Rosa's story (well, part of it)

"See those caves?" Simon indicated huge rock monoliths to the east. Between those and the outskirts of the village we were riding along lay a grassy meadow. It was maybe ten minutes' ride at a canter to the place where it met the rocks, which were full of holes large enough to house a grown human, and maybe even a family- provided they were wild, of course. "There's a Blackeye colony in there. Not that they like to live close to anyone but their families, but that's where the Goddess puts them when she transports them. She's certainly a bit lazy. I mean, there are plenty of caves in Fantasy, at least in this world, but she's not going to be bothered seeking them out, and neither is Spoctoplat. You'd think those two would at least try to make the poor beasts comfortable."
"How does she even get them here? Don't they flip out from the stress of the change and start attacking people?"
"They don't notice the difference when they switch dimensions. They've hardly ever been out of their caves, so if they do see the outside scenery, they don't realize it's different. They don't notice the Goddess, because she shuts out whatever's in her heart, if she even has one. She goes to their caves in Reality while they're asleep, and she wraps her arms around them and transports them to a cave here in Fantasy. A cave's a cave to them. When they get here, they just go on about their crazy lives. They don't know anything's happened to them." I was trying desperately to follow Simon's words, but I was too distracted by the sound of his voice. It was so many things at once, I couldn't find the right words to describe it. Low? Sweet? Light? Rich? Melodious? They all contradicted each other. But one word was without question. Sexy. And with a voice like that, who needed any more adjectives?
Lost in my train of thought, I had failed to notice Simon's sudden silence. I looked up at him. Although the white mask hid his eyes, I could tell that his face bore an alarmed expression. "Speak of the devil..." he said. "We've got trouble, Rosa." He tugged gently at Midnight's reins and the tall stallion slowed to a walk, then stopped. I followed his lead, reining in Moondance.
"What is it?" I started to ask, but he cut me off and pointed to the east. Turning in the saddle, I saw a band of the cursed people rushing closer to the village. They reminded me of spiders, the way their bodies were splayed out so close to the ground, their legs spread wide and almost straight, their hands acting as more feet. They moved like cantering horses, their hands moving almost daintily forward one at a time, their legs coming in nearly at once to follow and pushing them off to start the cycle again. But there was no time to admire their strange, animal-like beauty.
"What's their target...?" Simon mumbled. I wasn't sure if he was talking to himself or to me, but I still had my doubts about how well he could see through the mask, so I squinted out at the meadow and tried to guess from the Blackeyes' direction what they were targeting. Tracing what seemed to be their path with my eyes, I saw a girl in a white dress walking through the grass. Even from where we were watching, I could tell that she was nothing short of beautiful, with pale blonde hair that fell in curls halfway down her back and even paler skin. She seemed to be giving off some sort of radiant glow.
"Simon, can you see that girl?" I hissed. "It's her. Look at her, she's completely oblivious! She can't even tell that there's a pack of wild folk bearing down on her." Simon appeared to be looking at the girl as well, but for a different reason than I was. His eyes were hidden, as usual, but from the set of his mouth, I could tell that he was checking the girl out. "Simon!" I growled, trying to steady my voice and my emotions. It just wasn't right that he had fallen for the glowing blonde he'd seen across a meadow in seconds, without knowing anything about her, including a good deal of what she looked like. But there were more pressing matters at hand than my love life. I stood in the stirrups so I could reach Simon's shoulder, and smacked it with the back of my hand to get his attention. "Simon, damn you, haven't you noticed they're about to attack your little hottie?" I eased myself back into the seat of the saddle. He looked down at me, blushing under his hood. So he didn't deny it- he was already obsessed. "You're hopeless," I grumbled under my breath.
Simon had come to his senses. The pack was close to her now. "Holy Mother Moon- Rosa, we've got to do something!"
"That's right, Simon, we've got to breathe," I snapped sarcastically. But he was right. We couldn't just let the creeps tear her apart. "Ride!" I smacked Midnight on the rump and dug my heels into Moondance's sides. The horses picked up a gallop and tore off before I realized we didn't have a plan.
Midnight quickly overtook Moondance with his long, powerful legs. Curse Simon for giving me a pony to ride. As it was, he caught up to the girl long before Moondance, but at the same time as the leader of the band of Blackeyes. The girl, by this time, had become slightly more aware of the cursed pack bearing down on her, and had quickened her pace, but not done much more. The Blackeye leader crouched and sprang with amazing force, catching her shoulders and trying to bring her down. She screamed, and her arms flailed wildly in the air. Simon, riding past, caught her wrist and tried to pull her up into the saddle. She resisted him, though I couldn't see why. He wheeled Midnight and tried again.
Moondance and I caught up to Simon. The Blackeye was still clinging to the girl, trying to wrestle her to the ground. Drawing my dagger, I hit him over the head with its hilt. An inhuman cry echoed from his throat and he fell away from her. The rest of the Blackeyes shrieked and advanced on the girl. I urged Moondance forward, directly into the pack. She reared back in fear, almost making me fall off, but then she shot forward and charged at them. They scattered, screeching. Further and further back I drove them. "Leave!" I shouted. "Go back to your cave! That girl is no business of yours!" I didn't know if they understood me or not, but I kept charging Moondance at them, backing them up until I had driven them all the way to the monoliths. "Go!" I commanded them, standing in the stirrups in hopes that it would intimidate them. It didn't matter; they were already intimidated. They scattered and climbed up the rock faces, each one going into a different cave.
When the last dirty foot had disappeared into a cave, I sat down in the saddle. "Good girl," I crooned, stroking Moondance's neck. The albino pony whickered and lowered her head. I swung out of the saddle. She deserved a rest. Slipping the reins over Moondance's white head, I led her back at a walk to Simon and Midnight.
As I approached him, I noticed a glow coming from Midnight's saddle. Of course. Simon had hauled the girl into his saddle and was sitting right up behind her. Poor Midnight- but he was gentle, he wouldn't complain. I looked harder at Simon and the blonde, and realized she was leaning right into him. It looked like they were doing something I'd only done with Simon in fantasies. Only ever done in fantasies, actually. Oh, no. Please, no... don't let them be doing that, I thought. But as I got closer, I realized they weren't. She had merely passed out against him. Looks like blondes don't change no matter what dimension you go into, I thought to myself, snorting, just as I reached Midnight.
"Yeah, there's a lot of dust out here," Simon said sympathetically.
"I didn't sneeze, if that's what you mean," I retorted.
"Oh. Well, never mind that. Anyway, I found out why the girl acted so stupid back there," he said. "She's a White Eye, Rosa. She's blind. When I grabbed her, she must have thought I was a highwayman with my band, coming to kidnap her. That's why she resisted me."
"Oh." So she's not a complete idiot. "Might I ask what you're going to do with her when she wakes up? Kiss her?"
Simon blushed. "Rosa!" But I could tell it was exactly what he had in mind.
"Holy Mother Moon, Simon, I was joking. You are obsessed."
"So? You don't control my love life, Miss Crowell."
I wish I did. But I didn't tell him that. I felt slightly sick. I hated seeing him so blown away with someone else, when I would give my soul to take her place. "We better get out of here," I told him to distract myself. "I bet those Blackeyes hunt better after dark." He nodded in agreement. I swung up onto Moondance, and we rode off together at a trot, the glowing girl's blonde head bouncing against the chest attatched to the love of my life.