Black Ribbons, part 1

TO THE TOWER!!!!! I just had a great idea. Everybody remember Morwyn? I think it would be awesome if, at some point in the book, she were to pop up knitting a cauldron cozy with rainbow yarn and like ten needles. That would be AWESOME.

So, that short story just isn't done. Flame it. (I love Auburn. So much.) So that means I'll just have to post the first part of it to keep you guys from eating me alive. It's kind of a heavily modified retelling of Hansel and Gretel, but... different. The only part that's the same is the white stones they use to find their way home. Here you go.

Juniper wrapped her ragged cloak around Jasmine, shivering. The moon was a glaring white orb that washed the clearing with harsh light and left the surrounding forest in shadow. A stiff, chill breeze tossed Juniper’s blue-black hair around her face as she crouched beside her younger sister. “Don‘t worry, Min, we’ll find our way home in no time. There’s nothing to be afraid of.”
“’M not scared,” Jasmine protested, brushing a curl of flaxen hair out of her eyes. “I just wish Mama wanted us.” Her lower lip trembled.
Sighing, Juniper lifted her sister in her arms and stood. “Come on. Let’s start walking, all right? Look, there’s one of our stones in the grass there.” The white pebble glinted at the edge of the moon-blasted meadow. Juniper started towards it. The wind blew again, slicing through her thin nightrail like a blade. The trees danced, shaking their heads with a thundering rustle.
“Juni?” said Jasmine, huddling into her sister’s cloak. “Wouldn’t we get home faster if we flew?”
“You know I don’t like flying,” Juniper said. “There stupid wings are the whole reason Mama doesn’t want us in the first place. If I didn’t have them, we would both be home in bed.” The wind ruffled the bat-like appendages that sprouted from her shoulder blades. She clenched them tightly closed.
Jasmine reached up to feel the tiny horns that hid under her curls. “Mama doesn’t like my horns either.”
“It’s her own fault,” Juniper muttered, stopping at the edge of the woods to poke at the first pebble with the toe of her boot. “She knew Papa’s first wife was a Darkling, and that we were both Tainted. But she married him anyway.”
The forest loomed before them, draped in swathes of deep shadow and patched with moonlight. Several yards in, Juniper could see a pale shimmer that might have been the next pebble.
“Are you sure we can’t fly?” Jasmine asked again, her wide eyes turned up to Juniper’s face. Juniper studied her sister’s features for a moment. Red eyes. Even if they hadn’t had the wings or horns, their eyes would always mark them as Tainted by Darkling blood. Curse you, Papa. Why did you do it? Why love a Darkling woman when there are so many humans running around? It isn’t fair to Min and me. Juniper kissed Jasmine’s head, between her horns. “I really think we should walk.”

So there's part one. It's short, but the next part is a LOT longer. Cuz there's a fight scene in it. X3

Commander Kip
TEEN TITANS! (See?! It's always the good-looking green ones!)
Commander Kip
Normal is overrated!