Hey, readers! My first ever published fanfic on this site, so bear with me!
Jada: Why do I have to fall in the ice lake?
Author: No idea. Now, read on!
Prologue
Darkness.
That's the first thing I remembered.
It was black, it was cold, and I was terrified.
Until I saw the Moon.
Then that light, that bright light seemed to chase away the fear, everything I was scared about.
The Moon chose me, that night.
My body lifted out of the shadows. I gasped. "Whoa!"
I was...I was FLYING. It was an indescribable feeling, as I laughed and soared over trees and in the sky.
So, thanks, magic power of flight, I really needed to lose control and plunge about twenty feet into a partly frozen pond.
No offense.
I fell, pretty much trying not to (but failing) scream my head off. "AAAAAAA!-"
Lucky (or really NOT lucky) for me, I fell in a hole in the tiny lake, pretty much a pond.
The plunge? Freezing. The water? More than freezing. The descent? Worst of all.
I thought that the icy darkness of the water as I sunk deeper and deeper would swallow me up, and I would be lost.
But, the Moon chose me. And it wasn't so I could die in deep ice water.
I flew out of the lake, shivering slightly, but alive. The cold air quickly dried me off as I
swooped through the air and started laughing again.
I landed on the edge of the frozen pond. I stepped backwards and tripped over something.
I took a quick glance to see what it was. It was a long branch.
Something about it made me go and pick it up. It was extremely light.
I turned it over in my hands, studying it. Then I froze. As soon as I had touched it, the part that I
had touched had turned dark gray-black. Like...A shadow.
I walked over and touched a tree. More shadows.
I touched another tree. Same thing. "Wow..."
Strange, really strange.
I looked down at the branch I had picked up.
It had short, tiny branches, pretty much entwined together
closely at the top. The rest of it was straight and smooth, save for a couple bumps along its end.
Tiny curves ran all around it, from top to bottom. It wasn't so short that I could use it for a wand,
and not so long that I couldn't carry it around easily.
I spun it around experimentally, and caused shadows to spiral out from its tip,
like a dark kaleidoscope. It was a pretty old looking stick, but strong. It wouldn't easily break.
Come to think of it, I thought...How long had I been here for?
I peered over into the water from the hole I had fallen into. The Moon shone enough of its light down for me
to see what I looked like.
I was...Twelve? Thirteen? Most likely thirteen.
My hair was really long, coming down almost to my elbows. It was parted in the middle and tucked behind my ears.
It was held back by a light brown cloth headband, except for a long strand that hung down the left side of my face,
hanging over my cheek. My skin was kind of pale, but slightly tanned. Weird, since I had been sleeping in the
shadows for who knows how long.
I was wearing a plain dark brown dress, trimmed with blue and green and ripped on the bottom, which reached my ankles.
I had a short brown cloak fastened at my neck. I had brown, disheveled, ripped-up shoes, that flew off my feet as I took a
step back. Well. So much for shoes.
Suddenly, I heard a sound, coming from the right side of the forest. There were bright lights coming from
a REALLY far distance away. I flew up to take a closer look. It looked like a village. Maybe I could get help.
Relieved, I flew over to the village. I landed and stepped into the village, slightly laughing with relief.
There were lots of people there, children and adults, walking, sitting, talking or playing.
"Hello?" I said. No one noticed. "Excuse me, sir...Sir?" The man I had addressed continued to chat.
A group of little kids started running around, chasing each other. I stepped in front of a little girl who laughed as she ran.
"Hi, could you tell me where I am and what the name of this village-"
I gasped. The girl had run THROUGH me. One moment I was in front of her, the next she was behind me.
It had felt weird, like a cold shiver running through my body, leaving me panting and gasping for breath.
I felt it again. A lady had walked right through me, arm in arm with her friend. Another kid walked through.
Why couldn't anyone seem to see or hear me? Was I a ghost? No...I could still touch myself and I didn't FEEL like a ghost.
But why?
I flew out of the village and back to the pond. I stared up at the Moon, still holding my branch.
"Who am I? Why can no one hear or see me? Who am I?"
The Moon shone its bright rays of light into the snow behind me. I turned. Glowing letters were etched on the snow.
And written on the snow was this: JADA SHADE.