Myri obediently followed Alabaster as he led her toward the sound of the voices with his sharp ears.  As they drew closer, she unconsciously shifted her "skin" into apple bark again.<br/><br/>"Myri, why do you do that?" Alabaster asked, looking back at her.  "Why do you hide your true form?"<br/><br/>Myri shrugged.  "Something about it is wrong," she said simply.  "I don't know what, just something."<br/><br/>"There is nothing wrong with it, Myri," Alabaster said flatly.<br/><br/>"But there<span style="font-style: italic">must</span>be something, Alabaster," Myri said eagerly.  "Otherwise, people wouldn't throw things when they see it."<br/><br/>Alabaster stopped.  "Sit down, Myri," he instructed.  Myri did so, and Alabaster alighted on a small branch close to her eye level.<br/><br/>"Myri," Alabaster began, "you have done no wrong - you don't even know how to.  You are truly innocent, and that is wonderful.  But when you project that innocence onto others who<span style="font-style: italic">have</span>done wrong, you injure yourself."<br/><br/>"But I am not injured, Alabaster," she protested, spreading her arms to display her unarmed body.<br/><br/>Alabaster buried his face in his hands.  How could anyone be so untouched by society - so utterly guileless?  "You are injured, Myri," he asserted, "and it injures me to see it.  But that's enough of this talk.  Come, we are nearly there - and show your true form.  It's nothing to be ashamed of."<br/><br/>Myri mutely followed behind, slowly reverting to her natural form.  As they broke through the foliage, she gazed upon the sources of the voices they had heard earlier.<br/><br/>"Greetings, players of the Great Game," Alabaster said confidently.  I am Alabaster, and this is my charge, Myri Sibil, one of your own."<br/><br/>((I called it a game because 1) the Diety did it for the lolz and 2) it has set rules.))