Chapter One

Author's Note: Well, hello all of you fans out there of this wonderful mini-series! I have never written for this topic before, but I am a big fan even though I am new to this fandom! I love all of these characters, but, sadly, standard disclaimers apply, I don't own any of these characters as much as I wish I owned Wirt. So, this is a "one brother didn't get out story" hopefully different than all the other "one brother didn't get out stories" out there, inspired by a picture I saw on Google, and this was the outcome. So, here we go!

The darkness settled down onto the forest; and people in the land of The Unknown shut their doors and closed windows, in fear of the Beast that was to come out soon. Only one, red headed, freckled girl, remained outside, gathering water at the pump. A noise in the leaves startled her, and she turned to see two eyes, glowing, white eyes, looking at her. She gasped, and heard a voice in her head, her mother's, telling her that she was silly to not love the man she was to marry. Now she had gone outside, in the dark of night, where she knew it was dangerous, and was basically submitting herself to the Beast. She wanted to die.

The Beast moved around her, watching her silently. She knew she wasn't going to be hurt by him, she lived here, she wasn't lost, but she wished she was. She had seen the downfall of the Beast a month before, but it had come back. Or was it the same one? She wanted to know, she wanted to feel, she wanted to hear the Beast, wanting to know who he was.

"Excuse me, sir, the Beast, sir, but, but I was wondering if … who … you were?" she asked, timidly. The Beast stopped moving about. "I don't mean to be rude or anything, but I was wondering how the Beast was back, since he was defeated years ago."

The Beast did not reply, he merely moved in a circle again. She followed him, not scared, not like she had been at one point in time, she showed no mercy to the Beast as she stared at him. She knew he could see her, she was desperate to find out who he was.

"I will not give up. Listen to my beg, my plea for mercy. I am supposed to marry a man I do not love nor do I appreciate, despite the situation this place is in, people are still forced to marry each other. Take me away from him. Stop him, please, or stop me. End me." she said.

The Beast shook its antlered head, and she stared. Could he not end her? Could he not do that? What was this place? What was The Unknown?

"Please, help me!" she cried, staring at him. "I want to end this all! I cannot deal with it anymore! Please, help me, end me, like you tried to do to those boys a month ago! Why can you not do this?"
She stared hard and long at the creature's glowing eyes, and realized that the eyes were not terribly far from the ground, this beast was short. But not very short. She glanced around, and holding up the lantern, she began to yell at the Beast, angry and tired.

"Stop telling me you cannot! Help me! Or speak to me! Who are you?!" she yelled, and then waited for a reply that never came. Instead, she heard her name being called by her mother.

"Beatrice! Beatrice, where are you?" was the call, and Beatrice turned to stare at the Beast for a moment, and then threw a block of wood at the creature, and ran inside.

The night brought strange noises along with it, and with that, Beatrice though for sure she heard a voice she had heard once, a voice that was friendly and familiar, yet strangely dark now, and quite terrifying. The morning brought sunlight and birds, despite the nearing cold temperatures. It was almost winter, almost time to hide in the houses for good. Beatrice rose, wiping her eyes, and staring outside at the mist through the window.

No one appeared to be out there, but she still felt that same eerie feeling she had the day before. It was as if the man she was to marry wasn't right or something. And then there was the matter of the Beast. Who was he? Or was it a she? And why was this beast so short compared to the other one? Where had he/she come from? All of these thoughts and more flowed through her head, causing her to not notice that one of her many siblings was calling her name, trying to get her attention.

"Beatrice! Breakfast!" it called, one of her younger brothers.

"Coming!" she called through the door, shoving on her dress and running out the door getting her shoes on.

The mess she saw that was her basic greeting was a daily experience for her, and she smiled as she shoved her red-orange hair on top of her head, getting ready to head outside after breakfast. The rest of her family was already seated at the table downstairs, and she came running to join them. After a quick breakfast, she headed outside to go help with whatever there was needed to be done.

The day passed slowly as she waited out the hours. She planned to meet the Beast again that night and confront him. She had to know who he was, why he was here and back. Everyone in the Unknown had rejoiced for what felt like ages. And then it had happened.

A man had come running through the forest one night, shouting his head off that the Beast was back. Beatrice had stepped outside with her parents at the time, and they had to grab the man by the arms to stop him from running any further. They had to make him sit down and got every part of the story out of him.

He had been chopping wood when a strange figure had appeared and asked him for some of his wood. He had stared at the being, not, at the time, noticing how short and strange it was, and took off. The creature followed him as he ran. All the man could remember seeing when he turned around was the creature's glowing eyes, which scared him more, and he ran faster, trying to escape. When he reached the clearing, he had ended up at Beatrice's house.

Beatrice was thinking about this whole thing all day long, wondering who the Beast had been intending to meet out in the woods. Or why he was even out there. Or who it was that was the Beast. Was the man who it was fully the Beast yet, or was he part man part beast? As she pondered all of this, the day flashed before her eyes. She had luck on her side all day, she didn't have to endure any of the man she had to marry. She didn't even think of his name.

For, when the night arrived, she was ready. She had mentally prepared herself and was ready to pound questions out of the Beast, ready to torture him until she got answers. After dinner, she bounded out the door with her hair flying down behind her as she ran towards the edge of the stream where she had been the night before. She stood silently, waiting for the Beast to appear.

The rustling sound suddenly resounded in her ears. She turned as it went in circles around her, and then saw the glowing white eyes again, staring into hers. Beatrice realized the Beast was the same height as her, and almost stumbled backwards in fright. Why was he the same height as her? Who was he?

"Tell me who you are. I want to know, I need to know, I can't stand here and not know who you are." she demanded. "Now please, if you don't I will be forced to tell the world you are back. Most do not know. Or blow out that lantern you carry."

She stared hard at the lantern the Beast was holding, and the Beast rustled a bit.

"You have to tell me. Please. I want you to end me. I saw what you do to people, I want that, I can't stand my life." she said, tears entering her eyes. She didn't want to break down, but after what man had been promised to her, she couldn't stand being here. "Please, now, end me. I want you to, I really do, and I can't take it anymore."

The Beast shook his head, she could barely see it by the lantern light, and for a moment, she thought she saw a pointy thing on top of the creature's head. He had the strange antlers, or tree parts or whatever they were, but what was this thing? Beatrice moved forward, tears streaming down her face, even though she hated breaking down in front of people. She wanted to be strong, and always aimed to be.

"Please, show me who you are, I will not laugh nor will I tell anyone." she said, staring at the creature. "I promise."

The Beast rustled, and then stepped forward into the lantern light that it held. Beatrice stared, her mouth agape when she saw the creature's body. On his head was a red pointed gnome hat, and as she traveled down the body, she saw a half-concealed (in bark) blue cape. The face wore an expression that she had seen so many times from it, an expression of depression, almost. The eyes no longer had the warm brown that had been there once, instead, they were like lanterns themselves, and the arms and legs were covered in what seemed like a tree with leaves hanging off the end. As she looked up again, she saw that two large branches stuck out from the opposite ends of the head, just like the original Beast had had. The face was partially covered in tree like the rest of the body, and she couldn't see some of the parts of the boy like she originally did. Only one thought flashed through her head. Wirt was the Beast.

Author's Note: There's chapter one and I hope you enjoyed it! Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed. Thanks again and please, review, review, review!