She was so perfectly innocent, so beautifully pure. The Unicorn's heart swelled to bursting every time he looked at her. He felt ashamed, being such an ugly beast, marring her presence and her vision with his own faultiness. The morning sunlight beamed down from the horizon, casting her pale body in heavenly gold. She looked up at him with wide, childish eyes, of the brightest, most beautiful, Bethlehem blue.

~Are we going back to your forest, Unicorn?~ Inocote's voice tinkled like the ringing of chimes, like the voices of angels.

The Unicorn, his ugly head forever bowed beneath the weight of his horn, grunted an affirmative. He cursed himself at the crassness of his voice, shuddering, and replied,"Yes." Of course, he could not bring them back, lacking the knowledge of how he even managed to make such a journey to this...abnormal planet. But he had to leave. He was already forced to isolate himself and Inocote, in fear of his insatiable urge to destroy that which was not pure surface amid the...impure strangers. The Unicorn himself had no qualms against ridding the world of their disgusting habits, but he dared not force bloodshed upon Inocote's eyes.

The Unicorn stirred, swatting his tail like some rancid bovine,"Could you...?"

Inocote ducked her head bashfully, muttering a tiny 'oh' beneath her breath. She swatted her nose with a paw and averted her gaze, ~I don't know the way~

The Unicorn twitched his ears. His eyes rolled wildly as he peered off at the distant landscape. Of course she would not have known where to go. How foolish of him to even suggest that, to embarrass her so cruelly.

~I think we may be able to help~

The Unicorn jerked backward, tossing his horn to the side, the rest of his massive body followed suit and he had soon lumbered about to face this new speaker. His nostrils flared and deep puffs of rancid, stinking breath filled the air around his tusked mouth. Inocote let out a shrill squeak and scurried beneath her bond, peering out at the 'intruders' between a gap in her little paw-fingers.

It was one of the other unicorn creatures. Slighter and smaller than him, but regal looking. A dragonet was at his side as well, three-headed and nine-tailed. The Unicorn inhaled sharply. He sensed no...Impurity in the strangers, but there was something abnormal about the equine. The Unicorn shifted his weight, tilting his head against the roll of his horn, and sent them both a dark look. It took the Unicorn a moment to settle down, his chest heaving slower and slower until he had calmed.

The other 'unicorn' regarded him apathetically, casting his eyes down at his own dragonet. He did not speak. Nor, for that matter, did anyone else. The satin-purple dragonet approached the unicorn. There was no caution in her step, no masked insecurity. It was if she knew the Unicorn would not, could not, harm her. She slipped under his massive bulk and wriggled toward Inocote.

The Unicorn wished desperately that he could lower his head enough to see what they were doing. He jerked his face to the side and dropped his neck as far as it would go against the bulk of his horn.

There was scuffling beneath him, and the other creature approached, a hand-like appendage stretching outward,"Feruth."

The purple dragonet appeared, once again at her bond's side. They exchanged a small glance, and the unicorn-creature shivered slightly. The Unicorn's eyes flicked wildly between the two, resisting the urge to bear his tusks and teeth at their...mysteriousness.

~I'm okay~,Inocote's voice piped up beneath him,~I know what to do now~

"Did they harm you?"

~No~ replied Inocote brightly. There was shifting beneath him, and suddenly they were both bathed in brightness.

When sight once again returned to them, they found themselves surrounded by the forest.

Inocote scrambled out from under the safety of her bond. She brushed against his foreleg and scampered ahead, her eyes bright and brimmed with curiosity,~Is this home?~

"Yes," said the Unicorn, lumbering slowly toward her. She was so bright against the crisp darkness and muted hues of the forest. So brilliant and beautiful.

The answer had been a lie, of course. The Unicorn had never considered the forest his home. It was his cage, his duty to protect. Inocote was his home now. And his duty. But she was no burden. No, she, so innocent and pure, could never be a burden. The Unicorn loved her with ever fiber of his being, and her own love for him, so passionately pure, was enough to make him tremble.

"Yes,"said the Unicorn again, as the two began to move slowly through the wood. She exploring, he protecting. "This is my home."

~The home of The Unicorn~ she whispered dreamily.

Yes. The Unicorn...and the angel.