Welcome to Gaia! ::

The home was small, built around and somewhat out of a large tree. Branches hung low with crisp leaves covering the top of the windows; an eerie glow emitted from various lanterns, all odd shapes and colors, dangling from the branches. The path that led up to door was rough, overgrown bushes blocked parts of the path as well as strange objects. Nothing in particular was very unusual about these things; they were more or less common items like roller skates, firewood, a lawn flamingo, and a large black soup pot. Honestly, no one could blame anyone for thinking a witch lived there.

Except that this was not the home of a witch, but rather Willow Wisp, a phony who adored the woods and had a odd habit of collecting absolutely everything she found that was remotely interesting. Periodically, her collections would grow too large for her house, and a thing or two had to be sorted into piles to give away or keep.

It probably did not help matters at all that Wisp had… odd features: wolf fangs, a stitched on leg, and a blue horn with a glow bright enough to shine through dark patches of the forest.

The brown unicorn was on her way home from her wanderings in the woods. Sticks and leaves were tangled up in her tail, but that was something Wisp did not particularly mind. As she made her way towards her home, easily navigating through the path, she mused aloud to herself about the berries she had picked that day. “Oh, this will be just delicious. What a ripe shade of blue. Perfect for a cake.”

And out of the corner of her eye, just as she started to walk by the bush, she saw a glimmer. “What’s this then?” Wondering out loud, she moved closer to the bush.

There was a rattling in the bush, and to her surprise, she found herself staring face to face with a young colt with twinkle eyes. It was a curious sight for her to see, as Wisp did not often see that many phony out where she lived, save for the few other forest dwellers. Surprised, but not particularly startled, Wisp assumed that the blue colt must have good reasons to be lurking in the bushes. “…oh, ooooh. Hello young sir. Do you mind if I inquire about why you are inside this bush? …. Were you looking for pixies? Because I can assure you, I’ve checked it very thoroughly and haven’t seen one yet. Occasional spider though...”
Wisp shuttered slightly at the thought of spiders. Her warmth to most creatures, monsters and all, did not extend to spiders.

“I wouldn’t think so, no.” Wisp shifted her gaze up towards the sky, and seemed to space out for a moment as she watched clouds moving, Slowly she came back to reality, shaking her head. “Probably the wrong season for pixies anyways. If you find one you should like me know, my sister is always interested in getting specialty ingredients. I'd love to bring her some.”

The brown unicorn shrugged, as if everything she said was perfectly normal, and turned to walk away back to her home, tail dragging behind her picking up more leaves. Then looking back she peered at the little phony in bush. “Fancy a cup of tea? Come in if you like.”

Wisp lead the young phony into her home, which was perhaps just as cluttered as a path outside, with all manner of things hung from the ceiling and piled onto shelves. But the brown unicorn made sure that there was a comfortable seat available in case of company. She pointed to a cozy corner with a small couch and two mismatched chairs.

“Ingredients? Oh you know, just that I wouldn’t mind getting some pixie dust for my sister. Natural items are easy, but I would like to give her something magical if I could. She makes charms… or potions,… curses? “ Wisp had to stop and thinking about it for a second. As much as she loved her sister, she did not have that much grasp of what voodoo really was for.

“Something like that… but I’m sure she’d appreciate the find.” Wisp said so without any judgment towards her sister, just as a simple fact as if that was a perfectly normal occupation.

Wisp darted off towards the kitchen to start a kettle going. “Make yourself at home while I brew.”

There was a whistling and clatter as Wisp ready the tea. Using her unicorn magic, she brought out a tray and two cups. “What do I like to do? I spend much of my time in the forest. It’s amazing what kind of things I find there… scarfs, clovers, babbens occasionally.” The mare giggled to herself slightly, a little joke at having brought the blue colt into her home. “Suppose what I really do is what those that are lost, and try to get them on their way again, dispense advice occasionally."

Setting the tea down on the coffee table, she magically offered a cup to her companion. “What do you do when you’re not stumbling in bushes?”

Yellow eyes stared unblinking at the little earth phony as it spoke. Then she started to laugh. “A witch? I suppose that’s an easy enough thing to mistake me for, considering.” Wisp had to really stifle her giggling to keep from spilling her tea. “Beyond being a unicorn, I definitely do not have any witchy powers. Definitely nothing wicked.”

When she managed to settle down, she graciously took a sip of the tea. “Nonsense, really. You’re more than welcome to stay, and come again if you like. Bring your playmates even, if you’d like to prove it to them. I honestly don’t mind the odd bit of company here and there. “ Sipping gently her tea, Wisp looked at her guest carefully. “ And I like your eyes, they’re dazzling.”

“Thank you, that’s kind to say.” Wisp smiled sweetly, fangs and all. Even as an adult, she still occasionally had her doubts about her looks and it was always reassuring to be given an honest compliment. “I’m happy to hear another compliment any time, or another nonsense rumor. That was frightfully amusing.”

Wisp was quite happy to sit there with her new young friend and hear any tale he had to tell.