a twisted swan lake - ARTEMIS

[odette]

The surface of the lake was perfectly mirror smooth, until the beautiful white swan landed on the surface and caused ripples that disturbed the surface. It did a simple circle in the center of the lake as the sun finished going down, sinking beneath the trees. As it sank lower and darkness covered the lake, the swan swam a bit closer to the shore, in preperation for what was coming.

Moonlight appeared soon after, stretching across the lake. The minute the first rays touched the swan's feathers, it began to take on an unnatural glow. Bright lights and water swirled up and around in a globe, and left standing on the surface of the water was a very human girl. She floundered for a moment, still not quite used to the transformation, before she plunged into the water. It took her a moment longer to surface, and begin the swim to shore.

Her feet touched grass and she took in a deep breath with her new human lungs. Odette really hated being a swan. Stupid curse. It always made things so much more complicated - not to mention hunting season would be open soon, and she knew plenty of people that hunted swans for their feathers. She didn't fancy being struck through the heart with an arrow.

Stepping away from the lake, she began to wring out her hair and her dress in irritation. It would take her half the night to dry off completely. Flopping down on the grass, slightly defeated, she prepared herself for another long night.

[Deleted]

In certain cultures, swans are sacred, or protected, and even within Greek mythos itself, they'd certainly been used as avatars of purity and beauty... the problem was that, even as an avatar of purity herself, Artemis thought it was a perfectly reasonable target for her bow.

So it was only expected, when she saw the graceful creature touching down on the water's surface, that her bow would materialise in her hands even as she took aim, not wanting to lose the perfect shot from where she had been stood, concealed amongst the trees around the lake.

Her shot was perfect - or would have been, had the transformation not already begun, the swirling magic and water sending her arrow off-course and skidding harmlessly beneath the surface, but Artemis wasn't watching that anymore, she was staring at the changing swan. A spell cast by moonlight was to do with her enough as it was, but the combination of young girl and animal intrigued her even more, even enough to keep her from laughing when the girl fell in.

She made her way around the trees, still watching as the young woman surfaced and began to fuss about drying herself, before finally stepping out from her cover just as Odette flopped onto the grass.

"That was interesting."