Everyone knows the story of Beauty and the Beast, right? Well, what if I told you that what you thought was true, wasn't actually 100% factual? Belle was a young woman that was very different from the rest of the people in her village. For instance, she was always wearing dark colors, but that only enhanced her beauty, and everyone knew this. She was very bubbly, except she usually kept to herself whenever she felt the jealous stares of other women, but she couldn't help the way she looked.

One day, on her way home from the book store, Gaston cornered her and asked for her hand. Disgusted, she refused and pushed the brute away and ran home. The Duke heard about her refusal to his son and told her if she did not marry Gaston, she would be banned from the village. "Banish me then," she answered bravely, "I will not marry someone that I do not love, especially one who is so vain." This angered Gaston and his father, and she was driven out of the village at sunset.

The Beast lived in his castle about 5 miles away from Belle's home village with some of his servants, the rest ran away when they heard the witch was casting the spell. Betrayed, the Beast locked his gate and locked himself up in the west wing, hardly ever coming down. However, this changed when Belle was banished.

Belle was running through the woods, away from a pack of wolves that found her about ten minutes after the sun sank beneath the horizon. Surprisingly, she was ahead of them when she noticed a gate up ahead. Mustering as much strength and energy she could, she pushed herself to the gate and was discouraged to find it locked. She glanced behind her and saw the wolves coming quickly, so she climbed the 20 foot tall gate, avoiding the hungry carnivores nipping at her heals. When she landed on the other side, she didn't stop. She ran up the stairs of the castle, pushed one of the heavy doors open, and slammed it shut. Safe inside, she tried catching her breath with her eyes shut, completely unaware that she wasn't alone. she opened her deep blue eyes only to find herself staring into the crimson eyes that belonged to the owner of her refuge. "What are you doing here?" he asked in a gruff voice.

"I'm sorry for trespassing, but I was being chased by a pack of wolves, and this was the only place that I found that was safe," she explained.

"There's a village 5 miles north from here, why didn't you go there?"

"I know, I used to live there, but I was recently banished for some bizarre reason and that's why I was in the woods in the first place," she answered simply.

"Why did they banish you?" he asked cautiously.

"I wouldn't marry the duke's egotistic son." He nodded, eyeing her.

"You aren't afraid," he pointed out. Anyone who saw his pointed ears, sharp nose, crimson eyes and furry face would always cower in fear, and once they've seen his sharp teeth...they're outside being ripped apart by the wolves.

She shook her head smiling, "You are correct, I actually find your appearance to be quite fascinating."

"Fascinating?" he asked confused. She nodded. "Well then," he said smiling a little bit, ":You're welcome to stay here if you'd like, unless you have somewhere else to go..." he trailed off.

"Nope," she said smiling. "Thank-you very much for letting me stay here..." she trailed off, realizing that she didn't know his name .

"Just call me Beast," he said.

"Beast. My name is Belle." Fitting, he thought.

"Well Belle, let me show you around." He offered his arm, which she took, and showed her around the castle.