"Stay here and finish up those potions for me. I'll be back in a few hours."
"Yes Mother." Mirabella stated with a nod as she watched her mother put on her black cloak, walking with the older woman to the door. She herself knew when her mother said it would be a few hours, that really meant she would be back after night fall. When her mother went on her outings outside of the barrier it was always like that. What her mother was doing while out there in the woods was a mystery to even Mira herself, but knowing her mother, it was probably her reeking some form of havoc on the humans. Sometimes she wondered if her mother lived only to trouble the non-magic wielders, but she never thought too long on it. What she did think of was how it might be to go out of the barrier as well and see the world beyond their small little bubble.
Her mother turned the knob and was about to step outside of their small cottage when she turned sharply, a stern look on the Witch's face,
"And Mira,"
"Yes Mother?" The girl questioned obediently as she could, bringing her mind away from her thoughts of freedom and back to the woman in front of her.
"Do not leave the barrier. Do I make myself clear? Those humans out there are--"
"'Mean and vile. They wouldn't hesitate to slaughter an innocent spell-caster or sell them off to the highest bidder in market.' I know Mother, I know, I know." She commented softly, having heard the same warning every day for the last ten years of her life, ever since she had wandered outside of the barrier for the first time. It was a moment etched into her mind and always left a knot in her chest. Those human children had seemed so kind to her. They had let her join in and play with them. But the moment they found out she could do magic...they tore her apart and though the physical wounds had healed, the mental ones had left scars.
"Very good. Remember Mirabella, no matter how kind those beasts may seem, they will always hate us. Never. Trust. A human." This warning was one of many, and after her mother had spoken it softly to her, kissing her forehead, the woman went off, cape flowing behind her as she left the home and passed through the barrier just a mere thirty feet in front of their home, heading off into the darkness of the woods.
"What's out there that keeps her leaving all the time? What is she searching for?" Mira whispered quietly to herself a she stared out into the woods a few more moments, before slowly turning and walking back inside beginning the work her mother had given her. She was to make some simple potions and though it was a very complicated task, because she did this almost every day, it was something she had come to do with ease and great skill. Humming softly to herself, she began taking things off of the shelves and throwing each things at a time, in a certain order, into the calderon that stood in the middle of her mother's study.
She repeated this with every potion, and by noon she had done all of the potions her mother had told her to, leaving her free for the rest of the day until her mother was to return. Smiling slightly, she moved to her bed and, kneeling down she removed a small loose floor board from under it, pulling out a small stack of books. She layed them out on the bed in front of her and, tilting her head to the side, she was thoughtful for a moment, before deciding which one she wanted to read for the day, picking a book entitled Sleeping Beauty from the group of fairy tales.
These books were written by two men named the Grimm Brothers, who traveled from kingdom to kingdom, finding stories to write about. Most of those her mother had were the stories based on what Mira was sure had to be the rulers real kingdoms, some even being those of the surrounding kingdoms. There were other stories as well, just like the one she held in her delicate hands, that were of more far off lands.
Holding the book close to her, she walked outside and rounded a corner when a creature about the size of a very large horse jumped in front of her, giving a roar that didn't even make her flinch. In fact, if anything, the girl had quite a bored look on her face,
"Girunii, go bother someone else. I'm busy."
Hearing her disinterest in him, her mother's pet dragon(whom she kept as extra protection for the cottage), snorted and made a grumbling sound, slinking off around another corner to go to the other side of the cottage and likely catch mice or tease the birds by chasing them off.
Shaking her head at the beast, she laughed under breath and flopped down in the grass under a large oak tree, smiling brightly to herself as she flipped open the book,
"Once upon a time, in a beautiful kingdom, there lived a king and queen, of whom were blessed with a daughter. Everyone gathered to see the new princess, including three fairies. These good fairies were to each bestow a gift upon the child. One granted her beauty. Another granted her the sweetest voice one could hear. But, before the last fairy could grant her wish, an evil woman with dark magic...." Even though she had read this story countless times, Mira always paused at this part, a frown forming deeply on her face,
"Cast a spell upon the child. On the princess's eighteenth birthday, she would prick her finger on a spinning wheel and die."
By now, the dragon had made his way over to her once more, laying down beside her to look at the book as well. Mira scratched his head and looked up at him,
"That wasn't nice of her to do, was it Girunii?" The dragon grumbled again as if to share his thoughts, making her laugh and continue reading,
"The evil woman vanished soon after casting the spell and the third fairy gave the princess a gift that would save the child's life if the curse were to be fulfilled. She decreed that should the princess prick her finger, she would not die, but fall into a deep sleep."She began flipping through the pages more, trying to skip to the end,
"The princess is sent away....she meets the prince in the forest.....falls in love...blah, blah, blah....she gets sent back home to the castle, where she of course pricks her finger." Rolling her eyes she grinned,
"Didn't see that coming. Curses are so unpredictable. Not." Finally coming to the end she started reading again,
"The prince sat upon his white steed, sword held high as the evil woman shifted into a mighty dragon." She looked over at Girunii, who stood up tall and proud hearing this, giving a roar, causing Mira to laugh more and roll onto her back, continuing to read,
"The dragon spit flame after flame out at the prince, but the prince was too quick. He lunged forward and...." She paused once again a deep frown coming back to her face,
"he killed the witch, putting an end to her dark magic."
Sighing and not having the heart to read the rest, she shut the book and tossed it to the side, looking up to the clouds as she spoke to herself,
"Why does the witch always have to be seen as evil? What if it was all a misunderstanding? And why does she always have to die? Why can't just for once, the witch get the prince have the happy ending?" She whispered to herself, turning over on her stomach to stare out into the woods,
"Once upon a time....there lived a lonely witch. This witch, was not like what those read about in normal fairytales, for she wanted a life beyond the boundaries that had been placed before her. She wanted to be a good person, yet knew she would never be accepted by humans, and because of this, hid herself away, waiting for the day she might be able to live a life away from the destiny that lays before every other witch. The day she would be accepted...and have her happily ever after..." Sighing again, she moved to stand,
"Which will never happen. Only humans live happy lives and only prince's and princess's get happily ever afters."
Trying to shrug it off the best she could, she patted the large dragon's side and shrugged,
"I'm going to go inside and maybe organize some of Mother's spell-books. I'm sure she would want--"
"Meeeeeow."
Blinking in surprise at the sound of a meow, she looked around, trying to find the source and from beyond the barrier, stood a small black cat with yellow eyes, staring straight at her. It just stood there, waiting, and finally, curious, Mira slowly approached the barrier, though didn't go past it at first, merely kneeling down to look at it from the other side. It was only then that she noticed a black piece of parchment under its paw in the grass, almost like the animal had brought it to her.
Pausing slightly, she was about to reach out and grab it through the barrier, when the animal took it into its mouth, jumping through to their side of the barrier, putting Mira into a little bit of a shock. The only things that could cross the barrier were those that bore magic. That meant either this animal was magical or was made of magic. Or maybe both. But whatever it was, Mira just had to see what was on that peculiar note it carried. And so, she took it from its mouth, reading.
You are one of nine chosen to receive this letter. You were chosen because you wish for something with a great desire. So I shall grant your wish. Into the Woods you must travel, to the Tree of Truth. There you will find me and if you follow my commands, you shall have your wish granted.
The letter was not signed, and right after she had read it, the white words on the paper suddenly began to fade until she was left with a blank piece of black parchment. She held the paper tightly in her hands, slowly looking up to see past the barrier, an uneasy look on her face,
"Into the Woods?"She looked back down at the blank letter, and then at the cat that looked at her with such expecting eyes,
"Someone there will grant my wish?" The cat meowed, as if to answer her, and she looked to the woods, slowly stepped forward,
"I can have my wish?" She said slowly to herself, letting it sink in before she began to smile again, and this time, it was a hopeful smile,
"I can have my wish!"
Rushing into the cottage again, she grabbed one of her mother's black cloaks, slipping it on and putting the hood over her head, as well as grabbing a satchel and placing things such as food and a canteen for water in it, before she rushed back outside,
"Girunii, protect the cottage while I'm gone! I'll be back soon!" She stated and went to the barrier, pausing to take in what she was about to do. She was about to leave the safety of her home. Nothing would protect her from the humans out there. She was all on her own in this little adventure of her. She took a deep calming breath before taking her first step out of the barrier and into the woods. Seeing she was ready, the little cat began running a little a head of her,
"I guess I follow you then?" And though the cat didn't answer, she knew that was what she was supposed to do and began following the cat hurriedly, attempting to try and keep up.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rannon commented, patting the brown mare on the side as he stood in the middle of the stables, horse shoe and hammer in hand, ready to nail the shoe to the bottoms of the female horse's hooves. He grabbed a stool from off to the side and sat down, patting her leg and having her lift it so he could place it in his lap and secure the shoe on comfortably. He repeated this with each hoof and when he was finally done getting them all on, grinned at the horse, holding out his hand, letting the animal eat the few sugar cubes he had for her.
Once he was done getting the shoes on, he made his way over to where they kept all the riding supplies, picking everything he needed in his arms, throwing the reins over his shoulder, walking back over, placing the saddle on, fastening it, before he went to putting the reins and such on her as well, the horse getting quite fussy about this, stomping her hooves and tossing her head, and all together just giving Rannon trouble. But, the young man had been doing this kind of thing for years and was used to horses that happened to have temperaments. He stayed calm with the mare, and every time she was took a break in between throwing her head he would fasten one or two things.
After a while, he had her all ready and smirked at her, patted her snout,
"See? That wasn't so bad, was it?" The horse though seemed to disagree, snorting in his face, causing him to laugh and rake a hand through his dark hair, shifting his weight,
"Okay, well, that's your opinion. I think you're just being silly and trying to give me a hard time." If looks could kill, Rannon should would be dead. He loved horses and he knew normally the horses were awfully fond of him. It was only when those high class snoods were about to ride the horses that the gentle creatures would get anxious.
Sighing, he shook his head and began brushing her,
"I know, girl. I don't like those inexperienced rag dolls riding you and the others either. But it's not my place to say anything." Once he had her finished, he did the same with two other horses and as soon as he finished with that third horse, three obviously high class people, an older couple and their daughter, came strutting down in their fancy garb, complaining all the while how the stables stunk (as if they expected a place where animals lived to smell like roses. and in reality the stables smelt better than most in the town because Rannon worked so hard to keep them that way), about how hot it was outside, and as though he couldn't hear him, about Rannon himself. Putting him down as if he were nothing but a dog at their disposal.
When they walked into the main area of the stable, the daughter spoke up, getting angry about the horse that was suited up for her to ride.
"I don't like this one! I want the white one!"
Standing up straight, Rannon spoke,
"Blizzard is still injured from your last ride on him. He wouldn't be able to make the trip."
"Yes he would! Get me my horse! NOW!"
He stepped forward a little, trying his best to stay calm with the woman,
"Mam, if you take him out, an accident could happen and he could--"
The woman, even before he finished speaking, was unnecessarily angered by his words, and drew a hand back before bringing it forward to make contact wit his cheek, the smack sounding off loudly,
"Are you calling me clumsily! You have better be lucky my father doesn't hold your pay for even suggesting such a thing, you filthy rat! Now get me my horse!"
Though Rannon hated the thought of the white horse getting hurt more because of the incompetence of the woman, he knew with the horse not being his that his hands were tied and he had no choice but to suit that horse up instead, her jaw clenched the whole time. When he was done, he silently boiled as he walked the horse up to the woman and stepped back to allow her room to mount the animal.
Only, when she did, the horse immediately bucked throwing her off with a shriek, the woman landing in a unfortunate pile of....well....needless to say it was a rather smelly and disgusting place to land. Now it was the woman's turn to boil as she screamed out in anger, rushing toward the house, and seeing such a sight, Rannon couldn't help but muffle a chuckle. That chuckle though, of course angered the young woman's father more and he turned his rath on the young man,
"You think that was funny?!"
Straightening again, Rannon spoke up, shaking his head,
"No sir, I didn't think--"
"Don't you dare lie to me boy! You thought it was! In fact, I have a feeling you even planned this!"
"What?" Rannon asked in surprise, now finally getting angry,
"What makes you think I would do such a thing? Your daughter was the one who prodded an injured horse to do what it didn't want to! And she got what she deserved for it!"
"You shall pay for suggesting such a thing! You are fired! You better have be off of out property in one hours time! And you can forget about your pay for the month as well!" With that, the old man and his wife left the stables.
The angered and very much annoyed Rannon made his way to the small shack at the end of the property he stayed in, being quick to gather his things, not because the man said he only had an hour, but because he wanted to get out of here before he knocked the ignorant fool's head off. Stuffing everything he owned, which wasn't much aside from some clothes and the pay he had been saving up from his years of working there, and started walking, planning to leave as soon as possible when he paused, a crazy, yet satisfying idea coming to his head.
Hurrying back to the stables, he looked around, grinning when he saw Thunder. Thunder was a large black horse, which he had often used to run to market for the family, but now, he was taking the horse as his own. If they didn't want to pay him for his month's worth of work, then he would take what he felt would suffice for the lack of pay and all the years of being grossly underpaid and abused for the good work he did.
Gearing up the horse, he laughed as he took off, heading to the market first. There, he grabbed a few things; some apples for the horse, loafs of bread to eat, a canteen to put water in for his trip, and a coat, as winter was rolling in and the weather would surely be his greatest enemy. Once he had everything he needed, he turned his horse, heading down the road. He traveled for quite some time silently, hours passing, until he saw a stream on the side of the road and decided it would be good for he and horse to take a quick rest. So, hopping down, he lead the horse to the stream and let it drink, filling up his own canteen. Once it was filled, he knelled down, splashing his face with the water, when he saw something from the corner of his eyes.
Over beside him, sitting on a rock was a lizard about the size of his hand and curled in his tail, was a strange black piece of paper. Curious, he moved toward it, expecting it to run, when it calmly stayed there, only moving to let the paper drop and roll toward him. Picking the parchment up, he read it over, raising an eyebrow at the message,
You are one of nine chosen to receive this letter. You were chosen because you wish for something with a great desire. So I shall grant your wish. Into the Woods you must travel, to the Tree of Truth. There you will find me and if you follow my commands, you shall have your wish granted.
The message disappeared right before his green eyes and he looked back up, picking up the lizard to look at it When he did, it moved its tail, as if pointing in a certain direction, toward the woods. He looked between the lizard and the woods, before a wide, yet rather charming grin came onto his face,
"Well, Thunder, " He said patting this horse's side,
"I guess we're taking our trip through the woods now." Giving a happy laugh, he hopped onto the horse, and they took off, dashing through the trees.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Magic.
Oh how things were so different without it. Even though it had been over 17 years they had been powerless, Ashton still remembered so clearly the feeling of magic coursing through his veins. The feeling that with his magic he could do almost anything and help just about anyone. Just like his mother had did with so many people, one of those even being the current queen of a far off kingdom. They still associated with Queen Cinderella from time to time, but after the magic went away, he and his mother had moved far off from where they used to live, so that none of the witches could easily find out where they were when they couldn't defend themselves. Besides, with their good magic gone, there really wasn't much reason for the fairies or other magical creatures to enter into the kingdoms, unless you were a witch wanting to cause trouble that is.
Those cursed witches. He hated them with a strong passion and he had no doubt in his mind that their kind was the cause of all the good magic disappearing. And even more so he wouldn't be surprised if one of those evil being were behind the disappearance of the infant princes and princesses. It made him sick to know that someone could be so cruel as to snatch such young humans from their cribs and take them away from their parents. He could only hope whoever did that didn't kill the poor things.
It was a shame, that no one knew what had become of the five heirs to the countries surrounding the forest. They had searched and searched, Aston himself even joining in a few of the searches when he got old enough to look, but nothing ever turned up. No signs at all that the children were alive. No signs that they were dead either. But honestly, what would have been worse for their parents and the people worried about them? Knowing that the children had been killed? Or not knowing what had happened to them at all? He wasn't sure, but either way, he felt for the children and their families.
Sighing, he walked from his room, a small book in his hands that held much information about different sorts of magic creatures that he had fashioned together during his studies with his mother. Flipping to the next page of his reading, he spoke to his mother while never looking away from the pages,
"I'm going out to get some more parchment for my writing, mother. Is there anything you need me to get while I'm gone?"
"No dear. I don't need anything at this moment." His mother, white hair and all, sat in a chair by the fireplace, sewing something. He had no idea what it was she was making, but with how often she did sew it would become a bother for him to ask about everything single thing. After magic had been taken away, his mother had went on to learn other trades to occupy her time, trades only humans really knew, such as sewing and painting. It was all any of them could do now without their magic.
Nodding, he finally looked up from his book and place it into his pocket to walk over and give his mother a hug, grinning down at the old woman,
"Alright. I don't know how long I'll be gone this time, but don't worry. I'll be back before you know it." With that, he turned and walked out of their small cottage home, hoping to get to the nearest village by night fall. Not being a human, they didn't live in human villages, yet didn't live in the middle of the forest either like a lot of other magical creatures did. No, they lived in a large grassy plain, far away from both human kind and other magic wielders. It was quiet. It was safe. And it was home.
The only problem was the long walk to get to the closest human village and its market. Normally he and his mother grew their own food or got it from the nearby forest, which was closer, but when it came to things such as parchment and other everyday supplies, most of the time they had to retrieve it from the humans. So, that's what he planned on doing right now.
That is, it
was what he planned to do, until something strange happened.
As he walked along the road, intent on getting to that village as soon as possible, an owl (strange that such a creature would be out and about with the sun still up in the sky) landed in the middle of the road, causing him to stop and look at it in confusion. Just what was an animal like that doing here? Well, perhaps it would just fly off once he got close enough. No need to worry over such a encounter. Yet, as he got closer, it make no move to leave and in fact just stared at him, something rolled up in its talon.
Confused, the young man approached the bird, slowly crouching down to look at it a moment. It didn't seem afraid of him, nor did it seem like it was going to attack him either. Looking down to see the thing in its talons was a letter of sorts, he curiously took it. So, was this a messenger owl? Possibly from the way it had brought this thing for him to read. Unrolling the paper, he began reading it, curiosity coming to his eyes,
You are one of nine chosen to receive this letter. You were chosen because you wish for something with a great desire. So I shall grant your wish. Into the Woods you must travel, to the Tree of Truth. There you will find me and if you follow my commands, you shall have your wish granted.
His wish to bring back the good magic? Is that what it was talking about? He sure hope that's what this meant. If not he was going to be sorely disappointed if he really did make it to that tree. He read over the paper a few more times before nodding to himself,
"Hmmm, interesting." Rolling up the parchment, he stuck it into his waist band to hold it before looking back to the owl,
"So big guy. Are you going to join me in the forest as well?"
With that question, the owl gave a small screech noise, hopping onto the male's shoulder as the young man turned his direction, now heading into the woods.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Come on Rapilia. Just one night out? We can go horse back riding and--"
"First of all, its Rapalia. And second of all, no. I will not go out with you tonight. Nor any other night for that matter. So just leave me alone or else I will have my father after you." With that, the young blonde girl walked away from the young man trying to win her over. She was so over men trying to hit on her and trying to win her heart over. Some girls had ropes binding their hearts. Well, Ali had chains around hers, along with a few locks for extra measure. No one was getting into her heart again. Not after finding out the way
he truly was.
She had loved him. He had become everything to her and she had thought the feelings had been mutual. Just how many girls had he told the same things to? How many girls he courted? Kissing their hands and whispering sweet words to? It made her sick just thinking about it. She had been betrayed, thrown to the side and then laughed at by him for the fact she had believed his lies and had cared about him so.
Never again. If someone who had seemed to love her so much had betrayed her and made her feel like this, then she obviously couldn't trust any other man out there. That four letter word they might try to use on her. The one that would have any other girl swooning and falling into the man's arms, it didn't exist. Love was for fools. It was just a tool those men could use to get what they wanted and that was that. Once they had tricked the woman into thinking what they said was true, they would get bored, dump her to the side, and go after another woman. And she surely wasn't about to let that happen to her twice.
Sighing, she walked into her home and smiled as she greeted her mother in the ktichen, the older woman stirring a pot of stew,
"Hello mother." She kissed the woman's cheek and the woman smiled back at her,
"Evening sweet heart. Could you pass me the salt please?" Nodding, Rapalia grabbed it and walked over, sprinkling some of it into the food as her mother continued to speak to her, "How was your trip to the market? Did you get the apples?"
Ali nodded,
"Yes mam. I got the apples. The trip itself was....frustrating."
"How so, dear?"
The woman looked up at her and Ali sat down in the chair beside her mother with a sigh,
"One of the men, you know, the Bakerman's son, was trying to court me again. He and all the others in this village just won't give it up."
Sighing herself, her mother hugged her, placing a gentle kiss on the girl's forehead,
"Men can be such cats when it comes to women. Always chasing and not giving up when the mouse says no."
"Mom, don't compare me to a mouse. That's just weird."
She laughed softly and nodded,
"Well, you know what I mean.If you have to, take a Jasper along." Jasper was their dog who, while old, hated strangers, especially men, always growling and such. No one would dare try to get near Rapalia with him around.
"I suppose I might have to. Those beasts just won't give up." Standing up, Ali brushed a strand of her hair back,
"I'm going to my room to read for a bit before dinner." Once her mother gave her a nod, the young woman went to her room and sat down on her window sill, reading when she could have sworn she saw something outside. Looking up, she gasped when she saw there was a fox outside. They couldn't have foxes here on their land! Those things would eat their family's chickens.
Finding it quicker to open up her window and climb out of it, the young woman rushed up to the fox, thinking she would scare it off like she normally did when those things came around, but the fox, strangely, was not attacking the chickens and just sat there, its fluffy tail curled around itself, blinking up at her as if she were some crazy person. More so, between its tail and its body as a rolled up piece of parchment. When she seemed hesitant to get it, the animal uncurled its tail and nudged the thing forward toward her.
Carefully, Ali knelt to take the letter, unrolling it and reading it.
You are one of nine chosen to receive this letter. You were chosen because you wish for something with a great desire. So I shall grant your wish. Into the Woods you must travel, to the Tree of Truth. There you will find me and if you follow my commands, you shall have your wish granted.
"What?" She asked in confusion, looking up at the fox,
"So, something at this weird tree is supposed to grant wishes?" What did she want as a wish? Hmmmm, well, thinking back to her own personal experiences, her wish would have been to tell when people were lying to her all the time. That would make her life so much easier. But, was it worth the trip to the woods for such a thing. After a moment of thinking she nodded, deciding it was,
"Alright. I'll go. But....I want to tell my mother first. I don't want her worrying about me."
With that, she walked inside of the house, having the fox stay outside, hidden away. Surely if her mother saw it she would have a fit seeing the animal on her land. But she did carry the black parchment, letters long since disappeared, in her hands as she walked back in. Sitting her down and speaking with her, the woman was clearly worried and upset that she would be leaving so suddenly, but her mother understood. She was seventeen now and thus almost grown. One thing she loved about her mother was that she always understood her and supported her in anything she wished to do. And this was just one of those times.
Her mother packed her enough food to last her a long while and brought her a knife in which the blade would flip out when she needed it, though otherwise was hidden. She at first was hesitant to take it, but her mother insisted, saying one would never know when such a thing might come in handy. And so, she took the things she needed and after an emotional goodbye and promise to return, Ali set off, heading into the woods.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The mocking from his cousins seemed to never stop. It seemed like everywhere he went there was something he would try to fix and it would turn out that his father was the one who broke it. It was a horrible feeling. Of everywhere you go, people hate you because the assume you're like your parents.
That's how Hendrick felt. No matter how hard he tried or how much he pushed himself to be better, it seemed like no one cared. People thought that he would amount to the same things his father did. If he would have been the son of a king who slain the dragon and saved the village, people would look at him like he was the hero even though he didn't do anything. But because his father had a skill at hurting everything and everyone, Hendrick himself was known to ruin things.
And it was times like this that he got defensive about it.
"I will never turn out like my father. I'm better than him. I will be better than him." Hendrick pushed his cousin away from him and stormed off towards the castle. He was forced to stay with his cousins right now since his father was probably away ruining more things for him. He sighed as he finally made it to his bed and decided what he would do.
He had to start somewhere, and why not where most of this started: Arendelle. This was the place that his father had tried to take over and nearly killed a princess and queen while doing so. So, he decided he would go there and make up for it. The journey would long though since he'd probably travel on foot and boat, but who knew what would happen along the way.
Hendrick wasted no time as he packed a few pairs of clothes, a thick coat, some food and something to pack water in, and even some snow boots. Before noon he was gone, without even bothering to tell anyone where he was going. It's not like it mattered. They would have just assumed he was going to ruin something and follow in his father's footsteps, but that was the opposite of what he was going to do.
With a sigh he began walking through the grassy lands when he heard something behind him. He turned and was face to face with the large black horse. It stood with its eyes narrow and his head down, sticking straight out towards Hendrick. His first instinct was to shift his arms and smack the creature, which didn't work out well when the horse bit his hand.
Hendrick shrieked as he held his hand close to his chest and backed away from the horse. He could have sworn he had seen the horse roll his eyes as an envelope dropped from the horses mouth and in between Hendricks feet. Cautiously Hendrick picked it up and read it.
You are one of nine chosen few to receive this letter. You were chosen because you wish for something with a great desire. So I shall grant your wish. Into the Woods you must travel, to the Tree of Truth. There you will find me and if you follow my commands, you shall have your wish granted.
Hendrick smiled as he read the letter, but frowned once again as he looked up and the horse had its forehead pressed against him.
"Do I have to go with you? Well this is going to be a painful journey... But if I get my wish in the end, I guess I'll survive."
Hendrick sighed in frustration and felt the horse push Hendricks back towards the forest. He sighed and pushed the horse away from him before the horse tried to bite him again. He grumbled in frustration, knowing that this was how it would be for the rest of the trip as they walked into the woods.
