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// Prologue:  Who's There? 
// Story: A Kind And Loving Heart 
// by SapphireWings999 
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I was in the middle of a dark forest at night time.  The forest itself felt equal parts familiar and foreign, amiable and alien.  There was hardly any light coming in through the thick canopy of leaves above me and the forest was strangely silent to a level that bordered on eerie and uncomfortable.  I was the only sign of life in this desolate backdrop.

Suddenly, I was greeted by a rose pink ball of light that steadily approached me in a flittery manner.  The mystic sphere would alternate between shining brightly and fading to a dull shadow of its former brilliance in a pattern similar to a heartbeat or pulse.  This seemed fitting as the orb exhibited a nature that was both tender and fragile in equal amounts.

Mesmerized by the ball’s brilliant, beautiful blaze, I reached out to touch it before it darted away in its erratic manner.

“Wait!  Come back!” I called out as I gave chase. “Don’t leave me here!”

I followed the glowing orb through thick brush for what felt like several minutes before finally reaching a clearing with the soft, welcoming glow of the full moon lighting up my surroundings.  The pink sphere must’ve vanished as I could no longer find it near me.  Either that or the light of the moon had rendered it unseeable.  As I looked towards the moon in the sky, something entirely different captured my attention.

Right in front of the moon’s glow atop a small hill, I could make out an unusual shape at the hill’s peak.  The shape itself seemed somewhat familiar to me, but I couldn't quite figure out why it felt so.  Drawn in out of pure curiosity, I made my way up the hill quietly so as not to startle the owner of this strange silhouette.  I’d almost reached the summit when I accidentally stepped on a twig, causing the figure to rapidly turn around and stare at me, eyes glowing white.