It was dark this night; too dark and too quiet. The moon was a deep blood red against the black sky. No stars had shown their brilliance, no owls hooting, nor crickets chirping. A village in the middle of a dead valley stood silent, walls surrounding them for protection. They were made of the finest stone, having blood splatters, burned black spots, and spikes on the outer sides. The valley was dark, trees stripped and naked of their leaves as branches twisted in painful ways to the sky as if desperately seeking help from this torturous land. Grass was nowhere in sight. All that lay was dirt and stone. A dried river bed circled around this valley. A small hut lay close to the center within the walls. In this hut there lay three rooms. One had a fireplace with the red-black coals burning low. The second was towards the back of the house where two figures lay in a cramped bed sleeping soundly. In the third, the room that lay towards the front of the house laid a small girl in her bed of straw. The window above her head was open with the cool night air brushing in causing a shiver from the girl. She looked of the age seven or eight. Her skin pale and her hair coal black. Her eyes were a liquid topaz gold, shining brightly even through darkness such as this. She lay awake this night, sleep evading her. Rising slowly out of her bed, the covers falling from her, the girl climbed to her window. Her bright and wide eyes staring at the red moon as a fear crept into her. Shivering again, this time not from the cold, the girl clambered out of her window, the white sleeping gown coming down to her ankles. feeling the ground beneath her feet her small hands slowly let go of the edge as she twisted, placing her right foot behind her, the heel in the air as she turned in a 180 degree turn, once more placing it by her left foot as she looked about herself. Hearing nothing but the wind blow by and seeing nothing she darted for the center of the village. Hurriedly placing one foot before the other as the girl ran. Her lungs sucking in air greedily. Upon reaching the center she skitters to a stop. her heart pounding as she looked down at the single piece of life in all this land, the one and only beautiful life that made her gaze at it in wonder. A pure purple rose stood in the center, standing with pride as the bud slowly began to bloom. A rose as rare as this was sacred to the girl. She nurtured it back to health when she arrived at this village. Carefully watching as the roots sprouted from the small blue seed. Gently placing a few drops of water into its soil. When a small green stem sprouted she had caught her breath in excitement. As she fed it water each night the small stem grew. Thickening and slightly darkening its shade of green. As a small bud began to form at its very tip thorns of red formed along its body as if to protect it from any who were to try and pick such an ancient gift. The thorns were small but many as they curved in every direction, most seeming to point up or down. Two longer stems split to form beautiful green leaves. Forming in a slightly roundish shape with veins running all through them back to the body of the rose. Its head grew as the nights went by. When one night the green bud suddenly split into six sections as the dark purple hued petals began to form and sprout out to the world. The new weight this had strained on the rose causing it to curve only slightly as they thickened, becoming richer in colour, setting off the sweetest of smells. They curled at the ends as the many, many petals bloomed into a magnificent rose of beauty and wonder to the entire world. The girl had never taken such care of anything but this one small piece of life. The little hope it brought into her very being, deep to her core and her soul. This night was the rarest of nights when the rose would bloom at its most, feeding from the light the blood moon gave. Slowly it began to awaken. Slowly each petal spreading out, opening as it welcomed the moon light's companionship. When finally even to the smallest of petals that had opened, giving off a strong aura of power and protection to this young girl who nurtured it back to health, it showed its true brilliance. The truth to the untold power of life as the rose soaked in the night hungrily, enjoying the company of this small girl. She watched it in wonder as the wind blew against her cheeks, whipping her hair back. Never had she seen any such as this.