Disclaimer: I own nothing, it belongs to its respective owners. I only own the OC characters

Hidden Knowledge

Chapter One

Walking step by step down the main spiral staircase to the small wooden doorway whose hinges creaked breaking the deafening silence. It had led to the east wing of the castle. "Mama" a small child called out while slowly walking through the dimly lit hallway. Small sections of the walls had grown thick with soot giving away the neglect. She kept calling out as she remained as focused as much as a five-year old could. The shadows danced in the edges of candlelight that looked so painfully like the men who had tried to hurt her.

Her childlike mind could not fully comprehend what had happened on her birthday last year. All she had known was that she had a court jester mimic some of her most favorite animals that she giggled with great mirth. His eyes were a deep emerald that she had commented about how they matched mama's necklace. It elicited a warm smile from the jester.

She could only stand there in her shift completely confused as to why the jester was cloaked all in black and a mask covering the lower half of his face and a deep forest green cloak. The eyes that held such warmth now seemed scary and evil like the villains in the fairy tales her mother read. A stifled and chocked cry was all that she could emit when he roughly took her into his arms.

He deftly tied her up. The ropes were itchy which made her pout and whine. The jester gave her a deep scowl. The lines in his forehead only made him more terrifying and she quieted immediately. Even her tutor's glare was not as scary. She was lowered into a basket where she was slowly lowered down the immense wall. Only then did she realize it.

She did not understand the concept of a kidnapping. She did however understand that they were taking away from her mama and papa. A fear bubbled up from her stomach and up into her lungs where she screamed so loudly that rooms below her started to light up one by one. Knight guards that had not been murdered quickly ran to the princess. It was too late, she was gone.

"Aurora," Mulan said concernedly as she shook her awake, "You're still having nightmares."

Aurora weakly nodded as she felt a chill. She was soaked with sweat. Her mouth was dry. Her heart hammered violently in her chest and she gasped for air as if it were her last.

"It's not the same nightmare though," Aurora said quietly as she carefully stood up, wobbling slightly only to be caught by an even more concerned Mulan.

"What was the nightmare?" Mulan quietly asked knowing that it might be too soon for Aurora to open up given her state of distress but nightmares could have hidden messages and truths long since lost in these memories. Maybe this was the case now.

Aurora took a measured breath and then exhaled. She repeated the process several times to forcibly calm herself knowing that had she tried to talk about it now she would only bring herself to hysterics.

"It was not so much a nightmare per say," Aurora said thinking, "It was not a new place or situation, it was not abstract. It was a repressed memory."

Aurora closed her eyes as she felt the fear bubble from her stomach as it had all those years ago. She closed her eyes as a way of not allowing the tears to fall that were now prickling at the corners of her eyes. A few drops had escaped and moistened her eyelashes clumping them into small bunches. Mulan place a reassuring hand on Aurora's shoulder.

"It seems another effect of the nightmare is that it bids the darkest memories to come forward no matter how locked up they were. It was as if these memories had been locked up in a trunk wrapped in the toughest chains and locked by a Seelie lock. Yet it simply sweeps its emaciated hand over it opening it as if it were a child's toy lock." Aurora could say no more.

Mulan nodded. There was no need to say anything further. She had learned about some of Aurora's story. She had learned about how Maleficent had cast the sleeping curse on Aurora. Though no one could understand why fully as Aurora had not slighted Maleficent. Mulan remembered the stories she had heard while the campfire flickered; its warmth seeping through her armor which was welcome against the chilly nights. Mulan could remember Philip's voice so clear, deep so focused to get Aurora's story out and at times his voice cracking. Mulan heart clenched tightly. She had respected him so much and perhaps in another lifetime she might not have allowed this respect to blossom into something more than friendship. Maybe but so frequently did she wonder what was the value of returning time after time if true love was eternal as she heard throughout the years. Did that mean that lifetime after lifetime she would meet Philip and have to steel her heart?

Aurora studied Mulan's face flashed emotions of disappointment, sadness and resignation quickly that a blink would have been enough to miss it. Aurora hadn't and her mind's gears slowly turned as she wondered why Mulan had looked so pensive or rather who. As briefly as her mind turned to these thoughts did Mulan's tough shell shine through again. Mulan was a woman of action. Whether it was because of her personality or a self defense mechanism Aurora did not know. Perhaps it was a little bit of both she concluded as she followed Mulan.

Birds chirped as they walked carefully through the forest. They might have stayed away from ogre territory but that did not mean the could not be cautious. It was known that the ogres were sending more and more scouts up the mountainside to gauge the fogrees that might have existed. One small snap of a twig could be their deaths if they chanced on an ogre.

As they walked for what seemed like an eternity a mist began to envelop the landscape. Mulan frowned and turned to Aurora, "It looks like there is a storm brewing. We must find shelter soon." Aurora only nodded her agreement and they trudged onward as the mist began to form droplets on their hair, dampen their clothes. Aurora began to lift her legs higher to fight against the heavying garments. She wondered if it her wiser to find new clothing that would give her more freedom and hide her identity had there been men like...

Aurora stifled a small cry as memories of that night flooded her mind unwittingly. Mulan stopped and turned on her heel as Aurora shook her head, pointing her head out to the path before them. Mulan nodded respecting Aurora's need to be alone in her thoughts.

Soon the forest began to darken. It was still a few hours before dusk. They were still looking for suitable shelter and from the encroaching darkness they knew they would need more than suitable or risk being whisked off to Arawn's Kingdom by consumption. Then they saw the cabin. A huge breath of relief escaped them both.

More promising still was that the cabin had looked deserted for some time if the dust inside gave any indication. Both stared a bit solemn by the fact. Yes it had been a great boon to find the cabin deserted but it only increased the desolation of the situation. More and more people of their realm were falling prey by the dangers of the ogres, and the danger of disease that seemed to all too consuming.

Mulan picked the lock and smiled as she managed to unlock it. She urged Aurora to stay a few strides away as she carefully opened the door. She looked upward for any signs of a booby-trap and found none. Nevertheless she waved Aurora to move to the side of the door. There was no trap. Only an empty cabin. They entered and Aurora began to tidy up the areas they were going to occupy. There was no importance in cleaning up the entire cabin even if her love of cleanliness desired her to do so. Mulan exited to find firewood and hoped the mist had not dampened the twigs and branches considerably or that she encountered many green twigs.

After an hour so Mulan managed to not only to find a good amount of wood to have a fire last through the night she had managed to snag a few rabbits for dinner and berries for dessert. It certainly was not the kind of meal either her or Aurora was accustomed to. However she knew it was important that they remained nourished for the journey ahead though neither knew where they could go.