ooc: application (mandalus)

[michinniuint]

→ PLAYER INFORMATION;
Name: Mhairi
Personal Journal: uglytidings
Contact: email: eyelinerkisses[at]hotmail[dot]com||aim&plurk: deathwailart
Timezone: GMT

Current Characters: Zevran & Altair

→ CHARACTER INFORMATION;
Character Name: Shirley McAllister
Character Journal: michinniuint
Canon: Original
Canon Point: after she has killed the Dullahan with Corbin, before Lennox is born
Canon Building: Alea Iacta Est; the family pub owned by her grandfather (who lives in the flat attached to it) where not only he works but her father too (where he met Shirley's mother) and where Shirley works too as she job hunts - it's where she meets Corbin and learns a great deal of information.  Really, the pub is as much a home to Shirley as her own family home is and she loves spending time there amongst whatever supernatural things come in for a drink.

Exterior: reads Alea Iacta Est not Courage


Interior:




This is the main area of the pub where people can drink and hang out - it's where food is served too with a lunch and dinner menu.

The private lounge


The private lounge is the luxurious backroom of the pub which is kept cut off for those who drink blood or some of the odder things - vampires and werewolves frequent it.  It's quieter and with a secure door etc.

The upstairs flat: (bedrooms x 2, bathroom, kitchen area, living room)










The pub is also home to a jukebox that has since become enchanted due to being around so much magic (the pub toilets and the till/cash register are enchanted too with the toilets flushing themselves - one is prone to also slopping water at people which renders it unusable - and the till automatically opens when there's a sale) which means that it likes to play jokes.  It automatically plays a song that relates to the person walking through the doors and will continue on unless someone thinks at it; once that happens, it plays something else.  It has a library of every song ever made and if you teach it (again via thinking) a song from your world, it will do its best to play it.


History:
.setting:
There's an old power that flows through the maternal line of Shirley's family, one that comes from their Gods, the Gods back in Ireland, the Tuatha Dé Danann, specifically The Morrígan. This power not only granted them magic but also allowed them to sense death before it came and to warn loved ones of impending doom.

The power of the bean sidhe - the banshee.

Shirley is the next in a long line of women who perform their duties in a world where all the old myths and tales are real but hidden to avoid the purges and the fears of bygone days, a banshee who takes grief from the world around her to help those left behind. But this slowly kills her, along with the blood sacrifice involved in her magic, taking a toll on her as the grief grows stronger with every passing generation. Shirley isn't content to fade away however and sets about trying to change her fate, forever changing her family forever.

.history:
Shirley's tale started with Iona who in turned started life as the daughter of Fionn and Elspeth McAlvennie, Fionn an Irish pub owner and the son of a farmer who had raised his son to believe in the old ways which was how he came to know what Elspeth was once they met. Elspeth came from a very ancient line of banshees, albeit a line that had sought to lessen their power to end the line but always a daughter was born, carrying on the line. Iona was the only child, raised to be aware of her power and the true world around her, her mother teaching her to be a banshee and how to use her power. The family lived in Edinburgh and Fionn opened Alea Iacta Est where Iona met Lachlan McAllister, the new boy working her father and eventually they fell in love and married; Lachlan knew of old myths being real which allowed him to gain entry to the pub which had a specialised veil in place to keep the supernatural secret safe. Lachlan had actually witnessed Elspeth announcing his grandfather's death, watching her screaming before transforming into a crow. Lachlan and Iona's marriage gave them twins, Shirley and Cedric, Shirley carrying on the banshee legacy to her mother's dismay.

When Shirley was four, her grandmother passed on to Otherworld, the dwelling of fairies and the Tuatha Dé Danann now, becoming a Shade and a permanent resident, only allowed back to the mortal world on Samhain to see Fionn mimicking The Morrígan's tryst with the Dagda. Other than that, Shirley was raised without incident, a bright, happy girl who knew a great deal about the supernatural from her parents, family friends and from the 'day' crowd at Alea where her grandfather and uncle still worked. Then, Shirley hit puberty and her powers manifested, her mother explaining what they were to her daughter, vowing only to teach her the minimum to hopefully weaken the line further. The Morrígan however had other plans. The fairies (banshee being a type of fairy) had a connection to Otherworld at all times that was strongest when they slept or on days or through events where the boundaries between the two worlds became thin and so while she slept, the Shades of generations past whispered to Shirley of magic she had not been taught, leading to Shirley confronting her mother who refused to teach her more than was necessary. Shirley was already becoming very attuned to death due to the age of the line and the centuries of death and grief that had been passed on to her and her exposure to Otherworld in her dreams only made it worse. Her mother did what she could to shield her, even as Shirley took it to mean that her mother was trying to hide things from her, resenting Iona because of it. Around this time (Shirley being fifteen), one of Shirley's closest friends Cassandra Verity revealed herself to be a Seer, a fact she had to hide from her parents as they had no idea such things were real - Cassandra went on to marry Cedric, having two sons Lennox and Ruadhrí. Shirley asked if Cassandra had seen Shirley using magic and the Seer said yes so reluctantly, Iona handed over old family tomes to her daughter who slowly taught herself spells. All the spells required blood, Shirley's blood and each time she spilled it, she bound herself closer to The Morrígan without knowing what she was doing.

Once she reached eighteen, Shirley went to Otherworld for the first time physically, seeing Elspeth again and the woman tried to warn her granddaughter, saying she had no idea what she was meddling with but being proud and vain (and knowing from Iona of her grandmother being part of the effort to weaken the line too) she refused to listen and underwent the painful ritual of having symbols cut into her skin to seal her spells in place, cut with a bone knife given to her as a memento. Shirley's powers had now come into their own, as had her abilities as a banshee.

Returning to the normal world, she chafed under the bloodline law - while the head of the bloodline, Iona, lived, she would never be as strong as she could be, even with Shirley knowing more magic than her mother. She managed to set her feelings to one side though to go to university to study English and history along with Cedric and Cassandra, working part time in Alea, meeting and befriending other supernatural creatures, sometimes extracting fairy promises via exchanges. It was here that she met Corbin Curran, a Cù Sìth* (fairy dog) who told her of how banshees in the past had been long-lived if they had taken the life of the head of the line and had offered an exchange in return. Even with her lust for power and fear of being trapped in Otherworld as a Shade for all eternity (along with the weight of the grief that kept building), Shirley balked and refused. Corbin however remained; unknown to Shirley, he was not just any Cù Sìth but a Cù Sìth belonging to The Morrígan, there to ensure her will was done. Part of The Morrígan's plan involved the exchange where the price would be Shirley's daughter with Corbin as the father, putting even more magic back in the line to strengthen her once more. But instead, to Shirley's horror as she didn't want to fall in love as she would only hurt them in the future, she began to fall in love with Blair, the son of a Selkie, his father having hidden his mother's skin and so The Morrígan instead would take their child. Despite herself, Shirley fell in love with Blair and Lachlan and Iona began to hope that it would help Shirley stop wishing for more power. However, as time passed, the cumulative grief of the line combined with her use of blood magic left Shirley feeling exhausted and sick and so she asked Corbin for help, ignoring Cassandra's warnings. Corbin repeated that Iona had to die from a blow from a Dullahan's scythe and so she and Corbin set off to take one, killing the Dullahan in the process.

Shirley waited, biding her time as she sought advice from other Shades who agreed that the time had to be right; Cassandra was pregnant and Shirley had no wish for grief to cloud her unborn nephew and so she waited, planning with Corbin on how to do it. Corbin complained about the delay, trying to goad Shirley into action by asking if she had gone soft. Shirley ignored him, instead wondering what she could offer in exchange as she had nothing to hand that felt appropriate, knowing fairy laws and how unwise it was to agree to a deal with nothing to offer right there and then. Corbin said that this was one such situation where she could not pick what she gave and reluctantly, she waited. After all, she was escaping a fate imposed by The Morrígan, it wasn't up to her to name the price.

Eventually the time came when Lennox was two (Shirley being twenty-five) and Shirley felt the time was right - she had found out she was pregnant and couldn't delay any longer and Corbin knew that The Morrígan would be pleased as Shirley's child was part of the deal too because she needed that power. Shirley confronted Iona, all of her grief and guilt over her actions to come snarling her up along with the magic sewn into her skin and she ignored her mother's warnings and please, lashing out and killing her with the scythe, being yanked into Otherworld at the moment of death, howling as she did so. Shirley was confronted by a rightly horrified and furious Elspeth, the pair of them arguing as Shirley condemned her mother and grandmother and those before for trying to go against The Morrígan's wishes as her grandmother rightly pointed out that Shirley too was going against those wishes too by escaping her fate, trying to point out that she'd been manipulated. Shirley insisted that she was putting things right for the future. Iona was present too and embraced her daughter, saying she loved her, forgave her and that she was sorry she hadn't protected her. Before she could say more, Corbin appeared, taking Shirley to The Morrígan, who released Shirley from her fate. Instead of living a normal life, Shirley would live in her body as a banshee but would never age or die like the Shades, taking all the grief of her line and giving The Morrígan power in exchange for Shirley's unborn daughter. Corbin was bound to Shirley's service and Shirley was returned to the normal world.

Immediately upon returning, Shirley turned into a crow and fled to Ireland, hiding from her family, working as a teacher and hiding what she was, with only Corbin around who she resented for lying to her as well as hating herself, the fact that she'd been manipulated and that her lust for power had blinded her to the manipulation. Corbin, even as he'd manipulated Shirley, had cared about her as a friend too and had thought she would have been happy with the outcome but worrying for her and her state of mind, he revealed that Blair was a Selkie's son and that if his mother's skin was found, she could help Shirley's unborn daughter. Desperate to help the banshee, when she asked, he went to hunt for the skin but was met by Cassandra who he confided in; she went to Ireland, forgiving Shirley and saying that the family would too if she explained. Shirley begged her not to and to say nothing to Blair about the baby. Reluctantly, Cassandra agreed returning home to aid Corbin instead where she had a vision of Fionn killing Shirley if she kept her silence and so she told Cedric, Lachlan and Blair who in turn made Fionn swear that he would do nothing at least until the child was born and they had talked to Shirley. Fionn knew of the plans as he'd caught Corbin, beating a confession out of him but he agreed to still his hands and look for Blair's mother's skin,

The skin was finally located, Blair's mother returning to the sea at last, promising to help how she could and at Cassandra's prompting, Blair asked his mother to claim his daughter as a Selkie, to spare her from whatever The Morrígan had planned if there was no other way out of the deal.

The whole family journeyed to Ireland in order to be there when Shirley gave birth on Samhain, Iona and Elspeth permitted to be with their spouses where they informed them of Caoimhe's fate - she would be allowed to live under she had a daughter, a daughter would come young after meeting a Gancanagh*, dying in childbirth, becoming a Shade bound to The Morrígan. They told Iona and Elspeth of the plan involving the Selkies but the two Shades said it wouldn't be enough in likelihood. Shirley gave birth, naming the child Caoimhe, gaining forgiveness from her loved ones even if she couldn't accept it, knowing she had caused too much pain and grief that she would have to live with. Nemain, Badb and Macha, three aspects of The Morrígan appeared upon the birth of Caoimhe, proclaiming they would have the girl and as predicted, the Selkie claim meant nothing to them. Desperate, Shirley said that she would give up anything and everything else but that her daughter was allowed to live her life the way Caoimhe's daughter would; a banshee living a long life without the weight of grief upon her, Shirley paying the blood price and carrying the grief. The three aspects smiled and agreed to the surprise of all; Shirley had finally offered something in exchange - The Morrígan had given Shirley her new role but Shirley had not offered it before, reminding her that wording was important, amused at the situation. Shirley actually saying she would give up her normal life and her mortality, offering herself to The Morrígan would be enough so long as Shirley did not stray from her path, teaching the rest magic for generations to come.

Agreeing, and still in shock, Shirley and Blair raised Caoimhe, not a couple but as friends, teaching her of both sides of her heritage and when it was Blair's turn to die, he took his skin, going beneath the waves. Shirley never aged, never died, watching over her family, alongside Corbin, the fairy and her dog.

.additional info on things I have adapted for this story:
Cù Sìth
Gancanagh
The Morrígan
Selkie
Banshee
Fairy
Aos Sí
Celtic Otherworld
Tuatha Dé Danann
Badb
Macha
Nemain
There is a blend of Celtic, Scottish and Irish mythology along with my own edits for the story.

Personalty:
At a first glance, Shirley comes off as kind of a bitch. No, scratch, that she comes off as a bitch. Shirley was well loved by her parents and her grandfather and got along very well with her twin brother and as a child up until puberty, she was very sweet, happy, bright, outgoing and chatty. After her powers manifested, a darker side of her personality opened up and most of that niceness was tucked away to be kept safe.

Shirley is a fairy. And being a fairy, she's proud. She is somewhat of a control freak when it comes to her own destiny which causes a great deal of problems later down the road; she is so obsessed with fixing her fate and her destiny that she doesn't stop to think and listen and hurts her loved ones and really, she makes things worse for herself as she gets to live, yes, but she's stuck living forever with grief, pain and sacrifice building up to no doubt turn her into something nasty and vicious but that's another matter for much later down the line.

Shirley believes in exchange. You harm her? She has to harm you back. Harm a loved one? She'll go for one of yours if they're available and you if they're not. Learn something from her? You have to teach her something in return. When making deals, it's best to make a deal with Shirley based on something you can provide right at that moment because making an open-ended deal will come back to bite you in the ass. Shirley dislikes acts of charity because she's obligated to return it but she's often charitable herself only it's not exactly charity, it's just that she's obligating you to return the favour in the future. If you make a deal with Shirley then you will not get out of that deal unless Shirley puts it on hold until later - it's a part of her nature.

Shirley is a hypocrite. She's a hypocrite who knows and admits she's a hypocrite. Somehow she thinks this makes it okay to be a hypocrite. But when you work up the nerve to kill your own mother to gain her power, you become very good at learning to justify your actions.

As a banshee, Shirley is bound to The Morrigan and she doesn't like to solve conflicts - she likes to cause them. Shirley will stir the pot. She will find out little secrets and weaknesses and she enjoys playing people off against one another - The Morrigan was always a blood knight and used her intelligence to cause conflicts rather than solving them and thrived on carnage (unlike other warrior goddesses such as Athena) and Shirley has a chip on her shoulder over how she believed her mother lied to her for years when her mother was trying to protect her. She knows in a sense that her issues with her mother are irrational but once a lust for power starts, it's hard to stop it.

None of this is to say that Shirley is evil. Her sense of morality is skewed to one side, yes and she's all about gaining power for herself and she pushes people away but she rationalises it by doing it for others - she gains power and gives up her normal life so her daughter and subsequent generations will still have power without the negatives and she tries to keep people from getting too close because she knows (or knew prior to her deal) that she will die before them and that she would hurt them. Shirley really doesn't want to hurt her loved ones and when she truly hurts them later in her story, she never thinks she is worth their forgiveness, even when it is given and hates herself for her actions because everything was her fault - if she'd stopped and listened, she could have put an end to the manipulation. If she hadn't been so obsessed with gaining powers that hurt her out of vanity and pride, she could have lived a happy life. Shirley is capable of love - once she finds out that her daughter is the price to be exchanged, she asks for help - and Shirley finds it incredibly hard to do that out of pride and the sense of obligation to do so - to keep her safe. She doesn't want for people to feel the way she does all the time, taking that into herself in the future is the one great act she does to prove that she does love her family. Blood is blood and blood is important.

Something very important to know is that Shirley is in pain most of the time due to the fact that she feels not only the grief of those around her but that she takes in a piece of their grief to lessen the burden, something she cannot control, and on top of that, the grief of a banshee line is cumulative. She has centuries of grief on her shoulders. It hurts. It slowly kills her. It's like having a migraine and chronic pain almost every day and indeed, as the death wail manifests in the base of her skull before being released, it more or less is a migraine and so there are times when she snaps for no reason or days when she wants to lie in bed because she's in pain and she hates to show people that because they'll think she's weak or try to be kind and kindness towards her unless it's in response to her kindness is like a slap in the face.

One thing Shirley is truthful about is death. Death is her calling and she claims she wouldn't lie about it but the truth is that she physically can't - if she doesn't want to say anything about it she will flat out refuse unless you make some sort of deal with her but she is blunt and to the point about it. She dislikes when people say they can change something because once she has howled it is because the death is marked and there is no going back after that point. Challenge her about this and she will retaliate in a way that might seem disproportionate but death is what she is and she doesn't like to be questioned on something she knows all about.

Despite all of this, if you worm your way into that one special place in Shirley's heart the way her father, brother, Cassandra, Blair and Corbin did, you're in luck - Shirley will go to bat for you and will keep you safe. To get into her good graces can be easy or difficult - if you insist on acts of charity she'll want to strangle you but will relent so you'll cease and desist and you can take one another for granted until she swans in, does something and pulls an obligation out of you or you can be genuinely very interesting (especially with magic) and she'll maybe start to go out of her way to help you. Shirley's loved ones are not to be hurt (unless it's by her, for their own damn good) and if you're hurt? She'll want blood because it's the principle of the thing.

Lastly, perhaps somewhat obviously, Shirley is faithful to the old Gods, the Celtic Gods and she uses their names, not 'oh god' or 'oh Jesus'. This is who and what she believes in and what she exclaims. e.g. Eochaid Ollathair - All-father aka The Dagda.

Imported Character History: n/a

Powers/Abilities:
Seeing
♔ Tairngreacht - prophecy: the death wail. The night before someone is marked to die, Shirley will howl and often make her way to the doorstep of their closest loved ones. The sound is unpleasant and physically draining for her but it allows the loved ones time to prepare as the sound she makes is so haunting and ominous that they know something bad is coming.
♕ Aidhm - objective: if she uses this, she can see the goals/objectives someone has in life. It involves gaining enough blood to completely cover the bottom of a small bowl and the blood must be freely given.
♔ Breithniú - analysis: if Shirley obtains the blood of a person with their consent, she can learn about them but the blood must be freely given.
♕ Breithniú: scanadh míochaine - analysis: medical scanning: by obtaining blood, Shirley can tell if someone has any medical issues - this will also extend to curses. Blood must be freely given.
♔ Eolas - awareness: connected to tairngreacht. She is able to know the details of death; when, how, where, why and who.

Warding
♔ Scáth - shade/protection: One of her ward spells. This allows Shirley to hide herself or an object.
♕ Cosaint - safeguard: One of her ward spells. This protects Shirley's home should she need it and will only allow in persons of her choosing. In an emergency, she can use this spell on herself.
♔ Seachmall - illusion: Shirley can summon an illusion of an object or a person. Depending on how much blood she sacrifices, the illusion can either be very faint and just an image or very real and able to be touched.
♕ Driuch - creepy feeling: Allows her to sense magic, specifically malevolent magic.
♔ Scaipeadh - broadcast/dismissal: a mild protective spell, like scáth with the difference being that instead of just a ward, it actively gives off a 'please leave me alone' vibe. Depending on the situation, it can be very mild and light or very severe.

Offensive
♔ Truailligh - contaminate: if Shirley inflicts a wound while invoking this curse, she can cause someone to become sick with some sort of virus or infection, mostly commonly a fever. The method she prefers for this involves shedding her blood, saying their name three times whilst thinking of them. The severity and duration depend on her mood and how much blood is shed but it never lasts longer than a week.
♕ Gnáthaigh - haunt: If Shirley casts this, she will summon nightmarish visions to plague the victim for a week at most. Severity of visions depends, again, on the blood involved, like in truailligh.
♔ Míchinniúint - doom: the death spell. If she casts this, the subject will die; this involves a lot of blood.
♕ Teilgean - projection: combined with a spell like Seachmall or Gnáthaigh, she can attack with an illusion that causes physical harm or with nightmarish creatures. The nightmarish creatures are things like headless horses, kelpies, each uisges, Cù Sìth. She can also project the grief she feels and carries at others which cripples them long enough for her to make an escape.

Transformative
♔ Claochlaigh - transform: Shirley is able to turn into one of the forms associated with being a banshee which is mostly commonly a hooded crow. Other forms are a cow (black highland cow), a wolf (black) and an eel (deep green). In addition to this, Shirley can also turn into the other two forms associated with banshees: a rich, middle-aged woman (in this case she looks very much like her redheaded mother) or a very old, wrinkled crone.
♕ Múinteoir - teacher: Shirley teaches a spell to someone - this involves cutting a symbol into their skin. It can be temporary or permanent.
♔ Mac Léinn - student: Shirley can learn the magic of another for a temporary period; she must carve an appropriate symbol into her skin.

Extra notes on tairngreacht & eolas!
Shirley is able to sense the grief and sorrow from a person who has lost a loved one - it is physically painful to her but banshees take a portion of the grief and guilt with them to lessen the suffering of those left behind; those who are in contact with a banshee will feel lighter afterwards. If someone is about to die, Shirley knows. She knows all the details of a death - whether she reveals them or not is a separate matter entirely but she knows and she feels an instinctual tag on where she is to go.

All magic will be negotiated with mods and other players, once she regains it, I'll set up a permissions post.

As for weaknesses, she has a weakness for power - offer her something power or that she perceives to be powerful and she'll go for it and will give you something in return. Being around someone who has a great deal of grief makes her feel physically ill - the death wail hurts, really hurts. She's in pain almost all the damn time and sometimes, it really messes with her. In events where there is a great deal of death ie a huge car crash with many dead where she is the only banshee nearby, she'll be in so much pain that she'll pass out, most believing she's screamed herself out. Really, she's overwhelmed with the grief.

For physical weaknesses, she's a normal human. She's squishy. Her magic relies on blood so it really drains her. She has no combat training whatsoever and relies on her knowledge to get out of other situations. Also iron. Iron is toxic to her. It makes her sick, burns her skin and she is very uneasy around it and will scream if it is brought into her home or into contact with her until it is removed.

Shirley speaks English, Scottish and Irish Gaelic, knows Old English and bits and pieces of old Celtic languages as she's come across them. They're probably going to be of no use to her here in Aliunde but there you go.

→ SAMPLES;
First Person Sample: BLAH BLAH

Third Person Sample:
The dog was waiting, as she knew he would be and she crouched, extending open palms out to him and he sniffed, licked and she straightened again, scratching behind his ears and his form shifted until he stood just as tall as she was (it should have been short, she was not exceptionally tall and Corbin was smaller than most of the men who made up her life) and her hand slipped down to squeeze his shoulder before she folded her arms across her chest, beneath her breasts. She knew where his gaze strayed to and she would have scolded but she wasn't sure, at times, where the Cù Sìth ended and the man began so she let it go and started to walk. He followed, behind but so close that she could feel the heat of his body and it was impossible for her to not think about Blair but she put it out of mind as best she could. She hadn't asked to feel for him and she would not let her soft heart distract her from her task.

"There's a reason you asked to meet me, isn't there," Corbin stated and she nodded, listening to the crunch of gravel beneath her feet and when she looked back and down, Corbin's feet were bare. Unless they were out in the day (which they so seldom were) then Corbin would wear shoes but he preferred not to and after all the hundreds of years he'd had in the Morrígan's service, spending most of his time as the huge monstrous fairy dog then he'd had little need. She didn't quite understand how or why his clothes were a part of things but they were and she was glad because things could be very awkward without it and while they were both big, grown up people, she would rather not have to see him naked or carry around a change of clothes for him.
"There is," she replied, rubbing the back of her neck, saying no more until the crunching gave way to the wet squelch of mulch and only then did she draw them to a halt. "I need to kill a Dullahan."

Corbin smiled, all teeth and sincere eyes. She was no longer surprised at how quick he was to jump to her commands and while she still pondered at the why of it - she wasn't anything exceptionally powerful and he'd certainly spent time gnashing his teeth at her for the past two years - she didn't question him. His commands came from her goddess and Corbin had been conditioned to obey his mistress without a moment of hesitation. He was one of the few to understand her true words, what she meant because she had always spoken in such riddles.

"Can you do it?" Shirley didn't need to ask because of course he could but she liked to get his hackles up, watch the black of his pupils swallow up the green of his irises because he was still a dog and a dog didn't like his position to be challenged. Neither did she, the shared fairy pride between them as he'd spent time trying to push her ever since he'd first told her about how to extend her life, something she'd balked at first over a shared drink in Alea. But now...now she was finally ready. She would put her plans in motion as soon as she knew it wouldn't cast a pall over her nephew but this part would harm no one - one Dullahan was unlikely to be missed.
"Of course I can," he snarled, right up in her face but she stared him down, the power in her blood and in her bones resenting him, ready to lash out at how he dared to challenge her but she pulled her mask of haughtiness down, tilting her chin up so that she could look him dead in the eye even as he ended up nose to nose with her and there was nothing human about the feral wildness he gave off in waves. "What about you little banshee? Do you have the spine for it?" She drew her hand back and struck him hard across the face and it echoed in the night. Corbin froze for a second, blood on his lip from where her nails caught him until he laughed, licking the blood away. "Oh woman of the fairy mounds," he said, blood staining his teeth at one side; her slap must have caused him to cut the inside of his mouth too on the canines he possessed that didn't belong to a human mouth, "the fairy dog will help you."

With that he took his leave. He had other places to be tonight and so did she. She heard him baying three times and she wondered if he'd tear through a farm and massacre every poor, stupid beast he came across or if he'd find some willing girl instead. She about turned on her heel and whispered claochlaigh and she was lighter, bones and tendons and muscles reshaping, feathers ripping through her skin as she almost fell apart before coming back together again. She hopped from foot to foot and spread her wings for home.