Description from original post (created 2014-05-25 12:58):
This has actually been a really long time in the making and I'm so excited to finally release it because I've been away from WiFi basically all weekend. Meet Minotara, 50% woman, 1% ram, 49% bull, and 100% awesome. Click the spoilers to reveal the story and the art!
Art
Actually the origin of this skin was a doodle that I did in math class. After I figured out the palette and made the skin, I uploaded a picture of the doodle to photoshop, traced the lines, and made this :3
I'm still working on how to draw legs lol
I'm still working on how to draw legs lol
Story
Everyone was afraid of him. The legend, the mystery, the lone dweller of the magic labyrinth. Everyone but Tara that is. She was curious. She wanted to know who he was, how he’d gotten there, and why he stayed trapped down there. But most of all, she wanted to know what he was. There were rumours that he was half-man half-beast, but no one knew for sure what parts were which. She used to lie in bed at night and dream about what he was like; if he was nice, mean, or just shy. Tara was unusual. On the night of her 19th birthday, the night that coincided every year with the annual opening of the labyrinth gates, Tara snuck out of her party early, slipped on her traveling toga, and raced towards the entrance to the tunnels. She hid behind a tree and waited until the procession had gone in to offer the man-beast sacrifices and then raced past the dozing guards into the dimly lit corridors of the labyrinth.
Letting out a roll of golden yarn behind her, she quietly crept through the tunnels, following the voices of the members and light of the procession ahead of her. Turn after turn, she began to lose track of where she was. Her ball of yarn had run out hours ago and she was blindly following the end of the procession. At last the procession stopped and began to unload food from several of the carts. Seeing her chance, Tara snuck past the priests and diviners and made her way into the main chamber of the labyrinth. That was when she caught sight of the man-beast. It had her back to her and all she could see was the completely furred and muscular back of it. She crept forward until she was close enough to touch him. Hiding behind an old, moldy crate, Tara watched silently as the beast swung it’s head in the direction of the procession, who came in at that time carrying the food. Several minutes later, once the procession had left, Tara saw her chance. She snuck out from behind the crate and approached the beast from the front, so as not to scare it. When it looked up at her, she detected no anger, nor anything scary to be exact, all she saw was curiosity.
Attached to either side of it’s furry head were two massive ram horns, beautifully curled and spiked at the ends. It had the head of a bull, and the body and build of a man and bull combined. At that moment she knew what he was. He was a minotaur. She had often wondered if he was the mythological creature so often mentioned in her culture, but had never really stopped to consider it.
She knelt down next to him on the ground and touched his leg. She felt a shiver run through him and immediately withdrew her hand. That’s when she made a drastic mistake. Leaning in, she kissed it on the nose, gently, but with enough emotion behind it to knock a pig off its feet. She immediately saw its eyes widen and her vision immediately went white. She screamed and thrashed her arms, suddenly unable to see or feel anything. After what must have been several minutes, her senses returned to normal and she sat down, her throat stinging from screaming so much.
Something had changed. Suddenly the Minotaur wasn’t so large. Or… she looked down at her body. Her brand new traveling toga had been ripped to shreds and clung to the key parts of her body. But what really caught her attention was her skin. It had been darkened and coated in a layer of coarse hair, similar to that of the Minotaur. She nervously reached up to her head and reluctantly felt where her ears used to be. She immediately yelped and brought her hands back down to her lap, having run her hands along the smooth edges of ram’s horns. She looked back at the Minotaur, who seemed just as shocked as he was. A light began to shine from above them and they both looked up. Written across the ceiling in glowing golden letters were the words:
An act of love can repair a beast,
as the sun rises in the east.
But when love is in question,
The curse shall live on in their possession.
Letting out a roll of golden yarn behind her, she quietly crept through the tunnels, following the voices of the members and light of the procession ahead of her. Turn after turn, she began to lose track of where she was. Her ball of yarn had run out hours ago and she was blindly following the end of the procession. At last the procession stopped and began to unload food from several of the carts. Seeing her chance, Tara snuck past the priests and diviners and made her way into the main chamber of the labyrinth. That was when she caught sight of the man-beast. It had her back to her and all she could see was the completely furred and muscular back of it. She crept forward until she was close enough to touch him. Hiding behind an old, moldy crate, Tara watched silently as the beast swung it’s head in the direction of the procession, who came in at that time carrying the food. Several minutes later, once the procession had left, Tara saw her chance. She snuck out from behind the crate and approached the beast from the front, so as not to scare it. When it looked up at her, she detected no anger, nor anything scary to be exact, all she saw was curiosity.
Attached to either side of it’s furry head were two massive ram horns, beautifully curled and spiked at the ends. It had the head of a bull, and the body and build of a man and bull combined. At that moment she knew what he was. He was a minotaur. She had often wondered if he was the mythological creature so often mentioned in her culture, but had never really stopped to consider it.
She knelt down next to him on the ground and touched his leg. She felt a shiver run through him and immediately withdrew her hand. That’s when she made a drastic mistake. Leaning in, she kissed it on the nose, gently, but with enough emotion behind it to knock a pig off its feet. She immediately saw its eyes widen and her vision immediately went white. She screamed and thrashed her arms, suddenly unable to see or feel anything. After what must have been several minutes, her senses returned to normal and she sat down, her throat stinging from screaming so much.
Something had changed. Suddenly the Minotaur wasn’t so large. Or… she looked down at her body. Her brand new traveling toga had been ripped to shreds and clung to the key parts of her body. But what really caught her attention was her skin. It had been darkened and coated in a layer of coarse hair, similar to that of the Minotaur. She nervously reached up to her head and reluctantly felt where her ears used to be. She immediately yelped and brought her hands back down to her lap, having run her hands along the smooth edges of ram’s horns. She looked back at the Minotaur, who seemed just as shocked as he was. A light began to shine from above them and they both looked up. Written across the ceiling in glowing golden letters were the words:
An act of love can repair a beast,
as the sun rises in the east.
But when love is in question,
The curse shall live on in their possession.