Mildred - The Dread of the Forest

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Mildred - The Dread of the Forest

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Mildred is a unique character in the forest, for she was once an ordinary little bunny.

She had friends and a big family, she went about her bunny business with no ill intentions towards anyone in the forest. It was on one of these days that she was changed forever.

Somewhere, deep in the forest, Mildred stumbled across something she should not have seen. This was no fault of hers, she was simply going about her business. But whoever she came across didn’t want whatever they were doing being leaked to the wider forest. To this day we cannot say what Mildred saw, we only know what happened next. Let’s just hope that whatever it was and whoever it is that placed the curse, they don’t pose a threat to the forest itself.

For her part, Mildred was twisted into something far removed from her original self. Cursed, she is doomed to prey upon the creatures of the forest. 

Her once innocent appearance and nature was stolen from her. In the space of a few minutes she was changed from a rabbit with tawny fur and fluffy feet into a demon. Her warm brown eyes bled to a scarlet red. Her buck teeth lengthened and pointed into pearl white fangs. Her fur, leached of colour until only ashy grey scruff survived. Her paws became the home of talons which caught in the mud and was soon dyed with her victims.

So vastly twisted was her appearance, that those closest to her didn’t recognise her. It was only when it was noted that Mildred’s disappearance coincided with the arrival of the Dread of the Forest, that anyone thought to consider them one and the same.

As for Mildred, a small piece of her remained the mortal bunny she had once been. It wasn’t enough to overcome the curse that ruled her, but it was just enough for her to feel the guilt and despair that became a pervasive force in her life.

Every time she hunted, every death she caused, her mortal heart wailed and thrashed within it bounds forever struggling to regain control. Oh how she tried to retake control of herself and her choices. Oh how she fought with what little she had left, to overcome her fate. But what was the will of a little bunny against the wrath of a higher being.

The one win that Mildred was afforded was convincing her cursed self that there was better hunting on the other side of the woods. And so, her family was safe.

In desperation, her friends and family have begun the long, arduous journey across the forest to petition Cedric the Keeper of the Forest for information. They hope with all that they are that they can find a way to reverse the curse, not just for Mildred but also for their own safety.