ONCE UPON A TIME, there was a lovely young woman with hair the color of fire. She wore a long blue cloak and loved to amble through the forest and learn its secrets. Her name was Annalee. By the time she was thirteen, she knew every plant and every animal that lived there. She could jump and swing from the branches and never touch the ground. She could survive away from people and just live with the trees. And so she did...

Years passed and she grew tall, strong and wise. She even had a good knowledge of herbs and plants that she used for potions and poultices. She even could perform a bit of magic as we would call it. But there was still one thing lacking in her life--contact. She knew nothing of her fellow man and if one ever came close, she would hide until he or she left. She was mistrusting of humans because she had seen how they treated her friends. As a result, she remained a hermit, away from the world of her people and her heart grew hard without her even knowing it. For to truly love, you have to love yourself and she could not love herself when she hated what she was.

One day while gathering some plants near the river, she saw across the shore a large boulder. All at once, this great stone began to move and wiggle. It was not a rock at all but a young man. He was dirty from head to toe and even had bits of vivid green moss growing on his back. He started when he saw Annalee staring at him from the opposite bank. For the first time, she didn't seem afraid of a human. Maybe it was because he looked like he was part of the forest like her. He started to cross the water. She tried to stop him for the river was deep but he just floated across and came to rest beside her.

"How did you do that?" she exclaimed. He told her that he uses the magic of the forest that is all around the animals and the trees. She was intrigued by his words...and his eyes. They seemed to change colors in the light from green to brown to yellow and any color that was present in the forest. She wanted to be like him, part of nature. She wanted to be able to use the magic in the woods. When she expressed this wish, she could see the sadness in his eyes. "This gift also comes with a curse. Each person is different and each person must break this curse before you can truly be one with the forest," he said to her. She has already made up her mind. She didn't care what happened as long as she could be like him. He told her to come back to the river at midnight

She returned that night to a full moon and the young man was sitting near the edge of the river caressing the cool water. Again, he looked at her with sadness in his eyes and then asked her if she was sure. She nodded and sat beside him. He closed his eyes and bade her to do the same. She could feel his breath close to her as he spoke softly. She couldn't understand the words, but it sounded like a lullaby that she had heard as a child. Her body began to tingle as if something were molding it into something new. She was about to open her eyes but the young man forced them closed again with his fingertips. When he finished his song, she felt a sharp pain rip through her body and then she only saw darkness.

She awoke at dawn next to the river. Every limb ached and her vision was blurred. She leaned over the water and was horrified to see a withered old face where her beautiful reflection should be. She cried out for the young man and scrambled to her feet. He was there beside her with the same grief as the day before. She wept and asked why he had done this to her. He repeated the words he had told her...this gift came with a curse. "What must I do to rid myself of this curse and become one with the forest?" she asked him. "You, who has never loved another, must find someone to love you," he explained, "And if he or she cannot love you, then not only will that person be cursed with their own ugliness, but you also have to try with someone else until you break the curse." Then he went on to tell her that although she could never die and she could search forever, anyone that she cursed only had a short time to break their own curse. "You must give them a token that will gauge their time and once this token dies, then they will remain cursed forever," he said.

Annalee cried and ran away. She had given up her youth and beauty. For who could ever love a haggard old woman such as her? And if she failed, she doomed that person to a fate worse than hers. Despite all the mistrust and hate for her fellow man, she didn't know if she could hurt them in such a way. That made her worse than any of them! For days she hid away from even the animals, afraid that they would reject her as well and run from her sight. After she had been in the dark for a week, she felt hungry and had to emerge from her hiding place. She found some mushrooms and roots to eat and after she was full she began to feel better. In fact, she was beginning to see that she must start her mission is she was ever going to break her curse.

She ventured to the outskirts of town and listened to the people. This is one of the reasons that she did not like people...they always liked to gossip. However, she was intrigued by the story of the kingdom's prince. He was rumored to be the most disgusting human being ever to live. If everything around him was not beautiful, he destroyed it and made his servants fix everything until it was up to his standards. That made her think. What if she were to use her curse to teach certain people a lesson? This prince certainly sounded like he could use a good dose of his own medicine. First, she had to find a fitting token. What is the most beautiful thing in the land? She was trying to think as she was travelling towards the castle, when she tripped on a bush. She looked up to see the most amazing rosebush. And on this rosebush, there were many pretty roses. However, one rose stood out to Annalee. It almost seemed to glow. She picked the flower carefully and continued her journey.

Annalee pulled the hood up on her cloaked and knocked on the front door to the castle. The prince answered in a huff and grimaced when he saw her haggard appearance. She offered him a single rose in exchange for shelter for the night...




Credits:
Quad overlay by Rachel.
Human art by josi.
Profile and the prequel to the Beauty and the Beast by Destiny.