Hey guys! This time I got another chapter up in a short amount of time! I have been thinking of doing some more fanart about this fanfiction (I have done some recent ones already, just go to my deviantart page. You can find the link to it in my profile, or search for my username PureAngelDragon713). If anyone has some ideas of what I can do, just let me know. I hope you guys enjoy this one!
Beyond The Page
Chapter 11: Listen
Everyone's eyes were turned to me as soon as the I said those words. I suddenly became nervous and wondered if asking this to Ralph in front of everyone else was not the best idea I had. I knew that somehow the woman that came to me was a vision I had seen but...was it-?
My thoughts were interrupted by a huge hand patting the top of my head. With curiousity taking over me once again, I peaked my big eyes from beneath Ralph's tender hand. What I saw to my surprise was a warm smile that I had never seen before. With his hand he gently rubbed the hair on my head back and forth until most of it fell in front of my face. I slightly giggled, but only loud enough for only Ralph to hear.
"He's...different somehow. That smile...where have I felt this warmness before?"
"Yes." Ralph's voice kindly reassured me, "I will teach you."
He removed his gentle hand slowly from my head, leaving a mess of hair to fall down in my face. Smiling I parted my hair apart so I could see, but raised my head to find Ralph's hand was now gently reaching out to me. In that instant I began to feel my cheeks grow slightly warm.
"Well...are you going to take my hand?" he asked curiously but gently.
I stared into his soft eyes, his lightly golden brown eyes having grown softer than the previous days before. Slowly I extended my hand out to his huge one, still feeling uncertain if I trusted him fully.
With a soft tug he lead me away from the clearing, his hand dwarfing and concealing my small artist hand within his. I smiled and chuckled softly realizing that his hands were much bigger than any other human being I had ever known.
"Where are we going?" I asked softly after walking for a while.
"You will see." was the only thing Ralph said back to me.
The feeling of uncertainty only grew bigger, not knowing where we were going. As I looked behind me, I could not help but feel that the others were not far behind.
And sure enough, the figures of Eris and the stranger following at a distance but close enought to see them.
With a curiousness and an uncertain feeling still growing, I looked back at Ralph's leading figure. He still held onto my hand firmly, but gently so that he would not hurt me. I recalled what I had seen, a woman who claimed herself to be the forest itself.
It's just like in the stories that my mom told me about.
Suddenly I found myself choking with sadness, and tears were welling up in my eyes. Mom...
"Lucy."
I did my best to hide the sadness I felt as Ralph's voice called me to say that we were here. I looked around to see that this was the place with the glowing mushrooms. The snowfall had stopped, an the sky was turning into a cool summer night. The stars glowed from the sky, but there was no moon that night.
The glowing mushrooms gave off a faint green glow, making me smile just looking at them. Ralph finally stopped right in the middle of the clearing, now taking both of my hands in mine. I stared back at him with uncertainty, yet was curious as to what he was up to.
"W-what now?" I stammered nervously.
He smiled warmly down at me, kneeling down to me to look me in the eyes.
"Listen."
I blinked confused, but with uncertainty still in my heart I looked around and listened. The forest was very quiet, and nothing seemed to make any noise at all.
"I...I don't hear any-"
Ralph squeezed my hands gently so that I could look at him once more.
"Just listen."
"O-okay." I nervously whispered.
Looking around again I saw no sign of anything or could hear anything at all. I kept looking wondering what I was missing, if I had looked in the wrong place.
"You won't be able to listen with your own ears." Ralph voice said strongly but softly.
He squeezed my hands once more to make me look at him again. I felt so nervous and uncertain that I did not know if I was actually learning anything.
"Then...what do I-"
"Close your eyes." he replied softly.
I felt my cheeks grow warmer as his voice pierced through mine. I suddenly realized that now I had started to tremble slightly.
"Lucy, do you trust me?" he asked squeezing my hands firmly but gently.
I looked at him silently, his eyes not wavering from mine. For some reason all of my doubts and nervous feelings had gone away. His eyes gazed softly into mine as my golden eyes stared with only curiosity remaining in them.
I nodded my head slowly never taking my eyes of of his.
"Close your eyes." he said again, this time so only I could hear.
I felt my cheeks grow hot with an unknown feeling that I had rarely felt before. Finally now gaining the confidence of trusting Ralph, I closed my eyes and stood still.
Listening.
0 - 0 - 0 - 0
As she closed her eyes, she slowly held onto my hands that were holding hers. It was a relief that she never noticed that my face had turned beet red. I knew that it was not right for me to have a human trust in me. In the case of Lucy though...she was someone that I was willing to start trusting in.
I watched her as she slowly began to stop trembling and stand still. Her hands still clasped mines, but not with as much force as before.
"Listen." I told her unmoving figure.
After that, there was not a sound that came from anywhere, anything. After a long while, I was afraid that what I had thought of was not working. Yet Lucy still stood there unmoving, still holding onto my gentle, firm hands. I smiled and chuckled as I looked down at them, noticing that my hands practically dwarfed her small ones. Her hands were soft to the touch, and warmer than any feeling that I had ever known.
"There you guys are!"
I snapped my head around to see the rest of the misfits had finally caught up to us, breaking the silence. I gave them a very stern look conveying that 'they should keep quiet!'
All of them had stopped at once, Eris being the only one close enough to us while the others stayed back.
She silently gave me a look asking 'What's going on?'
I gestured with my head towards the unmoving figure of Lucy, then back to her. Eris understood then what I was up to. She fell back to the others and managed to have them not come near the two of us.
I turned my attention back to Lucy, who still had her eyes closed. But then I noticed something odd that I did not see before.
She was glowing with the strongest golden light that I had never seen before.
Her blank expression was still apparent, but she gave off what I thought was the most beautiful light I had ever seen.
"It's working." I gaped in awe as I finally let go of her hands. I was right, there was something special about her.
Apparently the others noticed it too as they slowly came up behind me, but they still kept their distance by hiding behind me. Typical.
"What's happening?" the shape-shifter asked in an unsure voice.
"I think we're about to find out. " I simply replied.
0 - 0 - 0 - 0
At first I was greeted with the empty stillness of my mind. It was black, silent, and cold. I held onto Ralph's hands tighter, unsure of the surroundings that I had just found myself in.
Listen
I wanted to open my eyes, thinking that this was all a dream in my head. Yet I held back, knowing Ralph would know that something was wrong.
Listen
Suddenly I heard a small voice in the distance of the stillness. I leaned closer, trying to figure out what or who the sound came from.
Listen to the forest around you
When I leaned in closer, the sound I heard was of laughter. A child's laughter.
A familar laughter I knew all too well.
Listen to your heart
Golden light surrounded me on all sides, the blackness of the world suddenly all gone. The sound of the child grew louder and louder.
Listen to your true power
My ears were ringing with many sounds now as I finally could see the small child in the golden light. Running up to me the child came closer to me, and as the child came into full view I realized that the child was in fact a little girl.
Listen to your inner self
She smiled up at me with warmness and delight.
"It's nice to see you Lucy." she said sweetly.
I blinked as I looked down at the little girl. She still smiled the same smile that I felt was familiar.
"Who are you?" I asked her.
"I'm a lily flower of course." she replied.
"Huh?" I looked down at her confused.
"What kind of flower are you?" she asked me curiously tilting her head to one side.
I did the same with an even greater curious feeling. Suddenly my heart started to quell with pain. I gasped in surprise, my hands went flying to my chest.
"Wait Lucy!" the little girl shouted. She grabbed my hands and pulled them away from my chest.
"NO!" I cried feeling my heart throbbing with pain.
She held onto my hands with such force that I could not pull away from her grasp. Try as I might, I could not get my hands free.
"Stop fighting it, let it flow through you."
"L-let what flow through me?" I whimpered softly.
She only smiled up at me. Gently she put my hands together in front of me. Suddenly a glowing white light shown around her, making it hard to see her.
"W-wait! Please don't leave!" I cried out to her.
"Lucy." she blinked her golden eyes and turned up to me, "Turn the darkness...into light."
I gasped as I finally realized who the little girl was.
Me.
Listen to the Light
Within my hands a ball of light appeared out of nowhere. At first I stared down at it in awe, wondering where it had come from. I blinked twice, then with a sudden determination, I raised both of my hands high above my head.
The ball of light then grew brighter and bigger in size. All of a sudden there was a spark, causing me to cringe. Losing my balance I fell down with my eyes still closed. Everything went completely blank, as I found myself staring into the dark and stillness of my mind once more.
Slowly I let my eyes open up from the dark silence. I blinked twice again, seeing that the ball of light I had before had disappeared. I sighed sadly staring up into the night sky.
How in the world did I do something like ths?
I suddenly realized that I wasn't alone, and remembered that Ralph was still here. Though when I looked and found him, everyone else was there with him. All of them were staring at me in total shock and wonder.
"What?" I asked curiously.
Just as I was about to get up, I heard a slight shuffling from behind me. With my curiousity getting the better of me again, I turned my whole self around to see what it was.
I tilted my head to one side when I saw a little girl dressed in a hoodie.
Following my suit the girl also tilted her head to one side as well. I narrowed my eyes and tilted my head the other way. For some reason she looks oddly familar...
"Why are you staring at me like that?" the girl's voice asked with a huff.
I let my head come back up to look at the girl. She was very a very small child, with black hair that was tied up into a high ponytail. She wore a minty green hoodie and wore black boot beneath her feet. She did not seem at all surprised upon seeing me, and only looked as if she had walked into something strange.
But what I found familar about her was the big hazel eyes that stared me down. I narrowed my eyes once more as my big eyes stared into her big eyes.
"Vanellope?"
She blinked and took a step back, taken by surprise of my sudden words.
"H-how...how do you-"
She did not finish because I had swooped her up into my arms, giving her the biggest hug that I had ever given. She struggled with confusion underneath my hug, her expression showed sheer confusion and surprise.
Finally I let go of her, somehow feeling satisfied to see someone that I knew from my world be here.
"Who are you girlie?" she asked after a while of silence, "And...why is there light shining around you?"
I blinked not knowing what she was talking about at first. As I looked down at my hands though, I noticed they gave off a faint golden glow. In fact the glow was everywhere around me. I gasped quietly and smiled brightly, looking around at the light around me.
"I-I think I did it." I whispered happily.
The girl gave me a questioning look, then tilted her head to look behind me. I realized then I had forgotten there was also an audience seeing the scene unfold behind me. I blinked and turned to the group, feeling guilty for leaving them hanging like that.
By then the faint golden glow was gone as I shyly stared down at the floor beneath my feet. When I got the courage to look up at them again, the only one who seemed to be happy to see what had happened, was in fact Ralph.
He smiled down at me, and put his huge hand once more on top of my head.
"Yep. I think you did."
0 - 0 - 0 - 0
"So let me get this straight! You guys are all protectors of this forest, except for girlie here?" the kid stated questioningly.
"Exactly!" the shape-shifter answered confidently.
All of us had moved back to my home, sitting outside the hollow tree. The kid that had showed up out of nowhere asked us so many questions, that I just let the shape-shifter answer all of her questions. A tiny amount of snowflakes were still falling down from the sky, but for the most part Eris's storm from before was pretty much dyed down.
"And I don't see how you guys look all like people, when in fact you are all actually not human at all?!" the kid shouted confused.
Eris chuckled warmly and patted the kid's head, "Well it is a bit more complicated than that but...I don't know if you would understand-"
"What's your name?"
Everyone's eyes turned to Lucy as she faced the question right at the shape-shifter, who was taken aback by the sudden question.
"Uh...um..."
"You must have a name." she urged on sweetly smiling at him.
"I-It's...Arren." he stammered as his cheeks turned a bright pink.
"Arren? Sounds like a girl's name to me." Eris snickered softly.
"It is not!" he shouted back at her, "Arren in fact is also a boy's name."
"And a girl's name." she teased with another light snicker.
He gave Eris an angry frown, his fist balled up to his sides.
"I think that's a nice name." Lucy said trying to quell Arren's sudden anger.
He looked at her with a look of gratitude, but then turned his attention back to Eris.
"What about you then?" he exclaimed, "Ms. Snow and Ice Queen?!"
"I don't like that tone!" Eris sternly said standing up with her fist balled to her sides.
I sighed with annoyance. "Rivals, what can you do with them?"
"So...you're a protector of this forest?"
I flinched back finding the little girl sitting on my shoulder.
"Where did you come from, kid?" I replied taken aback.
"Didn't you see me hop onto your shoulder?" she said annoyed.
"No, I did not. Just sitting in thought is all." I replied in annoyance as I looked away from her.
"You know, I might just call you Stinkbrain."
I turned to look at her with the most shocked and angered expression I could muster.
"STINKBRAIN?! Why on earth would you call me that?!"
"Well...you're not very bright when it comes to noticing someone sitting on your shoulder." she simply replied with a smirk.
"Aah! Fine then!" I said throwing my hands in the air for a moment.
"See ya then!" she said
The girl hopped off of my shoulder and went back to the two rivals, who were now in an angry staring contest.
"So Mister Arren, you said you were a shape-shifter right? What can you shape into?" the kid asked hopping onto his shoulder.
"Any animal in the world, you name it!" he replied, sneaking a smug smile at Eris. She was not pleased at all in terms of her angered expression still on her face.
"How about...a lion!"
On que, Arren quickly transformed himself into a lion, and roared proudly across the clearing. The kid clapped in delight as she rode on the transformed Arren-lion's back.
"Now a zebra!"
As quickly as he changed into a lion, he became a zebra just like that.
I rolled my eyes and looked in Eris's direction. She looked back with the same expression that I had.
That was when I noticed in the corner of my eye Lucy sitting alone in thought. She was staring up at the stars that peaked out beneath the wispy clouds, hugging her knees to her chest. She had a look of longing and uncertainty, but what intrigued me the most was the fact that she gave off a faint, golden glow that she did not notice at all.
I smiled at her, feeling my cheeks swell with warmth again. Calmly I approached her slowly, but stopped when I noticed her shivering a little from the cold. Concerned I look around for anything warm I could find. Though the forest was not a place that kept warm human blankets lying around. The only thing I could see was a leafy cloak that lay upon the ground where she sat. Gently I picked up the cloak and as soft as I could, put it around her shoulders.
She was startled by the feel of a garmet put around her, but when she turned her eyes to look up at me, Lucy smiled a warm and sweet smile.
"Thank you." she said softly.
She wrapped the cloak around her with her hands and straightened out so that she sat cross-legged in the faint, snow-covered grass. She motioned for me to sit down next to her, and I followed her lead by gently sitting down but keeping a little distance between us.
We sat in silence, only the arguments and questions of the kid and the rivals breaking the stillness of the night. Eve and Tobi were sleeping in the comfort of Lucy's lap, their breathing was gentle and quiet.
"Ralph? Do you think...there's more to life than what you were prepared for?"
Lucy looked up at me with eyes that showed doubt and uncertainty.
I sighed and patted her head, "I sometimes think so."
"I've...had that feeling ever since I was supposed to be..." Lucy took in an anxious breath, "...married to someone that I don't love."
"Married? You mean becoming a mate to another?" I looked down at her with concern and a sudden curiousness.
"Well, yeah you could call it that." Lucy sighed sadly looking down.
I narrowed my eyes, my full attention set on Lucy's unusual sadness.
"And this concerns you?"
She nodded slightly.
"What is he like then?" I asked her.
"Selfish, arrogant, other things that go with it." she sadly replied.
I saw she was on the brink of crying again. This time I gently pulled her close to me, my hands wrapping around her arm.
"Sounds like he is a guy that does not care about the world." I looked down at her sad stricken face, "Lucy. You have taught me some things that I did not know I could learn. If you do miss your world I would gladly take you home."
She stared at me with stunned eyes, like she could not believe what she had heard. She bit her lip in contemplation, as I wondered what she would say.
"I-I think..." she suddenly leaned in closer to me, making my cheeks burn up.
"...I want to stay here with you."
I watched her as she slowly started to close her eyes.
"Then...I would like a small favor."
Lucy blinked her eyes open barely and looked at me with sleepy but curious eyes.
"I will teach you more about the forest if...you can teach me things about the human world." I felt myself blushing red at the sight of her sleepy figure.
"Okay, I will." she replied sleepily.
I sighed and thanked the stars that she agreed so quickly.
"Ralph..."
I turned my eyes back to her. She finally was smiling again, a sight that for some reason I was very happy to see.
"Thank you, for listening to me."
I nodded as I rubbed my hand back and forth across her messy hair.
"I'm always glad to help."
I smiled softly as Lucy finally drifted off into sleep in my arms. Hugging her closer to me than I ever thought I would, I looked up at the night sky. The stars shone brightly through the clouds that were now dissapating away, leaving only the light of the brightest stars shining down on the two of us.
For once in my life, I was glad to have a human by my side.
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