Crinkly

[ TL;DR: Crinkly faced many problems due to his gold abilities, and after he helped the Miller’s daughter turn straw into gold he left to wander the lands, hoping to make a profit. ]

Crinkly was born to an ordinary peasant family, and he had a generally happy life until his seventh birthday, when he discovered that he had the power to turn objects to gold. His parents saw his ability and decided that they could profit from it, so they started a gold-dealing business and became extremely wealthy. However, as they used their son’s ability more and more, they eventually became blind with greed and started to neglect Crinkly. Crinkly started to sneak out of the house to play with other children, but since he couldn’t quite control his power, he accidently turned a girl to gold.

When Crinkly’s parents found out, they were horrified. The people of their village were already suspicious of their fortune, and if the villagers found out that Crinkly had turned a person to gold, they would surely drive him and his family out of town. To save themselves, the boy’s parents secretly handed him over to some passing human traffickers with instructions to never bring Crinkly back to that town.

Crinkly spent years being whisked around and changing hands; he would be kidnapped every time someone found out about his ability, or he would run away, just be captured and brought back to the corrupt people he’d attempted to escape. Some people would treat him kindly at first, but would take advantage of his power. Others would downright exploit Crinkly and look at him as nothing more than a tool for getting gold. He started to slowly grasp onto the idea that gold--money-- ran the world, and that nothing else was as potent or poisonous.

Crinkly finally fled after 4 years, and headed into the forest to make sure he won’t be found. However, he misstepped and tumbled down a steep hill, losing consciousness along the way.

…

When Crinkly woke up, he found himself near a small farming village with his memories a bit jumbled. He couldn’t remember what he was doing and how he had ended up at that village-- all his memories of gold and his cursed power were murky and buried-- but he remembered his past years of misery, and was glad that he managed to escape.

He was taken in by a kindly old Miller and his beautiful daughter, and he stayed under their care. Crinkly diligently worked alongside the villagers, and was even treated as a son by the Miller. He was happy and accepted, but that contentment lasted only a year.

Gold. One day, Crinkly picked up a bale of straw next to the Miller’s daughter’s spinning wheel and was shocked to see it transform into gold. His foggy memory of his past cleared, and he remembered the last few years that he had wanted to forget. Panicking, Crinkly ran outside to regain his composure.

Unfortunately, the Miller happened to see the pile of gold next to the spinning wheel and ran into town to share the shocking news. One of the King’s soldiers happened to overhear the Miller’s incredible story, and the Miller’s daughter was taken to the royal castle, where she was tried for witchcraft. However, the King, captivated by the Miller’s daughter’s beauty, gave her an ultimatum: turn three rooms full of straw to gold, or be killed.

When Crinkly heard about what had happened, he rushed to the castle. Managing to sneak in, he helped the Miller’s daughter three times, then ran away.

…

He travelled throughout many lands for a few years, trying to find a new place to settle down. But he couldn’t. There was nowhere that felt “right”.

During his travels, Crinkly steadily became more and more reliant on his ability, and his once-despised power soon became his only comfort.

One day while exploring a so-called “enchanted forest”, Crinkly ran across a small shack hidden deep in the woods. Inside was an old man who called himself a “wizard.” The old man, after observing Crinkly’s power, proposed a deal: “Give me half your power, and I’ll save you from old age.”

Crinkly cautiously agreed. He didn’t believe that this shabby old man had any magic, and he was curious-- if he never aged, then he would have enough time to do anything he wanted…

The “wizard” laughed and disappeared after he struck the deal. Crinkly was mildly disappointed; nothing seemed to have changed… until he tried to turn some pebbles to gold and nothing happened.

A strange sense of panic started to cloud his mind. What had the old man done? Crinkly experimented with various objects, but nothing turned to gold. He was about to give up when a person walked by. He tentatively touched the person, and was relieved to see the familiar golden sheen. But the person had turned to gold. When his initial panic died down, Crinkly was horrified. The “wizard” had handicapped his ability-- he could now only turn living people to gold. Crinkly vowed not to use his power again.

Travelling was much harder without the convenience of gold. Crinkly tried to conserve what gold he had left, but his supply was soon used up. Soon reduced to a starving street-rat, Crinkly became increasingly bitter about his situation. He had so much money at his fingertips, but… He decided not to adhere to his former resolution.

…

He became a successful businessman. How could he not be successful? After all, he had all the money he could ever want right at his fingertips. Crinkly started a gold-dealing business similar to the one his parents had started so many years ago. If people didn’t pay back a debt, he had an easy way to earn back that money.

It was too easy. Crinkly began to get restless-- time passed, but he didn’t change in appearance. The old man’s magic must have worked.

Soon, Crinkly remembered an old debt-- the Miller’s daughter. It was time to collect.

…

The Queen didn’t want to give up her child. Crinkly was adamant. Only the child would do to repay the debt she owed him, but…

After hearing the Queen’s heartfelt pleads, Crinkly felt a small shred of sympathy for the first time in years. He decided that he would give her a rare opportunity, for old time’s sake. Three days to guess his name.

The Queen couldn’t remember his name. But it didn’t matter. Crinkly wasn’t going to take her child; he simply could not seem to bring himself to. So when the Queen listed out the last name, an ugly name of “Rumpelstiltskin,” Crinkly assumed that name and left.