Disclaimer: All the characters in this FanFiction belong to Marvel and are used without their permission and not to make me a profit. This piece of writing is my original work and in the case of it being archived, I would appreciate if it would not be changed or maimed. I would also like to be credited. This story has a rating of U and is generally syrupy and sweet. It is also a fairytale set in another reality. As you may know by now, I am incapable of writing hard-core, 'serious' works. I make no apologies for it. It's just the way I am. Enjoy and send your comments to moi at [email protected]!

RogueStar

The village was quiet at night. The kind of quiet that came before a storm, that was found in the eye a hurricane; an unnatural quiet; the quiet that preceded danger.
"He comes tonight." The woman whispered to the child beside her, "The mage Magnus comes tonight."
"I'm scared, mother."
"No reason to be as long as he gets that which he has requested."
"But, mother, he has requested our life's savings."
"Better that than to risk his displeasure."
A sudden flare of orange-red lit the village, blocking out the stars and moon. The woman looked skyward, seeing the figure in scarlet robes.
"He is come."

Magnus looked around the congregated villagers.
"My people, it is time." He smiled, "Bring forth your gifts to me and I shall bless you in equal proportion."
A child came - stumbling, tripping - and deposited a small box of gold at the Mage's feet.
"For you, my lord."
He nodded, acknowledging the child's adulation. The pile continued to grow steadily until it was a glittering mountain at his feet. The tithing, of course, was more symbolic than anything else. The villagers were farmers, fishermen, carpenters - all poor, simple people who lived poor, simple lives. Absently, Magnus looked up at the villager who was paying tribute to him. At her slender body beneath the dull robe of homespun. At her emerald eyes which burned with hatred. At her brown hair with a single streak of white. He smirked, touching her cheek.
"What is your name, woman?"
"Sabrina." She slapped his hand away from her face.
"Many women would envy you, Sabrina." The Mage leered, "I am giving you the opportunity of a lifetime - the opportunity to become my wife."
"Nevah." She spat, "Ah'm spoken foh already, an' even if'n Ah wasn't, Ah would nevah marry a sybaritic pig like you."
"Fortunately for you, I like a woman with spirit." He stood, "This woman shall be my next tithe or your village shall be destroyed."
Sabrina's mouth opened in a horrified circle and tears began to drip down her face.
"Sir." A greying man stepped forward, "Is there nothing else we can give you?"
The Mage was silent for a while, a sadistic smile playing over his thin lips.
"Yes . . . there is one thing. The horse of another color."
"Sir . . . that is just a legend. We cannot give you something that does not exist."
"Then prepare my blushing bride for her wedding day, for I will not take anything else."  Magnus kissed Sabrina's lips. "Until then, beloved."
Smoke, smelling of brimstone and incense, swirled around the villagers and when it dissipated, Magnus had disappeared.
"I'm sorry, daughter." The middle-aged man put an arm around her waist, "But it cannot be that bad. He is a powerful mage and rich. He will make you happy."
"No, daddy. *He* can nevah make me happy." She slipped out of his grasp and ran into the woods.
"She won't become resigned to her fate." An old woman said, her blackened stumps of teeth bared in a smile, "I have seen her future in the stars."
"And what is that, Madame Destiny?"
"Freedom." She replied simply. "Joy and freedom."

~~~

"C'n y'put my horse away f'r me?" The man swung out of the saddle and handed the reins to the attendant ostler.
"My pleasure, sir." The stocky boy guided the horse into an empty stable, giving it oats and water. Whistling a tune, the man walked in the direction of his fiancee's cottage.
It was small and painted white with ivy growing up the walls. He knocked on the door with one black gloved hand.
"Come on in. Th' door's open."
"Bonjour, ma chere."
"Remy. You . . . you came." Her green eyes were swollen and red as if she had been crying.
"What is wrong, Sabrina?"
"You know th' mage was here tanight?"
"Oui." He grinned, "If it's de money, don' worry. I lightened de pockets o' a few  gentlemen' on de way here."
He pulled a small velvet pouch out of his pocket and threw it onto the table. It opened, spilling gold coins.
"It ain't th' money." She said, "Magnus gave it all back ta us. Ta me."
"What?!" He sounded surprised, "So de ol' snake has a heart, after all."
"Yeah, he does." She sighed, "Unfortunately, it's set on havin' me."
"What d'ya mean?"
"He wants mah hand in marriage foh his next tithe, or he'll destroy th' village."
"Dieu. An' he won' take anyt'ing else?"
"Yeah . . . but . . . but it don't even exist." She sobbed.
"Den we have t'make it exist." He ran a hand through her streaked hair, conforting her. "What is it?"
"Th' horse of another color. . . ."

~~~

"This is beautiful." The girl whispered as she looked around the cave, "This is so incredibly beautiful."
The walls were studded with crystals, fragile, delicate, crumbling at a touch. Light caught them and refracted in dancing rainbow colors around the room. Her hands were pink, her face green and her feet gold.
"Come, child." The sorceress Ororo gestured to the girl, "I have gathered all the crystals that I need."
Her apprentice looked up at her with wide almond eyes.
"Coming . . . ." She pocketed a small piece of jade which she had found lying on the floor. It was carved into the shape of a unicorn, with a spiralled horn made of diamond. She debated whether or not to show it to Ororo and decided against it. The sorceress would insist that they found the rightful owner and she was too fond of the ornament to relinquish it so easily. The sorceress had already left the cave and the apprentice ran after her with short, tripping paces. It was a long walk back to the cottage in which they lived and the sun was already beginning to tip the trees with crimson and gold. By the time they arrived home, a silver moon hung high in the star-sprinkled sky. The sorceress unlocked the door with a small golden key and rehung it around her neck.
"Why did we need to get the crystals?" The apprentice asked.
"Patience, Jubilation. All shall be revealed." She answered distractedly, looking  around the small room. "Someone has been here . . . I can sense another's presence."
"Yes. And he's made himself *pretty* comfortable whoever he is."
Jubilation commented wryly.
She walked to Ororo's bedroom and pulled the sheets down. A man was sleeping there, auburn hair dark against the white pillow.
"Hey, wake up." Jubilation shook him roughly. Her hand came up red with blood.
"I believe he is injured, child." Ororo came up behind her, "Put this compress on his wound."
She handed the apprentice a viscous mass of green leaves. The man winced slightly as Jubilation applied them to his wound and his eyes opened. Red-on-black.
"Am I in heaven?" His accent was strange.
"No. You're in the sorceress Ororo's house." Jubilation told him.
"If you be Ororo, I need y'help."
"Firstly, explain who you are and why you are in my house before you make demands." Her voice was firm.
"It be a long story."
"We have time."
"My name is Remy leBeau an' I am on a quest t'find de horse of another color." The young man sighed, "I come from a little village in de mountains a couple o' leagues from here. De village is protected by a mage, Magnus. Every year, in return for his patronage and support, Magnus demands a tribute from de villagers. Usually, it ain't much - gold, silver, jewels - but dis year, he wants somet'ing different."
"Different?" Ororo asked.
"Impossible more like it." Remy leBeau said, "De mage has fallen in love wit' my fiancee an' says dat I must give her t'him, unless I c'n find de horse of another color."
"If you don't?"
"He'll destroy de village."
"Of course we'll help you!" Jubilation sprang to her feet, "Just think - a real, live adventure!"
"Ain't no adventure, petite." He looked grim, "Magnus would do just about anyt'ing t'stop us. Includin' and preferably killin' us."
He gestured at his wounded side which had stopped bleeding.
"So where do we begin?" The apprentice asked.
"I shall use my scrying bowl to determine the position of this horse of another color." Ororo removed a crystal bowl from the shelf and poured a liquid into it. Mist rose from the bowl, the image swirling and shifting.
"Rolo creh tonafo es rohem wohs."
A green horse with a silver horn. Flames. A bird of fire.
"Hguo ne."
The picture vanished into the reflection of Ororo's face, which too disappeared as she turned to face the young man.
"We must seek the help of the Goddess of Fire."
"But . . . ain't she jus' a legend also?"
"Does a fairy have wings?" Jubilation said, "Ororo and her meet for a game of Mage's Maze every Thursday."
"Although that is not quite the truth, I shall attempt to explain." Ororo waved her hand, forming an image. "The Goddess of Fire lives within the Promethean Mountains where the magma bubbles up through the earth's crust. It is a dangerous journey - one which I have only undertaken once to share in the Ceremony of Balance. We were friends then."

To be continued . . . .

Horse Index - Back to the index