An enormous forest covered the greater part of a northern continent. In the deepest part of this forest, the trees were black, and the leaves that grew from their withered branches were crunchy and brown. This part of the forest was so barren that even the beasts that roamed the forest did not dare trespass here. A deep, dark river flowed here, its waters so dark that they appeared black. Only at night, when the moon cast its glow upon these dark waters, would any light appear on the river's surface. The moonlight's reflections on this river glinted here and there like stars. This was why the river in the depths of these woods was called the Starry River, though only a very few existences knew this name. Only one type of being lived in this river, and it was neither well-known nor prosperous.

Nothing lived so deep in this forest, yet somehow, another being had found its way there.

A small child was lost in the depths of this forest. With her wild, unruly black hair that had ensnared an abundance of crunchy leaves and branches in its claws, she looked like a child abandoned to the wilderness, but something in those dark eyes of hers was clever, intelligent, and bright, far from scheming. They were pure, clear eyes; eyes that could see fairies.

Resting on the girl’s right shoulder was a tiny fairy with wings of the same deep blue color as that of the sea’s unfathomable depths. The long dress she wore was woven from strands of dried grass and dyed with pigment from blueberries, making it a reddish-violet color.

The child did not speak. The child could not speak.

The fairy, however, could speak, and she demonstrated this ability to no slight extent.

“I keep telling you to tame that mane, girl! How did it even get like this? No matter how much I try to brush it, I can’t do anything against all of these tangles!” A fairy’s voice was something heard by the heart, not the ears, an intent conveyed simply by speaking. This was an innate ability of all fairies; a voice that could speak even to humans corrupt of heart. This little fairy had been speaking practically nonstop to the girl ever since the pair first encountered one another on the bank of the dark river that passed through this forest.

The child nodded, rolling her eyes, but no trace of bitterness appeared. A slight glimmer of amusement was apparent on the girl’s face as the fairy talked to her.

The fairy kept complaining to the child, while the child simply listened with her eyes glistening.

While she was speaking, however, her eyes noticed something and she stopped. She jumped down from the child’s shoulder and hovered in the air in front of the child’s legs, wings flapping like a hummingbird’s.

“Who did that to you?” the fairy asked, pointing towards a few purpled spots on the child’s skin.

The young girl trembled and lowered her head, unwilling to say anything. Her eyes darkened as she shook her head, causing the fairy worry.

“Oh, never you mind, dear," the fairy reassured the child. "It’s not important. In any case, I might not be able to get your hair untangled but I can at least take you back to the humans. Your parents must be worried without their daughter, right?”

Several leaves scattered down to the ground as the child sighed and shook her head.

“What do you mean? Why wouldn't your parents be worried if I can't get you back to them? What kind of parents are they!” The fairy went into a fit of rage and indignation.

The child shook her head once again at the disgruntled fairy. The fairy frowned as the girl stopped her, until the child slowly pointed towards the ground. A few tears slipped down the girl's face, dripping onto the ground.

The fairy blinked a few times in confusion before she realized what the child was attempting to convey.

“Oh. Oh, my dear. I’m so sorry. I didn’t realize.” The fairy flitted up and stretched her arms across the child’s cheeks.

"Do you have other family," the fairy asked, "or some other guardian perhaps?"

The child shook her head once more.

The fairy furrowed her eyebrows. "There really are no other humans that can take care of you?"

The child bent down and pointed at the bruises on her legs. She suddenly knelt to the ground and curled up, shivering in fear. Tears welled up from her tightly-shut eyes. The fairy watched the child with an expression of concern. The girl may not have been able to speak, but this was not something that prevented the small child from crying.

The fairy floated down to the child curled on the ground and rested on her shoulder. She stroked the young girl's arm, a conflicted expression on her face. Suddenly, the fairy's expression brightened as she had an idea.

"I see. So you have nowhere else to go; is that right? Then, shall I bring you to my country?"