Lucine Capriccio

This is a short story I wrote about one of my characters. Enjoy!

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Today was a big day for Lucine Capriccio.
Her father Feldwyn, a ranger of Mielikki, and her mother Dwina, a priestess of Selûne, were going to take her into the Moonwood by their home in Silverymoon to mark a trail. It was the day of her eighth winter, and this was her family's way of celebrating.
Lucine was a friendly and outgoing child, despite being considered as strange by her classmates and other children her age. She skipped when she walked, hummed and sometimes talked cheerfully to herself. Other parents discouraged this, saying that Lucine would go to be a strange and possibly mentally imbalanced girl. Dwina, however, simply insisted that Lucine was still a child, even if she didn't act as mature as her age would allow. Dwina and Feldwyn loved their whimsical child and wouldn't have had her any other way.
This day was imporant, but still not that different from a normal day in the Capriccio household. Even as Feldwyn bundled Lucine up in wool and furs, the young girl was singing to herself in nonsensical words that three-year olds tend to use.
"What are we looking for today, Fawn?" asked Feldwyn, for Fawn was what he called her.
"Poachers!" cried Lucine with glee, throwing her hands up high. Feldwyn chuckled and kissed his daughter's forehead.
"No, love, we're going to mark a trail," he replied.
"Trail!" Lucine cried again with a grin. Dwina got on her coat and wrapped a scarf around her daughter's neck, then the three set off.
For a winter's day, the weather was quite mild. The air was calm and still, and while there was a biting chill, the sun was out among but a few clouds, and no snow was falling. The snow that was already on the ground was a thin blanket, and it had freshly fallen the night before, and it sparkled and glittered prettily in the midday sun. Thanks to the blanket of snow, though, the family had to trudge about in it, even getting some down their boots here and there. Lucine followed closely behind her parents, with her mother in the lead, as a navigator, and her father in the middle. This way, Lucine could follow behind without getting too much snow down her boots. The three followed in line, with Dwina checking her map now and then and Feldwyn marking a tree by tying a strip of leather about one of the boughs. Lucine followed obediently . . . for the moment.
Being such a whimsical child, Lucine often found herself daydreaming or losing her concentration in favour of her own means of entertainment. As such, when she peeked through the trees on this bright winter's day and caught a bright sparkle out of the corner of her eye, she fancied that she had seen a discarded gem or magical trinket. She didn't even wait for an opportune moment . . . she slipped off without another word, leaving her parents to wander ahead without her.
As she was walking off in pursuit of the object that caught her eye, Lucine noted the sky had begun to darken rather quickly, and snow had begun to fall. She thought to act quickly and find the trinket before snow covered her tracks, and she did find it . . . but Lucine's perception of time was different from most other people's. She searched around in the snow for a good ten minutes before she found what she was looking for. . . .
No more than a mere chunk of ice!
Still, Lucine fancied it might be something important, so she pocketed it anyway and turned around to follow her tracks back. Unfortunately, though, the blanket of snow had already been so thin and the snow was falling so hard, Lucine couldn't find her tracks.
"Uh oh," she murmured, peering about. Lucine had the worst sense of direction of any child her age. When she played hide and seek with other children, when they would play with her, she would hide in such ridiculous places that it often took an actual search party to come find her hours after the game was over, as she would usually get lost just minutes after going to find a hiding spot. In the middle of the woods, this was very dangerous indeed.
Lucine started wandering off in the direction she thought she might have gone. Little did she know that this was the exact opposite of the road she was to go.

Feldwyn tied another length of leather to a tree and nodded in satisfaction.
"That should do it," he said. "Are you tired, Fawn?" he asked behind him. He was surprised not to hear a response. "Fawn? Are you tired?" He turned around at this point. "Faw-"
Feldwyn hadn't finished his daughter's petname before he looked to see that his daughter was absolutely nowhere to be found.
"Oh by the gods," he groaned.
"What is it?" Dwina asked with a tone of panic in her voice. She spun around to see none but Feldwyn with a dejected and terrified look on his face. "Feldwyn!" Dwina cried. "Why weren't you watching her?!" This, of course, turned the couple against one another, and they argued as they followed the leather strips along their trail.

It had been several hours, and Lucine was still very lost. She wandered aimlessly through the forest, watching the snow fall as the sky began to darken. She was in a good mood despite being lost, and she sang to herself. She noticed the weather was getting very chilly, however, and she hadn't eaten in hours so she was starting to get very hungry. She had long forgotten about the chunk of ice in her pocket and was now daydreaming about the wonderful birthday supper she would have when she got home.
. . . If she got home. . . .
Worry suddenly overtook her. She was lost! What was she going to do if she couldn't get home, and why didn't she realise this sooner?
"Mommy!" she cried at the top of her lungs. "Daddy!" When she heard no reply, she burst into tears and flopped into the snow dejectedly, shivering. She had grown weary indeed, even if it all hit her at once as it did. She sat there for awhile and wept, unsure of what to do.
Another hour passed and it was really dark now. Lucine was shivering and nearly falling asleep, and the cold numbed her body. Her eyes started to droop with the weight of her fatigue, but some movement caught her eye and snapped her awake.
"Mommy?" she said weakly. "Daddy?" For a moment, it seemed her eyes must have been playing tricks on her, but then she saw movement again, and heard sounds. She stood up and saw a bright light coming from the trees, though as she focused her eyes, she saw that it wasn't a light at all.
Before her stood a beautiful, gleaming white unicorn, bathed in a silvery light. Her silver and opalescent horn shone as though in direct moonlight, even though the night was clouded over. To Lucine's great wonder and delight, the unicorn was striding toward her, and the closer the unicorn got, the more Lucine felt herself filling with warmth. By the time the unicorn was a foot away, Lucine wasn't cold anymore.
"Hello, Lucine," said the unicorn in a cheerful, flutey voice.
"You know my name?" whispered Lucine. The unicorn tossed her head in a nod. Lucine supposed she was smiling, though she didn't know what a unicorn smile looked like.
"My name is Lurue, Lucine," she said. "Do you want to go back to your parents?" Lucine nodded vigorously.
"Yes, oh yes, please!" she said. "It's cold out here, and I'm hungry." With that, the unicorn turned and ran off into the forest. Lucine, suddenly filled with energy anew, chased after the unicorn. Every now and then, Lurue would fade out of her sight, but then Lucine would catch a glimpse of her gleaming pelt and run faster to catch up.
"Fawn!" cried a relieved voice. Lucine spun about to find her father and mother standing there with tears in their eyes. Lucine made a sound of great excitement and rushed over to jump into her father's arms. He lifted her easily off the ground, despite his growing complaints that she had been growing too heavy for him to lift. Dwina joined them and the three had a collective hug.
"Oh, how did you find your way back?" Dwina asked, giving her daughter an affectionate kiss on the cheek.
"Lurue helped me!" Lucine cried happily, giving her mother an even bigger kiss. Dwina and Feldwyn exchanged surprised glances. Living in Silverymoon, and being the daughter of a Selunite and a Mielikkian, Lurue was not an uncommon name in the Capriccio household, but nevertheless, the sudden mention was peculiar.
"Sweetheart, remember what we told you about telling people stories that aren't true?" Dwina asked gently. Lucine nodded.
"But mommy, Lurue was really there! And she was big and white and beautiful, just like you always said!" she cried enthusiastically. "She came out of the forest and told me to follow her. She's right over there!" At this, Lucine pointed out into the forest where she came from, but there was no one to be found. No gleaming white unicorn stood there, and the glow was gone, too. "But she was right there!" Lucine said sadly. "Where did you go, Lurue?" Feldwyn and Dwina glanced at eachother again, this time even more skeptically than before. Just as they were turning back to look at their daughter, however, they were sure that they saw a large, gleaming white figure disappear down the path, almost too quick to see. . . .

Some years later - on her twelfth summer, to be precise - Lucine was travelling through the forest with her parents once more when she noticed a beautiful mossy stump in a clearing. Light was pouring in from a break in the trees and in the summer light, it looked almost as though fairies were dancing in the sunlight. As her parents walked on, she took the opportunity to sneak off, having learned how to be cleverly stealthy over the past four years. She neared the little glade and took a good look around, but she saw nothing of particular interest. She went to leave again, but she noticed that she was already lost!
"Oh, very well, Lucine," she murmured under her breath. "Now you've done it! You're lost again!" She sighed and flopped down by the stump. "I suppose it'll be best to wait here until someone comes to find you. Ooohh, I really wish I had someone to travel with me and keep me from getting lost!"
Time passed, and no one came. Lucine wasn't one to lose patience, but the sun was setting and there had been recent rumors of werewolves in the Moonwood.
"Sheesh," came a mischevious feminine voice from somewhere behind her, "you sure do get lost easily!" Lucine spun around, peering against the light of the setting sun.
"Who's there?" she asked. She couldn't see anyone, but she heard a sigh.
"You're looking right at me, silly," came the voice again. Lucine couldn't see that she was, so she shielded her eyes with a hand.
"All I see is an otter," she observed, having, indeed, seen an otter sitting upright a few feet away.
"I am the otter," the voice said with a giggle. Lucine blinked.
"A talking otter?" she gasped. "What . . . how is that possible?" The otter sighed.
"Hence why I don't usually make it known, you know," she muttered. "Anyway, I'm here because you called to me." Lucine tilted her head.
"Really?" she asked. "I did?" The otter nodded.
"Lurue brought us together, Lucine!" she said. "With me you'll never get lost again!" The otter scampered over suddenly and sat on Lucine's shoulder. "Now, stand up and go thatta way!" She said, pointing a tiny paw back toward where Lucine had come from. Lucine started walking, and before long, Lucine noticed her surroundings getting familiar.
"Hey!" she exclaimed, "those are the ribbons marked by my father!"
"Told you so," said the otter smugly. Lucine craned her head slightly to look at the creature who sat on her shoulder.
"I'm sorry, I've just never met a talking otter before," Lucine said as simply as one would say they'd never met a halfling before. "I trust you . . . um. . . ."
"Gefi," said the otter, answering the unfinished question, "your new best friend!"