Author's Note: Again, sorry it took so long. Anyway, this the most weirdest (pending) crack pairing that I'm starting to like. Weird
The Fairy Queen and The Pauper
We will meet again.
Chapter Two: Just Right
'What?'
Of course the girl with the penchant for plastic fairy wings and smiling without care didn't let Cinder's annoyed pout waive her.
"I said: Salutations!" she repeated, thinking that Cinder didn't hear her the first time.
Again, she was met with a stone cold wall of indifference. Nevertheless, she tried once more; albeit, with shrinking confidence.
"It means hi…um hello, Hallo! No? um, hola? I'm greeting you?" Penelope fumbled her words around, trying to communicate clearly while the poor girl vocally expressed her irritation.
"I know what it means!" the girl grumbled.
It was bad enough that she was once again intruding on this meadow, but now she was making her exasperated with the constant inane attempts at greeting.
"I-I apologize, please forgive me." Penelope jittery said.
It was the first time she displayed something other than perpetual cheerfulness.
"It's fine," Cinder dusted herself off.
"I didn't mean to snap at you. I'm sorry." she glanced away.
Cinder wasn't one to apologized so readily back. Usually all her apologizes were forced ones to cover the expense of someone else; Lest she was harshly reprimand back which lead to more trouble.
However, despite this girl's annoying personality, her only misdeed was trying to say "Hello".
She glanced back, and sure as the sun rises Penelope had her smile back brighter than ever. The girl coupled Cinder's hands, and lean in her face a little too close for comfort and said: "Thank you Cinder!"
'Too close!' The poor girl squirmed and flopped to the ground.
The fairy-girl was the last person to know whenever she became a personal space-invader; whenever there is prospect of meeting someone new, someone her own age, she would always become too keen on them.
Cinder reluctantly took Penelope's helping hand while she profuse a set of apologies. "I accept, I accept already!" Cinder held her hands up, and stare up into Penelope's big, green eyes.
"So stop it!"
Penelope look down into Cinder's eyes and nodded. Separated; her frown turn into a sheepish one.
"I didn't mean to act too forward." she pinched her pink-bow and mindlessly played with it. "I'm just not use to new people my age, and I guess I tried too hard on making a first, good impression."
'Could have fooled me.' Cinder thought.
"Then what was that showman character display back at the welcoming? The way you lap up that attention makes me think you would be use to people." she said with conceited smirk, crossing her arms, and looking down at Penelope-Well, she would, if she wasn't short.
Jaded by the passage of her life, the little inquisitor thought she put the squeeze on the fairy-girl. Cinder thought she had it all figure it out: After all, no one could be so merry, and behave so ardor like it was normal without something being up. It had to be an act.
But the fairy-girl didn't mind the harsh remark. She was unphased and Cinder's cynicism went over her head.
Penelope still carried the smile. "That's not showmanship. I just wanted to inform the people about Dust, and its beneficial properties! That's it; just me, acting as myself, acting like I always do."
The wall around Cinder has yet to crack. "By acting like a-"
She paused abruptly. While her jaded thoughts have been talking for her until now, part of her didn't really want to hurt the girl.
Before she could retract or alter her statement Penelope chuckled lightly.
"A fool?" She added.
Her face showed a smile: a melancholic one. The plaintive way she said it was that of familiarity.
It caught Cinder by surprise. She felt a little guilt by it.
"I-I'm," the poor girl stuttered.
Penelope raised her hand and smiled; this time genuine. "It's okay."
The last thing she ever wanted to hear was sympathy. The reason wasn't that Penelope was too proud to hear it or that she heard it so many times, but she felt it was easier, and more sincere if she explained.
Whirling around, the fairy-girl walked a few steps away, admiring the dimming blue-sky. "I've heard it before."
Pulling out the glass star-wand, she whirled back, letting the wand wave.
They shared eye-contact.
"To be honest, whenever I try to act 'normal'," she added emphasis with another wave. "For the benefits of others I tend to be scared. I fib, flub, and forget what to say or how to behave and I become timid."
The fairy girl glance away. "Worse, it gets even worse when I get in front of people. Heh, which is funny and odd because I like to help people, and I want to talk in front of them."
She turn back, and their eyes met again. "I was told to act normal from people who thought would be helping me, and people who I thought would be my friends. Sure, they...they stuck around, but it just felt dull. So, I just chose to be just me."
"A fairy?" Cinder tilted her head. Trying to stifle a smile on the silly thing she just said.
Penelope instantly nodded her head feverishly; cheerful as ever. "Yup! But not just any fairy," wagging her finger with a smirk. "The fairy queen!"
"As the fairy queen I will inform the people around the world, and promote the good of Dust to all!" she said in manic display of twirling, and hand waving.
Cinder stood there, seeing all of it with a bemused expression. 'I could eat popcorn to this.'
"That's a noble ambition." she blurted out
It was an impulsive statement. Like a kindred spirit the childish side of her mind agreed with Penelope, but on the other side, the mature side, it felt like it was a naive whim. An argument fueled by her sporadic behavior.
Of course, Penelope took it with face value.
"You really, honestly, truly, think so?"
Looking at the big, green eyes pleading for an agreement, she didn't feel like crushing her hopes.
"Y-yeah?" Cinder said with awkward half-smile.
Penelope was delighted with her stammered answer. "That's wonderful!" she exclaimed.
Like a switch turn on by some secret code; the girl became the epitome of excitement. "I knew you would say that! Just like the other times!"
She rioted with joy; practically dancing to something only she knew. From an outside perspective, if anybody else was seeing this, they too would agree with Cinder's quizzical look.
"What other times?" she asked. "You just met me."
Penelope instantly stop; literally, one leg mid-air while one arm outstretched skyward. Her cowlick danced as she sheepishly smiled. "Of course."
The fairy-girl tried to backtrack. "Er, yes, so we have."
Lightly tapping her noggin, she tried to change the subject. "What I meant what was...do you have ambitions of your own?"
There was a pause.
"No, I just work for a living." Cinder said bluntly.
"Oh..." Penelope contemplated.
The girl would forget that sometimes some people were not as privilege as her; though she endeavored to make a change for it.
"So you and your mother work?"
Again, blunt and stoic, the poor girl answered. "No, my mother is dead."
"Oh...then your father?"
"Dead."
"Then,"
"Stepmother; except for a few conditions we are independent of each other." Cinder said looking dismay.
"Like I said: I work for a living."
The girl ambled past Penelope towards the middle of the field. Trying and finding a perfectly, suitable grassy patch for her to plop on top of; Cinder gave a short, sharp sigh as she laid there.
"And I come here to relax."
Penelope curiously inspected the leisuring girl. She then follow suit and rested next to her. Mimicking Cinder by resting the back of her head on the palms of her hands, and staring up at the clouds.
The poor girl didn't mind much at the strange girl taking residence next to her.
Maybe she was just too dog-tired from the field work and the hectic day that strung along. Or maybe, somewhere in her, she did like the company of others. Perhaps, the fairy-girl was a natural exception.
"So, this is how you relax?"
"Not yet." Cinder whispered laxly.
Eying a tall grass stalk protruding near her, she plucked it quick, and nib it with gusto.
A trait almost certainly inherited from her mother.
Curious eyes and hands did the same as Penelope heedlessly picked a stalk. "Like this?" Before Cinder could look, the fairy-girl chewed.
"Pa-too-we!" she spat a burst of munched grass fibers out.
The poor girl raise an eyebrow; was she simple? She couldn't believe that the girl would put any old thing in her mouth without careful inspection.
"That's dry grass!" She scolded. "Of all the green here you picked up the only wilt."
Penelope shyly grinned. "It was a joke."
"A joke..." Cinder felt like she needed to repeat it once more. For the sake of the fairy-girl and her own sanity.
"You put dry grass in your mouth, at your expense, for a joke?"
Smiling, Penelope shrugged. "It made you laugh...right...about," she paused. "Now." she snapped her fingers.
Cinder gave her blank look.
She then turned her head, and was thankful that a light breeze covered her snickering.
Opening her eyes she spotted that the stalk had a partner; snapping the crisp stem she turn around and handed it over to Penelope.
"Here."
Silently thanking her, they both laid back. Cinder, lazy and stoic, gazed at the sky; while Penelope, smiled and hummed, admiring the slow moving clouds passing by. Much to Cinder's annoyance the solace was interrupted as the hum became a giggle.
"What are you laughing at?"
Penelope held her chest and tried to suppress the laughter before it gave her a fit of hiccups that she would usually be prone to.
"~Nothing," she said teasingly.
Cinder still scowled at her. "Well, it's just that, we are so relax despite having just met; it just feels quaint. It's mighty nice."
The poor girl smirk. "I thought you said you've already met me."
"N-no," Penelope became flustered. "That was a minor flub!"
In a way Cinder agreed. Not out loud of course; the content on her face was enough. Somewhere in the monotonous life of earning a living she forgot who she was: the little girl who would eagerly enjoy the simple things.
The routine broken. The simple things like talking to someone else like a real person was now gratified by Penelope.
She almost forgot the life she led.
Almost.
"Cinder!"
A voice called out from beyond the trees. Cinder sprung up, big eyes fixated at the general direction; Penelope, who was surprised at the sudden movement just stared at her. "Who is it?"
She didn't get a response. The poor girl trembled briefly as the voice called out her name once again; this time louder.
The fairy-girl heard the tree branches rustling, jerking her head she saw a woman whose hair was orange with a blond tint standing on top of the small rocky hill next to the tree.
Her blue eyes gaze coldly.
Dress in a long, brown coat over a yellow dress with a red shirt, it gave her a modest look. The face was youthful still, but she shown signs of stress with the dark circles under her eyes.
Hearing an audible gulp from Cinder the fairy-girl eyed her as she stood up. "Is she-?"
"What do you want Anastasia?" Cinder said firmly. Although, there was a hint of anxiousness behind it.
Like previously mentioned, the two were mostly independent, they would usually not see each other until the end or beginning of a day. So why was she here? She hasn't told anybody of this place; the stepmother was one of the reasons she would come here.
Upon getting a closer look Cinder realized something was off about her. She looked just as-if not more-anxious than her.
"Don't 'what' me." Anastasia said with an impatient tone. "It's almost nightfall; I gave you one rule, a curfew, and that is to come home before sunset."
Whether she was feeling gutsy or encourage by something else Cinder decided to defy her. "Why?!"
Just then the bell from the clock-tower bellowed in the distance. After the second ring Anastasia leaped off the hill, and rushed towards Cinder and grabbed her wrist. The poor girl winced, Penelope was stunned at the sudden high pace action.
"I gave you a rule that's why!" she tighten the grip once more, making her stepdaughter wince again. "And what are those?" pointing at the gleaming glass slippers.
Cinder's heart sunk as Anastasia reach down, and forced one of the pair off.
"Are you stealing? We can't afford to have attention Cinder! We can't have eyes on us!"
Penelope frown, still stunned, but managed to shout: "Hey! s-stop it! I gave them to her!"
But with having a one track mind the irate stepmother didn't listen as she forced the other off and tossed them away.
"B-but I need shoes!" Cinder pleaded; her voice quivered and eyes started to water.
"Then I'll give you mine!"
In a mad fit she tossed her worn boots to her. At least five sizes too large the small girl struggled to move. The stepmother pulled the girl towards the hill.
"Let me go!"
"It's not safe here!" Anastasia gave a painful grunt as her bare feet climbed the rocky hill. Cinder didn't fare better with the big boots.
"The night is dangerous! We have to go back home, they might be watching us!" She said crazed.
"Let me-" Cinder's last plea faded as they made out of the meadow's mouth.
Penelope looked on with eyes wide with shock.
All She was able to quietly mumble out was: "L-let her go."
"Make it in there! Get in there!"
The poor girl tried to balance herself after being shove into the house. Legs finally gave into their awkwardness, and soon found her face hurting on the cold wooden floor.
Anastasia frantically closed the crafted door. "Not safe." She sharply exhale.
"You don't know how dangerous it is out there." her forehead rested against the doorknob.
Cinder pushed herself off the floor and glared behind. 'Or in here.'
The frustrated look demanded an answer. After all Anastasia would always ramble on about watchful eyes, and beings conspiring in the shadows, but never once explained herself.
The woman is demented. But she wasn't always like this, she wasn't always unpredictable, and consume by unknown fears. The most frustrating thing about her was that she use to be normal-motherly even-towards her stepdaughter.
Then somewhere she lost it.
There was a long pause, Anastasia deliberate on her what to say.
"Bears." she said quietly.
"What." Cinder said flatly.
She thought her stepmother would finally say something more relevant. Anastasia did take her time before she answered; even looking like she was pensively thinking. So why did she prevaricate?
"There's been reports of bears out near the old foundation outside of town. You're lucky you haven't seen them out there whenever you go monkeying about in the forest."
'Monkeying about?'
Cinder shook her head. "What do you care anyway?!" she shouted. "I'm perfectly fine out there. Much more than I can say around here."
"Yeah?" Anastasia challenged.
"Yeah!"
The girl bent over, took the oversize loaned boot off, and threw it at her stepmother. A scornful gesture that made her angry.
"I've had it with you! You're crazy!" the other boot flew towards the kitchen floor in the next room. Cinder continued her outburst. "I deserve better than this! If you don't want eyes on you then maybe I should go to the new mayor!"
A panic look crept across Anastasia's face. "There is a new mayor?" she said quietly.
"Yes, maybe I should go to him and tell him about you."
Cinder marched towards to the door only to be grabbed by the shoulder, and forcefully turned around towards the icy blue eyes.
"Listen here! You don't know what's out there, whats really out there. And I am going find out, and stop them! Nothing is going to impede me got it? I promised my family, my team and your parents on this!"
"Let me go!"
The little girl struggled to get out of her hold. In her Irate fit Anastasia dragged Cinder towards the basement door.
"Which means you're going to stay here, and keep your mouth shut!"
After Cinder was pushed into the doorway the door slammed only a few inches from her face. Hugging the banister for support the little girl anxiety rose with every bolt and click from the lock.
On the wooden steps she stood with bare feet on the splinter surface. Feeling defeated, in a stupor caused by everything crashing down on her, Cinder left for bed with a soft sob.
The Next Day.
"Cinder..."
'Mother.'
"Cinder!"
Nerves jolted, and her body spasm at the sudden awakening.
Opening her eyes she could see the morning rays from behind draping over her blanket curves. Rubbing her eyes-which was now long since dry-the girl sat up right. In the middle of her yawn she heard light tapping coming from the small basement window.
"Cinder!" a voice harshly whispered.
She turn immediately to see Penelope crouched down, peering her little face with a hopeful look. If it were any other day or situation Cinder would have just chalk it up as pestering. But at this point what else could she do?
Reluctantly, the poor girl tossed the blanket off, and shambled towards the wall.
"What?" she asked.
Still sullen after yesterday's events. Too tired to even bring up the topic on how she even found her. Then again, sure the whimsical girl would have followed them, probably did so the first time when she left the slippers.
Her chilled toes scrunched. The poor girl did miss them.
"I'm just glad that you are okay." Penelope forced the smile; really she didn't want to show her sadness.
Being 'okay' was a stretch, Cinder thought.
Not wanting to tell her that, she folded her arms, and gave her an annoyed look. "Yeah, I'm okay. So long, Goodbye!"
She began to turn around before Penelope beseech her to come back. "Are you hurt? Did she do something? I'll retrieve the local constables if she did."
"They're more than useless." Cinder said.
"Then I'll get my grandpa to help."
The fairy-girl scramble to leave with a determined face before, this time, Cinder called her back.
"I can leave anytime I want." she hesitated. "As soon as she leaves."
Penelope shook her head. It was not an answer she wanted to hear. "I think it's best if you leave now." Her hand hovered over to one of the screw frames.
"Lest something dreadful happens."
Cinder felt uneasy. What would be the repercussions? By stars, she really hated complications. Her mind was racked on what to do; the two sides on the plane of her mind deliberate, and argued once more.
The little girl gritted her teeth and nervously twiddled her thumbs before Penelope gave her a tie-breaking question.
"Do you really want to be here?"
Cinder shook her head.
"Okay, stand back!" Penelope said.
Doing as she was told Cinder watch in amazement as the other girl's hand began to spark a fusion of red and orange. She covered her mouth when the heat of it wafted over; the smell of burning metal was intense and thick.
The glowing screw popped, and Penelope poured her might into pulling the weaken frame apart.
She then held her hand out. "Come on!"
Getting an encouraging word from her, Cinder grabbed Penelope's hand as she pulled. The bare feet climbed against the brick wall and then she was out.
They both shared a smile. Warm from the rising sun, the singing of the birds, and the fresh air were all welcome sights for Cinder.
"Wait! I got something for you." Penelope turned around, and reach into her brown satchel.
Cinder brightly smiled; short of squealing. On the palm of the fairy-girl's hands were the glass slippers.
"I had to check and fit the slippers with all the fair maidens of the land to find it's true owner you know." Penelope winked.
Playing along Cinder grabbed the slippers she smirked. "Then with a chance, you shall see that I am its owner."
Like it was meant to be, her little feet slipped inside the crafted footwear; it was a cooling relief once worn. Despite the irrational antic of her stepmother it was once again in her possession.
Penelope giggled. "and so it fits just right!"
Cinder took a moment to admire the slippers. The girl hesitated to say something. She really couldn't find a way to express her gratitude to Penelope. After all, when you give something to someone who lost everything; who doesn't own anything something to call her own, it meant alot.
"Thank you...friend." she hoped it would suffice for now.
But as soon as she uttered the last word an air of anticipation bloomed. The fairy-girl looked at her like she said something foreign. "What did you say?"
"Friend?" The bemused Cinder repeated.
For a second Penelope cracked a wavy smile before it was covered by her pale hands. "Am I really your friend?" she said slightly muffled.
The poor girl simply nodded. "Yes? Why shouldn't you be? After what you done, yes, you are my friend."
It seem like an eternity before Penelope spoke again. The fairy-girl was overjoyed. After all, when you befriend someone doesn't have a friend to call her own, it meant alot.
"That is splendid!" the plastic wings flapped along with her sudden yell.
The outcry of joy was instantly match by Cinder's roaring stomach. The girl hasn't eaten anything since last morning. It was a harsh reminder of what it was to live with a neglectful stepmother.
Penelope stare added to the poor girl's embarrassment making her turn red after the loud gurgle silenced her. Anticipating this Penelope just gave her a sympathetic smile as she reached into her bag to pull out a clear, plastic box holding a tray of food.
"Breakfast picnic, friend?"
Giving her stomach the helm of her decision making, Cinder took Penelope's generous offer.
From the borderless backyard to the forest the fairy-girl led. The poor girl was surprise on how acute and adaptive her navigation was; to an outsider the forest near Via may seem discernible and reliable at first glance, but really as you dwelled deeper the woods would become thicker, and nooks and rocks would be waiting for limbs to be caught. Cinder knew the pain of those errors.
But Penelope traverse and guided like she's been here longer than her. Cinder would remember from storybooks that fairies were the masters of the forest, now she started to wonder if Penelope's claim of being the fairy queen was true.
As they entered from the south boundary Cinder realized that she has never seen the meadow in early light. The sun beams broke from the early mist and the grass shined with its morning dew. The girl whispered a small "wow" as Penelope pick out the middle of the field and planted a classic red-and-white checkered blanket with the container full of colorful breakfast sandwiches.
The fairy-girl gave her a welcoming smile, and Cinder stared at the food and said "wow" again before she attacked the food with joy.
"Oh my, you sure were hungry." Penelope said amused.
Cinder stop mid-gulp. Although Penelope meant well it didn't help that poor girl felt a little insecure. Cinder began to brush away the egg from the sandwich and moderate how she ate before Penelope caught on.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean that as a bad thing." she said.
After some consideration Cinder continued to ravage the meal. Finish with the meal, she gave her thanks of appreciation to her.
"Thanks...it was really good."
Penelope beamed. "You think so? Because I made it myself." said with a proud smile.
"You?" Even for a sandwich, it really was a good one.
"Yes, You see, when I was younger my parents weren't always around, so when they had time they would teach me how to cook simple meals for myself." She smiled sympathetically. "My mother didn't trust grandpa with the kitchen, he is a wiz with everything but that!"
Cinder mentally chuckled, he did look like the clumsy type, though everyone has flaws and weakness that they aren't good at. Although it was miniscule, in her eyes, compared to the possibilities he could convey with the advent of productive Dust. A lot could change for the better because of him.
Looking at the fairy-girl she noted that trait was genetic.
But in her own mind, some things can't change. Like a great watcher the bell from the tower sounded off. It was so ingrained in Cinder that it made her stand up, and be fixated with a task depending on the time of the day. Right now she had to go to work.
"Cinder?" Penelope asked on her strange behavior.
"I have to go to work." being courteous, at the very least, she turn to thank her again, "Thank you for the meal, but I have to go now."
The girl started to leave before she was pulled back at the wrist by Penelope.
"Wait!"
The force was barely noticeable, and the firm grip was gentle, but the aggressive grabbed from Anastasia left her with a bruise mark that still hurt. Her painful wince became apparent to Penelope and let go.
"You don't have to go to work...I'll give you money for the day." she did a weak smile.
It was a one that hoped Cinder would accept, but instead it irked her.
She stared her down with a scowl. "Look, all in all you're nice, but I don't want your charity, got it?"
Penelope uttered a nonsensical response.
She didn't want her new friend to toil for living anymore. After seeing her living conditions firsthand, and with that woman she calls her stepmother she just couldn't stand by and let her continue. And she couldn't offend Cinder by just giving her a living.
Then she thought of a way of rebranding the aid by offering something that was beneficial to her own endeavor too.
"No, well then...how about a job?"
Cinder gave her an odd look. "A job?"
"Yes! I mean affirmative, er, I mean that is correct."
Waving off the excited blunder with cough, "I want to employ you. Yesterday you seem enthusiastic about Dust. Well, we're two of a kind!"
"You see, I foresee my resolve being long and tasking. So you see, I need assistance, I need someone to hark and collate any notes upon discovery. And in turn not only would you get paid for your service, you will learn more about Dust and be in front of anything new."
Cinder pondered: it was something that she would like to dabble on. She knew zilch about Dust and was eager to learn more; the subject was daunting, but with Penelope's help along side her, the learning curve would be straightforward.
Seeing her pensively standing still Penelope took Cinder's hands and drew her near to add something else. "And if that isn't tantalizing enough, all three course meals are complimentary by yours truly. So how about it friend?"
The poor girl started to get uneasy at her closeness.
Penelope noticed it. "Eh? Boundary?"
"Y-yeah." Cinder confirmed.
Out in the distance, unbeknown to them, a trouble making little girl was heading for the meadow.
Theresa was a little imp who was always looking for the next interesting thing to come by this town. And it so happens that she was instantly attached to the fairy-girl who sought her out first. Penelope on her first day in Via went out to venture without her grandfather's permission, and on an abrupt blundering crash they met in the crossroads.
Penelope saw potential in her mischievousness and commissioned her as an courier of sorts to agitated a girl that honestly they both didn't know much about.
The little girl hopped log to log looking for the playmates in the meadow; unknown to her, she was being followed.
A couple of yards behind her three pairs of eyes were watching easy meals.
The group of brown bears were disturbed and awaken by the early bell. Famished after being cast out of their normal territory by a roaming mob of Beowolfs that encroached that week, they were driven towards the meadow after getting a whiff of warm, made meals among the cold mist.
They started moving slowly, jaws gaped with saliva, they were ready to eat.
Author's final Note: Bear are always bad news.
They may or not be a ship, but what is a good ship name for them? What name would The Blue Fairy and Cinderella inspire?
Anyway, Review if you would.