Chapter Two

"Come Into The Light..."

Having no other place to put her, he had no choice but to build, by hand, a small bed by the spinning wheel, in which he placed the shivering girl. As he slowly lowered her in, he looked at her weak form…she was so small and defenseless…and it dawned upon him that when she awoke, that she would try to make a run for it right away as he looked at his reflection in the goblet of water that he had placed by her bed. How could she not be afraid of him? Such a small girl would surely run for the hills, even if she would hobble and leave a trail of blood halfway there. So, as he saw her coming to, he sent a fireball into the fireplace of that great room, and then moved his chair back to a less lighted area, ashamed at his monstrous appearance. Slowly, her slow groans and moans of awakening echoed throughout the castle halls. She let out a gasp of air and a slow, nagging cough as she awoke. Looking around her, it was all so blurry…but she could see the outlines of a large room….and that was strange to her. Not having lived inside before, the feeling of warmth was new to her too, along with the feeling of the bandages and the softness of the blankets. Everything to her was a new sensation….but the one that attracted her the most…was the light that was before her…and when her blurred vision cleared…she gasped in awe. This beautiful place…it might has well have been heaven to her, for it did seem that way. But as she felt the sensation of pain coursing through her veins, she knew she was alive…someway, somehow, she was alive. But how alive? As her endless groans filled the air, it soon formed into words. "ughh….where…am I…what is this place…." His raspy, yet soft and sad voice spoke from the darkness, from an outline of a figure in the shadows. "Somewhere safe and warm….my castle." He spoke softer than he would have with most people, yet audible enough so that she could hear him…if she could in fact, hear him at all. At the voice of another person, she tensed up, her mistrust in humans taking over. But first, she wanted to make sure that he wasn't a foe before going any further, eyeing the figure with her cloudy grey eyes. "wh..who are you…" her voice shook as she pinned her back against the bed, shaking in fear and pain herself. It wasn't fear of him that drove her to act this way…but fear of everything in general. All the girl had lived with was pain and fear. "come into the light…." She narrowed her eyes to his direction, trying to see him. The beast stood to his feet, slowly approaching the girl as if he were afraid of her. As she looked upon him, she saw that he was different from the other humans…he may have had different skin, but his smile was kind and caring….there was a warmth about him that drew her to him, even though his skin appeared to be cold. Instead of turning away in fear as she was expected to, she just looked up at him and watched him. He outstretched his hand towards her. "please…don't be frightened, dearie…" he spoke in a reassuring tone, as if he was taming a wild animal…and to a certain affect he was. She looked up at him doubtful for a second. She stretched her neck weakly forward, and then painfully sat up, leaning on the walking staff that she had been traveling with for heaven knows how long. Her dull, glazed over eyes looked at him with a pained expression, almost unsure. He kept his hand outstretched just the same, bending down to the small girl's eye level. "I'm not going to hurt you…." Her eyes widened in not being sure of what he was doing, for no one had ever shown the poor creature kindness. Tenatively, she sniffed his hand, and for once, she was unafraid. It was as if she were smelling her own scent, it was strangely familiar to her. He had long nails, just as she did. He inched a little closer at a time and so did she, until he was able to sit beside the bed with her. Crossing one leg over the other, the imp looked at her with a curious look and a tilt of his head to one side, for he was curious about this girl. And quite frankly, he was disgusted that anyone could actually leave a child…something that he had longed for and wished every day that he would get the second chance to be a father…alone, scared, cold, fending for herself, starving, and sick. "Now my dear…what were you doing all alone out there…" she looked up at him and gulped, not knowing what to say. Her whole life she had been alone…and she didn't know what else to tell him…so she told him the truth. As horrible as it was…she had to tell him everything. For she felt she could, for his eyes gazed upon her so gently and with so much pity on her poor soul. So the girl began her sorrowful tale.

The last she could remember, she was apparently born in the wilderness, or abandoned there, something along that order. All she had remembered was that her bed was always the grass or the cold hard ground, and her only light was the sun and the stars and the lonely glow of the moon. She hadn't remembered a childhood…for as far as she thought she was an animal just like the herds in which she traveled with. Sometimes literally, for as long as she could remember, this mysterious, yet ill child had had powers that she couldn't explain, or even identify or control. There were times when this wild girl would shape shift into a horse and bolt, for she had remembered always having that ability. And she had always had the ability to make water move to her will, apparently having much control over that element. And it was necessary for the girl's survival, for there were many times that she had done that to escape one fearsome enemy in particular: the evil queen. She had spent most of her life up until now running from her, either in horse or human form. For no reason, the queen seemed to hunt her, taunt her, and torture her, for something that she didn't do. And yet there were other enemies still…horse thieves looking to cut her herd of horses and livestock that she traveled with, other cruel humans, and also hunters of the non human kind as well. The wolves had hobbled her, wounding her for life in one leg. Regina, of course, saw nothing but to take advantage of this. And so the girl was reduced to a fate very similar to the man before her before he had his powers….she was a cripple who had been kicked in the ribs and tasted the leather of Regina's boots far too many times. And eventually, all this suffering had made her sick…sicker than anyone the world had ever seen. And she could only get worse. Before she had been able to walk, but only with the walking staff that had come into the castle with her. Her only friend was a domesticated fox named Ruibin, which was now curled up near the fireplace. And then, it hit. The worst snow storm that the enchanted forest had ever seen had started to hit it with such fury as to knock the girl to the ground…and she had thought she was never going to get up again.

"So…that's…what happened to me…." Rumple could feel his heart aching with every single word for some reason. He had no responsibility or relation to this girl(as far as he could tell…) but somehow his heart broke a little more with every sentence of her tragic tale. For one, she was just like him in some aspects…even the same leg and rib wounds. But unfortunately for this girl, there was no way out. He immediately, as if on instinct, squeezed her hand. "I am so sorry child…but…it doesn't have to be that way any longer…". As she felt the touch on her hands, she tensed at first and then relaxed a little, trying to get used to human contact. For it did feel rather nice to have someone actually comfort her for a change…or at least treat her like a person. She looked up at him with her brown eyes full of uncertainty. "What..what are you talking about?" for to her, she was beyond all hope. "I mean…you can stay here….if you want…"