((Ah, I'm sorry for how long it took for me to upload this! I actually had most of it finished for a while, but early in December I lost the will to write, and after that I was just busy... So I kind of forgot about it. *Facepalm* So I finished it up and posted it, and I should have the next chapter up soon, too. Enjoy! :3))

Edwardina was walking. It was a chilly spring night, getting close to summer but not fully out of winter. She pulled her cloak tighter, shivering slightly. Her toes were frozen and her nose had that odd tingling sensation that makes your eyes tear up, but she ignored it. She had to get as far from the castle as possible, as quickly as possible. And so she walked on.

She walked all night, and when morning came she found herself in a small village. There she found an inn, and went inside to get some breakfast. She got a bowl of oatmeal with berries and some milk and sat down to eat, quite hungry. She watched the other inn patrons as she ate, listening to their conversations, trying to learn what things were like in the village. Interestingly, she noticed that everyone in the village had lovely green hair. She looked at her own hair, a shiny gold color, woven into a long braid tied with a red ribbon. She wondered if perhaps she could dye it. However, she soon changed her mind; she was far too fond of her hair. Nobody knew how it had gotten that color. Her father's hair was a deep black, and her mother's was a light chestnut color. Yet somehow hers was a beautiful gold, like... Well, like gold. If there was anything girly about her, it was the way she took such pride in her hair.

Tired, Edwardina sighed and slumped over against the table. She had walked all night. She didn't know how long it had been or how far she went, but she was damn tired. Her feet ached, her legs were wobbly, and there was an annoying buzzing in her head from not sleeping. She was so tired, she didn't even notice the young boy who came to collect her dishes.

"Hey, you ok, lady?" he asked concernedly, taking her plate. She jumped, startled, and relaxed when she realized it was just the inn owner's son.

"Yeah, I'm fine... just tired," she mumbled, yawning. The boy frowned.

"Where'd you come from, anyway? I know you're not from around here..."

"Central City."

"Central City? Like in Amestria?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, that's the one. Why?"

"That's really far away!" the boy exclaimed.

"Well, I did walk all night..." Edwardina said, smiling wearily.

"All night?!"

"Pretty much, yeah."

To her surprise, the boy put the dishes down and ran to the kitchen, shouting something. A moment later he returned, dragging along a woman who had quite obviously been in the middle of washing dishes.

"All right, Khayal, what is it?" she asked, drying her hands off on her apron.

"This girl says she walked all night, all the way from Central City in Amestria!" the boy explained, pointing to Edwardina.

"Oh my! Is that true?" the woman asked, bringing a hand to her cheek in shock.

"...Yeah, but it's no big deal..." Edwardina replied awkwardly, not wanting to attract too much attention or cause trouble.

"What do you mean, 'No big deal'? You must be exhausted!" the woman argued, staring at Edwardina in disbelief. "Do you have anywhere to stay? You need to rest, dear."

"Uh... not really..."

"Well then, you can stay here. Khayal, go prepare a room for her," the woman commanded the boy, who went immediately.

"Y-you don't need to do that, I'm fine," Edwardina lied. "Besides, I don't really have a lot of money..."

"Nonsense, that doesn't matter. You don't worry about that."

"But I have to pay somehow!" Edwardina insisted. The woman sighed.

"If it really matters that much to you, you can work off your debt. But really, it's not-"

"That sounds good, when can I start?" Edwardina asked enthusiastically, eager to get to work.

"You can start by taking a nap," the woman said firmly.

"But-"

"Sleep. Now."

"...Fine..."

And so it came to pass that Edwardina began working at the inn. The woman's name was Anne, and her son was Khayal. His father, Halling, ran the inn. There was no shortness of work for Edwardina, and she soon earned a reputation for being a skilled alchemist, although the villagers all thought it was "magic" no matter how many times she explained it. She was often asked to repair things by the villagers, and was quickly accepted into the community.

One afternoon as she was helping Anne prepare the stew for dinner, it was discovered that there was a shortage of mushrooms.

"Hmm... Ed, I'll need you to go to the forest and get some mushrooms," Anne said, frowning at the lack of mushrooms.

"Ok. Where are they?" Edwardina asked, not familiar with the local geography.

"Not too far from the village, in the forest. You'll know them when you see them."

Edwardina put her cloak on and grabbed an empty basked to carry the mushrooms in, when suddenly Anne put a loaf of bread in the basket.

"For a snack," she explained, smiling kindly at Edwardina. Edwardina nodded gratefully and headed out the door.

"Where are you going?" asked Khayal, who had been standing by the door, just out of sight.

"To the forest to get some mushrooms," Edwardina explained.

"Watch out for the monster," Khayal said ominously, grinning.

Edwardina rolled her eyes. "You've got to be kidding. There's no such thing," she argued.

"It's true!" Khyal insisted, jumping in front of Edwardina's path (She pushed him away with one hand). "I saw it myself!"

"Oh really? And what does this 'monster' look like?" she asked sarcastically.

"It's about 6 feet tall, and made of metal with lots of spikes that could kill you, and it has creepy glowing red eyes! I've heard that it shoots lasers from its eyes, is strong enough to crush your skull with its bare hands, and if you look into its eyes it'll eat your soul!" He jumped around and gestured for emphasis. Edwardina burst out laughing, causing Khayal's face to turn bright red in embarrassment.

"I'm serious! Ask anyone around here, they'll tell you the same thing! And if you're not careful, it'll get you too!" he insisted, honestly believing in his story.

"Yeah, yeah, I'll be careful," Edwardina said dismissively, and started on her way to the forest, ignoring Khayal's protests.

Edwardina walked along the path nonchalantly. She snorted as she recalled Khayals warnings. Monsters? Ha, yeah right. There was no such thing. And even if there was, any monster that tried to eat her would have a close encounter with her fist. She was no damsel in distress, that was for sure. Heaven only knows, sometimes she was more like a monster herself. Not the sort of person you wanted to mess with.

Besides that, there was no such thing as monsters. They were just fictional creations made to scare little children into behaving. That, or stupid uneducated idiots who were too dumb to use scientific methods would see something they didn't understand, and label it a monster. It was probably just a large bear or something.

...Or at least, that was what she thought, before she walked straight into something very large and very cold.