El Laberinto Del Fauno/ Pan's Labyrinth

Disclaimer: Not mine, else I would not be writing a disclaimer. Muahaha... anyway, the story belongs to Guillermo Del Toro, and the original story is known as El Laberinto Del Fauno (Spanish/original title) or Pan's Labrynth (English title). Personally I like the Spanish one better, Fauns totally own.

A/N: Muahaha, fear my articulate insanity! From the sick and twisted mind of Guillermo Del Toro comes a sick and twisted story that my sick and twisted mind is going to make even more sick and twisted for an amazingly sickly twisted story.

Moanna gazed in awe at the white circle on the ground a few feet in front of her. It was perfectly round, and white, and...something else, too. A word she'd known and seldom heard because of its rarity. Bright, yes, that was the one. It was a bright circle. The circle extended up into the sky, as Moanna though the word 'light'. It was a beam of light, permeating the dark skies of her world to cast its inverted shadow, a circle of light, onto the ground in front of her.

Moanna stepped forwards, blinking fiercely as she stepped into the circle of light that shone down the center of the shaft. It came from the world above, she knew. It was bright, and it was dangerous. She'd remembered in bits and pieces, as if she'd lived up there. She did, as the faun told her, live up there so many eons ago. But she didn't remember. She suddenly felt the urge to climb up the stairs that spiraled around the shaft, to walk up to the world above and experience it for what it was.

The faun had warned her- oh how he'd told her what the fairies whispered to him, tales of her as a human, how she'd climbed down the roots of a tree and killed a toad, how'd she gone into the dinning hall of that which was not human and tempted it by eating only two small grapes, how she'd almost lost her life there, how she'd refused to sacrifice her brother to the faun in order to return to her kingdom. The Faun spoke of strange things- how her human body died, and yet she was still here. But that was so long ago. Moanna did not understand. He talked of death and time, but she did not know these. He told her of life and love, and joy and hate, and these she did not know either.

She shook her head as if to empty it of these odd thoughts. The faun had warned her not to go up to the world above, and yet she wanted it so. How awful could this world be, she thought, if I've lived in it before? No, she was being silly. She gathered up her skirt and stepped carefully onto the first step, cautious as to any who may be approaching. She began to walk quickly, knowing that she may very well be missed soon. She stopped just short of the top, wondering if she should go on. It would be dangerous. It would be a grand adventure. Shielding her eyes with her hands, she took the final step into the world above.

Saoirse rolled her decently pretty blue eyes. Not this lecture again.

"I can't help but notice some of you work is, uh, lacking the necessary qualities," Mr. Kalevala said, giving the class quick sweep before giving Saoirse a look she swore he reserved just for her.

"This is poetry; it's one of the most creative writing pieces you can do. It shouldn't be this big of a problem, considering this is a creative writing class."

Next to her, Bran gave a barely audible groan. Saoirse wasn't the loud and obnoxious type, nor was Bran. But when the two of them were put together- which wasn't very often- they fed off each other's energy, talking in a visual language they alone seemed to be able to read.

"Is something funny, Saoirse?" She quietly cursed herself; he'd seen her facial expression.

"No, Sir." She hated the way he pronounced her name, SOUR-see, like everyone else who didn't know her did. SEER-shuh, SEER-shuh! She thought to herself. It's not that hard to remember.

"I would have hoped that at the advanced level you all are at- grammatically able, literate students- there would be a more serious attitude concerning this unit. Poetry is a very deep personal expression, it should be treated with respect, and I don't feel that everyone in this class..."

Saoirse snorted and rolled her eyes while tuning out his speech, earning her a grin from Bran. She smiled back. He wasn't much of a trouble maker, but he was not exactly the type to conform to what everybody else believed. Shy and quiet, silently hating the hypocritical ways of the world, he was a rebel in all his own ways.

Saoirse had to admit, although he was commonly overlooked, there was something cute about his ability to accept the unusual or painful things for what they were or despise what everyone else took for granted. That, and his sense of humor. Saoirse was jerked from her thoughts when he mouthed 'what?' at her.

She smiled and hissed "nothing", then turned her attention to the front of the room. How many times had he caught her staring at him now? It was too many to count. Although, she thought more than once that she saw him grinning at her just inside her peripheral vision. And though their friends teased, neither was willing to make a move.

Saoirse turned her body to the right, putting pressure into the horse's flank. It turned in order to keep its body parallel to hers, and she smiled as she cooed, "Good, Xanthippe." The buckskin mare quietly snorted, as if in response to Saoirse's encouragement. From over the fence of the round pen, four more heads stood staring. Saoirse looked at her happy little herd. One of the blessings of living on a farm is having these amazing friends...

She was used to working with horses at liberty. To be in an area with one, totally unconnected by any physical means and to have that herd bond with the horse- those were the times Saoirse looked forward to the most.

She allowed all the horses into the small roundpen, laughing at the strange herd. Pegasus, a dapple mustang, always took the lead position. Next in line was Xanthippe, the only other mustang of the group. Eowyn and Epona, twin Arabians, followed, and Alcippe was always at the bottom of the herd, although Saoirse thought her beautiful Paint Gypsy the best of the group.

After letting the group run around for a few minutes, Saoirse decided to rearrange the pecking order. She moved towards Alcippe, simply because she was the least dominant. After doing a quick series of turns and backups, she had the mare's full attention and Eowyn and Epona, too, had stopped to watch- ears pricked, they stood together, two of the most beautiful bays ever.

"So," she turned to her group of three, "Who wants to go for a ride?"

Saoirse blessed the miles of woods behind their already massive property, just as much as she blessed all of the wonders within it. There were many days she considered herself lost, but one of the horses always brought her home safe. It was as if they spoke to the trees, as if they were pointed back by branches or moss or the whisper of the wind. She did not question this, only felt joy that she would never be lost.

Alcippe cantered along the somewhat narrow path, breathing heavier in the colder air. She seemed dazed, as if she couldn't figure out what was going on. Saoirse slowed her down to an eventual stop and then slid off her bare back, walking along with Alcippe following behind.

"Where are we, baby?" she murmured, placing a hand on her mare's neck. She looked ahead at the path- only to realize it wasn't there. "Come on honey, where'd you take us?" She looked ahead of her as the wind slowly picked up, blowing branches left and right. There was a space that appeared between two tress, and Alcippe immediately walked through it, closely followed by Saoirse. The two walked into a clearing, and Saoirse looked up in awe at the massive stone wall that loomed before her.

It stretched at least ten feet high, and wound in what looked to be a circle around the perimeter of the clearing. There were small cracks and crevices, and it was filled with tiny vines snaking their way up the stone surface. Saoirse spied the entrance, a mere break in the wall. She looked inside to see what appeared to be a path.

"It's a maze," She whispered as Alcippe's ears pricked to catch the sound of her voice. "A huge maze... I wonder what's inside?" She turned to see Alcippe throw her head high into the air before lowering it to nibble on the bits of grass that poked up from the point where the wall came from the ground. "Should we go in? Can you even fit in there?" Alcippe did not even look up from her contented grazing.

"Fine then," Saoirse said. "I'll go in alone."

It was darker than she'd imagined inside the labyrinth. The moment she stepped in it was as if the light and noises of the outside world were immediately shut out. There was a dim, eerie glow that filtered down from the top of the labyrinth, as if the sky were set on low. Right, left, left, straight, right, right, left, straight, right again, Saoirse tried to keep track of which way she turned. However it was a bigger labyrinth than she'd originally thought, and she soon lost track of which way she turned last. Just as the panic was about to set in, she stumbled out into a opening. She had found the center of the labyrinth.

A/N: I figure y'all might want to know the ways of pronunciation:

Saoirse: SEER-shuh

Alcippe: AL-kip-pay

Xanthippe: zan-THEE-pay/ZAN-thee-pay

Epona: EP-own-nuh

Eowyn: AY-owe-in

If there are any others, just ask.