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I remember when we'd first found her, crumpled up like a used tissue, abandoned and abused in one of the alleys. Sweet, innocent years now lost in the beat of a moment. Yet she still fought on. So brave. So powerful. When we had first met, she knew nothing of me but I... I knew more about her than she realized.

Chapter 1
Founding Day:

There was a lady, clad in old rags who shuffled about on knobby legs and watched the world change through her beady, wonder filled eyes. To her everything had a purpose, a meaning, from the tiniest bug to the biggest tree. Having no family of her own remaining, she only took care of herself. Wrinkled and weakening as the years went on but still full of her youthful vigor, the lady came and went, even smiling while she did her usual chores. The joys of life were the most cherished gift anyone could give her.

She lived in a shanty, tucked near the edge of the forest. The house wasn't much, half rotted wood with a small doorway and even smaller windows, but brightly decorated with beautiful dyed swatches of fabric and flowers, dried or fresh, placed in every nook and cranny she could find. The color was welcoming to the spirit. The inside was only big enough for a small kitchen, complete with an iron hearth along a bed area tucked behind a thin wall. Along the doorway were two chests, each topped with an old cushion as seats, where the old lady kept her late husband's trinkets. Even after he'd passed, she cherished them, taking them out and admiring them. Life was short, she knew, but loneliness wouldn't keep her from being happy.

Early summer mornings were perfect for gathering wood. The wind rustled through the leaves, showering the darkened floor with sparkles of light here and there. The old lady loved the forest. It was much quieter than the hustle and bustle of the nearby village.

One day, while gathering firewood, she heard a faint cry on the wind. The sounds of animals were familiar to the old lady but this one was different. Following the noise deeper and deeper into the forest, she bravely searched the trees high and low until the noise suddenly stopped. A pair of glowing eyes stared out from a bush in front of her. The old lady became frightened. "W-who goes there?" She demanded, raising a knobbly stick in defense.



WIP