Story I wrote for a good friend who wanted to make a character in Karens universe, one of my first commissioned stories :)

Meet Morse, another traveler who had a run in with a familiar thief, and later on a Grumpy equine.

To see how Morse's origins, look here: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/15134078/

Artwork done by the amazing  jakkal

Morse Belongs to  frysco

Thanks to  gawayne for helping me with the story

Karen belongs to me :)

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Karen in: Birds of a Feather

Karen walked through the forest at a brisk pace, her hooves making soft thuds as they hit the damp earth. It was early fall, Valerie had only been gone a week and Karen was already stuck as a horse, her supply of Azuchroma gone. But it didn't bother her as much as it used too, not to say she enjoyed being forcibly turned into a horse, but she had grown used to it.

Four years was a long time, and Karen had learned to live with her situation, Making adjustments to her life to make things easier when she was trapped with hooves. Her bag for example she had modified nearly 2 years ago so she could hang it over her neck comfortably when changed, as opposed to trying to balance it on her back, or carry it in her mouth. That same bag quietly tumped against her shoulder as she walked, full of her personal possessions and money.

Karen’s peaceful walk was disrupted abruptly though as she heard a loud screech and felt a tug on her neck as some kind of bird grabbed at her pendant and tried to fly away with it. Karen grunted in surprise and immediately pulled back, trying to keep the pest from flying off with the one thing that kept her mind intact while in her equine state.

The Bird was persistent however, the black beast pecking at it trying to get the string to break as he flapped wildly next to Karen's head. Karen would have none of it though, and scowled using her superior strength to rip her pendant from the birds talons. satisfied at her victory, Karen neighed loudly and bit the air near the bird hoping to scare it off, it was successful, but Karen noticed something, as it flew away. It too was wearing a pendant, though of a birds head rather than a horses. Karen was shocked and neighed out a call to try and get it to come back, hoping that it may be able to help her find the original owner of the pendants, but he was long gone, disappearing above the treetops.

Karen sighed, She might of just lost her only way of breaking her curse, but something seemed odd about that bird’s behavior, it didn’t seem like someone trapped in an animals body, but now she would never know. seeing a nearby brook, Karen let her pack fall over her head and settled down for the evening, Grazing on the rich grass along the banks, and hoping if she stayed close he might come back. Little did she know she was being watched.

From the top of a tree that had lost almost all its leaves, the bird was perched, leering at the equine. The bird was named Morse, or it used to be his name, Morse could not recall fully. Morse remembered the necklace, the shiny horse. The shiny horse was like Morse’s shiny birdy, but the horse did not have it, it was the raccoon.

Morse did not know where Raccoon was, but Morse wanted him hurt, Morse wanted him to sleep and never wake for taking Morse’s human-shape. So many years as a bird had warped Morse’s mind, confused his memories. Morse’s shiny bird was all that kept Morse sane, perhaps shiny horse would help Morse too…

Morse then flew, his beady, avian eyes trained upon Karen’s necklace. In his misguided aim to regain his humanity, he might inadvertently steal it from Karen.

Morse flew in the air, circling Karen like a buzzard, going from tree to tree as he tired out. On the ground Karen did her best to stay wary. She knew the bird was likely a human like her, but currently it was a threat. She had to handle it accordingly.

‘At this rate, that looney pigeon will just come for my necklace when I get too slow or too tired. I need to lose him someplace...’ She thought before running ahead, full speed.

The sudden burst had caught Morse by surprise, causing Morse to trail behind as Karen dashed into the woods. The tree branches and leaves grown so close together that Morse could not see Karen from above.

Morse was mad, but Morse would not quit, Morse wanted revenge badly. Shiny Horse would be Morse’s no matter what.

Flying low and within the woods, Morse flew behind Karen, weaving between branches like an aerial ace. The speed and intensity of the beating wings reminded Karen of a hummingbird, albeit more deranged and bothersome. Karen was still faster by far, and she had less to fear in these woods. As she continued on, she heard the cry of a bird of prey, one that hunted birds like Morse.

Karen was conflicted. If Morse was a person she could not lead him to death in good conscience, but on the other hand she would not risk losing her pendant to the deranged bird. Spotting a branch ahead, she ducked just in time, sadly Morse did not.

As Morse hit the tree branch with a loud KA-THWACK, he was practically seeing more birds circle above him. At first he thought it was concussion induced, though it was truly a hawk descending. Morse flew as fast as he could, locked in a game of hunt or be hunted as Karen fled.

After an Hour of running Karen slowed to a stop, out of breath, she had lost the crazy bird, despite not knowing if he was human or not, Karen was relieved. Continuing down the small deer path in the woods, looking for a place to settle down for the night, the day growing late, the sky already beginning to darken. As she rounded a rather large boulder Karen was shocked to see a patch of Azuchroma flowers nestled next to a rotten log hidden by the boulder.

Ecstatic, Karen Carefully counted them, figuring that after she had eaten enough to turn back, she would have about 2 weeks worth left. That would hopefully give her enough time to catch a boat down to Lurion, she was regretting her decision to stay behind this year, she had such a good time last time, but she felt she was a burden on her friend Valerie, who despite her best efforts could not convince Karen to leave with her for the winter. But with this latest event, Karen felt that staying nearby was not worth the heartache of freezing in that old barn again. She could easily go over her findings with Val and come up with a plan for the spring in Lurion, unfortunately she would still be a horse for most of the time while she was there, but at least it was warm.

Eating Enough of the flowers to change back, Karen carefully laid down and prepared to get some sleep, she should be mostly human by the morning, then she could pack up and head to the coast. Smiling to herself she shut her eyes, and drifted into a slumber.

From above, Morse watched closely, observing Karen’s consumption of the flowers. It had taken him a while to lose the hawk, and he had only just found Karen again. It perplexed Morse as to why she only ate a few and left the rest, When one sees food, one eats food. As Morse saw the shiny horse Mare lay down to sleep, Morse decided to wait, not wanting to risk her waking up and stopping him as he got the shiny horse. Morse waited long time, watching the horse are closely as she tossed and turned in her sleep over the next 2 hours, eventually ending up on her back, her legs moving in the air every now and again. There was something else though, she looked different than when she had fallen asleep, but it was hard to tell from Morse’s perch. Curious, Morse flew down.

Morse pecked her a couple times, to be certain she slept. when the mare did not awaken, he tugged at Shiny Horse. The necklace material was tough, the cord too strong. Morse was tired and hungry before Morse had done much. Wanting food and seeing no prey, Morse began to eat one of the flowers the mare had been eating. It tasted strange and gave Morse a feeling that ruffled his feathers. Morse’s mind felt...Clearer.

Morse was starting to remember his past, bit by bit his memories coming back to him as he sat there looking at the half eaten flower for the next hour. Morse was confused by these new thoughts coming back to him, but that faded as more of his mind came back, there was something else as well, he no longer felt tempted to steal the necklace from the mare, its shininess no longer an attraction.

As he looked at the pendant he noticed something else about the mare as well, she was definitely different than when she had fallen asleep 3 hours ago, she seemed smaller, not the great beast she once was, even her face seemed shorter. As Morse examined closer he began to realize she was more...human. He could even see the beginning of fingers to develop on the sides of her hooves.

Could she be cursed like he was, he remembered he used to be human, and then something happened, he couldn’t quite remember yet, but he did remember not wanting it to happen. Working it over in his head he struggled to make a connection until his returning mind connected the dots, the flower, she had taken it and now she was becoming human, he ate some and now his mind was back, iIt must be a cure!!

Hopping over to the patch of flowers Morse began to eat them, positively filling himself to the brim on the faint glimpse he might return to his human form. After eating them all but 6, Morse could do no more, slumping over on his side in a daze waiting for any effects to occur.

Hours later, Karen herself awoke, to see a fully grown man standing before her, wearing her bedding as makeshift clothes.

“Ah, you’re awake. I was worried you might not wake up for a while, miss.” the man replied.

“Who are you?” Karen asked when she noticed his necklace, “Wait, you’re the bird!”

“That I am. My name is Morse….I think..yea Morse.” he said before sitting, “Everything is still a little fuzzy. You have no idea how long I was trapped like that.”

“So...You went wild because of it? Karen asked, gulping. The situation was practically her worst nightmare. She couldn’t imagine being trapped in her equine body for so long that it rendered her unable to remember her past or her real life. Such a dehumanizing fate seemed too cruel, and the worst part was that Morse had succumbed to it.

Morse nodded, sighing to himself. “Thankfully I don’t remember a lot of it, but I need to know how have you maintained your form the way you have?”

“These blue flowers, Azuchroma.” she said, holding one up. “They don’t cure the curse, but they abate it. I’m trying to find the mage who made these necklaces so I can get cured.”

“I see. Do you mind if we travel together for a bit, maybe you can teach me where to find them.”

“Of course Morse” Karen Replied, “im heading down south actually, but i can show you the basics in a week or 2, I’m afraid you might have to go back to bieng a bird full time in a few months, winter will have killed off the wild stock by then”

“I see..” Morse said sadded, ‘hopefully the time as human will strengten my mind a bit”

“I understand.” Karen said, smiling, “Of course when I find the mage, I will try and contact you.”

“That would be appreciated miss….Wait, I never even got your name.”

“Karen.” Karen said with a faint smile, “Now we better get going, were gonna need to find some more in the next week, or you’ll be half-way back to a bird, and I a horse!"