A Toy Maker, an Assistant, and a Forest Spirit

The first light of day pours softly into the room where the Toy Maker is sleeping. He isn't a very old man. About thirty-two with red hair and pale skin. His neighbours rooster crows loudly and repeatedly until he finally wakes up from a dream about his father. Sitting up in bed he remembers that day years ago when his father was lost to him. They had been visiting a village on the other side of the great river that boarders one side of the village he was currently living in. He no longer remembers why they were there only what happened they day they were to leave. His father had been stopped by some guards at the gate. He had hide because his father had said: "If I am ever stopped by guards you must hide. Promise me." I wish that day I had disobeyed him. He thinks throwing the covers back and standing in the light. An image of his father burning at the stake flashes through his mind. He shakes his head violently, goes to the water bowl and splashes his face a few times before going down to the kitchen.

A younger man of sixteen stands in front of a small fire stirring a cauldron that no doubt held their breakfast. The boy talks more than he likes but for someone of his age the Toy Maker knows it will lessen, at least he hopes.
"Good morning Master, porridge is almost ready." The boy says cheerfully, stirring some spice or another into the cauldron. The Toy Maker grunts in response. "What'll we be doin' today Master?" The lad asks spooning three spoonful’s of the greyish substance into a bowl for each of them.
"The same as yesterday Tim. Now hush up and eat your food." He growls at the lad, who flinches and does as told.

As the day wears on the Toy Maker gets more grumpy than usual. He paces the shelves of toys frowning all the while. He isn't happy at all. He wants something new, but nothing is coming to mind and that frustrates him quite a bit. The bell on the door rings but he ignores it knowing that his assistant will see too whoever has come in. As he drifted closer to the counter where his assistant was indeed helping a young woman wrap a set of toy soldiers. There was something about the woman that drew him from his pacing. She was a lovely woman. Snow white skin, sparkling blue eyes, dark auburn hair that flowed in ringlets down her back. Her clothes were plain compared to that. Simple. Bland.

He watched her leave with her brown package, before following her out, claiming that he was going out to pick up some new supplies. They walked a few blocks before he caught up with her and trapped her in an ally.
"What you want?" She asks cowering among the boxes and barrels.
"To not be bored dear lady." The Toy maker grins wickedly as dark mist surrounds the woman. When it clears a doll sits in her place. On his way back to the shop he looks at the doll for the tenth time and growls, throwing her over his shoulder.
"...Grants wishes." The toy maker stops outside the pubs open door. A crowd has gathered to listen to a tale. "In the forest just outside your village, there is said to be a spirit that grants wishes to whoever catches it."

Now having lived in the village for years the toy maker had heard about this spirit before and had never bothered with it. Brushed it off as rumour. But now, in his immense boredom he suddenly had an awfully wonderful idea. Once inside his shop he packed a bag and left for the forest. As the sun sets behind the trees, he stops for the night behind some bushes just a little ways from the road.

                                                      ********
Bird song drifts down from the branches an into Casey's ears. She stretches and looks around her little grove. It was beautiful and smelled of fresh flowers. Spring had come at last. Water bubbles in a stream just outside the brightly light grove. Picking up her flute Casey skips from the grove to the stream for a drink. A little blue bird flutters down to her shoulder and tweets happily in her ear.
"Good morning to you too little blue bird." Casey smiles and jumps the stream and dances through the trees. Butterflies followed her, fluttering around her as she continued through the forest. A baby fawn had been born in the night and the forest was alive with joyful animals on their way to catch a glimpse of the new born. Casey was just ask excited. She loved animals and was looking forward to meeting this new addition to her friends.

                                              *********
It was mid day by the time Toy Maker had found evidence that the forest spirit existed. Foot impresions on the bank of a stream. If the legends were true it was hard to trick the spirit and even harder to catch her, but he had planned ahead by making a talisman to hide himself in the forest. A rustling in the bushes to his left sent him diving behind a tree. A small rabbit hopped out, twitched its nose and drank from the stream. The Toy Maker smiled. There was a plan forming in the depths of his evil mind and the poor rabbit was going to help him.

                                                       *********
The fawn was beautiful. Casey had enjoyed watching and helping the fawn stand and walk around. Eventually though it was time to leave the little fawn to its mother. She was hungry so she didn't mind leaving to go back to her grove and eat the berries she had picked the previous day. It was lunch time for all the animals in the forest. The blue bird on her shoulder flew off as she passed a bush of red berries. the butterflies fluttered down to the flowers one by one as Casey passed them. She paused for a drink at the stream before entering her grove. She had just pulled the berries from a tree trunk when a twig snapped behind her. turning slowly she sighed, it was only a rabbit. She knelt inviting it to take a few berries from her hand.

The rabbit hopped closer. She waited patienly for the rabbit to take a berry. They could be skitish and this one looked new to her. The little rabbit finally took a berry but as its nose touched her hand it exploded. Casey screamed and tried to run, but there were suddenly brown scratchy vines around her. She struggled against the strange new vine surrounding her. She tried to get them off with her magic but they wouldn't do as she asked. Even the trees around her wouldn't move to help her. Casey yelled again, this time in frustration.

"There's no need to yell my dear." A dark voice mused. She turned to watch a man walk into her grove. There was something off about this man, but she couldn't place what it was.
"What did you do to the rabbit?!" She cried.
"Killed it and be-spelled it with a trap. Now if you'll grant my wish I'll let you go." He grinned wickedly.
"Never!"
"Oh good," The man said getting closer. Casey watched him out of drooping eyes. "I was hopping to have more fun anyway." He was kneeling in front of her when her eyes finally closed. "You'll make such a lovely doll." The man's dark laughter echoed in her head as she fell asleep.

                                                            ********
It was a much longer walk back to the village and his shop now that he had the extra weight of the forest spirit to carry. The moon was high in the sky by the time he got inside his shop and into his storage room. He laid her down on the work table and removed the bindings around her wrists and ankles.
"What a beautiful doll you'll make." He breathed raising his hands to begin the spell.  When he finally finished the spell he sat her up in the work chair, closed and locked the door behind him, and went to bed. There would be time for fun tomorrow. He chuckled at all the thoughts in his head as he got into bed.

                                                       **********
Casey woke to a brightly light and frightening new world. She had never seen anything like it in her life. Some of the tools were familiar but most were not. No one less was in the room, as far as she could tell. A figure sat on the table in front of her. It looked like a human but the eyes stared blankly back at her. She tried to touch it but found she couldn't move her arms, or her legs. Her head wouldn't move either. Casey began to panic just as the door opened. The man from the other day was there. Then she remember the rabbit and getting caught.

"Glad to see you've woken up." He said closing the door behind him. "I suppose I don't have to tell ya that you can't move or speak since your a doll and all." He laughed and picked her up. She did the only thing she could do, glare. "Your the first out of all my victims to still retain their consciousness. It must be very uncomfortable to know that you don't have control over your own body." He laughed moving her arm up and down to emphasises his point.

Casey tried to struggle against her forced movements but it was no use. She couldn't move. She spent most of the day in the horrible company of the Toy Maker. At noon he left and she resumed her attempts to move or use her powers.
She could sense a younger man in the area, the older one was no where in sight. She tried to call to him, and it took a couple tries before she remembered she couldn't speak. Casey tried something else.

Help. She thought to the boy.
"What?!"
Help me.
Who's there?" The boy asked looking around the empty shop.
My name is Yara, but you can call me Casey. The boy looked wildly around terrified that he was going insane.
"I must be crazy."
You're not crazy.
"I'm talking to air. I'm crazy."
You're not crazy. I promise. You're a very nice young man.
"Thank you.... Yara."
Your welcome. Please can you help me?
"What's wrong?"
I've been turned into a doll. The boy laughed. I'm serious!
"And I'm nuts." The boy laughed again.

Please I must get back to my forest. But I'm not strong enough to break this magic.
"A...Are you the forest spirit?" The boy asked. He had heard the stories about the forest spirit as a kid, his mother had told them to him before bed. 'Now time,' She would say, 'you must always remember that forest spirits live and thrive in their forests, and when someone takes a forest spirit away from their forest do you know what happens to them?' He would shake his head. 'They begin to lose their magic, until eventually they are magic-less. It doesn’t happen right away but over many many years.'
Yes. Casey's voice echoed through his thoughts. He had promised his mother to always respect the forest spirits and their forests.
"Wh...Where are you?"
In a room filled with tools.

"That's the Masters storage room. What are you doing in there?"
I was brought here.
"By who?"
A bad man with evil dark green eyes and red hair.
"You describe my Master but that's not possible. He may be a grouchy old geezer but he couldn't do something like what you describe."
Come and see. Tim hesitates but goes to his Masters workshop to find the spirit.
"Where are you?" He asks again as he closes the door behind him.
On the table. Time approaches the table but cant tell between the two dolls which one is supposedly the spirit.
"What do you look like?"
I have dark green hair, blue eyes, pale skin, and a dress made from my forest.

Spotting the doll, Tim picks Casey up and holds her gingerly.
"Now what?"
You must wish me back to normal.
"O...Okay." Tim takes a deep breath and closes his eyes. "I wish for Yara to return to normal." A warm breeze blows through the closed off room.
"You can open your eyes now." A voice like wind chimes says. He does and what he sees stuns him. The doll is now standing on the ground and is about as tall as his chest.
"Thank you for saving me." Casey smiles.
"Sure."
"We must find this man you call Master. He is a dangerous man. He turned me into that doll and many others before me, so he said." She watches the boy register what she says and come to terms with it.

"He's probably coming back form the seamstress’s place."
"Lead the way, we must hurry." Tim hesitates for only a seconded before rushing out the door and into the street, Casey close behind him.

                                                         ***********
The toy maker had two bundles under his arm with doll clothes for his new doll. He had just rounded the corner when he saw the spirit in her human form and his assistant running down the street at him.
"Fools." he sighed and pulled a dagger from his pocket and  threw it at Tim's leg. Tim screamed . Casey stopped to look at the wound.
"I'm okay, it's nothing. Stop him." Tim managed to say through gritted teeth.
"You are a horrible man!" Casey yells at the toy maker.
"I know." The Toy Maker grinned at her over another much longer dagger. Casey looked around for something to use against him, but there was nothing of use. "You're mine!" The Toy Maker shouts running at her. She move gracefully to the side and jumps into the air as he swipes at her again. "Come down from there!" He yells angrily slashing at her while she flutters around.

Suddenly an Idea comes to her, but she's only got one chance to make it work. He swipes at her again, she ducks and wraps her arms around his waist. He flips the knife in his hand and stabs down at her back, she moves at the very last minute and the dagger implailes the Toy Makers stomach causing him to stager and drop the dagger.  Casey extends  a hand out toward him and the ground begins to shake beneath him.
"What are..." he doesn't get to finish his sentence as vines sprout from the ground and wrap around him, tightening and pulling. He screams high, sharp, and hysterical as he's pulled into the ground by the vines.

"You stopped him." Tim whispers awed.
"Yes, but his magic has still to be undone." She replies gliding back towards the toy shop. It didn't take long for Casey to free all the people and animals the Toy Maker had turned into dolls. When the last one was returned to normal she turned to Tim who was sitting on the floor by the counter.
"Thank you for helping me. In return I would like to grant you one wish." Tim smiled slowly at her.
"My... pleasure... Yara." He breathed. She touched his forehead with her hand and tears fell from her eyes. He was clamy, his breathing was slow and getting slower.
"Oh no..."
"It's alright.... I know.... won't make it." He smiled but it was weak and pain filled.
"Tell me your name and I will grant you one wish." Casey said watching unable to do anything for him.
"Tim...."
"What do you wish for Tim?"
"For my little sister to walk again."

"Granted." She could feel her energy lessen which always meant that the wish had come true.
"Thank... you..." Tim said his eyes closing for the last time. Casey stood, extended both hands called for the plants to break through the ground and up into the shop. When the dust cleared Tim was surrounded by flowers. It was the least she could do for him after all his selfless acts. She took a flower from her dress and placed it on his chest before turning and walking back to her forest where she would stay.