Before you read; This is my first story post and its still a VERY rough copy.. Constructive criticism and suggestions are welcome. hope you enjoy.
The Beast Of A Man
Everyone has heard the tale of the man who was turned into an animal, a beast. How they had to learn to love, and be loved in return in order to have the curse lifted.
But have you ever heard the alternate side to that story, the tale of how instead, a beast was cursed to become a man? This is the telling of that story.
Long ago, there lived a beast well feared. Anyone who dared to approach it would have been asking for an early meeting with death. This beast had severely wounded many poor villagers that had crossed its path, leaving them within an from their lives. The beast reveled the fear it struck in others. It had sleek black fur, that allowed it to hide in the shadows before it attacked its prey, with its razor sharp claws that could slice a mountain like a hot knife through butter.
The last thing its victims would see were their blood-red eyes, showing only cruelty, with no hint of compassion. The beast took great pride in its features, and the terror it caused in all of those who laid eyes on them.
Until the day came when they lost it all.
An enchantress came for retribution of the village families that had lost their loved ones to the beast. Just like in the story we know, they were cursed.
However, instead of claws, they had hands. Instead of fur, they felt only smooth skin. To their horror, they realized they now had the form of a man. The only part of their old form that they still retained were their blood red eyes, showing the beast hidden inside.
After learning how to reverse their curse, they immediately set off. They searched far and wide, searching for someone to love them, and end their torture. But they had no such luck. Anyone who even attempted to befriend them were soon driven away by their cruel and aggressive personality.
After years of solitude, they began to lose hope. After all, who could ever love a man- who is truly, only a beast?
Exhausted and weak, they eventually collapsed in the middle of a road one day, accepting their fate to die of starvation as darkness consumed them.
You can imagine their surprise when they suddenly overcame it, and waking up to find themselves laying in a bed, with a young woman sitting across from them.
He tried to stand- to roar out in anger and demand where they were, only to find that they were too weak to even croak out a sentence, much less sit up.
Mistaking their growing anger for panic, the woman gave him some water to drink while she quickly explained how she found him unconscious, laying half-dead on the road, and then proceeded to to carry them to her cottage in order to help them recover. Considering their weakened state, the beast reluctantly accepted her offer of aid and shelter until he regained his strength.
For the first few days, the beast was on edge. He waited for the moment when the young woman would betray him, perhaps sneak poison in his meal, or stab him while he slept. Living in the harsh conditions of the dark woods, he became well accustomed to sensing the the signs for when one was about to attack their prey. After all, in his current state, who wouldn't take advantage of this weakened form?
However, she never showed any of the signs like he expected. Despite his confusion, he eventually began to relax around her. He stopped sniffing his meal for anything suspicious before eating, and waiting for the girl to fall asleep first, before he would follow. He even began to enjoy her company, as she would take a break from her daily chores in order to keep him company, and tell him stories in order to drive away boredom while he was bedridden. He even contributed to their conversations once he regained his voice, telling her a few tales that he had managed to overhear from villagers, passing just outside his borders during his time in the forest.
All too soon, he had finally recovered to his full health. However, he quickly offered to help the girl around the cottage and with her daily chores, as repayment for coming to his aid and quite possibly saving his life. After all, he may have been a beast, but he had his pride. He would not let a debt go unrepaid. At least-*ahem* not this time.
She accepted his offer. While she did not admit it out loud, she had grown fond of her (albeit a bit grumpy) guest and had grown used to his presence around her home. Despite his rough demeanor and manners, she surprisingly enjoyed his company and was not quite ready to part ways with him just yet. Without quite realizing it, the two had eventually come to be dear friends to one another.
Overtime, they settled into a simple routine. They would wake up and she would feed the hens and gather their eggs for breakfast while he would start a small fire to cook their meal. After eating together, she'd tend t her garden while he would chop some firewood for the day. Once he had done chopped enough, he would grab some old hunting knives that the girl had bought from the market and go off hunting in a nearby forest to catch some meat for their dinner.
He never failed to bring something back from his hunting trips. While he was now a human, he still had the instincts of a beast and could sense his prey before he even saw it. Before the animal could even sense the danger, it would already be too late.
The beast enjoyed his hunting trips, it was the closest thing he had that made him feel like he was in his old form again. But it was still not quite the same. While the hunting knives worked well enough, it was not the same as the sharp claws he once possessed, and while his senses were still much more heightened than the average man, they were still severely limited from what they used to be. What he missed most though was his runs. Back when he was the beast he could run like the wind. No being on earth could ever hope to match his speed. He missed that feeling of freedom. While he was finally becoming used to the form of a man, he did not feel truly right. He missed his old form - his TRUE form.
However, once he returned to the cottage and saw his friend waiting for him, that ache would start to lessen inside him. After his return, they'd compare what they had gathered and then proceed to make their dinner together.
Without realizing it, he had slowly grown accustomed to his life with the young girl. He began to change from his beastly self, becoming a little more patient and kindhearted with each passing day. Thoughts of his old life even began to become less painful to think about during his hunting trips. For the first time that he could remember, he began to feel content.
Until one day, the girl said something to him.
It was just another day. They had finished dinner and were cleaning up before going to bed. The girl was about to enter her room when she turned around to smile at her friend and say goodnight. He began to grin back when she spoke again.
"I love you"
He froze at her words.
Not noticing his reaction, the girl quickly turned around and closed her door for the night, leaving her friend with his thoughts and growing horror.
Those words. Those three words that he had waited to hear for so long, now felt like an ice cold arrow piercing his heart, slowly freezing him over entirely. He should be ecstatic, he was now closer than ever to breaking his curse. He was almost free. But all he could feel at the moment was a numbing, yet somehow at the same time painful, horror.
Not just from the fact that of all people, it had to be her to say it. No.
It was that he had not realized just how badly he wanted her to say them.
He began to actively avoid her after that. Getting up earlier before her, taking longer than he normally would with his chores and hunting, and eating his meals so quickly that his friend wouldn't even have a chance to speak a word to him before he would practically run to his room for the night. All the while, her words to him from that night would continue to circle over in his head, consuming his thoughts.
He was absolutely horrified with himself. How could he not have realized just how close he had become with her? Or noticed when her feelings for him began to change? How could he not have seen that he had fallen in-
No, he couldn't say it. He wouldn't even think it. He wasn't ready for his time with her to end. So, he resolved to act like he did before they had met. Perhaps the beastly side of him could drive her away. Just enough to make her lose her- infatuation for him. He was willing to try, even if it hurt him to cause her any type of pain, just if he could only have a little more time with her.
The only problem was, he could no longer seem find that side in him. He tried. He tried to remember the fear and hatred he would strike in anyone who was unlucky enough to encounter him, whether as beast or man. He tried to bring it out, to remind the girl just the type of creature he was when they had first met.
But no matter how long, or hard he struggled, searching deep inside himself, he could no longer find that side of him anymore.
It was as if that cruel, beastly side of him had disappeared, like it never existed in first place. And that scared him. How was it that this one woman, in such a short time, managed to change him so much, from something that he had been his whole life?
This went on for a while. Until one morning, he caught sight of her face while passing by. She had finally stopped trying to talk to him a few days ago, and it was only now that he actually got a good look at her. Her eyes bagged from lack of sleep, and red from crying the night before, however they were still wet, as if there were tears that she had left unshed. He could see her the sorrow in her expression, she just looked so brokenhearted, and the knowledge that he was the reason behind it-
It broke him.
Without a thought about what he was doing before, nor a care, he rushed towards her and grabbed her hands. Ignoring the look of shock on her face, he quickly sat them both down on a nearby log, and finally told her his story.
He told her of his old life, and what he used to be. At his words the woman recalled tales of a beast in the forest of a nearby village, and how it would torment any who dared cross its borders. She chose not to comment, and continued to listen to the rest of his story.
He told her the whole story. The enchantress, her curse, and how to break it. He told her everything, apologizing to her all the while.
By the time he had finished, he could not even look at her. What did she think of him, knowing now of all his cruel deeds and what he truly was? To add that with his recent treatment towards her what kind of loathsome creature was he to her now? He waited to hear her scream in horror, to cast him out, something. A minute passed by. Then another. But still, nothing came.
After what felt like hours, he felt a hand gently lift his head up to face her. More tears were falling down her face, but instead of seeing the fear and disgust that he had expected, he saw only relief. If he was not so shocked by this, he may have also seen the sadness behind them too.
As if she were approaching a frightened animal, she slowly leaned in, and embraced him. So many words were said through this, and it was enough to make him return her hug. clinging onto her tightly. He was ecstatic. She didn't hate him. She still wanted him to stay. He was practically elated with relief, when...
She told him to break the curse.
For the second time, he was frozen by her words. Did she not understand what would happen if he did that? Was she not listening to him? No, he knew she, so why did she want him to do it? Did she change her mind, did she decide she wanted to be rid of him after all?
Sensing the rapid change in his demeanor, she quickly explained herself. While he did seem to enjoy his time with her, she always noticed a hidden sorrow behind his expressions, and whenever he thought she wasn't looking, she would see him look towards the woods, a sad nostalgia passing over his features. Now she knew the cause of it. He missed his old form, she could tell. Despite the changes he made during his stay with her, she knew that his beastly form was, and always would be, his true one. It was an important part of him and if she was the reason that he denied his own freedom from the curse, she would never forgive herself for it. She refused to be the reason that he held that part of himself back, and continue to endure something that's been torturing him for so long.
They argued for hours, but she refused to back down until finally, he hung his head in defeat. He rested his head on her shoulder while she embraced him once again. They both held on as if they never intended to let the other go again. But eventually, they had to.
Pulling back slightly, the girl once again repeated her words from before. This time, with a shaky breath, he responded to her in kind.
He never thought something so wonderful, would be so painful to say.
Despite this, he repeated his words to her, again and again. Even as he felt himself grow larger, fur sprouting from his skin, and his nails transformed into sharp claws. Even as his voice began to lower into soft growls, still, he continued to repeat those words to her.
All too soon, the man had once again regained his form as a beast. Only a few months ago, he would have immediately rejoiced. But now, all he cared about at the moment was the girl standing in front of him. Now needing to crouch to meet her gaze, he quickly searched for any sign of fear from her, ready to bolt off if he did.
At this point, he should not have been surprised that he saw none. Giving him a watery smile, she leaned upwards to place a kiss on his brow. Tears once again began to fall down his face at this. Leaning away, she motioned for him to wait a moment while she entered the cottage, returning a moment later with a carved wooden ring that he had not seen before.
Tying it with a string and placing it around his neck, he noticed some splinters and small cuts on the girls hand that he knew were not there a few weeks prior.
He nuzzled his head into her shoulder, showing his thanks, trying to communicate all that he felt for her, everything that he felt was impossible to convey with only mere words. She understood.
Authors notes; Okay so this my first time publishing a story so I hope you enjoyed. I'm going to eventually post the ending in the near future so please keep an eye out for it.