Disclaimer: Only thing I own is my OC.
Dreams are made of such fragile thoughts; they shatter at the slightest breath of wakefulness. The child stirred, her eyes opening, but she did not feel like her dream had ended. It felt half-finished inside of her mind, a hole that was in the midst of being filled. She shook off the unpleasant feeling, trying to find something other than emptiness inside of her.
There was knowledge, that was certain, like the fact she could see with her eyes and hear with her ears. The thing she was laying on was a rock, and it was in the center of a lake lined with trees called evergreens. In the sky, the moon spilled lustrous beams onto the Earth, dying every surface a varying shade of blue. She could feel the wind and hear the mournful cry of a lonely wolf in the distance. The girl knew the lake was frozen into a solid called "ice" and the gliding clouds that floated with ease on invisible currents spoke of an impending snowfall, though, for some reason, she felt not a single shiver of cold.
She knew all of this and more, but there was nothing else. No name, no story, no memory to speak of. Her mind was devoid of all the things that could possibly tell her who she was, leaving her as little more than a shell of basic facts and common knowledge. She was a living machine, built from fragile limbs and incomprehensible emotions; a delicate network of empty knowledge, greased with the haze of partial-consciousness and recklessly linked together by a mysterious sense of purpose.
That purpose, the driving will behind her every heartbeat, was still unknown to the small girl. So, she decided to do what felt right. She stepped out onto the nearly translucent ice, feeling her way delicately off the security of the boulder. Looking down, she could see through the thin layer of glassy frost and into the midnight-blue of the fathomless lake. For a brief moment, she wondered if the surface was merely thicker than it appeared or if she herself was lighter. The girl didn't feel any different than usual, but, problem was, she didn't exactly know what usual meant.
Shrugging, she continued forward at a leisurely pace. The small figure felt no reason to hurry, and she decided to ignore the terrible nothingness that had taken residence in her psyche, at least until some remedy could be found for the gaping hole in the back of her mind. She looked at the reflection of the moon, a thin crescent, on the filmy ice. As she approached the shore, she felt herself begin to slow down in a mysterious sense of trepidation emanating from some gap in her mind.
Why so scared? she asked herself. Her inner consciousness seemed dormant, however, and she received no reply. Very well, she continued, I will take your fear into consideration, but I will continue unless you provide me with more substantial evidence. She paused in her thoughts and body for a moment, then added, It's not that I don't find your input valuable, it merely ranks lower in importance than moving forward. With that said and done, though she wasn't positive in knowing who she had been addressing (be it herself or the slumbering void), she felt confident in her final step off of the lake and onto the solid, snow-covered ground.
She expected to sink into the glittering particles, yet she remained on the very surface of even the softest and deepest drifts as she walked completely barefoot. Mysteries upon mysteries. She wondered. The girl could feel the crisp texture of the snow, she could sense the chill that reverberated through her body when the wind would blow, but these sensations held no visceral affect upon her physically.
She was neither cold nor warm. She was not heavy, that was certain, but neither was she light. She held no substance, yet she felt as substantial as any other. Snowflakes, delicately patterned and woven from frozen liquid, were on the precipice of melting on her skin, bordering complete disintegration on contact with her, nonetheless, they passed right through her like she was a mere apparition. To say the least, it was disconcerting, and she didn't know if she should be upset that she seemed to be more of an illusion than a being made of matter, or if she should be pleased at her sudden invulnerability to the cold.
The light was dim under the trees, dappling the ground in hues of moonlit blues and shadowy gray-greens. Towering high above her, the ancient trees gave her a sense of peace. However, as she continued walking, the trees diminished in size until they became stunted versions of themselves, dotting the landscape sporadically with waist-high, shrub-like trees. After another hour of walking, she ground to a sudden halt by a tiny, twisted tree that she knew to be the marker for the end of the tree line and the beginning of a barren wasteland of ice, snow, and blistering winds.
What now? She thought as her gaze was drawn to the sliver of silver in the whirling heavens. The stars rotated in their slow circling dance, and the girl's gaze was caught by the star that sat in the middle of it all. North it is then, she obeyed. The small figure raised both arms to the moon in a slow salute as she took a step forward into the empty field, continuing her blind journey to a destination that seemed determined by a power outside of her control.
As she placed her foot down, the snow spiraled into a vortex, suctioning her into a paper-thin tunnel made of woven realities and laced-up energies that could only be described as magic. She fell through the passage with her eyes wide open, taking in the intricacy of the fabric that shimmered in an amalgamation of disremembered dreams. It was only a small moment, less than half a heartbeat, until she came to the end of the path.
Landing on her feet, the tiny girl found herself facing a dominating figure with a huge beard and sharpened swords that gleamed dangerously at his side. She couldn't help but notice the look of astonishment that crossed his face for a brief instant before he settled into a cross between amusement and wariness.
"What do we have here?" The man said in a deep and heavily accented voice, appearing to pause to think for a moment. He looked over her with a piercing gaze that seemed to know more about her than she knew about herself, which was probably true given her state of mind. He continued a few moments later, "Now if you wouldn't mind explaining yourself it would save me a lot of trouble, child."
Her thoughts were calm, given her sudden predicament. Well, she thought slowly, it could've been the Easter Bunny.
A/N- Hello again! I hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving (filled with food and the gaining of weight)! I realized that this story is starting reeaaaalllly slowly, but I promise that it will get more exciting! I still love any and all feedback/suggestions you guys (or singular guy/girl) might want to offer me! I still love all of you that read this! Do you think this note has enough exclamation points?!
To Tj Barci- My first review! I feel so honored! You really got me blushing ^/^! You have my everlasting thanks.