful… Inside and out." And he flashed her a smile as warm as summer sunshine. It filled her, warmed her heart till she felt it might explode.

But her mind made her question his words. "How… How can you say that when-!" she paused mid-sentence. He was like her. They turned her into a creature just like him! There she was going on and on about how revolting she was and before her stood someone infinitely similar. The same shaped hands, the same shaped face and legs. He stood at eyelevel to her.

"Am I hideous?" he asked her plainly, grasping her hands in his own. His hands enveloped hers as she studied his features. She wanted to cry. Bawl like a baby as she looked at his being.

Covered in sun beams; sweat clung to him, the wind played with his soft curly hair that begged her to touch. Blackish hooves touched the ground framed by brown fur that spanned his whole leg and bottom half. Tanned sheep ears poked out sideways from his skull and short twin horns reflected white light on his head. His sheep-like nose twitched.

He was gorgeous.

"No…" Her voice broke as she admitted it, a tear sliding down her cheek. He tugged her closer.

"Then how could you be ugly?" he stepped back and she caught sight of her reflection in a crystal clear pool of water.

"Try and tell me that this is ugliness." He pointed at the reflection, gentle blue eyes looking at her. She looked…

And saw.

She wasn't as she had always known herself. She no longer stood on four legs. No longer a whole unicorn. No longer as pure as she had been…

But… There was a certain beauty to be found in the way the light touched her hair. The way her new appendages flexed and the length of her long black lashes. The way her lips could move, giving life to her features, and the new curves of her body… More lithe than she had ever been.

"So?" the faun said, breaking the silence. She merely raised her head in response then looked back at the waters surface. "Are you still misguided into believing that you are hideous?" she gave a gentle shake of her head. The corners of his lips tugged upwards. "Why do you find beauty so important?" he found himself asking.

"Because… Because…" she found herself faltering and salted water leaked from her eyes. First in drops, then in streams. It seemed so foolish when he said it. How could she convince him of its importance? She fisted her hands. "That was all that ever mattered. It's the only thing I ever had. It was all I wanted and all I needed!" she breathed in and out choppily, confessing it had been harder than she expected. Why was he making her think such things? She didn't want to have such confusing thoughts!

He turned his baby blues on her. "But… It's not anymore?" he said as if it were a suggestion.

She raised her arms and pressed fisted hands to her tear streaked eyes. "I just don't understand myself anymore!" she closed her eyes. His arms circled her body. Warmth spread through her body. A hushed gasp escaped her.

Her eyes widened in surprise as if touch were so foreign a concept to her that she could scarcely believe it. Thinking on the current situation, he realized that his speculation may very well be reality. Her heart beat rabbit-like thumps against his chest. Her eyes were filled with worry. As if a darkness had tainted her soul. "What worries you?" he knitted his brows as concern filled him.

"I'm feeling… It's a good feeling and yet… I know it is bad." Her eyes seemed to stare right through him. "I want to pull you closer… But I know. I know this to be wrong. Yet this desire seems to claw at me." She pressed her eyelids together as if trying to shut it out. He nuzzled her neck gently and she half gasped as fire licked through her every cell in her body.

She wanted to run. Hide from the force that propelled her towards him. But mostly she just wanted to embrace him deeper. And that was what she feared… "Hearing you say that… Makes me very happy…" He smiled into the crook of her neck, making the words come out half muffled. He felt almost giddy with happiness. She smacked him on the head with a force that made him wince.

She snorted, folding her arms and taking a step back. "Glad you think so." She pursed her lips together in silent fury. He sent her a wry smile.

"I say that only because… I want you too." His lips did that odd tilting thing again - a smile- she remembered. His hands rested lightly on her upper arms.

She felt her heart leap even as it sunk.

"But-" she felt herself protesting, eyes squeezed shut. What was this strange feeling? This had never happened before! Everything here was so confusing. She barely even knew herself.

"Didn't you feel before?" his question was innocent enough.

She knew just how to answer him.

Her lips nipped at his tenderly, his arms circled her wait and she pressed herself against his body. He groaned softly when she slipped her tongue into his mouth. A silent probe. From exploring she turned aggressive pinning his arms behind him with unearthly strength. He could barely wiggle his arms. His baby blues widened in surprise and he moaned again as she assaulted his mouth, sending his nerves into a frenzy. Their tongues danced the salsa and fire seemed to lick through them. She crushed her body against him, pushing him to the floor. They hit the ground with a soft thud, knocking the wind from him.

She broke the kiss with a sultry smile. She watched, satisfied as a cat when he drew a heaping gulp of air. Her own soft pants were drowned out by it. "No. Never like this." she told him, it felt so good. Way too good. Forgotten muscles strained as she widened her grin knowingly. "You're a virgin." She stated. It was no question. It was a fact she was sure of.

"I-I'm starting to think that you have a split personality." He stuttered out, thoughts scattering far and wide.

"And I'm starting to think that being an innocent was overrated."

She pressed her lips to his again and his mind was lost. Lost to the strange, but beautiful creature before him. And the funny thing was… That he liked it.

He liked her a lot.