Chapter Text
Princess Aurora was quickly approaching her 16th birthday, for most people this occurrence called for celebration. In a time period with so much disease and poverty, another birthday was quite an achievement.
But for Aurora what turning 16 meant to her was marriage, entrapment, and unhappiness. By the age of 14 a girl of noble blood was normally already married off but Aurora pleaded with her father to wait until she was 16 to execute her betrothal. The death of her mother had hit him off balance enough to agree at the time, afterwards he would still often push her to marry but continued to make good on the promise.
Now 15 years and several months old Aurora started to feel her impending marriage, to a prince named Phillip whom she'd never even met, weigh heavily on her being. She was usually very cautious and abided by rules set forth for her, but tonight she could not bear to stay in her prison like "home" any longer. She pulled a pastel green hooded cloak over a cotton dress and crept through the corridors.
By some blessing she was able to sneak by the knights who guarded practically every nook and cranny of the castle; well, a blessing and the fact that most of them were half asleep helped.
As she left the castle behind she began to run, in no particular direction, as long as it was away from that dreadful place.
The night air was crisp and new, the sky was an assortment of purples and dark blues and tiny white stars sparkled beyond the horizon. It was the most freeing sight Aurora could imagine, and it was all real.
Eventually tiring herself out she slowed her pace to a stroll, passing through a large field, past the tiny huts where the peasants dwelled and into a sparsely wooded area that opened to another grassy field. She turned around seeing the castle far off in the distance and smiled contentedly.
As she walked farther she came upon what seemed to be a thick forest that was bordered by impossibly large stones. They stirred up a memory from her childhood, when Stefan would tell her of a forbidden place at the edge of their kingdom supposedly home to the most hideous and cruel beasts. They crawled out from filthy swamps, grew right from the ground, some could even fly.
While working through her thoughts she had absent-mindedly walked right up to a space between two stones marking the end of her land and the start of another's.
Imagining what was just beyond, she decided it best to find somewhere else to hide from life. As she turned she saw a figure and froze. It was too dark to make out any facial features from this far away. The creature appeared human but seemed to have something large on it's back and horns twisted out from it's head. The object on it's back stretched out to each side,
Wings.
Aurora's eyes widened as she watched it move. It started walking, not towards her but to her left, which prompted her to move right. Soon she and the creature had switched places, the creature's back facing it's realm and Aurora her's. She could have easily left at this point but was too curious to look away.
"What have you come for?" It suddenly spoke to her. It was revealed to be a she. Her voice was smooth yet strong and only further intrigued the girl.
Aurora thought for a moment, she hadn't come here for any reason actually.
"I've been wandering the night to escape my kingdom. I wish not to trespass," Aurora told the truth without too much detail.
"Very well. Why do you stay then?" The winged girl asked and a hint of annoyance could be heard in her voice.
"Um..I-well, I'm not entirely sure." Aurora's words fumbled out.
The creature's throaty laugh drifted through the night to Aurora's ears, the sound causing her heart to skip a beat.
"Are you not fully grown? The only humans I've seen were far larger than you. Are you just short?"
Aurora's face scrunched in shock, "I am not short! I'm a perfectly normal height for my age." She crossed her arms and attempted to stare down the other's shadowy figure.
The other bowed her head in apology before continuing her interrogation.
"Do you know of my home and what it holds?" She asked, still suspicious for all humans that tried to enter only did so for precious jewels or an attempt to gain territory.
Aurora was unsure if she should say what she knew but decided to do so anyway, "My father used to tell me stories of monsters and swamps, that is the extent of my knowledge."
She squinted trying to improve her vision. "I hope this does not offend you." She finished.
The winged girl gave an entertained sounding "Oh dear," and lifted off the ground and landed directly in front of Aurora. It was still not easy to see but she finally got a good look at her new acquaintance.
She was not so much a girl as a young woman, a few inches taller and likely a bit older than Aurora herself.
She had lustrous green eyes that were flecked with glowing gold, a perfect nose and full ruby lips. Her cheekbones came to rounded points and her head of thick cocoa-colored hair stopped just below her shoulders.
Beyond her human features Aurora took notice of the curved dark horns that sprouted from beneath her hair and elegant wings that now rested behind her.
She was simply blown away by her beauty. She had expected a witch to step forth from the night but was instead greeted by an angel.
Aurora hadn't realized she was essentially ogling her, mouth slightly agape, until the exquisite young woman lightly tapped below her chin with two fingers and raised an eyebrow.
Aurora snapped her jaw shut and turned her attention to the ground. She soon saw a porcelain hand thrust into her line of vision and heard, "My name is Maleficent."
She swallowed before raising her head and shaking the hand, "I'm Aurora," she said in a small voice.
Although Maleficent's instincts were screaming for her to distrust Aurora as she did the rest of her species, something else gave her the valor to maintain her gentle hold on the human girl's warm hand and ask,
"Would you like to see the Moors?"