PTX--Disney Style

The Beginning (KBS)

Once upon a time, in a faraway land, there was a cottage in the woods. And in that cottage lived a young woman with soft golden hair, waving gently around the most beautiful face ever seen by man. It's true that very few men had seen this face recently--only the occasional traveler in search of fresh water or a bite to eat, for the cottage was well off the beaten path. But in all the kingdom, you would never find a fairer creature. Her name was Kirstin, and each morning, her cheery songs would rouse the birds from their nests, and each evening, her lullabies would settle the deer and the rabbits into their dens.

Her days were mostly the same one to the next, and she never expected more of them than exactly what she got. She did have a naturally mild personality, finding it much easier to smile than to frown, but every now and then she would feel a rush of some foreign emotion swell up within her. The sensation would be gone again too quickly for her to examine it or dwell on it much, but sometimes she did suspect that this meek forest life wasn't exactly what she'd been meant for.

What Kirstin did not know was that she was under the influence of a memory charm. On her eighteenth birthday, she had been cursed to remember only her name and the basic skills required to keep her alive, and so five years had passed with no true sense of belonging or purpose. Where she came from, what she had been destined for, who had cursed her...all of that was lost to the haze of the past. She couldn't know that anyone was missing her, or searching for her. So when the man on his gray stallion came charging into the clearing that surrounded her little cottage, she screamed in shock.

As mentioned before, Kirstin hadn't come in contact with many people out here on the edge of nothingness, but even if she'd had a dozen visitors a day, she doubted she could have looked upon this man with any more wonder or shock as he leapt down from his steed. He was tall, more than a head taller than she was. And while his hair was golden as hers was, his eyes were not the dark forest-hazel that she saw in the looking glass. No, this stranger's eyes were blue as the summer sky, surrounded by fine lines that suggested he spent most of his time laughing. She wanted to love this stranger, felt her heart expanding to make room for him, but then he spoke to her in a hushed whisper, hand outstretched.

"Greetings, my lady. Quick, I will help you up."

"Are we going somewhere, my lord?" Kirstin asked politely, dropping the volume of her voice to match his.

"Yes, of course. I'm here to rescue you!" the stranger announced. "But we must be as quiet as possible. These woods are not safe."

Kirstin looked around the quiet clearing. Her bird and rabbit friends had taken flight at the approach of the stranger's horse, and were only now creeping back into view. There didn't seem to be any imminent danger, so she smiled hesitantly. "What exactly are you rescuing me from?"

"You don't know? Oh, my dear lady, why the entire kingdom is searching for you. Some want to kill you. Others want to make you their Queen. Others still would hide you away, and see that your life is always this--a cottage in the forest."

"And where do you fall on that spectrum, sir?" Kirstin asked warily.

"I have been tasked to see that you are safe. Beyond that, I couldn't say. Will you come with me?"

Kirstin did not want to leave her home. But the idea of there being more to this life was an incredible thought. She took the stranger's hand and he led her over to where his horse waited patiently. "May I at least know your name?" she breathed.

"My name is Scott. I'm so glad to have found you. Up you go," he said, hoisting Kirstin upward into the saddle. He then put his own foot into the stirrup, and swung himself to sit behind her, but before he made it halfway, his body seemed to lock up and he flailed awkwardly. "Oh, oh no!" he cried, grasping for purchase and finding the reins. All this accomplished was to pull the horse's head sharply as Scott fell to the ground, and in its anger, the horse reared back, unseating Kirstin in the process. They both tumbled to the earth and Scott clutched at his back, wincing. The forest was suddenly alive with sound as the horse, spooked and irritated, stomped its hooves and neighed aggressively, causing the birds and other wildlife to scatter again.

"Are you alright?" Kirstin gasped, leaning up and brushing the dust from her skirt.

"Yes, my lady," Scott huffed, rolling up to a sitting position. "It's only my back. I was cursed as a child with a crooked spine, and it pains me now and again."

"Who would curse a child?!" Kirstin wondered, and Scott opened his mouth to answer, but then fell silent. His blue eyes became very huge and round, focused on something over Kirstin's shoulder that she couldn't see. As she stared at him, his face and the whole of the clearing suddenly fell into shadow, and the earth gave a quiver as though from the footstep of some massive beast. Despite the fear in her would-be rescuer's face, Kirstin had to turn around and face what was approaching.

Whatever she had been expecting, she was dead wrong.

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TO BE CONTINUED....BY YOU!!