PROLOGUE I'd like to say she slipped gracefully through the deep plum grass, her gossamer dress brushing lightly against its slender fronds. I'd love to tell a story about her slender, feminine silhouette against the darkening sky, her head upturned to watch the setting sun trade places with the rising moons. Nothing would please me more than to tell you about one delicate, lace-gloved hand pushing back a strand of golden, flyaway hair behind her tiny, pointed ear, and a sweet sigh escaping her parted lips, the sort of sigh that draws thirty men on bended knee, throwing their coats over puddles. I wouldn't exactly be telling the truth, and that's what this story is all about. BR ..And so I start..BR A girl plopped heavily in the plum grass, throwing a bulky pack to the side. She wore a thick black cape, concealing nearly all of her clothing. The only visible sign of her profession were a pair of large, old-fashioned goggles, nearly always worn perched atop her head. She would have hidden those beneath her all-concealing cape as well, but they would scarcely attract attention on their own. She untied the prickly twine rope that held her cape together, wadded it entirely into a ball, and tossed it onto her pack. Hidden beneath the cape was the standard carpentician's uniform: short maroon overalls, a peach-colored button-down shirt, and a variety of gadget belts, wrists, and anklets. Her only jewelry was a short watch fob that attached to her belt loop. It was delicate, made of tiny scrolling pieces of a metal she could not identify. She reached into her pack and pulled out a translucent green glass bottle and pulled the cork out with her teeth. She took a long draught and swiped her mouth with the back of her hand. It left a dirty smudge across her face, but she would never notice. Mirrors were not her top priority. Nor were baths. She was obviously dirty, her chin-length hair hanging in stringy layers and her elbows blacker than a night without the moons. BR She lay back, propping herself up on her pack, staring up at the first moon of the night. A crescent tonight. She reached her finger out and traced the outline. "Hello, Giant Fingernail. How are you, Giant Fingernail?" A silly giggle escaped her lips. "Childhood habits die hard." She closed her eyes for a few moments, in a futile attempt to sleep. "Why, Giant Fingernail?" she moaned, punching at her pack to make it more comfortable. "Why can't I find what I'm looking for? After all, you're hanging over the whole world. Why is it that you can't just give me a hint? You can see everything, can't you?" A dark cloud crossed the sky, concealing the crescent moon. The girl smiled, remembering the old chant from her younger days. "I'm sorry, Giant Fingernail. Please come back, Giant Fingernail!" But the cloud never passed, and she fell into a deep sleep uninterrupted by the light of the first

BR Chapter OneBR She woke with gritted teeth to the sound of cumbersome footsteps crunching through the plum grass. "Please don't find me, please don't find me, please."BR "Oy, Noran! Over here!" BR Too late. It was bad, too, not just like a townsperson or another wanderer coming across her little camp. They were soldiers, from the sounds of it, and more than one. BR "You got something?" A male voice with a thick accent (apparently Noran's) was coming from the south. It sounded like he was very close. She thought about crawling away, but the tall grass was dry this time of year. The noise would surely give her away. BR "It's a spot in the grass over it? Sort of trampled-down like, a bare spot or something." BR "Why don't you go check it out, then?" She would have snickered if she hadn't been so worried about being discovered. It sounded like Noran was a bit of a chicken from the slight tremble in his voice. BR " I should just send off an arrow over there?" The sound of an arrow being drawn swiftly from its quiver made the girl start. BR "Here, please, don't shoot me!" She cried, jumping up and waving her arms around wildly. Both soldiers jumped back, startled by her sudden revelation. "I.I'm just a .spending the night passing through! I'll be on my way now! Good bye!" She grabbed her pack and cape and ran. BR "Wait!" She heard one of them cry. "Aren't ?" BR *** She ran until she came to a comfortable resting place, an enormous pumpkin tree with low, leafy branches. Her mouth watered at the thought of pumpkin sandwiches, but all the pumpkins were green. Not a ripe one on any tree. Resigned, she plucked a few strands of plum grass and hopped up onto one of the limbs, pulling her cape and pack up behind her. She leaned back and put all the grass in her mouth, letting its purple juices drip down her chin and onto her shirt. BR "I shouldn't be surprised anymore, really," She thought, twirling the ends of the grass between her fingers. "I make all sorts of preparations for being recognized, then I can hardly believe it when I really am." She sucked the last bit of bittersweet juice from her grass, then used the empty husks to tie her hair back away from her face. BR

Chapter notesBR Wow, I rewrote the prologue and added a real first chapter. It's amazing what one nice comment can do ^_^. I finally created something that has a plot that's going somewhere, not like my crappy attempt at fanfiction that had NO antagonist. Anywho, please leave your reviews, but I have to be honest, if you're planning to leave something mean please don't. I'm really not interested. Constructive: yes, mean: no.