A couple walked through the forest trail quietly, admiring the twilight that had set and subconsciously holding hands. The night was still young, but stars that shined from above spoke otherwise. Still, the couple did not waver as they walked through the forest, musing about different memories that had come from here. A smile went on the woman's red lips as she thought of just an hour before.
"It's a wonder we were able to put Alexander to bed tonight." The woman laughed softly, remembering her four year old son. The boy was cute as can be, with his father's hair and mother's brown eyes…but he was a little monster when it was his bedtime.
"It's a good thing his mother has a talent for making bedtime stories imaginative." Vincent teased, as Belle's laugh could be softly heard, musical, but yet all the same so lovely that it would make any man fall in love with her.
"It's a shame that only Alexander seems to like them though. Arabella hasn't been to keen on having a bedtime story lately." Belle remembered with a smile, thinking of her oldest daughter, who was eight years old. The girl had started getting the idea in her head that bedtime stories were for children; something that as an eight year old she was definitely not.
"Jovianne likes her bedtime stories well enough." Vincent reminded, his cloak absently swishing behind him in the cold night. Soon they'd have to go back to the palace because of the terrible temperature drop…but for now, it seemed the couple could spend just a few minutes with each other, without their kingdom, or their children.
"Jovianne also likes it when you play peek-a-boo." Belle reminded right back to her husband, a soft laugh at the end of her words so that he knew she was only teasing. Their ten month old daughter was really starting to become quite the nuisance. Belle had a hard time finding her in the nursery nowadays, as the baby was crawling all over the play, and absently picking things and putting them into her mouth, which was really starting to frighten her mother that one day she might choke.
"Alright, I'll give you that." Vincent acknowledged his wife's words, before a slow, teasing grin worked onto his features. "But you have to admit that she has the most beautiful blue eyes." Belle snorted playfully at her husband's words, throwing an elbow playfully in his direction at that.
"Says the father who gav—whoah!" Belle suddenly stumbled over something, losing her footing momentarily and almost sliding as she hit a rough patch of ice. Thankfully though, with quick instincts, Vincent reached out an arm and steadied her, making sure she didn't fall.
"Are you alright?" Vincent asked, his features turning into concern as all playfulness left them, for now. Belle gave a slow nod, brushing herself off and straightening her dress, before looking back at her husband to relieve his worry.
"Yes, I'm fine. Thank you for catching me." Belle breathed in a little relief that she hadn't fallen. In this weather she could have twisted her ankle, and then Vincent would have insisted on carrying her back to the palace, as though she was a child.
"Your welcome." Vincent replied, his worried features melting into one of relief. His shoulders dropped as though a ten pound weight had been taken off of them, and he let a relieved sigh escape him, just for a moment, as he saw Belle was suddenly looking back to the spot where she'd stumbled at.
"What did I trip over?" Belle asked; mostly to herself as her brows knit into worry as she looked back a moment. The ground was heavily covered in snow…and yet, there seemed to be a patch there that was…shaking? But…why? And why was it just that spot? With furrowed brows, the woman leaned down a moment to brush off some of the snow. It was probably just a poor woodland creature that was trying to find its way through the snow…but, as the woman brushed off more and more snow, in rapid succession now, she found that it was no woodland creature. No, instead…it was a girl.
She couldn't be very old, perhaps thirteen or so. But she shivered hard, her pale fingers digging into the snow as though they were trying to find the warm soil underneath. Her dress—or rags actually—was thin as can be, something more meant for the summer months where the heat was to the extreme, than in the middle of a very cold winter. Her dress looked more like it belonged to a child of ten years or so, considering the length the horribly constricting front part that covered the girl's now growing chest. Horrible black and blue bruises covered her body, as though the child had been through something awful. A dark red liquid matted into her dark brown loose, wild curls that looked as though they'd never seen a comb. One of the child's feet had on what looked like an old boot that was probably a few sizes too large for her. The other foot was bare, the toes furling and unfurling as they tried to keep warm. And throughout all this, the freckled girl shivered hard in the cold, a hot fever raging through her body as she was fitfully asleep, her head turning ever so often as though she was in a bad dream. Horrible as the child looked though; there was something about her that was almost…angelic. However, any angelicacy that Belle saw was gone in a moment, when the girl weakly coughed, her cracked and bleeding lips making a wheezing sound at that, as a few sprinkles of what seemed to be blood fell out from her lips.
"Oh." Belle's heart surged for the poor young thing, as she got down on her knees and brushed aside a few locks from the freckled face of the child. A hot fever surged under her fingers on the girl's face, Belle noticed, with a horrified expression.
"What on earth would a girl be doing out in this weather, with no protection?" Vincent's quiet voice wondered, dropping next to his wife on one knee as he studied the girl. Perhaps the enchantress was giving him another test…? No, impossible. He was no longer a beast inside or out—excepting when he was angry, of course. Still, that little annoying voice of doubt taunted in the back of his head, telling him that this must be some kind of new test.
"Maybe there was some kind of accident." Belle offered a thin explanation, her throat closing up as she saw how the girl shivered and writhed in the horrible pain of her fever, the cold, and her injuries. What if that was her own daughter out here, looking like that? What if that was little eight year old Arabella, shivering and writhing in pain out in this snow? Belle couldn't even think about it.
"I doubt it. Otherwise I would have heard word about it by now." Vincent pointed out, unclasping his cloak and setting it down on the girl, to possibly protect her from the snow. What he didn't know though, was that it was virtuously impossible to protect the girl from the bitter cold after she was exposed to it for so long.
"Then what do you think…?" Belle trailed off as she saw the girl painfully cough again, more blood spilling from her lips in the process. "Never mind." The woman said abruptly, her features changing into one of motherly worry. "We should bring her back to the palace, have the doctor see to her…let her stay for awhile and get better. Or at least, let her stay until we can contact her family." Belle's worried, soft tone said, brushing off another thick dark brown curl from the girl's face to see her better. Her lips were blue from the cold.
"That sounds…reasonable." Vincent said, not quite shaking off the feeling that this was some sort of test. Still, he knew that test or not, he needed to at least give this girl a sense of shelter, and a warm bed, at least until she was able to explain what she was doing out here, this time at night, in the woods alone, with rags for a dress. Gently, with Belle's help, he managed to pick the girl up in his arms, watching as her head lolled to the side deliriously, as he and his wife headed back to the palace.
Okay, so this is my very first Beauty and the Beast Story. It's an idea I've had for a long time, but just never got around to posting up, so I'm doing it now! I hope you like it. :) It's not going to be very long. Maybe (I'm terrible at estimates, just know that) 5 or 6 chapters long. I was inspired to findally write it from a really great fanart (the link is posted on my profile) so please, if you want, check it out. The artist is amazing! (Note: The artist is NOT me. My drawing talent stops at stick figures) Anyway, if you like it or hate it, please review!