Sleeping Beauty 2: Return to the Forest
Obligatory Disclaimer: Listen, if I owned any part of the Disney Corporation, I wouldn't be writing this for fun.
Once upon a time, though I'm not sure what time it was once upon, there lived a good king named Stefan and his queen. For many years they had longed for a child, and finally their prayers were answers. A daughter was born, and they named her Aurora. Yes, they named her after the dawn, for she filled their lives with sunshine. But their happiness was not to last. The evil fairy, Maleficent, cast a terrible curse upon the infant princess. Fearing for Aurora's life, Stefan and his queen entrusted her to the three good fairies, Flora, Fauna, and Merriweather, and watched with heavy hearts as their most precious possession, their only child, disappeared into the night. Still, they retained hope, for they knew as long as Maleficent's domain, the Forbidden Mountains, thundered with her wrath and frustration, her evil prophecy had not yet been fulfilled.
Meanwhile, the three good fairies kept Aurora safe in the forest. Living like mortals, they reared the child as their own, and called her Briar Rose...
As dawn crept into the forest, the trees became alive with the sounds of birdsong and the snorts and snuffles of the day animals coming out of their sleeping places and starting their days. A mother deer led her fawn from the thicket where they spent their nights and cautiously headed for the meadow to graze. Some distance away, a family of wolves were basking in the morning sun and enduring the playful nips and tugs of the new litter of cubs that had blessed their leader's wife some weeks ago. Near the stream that flowed through the forest, a badger was clearing out his old bedding material as he cleaned his burrow, pausing only to snarl at a passing pair of foxes that this was HIS space, not theirs. In a hollow tree, an old owl groaned as his new neighbors, a pair of bluebirds expecting their eggs to hatch soon, kept singing and keeping him awake. All-in-all, just another day in the forest.
Not too far away, at a cottage that had once housed a human woodcutter, a most unusual inhabitant of the forest was starting her day. A little human girl, no older than five years, came out from the front door and, bidding goodbye to the three women inside, skipped barefoot into the forest.
Not far away from the cottage, another family had already been up for some time. Emerging from the entrance to their underground home under the roots of a huge oak tree, a father forest troll led his young son out into the sun for the first time in his five years of life. The young troll was eager to go out into the forest, but his father wanted to make sure his only son would be safe. "Now, my son, what have I told you?"
"There are many dangers in the forest, so I must always be careful. Don't wander too far and stay within shouting distance. If I see any strange creatures, don't talk to them. Come straight home. Can I go play now, Papa?"
"Okay, okay. Go have some fun." As the younger troll rushed off, his father remembered. "YMIR! Stay on the paths I marked for you!!"
A female troll emerged from the den, chuckling at her husband's antics. "Now, who does he remind you of?"
"Huh? What? Who?"
"He's just like you were when we were young."
"Exactly! Do you realize the dangers we put ourselves in?"
"You mean the dangers YOU put us in. He'll be fine."
Ymir stomped along through the forest, having the same kind of odd, noisy fun you'd expect from any five year old boy. Suddenly, his nose caught a scent. True to troll form, Ymir started to follow it, hoping to find the strange creature that had left it. As he was crawling inside a hollow log, a voice said, "Whatcha doin'?"
Not finding anything unusual with a voice coming from nowhere, Ymir saw no harm in answering. "Trackin'."
"Tracking what?"
"I don't know yet. Something I've never smelled before." As Ymir emerged from the other side of the log, he saw the strangest creature ever. In stood on its hind legs, like he did, but instead of green, its skin was a strange peach color. Unlike the brown or black hair of forest trolls, its hair was bright yellow. Its eyes were blue, as opposed to his yellow. Strangest of all, it was producing the scent Ymir had tracked all the way here. "Why it's...it's you. AROO-ROO-Rooo!"
"What did you do that for?" the creature asked.
"That's what I'm supposed to do, if I find what I was trackin'. What are you anyway?"
"I'm a little girl. My name's Rose."
"Mine's Ymir. I'm a troll!" With this, Ymir flexed his nonexistent muscles in an attempt to look imposing.
"You're funny. Will you play with me?"
"Okay." Ymir reached out with one finger and pressed it to Rose's nose. "TAGYOU'REIT!!" And promptly ran off.
Rose laughed out loud. "HEY! No fair! Come back!"
Meanwhile, the old owl, finally fed up, came to this part of the forest, hoping to find a quiet sleeping spot. It was then that he saw the two children. "Well...I'll be. A troll and a human, playing together."