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greenwitchcrafts · 7 months ago

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September 2024 Witch Guide

New Moon: September 2nd

First Quarter: September 11th

Full moon: September 17th

Last Quarter: September 24th

Sabbats: Mabon- September 22nd

September Harvest Moon

Also known as: Autumn Moon, Child Moon, Corn Harvest Moon, Falling Leaves Moon, Haligmonath, Leaves Turning Moon, Mating Moon, Moon of Brown Leaves, Moon When Dear Paw the Earth, Rutting Moon, Singing Moon, Wine Moon, Witumanoth & Yellow Leaf Moon

Element: Earth

Zodiac: Virgo & Libra

Nature spirts: Trooping Faeries

Deities: Brigid, Ceres, Chang-e, Demeter, Freya, Isis, Depths & Vesta

Animals: Jackal & snake

Birds: Ibis & sparrow

Trees: Bay, hawthorn, hazel & larch

Herbs: Copal, fennel, rye, skullcap, valerian, wheat & witch hazel

Flowers: Lily & narcissus

Scents: Bergamot, gardenia, mastic & storax

Stones: Bloodstone,carnelian, cat's eye, chrysolite, citrine, iolite, lapis lazuli, olivine, peridot, sapphire, spinel(blue), tourmaline(blue) & zircon

Colors: Browns, dark blue, Earth tones, green & yellow

Issues, intentions & powers: Confidence, the home, manifestation & protection

Energy: Balance of light & dark, cleaning & straightening of all kinds, dietary matters, employment, health, intellectual pursuits, prosperity, psychism, rest, spirituality, success & work environment

The full Moon that happens nearest to the fall equinox (September 22nd or 23rd) always takes on the name “Harvest Moon.” Unlike other full Moons, this full Moon rises at nearly the same time—around sunset—for several evenings in a row, giving farmers several extra evenings of moonlight & allowing them to finish their harvests before the frosts of fall arrive.

• While September’s full Moon is usually known as the Harvest Moon, if October’s full Moon happens to occur closer to the equinox than September’s, it takes on the name “Harvest Moon” instead. In this case, September’s full Moon would be referred to as the Corn Moon.

This time of year—late summer into early fall—corresponds with the time of harvesting corn in much of the northern United States. For this reason, a number of Native American peoples traditionally used some variation of the name “Corn Moon” to refer to the Moon of either August or September.

Mabon

Known as: Autumn Equinox, Cornucopia, Witch's Thanksgiving & Alban Elved

Season: Autumn

Element: Air

Symbols: Acorns, apples, autumn leaves, balance, berries, corn, cornucopia( Horn of Plenty), dried seeds, equality, gourds, grains, grapes, ivy, pine cones, pomegranates, vines, wheat, white roses & wine

Colors: Blue, brown, dark red, deep gold, gold, indigo, leaf green, maroon, orange, red, russet. Violet & yellow

Oils/Incense: Apple, apple blossom, benzoin, black pepper, hay/straw, myrrh, passion flower, patchouli, pine, red poppy & sage

Animals: Dog & Wolf

Birds: Goose, hawk, swallow & swan

Stones: Agate, amethyst, carnelian, lapis lazuli, sapphire, yellow Agate & yellow topaz

Food: Apples, blackberries, blackberry wine, breads, carrots, cider, corn, cornbread, grapes, heather wine, nuts, onions, pomegranates, potatoes, squash, vegetables, wheat & wine

Herbs/Plants: Benzoin, bramble, corn, ferns, grains, hops, ivy, milkweed, myrrh, sage sassafras, Salomon's seal, thistle, tobacco & wheat

Flowers: Aster, heather, honeysuckle, marigold, mums, passion flower, rose

Trees: Aspen, cedar, cypress, hazel, locust, maple, myrtle oak & pine

Goddesses: Danu, Epona, Inanna, Ishtar, Modron, Morgan, The Morrigan, Muses, Pomona, Persephone, Sin, Sophia & Sura

Gods: Bacchus, Dionysus, Dumuzi, Esus, The Green Man, Hermes, Mannanan, Thor & Thoth

Issues, Intentions & Powers: Accomplishment, agriculture, balance, goals, gratitude & grounding

Spellwork: Balance, harmony, protection, prosperity, security & self-confidence

Activities:

•Scatter offerings in a harvested fields & Offer libations to trees

• Decorate your home and/or altar space for fall

• Bake bread

• Perform a ritual to restore balance and harmony to your life

• Cleanse your home of negative energies

• Pick apples

• Collect fall themed things from nature like acorns, changing leaves, pine cones, ect)

• Have a dinner or feast with your family and/or friends

• Set intentions for the upcoming year

• Purge what is no longer serving you & commit to healthy changes

•Take a walk in the woods

• Enjoy a pumpkin spice latte

• Donate to your local food bank

• Gather dried herbs, plants, seeds & pods

• Learn something new

• Make wine

• Fill a cornucopia

• Brew an apple cinnamon simmer pot

• Create an outdoor Mabon altar

•Adorn burial sites with leaves, acorns, & pinecones to honor those who have passed over & visit their graves

The name Mabon comes from the Welsh/Brythonic God Mabon Ap Modron, who's name means "Divine/great Son", However,there is evidence that the name was adopted in the 1970s for the Autumn Equinox & has nothing to do with this celebration or this time of year.

• Though many cultures see the second harvest (after the first harvest Lughnasadh) & Equinox as a time for giving thanks before the name Mabon was given because this time of year is traditionally when farmers know how well their summer crops did & how well fed their animals have become. This determines whether you & your family would have enough food for the winter.That is why people used to give thanks around this time, thanks for their crops, animals & food

Some believe it celebrates the autumn equinox when Nature is preparing for the winter months. Night & day are of equal legth & the God's energy & strength are nearly gone. The Goddess begins to mourn the loss she knows is coming, but knows he will return when he is reborn at Yule.

Related festivals:

• Sukkot- Is a Torah-commanded holiday celebrated for seven days, beginning on the 15th day of the month of Tishrei. It is one of the Three Pilgrimage Festivals on which Israelites were commanded to make a pilgrimage to the Temple in Jerusalem. Originally a harvest festival celebrating the autumn harvest, Sukkot’s modern observance is characterized by festive meals in a sukkah, a temporary wood-covered hut, celebrating the Exodus from Egypt.

• Mid-Autumn festival- September 17th

Is also known as the Moon Festival or Mooncake Festival. It is a traditional festival celebrated in Chinese culture, similar holidays are celebrated by other cultures in East & Southeast Asia. It is one of the most important holidays in Chinese culture; its popularity is on par with that of Chinese New Year. The history of the Mid-Autumn Festival dates back over 3,000 years. On this day, it is believed that the Moon is at its brightest and fullest size, coinciding with harvest time in the middle of Autumn.

During the festival, lanterns of all size and shapes – which symbolize beacons that light people's path to prosperity & good fortune – are carried & displayed. Mooncakes, a rich pastry typically filled with sweet-bean, egg yolk, meat or lotus-seed paste, are traditionally eaten during this festival. The Mid-Autumn Festival is based on the legend of Chang'e, the Moon goddess in Chinese mythology.

• Thanksgiving- This is a secular holiday which is similar to the cell of Mabon; A day to give thanks for the food & blessings of the previous year. The American Thanksgiving is the last Thursday of November while the Canadian Thanksgiving is celebrated in October

• The Oschophoria- Were a set of ancient Greek festival rites held in Athens during the month Pyanepsion (autumn) in honor of Dionysus. The festival may have had both agricultural and initiatory functions.

-Amidst much singing of special songs, two young men dressed in women's clothes would bear branches with grape-clusters attached from Dionysus to the sanctuary of Athena Skiras & a footrace followed in which select ephebes competed.

Ancient sources connect the festival and its rituals to the Athenian hero-king Theseus & specifically to his return from his Cretan adventure. According to that myth, the Cretan princess Ariadne, whom Theseus had abandoned on the island of Naxos while voyaging home, was rescued by an admiring Dionysus; thus the Oschophoria may have honored Ariadne as well. A section of the ancient calendar frieze incorporated into the Byzantine Panagia Gorgoepikoos church in Athens, corresponding to the month Pyanopsion (alternate spelling), has been identified as an illustration of this festival's procession.

Sources:

Farmersalmanac .com

Llewellyn's Complete Book of Correspondences by Sandra Kines

Wikipedia

A Witch's Book of Correspondences by Viktorija Briggs

Encyclopedia britannica

Llewellyn 2024 magical almanac Practical magic for everyday living

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gracetaylorillustration · 2 months ago

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Blackberry Bandits

Someone’s been stealing all the blackberries from my garden, but only from the underside of the vine. I suspect it was the little mouse family that live under the potting shed on the other side of the fence, but I don’t mid sharing with a hungry mouse.

#illustration #cottagecore #artists on tumblr #female illustrators #nature #mice #children's illustration #storybook illustration #cottagecore aesthetic #australian artist

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the-monkeies-girl · 10 months ago

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Berry Foraging. ( Planet of the Apes Imagines. )

Characters below includes: Ceasar, Noa, Anaya and Soona ( The Trio babey. ), Blue Eyes, Koba. Prompt: You've gone Berry Foraging. How would the scenario play out with each characters? Rating: T. ( Some language, primarily in Koba's LOL. ) Caesar.

The sun felt good against your skin now that you had shed your jacket, leaving you delectably exposed to the clean air. Caesar found it difficult not to watch how your shoulders move when you worked, when you shifted next to him to dive inwards towards the blackberry bush in front of the two of you. As simple as an activity it was, and as easy as it was for the Ape King to pin the task on someone else, to have you escorted to the Red Woods to pick berries, he did relish in the mild silence that surrounded the two of you as you intently placed your fingers against a vine and inspected it for ripeness, bringing it ever so closer to your face as your eyes narrowed at it. The way your mouth opened as you muttered to yourself, saying that it wasn’t ready before seeking another vine to inspect… Caesar found it difficult to actually focus on finding his own to pick. Like he would know how. Like he actively came foraging with the female Apes when they came out once a week in a group. Huffing to himself at that, he was careful to watch you.

You were surely faster than he was, deducing that the vine you had turned your attention to was more than good and you began plucking them berries off one by one, placing them delicately into the basket that was between your bent knees as you had crouched down to inspect the berry bush properly. Admittedly… This was something that Caesar had not done for years.

Well, at least since the Colony first took hold and he was demanded to be stationary there in case danger arose. Always easier to be in the same spot than to be missing in action and having tens of Apes out in the woods on horseback looking for their leader. Now, with Blue Eyes coming to age, and with the assistance from Rocket and Maurice, Caesar was able to take in moments like this, laced intricately with his favorite type of intimacy.

“No, no,” Your hands were suddenly grabbing at his own, the touch itself setting Caesar’s calloused hands alight as you grasped at them and pulled them towards you, “Do you see here?” Your pointer finger gestured at a berry at the very top of the vine that Caesar had figured was okay to pick at. Obviously not as you explained to him in a gentle voice, one that he would drown in if he was allowed, “They’re still a little green. Not ready yet.”

Were… Were you… telling him how to do this? Caesar narrowed his eyes, brow pulling in on itself as he looked at you, perplexity written completely over his expression. He chortled at that- At someone telling him what to do, how to actually do something correctly.

“Look here,” Lifting a hand up, you placed it against his bicep as your other hand reached and grasped it considerately as to not place any damage to it, “See how they’re colored? Darker?” Caesar looked at what you were referring to and gave a slight nod. Smiling at him, you squeezed where your grasp was placed on his body before pushing both hands forward and plucking the berries off with content, “That’s the color you want. Otherwise they’re going to be too bitter to eat. I don’t know any Ape who would enjoy that.”

Caesar tried to follow suit, almost mimicking your body language as he fell into a deeper crouch, inspecting the bush for what you had in turn told him to seek.

“Koba,” He said suddenly, the brazen and deep baritone of his vocals drawing you in without any regard for your other senses. He knew you liked to joke, in fact, Caesar found himself more prone to do just that when alone with you and it was a great way to put you at ease, to put you in a good mood - Or, if flirtatious in nature, enough to get you to lay with Caesar. This joke fell into the ‘good mood’ category as he finished his statement, “Koba would enjoy.”

That made you snicker, nodding in agreement. Caesar felt entranced momentarily as the sun caught your hair, giving the impression that you were ablaze as your gaze reached his own and you laughed in return, “Bitter berry for bitter Ape.” Noa, Anaya and Soona.

There were tears very visible at the corner of your eyes. Noa felt a small sense of panic wash over him at the expression, how you looked down at your feet in absolute defeat. Rested right in front of you were the remains of the berries you were so careful to pick, so careful to clean as you placed them in the wickered basket, scattered all along the floor of the woods. Now covered with mud and sediment and you were on the very verge of crying as a result. Anaya hadn’t meant to - He apologized the moment it happened, the moment the basket hit the ground and you let out a rather startling yap. Anaya swore to Noa he was just playing around, hiding behind a tree in a bid to scare you. In fact, your hands were still dangling mid-air out of shock like you were still holding the basket. Soona was silent next to Noa, her eyes looking between the raspberries and you, wondering why you were having this reaction. She then turned her attention to Noa in hopes that maybe he could translate. Unfortunately, for all three Apes, there was no clear translation. The look Noa gave her, the look Noa gave Anaya, biting around the edges but never enough to ruin a friendship, told them to back off slightly. You spoke - alerting all three of them that you were still there, not completely lost in the abandonment the poor berries must have felt being on the ground. “My… rasp… berries….” Shaking in tone, Noa tried to flank you so he could see your face but your chin was dipped and your eyes were now tracing the shapes the berries made. A few of them, in your mind at least, looked like a poorly drawn flower. You swallowed softly and looked at Noa with a distressed gaze, “They’re all gone.” Anaya yipped, “Sorry---” Noa placed a hand on his shoulder and shook his head. Removing his hand just as quickly as it was placed, Noa reached down and grasped the basket in front of you, crouching on all four in front of you to obscure the vision of your now wasted forage. The pads of his fingers lined the wickered basket, catching here and there against the rough nature of his skin as he attempted to hand it back to you, his arm extending before dropping at the crushed visual of your face. The twist in his stomach was incredibly uncomfortable as the basket was placed on the ground and suddenly, Noa was encapsulating your entire vision. He placed a hand to your cheek first, caressing the smoothness of your skin before bringing his head in to rest against your own to comfort you. You didn't move in response and Noa took a step forward in a bid to captivate your attention. “A… A lot of bushes here, can pick more.” A small sniffle hit your nose as you nodded in agreement, suddenly aware of your mated love’s closeness. Of course there were more. You were in the middle of the woods, your favorite spot in fact, and were surrounded by many bushes, riped, lush for the picking and taking.

You sniffled again, finally breaking the awkward stance you were holding and raised a hand to wipe the underside of your nose before you grasped Noa’s forearms, beckoning him nearer, to keep him close to you so you could have a speckled moment of privacy in front of Anaya and Soona, who were entangled in their own argument about the entire situation. You could vaguely make out Soona telling Anaya to apologize again. “T-They were for you,” Noa’s eyes widened at the declaration and with that, he held you a bit closer, almost to the point where it felt like a headache was forming where your foreheads were cusped. “I picked them for you, you-you really like raspberries and we-we never have enough at dinner and I---” Anaya shifted towards you and Noa, looking at his friend first who stepped aside slightly. Anaya offered you the basket that was against his back, half full. He never went back with a full one, often picking some out to eat while plucking subsequent berries from the bush and often indulged on the journey back to the Clan. He gave you a gracious smile, extending his arm out with the basket. “Can… can take Anaya’s.” Swallowing gently, you grabbed his basket delicately and gave him a half-hearted smile as he apologized under his breath again, “Th… Thank you.” Noa watched the encounter and softened his gaze at that. Just one more thing; the Eagle Clan leader stepped forward and lightly brought his thumb along the top of your right cheek to catch a tear from falling. You smiled slightly at him, looking down at Anaya’s basket and finding yourself maniacally entranced in laughter.

“He ate all the raspberries.” Blue Eyes.

Cornelius was so… Small. You tilted your head at that thought, hands full of fuzzy blackberries. You found it difficult at the moment to find a better description. But, it was beyond true. The berries in your hand found a home in the basket in front of you. Incredibly cute and so very small. Fragile, almost. That was not the case at all; if anyone even looked at the baby Chimp with the wrong indentation, Blue Eyes was prone to attack out of protectiveness. Watching with bated breath, Cornelius brought himself to cling a little further closer to his older brother, splatted along his back as Blue Eyes was crouched next to you, Ash on the other side. They had gotten you to go fishing, it was only fair you got them to go berry picking.

The added bonus? Cornelius was under Blue Eyes’ care today, and the little stow-a-way was eating the berries right out of the basket that his older brother was trying to fill. You chuckled at that, watching the small frame dip himself down Blue Eyes arm, onto the ground and then quite literally, into the basket itself. The quaint hoots and small howl at a blueberry warmed your heart, but the absolute chaos of Blue Eyes' gaze on his baby brother was universally known. Wise older brother, annoying little brother who got in the way. It was not more evident than in the moment as Blue Eyes grasped him softly, placing him outside of the basket before Cornelius jumped right back in. A growl escaped the older of the two before he repeated it and signed at his brother, ‘stay’ with one hand. Smiling at him when he made eye contact with you, you were flushed and eager to turn your face back towards the action of your hands.

Funny how that worked. Sibling annoyance was truly known across all creatures. Smiling at the Ape Prince when he made eye contact with you, you were flushed and eager to turn your face back towards the action of your hands. Pulled into a state of lulling day-dreams, you slid your fingers along the vines that held the berries and found a mild prickle sitting at the base of your spine when Blue Eyes’ fingers brushed against yours when you went for the same bunch. You apologized quietly, letting him have his fill, Cornelius’ small eyes watching the berries fall into the basket with intensity. He raised his hands to grab one but Blue Eyes simply ignored it as if it were second nature to deflect the annoyance that rose when Cornelius ended up in his way. Truly siblings, you thought to yourself with a small chuckle.

You were being nudged--- Humming under your breath, your focus turned to Ash who was peering down at your basket with focused intent. You blinked, swinging yourself back into reality, right out of the nice thoughts of Blue Eyes and his baby brother. Wh--- You blinked again, the munching sounds overtaking all of your senses as Cornelius shoved the freshly picked blackberry into his mouth before looking up at you.When did he get there? How long were you daydreaming? There was a mild stare down between yourself and the younger of the two brothers. It felt like you were enthralled in each other’s presence but it was quickly shot down when Blue Eyes finally took notice and pulled his baby brother out of your basket and placed him back onto his shoulder silently.

‘Sorry.’ Blue Eyes signed at you, digging into his basket and placing a few of his berries into your own as recognition that Cornelius had eaten some of your own. His were okay to eat, but yours? Off limits.

Koba.

“Human,” The gruff nature of Koba’s voice was more than grating enough to take you out of the quiet day-dream you had going in your head as your fingers were quick to push blueberries off their twig home and into a basket laying beside you. Groaning to yourself, you dropped your head before looking up at the Bonobo who had been so graciously blessed by Caesar to take you into the woods to forage for berries. He didn't even bother to dis-mount his stallion and rested on it for the last thirty minutes. “Almost done?”

This was the fifth time he asked you if you were ready to leave in the last ten minutes. Your patience felt like it was teetering between an insane breakdown, which you resisted waging that yelling at Koba was not going to earn you any favors, and quite aggravation. You drove with the second choice and smiled sarcastically at him, “Do you think my answer is any different than it was two minutes ago?” Silently, Koba fell back on his saddle, the action in itself rather reminiscent of a child who wanted to leave the grocery store but was placed in the shopping cart of a prison to ride the remainder of the trip in disappointment. Without a doubt, he was going to have words with Caesar about this later, figuring it to be just a punishment for causing mutiny without a abandonment. You laughed at that to yourself, knowing that Koba’s complaints were going to fall of deaf ears.

Bothersome silence ensued beyond your capacity. It felt bubbling, the way that he looked at you with his one good eye. The sweep against your entire body as you moved to another bush, content with what you had foraged from the previous. The glare against the back of your head as you began diligently working the new bush. You quipped sarcastically at him, looking at the berries in your hand before letting them slide down your palms into the basket, “You know what would make me go faster?”

Koba tilted his head in thought, though you knew what he was thinking with reckless care. He’d surely say something like ‘you… to be dead’ or a rather clever ‘Koba… threatening you’. Smiling at the sudden wash of familiarity at the fact that despite his best efforts, you knew how he could respond, the grin you gave him was more than shit-eating as you grumbled, “If you’d get off your horse and help me. I need to fill the basket.”

The narrowing of his expression was something you could write a book on. The tense nature of his muscles, gleaming it seemed as the sun vibrated off his fur, the permanent scowl of his brow and mouth. Koba had to be the metaphorical poster child for ‘human hater’. Not that it was a problem most days, but right now, you wanted to be left in some semblance of peace to pick your berries without having to hear him complain over and over again about wanting to go back to the Colony. Without his absolutely relentless dry inquiries about whether you were done or not. He hummed - deep in his chest and the sound was brutal to your ears. “Koba does not…”

The grimace on his face tempted you to double over in laughter, but you were positive that would be interpreted as a threat and you’d be pinned to a nearby tree with his teeth in your jugular. Bringing your knees together, you bounced in your squatting position and looked up at him, almost asking with your eyes to finish his statement. “Koba… does not… pick berries.” No shit, you wanted to say but refrained. You filed away the response to be used at a moment when you were around others who would ensure your safety. “Just thought I’d throw the option out there. If two of us were doing it, we could go back in like… Ten minutes.”

There was no processing your words, or at least, there was no clear indication that Koba actually considered them. More often than not, they slid right off him and he just ignored them, preferring to sit in petulant silence which was exactly what he was doing. With one more look at the Ape, you proceeded forward and found pleasure in how your fingers moved around the bush to find what you were seeking, all too aware of the heated scrutiny you were now being surveyed under. Looking right into his eyes, you smiled viciously as you popped a berry into your mouth and chewed painstakingly slow. For sure, you thought to yourself with a chortle, Caesar was going to hear about this from Koba.

#caesar #noa #blue eyes #koba #caesar x reader #noa x reader #blue eyes x reader #koba x reader #planet of the apes x reader #pota #pota x reader #kotpota #kingdom of the planet of the apes #emmy writes #fanfiction #fanfic

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youvebeenjynxed · 1 year ago

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Get a bunch of woodland creatures like squirrels, mice, and toads

finally at that age where i'm thinking i should get a tattoo. not bc i feel strongly about it, just seems like a waste not to. i've got so much skin i'm not using

#and mushrooms #get vines and stuff too #just get a woodland sleeve #mushrooms and blackberries #yknow the usual

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thejakeformerlyknownasprince · 1 month ago

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could you please do a Beauty and the Beast au with Jake and Cassie, I love your content!

The day he came of age he went forth, as all younger sons must, to seek his fortune. For his parents had no other heir, his only brother having disappeared many years before.

They sent him with what they could, his parents. A few days' meat, wrapped in preserving cloth. A sturdy bow and a hunting knife. The warmest fur-lined cloak they owned. "Return to us," they told him, "make your fortune and return."

The younger son walked, all that day and into the night. He knew this forest well, having lived at its edge all his life. But as he continued on, always with the sun at his back in the morning and ahead in the evening, the trees grew dense around him. Their trunks were so thick around that three men holding hands could not have encircled one, and their topmost branches blotted out the sun. Many days he walked. Many days he ate and shot. Many days he waited for his eyes to grow used to deeper darkness and deeper still, and then for many days he walked on.

One morning, as the days grew warm and the first spring roses unfurled, he awoke to a howl of pain echoing from somewhere far in the distance.

Hand on his knife, cloak drawn back, the younger son moved toward the sound. It was strange, the sort of howl he had never heard before despite living near these woods his entire life. As he drew closer he at last understood why: it lacked all harmony, and a single voice on the wind. As if a jackal were out there, and yet speaking with the voice of a much larger dog.

When at last he found the wolf, he found her caught in a snare.

The ropes were drawn tight around the beast's legs and snout, tying her to the ground and to the surrounding trees. It was like no snare the younger son had ever seen, far too many knots and anchors for any single animal. The wolf howled hoarse and heaving in her despair.

Just for a moment as he looked upon her, the younger son thought of his hunting knife, and of his empty satchel. Then he looked not to the wolf but to the forest around, and he felt unease dance across his skin. "Where is your pack?" he asked aloud.

The wolf lifted her head to look at him. "Where is yours?" she answered, in his tongue.

Again they stared, looking each other over with care.

"We have a saying, among men," the younger son said. "About wolves who are alone. A lone wolf is a dead wolf, we believe."

"We have a saying about men who are alone," the wolf said. "That a man alone is easy prey."

"I come to seek my treasure," the younger son said. "For my family has no other way to provide for me. What brought you so far from your kin?"

"I know of a treasure," the wolf said. "For the taking, for any man bold enough to take it. Among the enchanters far to the north. The journey is far, but the reward is great if you can brave the cold. It is said the maker of puppets will grant a boon to any man brave and diligent and clever enough to reach his inner hall."

The younger son took off his cloak, and showed her that he wore the skin of a great striped cat from the lands on the edge of the world, one who stalked through snows deep enough to bury a man alive and yet never lost strength. It had been passed through his family for many generations, its origin lost to time, but he knew that it would shelter him through the long nights to come.

"Very well," the wolf said. "Let us go, then."

He cut her loose, and together they walked the forest. She was a skilled hunter despite being alone, returning with rabbits and squirrels. In return he dug them roots and used nimble fingers to remove blackberries from the vine once he had paid the price in blood for such sweetness. They slept each night curled beneath his cloak of sunset and shadow-colored fur, and they woke each morning to put the dawn at their right and journey on.

"What is your name?" she asked him, one night as they sat before the fire feasting upon a deer they'd worked as one to kill.

The younger son looked at the wolf, their eyes lit gold from the fire. "How do I know that you are not fairy folk?" he asked. "For I know of no other wolves who speak men's words."

The wolf considered. "Cassie," she said. "My parents call me Cassandra, but my true name is Cassie."

If she was fair folk, then she would not be able to lie. And it would be a dangerous thing indeed, to give a human her true name. "My parents call me Jacob," the younger son said, bowing low despite his blood-sticky hands. "But my true name is Jake. What story underlies your name? An odd name indeed, for a wolf."

"It's an old story, where I'm from," Cassie said. "Of one who sees far, but cannot speak of the truths she sees. She knows of what's to come, but she is the only one who does, and thus even if she did speak such truths she would be dismissed as a liar. A strange name, not one oft-chosen."

"What truths do you know, Madam Wolf?" the younger son asked.

"That the roses are beautiful tonight," the wolf said.

Strange words, for there were no roses visible around them. But the younger son remembered the power of her nose, and contrary to her name chose to believe her. The beauty she spoke of must be one beyond human senses.

"Jacob," she said. "Jake. What story explains your name?"

"A man saved my ancestor's life. He was called Jacob, and thus so am I." He did not ask the wolf the question upon his tongue that night, nor all the next day.

They spoke in those following days of the younger son's hopes for his parents, once he had enough money of his own to make them proud. They spoke of the wolf's skill with hunting, and the things she heard through the trees that no mere human would. They did not speak of the past.

A figure stepped into the road before them, shrouded and cloaked. The younger son nonetheless recognized his stride, and moved toward him straight away with open arms and open smile. "My brother!" he said. "It has been too long. We thought you lost."

The figure did not speak, only drew his bow.

The first arrow whispered past the wolf's left ear, even as the younger son cried out in protest. The second struck solidly into her shoulder.

"Stop!" the younger son cried once more. "Don't hurt her!"

In response, the figure turned and fired on him as well.

The younger son ran forward even as the arrow pierced the flesh of his arm, and tore through. "Stop!" he called again, and "Please!" to no avail. Desperately he drew his knife, and — when the figure notched another arrow and drew back to fire at the wolf — the younger son drove his blade through flesh and lung.

A terrible silence filled the glade, when at last only two bodies breathed there.

"Jake?" the wolf dared to ask, once her breathing had slowed.

The man stared down at the familiar face revealed by the cloak's fall, pointed toward a sky that now gave no light to those eyes. "This was not my brother," he said. "It could not have been. Some fairy trick, some illusion."

The wolf looked at the figure, scented its clothes. She considered for a span: he had saved her life. "Yes," she told her companion, her gaze on the sky. "It must have been."

When the sun began to lower between the trees, they were forced to walk on. They built a small fire far enough from the glade that they could not longer see the crumpled form, and the wolf explained to the man how to tend their hurts. Under her guidance he drew out the arrow from her flesh, then packed both their wounds with a paste of leaves that would draw out infection before binding them with tight linens to make the skin heal smooth.

"You know a great deal of medicine, for a wolf," the man said as he boiled willowbark to a tea, at her instruction.

She heard the question that had lingered in his heart, for all that his tongue was too kind to give it voice. He saved her life, at great personal cost. "I was not born a wolf," she confessed. "I was as human as you, until three days before the day that you found me. That was no mere trap which held me, but the remains of a spell to bind me in this form. I committed a great transgression, and now I am exiled in this shape until..." She met the man's eyes, which were steadfast and kind. "Until the end of my life," she lied.

"What could you have possibly done to deserve such a fate?" the man asked. "For you are selfless and wise, Madam Wolf."

"Perhaps too selfless," the wolf said bitterly. "I gave shelter in my home, to one I should have turned away. I was fooled by appearances, by the surface seeming of innocence and candor, and thus I am cursed to look like that which I am not."

"Giving shelter is no great sin," the man said. "Quite the opposite, where I am from."

"She was a slaver."

The man's cheek grew pale, but he did not speak.

"The child with her was not her daughter, but one she had kidnapped to replace with a changeling. Concern for the child fettered my eyes, so that I let them pass freely through our lands." The wolf stared into the fire, ears flat to her head. "The slaver claimed that she had come to regret what she had done, and that she was on her way to return the child to its family. I chose to believe her, for all that she had no proof. And for that, I am to live out my days as you see me. A hideous beast, human no more."

The man knelt on the ground before her, so that they might look eye to eye. "There is beauty in your poultices, I find," he said. "There was beauty in the steadfastness you showed in joining me on my quest. There is, I believe, even a beauty to be found in choosing the care of a child over revenge on one's enemies."

The wolf scented the wind, as she considered his words. "The days grow shorter once more," she said. "Soon only the marigolds will bloom."

They slept that night underneath his warm sunset cloak, and did not look back as they walked on the following day. That day was indeed shorter than the one before, the spheres turning on and the blackberries turning forth smaller fruit.

Many days on, the man shot a rabbit as the sun rose, for meat was more precious with each passing day. But as he drew near to his quarry, a hawk dropped from the sky and sank talons through the neck of the wounded creature, killing it in a trice. The hawk tossed the arrow aside, tearing into the open flesh underneath.

Hawk was no chicken, but game was scarce. The man nocked a second arrow, and took aim.

"Wait!" a voice rang out. And despite all that had happened these past weeks, the man's heart raced in surprise as he understood it was the bird who spoke to him. "I should not have stolen your prize," the hawk said. "But we hunger too, for meat above all."

Slowly the man lowered his bow. The wolf ran to his side, her eyes upon the hawk as well. "Sir Hawk," the man said, "are you also a human under a curse? If it is so, then do you know how such a curse might be broken?"

"He is no human." The figure who stepped out from the trees then looked human enough, but the light behind his eyes had a sharpness that drew up the hair on the wolf's hackles. "We are the Wild Hunt. You are a curiosity, little man." A smirk danced at the corner of his mouth as he spoke.

"I answer to Jake, and she to Cassie," the man said, before the wolf could stop him. For he had not heard tell of the Hunt. "What are your names?"

A third creature stepped forth then, this one with no resemblance at all to human or hawk or any other beast the man had ever heard of. An elf, perhaps, if an elf could also be a blueberry and a scythe and a deer with the eyes of a snail. "It would please me," the elfen creature said, "to answer to Ax."

"Tobias," the being with the light behind his eyes said, tilting his head at the bird, "means 'one who speaks with angels' in your human legends, does it not? And what are angels but wings and eyes? As for me..." He smiled more, behind the dark veil of his hair. "Marco, I shall call myself. As they say, you are what you eat."

The man did not drop his bow, and the wood drew tight under his hands. He did not ask why the wolf's teeth showed between her lips, not where the Wild Hunt could hear, but he did not fail to notice.

"Dine with us," said the one called Ax. "You provided the meat, thus it is only fair."

"We eat only that which we provided," Cassie said. "Thus, it is only fair."

More creatures drew around, as the man made fire and drew water to stew the rabbit over the coals. Some were from the human legends: tunnel-makers, tree-herders, three-fingered apes. Some looked like the one called Ax, some like nothing more than tiny soft fish. Some, most frighteningly of all, looked as human as the smiling being that called itself Marco. One dropped herbs into the stewpot, another a rasher of fat to season the meat. Roots went into the pot, and fragrant grasses. Soon the smell grew so delicious that it became impossible to think of anything else.

"You are too kind," the wolf said, when Marco handed a bowl her way. Her mouth watered, but she swallowed hard. "We have just eaten a large meal, and could not take another bite. Not one single crumb. Neither of us could have so much as a drop of broth, for we are fit to burst."

Jake stared at her in surprise, for they'd had only bitter lichens to chew for nearly three days. But he kept his mouth shut, and he did not reach for the proffered bowl.

"You refuse our gift?" the one called Marco said. His smile remained, but so did the light in his eyes. "Our food will not suffice to sate you?"

"You have showed us great kindness already," Cassie said. "We would not want to grow greedy."

"There was a frost last night, Madam Wolf." Marco's smile grew. "Did you know that? The roses are all dead."

These words struck her like a blow, Jake could see, for all that he knew not why. Cassie drew into herself, ears flat and tail stiff, but her next words came out clear. "I care little for roses," she said, staring the fae creature in the eye. "Though their scent is sweet, their flesh does not nourish me. And I prefer not to bleed for no reason. Far better to plant cabbages, far better to harvest peas. Give me ordinary and serviceable flowers, not beautiful and cruel."

"You asked my friend about curses," the one called Marco said, looking now to Jake. "If you will not take our food, let me give you a different gift: the way to break the curse that transforms a human to a beast."

Jake knew to be wary, but his arms betrayed him in leaning him closer to hear every word and his heart betrayed him by growing faster in his breast.

"A human must swear fealty to the cursed one forever," Marco said. "This human must abandon the family of their birth and dwell forever in the home of the afflicted, never once returning to the hearth of their youth. The human must swear an oath to obey the afflicted in all things, to honor their every whim, and to love them from the depths of their heart. That, Sir Human, is the way to break the curse."

"But this is wonderful news!" the man cried, turning to his companion. "I will gladly swear such an oath." The joy died from his voice as her tail lowered still further, its plume trailing the ground.

"One thing more," Marco continued. "The oath must be sworn before the last petal falls on the last rose of summer. Otherwise, the curse takes hold forever. But then, your companion would have known all this already."

Jake had seen as much already, from Cassie's demeanor and the soft whine of her breath. "Cassie," he whispered, caring not who heard, "Why did you not tell me? I would have sworn this oath, abandoned my family, obeyed you and loved you forever."

"Such a thing would be monstrous," Cassie told him. "And you are kind. Your family cares for you, and they depend upon you. I do not want a bondsman or catamite, and I will not become a slaver to save my own skin. Wolves are swift and strong, hearing much and scenting more. I chose, my beloved friend, and I do not regret my choice."

The man stood, then. He bowed deeply to each person around the fire. Side-by-side he and the wolf walked away from the beautiful and bountiful fete. They'd walked only the span of the clearing when a voice spoke his name. His full name, the name he had not given.

His kinswoman stood there, when he turned to find the voice. The kinswoman he had long since given up as dead, for she had gone into battle and never returned.

"There is another way to save your beloved," she told the man. "Eat of their food. Drink of their wine. Thus you will be young forever, and both of you as beautiful as the dawn."

She spoke truly. There was no chance of a lie, for she was one of the fae now. And she was beautiful, the most beautiful woman either the wolf or the man had ever seen. Forever she would be young. Forever she would hunt, and fight, and dance. Never would she see home again. Never would she leave the circle of the Hunt.

"Be well," the man told his kinswoman. "I will speak of you, when I return home. You have not been forgotten, nor will you be."

Then he embraced her, before he and the wolf walked on.

The following night the frost came again. What few flowers may have remained curled up their leaves, and bare bulbs littered the bushes. The man and the wolf spoke little, and only of trivial concerns.

At last they came to the gates of the enchanters' castle. The guard who stood outside had the seeming of a child with wide eyes and missing teeth, though the man knew enough by now not to trust such things. "Why do you seek to enter?" the guard asked.

"I seek treasure," the man said. "I will not be turned away."

"You will die if you enter," the guard said. "Most men do."

The man straightened his spine. "I will not be turned away."

"And you?" the guard asked, looking to the wolf.

"I am no man," she said. "And I seek to enter for love."

The guard stood aside, then. "There will be three trials. If you turn back, you may. If you go on, you die. If you go on and you do not die, you may ask our leader for a boon."

The first trial lay before them, a dark cavern. Together they walked into the dark. The air grew cold around them, and colder still. The man drew his cloak around himself and his companion, and as one creature with six legs they crept onward.

No speck of light was visible no matter where they looked, no tiny glimmer to relieve the blackness. It mattered not. They followed her nose, and onward they went. The cave continued until they were sore of foot and trembling in every limb, but they dared not stop to rest in this cold. The cave continued until his eyes conjured phantom sights and her ears drew forth imagined sounds, but they drew closer still to each other's warmth and walked ever forward. The cave continued until thirst swelled his tongue and cracked her nose, but they staggered onward.

At last it ended in a lush garden, trees dripping with fruits. A mark of their trust, that the man looked to the wolf and waited for her nod before he tore loose a soft sunrise-pink orb and bit into its flesh. Together they supped on the fruits, leaving a trail of stones behind them as they went.

The second trial sprawled before them at the far side of the courtyard. The pile of grains was nearly the height of the man's shoulder and would have taken half a day to walk across, each one as golden as the gold that locked the door they would need to go on. Once again Cassie's nose served them well, as did Jake's clever fingers. Though it took all that day and into the night, they found a gleam of real gold amidst the grains.

One part of a key revealed itself. One part, of perhaps a dozen, from the look of the lock.

They started at each other in new knowing, amidst the tiny fragment on the ground between them. "Perhaps it is for the best," the man said after a time, "that you have no time limit awaiting you anymore."

Despite her sore feet and weary heart, the wolf laughed with him. Then they set to their task.

The sun rose on their search, and it set once more. Twelve winter-short days they sorted grain, twelve winter-long nights they drew forth fragments of the key. From sunup to sundown they searched, and when the light failed they went on by touch. But the time passed lightly, for all the while they spoke to each other of all they had seen on their journey there and all they hoped to see on their way home.

When at last all the pieces fit into one whole, they constructed the necessary device and placed it into the lock. With a twist, the man unlatched the door and let them forth into the courtyard beyond.

The third trial fell upon them like a thunderclap. The guardian was human-shaped but fought like no human, arms around the man's throat, legs around his chest, strong as an entire team of oxen. The man wrestled and fought, outmatched but not beaten, even as the guardian drove him to the ground and the wolf sought any tender place for teeth or claws.

The man cried out in pain, exactly once, as the guardian's hand landed upon his hip and the joint was wrenched forth from its socket. His eyes met those of the wolf, through the cage of the guardian's arms, and once again new knowledge passed between them.

Cassie ran on, leaving him. Heart-heavy but sure of foot, she ran on. The far portcullis was aloft, and she passed through the final door to confront the head enchanter who lay beyond.

There was a smile on the puppeteer's face, when she burst forth into his antechamber. He was many, and he was all alone. He had the same eyes as the guard at the door. "Very well," he said. "You have proven you are brave enough to face the unknown, diligent enough to work beyond weariness, and clever enough to win against a stronger foe. Thus you will use a boon well, if I give it to you. What boon would you have?"

"For my companion to be brought to this room and given his wish," the wolf answered, "and for him to be hale and healed when he arrives."

The puppeteer laughed. "Clever indeed, my little friend. It shall be done."

And the man stood among them, pale with surprise but unharmed. "Once again you have saved my life," he told the wolf.

"Once again you have saved mine," she told the man.

Kneeling before the puppeteer, the man spoke his wish aloud.

Thus she was transformed, into a maiden strong of arm and callused of skin. And the younger son took her hand, and thus with his fortune did he at last return home.

#animorphs #beauty and the beast #long post #animorphs au #beauty and the beast au #jake berenson #cassie animorphs #cake #hope op doesn't mind i borrowed from other celtic and judeochristian and classical myths beyond the original fairy tale #and that i couldn't get myself to use the original ending with its Unfortunate Implications through a modern feminist lens #plus it'd be wildly out of character for cassie to lock jake into a bargain to save herself

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