The little girl scurried through the woods, tears streaming down her face. Her bright, curly red hair bobbed up and down as she ran away from the castle where her mother was. She tripped over a branch, and with a squeak, she landed in the snow.

She sat up and sniffled, rubbing her eyes with a sleeved arm. She hugged herself, trying to keep warm. It was freezing out. Snow swirled all around and landed softly on the ground around her. She had decided that she was running away from home.

She could never get away with anything. Today, as she was walking about the castle carrying around her bow, she had decided to go to the stables. She had accidentally fired an arrow, and it had hit one of the horses. It ran off, and people were still out looking for it. Oh, her mother had been furious. She had dragged the screaming little girl up to her room and taken her bow away, before yelling at her like she had never yelled at before. She had become very scared, and knowing that her mother didn't love her anymore, she left in order to start a new life out in the wild. So far, it wasn't going very well.

Already, little Merida was getting homesick. It was far too cold out for anyone to be going out and starting a new life. Her stomach was growling like a little bear cub, aching for food, and her lips had begun to turn blue from being out so long. Furthermore, she hadn't remembered to put on shoes before she escaped, and so her feet were numb and it was hard to walk.

Suddenly, from the corner of her eye, Merida saw a little blue light. She turned her head to get a better look at it. There, floating a few feet away from her was a little fairy-like creature made up of a blue fire-like material. Her eyes widened.

"A wisp." She said to herself in awe, her voice hushed.

The little girl gathered together her dress and stood up, wobbling over to the ghost light. Its reflection flickered in her blue eyes, and she reached out to grab it. The wisp vanished, and Merida frowned disappointedly.

A new wisp appeared a few feet away from where the other one had been. All of a sudden, a path of wisps followed behind the other one right before her eyes. She remembered briefly what her mother had once told her- They say wisps can lead you to your fate. Excitement and wonder filled her gaze. She took off, following the blue creatures, ignoring her cold feet and lips as she ran along the path that they had created for her.

It wasn't long before she reached the end of the path. A tall wall stood in front of her, made from stone. As she looked up, she realized she was standing at the bottom of the cliff. Snow fell all around her, seeming to swirl around her in particular.

Merida frowned. Why had the wisps lead her to a cliff? It was then that she heard the unmistakeable sound of a whinny, sounding loud and angry. She whipped around to look in the direction it had come from and gasped in terror at the sight in front of her.

There stood the horse that had run off, the arrow still stuck in its left hind leg. Its eyes were ablaze with anger, and it seemed to recognize her. The creature stood up onto its back legs and let out a loud neigh. As it landed back onto all fours and began to charge, a snowball suddenly hit it from the other direction.

It let out a huff and shook its head. The anger in its eyes was replaced with fear, and it took a step back before scurrying off into the woods.

Merida breathed heavily, still scared from the encounter. She turned to look where the snowball had come from, but she didn't see anyone- Just a bunch of trees, covered in frost.

"Merida!" Came a shout, filled with more fear than the little girl herself had been just a few seconds ago, but relief, as well.

She turned to see her mother, who by this point was running over to her. The woman landed in front of her daughter, wrapping her arms around her. She pulled away and looked into Merida's eyes.

She let out a sigh, looking at her daughter. "Don't you ever do that again, hear me? You scared the whole castle half to death!" Merida nodded her head quickly.

Elinor stood up, holding the little girl in her arms. "Oh dear, your lips are blue! You must be freezing." She muttered. "Come on, let's get you home."

The two wandered back in the direction they had came. Merida looked back into the trees from where the snowball had come. She all of a sudden remembered a story her mother had told her a few weeks ago, and as her eyes widened in realization, she could've sworn she saw someone looking back at her.