The day Beauty met Suffering, she also encountered Grotesque. It would take a long time for her to find Peace, or to even know that was who she'd been searching for, but that day would come. But not for some time, and so we do not lack an understanding of the length and breadth of her struggles, we should start precisely where Beauty began, which was beside a babbling brook, surrounded by mosses and trees, and even the occasional patch of wildflowers. The latter's perfume wafted to her, gracing her with an etherealness of being that is not unlike the description of gardens since the beginning of time. 

In other words, Beauty resided in Paradise and spent her days frolicking over hills and sleeping on their knolls. However, she was alone and desired, after some time, to venture out, if not due to loneliness, then because of an ever-gnawing wanderlust. Her compulsion reached its pinnacle one evening while watching an orange sunset on the nearby hills. What harm, she thought, could there be in seeing what lay beyond, in the distant lands? 

This was not altogether unwise, but Beauty lacked any knowledge concerning what she would discover because after summiting a particularly large hill and entering the next valley, she soon found herself shrouded in darkness with trees that were spindly and crooked as if they had contorted themselves in their vain search for light. 

Here she roamed for a time, seeking others who might be cloaked by the darkness, but was ultimately alone until she encountered the skeleton of a man. The notion that it was someone who had sought to venture here before her made her quake. Would she die here as well? Turning, she wondered if she had maintained her bearings. Could she return home? However, it was too late, because now she heard a sickening rattle as the dried bones rose from the earth, shaking the loose soil free. The skeleton was hobbling along on its bony feet long before she thought to run. And as she did, she saw out of the corner of her eye that those bones had burst into flames.

Beauty ran until she could no longer see those dreaded bones. This was due, in part, to her pace, but also because it had burned itself into oblivion, returning to dust. Meanwhile, heaving for breath, she realized she had no idea where she was, so, kneeling, she began to pray for a guiding spirit who might lead her out of the dark valley. She heard nothing but silence in return. What spirits she had called upon seemed to have deaf ears, so this, combined with the all-encompassing flames of some wretched demon, was the first taste Beauty had ever had of suffering. 

She could not know this, however, as she was too consumed with fear to recognize anything but her next footfall. So, in this way, she crept through the dark, hoping to avoid stepping on a fallen branch or dried leaf and desiring to move ahead like something akin to a specter without arousing the suspicion of any other foul creatures who might be lurking in the shadows. 

Beauty eventually came to another rise that she surmounted sometime before the day began to break. Here she made her way through a forest under an overcast sky. While she was shaken, she was not as fearful until she began to hear a loud, fractious noise that froze her in place. Beauty ventured forth with trepidation, only to see some large mechanical contraption not unlike a catapult being used to rip trees from the earth. She watched for some time, but could not discern the purpose of the machine as it seemed to discard the trees almost as soon as they were ripped from the ground.