A small child with dark brown hair and skin like honey begins to stir, her eyes flutter open. She looks around through the dim light of dawn and grins. Everyone around her is still sound asleep, now is her chance. She excitedly climbs out of bed trying her best to quell her enthusiasm so as not to wake anyone up. She grabs her cloak and ties it around herself and grabs a stick about half her size and heads off into the woods. As she gets further from the small camp she begins to run faster, exhilarated by the small ounce of freedom she is getting at this moment. In the distance she hears the roar of a waterfall and her smile grows impossibly wider, a faint flush can be seen in her cheeks as she picks up her pace just a little bit more. As she reaches the waters edge just a few feet away from the base of the falls she lets out a howl. She knew she was close enough to the water that it would mask her sound. She walks to the base of the falls, and lets out a happy sigh. She has always enjoyed being near water though she had no idea why. She tentatively puts her foot in the water and shivers. It is still fairly cold this early in the morning. She breathes in a deep breath and jumps in, tossing her stick to the side. As her body meets the water she lets out a shriek, the water is freezing! Her head bobs to the surface and she lets out a laugh as she splashes around in the water, just tall enough to touch the water's floor. She dives under again this time opening her eyes and spotting some fish and a few tadpoles. She comes to the surface once more and looks around, the hint of spring already apparent as she surveys the array of wild flowers around her. She wonders whether or not she should take some back to her father. She hears some rustling in the bushes closest to her and has a small amount of fear settle into her mind, what if it's an enemy? Her fear is quickly calmed as a fox tentatively steps out of the brush towards the water. They lock eyes for a moment as the fox assesses the threat the girl poses and begins to drink from the water. She smiles softly and wades toward the water edge, the fox eyes her suspiciously but doesn't move. Once she reaches the edge she puts out her hand and the fox sniffs it and then licks her hand. She has an incredulous look on her face as she slowly inches her hand towards the top of the foxes head. She strokes the foxes' coarse fur and it leans its head into her hand.
"Are we friends now?" she says quietly as to not startle the small animal. In response the fox climbs onto her lap and lays down. She looks around slightly worried because she doesn't want to move the animal but she should really be heading back to camp before she gets in trouble for being out by herself. She tries to lift the fox to take it back to camp with her but it's just slightly too heavy for her. She pets it once more and then gently pushes the fox off her lap and stands up. "You know, you could come with me if you want." She grabs her stick and begins walking, she looks behind her and the fox has made no move. She sighs as she heads back towards camp, preparing for the scolding she will no doubt receive.
As she reaches camp she hears the worried voice of her father as he catches sight of her, "ASTRAEA, where have you been?" She sighs and looks up to him with a small smile etched across her face.
"I went to the falls, father, they were absolutely beautiful! I was worried I wouldn't get a chance to see them before we moved camp so I ran there this morning to get a look!"
Her father sighs as well and picks her up, "Astraea you are too young to be running off on your own you have no way to protect yourself. If you had just waited I could have taken you to see the waterfall. You should have stayed out of the water, it's too cold to be swimming this early."
Astraea's smile fades, she knows he would have been too busy to take her if she had simply woken him. She hesitates a moment, wondering if she should mention the strange behavior of the fox she saw but ultimately decides against it, feeling as though she would get scolded for being so 'reckless' around what could be perceived as a 'dangerous' animal. She squirms to get out of his arms and begins to ask, "father will you let me down now-"
A shriek is heard from the outskirts of the camp. Her father immediately dives for cover, Astraea still ensnared in his arms.
"Stay here. Don't move. I will come for you when it is safe."
"Father-" but he is already gone, battle cries sound around her. She faintly hears the whooshing of arrows in stark contrast to the harsh, metallic clang of swords and shields. She can't just sit in a tent and wait for this to be over. The instinct to run courses through her. She gets the feeling that if she sits here she'll be found and if she's found… she brushes the thought aside as she peeks out from her hiding spot, and bolts in the opposite direction. Away from the sounds of battle, away from her family, her home, and her father. She narrowly fights back tears but her gut tells her she must run to survive. From the corner of her eye she spots a streak of orange and in that moment of distraction she trips, tumbling down a short cliff face. Her vision fades to balck as she meekly calls out, "Father."