Wild Unicorn

### Lifestyle

How a wild unicorn egg is unknown but they are generally born at the hatchery and will be brought to the floors 1 through 13 until the children who try them are brought to the island. Any eggs unclaimed will be taken and deposited into the wild. Unicorns that are dumped this way, and were seemingly destined for riders often grow up feeling alone and angry.

In direct contrast to bonded unicorns wild unicorns are essentially born in the wilderness without a bond to the people who become their destined riders (if indeed they had them in the first place). They roam through the wild and grow like a regular unicorn, often living in herds.

Wild unicorns sometimes cause stampedes through populated areas, such as Four Point and they have alarms for just such occasions.

When a wild unicorn meets a bonded one the bonded unicorn tends to try and protect their riders. The wild unicorn will attack a bonded human, and their unicorn but will often make an exception for wielders of the spirit element, with whom they are said to have a special bond.

Wild unicorns are often considered immortal and as described by Skandar are “born dying”, which essentially means that although they grow older they cannot die. This means that some of the unicorns on the Island are decades or even hundreds of years old.

Wild unicorns tend to live in the wilderness and as such the wilderness reflects this, being very barren and empty of life. Especially when compared with Four Point and the Eeiry.

Wild Unicorns are known to have a terrible, death-like smell or decay and rotten flesh. This seems to be their associated scent, much like other elements have their own.

### Appearence

Wild unicorns have wildly different appearances than bonded unicorns. They come in many colours and styles as well as sizes but they are usually very undead looking.

Wild unicorns have transparent horns which are usually a tell tale sign of their presence. They have scarred and undead tissue all over their bodies, which is caused by the fact they are essentially immortal but continue to age without end.

Their eyes are typically bloodshot and their noses tend to run a sort of gunge from it, as described by Skandar. Their wings typically are feathered, though they tend to become less and less the older they get until some cannot even fly properly.

Their skin tends to have scars and cuts all over it, which bleed and often have maggots etc through it. They can also have broken bones as well sticking out of their legs.

### Powers and Abilities

Like bonded unicorns, wild ones are able to call on magic of the five elements. Including fire, air, earth and water as well as Spirit. They lack the finer control that bonded unicorns do and as such usually stick to blasts of wild and unfocused magic.

As said wild unicorns are immortal and cannot die except with one very specific method.

### Killing Wild Unicorns

Although considered mostly unkillable there exists one method for doing so. When a bonded unicorn thrusts their horn through the heart of a wild one then it will kill it outright.

This method was generally considered unknown to most people on the island, despite being bonded with unicorns for hundreds of years. This could be due to Erika’s pushing the boundaries of knowledge when it comes to wild unicorns.

### Bonds with Riders

Wild unicorns usually lack any sort of bond with a human. As either they were naturally born wild or they missed their chance to meet their destined human. As many spirit wielders did, due to the actions of the Executioner and the Silver circle.

However three cases exist where bonds have been created, the first was when Erika Everhart, the Weaver bonded wild unicorns to her “willing” victims and thus creating an army for herself to conquer the main land. These bonds were easily undone by Skandar Smith. Something only a Sprit Wielder could do.

The other method for bonding a wild unicorn to a human is before the unicorn is born. There has only been two cases of this with Agatha Everhart and Kenna Smith. This bond is unnatural but harder to break than the previous one and makes the bond unable to settle on a single aligning element.

The third method to creating a bond is when a mender, a spirit wilder with the ability creates a bond between a unicorn and a rider who should have been bonded. This method is dangerous and tricky as it requires the spirit and unicorn to dream together and find the human and unicorn who had missed their calling. The bond would make the wild unicorn resemble a bonded one, wounds heal, the horn becomes coloured and it’s aging process is tied to it’s rider.

### Notable Wild Unicorns

A wild unicorn, of a particularly large size was taken by Erika Everhart. She originally did this to make sure that her sister Agatha would have a unicorn and be invited into the hatchery. She intended to do this with her Spirit wielder powers. However Agatha did indeed hatch Arctic Swansong and thus Erika bonded herself to the wild unicorn, as well as her bond to Blood Moon’s Equinox. This gave her a lot of power, but also a desire to go back to the Island after she attempted to leave, pretending to be dead. This unicorn is generally always seen with Erika, from when she stole New Age Frost, to when she battled Skandar.

A second wild unicorn first appeared before Skandar on his first day on the island. The Dapple gray unicorn appears to attack Skandar and his quartet and forced away by Skandar due to his allegiance of the Spirit Element. It is seen twice more when Skandar attempts to summon the Spirit element, seemingly being drawn to him.

Skandar believes this unicorn to be his sister Kenna’s lost unicorn and thus tries to protect it and it does appear before Kenna herself and doesn’t harm her. Erika considers the unicorn unimportant.

A third wild unicorn appears when Kenna is bonded to the unhatched egg by her Mother’s spirit powers. Kenna cares a lot for the wild unicorn despite everyone else being repulsed by it’s appearance. This unicorn did however help save the Island by allowing Kenna to tap into it’s powers as a substitute water wielder to use the First Rider’s staff.