A/N; First off, Happy Halloween! Second off, sorry about taking so long with this story. I think I was in a state of shock by the time I was done, because it wasn't until this week that I've been able to start work on the next one.

As per warning, I'm going to start uploading once every two weeks for the foreseeable future to give me more time to finish and edit the next story.

Hope you like this one! It took me over a year to write it.

Chapter One: The Path

Does the walker choose the path, or the path the walker?

-Garth Nix, 'Abhorsen'

xxXxx

Why did it have to be so cold here?

Naoko flinched, murmured a bit as sleep left, and wrapped her arms around the little girl sleeping next to her. The tiny brunette sighed happily, and cuddled deep into her mother's arms. Naoko could only smile, and open her eyes. Her husband was already out of the fur-laden bed that the three of them shared, pulling on his boots and heavy cloak.

"Good morning, love," she greeted him with a sleepy smile.

He grinned back at her, but finished tying the front of his shirt. "Morning, love. I'll be back about the time the sun sets."

"Are you certain you don't want me to make breakfast for you first?"

"Oh no. If I stop for that, it will be after dark by the time I get back. You know how dangerous this area is, once the sun sets."

The little girl yawned in her mother's arms, squirming around as she also woke up. "Papa? Are you going away again? Can I come, too?"

"No, sweetheart," her husband sighed, as he always did. "It's not safe for pretty girls like you. Best to stay home, where it's safe."

Their daughter made a sound of disappointment, but snuggled close to Naoko. "I never get to go outside."

Naoko felt a pang of guilt.

"It's better this way, sweetheart. Now be a good girl, and do what your mother says," he ordered, his eyes trailing up to the red head, a somewhat silly smile slipping onto his rather ordinary features.

She smiled back in the same manner, and beckoned to him with one finger as she stood up from the furry bed.

Almost as if he was on a string, the man came closer to her, and wrapped her into a soft embrace and a loving kiss.

It was the kind of kiss that made her fall in love with him.

"Hey, what about me?" their daughter pouted, standing up while holding her arms to them. "Don't I get a kiss, too?"

Her husband released his hold on her, a foolish grin still on his lips as he picked up their child, and tenderly kissed her cheek while holding her between the two of them. "Always, my angel. Now remember, be good."

"Yes, Papa," she agreed, wrapping her arms around his neck to kiss his cheek.

After that, he forced himself to leave them; he and his wife had learned by now that left unchecked, their expressions of affection could go on all day. Not that they minded, but he needed to make runs to the village in order to trade his furs for supplies before they ran out. The winters were quite extreme this far north, and it was never a good idea to tempt the weather.

"We might as well get up too, kitten," Naoko sighed, reaching for her warm outerwear. "Time for breakfast."

"Yummy!" Haru squealed, scrambling out of the nest of fur to grab her own day clothes.

As they dressed by the light of one precious candle, Naoko stared at the quilt she had slept under for most of her marriage. It was a strange one, made completely of fur patches that were arranged in a pleasing design.

If she were anyone but a trapper's wife, she never would have considered sleeping under such a thing. But she was a trapper's wife, and rather happy about the fact.

Especially since that fate had given her such a sweet little girl.

"Mama?" Haru asked as Naoko tied her shirt shut.

"Call me Mother, sweetheart. But yes?"

"Why can't we go outside? What is it like outside?"

Naoko stiffened and bit her lip painfully. They had lived in this cave since before Haru was born. She knew nothing but these stone cold walls, and the winding hallway. In fact, she barely even knew the hallway, because it led to outside, which in turn was temptation.

But… it had been years since Naoko had been outside. She missed the sun, the wind, even if it was so much more bitterly cold than what she had once been used to. She brushed her long hair back, staring at her hand.

It had received many calluses over the past years. Living in a cave this far from any other people was a hard, lonely life. She worked her fingers to the bone for her family; couldn't she get a small reprieve?

"Haru," Naoko said slowly. "If we go outside today, just this once, will you promise not to tell your father?"

Haru gasped in delight, actually jumping in place. "Really, Mama? We'll go outside?"

"After breakfast," Naoko promised, making the girl sit down so that she could brush her thin brown hair, "and call me Mother, please."

The little girl nodded, but she was so excited that Naoko could barely run her favorite comb through the soft hair. Eventually, she just gave up and pulled it into a ponytail, and then did the same to her own hair.

"Is it time yet?" Haru begged, but Naoko shook her head warmly as she started rummaging through the remaining supplies for a bite to eat.

Her own heart was beating with excitement and she was certain Haru wouldn't mind a cold breakfast today. Even better, since it was only slightly warmer in the cave than outside, all her daughter needed was an extra shirt of hers to keep warm.

After what felt like centuries, Naoko blew out the candle, gently took her young daughter by the hand, and passed through the threadbare curtain that neither of them were allowed to pass through.

As soon as they came through, a cold breeze kissed Naoko's cheek, as if in greeting. Laughing happily, she guided Haru down the hallway, to the spot of white light that was waiting patiently.

When they finally came out, the little brunette gasped with surprise and pulled back into the cave. "It's too bright!" she cried out, holding her hands to her eyes.

The light was also hurting Naoko's eyes, but she could barely care. She was outside!

Keeping her eyes closed for now, the older woman held her arms out as wide as she could, soaking in the sunlight greedily. It was a still, clear day; completely silent. She wasn't used to such silence, but it so lovely out here!

"Mama!" Haru kept crying. "It's too bright! Let's go back!"

"Oh, but my little kitten! You don't know all the fun we can have out here," Naoko gushed happily, only running back into the cave to drag the little brunette out. "Come on; let's make snow angels!"

"Mama, we should go back. It's too quiet," Haru insisted as her mother forced her to walk a distance from the cave, to where her husband was sure to never see.

"You lie down on the ground just like this," Naoko instructed, helping her onto the thick snow before lying down next to her. "Now move your arms and legs around like me, sweetheart."

"Mama, something's wrong," Haru sobbed, unable to move a limb from her fallen state. "Please. Something's wrong."

That made Naoko pause. Haru never cried unless she was hurt. Most of the time, her daughter was a sweet and cheerful little girl.

Naoko sat up and sighed. "Honey, I know it's bright out here, and so much bigger, but I promise you that it's safe."

"Then why do I feel so bad? Am I sick?" Haru was begging to know.

Concerned, Naoko pulled the girl onto her lap and started pressing her hands over the girl's body. "Does this hurt? What about here?"

"No, Mama," Haru sobbed, pressing both hands over her heart. "It's here. I hurt here."

Naoko bit her lip in dismay. This was possibly her only chance to be outside for several more years, but if her daughter was truly feeling so bad, she should take her back into the cave.

But it has been so long…

"Honey, just do one snow angel for me, and we'll go inside."

Haru shook her head, still crying terribly. "No, just inside," she insisted, pleading with her mother to give in.

Before Naoko could so much as open her mouth, a loud roar suddenly filled her ears, one that she knew very well. She gasped in horror, and looked around frantically.

A giant polar bear was running at them on all fours; its' maw already smeared with the blood of fresh kill.

Praying that it wasn't her husband's blood, Naoko jumped in front of her daughter and held her arms out to keep her from view. "Haru, run to the cave, now!" she screamed.

Before her daughter had a chance to answer, the great white bear was practically in front of her, standing to his full height as he rose his paws to kill her.

Just as Naoko was raising her arms to protect her face… Haru lunged at the bear, and managed to knock it onto its' back a good few feet from her!

"Stay away from my mama!" the little girl snarled in a threatening tone as she rolled off the bear and put up her fists. Instead of the sweet maple color she had inherited from her mother, her eyes were now as red as blood.

Naoko's blood seemed to freeze over from that tone, and from the eye color. Both of them had long haunted her nightmares. "No! Haru, stop; get away from it!"

But neither the bear nor the child was interested in her anymore. Recognizing that the tiny brunette was a threat, the bear rolled onto its legs and used its large paws to try hitting the girl. But Haru was faster than she looked and managed to evade the blows before hopping onto the bear's back to attempt strangling him with her arms. But his neck was far too big for her little arms.

"No one threatens my mama!" Haru roared, not unlike the bear as it stood to its full height again and tried to pry her off.

Naoko tried to move. To help her daughter, to run from the bear, from that tone; anything! But she was as frozen as a statue, as her mind unwillingly relived the last time she had heard such an angry commanding voice, and seen such angry, livid eyes.

The bear managed to toss Haru from its neck, making her land on the ground. She rolled quickly to avoid getting flattened by her opponent.

Somehow, Haru got hold of a large rock, but instead of throwing it at the bear, she ran for the steep cliff face of rock that bordered one side of the family cave.

Haru was running so fast that she was able to actually walk up the side of the cliff before jumping off to land on the bear's back again, since it had made pursuit. As he roared in outrage, the little girl held onto his white fur with one hand, and used the rock to start beating savagely at his neck.

Before the bear was able to throw her again, an audible crack was heard as she broke his neck. The bear immediately fell to the ground, sending the girl to roll across the snow.

Naoko stayed exactly where she was, unable to move or take her eyes off her daughter as she slowly sat up with a dizzy expression. Then, to her relief, the red in Haru's eyes faded away until her familiar brown was all that was left.

As if on cue, the little brunette started crying, worse than she had been before. "Mama," she sobbed, holding her mitten-covered hands to her skull. "My head hurts!"

"… I know," was all Naoko could answer that with, her tone laced with horror. But now that her daughter was back to normal, she found the strength to start moving again.

As she stepped closer to Haru to pick her up, a loud crack of thunder was heard. She looked up in surprise, since it was a crystal clear day; not a single cloud in sight.

Then a windstorm picked up, sending sharp ice crystals at her face as she managed to pull her daughter into her arms and bury her girl's face into her coat to keep it safe.

"What have you done?" a voice shrieked, so much like the banshee stories Naoko used to read about.

But she didn't answer; doing everything in her power to shield Haru from the ice storm.

Without a warning, the ice crystals stopped coming at them, choosing instead to make a small tornado close to the bear's corpse. Naoko was unable to look away as a figure began to emerge from the tornado, which faded as the figure took a solid form.

She was as beautiful as she was pale, as if she had been carved from a piece of ice. Her long white gown sparkled with diamonds, and her long white hair was left to flow elegantly down her shoulders and back. She was also crowned with diamonds, although it was possible that they were icicles.

"Shiro!" the fairy wailed, throwing herself over the bear's corpse to embrace it around the neck. "My poor Shiro. Who did this to you?" she wept into his fur.

Naoko looked down at her daughter with horror. It was one thing to kill a random bear. It was completely another to kill a fairy's companion. Their tempers were legendary, as were their punishments.

Without a second thought, Naoko pushed Haru behind her, and summoned all the courage she had. "I killed him. It's my fault."

The fairy looked up at her, her black eyes turning even darker with fury as icy tears continued to flow down her face. She slowly stood up, and walked over to the human in a menacing manner. "Why did you kill my friend?" she snarled as snowflakes began dancing around her fists with fury.

"He was threatening my daughter-" Naoko tried to say, but inexplicably lost the power of speech as the fairy looked deep into her eyes.

"… You lie, human," she sneered. "Just like the rest of your kind; nothing but liars."

"I did it," Haru piped up fearfully. "I killed him, not Mama."

"Honey, no-" Naoko tried to stop her, but was unable to speak more with another glare from the fairy.

"Keep silent, human. Her words ring of truth." She snapped her fingers, encasing Naoko's body in ice up to her neck.

She gasped from the cold as Haru stumbled to the ground from surprise.

"Speak again out of turn and I'll let my ice bury you forever," the fairy informed her in a disdainful voice, returning her attention to Haru. Some of her anger seemed to melt away, as she studied the tiny little girl trembling in fear on the snow.

"… You have berserker blood, don't you child?" the fairy asked in a thoughtful tone.

"I… I don't know," Haru sobbed, even as her tears turned into ice from the cold. "I just couldn't let him hurt Mama. I love my Mama."

The fairy hummed, giving a stern glance to Naoko. "She does, doesn't she?"

"… Yes. From my father," Naoko managed to say, though loath to compare her daughter with him.

The fairy gave a strange laugh, returning her glance to the child. "I never thought a mere human would be able to kill my beloved Shiro. Look at me, child," she commanded.

Although Haru was clearly scared to death, she still looked up at the fairy.

"… Very good. Even without the blood, you're a brave one," she approved, now circling around the child, appraising her.

Haru kept looking back at her, her large brown eyes wide with horror.

"Shiro had been my companion for three centuries, child. Even if his temper sometimes got the best of him, he was my friend. Do you have any idea what kind of bonds there are, between those to spend centuries together?"

Haru kept staring, too terrified to speak.

"They are powerful. You know, you remind me of Shiro when we first met; an adorable cub with a large temper." Still thinking, the fairy ran her slim fingers through the little girl's soft brown hair, making frost cover parts of it.

Haru shivered from the touch, but did nothing to stop the fairy. Naoko could do nothing but watch, even as she lost feeling in her limbs.

"I have come to a decision," she said after several moments of thought. "You have killed my friend, and must therefore be punished. Come with me," she commanded, grabbing Haru's arm to pull her to her feet.

"Mama," she quietly sobbed, making Naoko start struggling anew, but it was no use. The ice was too thick for her to break free.

"Not a word," the fairy reminded the mother with an icy smile, forcing Haru to stand close to the bear she had killed. "Shiro, my dear friend; find thy rest now." She placed her hands gently on the snow white fur, burying her fingers deep into it.

Naoko stared in amazement as the body seemed to dissolve at her touch, changing into a pillar of pure light that escaped into heaven, almost like a lightning strike in a slow reverse motion.

By the time the light was gone, only the bear's hide was left in the fairy's hands. She turned to the tiny brunette, who was frozen as still as a statue.

"This is thy punishment, human child," the fairy said formally, wrapping the hide around the girl's neck until it flowed behind her like a cape.

Haru gasped, shaking as if struck by a seizure as her dark brown hair began fading, losing its color as the bearskin adjusted itself to a shape and size that would be perfect for her, along with a hood made from the bear's head.

Even her skin, which had been a healthy pink, changed as white as her hair until she was almost impossible to define from the snow.

Once the girl had collapsed to the ground from exhaustion, the fairy informed her of her fate in a calm, almost indifferent tone.

"For taking the life of my dearest friend, you will wear his hide and his mark for the rest of your days. You are hereby forbidden to ever take a mate, or to ever speak your own name. When you die, either by accident or design, the hide will merge with your body, and you will become a bear to serve me for all eternity in Shiro's place."

From her fallen state, Haru started crying anew, struggling to rise from the weight of the bearskin.

"However," the fairy continued, giving the girl a small humorless smile as she continued to stare. "Because you cannot help what is in your blood, and you were protecting your mother, I will allow a small bit of hope. If you should find a place that welcomes you with open hearts and arms, without knowing you or expecting anything from you in return, the punishment will be lifted, and you will be free to do as you wish. Do you understand, little one?"

"Y-Yes, ma'am," Haru sobbed, finally managing to sit up, although she was covering her face with both hands.

"Say 'yes, my lady'," the fairy corrected.

"Yes, my lady," the girl whispered, still crying into her hands.

"Haru…" Naoko whispered in horror.

The fairy looked at her with annoyance. "For lying to me, human, both you and your mate are now forbidden from speaking her name, or in any way revealing it. If she wants anyone to ever call her by name again, she will have to earn it on her own." She pointed a finger at the woman, whose icy encasement dissolved into snowflakes.

Naoko fell to the ground, shaking terribly from the cold.

"Until we meet again, my new pet," the fairy bid Haru, brushing her hand over the girl's hair one more time before walking away, dissolving into mist until she was completely gone.

"Mama!" her daughter sobbed, forcing herself to stand. Then, as her body adjusted to the bearskin, she found the strength to run to her mother's side.

With horror, Naoko realized that now her daughter's sweet maple-colored eyes were now as black as the fairy's.

Or, perhaps more accurately, like a polar bear's. Even the winter clothes she had been bundled up in were now of purest white.

"Mama, are you okay?" Haru begged, helping her mother to sit up.

"I-I-I can't f-f-feel," Naoko gasped. The cold from the ice had seeped deep into her body. She couldn't feel her limbs!

"I'll help you, Mama," Haru promised, quickly looking over her mother, her little brow knit in concentration. She bit her lip in worry, but then very carefully wrapped her arms around her mother's. "This is the only way, Mama. I'm sorry."

Then, to Naoko's complete surprise, Haru started dragging her back into the cave. That in itself wasn't completely impossible, especially with all that slick snow on the ground, but the pace was unheard of for a seven- year-old girl.

Within seconds, Haru had managed to drag her back to the mouth of the cave. "I better not do that anymore. The rocks will hurt you."

"I-I doubt I would even feel it," Naoko stuttered, struggling to get to her feet.

But even as her now pale daughter helped her through the cave's mouth, she couldn't stop staring at the fallen snow in guilt and misery.

Even if she hadn't gotten Haru cursed, her husband was an expert trapper. The tracks they had left behind would have betrayed her anyway.

ooOoo

Naoko never completely recovered from being encased in enchanted ice. It started as a small cold, and grew steadily worse.

Hasho had been completely furious that Naoko had broken her promise and taken their daughter out of the cave, but that didn't stop him from caring for her the best he could. Experience had taught him many ways to help ease his wife's illness, but nothing he tried worked.

About a month after the curse began, Naoko's life ended. With a heavy heart, Hasho and his daughter gathered enough fire wood for her funeral pyre and watched silently as the flames slowly consumed her flesh.

"Papa?" she asked hesitantly, pulling on the edge of his coat.

"Not now, Ha-ech!" he gasped, once he attempted to say her name. Once he got his breath back, he pried his child's hand off his coat. "Please. Not now."

She said nothing, but after a few seconds, he could hear her walk back into the cave, leaving him alone with the pyre.

Hasho looked behind him with a heavy heart, hardly recognizing his child anymore. He didn't think she had smiled once since the incident, and frankly, he didn't see why she would.

"Why, Naoko?" he sobbed, looking at the pyre again. "I was trying, wasn't I? I did everything I could. Why did you leave the cave?"

She had never completely answered him in that score. She had known how important it was for her and their daughter to stay hidden. In fact, Hasho never told anyone in the village he traded with that he had a family. He was careful to sometimes go to an even farther village to keep anyone from guessing that he was providing for a wife and child.

Their life, although far from ideal, had at least been happy. They had each other, and a beautiful little girl.

Who was now cursed and without a mother.

"What are we supposed to do without you?" he sobbed. "She's too young to stay in the cave by herself, and no one could ever replace you."

Naoko didn't answer, but he was expecting that. He sighed and began pacing the snow between the pyre and the cave.

He had loved Naoko for years, long before she noticed that he existed. He had literally lived for the rare occasions that he could see her, or to even know that there was a chance that she would look at him. When the day came that she needed his help, he thought he had died and gone to heaven, despite the terrible circumstances.

Then when she fell in love with him…

He rubbed his mitten against his cold brown hair, watching the flames devour the last of his beloved wife.

How was he supposed to care for his daughter when he couldn't so much as say her name? It hurt just to look at her anymore.

Once the fire dissolved into soft ash, and the sun had gone down, Hasho forced himself to return to the cave that had served as their home since before they knew their daughter was coming.

But before reaching the curtain, he could tell something was wrong. He stormed up to the thin, worn out cloth and pulled it to the side.

His child had huddled herself into a small crevice in the wall, only visible from the small bit of white fur that billowed from her bearskin cloak. Even before he marched to the hiding spot, he could hear her weeping into her arms.

"Ha-ech!" he started gasping, forgetting that he was forbidden to speak her name.

Her only response was to huddle tighter into the crevice, still weeping, still refusing to look at him.

Once Hasho got his breath back, he tried reaching into the crevice to pull her out, but was only able to brush his fingertips against her knees. "Honey, come out. Are you hungry?"

He couldn't remember the last time either of them had eaten. There was food in plenty from the game he trapped and the last trip to the village, but decidedly less in the way of appetites.

She shook her head, her entire body shaking against the cold stone as she continued to cry.

"Sweetheart, I know you miss your mother, but you need to come out here. I can't get to you when you're in there," he sighed, making a mental note to fill this crevice with rocks at the earliest opportunity so that she wouldn't be able to hide in there again.

"I-It's my fault!" she wept, just enough for him to hear her. "Mama's dead b-b-because of me! I tried… I tried to get her back inside… didn't try enough. My fault… my fault…"

Hasho's heart felt like it was breaking again. Glancing down, he could see that her bearskin cloak wasn't outside his reach. Taking a big fistful of the soft white fur, he began pulling on it insistently. "Come here," he said in a firm tone.

Although she clearly didn't want to, his hold on her cloak made her wiggle out of her hiding place until he could pull her into a rough embrace.

"It isn't your fault, Sweetheart. Once your mother made up her mind about something, nothing could stop her. She was famous for that trait, back before we got married. I should have known that she'd try to go outside, but after all these years, I let my guard down. If it's anyone's fault, it's mine. I should have taken the two of you on short visits outside, but…"

He trailed off, not wanting to finish that sentence.

She looked up at him through her tears. "But… but what?" she asked through her sobs.

"… It was too dangerous," he managed to say after a few minutes. He and Naoko had long agreed to never tell her precisely why they were living in a cave and never saw another soul.

"Are there even more fairies out there?" she asked in horror.

"Among other things," he sighed, picking her up in order to sit in the low chair next to the fur nest they had long slept in.

However, his daughter hadn't been able to sleep in it since getting a personal bearskin cloak. All that fur with her parents' body heat was too hot for her to handle anymore.

Spotting his wife's favorite comb, he adjusted his daughter a bit on his lap, grabbed the comb, and started running it gently through snow white hair.

The little girl's cries began softening after a few minutes of the familiar action, making her cuddle against him lovingly once the tears were spent.

He gently kissed her cheek and kept combing her soft, fine hair. Usually Naoko was the one to do this, but… they both needed this. It was good to feel the cool metal slowly warm against his skin, and she was clearly enjoying the familiar sensation of the comb's teeth.

But that still left him with a big problem; what should he do with his child while he needed to be out hunting or trading with the village? Seven was much too young to start leaving her alone.

'What to do… what to do…'

There was no help for it. He'd have to move to the village, and… what? Even if he passed off his daughter as an albino, he wouldn't be able to hide the way whatever clothes she put on changed as white as the rest of her. Someone was bound to try to make her wear something new, and they would see for themselves that she was cursed. Who knew what they would do to his precious little girl when he was going to be gone for hours at a time? Even if they were willing to keep an eye out for her, would they actually prevent any mischief that might happen?

Naoko's sewing bag was poking him in the rib, where she had usually slung it over the back of the chair. Hasho sighed, and elbowed it out of the way.

It fell to the ground, making her prized scissors fall out of the bag.

Scissors.

The little girl noticed that the bag had fallen from its place, and hopped off her father's lap to take care of it. "Mama never liked having her bag on the floor."

"No. She didn't," Hasho whispered, stopping her from putting it on a shelf. He took the bag from her and slung it over the back of his chair again, but in a different position so it wouldn't dig into his rib again. "Sit on my lap, sweetheart."

She nodded, and crawled onto him again. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and kissed his cheek like she usually did.

He kissed her cheek in return, and gave her a hug before returning to combing her soft white hair.

His daughter sighed, finding great comfort in the simple task.

But Hasho couldn't get his mind off of the plan that had sparked to life. It was a risky one, and so much could go wrong if someone found them out. If any harm came to his only child, he would never forgive himself.

What choice did he have? Any other way would leave her defenseless. If it was her destiny to find a place with open hearts and arms… then it was his destiny to prepare her, the only way he knew how.

He slipped his hand into his wife's bag and pulled out the scissors again. He made sure to keep combing her hair with the other hand so that she wouldn't suspect a thing.

She started humming softly, and kicking the air with her little legs. Hasho's heart broke again. In order to make the plan work, she wouldn't be humming or singing for a long time.

He slowly opened the scissors to evade a sound, giving his daughter's long white locks a final caress as he held all of it in a seemingly random gesture…

Before cutting all of it off with a swift movement.