The Green-Eyed Witch

Chapter 1: Their Beginnings

Author's disclaimer: No, I do not own Labyrinth or the idea for this story. it was actually thought of by kiyomi-chan16 on deviantart. Go there if you want to know the full story. I've loved the premise for the art and story so much that I wanted to write a fic for it. It is also almost her birthday, so now is a perfect time to post it. Right now, it's about 10 chapters long in my outline. Happy early birthday, KC!!

Also, please don't expect everything to be jistorically accurate with speech and details. I'm trying, but I kmow it's not perfect. I hope you enjoy the new story!

--JS--

"Fever, fever, yes! I can finally learn how to cure fevers," cried a triumphant Sarah as she flipped through weathered page after page of vellum until she found what she was looking for, the cure she most wanted to learn. Grinning with pride, she leaned against an old tree trunk and slid down until she was seated on the cold forest floor. The family's guard dog for the chickens, Merlin, sat at her feet and kept her lower body warm.

It was only September, but already the ground was feeling cooler than it did in the summer. Tree leaves were beginning to change colors, and a few had even started to fall. Fall was definitely Sarah's second favorite season after spring; spring brought new life back to the earth at long last. Fall was beautiful in a different way, the smell of grapes and baked pumpkin pies, along with the breathtaking reds and oranges of leaves combining to create a glorious exit for all life as it tried to prepare for winter, her least favorite season. Not because her mother died during that time, oh no, no, no. It was simply the time when everything died, but especially her mother.

As a heavy wind picked up from the north, signaling cold temperatures on the way, Sarah shivered and pulled her dark green cloak closer around her as she read the remedies for fever aloud.

"There are two ways to lower a fever. The first is to boil twenty leaves of basil in a large cauldron of water. Remove the leaves from the water, and add a small handful of crushed ginger to the water. Boil that mixture until it is reduced to half its size and add a spoonful of honey. Drink the mixture for three days while laying hands on the person every four hours for a minute. Gotcha! No more evil-doing for you, cursed fever."

She read over the passage multiple times in order to memorize the words, deciding to learn the next remedy in a week, after she had practiced this remedy. When she was satisfied, she used twigs of leaves as a bookmark and closed the book, tying some string around it before putting the book back into the hole in the tree that she had been leaning against. She pulled a black, woolen blanket over the book to hide it from prying eyes as she didn't trust this village nearly as much, mostly because of the boys and other villagers that she had met so far.

Picking up her omnipresent wicker basket - a gift from her mother right before she died - she walked away from Hillview, her family's village, further into the forest. She enjoyed noticing which maple tree leaves had already turned red and yellow in the evening twilight. It was the same ones as last year, and she could smell the faint whiff of ripe grapes as she neared the edge of the forest and came to the hills of grapes.

"I love this time of year, Merlin. Let's pick a few flowers and those herbs to work on that fever reduction spell at home," said Sarah, not caring about the time as she ventured deeper into the forest.

She had just finished putting some flowers in her basket and was about to leave the forest to find basil when Merlin barked. She heard a low screeching noise as well, making her wonder what was out at that hour. She was ready to ignore it until she heard what she thought was a low moan coming from the same direction as the mysterious screech.

"Help me……"

Sarah ran across the acorn-filled grounds in the direction of the deep voice, Merlin close behind her and passing her before stopping and barking loudly. She saw a white barn owl facing the ground with an arrow stuck in its wing.

"Oh my goodness!!" she cried, falling to her knees to examine the injured animal that had many branches scattered around it. When the owl didn't move, she crawled closer in her tan-colored, handmade dress and cloak.

"Hello? How are you, little one?" she asked tenderly. "Did you hurt anything else in that fall, or is it just a broken wing from that arrow? I know how to set wings from other birds I've met, but I'm going to need more light and materials to do it tomorrow. Will you let me hold you and keep you somewhere safe until then?"

The owl blinked its eyes, showing her the strangest thing she had ever witnessed: two eyes of differing colors. One pupil was brown, while the other was dilated and blue. She didn't know what it meant, if it was normal for owls to have that kind of coloring, if her Sight was showing her something special, or if it was a result of the accident. No matter what it was, she was determined to help the owl since it blinked and turned its head toward her.

"Let's get you someplace sheltered from all this wind. I bet that arrow knocked you into a tree branch before falling to the ground, right?" she said, talking to the bird as though it could understand her. She did it frequently with the animals and creatures she met, and she found that all liked her more because of it.

Picking up the branches and cradling the owl in her arms, she found her last homemade shelter for animals, a warm place for a nesting pregnant rabbit with an injured foot. As the winds picked up, she heard thunder in the distance, warning her she needed to leave soon to avoid the incoming rain. She eased the owl into a tall rectangular box formed by overlapping sticks and filled with fur and leaves, a shallow dish of water already there. She took three feathers from the bird for use in her cure for the owl as the sky darkened considerably.

"I'll return tomorrow to help you more," she said with a consoling look and voice as she placed a roof over the makeshift home of the owl, making the shelter look like a bush. "Right now I need to get back to my family to watch over Toby-"

The sole church bell in the small village tolled seven times, reminding her of the time.

"Oh no. I don't believe it! That was seven o'clock, Merlin! We were supposed to be back by now so father could talk to the village leaders earlier before the meeting!"

Just as they started to run home, the sky opened up, large drops of rain pelting them along with thunder and lightning, making them run faster. Dashing away with her large sheep dog in tow, Sarah escaped the forest, glad that she wore her thick-soled shoes for better balance as she went up and down the hills to get to the village. She kept muttering to herself how it wasn't fair all throughout the mad sprint.

After cutting across a number of fields of grapes, corn, and squash, she finally saw the familiar dwelling that her father had built, along with the many fences containing the animals that they raised on their farm. Just inside the doorway, Irene stood with hands on her hips and eyes glued to the church bell announcing it was quarter-past. Merlin abandoned Sarah for his post in front of the chicken coop when they entered the main yard.

When Sarah stopped in front of her stepmother, she said with little feeling, "I'm sorry."

Irene let her in, saying, "Sarah, you're an hour late again. You know how important it is to be on time for these meetings with the elders, especially for your father. He wants to rise in prominence and become an elder, and he can't if you persist in coming back from that forest late and keep him from talking to everyone."

Defending herself with a little more attitude than was strictly necessary, Sarah raised an arm and said, "I was leaving on time until I saw an injured owl. I had to help it-"

"There's always an excuse for you, isn't there?" exclaimed Irene, reaching for her nicely coiffed hair. "I'm trying to help you, but you aren't trying. You insist on being the oddest young woman in the village - not to mention the oldest, unmarried one - running off to the forest and creating those poultices, when you should be here with me, taking care of the home and Toby. And if not that, then at least trying to meet the nice, young men here that are interested in you. You ignore them all, though!"

"I can't help it if they don't appreciate what I do or understand me," complained Sarah, her voice rising. "They treat me like a stupid sheep, and I'm not."

"Clearly," said Irene with a slight glare. "You refuse to be led in any way whatsoever-"

"Oh, Sarah, you're here at last. We were worried about you," said her father, trying to appear calm and concerned about her when he was just frustrated.

"Oh, leave me alone!" cried Sarah, running to her room and lying on her cot, blocking out all view of her family so they would just go.

Her father followed. "We need to go. Toby's had his supper, and he's sleeping now."

"I understand. I'll go take care of the little terror while you go talk to close-minded people who will never listen to you, just like you don't listen to me."

Her father took one step into her room and seemed to remember himself.

"Sarah! That is out of line, and we are going to have a serious conversation about this when we come back," said her father in his most forceful tone.

Sarah stopped to see if he would say more than make up empty promises of talking, but he just walked away and left for the meeting in the pouring rain. She rammed her face into a pillow, letting out a loud groan as lightning brightened the sky and thunder shook the ground underneath her.

Within five minutes of her father and Irene leaving for the village meeting, Toby - the newest addition to the family within the past two years - began to cry incessantly because of all the yelling and thunder. Sarah went to his room next door, armed with a toy she knew he loved. After doing the usual checks for food, sickness, and needing to be changed, she could find no good reason for why Toby cried.

Sighing dramatically, she yelled, "Oh, it's not fair! I actually found something that I can heal, rather than someone who just wants attention! I almost want to take you with me back into the forest to see the owl and gather plants."

Toby seemed to stop crying for just a moment, as though he understood. He stared at her with confused eyes before crying louder.

"Fine, I'll give you attention. What do you want? Do you want a story? All right," murmured Sarah as she picked him up. "You're not going to like it, but I will."

As she twirled around, she began to tell the story in a slightly more subdued voice. She hoped that the soothing voice would make Toby go back to sleep.

"Once upon a time, in the small village of Danville, there lived a happy couple named Robert and Linda. But they were no ordinary couple, for they had special powers."

Toby's cries became slightly lower in volume as she told the story of her parents and herself. Thus encouraged, she decided to tell him everything.

"You see, Robert had the gift of Faerie Sight, to see various woodland creatures, like goblins, fae, and brownies. And if you don't behave, you could be taken by one and replaced with a changeling!"

Toby stared at her with big, pleading eyes before crying louder.

"No, I wasn't going to actually let them take you, silly!" groaned Sarah as she tried to comfort the toddler. "Besides, you're too old now, or I'd have to wish you away to the goblins. I'd never do that; Irene and Dad would be very upset. But where was I?"

After remembering her place, she continued in an even softer tone.

"Because Robert could see and talk to the creatures invisible to everyone else, he was able to raise livestock without losing his to mysterious reasons like everyone else. He became well-known for having the best and happiest animals. But that was partly due to his wife. Linda was even more gifted than Robert. She had the Sight as well, but she was also a witch, the brightest of her age. She was always so happy and smiling for she had Healing Powers that she developed as a witch, and she used them to take care of their animals. She learned about her abilities from a leatherbound book she kept in the hollow of a tree in the forest, away from anyone who was afraid of and didn't understand witches. One day, Robert and Linda loved each other so much that they had a baby girl named Sarah."

Her face brightened considerably as she got to that part, and the rocking motion of her arms became more subdued. Toby was crying less now, seemingly enthralled with her story, even as the storm and winds continued to howl.

"Now Sarah was a happy girl who loved her parents very much. She used to go on walks with her parents all the time, and she especially loved the forest, just as they did. Because of that, Sarah has always had a special affinity for the outdoors and hates being kept indoors, in the confines of her dingy little hut, even if it is bigger than most homes in the village."

She knew she had much to be grateful for in her new home since her father knew how much she hated living in enclosed, small, dark spaces. This larger-than-before home helped slightly. She liked the dirt floors and windows to the outside most of her home, as it was her main connection to the outdoors.

She also suspected that her father had built the home with the hope that he would remarry and have more children, but she couldn't be sure. He had no need to build a few extra rooms as he did, but all were used once Toby came around.

"Sarah and her parents were very happy until her mother suddenly came down with a terrible fever. Robert tried to help heal his wife, but it was no use since he didn't have the Healing Powers. Linda died tragically two days later, along with half of the village of Danville. Sarah was only thirteen at the time."

Sarah had so many good memories of her mother, and she missed her horribly. She missed making flower crowns together and learning about all the plants in the fields and forests from her mother. She missed learning about the animals and creatures that shared her world, but mostly, she missed her mother's presence - her long, curly, flowing hair the same color as hers and the vibrant green eyes full of joy. Her father was inconsolable after Linda died.

"When Linda died, Robert shut himself off from the rest of the village. He wouldn't talk about anything related to his wife because he missed and loved her so much. Sarah, however, was different; she wanted to do something in her mother's honor, but she didn't know what. That was until a few months after her mother's death, when she went to her mother's favorite tree in the forest, where she found a small, red book."

Sarah's voice took on a hushed tone as she told of her special moment, and Toby finally stopped crying. Sarah sat on a wooden chair until Toby fell asleep.

"This was her mother's book! It had her name in it and everything! Better yet, it had notes written in it, and Sarah could read thanks to her mother forcing her to learn, unlike every other girl in the village. The last three-quarters of the book was blank, and they remained so until Sarah learned all the techniques and lessons contained in the first quarter of the book. Then, another quarter of the book's pages appeared, somehow magically sensing that Sarah had learned. She would not see more of the book for a long time due to moving and extra chores. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Sarah soon discovered that in addition to seeing creatures that others couldn't, she also had inherited Healing Powers from her mother. She was so excited to learn everything about healing, and she finally understood why she needed to know about so many plants."

Toby finally fell asleep. Sarah was happy and tucked the baby into his cradle before picking up her small candle and heading to her room. As she stood at the doorway, she finished her story.

"All was going well with learning about her abilities for two years until she told her father. He became furious and forced them to leave the village at once, moving to a smaller village many miles away to get away from the forest and the memories of Linda. But Sarah didn't care that he met and married Irene just six months after arriving, or that Irene was a horrible replacement for a mother. What she did care about was the screaming baby that arrived a year later. You, Toby. You've kept me inside so much more, away from what I want to be doing for the last two years."

After that, she went back to her room and found her notes for healing that she hid among her things. Her father had explicitly forbidden her from healing anyone in the village, so she satisfied herself with healing the animals and giving helpful remedies to sick people in the village to improve people's opinions of her. Once she found her notes for birds, she read and went into her supply of herbs to find everything she needed; then she made the necessary salve in one of the family's pots over the fireplace, adding in the two of the feathers. Before long, she had what she needed, and she went to her scratchy cot, waiting with closed eyes to see if her father would actually try to talk to her for once. She slid the owl's last feather under her pillow, using the trick of keeping the feather - and by extension of her healing powers the owl - warm during the cold, wet night. Soon after she lay down, the rain and storm finally stopped.

As it turned out, her father didn't come to her. He went to bed in the room on the other side of Toby's instead, and Sarah wasn't surprised. She was sure she would learn about the meeting at breakfast before the town crier or villagers started gossiping.

She was almost asleep when she heard movement outside her window, a sort of light tapping. She got up to investigate and opened the window, only to see a trail of goblins run away from her window, all talking loudly about a missing king, or something like that. She thought it odd but dismissed it before closing the window tightly. As she drifted off, she wondered if owls could be familiars. She had never found a familiar before, and she liked the idea very much of having an owl for a familiar. She went to sleep soon after that, dreaming odd dreams of owls and flying.

--JS--

Authors notes: Thanks so much for reading!!