As the sun filled the sky, Jan stood on Galactica Point and lifted his nose into the wind. There was something he could sense, just out of sight and scent.

A whisper on the wind. It is time, Jan.

He reared, shying. "Who are you?" he cried out.

Your own granddam, the whisper replied. Who else would I be?

Memory stirred him. "Sa? My father's dam?"

Once I was Sa. I am part of Alma now.

"You told me to find the fire. But the fire was within me," he gasped. "It was within me all along!"

The sky around him seemed to nod in affirmation. Ever since your initiation pilgrimage, two years past, when I touched your hooves with fire in the Pan Woods, and then your horn in the wyvern's den. The air sighed. I have been waiting such a long time for you to discover that spark within. I knew I had to steer you to the Firekeeper.

Jan bowed his head. "What of Tek? Of Dagg? What of the herd, and of Korr?" It was the first time he'd allowed himself to think of his sire since he'd created fire, the memory of Korr's rage like a stone in his heart.

Jump, Aljan. Jump and I will send you home.

Jump. The ocean lay before him, cold and deep. He shivered, skin twitching. Hesitated, then drove forward, hooves tucked beneath him as he leapt off the point and plunged into the sea.

The waves closed over him, and he was swimming, gasping as his head broke the surface. "Alma!"

Swim, Aljan, son of my son, Dark Moon. And then there was only silence where the voice had been. With one longing look back at Fandom, Jan swam towards the open ocean.

[ooc: NFI, fine for broadcast, OOC totes fine. Locked to, well, you'll see. This whole post? Canon, with only the teeniest tweaks. These books? Total crack.

Also, I was afraid when I apped Jan that no one would want to play with him, 'cause it was pretty weird. Thank you so much to everyone who just went with it and made it possible to have fun with him.]

Jan was wandering the woods. Not aimlessly, precisely, but not with any particular destination in mind. The cold didn't bother him, his coat having thickened as the weather had cooled, and there were still a few patches of green scattered here and there which he was nibbling as he wandered.

He was restless, unfocussed, and he pawed at the dirt for a moment before striding forward.

( cut for preplay )

[ooc: preplayed with the astounding kestrelswolf and joan_notjane (who also did all the coding, because she is awesome). No IC interaction possible, but OOC comments welcome.]

It was hot, far too hot for Jan. His normally sleek unicorn self was shaggy for winter's cold; now that winter's cold had turned into summer's heat, he was suffering.

Head down, he nosed the sand, hoping to catch some of the cool ocean breezes. The heat made him sleepy, lethargic, and before he realised it, he'd half-drifted off.

( IAWL...with unicorns. )

Jan jerked to alertness, eyes wide, and tossed his mane. Disturbed, his skin twitched and he stamped a hoof on the sand. "Enough," he snorted, and plunged forward into the ocean, finding respite from the heat at last.

[ooc: This establishy IAWL moment is brought to you entirely by canon.]

Jan was getting used to this body. Sort of. It was pink and soft and awkward, but the fingers were clever and he could see straight in front of himself.

That took some getting used to, so he was practising by staring at himself in the mirror.

The closet door was open, so the full length mirror could be seen, and he was making faces at it, posing and turning around to peer over his shoulder at his reflection.

"Weird," he decided, making another face.

The door was open, because it didn't occur to him to close it, and he'd shed his shirt somewhere along the way.

[ooc: open door, open post, but I may be a wee bit slow.]

As Jan slowly awoke he realised he couldn't smell anything and he could barely hear. Perhaps it snowed? The snow in winter could muffle all the senses.

His eyes opened and Jan whinnied in fear...or tried to. It came out as a low, hoarse cough.

The world looked wrong. It felt wrong.

He was wrong. He lifted what should have been a forehoof, sharp and solid, and saw a pale blob with wriggly pink things. He shot to his feet and promptly fell over, scrabbling back up onto his rear legs, awkward and clumsy as a new born foal.

Shakily, he reached up to touch his head, fingers prodding his brow frantically. Nothing.

His horn was gone.

Heart pounding, Jan stood silent, forelegs hanging limp and useless by his sides. His horn was gone, his eyes were leaking, everything was bright and sharp. It was too much. Fight or flight, and there was no enemy, so he bolted, scrambling across the floor to fumble with the doorknob and run, as fast as he could, nearly tumbling down the stairs in his haste.

[ooc: 'stablishy! Two equines down, one to go!]

The adorable plushie was resting on the floor near Jan's mattress.

Make that the cranky adorable plushie.

Not that this was new. It had been cranky since the moment it had appeared out of nowhere and nothing had happened to change that. If anything, the crankiness had progressed through grumpiness into a full-on snit-fit.

It was just as well the people who could understand a snit-fitting plushie were few, because the now constant carrying on was near to blistering the air. Faint blue swirls could be seen around the cutesy unicorn's head, and every one of its synthetic fibres was standing on end with the sheer force of its crankiness.

It began to glow faintly, as snit-fit became senseless rant...

And then it exploded with a whoosh of air and a shower of kapok stuffing.

Jan, looking more appaloosa than night-black with the puffs of white sticking to his coat, stood, sheepish and confused, in the midst of the shredded bits of plushie.

"That was distinctly unpleasant," he decided, and shook violently, sending the stuffing flying.

[ooc: open sure! But I won't pick up pings 'til I wake up in the morning.]

I am still totally Non Gamis Mentis and buried under familial visit and new job, but I am popping in long enough to totally steal ideas from the flist.

Anyone who would like a holiday card all the way from Australia, leave your address in the comments! They are of the screened variety, of course.

(I promise not to include any spiders, like this one that was in my laundry tub and of which remember5th made me take a photo [after it was deceased - I wasn't getting that close while it was still alive omg].)

My mother arrived from Canada today. This + new job with no access to fun internet sites = zero availability from me for a few weeks. As compared to my MASSIVE amounts of availability before this, yes.

My kids are getting critterised for convenience: remember5th has modding rights to Karal, berserkerminsc to Rosie, and talks2objects to Jan.

*cliiiiings to game*

Well, not quite, but I have left my old job as of today (plus home early and LJ's still working, woo!).

My point! A bunch of people had my work email and rather than try and figure who they all were, and email all of them individually to say, hey, don't use that address any more, I'm taking the laaaazy way out.

If you used to email me at work, don't use that address any more!

There, done. Now, to enjoy the three day weekend.

Jan had no classes today. He had no reason to go out into the world. This was good because he was, truth be told, the very next thing to heartbroken.

So fixated had he been on finding who had killed his friend, and on grieving, that the island's oddness had passed him by. Finding out she hadn't died had been joyous. Finding out she had actually been testing her friends, had tricked them into believing her dead - murdered - for the sake of her green paper money, had been anything but.

Last night he'd been angry; this morning he was simply sad.

He nosed his blanket listlessly, ears and tail drooping, and put his head down on the mattress.

He didn't even care that the door was open.

[ooc: ...just like the post!]

It was Saturday morning, and Jan had been fast asleep on his mattress.

As he awoke, he stretched and pulled his blanket off with his teeth before standing and shaking himself, mane and tail flying.

Just as he did every morning, oblivious to and unaffected by any weirdness.

(Look, he was already a talking unicorn with amnesia. It's hard to get much more ridiculous than that.)

He did sneeze, though. Apparently he'd been afflicted with a mild cold.

[ooc: establishy unless the roommie wants to ping in.]

His stitches were out, his slashes healed, and he'd taken it easy, just as he'd promised Ino.

But that had been yesterday. Jan had been good for an entire day and night when he hadn't been able to run properly for weeks and he had a race to practice for. This morning, he was going to run.

A sedate trot took him to the school gates -- warming up, because he was generally a smart unicorn. Once he was on the road, he launched himself forward into a gallop, head high and tail flagged, hooves drumming against the ground.

He galloped over the rocky bits and up Selkie's Peak, sliding down to weave through the woods until he hit the ocean where he spun and threw himself towards the boardwalk, the clatter of hooves on wood making him snort, but he kept going.

Leaves crackled as he followed the edge of the Preserve. He dug furrows in the sand on the beach, water splashing in his wake, and a flock of seagulls took wing as he bolted through them.

This morning, the island was his and he was going to run until he'd covered every part of it.

[ooc: just establishy, unless you want to have seen him run past you.]

Jan was grazing. Surreptitiously. He still wasn't sure if it was allowed around the dorms, but he was hungry and the grass was delicious.

Something stung his fetlock and he lashed out, head shooting up in alarm when he hit something. It was a round furry...thing. No, it was many round furry things, all rolling towards him. "Hello?" he greeted, ears flicking nervously.

They just kept coming. He saw the teeth at the same time they shot forward to bite at his legs. "Ouch, no, what are you doing? Stop that? I've offered you no harm!" Dancing in place, he tried to sweep them away, and one latched onto his horn.

"Enough! Leave off!" They didn't listen, and after one particularly painful bite, he snapped. Snorting, kicking and stabbing, he wreaked havoc as only a warrior unicorn pitted against colourful fuzzy biting balls could.

It didn't take long before every one of them was dead. Blowing hard, Jan surveyed his handiwork, feeling slightly guilty, and secretly pleased.

This lasted the few moments it took for the dead vicious furry circles to become twice as many vicious circles, none of whom were dead. As one, they launched themselves at Jan, teeth snapping.

He half-reared, throwing himself backwards, then turned tail and bolted away, a gang of vicious circles in hot pursuit.

[Just cause I had to]

Jan had slept on the floor last night, and he woke up cranky. He'd gone to sleep hoping the morning would bring with it his memories. It didn't. He still knew nothing of who he was beyond his name.

Snorting, he glared at the bed. It was for humans to sleep on, which meant it wouldn't hold his weight. Jan stamped once, swished his tail, then grabbed the corner of the mattress in his teeth, threw his weight back, and started tugging it, hooves scrabbling for purchase on the floor.

If he couldn't sleep on the bed, he would pull the softness off. He was not spending another night on the hard floor.

The door was open, and his low whinnies and snorts of frustration could definitely be heard in the hall.

[ooc: open!]

The rhythm of the waves woke him, their gentle wash against and across him soaking his pelt. The dark unicorn opened his eyes to find himself lying pressed against wet sand. Choking, he rolled to his knees, pitched shakily to his feet, trembling with confusion.

He had come from a place of green waves and golden shore. He remembered a storm. Shivering his coat, he was surprised when there was no sting of pain. He remembered, he remembered...

Thirst broke his thoughts. "Water," he told himself, shaking his wet mane. "Find water."

Aye, a soft voice answered, you've travelled a long way.

The unicorn started, cavalled, letting out a startled whinny.

Find my fire, Jan. When you have found my fire, you will once more know who you are.

The voice faded and Jan blinked dizzily as he stared at this strange land in which he found himself.

( A strange [unicorn] in a [very] strange land. )

[ooc: many thanks to notqueenyet for helping me get Jan to the picnic.]

He'd woken with his head pillowed on his mate's flank, his neck lying along her back, warm and peaceful and filled with joy. Now...

( When gryphons attack. )

For four hundred years, unpaired warriors had made the trek to the Summer Sea, there to dance court and seek their mates. This summer was no different.

( They may be horny horses, but I'm not writing unicorn porn. )

Not the last unicorn, but I think he might be the first.

Yes, Aljan is a unicorn. Prince of the unicorns, in fact. And he talks.

He also has amnesia.

Jan comes from a series of books by Meredith Ann Pierce (the Birth of the Firebringer trilogy). He's pitch black, apart from a white spot on his left heel and a white crescent on his brow, just as the unicorns' ancient prophecy described. Oh yeah, Jan's also the Firebringer, whose coming was foretold four hundred years ago, who will lead his people back to reclaim their ancient home.

( Amnesiac, prophesied, talking unicorn royalty: good times! )

And that's the lowdown on my hairy, horny horse!

There was a crashing noise, like the sound of a phone hitting a desk. Exactly like, in fact.

"I don't understand this," the voice was deep and snorty, "but this will listen to your words and repeat them to me later. So say them now." There was another, quieter, crash followed by a beep.