Aeryn of the Wood ~HolliBerry

"Play with me, mother, before the sun rises," the little girl pressed, pouting her lip. She sat beside a small pond fed by a stream. In her hands was a little brown toad; the girl giggle as it tickled her fingers.

The child was naked; only the white blonde hair that trailed down her back provided a covering for her beneath the dawning sky. She had bright blue eyes and a tiny nose set gracefully within her chubby, prepubescent face. She appeared no older then eight, but one glace into her eyes showed she was far older than that: she was a young Goddess.

Finally, the tiny toad escaped from the girl's confining hands. She crawled after it as it disappeared beneath a dew-covered shrub, her fine hair falling over her face. The child screeched with laughter as she lost her balance on the damp ground and slipped into the pond. The water only rose up to her bellybutton where she fell, but she splashed and giggled happily, drawing the attention of her mother.

"Aeryn, what has gotten into you," the woman laughed playfully. She looked up from where she washed the child's dainty, spidersilk frock and approached the young girl. "Your dress is clean, perhaps you should put it on before you catch chill?"

"Will you play with me?" Aeryn asked, her eyes peaking out from beneath the lily pad hat she had placed on her head. "It is not morning yet, no mortals will bother us."

"Aye, child, it is beginning to grow light, put on your frock!" The woman winked one of her violet eyes and placed the newly cleaned silk at the edge of the pond. She herself wore a similar, though much longer, dress. It too was made of spidersilk, decorated with everlasting dewdrops that glittered in the weak light. Like her child, the Goddess had blue eyes and a young face; however, ebony hair fell on her shoulders rather the gold.

Reluctantly, Aeryn crawled from the murky pool and lay on the bank. She giggled as her mother sprinkled dewdrops on her face before pulling herself up from the ground. Slowly, she pulled on her dress, playfully ignoring the agitated sigh that escaped her mother's lips. "Can we play now?" she begged, tugging on her mother's fair arm.

The Goddess smiled and lifted her daughter's hands to her eyes. "Count to ten," she instructed as her body melted into that of a doe. The Goddess stretched up her furry body, sniffing the air before disappearing into a band of trees. Aeryn spread her fingers, peering through the cracks, and searched for signs of her mother. She two began to change into a rabbit, wrinkling her nose at the air. The child raced after the goddess, a melodious giggle echoing through the forest as she disappeared into the brushwood.

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