Work Text:
Once upon a time, there was a girl made of paper.
She was beautiful and smart and kind, she was the most precious little girl in the world.
Precious little girls had to be protected, especially her, who was oh so fragile. She could never leave the house when it rained, never swim in the lake in summer, never play in the snow in winter, or she would get wet. She would sit at the window and watch the other children, laughing, playing, without her. All she wanted was to play in the snow too.
Although she had to stay in the house so much, the paper girl was not lonely. She had a sister made of cardboard, and a friend made of wire. The wire child loved to play pranks on the paper girl, but her sister would always protect her when they went too far. Sometimes, the sister took the two friends on forbidden adventures. The paper girl knew she should stay at home, the adventures were far too dangerous for a fragile little girl like her. But she liked the danger, the thrill of doing something forbidden, of not being sheltered for once.
The paper girl lived a perfect life, she was perfect, she was safe.
Until one day, her sister disappeared.
The paper girl's parents wanted to keep their remaining daughter safe, and so they kept her locked away in her home, hardly ever allowing her to go out on her own.
Her wire friend stopped visiting her, they still met in school, but over time, it felt less and less like friendship.
The paper girl became very lonely.
Years passed by, and the paper girl grew, and life continued. She had made a new friend, a bluebird who wanted to be smart. She liked him very much, but somehow, she still felt lonely.
Recently, her worries had grown: The paper girl had fallen in love with a fearsome dragon. Oh, why did she have to love danger so much? She knew that they could never be together, the dragon's fire would burn her, but she could not free her heart from the bindings of love.
Strange and sad was the life of the paper girl. But she was safe. The precious girl was safe, and that was all that mattered.
One day, the paper girl found herself in a strange dream.
She did not remember falling asleep nor even going to bed, but what she saw was too absurd to be from the waking world.
She wandered a city of bright lights and horrible creatures, full of smiling merchants and terrified citizens. She had dreamt this dream with her bluebird friend, but she had lost sight of him in the crowded streets. The girl was scared, the girl was lost, and all she knew was that the queen of this place was trying to capture and enslave her.
The girl was lost, the girl was scared, but she had also hope. Because the dragon, too, was in this dream. She had caught a brief glimpse of her, she knew that she was going to come and rescue the paper girl.
But until then, the paper girl had to keep moving.
She had wandered for what felt like hours by now, she did not know where she was, she did not know when she would wake up from this dream, she was not even sure any more that she was the one who was dreaming it. Suddenly, there were footsteps behind her, and the paper girl turned around to see her old childhood friend. They looked different, less dirty and more heroic, and there was something inside the cage of wires that the paper girl could not quite recognise. Something small. Something red.
“Do you know where we are?” the paper girl asked.
“I do” said the wire child.
“Do you know how to get out of here?” the paper girl asked.
“I might” said the wire child. “I have dreamt this dream before, I know the ways of this world, and I can teach them to you. I can make you stronger.” They took the paper girl's hand and and held it up to her face. “Do you see that ring?” The paper girl did see the ring indeed. It was made of silver and had a little crystal in the shape of a snowflake. It was very pretty and fit her finger so well that she had not even noticed that she was wearing it. “In this dream, this ring will allow you to cast spells. Any spell. If you just follow me, if you do everything I say, I can teach you to defend yourself. I can teach you defeat all your enemies. I can teach you to make it snow.”
The paper girl's eyes grew large and round with wonder and surprise. The promise of magic and snow made her forget all caution. After all, it was just a dream.
The wire child led the way, and though they were going in the wrong direction, the paper girl followed.
They had barely made ten steps from where they stood when they were ambushed by a horrible creature that smelled like illness and death. The paper girl screamed in fear, but the wire child remained eerily calm. They raised their shield and shouted a command to the paper girl.
ICE SHOCK
Her hand raised on its own, or maybe the ring pulled it there, and a chill spread through her body.
The creature did not scream, it had no time to, before it was covered in ice.
“What did just happen?”, the girl asked with dread and surprise.
“You became stronger”, her friend answered. “But you are nowhere close to strong enough. Come on, we still have a long way to go.”
They wandered for a while, the towers of the city shrunk to houses and then to ruins, the blinding lights grew dimmer until the shadows were brighter. They got into fights frequently, almost as if the wire child sought them out. They commanded the paper girl to freeze the enemies, and she did. Her hands became cold and numb.
Eventually, the road reached an end. There were no houses here, only piles of rubble and waste that looked like animals hiding in the shadows. The paper girl turned around to go back, and when she did, she stared down a long and narrow road lined with statues made of ice. They stared back at her with fear and fury. The girl almost felt pity for these creatures.
But she felt not guilty. After all, they were enemies. After all, she had only followed orders.
After all, she was only getting stronger.
Back in the city, they met a merchant. They were smiling, like it was the only shape their face could take. They asked if the two were lovers.
“We are simply friends”, the paper girl wanted to answer, but the words did not quite come out. They had been friends all their life, but were they still?
“We are something else”, her maybe-not-friend answered instead, whatever that was supposed to mean.
The merchant continued to smile and offered them a ring. The price was absurdly high, and still the wire child insisted on getting it. They did not have the money, and the merchant was not willing to bargain, yet still the wire child insisted, ordered the paper girl to get it.
Her hand rose on its own, or maybe the ring pulled it there, and her mind went blank. When she came to her senses again, she was wearing a different ring. The merchant was gone, and there was no money missing from their pockets.
When they wandered the city now, the creatures were running from them in fear. Still, the wire child cornered them. Still, the paper girl froze them. She was just following orders, after all. She was just getting stronger.
As she walked, grim thoughts started to cross her mind. What, she wondered, would happen if she froze the wire child instead? She shook off the thought quickly. What a horrible thing to think!
“It is only natural”, the wire child said, seemingly in response to her thoughts. She must have spoken them out loud, she thought to herself and kept on walking.
Time started to blur, walking, fighting, freezing, over and over again. After a while, the paper girl stopped paying attention to the world around her. Her hand snapped into place automatically when she was commanded, she did not even look at the poor creatures any more.
She was snapped out of her trance when the wire child called her by her name. They stood in front of her, two new rings in their hand. They were made of silver and looked like intertwined brambles with long, sharp thorns pointing in all directions.
There was an expression of fear on the wire child's face that the paper girl did not quite understand, and tears were in their eyes. Their body was entirely stiff, like they were trying to keep themselves from moving. The hand which held the rings was trembling. Then, suddenly, it snapped open, just a bit, just enough to drop the rings. For a brief moment, relief flashed across their face, before the horror returned. They dropped on one knee, slowly, as if resisting a power that was forcing them down against their will. Slowly, they reached out and picked up the rings from the cold stone ground. Still on one knee, they took the paper girl's left hand and slid the ring on her ring finger. It cut into the fragile paper and clung to her like a bloodthirsty parasite, but her hands were too cold and numb to feel any pain. Lastly, the wire child lowered their head and kissed the paper girl's hand, kissed her ring. When they pulled back, their lips were bloodied.
They finally, finally stood up, trembling.
Without thinking, the paper girl took the remaining ring from their hand and slid it onto their ring finger. This was how it was and always had been supposed to be.
They were no lovers, but they were bound to each other by ring and blood.
They marched on through the city of frost.
A bluebird stood in their path. In another life, the bluebird had been the paper girl's friend, and he wanted to protect her. He could see that the wire child had been harming her in some way. Still, he was hesitant to fight, as it would mean risking to hurt his dear friend.
When he eventually attacked, he was surprised to see that neither of them fought back. They just stood there, shields raised, waiting for him to strike. After a while, the wire child collapsed under his attacks. He thought the fight to be won, but the paper girl did not move, did not even look at him, shield still raised. He lowered his weapon and just looked at her, saddened. What had happened to her?
A voice from nowhere cut through the silence, speaking a command.
SNOWGRAVE
The paper girl watched in horror and wonder as her hand raised once more, tiny pieces of white flying from it and towards the bluebird. She wondered if it was snow.
But it was not. It was paper, the very paper that she was made of, being ripped out of her hand and cutting into the bluebird's skin.
Thousands of tiny pieces.
Thousands of tiny cuts.
Until nothing was left of them but white dust and red blood and a ring on the ground.
Once upon a time, there was a girl made of paper. All that the girl ever wanted was to be in the snow with her friends.