Chapter Text
Annie was an innocent faun who never deserved the terrible things done to her. Growing up, her father had always wished she was more like her late-mother. But she would never grow up to be such a thing! Such a perfect, perfect thing! Her mother had porcelain skin, perfectly trimmed nails, and beautiful hair. No matter how hard Annie would try, her porcelain would crack, her nails would be bit, and her hair would be split. She could never be like her mother, especially in her father’s eyes.
It was time for dress-up she thought, putting on a dress her father picked out in special circumstance. It was the dress her mother wore on her wedding night. Annie hated weddings. More specifically, marriage. Marriage meant you were tied to a man for eternity. That you belonged to him, and that you’d soon be a mother, too. Soon your humanity would be ripped from you, your womanhood, and you would soon be a shell of a person.
Though despite this all, Annie wanted nothing more than to have a daughter. A little girl who she would raise with all the love and humility never given to her. Some would blame it on fatherhood–men couldn’t raise girls, but Annie blamed it on much more. Surely, if you can’t raise a daughter, you needn’t hurt her! But men don’t listen, and her voice wouldn’t be heard.
Running away was the right choice. Leaving it all behind. Annie sat alone in a small, busted shelter that one day in the past belonged to a hunter or perhaps a lumberjack. Spiderwebs filled the cracks and various woodland creatures snuck in and out of the holes in the walls. Annie didn’t mind this though–it was better than living the lie she was being forced to before. She sat on a wobbly oak chair, sipping out of her canteen and opening her bag, pulling out a small piece of bread and ripping a few pieces off. Here was safer than any place her father could offer her, or her “husband”, she thought. Noticing the ring on her finger, she pulled it off and shoved it in her bag. She could sell that later, she thought.
As the sun set, she pushed the wobbly chair and heavy oak table towards the door, ensuring it stayed shut during the night. It was a tactic she learned as a child; something that keeps intruders at bay, at least for one night. She curled up in the least-dusty corner of the single--room cabin and fell asleep.
In the night, she dreamt of wonderful things. She wandered through the woods and happened upon a beautiful waterfall, where she met a beautiful girl…..
The sound of the bird's song woke her from her comforting dream to the reality of her situation once more. A mouse stood across the room, looking at her cautiously, before hurrying out of the shack through a small hole in the wall. “How curious,” Annie spoke to herself, sitting up and observing the mouse, before dusting herself off. The air felt warm, and she would likely call this little shack home–at least for some time, and it was time to get to cleaning. She hopped up, moving the heavy table and wobbly chair from the front door, and swung it open, releasing an extraordinary amount of dust. Searching around the cabin, she found an old broom, which only halfway worked (but that was definitely better than nothing!), and got to work. Sweeping as much dust as she could, and batting out the cobwebs (but of course, relocating the spiders to a tree nearby–it was important to be a good neighbor!), after a few hours of work, she could possibly call this shack home. That is when she fills the holes in the walls…most were on the bottom of the walls, so maybe a few rocks should do the trick! She began to look around the shack for a few rocks to fill the gaps. It wasn’t that she didn’t like the little mouse friends, but she needed to ensure her new home was as safe as possible!
While wandering, she could hear the sound of running water. A lot of it. Following the sound, she soon approached a small waterfall tucked between a small rocky cliffside. Her eyes lit up in amazement, and without thinking, she hurried right into the lake below.
She splashed her face with the cold, crystalline water and let out a loud “aaah!” of relaxation, before sitting on the edge, taking off her shoes, and pulling up her skirt to soak her feet. The sun shone down on her face, warming it slightly, and the slight breeze cooled the sun’s rays. This was the perfect day. Her first day of freedom.
Unbeknownst to Annie, a pair of eyes watched her from across the forest. These eyes belonged to a girl around Annie’s age–but a girl from the fae. Emma Woods was a fairy that watched over this waterfall, ensuring it always had enough water for the wildlife to drink, enough shade cast by the cliffside to keep the water cool, and enough of her presence to ward off any men who may come to take it for themselves. This time was different, though. The person at the waterfall was no man, but instead, a beautiful young girl. Emma’s emerald eyes lit up in curiosity. She had seen plenty of humans–but never a woman, and never one as beautiful as the one basking in the sun’s glow before her.