The Secret of the Shadow Princess

Chpt 2: "I Remember..."

* "I Remember..." *

Edited- 4/11/2013

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The girl awoke with an old woman buzzing around her, mumbling words like "Preposterous!" "Absurd!"

 "Oh good, dear, your awake" the old woman smiled gratefully. The girl sat up, wincing slightly. "Here" she shoved a bowl of hot soup to the girl. When the girl touched the bowl, it burned her fingers and she put it, quickly, on the small bedside table before she dropped it, spilling it onto her. "Careful, it's hot" the woman chuckled lightly. "I think I noticed, Grandma" the girl rolled her eyes playfully, smiling. "Where did you get this?" the elderly woman, Cheryl, asked, pointing toward the now bandaged wound. The girl remained silent and didn't answer. "It wasn't the... It was wasn't it?" Cheryl questioned. The girl nodded glumly. "Oh Elizabeth" the woman gave the girl a light hug, careful to not put pressure on bandaged wound. "I know you do not wish to hurt them but you should at least protect yourself" Cheryl said softly, letting the girl-Elizabeth-pull out of the embrace. Elizabeth nodded. Cheryl chuckled weakly before saying "I remember when you first came here." They both chuckled weakly at the memory.

A 6 year-old girl, Elizabeth, walked up to the cottage slowly and she was very cautious about her unknown surroundings. A 44 year old woman, Cheryl, was outside stirring something in a old black cauldron with a long wooden spoon. She stopped what she was doing when she saw the child walking cautiously towards the house. Once the 6 year-old noticed the old woman she stopped where she was, eyeing Cheryl carefully. At first Cheryl was stunned that the young child had walked into the forest without having a scratch on her. After a while of deciding, Elizabeth slowly walked towards the old lady but she was still careful and alert. Elizabeth stopped a few steps in front of Cheryl. "Hello" Elizabeth said, her voice was so angelic and cute that it made it hard for Cheryl to stop making an 'awww...' noise. "Hello, dear. Where are you parents?" Cheryl asked politely. "I don't have any" was the reply she got. Once again, Cheryl was stunned and thoroughly confused. How exactly had she gone through the forest without even a scratch or bruise? "What is your name, deary" Cheryl asked politely, slightly saddened by the young beautiful child having no parents. "Elizabeth, ma'm. May I ask for yours?" Elizabeth asked with such authority that it had taken Cheryl aback, especially for a six-year old. A few seconds past before Cheryl snapped back to reality. "Oh, my name is Cheryl, dear. Do you have any family?" she asked, afraid she might offend the young child who she had grown some sort of respect and love towards in a quick amount of time. "Nope" Elizabeth replied casually, as if it was nothing more than a simple, unimportant question. The old woman felt immediately saddened by the though of such a kind girl having no family. "How did you get through the forest? It had many bad animals" Cheryl said softly. "I grew up in the forest. All those deadly animals are no threat to me, actually they love me!" the young girl grinned proudly. Cheryl was once again stunned and confused, because of the young six-year old's choice of words and that the animals had no respect for humans other than her-well she wasn't exactly human. Then Cheryl sensed the power circling around the girl. It was a power she had never felt before, it was even stronger than most of the- "Are you alright, miss?" the girl said, snapping Cheryl back to reality, once again. "Yes, deary, I'm fine" she smiled. Elizabeth grinned back. "Would you like something to eat dear? You must be hungry" Cheryl smiled. "Yes please!" Elizabeth said, taking Cheryl's outstretched hand. They entered the cottage together, Elizabeth looked around, trying not to miss a thing. They walked through the hallway together. Despite the small look on the outside, the interior was enormous. Pictures hung from nails on the wall. The little girl scanned each picture, fascinated. Cheryl had painted the pictures herself of her home land, which she missed dearly. Elizabeth stopped to look a room which had no wooden door but a big arch, her six-year-old curiousness taking over. Comfy-looking orange and brown armchairs and lounges were put randomly inside the room. Dark wood book cases were pushed up against the walls, heavily stacked with books of all sorts. A big table stood in the middle of the room, a few books placed on it. The room was neat even with the random placed armchairs but that made the room have more of a homey feeling to it. It was quite obvious that Cheryl had pride for her books because they were all in perfect condition and it seemed like every one of them had a special place, no matter the size or shape. After Elizabeth had seen everything that there was to see in the room, she put her small hand back into Cheryl's old, fragile and delicate hand. Cheryl led her into a medium-sized kitchen that had light brown with dark brown thin lines counter-tops and a dark silver fridge. A bowl of fruit was on one of the counters. Like the other room, which Elizabeth now labeled 'Library', she took in everything around her. There was an light orange cupboard and a small dark silver oven. A dinning table made of dark wood and matching chairs were near the end of the big room. Cheryl took her hand back while Elizabeth went to sit at the table.  "What would you like, dear?"