Moonrise

Chapter 9

Newleaf

"There's more to being king to getting your way all the time. A true king searches for not what he can take, but what he can give."

It was weeks before Goldenstar could leave the west wing. With Nimue gone to her master, the light one felt the full force of her many injuries and new disadvantages. She had started listening to her new beastly instincts and in the time between Yule and Imbolc hibernated in her rooms to recover from years of abuse and injury. She had been so busy surviving that she had never noticed how tired she really was or how much her body ached. She took that time to understand and learn how to take care of herself now that she would be disabled for eternity. She had learned how to change herself after many instances of poking herself with pins, letting out roaring swear words in a thick Scottish accent that would have gotten her caned in her former home. She learned that her appetite was ten times that of a normal human from the amount of energy needed to keep life on earth intact, and since she hadn't anything in her stomach for at least a week had to slowly introduce food back into her system despite how hungry she was. Her senses of smell, hearing, and eyesight were more sensitive now, and at times became overstimulated. There were things however that she'd never get used to.

Every time she slept, she relived those horrific memories. The nightmares were so real that she had to endure her violent life and death again and again. Her roaring yowling and squealing of fear tore through the dark castle rivaling the screams that used to come from the dungeons that once held Nimue's victims. She tore through several sheets with her claws as her mind showed all the events she tried to repress in waking hours. She hid it well, but she had to relearn how to live. Having lived all of her life in a hostile environment, there were certain things she had to unlearn and relearn. This castle was given to her by Nimue yet she was still apologizing for everything she did. The staff patiently reassured her that she wasn't about to be screamed at if she spilled her tea. She didn't have to fear her own staff. She could sleep for as long as she wanted and however much she wanted. She was woken up not by nasty words or the promise of a harsh day but by Mrs Potts' voice softly asking her if the mistress would like her breakfast in bed.

However horrific her injuries had been, inside and out, she hadn't forgotten her promise to her mother. She needed to learn magick. Nimue was right. She had a talent for it. One of the first spells she learned was how to lengthen her hair. Perhaps it wasn't important to being the light one but it was important to her. She needed to prove once and for all that she was no longer bound to the rules of her biological parents, her father especially. She was never going to cut it short again. She had learned that it was a means of control, by taking away one's beauty. From then on, she cut her hair for no one. Now that she was on her own, she also had to learn to support herself. She had always been talented in textile arts and spinning had been the one chore she never minded. It was also the means for many single women in the land to support themselves if they needed to. Goldenstar was much more brilliant than anyone had ever given her credit. She wondered if she could use Magick to improve spinning. She recalled how Nimue was able to turn ordinary objects into gold. It gave the daughter she had taken in an idea.

She thought of the most ordinary, common fiber in the land. Having lived on a farm, she remembered how straw was so common that it became a nuisance and how good hay turned to too much straw during bad weather. Just in the animal kingdom alone there was too much of it in the stables where the farm animals had come to reside. There was also plenty of dried grass in the Kilimanjaro, especially the Pridelands. One of the first things about magick that she studied was that it came from emotion, and for her to transform worthless scrub into gold she decided to use those horrible memories and transform them into something beautiful. As she threaded the straw into the wheel she focused on those memories and how she felt. She let her anger and grief flow through her, her fear and heartbreak fuel the fire. Within just a few turns of the wheel, she became the first person in the world to have the ability to spin straw into gold. She had a source of income, yet it also helped her forget what she had used. Instead of just crying over what happened to her(which she truly needed to do but with no one to listen, she had pushed it down) she was able to use her pain to support herself in this new life.

One day, she was finally well enough to leave the castle and her kingdom for an outing. Due to her existence as light one, it had been an early spring. Wherever she went, life followed. As she stepped outside into her kingdom, green sprouted through the dirt where her crutches had landed. She had changed greatly within such a short time. She felt more confidence. She now had a mane of fluffy auburn hair that with little imagination could be a lion's mane. Though the eye that held her scar was still clouded and always would be, her eyes were tired but clear for the first time. Her tail had also been finely combed and she wore her red, orange, green and gold tartan dress with pride. Looking at her now, overlooking her kingdom from pride rock, she truly had begun to look like a queen. The nappy she wore and the crutches she walked on had made no difference for that fact. In a mix between a roar and a yowl, she vocalized in a feline manner to say hello to her subjects, and to her they were still simply her friends. Sarabi walked up to her and rubbed against her sides before licking the imp's cheeks, making the girl giggle…a bit insanely from what she had been through.

Today was going to be another lesson for her, one that she never could learn under her father's iron fist. She was going to learn to have fun. Mrs. Potts, always a woman, or a teapot, who had spoken her mind had told her point blank that she needed to get out and enjoy herself, that her mother had fought so hard for her freedom, too hard to just imprison herself in the castle and inside the animal kingdom's borders. The animals resided so much further than that. Everything the light touched was her kingdom. Having spun more gold than she could have ever spent, she decided to have a go at it anyway. She had never had a decent thing for herself. Though Nimue couldn't be with her, she wanted her to be happy.

As she was leaving the kingdom, several of the baby animals that had recently been born ran up to her and tugged at her skirts, asking if she could take them into town with her. She laughed and cackled as a cheetah cub and wolf cub pounced on her chest and begged. "Please Queen Goldenstar! We'll be really good!" Sabor mewled. The wolf pups mother gently scolded. "Lucas! Be gentle! I am so sorry your majesty…" the imp giggled again, having lost control over herself mentally to the point of having a high pitched giggle every time she was amused. "It's alright, dearie." She paused, eyes widening when she realized that she had used the fond nickname that her adopted mother had given to her. For some reason it made her feel safe to do so. It had just slipped out, and perhaps it made her feel like Nimue wasn't enthralled but with her. A deer fawn trotted up to greet her as well as a lion cub, a baby rabbit kit and a skunk. "I'm prince Bambi of highlandherd! My papa says that one day when I prove I'm a big strong buck like him, I can join Goldenherd and become immortal! Can I pull a cart for you, your majesty?!" The deer fawn bleated. The lion cub padded up to Goldenstar, rubbing against her legs. "I'm Nala, my mother is Sarafina Goldenpride. Can I come too?!" Goldenstar had to turn her head to hide her tears of happiness. She was so used to people thinking the absolute worst of her. Having these young animals look up to her made her wounded heart throb.

As they set off together, she'd soon ran into one being in particular who had absolutely thought the worst of her. She was on her way into town when she spotted an older woman begging by the road. The woman begged for a trifle and looked rail thin, her voice cracked with age, pale blue eyes looking to the imp in desperation. "Please light one! I haven't eaten in days. I offer you a rose for your trouble. Please…" of course Goldenstar couldn't turn away. It was only months ago that she was desperate and hungry. If her father had thrown her out before she and Nimue met, it could have been her begging on that corner. Where was the so called church she used to belong to? Oh she knew just what they would do. They would tell that poor woman to pray and to give her suffering as an offering. Without a second thought, though fearful of most humans and for good reason, the imp carefully bent down on her crutches and placed an entire spool of gold in the old peddler's hands. With it appeared a basket of food. The older woman teared up with happiness as she gave Goldenstar the most beautiful red rose that the imp had ever seen. "For me?" Goldenstar wrapped the stem of the rose in a cloth so she could admire it.

The Blue fairy's voice spoke in disapproval from the air. "Light one, what do you think you are doing!?" That voice sent chills down the cat demon's injured spine. The imp didn't know why but her voice prickled something within her mind, echoed a memory her mind had scrambled from her violent death. After she had taken her mantle that judgmental fairy had made visits, making herself an authority of light magick and trying to give her advice and tell her what to do with her own powers. She was acting like her mother or governess, something that Goldenstar resented deeply. She never even took care of her or comfort her, only tried to offer her unwanted advice. And she couldn't remember why, but something about her made the new imp feel unsafe. She swore she could hear her grating voice in her dreams with the horrible last memory of her fathers shovel hitting her neck, a cold glare deep in her memories, and the confusing few words of "long live the Queen."

Either way, becoming much more confident because of the power she now held, no one was going to tell her what to do anymore. No one was ever going to hurt her again. She didn't have to take anyone's abuse anymore. Acting with much more courage than she ever had in life, her sarcastic thoughts that she had pushed down out of fear rose to the surface. There was nothing to fear now. "I'm helping. What does it look like I'm doing." She meowed snarkily. The blue fairy scowled at her, wings beating slowly and deliberately. "You shouldn't have interfered. You don't know if she's worthy of that gold. There are rules that must be followed. They go back generations. Light one or not." The she imp huffed, her young friends at her side and looking up at her in awe. She couldn't look weak in front of them. It was her job to protect them and in the animal world that meant showing that she would take nothing. A new feeling of loathing for the fairy filled her throat like bile, and she had had enough. "Well, now that I'm Queen, that'll be the first thing to go." Blue's dark eyes burned with cold. "Nice try, but you can't do that." The brave little lion cub Nala squealed up. "Well, she's the queen of magical creatures too." At that the she imp smirked. "So ya gotta do what I tell ya." She swatted at the blue fairy's fluttering form as the sprites face twisted in outraged. "Oh and with an attitude like that, you're sounding like you're going to be a pretty pathetic queen indeed! I do not concede, TAKA!"

The animals gasped, Lucas' eyes bugging out as he whimpered. The Blue fairy had just called their queen "garbage" in the language of the Kilimanjaro. It was a swear word to most animals, but cats especially, and lions most of all. "Did you hear what she said!?" The rabbit, named Thumper gasped. Goldenstar just looked like Blue had slapped her. In truth to be called that brought her right back to when her own biological mother used to call her the same thing before her father beat the living daylights out of her. She felt like sobbing right there. No. She was not going to let her have that satisfaction. Instead, a smirk crossed her face that showed her fang like teeth. "That's not the way I see it." Hopping up on her crutches, she lunged at the fairy and swatted her down to the ground. "I'm gonna be a mighty queen, so enemies beware!" She growled as she sang, grinning from ear to ear. Blue looked frightened but then huffed to cover her insecurity. "Well I've never seen a queen of beasts with quite so little hair." She was obviously digging at her past more, but the imp only grew more obnoxious.

"I'm gonna be the main event…" she purposely shook her head back and forth to show the new long fluffy hair she had conjured, singing obnoxiously just to see Blue get angrier, to entertain the young animals and to pacify her pen need to regress. "That no Queen was before." She put her hand on her chest. "I'm brushin' up on lookin' down, I'm working on my ROAAARRRR!" She let out a loud roar of a lion right in the fairy's face as the animals of the forest and the animal kingdom started to gather around them. The fairy was shaking in fear but still tried to show her confidence, going to full human size and brushing herself off. "Thus far a rather uninspiring thing…" she screamed when a nearby unicorn kicked her aside. "Oh I just can't wait to be queen!" Goldenstar sang through her translator as she hopped onto the back of a dragon before landing in front of the fairy. "No one saying 'do this'" Nala joined in, getting the fairy's attention while as Goldenstar stuck her tongue out at her and gave her the middle claw tipped finger behind her back, emboldened by her freedom. "No one saying 'be there'." Bambi chimed in. "No one saying 'stop that!'" Goldenstar giggled at the fairy's flabbergasted expression. "No one saying 'see here!'" "NOW SEE HERE!" The fairy screamed as an Elephant swatted at her with a trunk. "Free to run around all day…" a green cloud of smoke surrounded the she imp showed off her shapeshifting powers, becoming a cheetah with glittering golden fur and running alongside some of the cats that lived nearby. "Free to do it all my way!"

She bounded through the forest, with each leap becoming a different cat, a tiger, a cougar, a lioness, until she skidded to a halt in her impish form again in front of the fairy, who poked a finger into her chest. "I think it's time that you and I, have had a heart to heart!" The imp just smirked back at her, speaking and singing through her translator "Queens don't need advice from wee blue fairies for a start!" She turned away, flicking her tail at her. Blue growled in annoyance as she stomped in outrage towards her, wings buzzing angrily. "If this is what the balance has become, count me out! Out of service, out of misthaven, I wouldn't hang about! This child is getting wildly out of win…TAKA!!" "Oh I just can't wait to be queen!" She yowled back at her with a grin.

She was completely ignoring her, running along with her animal friends, wobbling on crutches like she was walking in all fours like they were. "Everybody look left!" All the animals of the forest stampeded left, tearing the fairy's dress asunder as she screamed in outrage. "Everybody look right!" Hooves and paws charged again, knocking the hot wind out of the confused fairy. The she imp strutted out into a sunbeam as she climbed up on the scaled back of a dragon. "Everywhere you look I'm standing in the spotlight!" "NOT YET!" The fairy snarled through a scowl.

The animals, in complete loyalty to their queen were forming circles around her, the dragons holding her up high, the grazers prancing around the elephants, the predators down to the domestic animals prancing around them and celebrating their queen in song. "Let every creature go for broke and sing! Let's hear it in the herd and on the wing!" Goldenstar's translated roar rang into a singing voice. "It's gonna be Queen 'TAKA''s finest fling! Oh I just can't wait to be Queen!" The animals sang along, the blue fairy fuming with rage. "Oh she just can't wait to be Queen!" "Oh I just can't wait to be QUEEN!" she sang out loud. She cast a defiant nearly Lokean smirk of defiance and then flew with the dragon, taking an entire sack of bags of gold and tossing them over the town, sending gold spools and coins like blessed rain over all the poorest slums in the village. The animals ran with their queen, following her and the dragon. She was riding back the animal kingdom, causing a large dust cloud and confusion as they trampled back home with her, leaving a dirty, muddied and furious looking fairy who was trapped under a large well fed Rhino who was taking her time getting back to the animal kingdom. "I beg your pardon madam but GET. OFF! Goldenstar! Get back here and get this beast!" She grumbled. "I hate that little scrap…"