In the dark forest, a little girl—no older than five—trudged barefoot through the snow, clutching a tall stick she'd managed to light with a spare flint. Her tattered brown dress fluttered weakly in the wind. Crimson hair, hacked nearly to the scalp, clung to her head in uneven tufts. A deep purple bruise bloomed around her right eye.
And yet, she didn't cower, even as the sun dipped lower beyond the trees. Instead, she felt a strange sense of relief—relief at having finally left behind the group that would never return for her.
She'd arrived with a small group of orphans—children and adults alike—but they had all abandoned her. Not a single soul came back to search for the five-year-old child with hair so unnaturally red and streaked with gold.
Her spine trembled from the cold as she rounded a bend, searching for any shelter in the dark woods. Thorn-covered vines twisted overhead, but she pushed past them without flinching. She believed she had passed from the ice-cold cities into the borderlands of fairy territory.
Despite its beautiful name, this forest was thorny and eerie at night.
That was when she heard it—a cry. A faint, high-pitched scream.
Curious, she advanced carefully, making sure not to rustle dead leaves or crunch too much snow beneath her small feet. As she crept closer, she reached a clearing lit by the full moon's silver glow. In its center was a figure—a woman—glimmering gold like polished amber, wings shimmering like glass. But she was trembling.
Dark figures circled her, low and snarling.
Wolves.
The little girl frowned.
Wolves? Hunting at night?
Something was wrong.
She crouched low, studying the scene. Transparent wings... Yes, this was a fairy. She remembered hearing the orphanage adults tell stories about them during storytime. But no fairy she'd known in her past life had looked like this. Back then, fairies had been mistaken for humans—beautiful, yes, but mundane.
This one was different.
She sighed and shook her head. "May as well," she muttered.
Snatching up a hefty pebble, she hurled it at one of the wolves. "Hey, you cowards!"
The pebble struck one in the eye. It howled and lunged at her. She leapt aside and thrust the flaming stick into its fur.
Fire caught. The wolf screamed, rolling frantically in the snow.
The others backed off, startled. There were three more near the fairy... and two gleaming eyes watching from the trees.
Despite the odds, the girl didn't flinch. She glanced at the fairy and barked, "I'll lead them away. Run when I do!"
At her shout, the wolves snapped out of their daze and lunged.
She darted into the underbrush, retracing her steps with wolves close behind. Short legs made it impossible to outrun them. One pounced. She dodged—barely—only for another, pudgier wolf to clamp onto her leg.
She cried out but swung the broken end of the stick into its face. It yelped and let go, ears drooping.
Without pausing, she jammed the flame into another's rear. The wolf screamed, dragging its singed butt pitifully through the snow.
The remaining wolves hesitated. Their paws shifted uncertainly in the snow.
She grinned. "What? Getting cold feet? Where was all that courage when you outnumbered one fairy?"
Their ears flattened. Slowly, they turned, then fled into the trees.
She watched until they vanished. Then, she slumped.
"It was the fire..." she muttered in relief.
Turning back toward her path, pain exploded in her leg. She limped, then tore off a piece of her dress to clumsily wrap the bite wound. Blood was already seeping through.
She hissed and snapped a branch to splint it. Judging by the pain and the swelling, it might be fractured. Still, with rest, she should heal. The only problem was...
She looked around. No shelter. No food. No other life—except the wolves and that fairy.
But if she remembered correctly, fairies didn't like humans much. Like beasts in her past life, they feared or scorned them.
She took three steps—then collapsed again, face-first in the snow. Cold bit at her frostbitten feet.
She felt it then: that bone-deep chill that always crept up when things went wrong.
Being human is the worst, she thought grimly.
Then, warmth.
A hand touched her shoulder.
She looked up.
The golden fairy now stood over her, glowing like the moon.
"Thank goodness," the fairy breathed. "You're still alive."
"My queen—Ah! A human child?!" a voice shrieked.
The fairy ignored the voice and knelt beside the girl. "Maisey, hurry! I think she's hurt."
A tiny figure—barely the size of her palm—flew over. Red mushroom cap, green leaf clothes.
Maisey examined her leg and nodded. "Fracture from a wolf bite."
The queen raised her hand. A golden glow spread over the wound.
The girl blinked in surprise. The pain was gone.
Testing her leg, she found the bite marks had vanished. She could stand again.
With a deep bow, she murmured, "Thank you for helping me."
The queen studied her. "What brings a child like you into the forest? Were you lost?"
The girl shook her head. "I was lost, Your Majesty. But not by accident."
"Oh?" The queen tilted her head. "Then... you came seeking us fairies?"
"No." The girl answered bluntly. "The orphanage left me here. Abandoned me to die."
"What?!" Maisey gasped.
"For what reason?" the queen asked gently.
"My appearance frightened them," the girl replied. "They shunned me from the day they found me."
The queen regarded her closely. Purple eyes, fiery hair. There was something more here.
Still, the child looked so thin. So alone. The queen felt a pang of something rare: pity.
But caution warred with compassion. Humans could be clever... dangerous.
"Do you have a name?" she asked at last.
The girl hesitated. "I... don't have a proper one."
She thought. "People in town called me 'midget.'"
The queen scowled. "That won't do."
She and the other fairies studied the girl. Finally, the queen smiled and took her hand.
"It hasn't been done in many years, but... you shall stay with us."
"With you?" the girl asked, wide-eyed. "Are you sure?"
"Normally, no. But we'll make an exception."
The queen was intrigued by the child's behavior. Too mature. Too strange.
Then, her palm warmed. She stared at the child.
Yes, this one is special. The fairies would take her in.
"You'll be my child now," the queen declared. "From this moment forward."
"We're raising a child?" Maisey exclaimed, flying onto the girl's shoulder. "This will be the first time many fairies have ever seen a human grow up!"
The queen chuckled. "How about a name for this new start?"
"A name..." the girl murmured. "Then... maybe Xue."
"Xue..." The queen thought aloud. "Your hair reminds me of a flower. How about... Peony?"
The girl's eyes widened.
The queen hesitated. "Do you dislike it?"
The girl shook her head with a smile. "I like it."
"Then, from now on, you shall be called Peony Xue." The queen placed a hand on her head. "Peony, my name is Tatiana. I am your mother now."
"Tatiana..." Peony nodded slowly, her eyes brightening. "Okay. Then, you are my mother."
The queen smiled warmly as the other fairies gathered around. She would need to do a lot of convincing later—but for now, she simply held her new daughter close