Back in the forest, the Tear hopped up on her broom and flew straight up. The air grew cooler and cooler, until she reached beyond the clouds. The sun was but a pink smudge on the horizon, and the twinkle of the stars grew in visibility.

If no fey community would have her, and certainly no human one, the Tear would have to find an individual and enlist their aid.

Calmer, she headed back down to the forest floor, and cloaked herself with shadows and darkness. Invisible to the eye, she asked the shadows if any light had disturbed them. It was too broad of a question. For several moments they bemoaned the cities and villages with their flames and lanterns.

“Why do all those folks need light after a full day with the sun! They don’t appreciate us enough. And poor moon!” and on and on, they said in their eerie high pitched voices.

After a few more complaints, the Tear coaxed some useful information out of them. They sensed someone disturbing the shadows near the center of the forest.

“Thank you,” the Tear said, and hoped whomever she found would be an ally.

The being the shadows led her to was a river dwarf. The river dwarf guided a shoal of fish through the air, a sphere of summoned light illuminating his path. The fish he led flashed silver and bronze in the air current, casting glimmers onto the darkness of the forest floor. When Tanya revealed herself, the dwarf fainted the second he realized what had accosted him. His magic ceased to function with him unconscious, a huge oversight on his part, and all the fish flopped onto the earth. As they gasped, the Tear wove a spell as quickly as she could manage to save them. Then she turned and left the prone dwarf, the saved fish darting around him.

She paused, sighed, and glanced back at the dwarf once. But someone with a constitution like that was not one she wanted on her team.

The Tear questioned the shadows again for a lead, and they directed her to the southeastern quadrant of the forest. There was someone with a lamp disturbing the shadows, and the shadows detected strong magic, too.

She heard them first. The clip-clop of hooves at a canter, and soft humming of a woman.

Under her garb of shadow and silence, there was a sharp, unheard intake of breath as the figures came into view.

A pale lavender unicorn with a flowing mane navigated through the forest. On his back was a young human woman, holding a lantern aloft before her. A dark green hood obscured her profile. The Tear did not reveal herself, and followed, curious.

Unicorns were few in number, and powerful. Before the corruption, unicorns had worked in tandem with Tears for the good of all.

If she could get the unicorn to aid her, and perhaps the woman as well, opportunities to work with others would arise. The terror of her being a Tear would be softened by the unicorn’s presence.

When the woman set camp, she would approach them.

As they continued on, the Tear sensed something amiss. The unicorn led the woman in circles and loops. While it walked this strange route, it wove a subtle magic. The Tear prodded it with a feather touch and found it was a misdirection spell.

Was somebody chasing this pair? Who was this woman? But...this misdirection spell was inverted, and so made useless for those purposes. It hadn’t diverted the Tear from them at all. How strange.

After completing one more loop the unicorn halted and the woman dismounted. With a fluid shimmer, the unicorn turned from beast to man. Even in a humanoid form, there was no mistaking the unicorn for anything normal. His hair was the same lavender of his unicorn coat, and it reached to his back in a soft cascade.

He tied his hair away from his face.

“Well, Visanta,” the unicorn said, his voice like softened butter, “it was a pleasure meeting you. Get home safe. It may take you a while.”

A puzzled expression crossed Visanta’s face at the unicorn’s word, while understanding dawned on the Tear.

The unicorn sent a blast of magic at the woman, and Visanta fell. The unicorn caught her with ease, and lowered her to the ground. With smooth, practiced motions he rifled through her satchel and the pockets of her cloak, and removed the jewelry she had on.

He put all the valuables he found into her satchel and slung it over his shoulder.

“Thank you, dear.”

The Tear decided it was time to step forward. All her senses told her the being in front of her was a unicorn. But a thieving, sneaky unicorn? That seemed a contradiction.

The Tear revealed herself.

The unicorn froze, and his throat bobbed as he gulped. But he didn’t faint in terror nor run.

“Hello,” the Tear said, “my name is Tanya.” The Tear felt the syllables of her chosen name, and nodded. She had thought about which name to choose since her birth, and Tanya suited her.

She felt the unicorn readying his magic, and she held up a hand. Why did everyone insist on violence?

“Please, I am not corrupt like my sisters,” Tanya gazed at the prone woman and the stolen goods,“but I didn’t think the unicorns had been corrupted too.”

The unicorn stopped, and clutched the satchel tighter. Then a short, brittle laugh escaped him.

“We’re not. That’s just me.”

Tanya tilted her head, “What brings a noble one like you to such straits?”

The unicorn shrugged, but was still tense, “I made a bad deal.”

“I’m willing to assist you with this ‘bad deal,’ if you will help me in return.”

The unicorn eyed her, subtle calculation on his face.

“What do you want?” he asked.

“To free my sisters from whatever has cursed us. If one such as you backed me--”

“I don’t have any status with my own people,” the unicorn said, “But others don’t know that.”

“I can work with that,” more than the specific aid of unicorns, Tanya just needed an entry way to the other fey, so they wouldn’t chase her away, kill her on sight, or want nothing to do with her. A unicorn backing her would help her case.

“What do you need help with?” Tanya asked.

The unicorn touched the back of his neck, “I owe the Evory clan a significant sum of money. To the tune of four thousand gold.”

“That is...a lot.” Tanya thought for a moment, “If we can find someone who has use for my enchantment skills, we could make that sum in short order.”

The unicorn frowned, “If you did that work for the Evory clan themselves, that would be an even easier way to clear my debts.”

Tanya nodded, “Let’s do that. But first, please return that poor girl’s items to her and take her home.”

The unicorn looked down at the girl, and a tiny flash regret crossed his face.

“Okay. Just to formalize this-- you clear my debt and I’ll assist you--”

“I will require your services and aid for the duration of one month.”

The unicorn nodded, “Okay,” and the two shook hands.

“Kuon, by the way. My name is Kuon,” the unicorn said and then reverted back to his equinine form. Tanya slung the unconscious girl over the unicorns back and wove a spell of comfort so the woman wouldn’t wake up sore. Kuon removed his misdirection spell. The two dropped off the girl by a human estate bordering the forest, where the unicorn had spirited her away from.

Even if all the signs pointed to her companion attempting to renegade on their deal, Tanya was glad to not be alone and shunned.

She’d handle the chaos that was soon to ensue, one way or another.