A World Under Leaves

Natalie walked through the forest, the leaves crunching under her feet. She had need to get away from her friends. Recently, they'd been fighting more and more and she didn't want to be involved with the insults that were being thrown back and forth. She was so lost in her thoughts that she tripped.

She twisted around at the offending branch in the middle of the path.

"Of course there is," she muttered. "Why can't people respect nature like our ancestors?"

Because people don't care about history or the climate anymore, whispered a nasty little voice inside her head.

She knew that wasn't true. Her friend Dawn cared about both those things. There were others too, but in her worst moments, she got particularly bitter about the topic.

As she raised her hand, her eyes were drawn to one leaf in particular. She stood up, went over and crouched down for a better look at the leaf that was determined to grab her attention.

"Why am I being drawn to you?" she asked, then paused. "I'm an idiot. There's no way you can respond."

She responded to the pull anyway and lifted the leaf. There was nothing unusual, only dirt and more leaves.

Then a hand shot up, grabbed her hand and pulled. Natalie screamed.

Then she was falling. Falling down a tunnel that was leading deeper and deeper into the earth. She was losing her sense of up and down and she wanted the creature to let her go and let her go back up to the surface. But the creature, despite its tiny size, had a surprisingly strong grip and resisted any of Natalie's attempts to pull away.

Natalie gave a final tug when it seemed like they were slowing down. The creature let go of her and held up its... hands? Paws? Natalie collapsed in a heap. She was expecting the creature to fight her like every time.

"Get up," the creature ordered.

Natalie looked up and got her first look at the creature who had pulled her down the tunnel. The creature's skin was mottled and blue, its hair was a deep rich navy and electric blue wings poked over its shoulders.

"Where am I?" Natalie demanded.

The creature laughed. "You poor naive human. You're never heard of The World Under the World, have you?"

The World Under the World? Natalie thought. What is going on here?

"No," she said aloud. She wasn't going to admit to a stranger that she thought this was nothing more than a dream. A strange dream where she'd been walking home from school, but a dream none the less.

"Then you're going to have a lot of learn and I'm going to have to waste my time teaching you."

"What's going on here?"

The creature laughed again. "You're going to have to wait for that."

"Then will you at least tell me your name?"

"You don't know anything about our world, do you?"

"Do you know anything about mine?" asked Natalie. Somehow she doubted the creature did.

The creature shrugged. "Plenty, but you and I both know how little that matters."

"Then I'm at a disadvantage."

The creature's face shifted into something feral. "Just how we like them." It shifted back. "Very well, I'll tell you the name the rest of your world knows me by. Sarah."

"Sarah?" Natalie couldn't believe that such a simple name had been given to such a creature "That's..."

Sarah smiled. "You don't want to believe it, but it's as true as any other name I could've given you."

"You've already said there's another name."

"One you'll never know," Sarah hissed. Her wings fluttered and Natalie could see the etching of the feral face between Sarah's natural features. "And be warned," Sarah continued, "the people here are not your friends."

"I was trying to get home from school. That I am here is an accident."

Sarah studied her for a minute. "I wouldn't be so sure about that," she replied. "You should be careful around here in any case."

"And what would you have me do?"

"Don't destroy our world the way you have destroyed yours."

"There are eight billion people in the world. I cannot control the actions of them all."

"But you do have the power of the few."

"And I want to go home. I'll do whatever you want, but let me go home."

Sarah ran a finger down Natalie's cheek. It was ice cold. "You're sweet to make the offer, but that's not how this goes."

"Then perhaps you can tell me because according to you I'm completely naive and I'm still confused about what I'm doing here and what you want with me."

"It will become clear."

"When?"

"When it sees fit."

"Do you like annoying me?"

Natalie was starting to get annoyed by this strange creature who wouldn't tell her a thing. She wanted to know where she was, what she was doing here. If she'd ever be able to go home, go to prom, graduate high school. There were so many things she wanted to do.

"If you wanted someone who would fight for the environment, you should've chosen Dawn. She would strap herself to a tank if it meant saving the world."

"What?" asked Sarah.

"Never mind," Natalie muttered. There was no way she was going to tell Sarah - if that was even her name - her secrets. She was living without much information, Sarah could survive that way too. Though it seemed like Sarah was used to being the one in control.

Natalie sat in the courtyard her arms crossed. She glared at the way Sarah moved through it, talking to a few of the people who were passing. There was the occasional nod or shake of the head, but mostly Natalie couldn't tell what they were talking about. Their voices sounded like the ebb and flow of the ocean, like they were speaking with the tides. Then she heard something about "the girl" and she knew this strange sounding conversation was about her. She gritted her teeth and waited. There was nothing she could do in this strange place. She was the one being kept here against her will. She had no power. Sarah had made that much clear. Not for the first time since their meeting Natalie cursed herself for picking up that leaf.

Sarah walked back to Natalie and pulled her to her feet. "Come."

"Where are we going?"

"You need to meet her."

"Meet who?"

Natalie scrambled to follow Sarah who was already walking down a path.

"The Queen," said Sarah, over her shoulder.