A/N: I can't believe I'm writing an EAH fic but there ya go. Maybe someone will get some enjoyment out of it. Apologies for any bouts of OOC or incorrect cannon. I don't keep up with the show as well as someone writing a fic about it should, so feel free to correct me if I veer off into inaccurate territory.
Anyway don't own EAH yadda yadda yadda enjoy.
Hiding in plain sight is something Cerise was very good at, but even if she hadn't been it would have been more than easy to slip away so quietly in this panicked crowd. Students and faculty alike were zooming by left and right searching up and down for the prince who'd failed to show up, well, anywhere this morning.
Cerise herself had of course been concerned as well, and the longer he failed to show up the more and more it seemed like a good idea to join the search herself. So the young red-hooded girl was making her way towards the boys dorm rooms, silently slipping into the shadows to ensure she remained noticed. She felt that the fastest way to find him would be to sniff him out, but that was an ability she wasn't supposed to have, so like so many things in her life this was something she had to do with secrecy.
The shared dorm room of Daring and Hopper didn't take too long to find. It helped she'd been by this way before (even if not to visit Daring himself), and didn't have to fumble around reading every number on the doors. While she and the Prince Charming weren't the closest of friends, they were still friends and teammates, and Cerise looked out for the people in her life.
The half wolf felt the easiest way to pick up the trail would be to go were his scent would be strongest, and go from there.
As she got closer she found this part of the hallway was nearly empty, it had been the first of the places checked and by now everyone had moved on. No one guarded the scene of the event, everyone looking for clues had found as much as they were going to find (which amounted to nothing, as nothing indicated what sort of creature did this) and instead had gone on to join one hunt or another.
The door was still ajar from when Hopper had gone down here earlier, looking for Daring at the request of a professor when he hadn't shown up for class. The Frog Prince would return later, eyes wide and worried stumbling over his words so hard he poofed! into amphibian form before anyone could tell what he'd been trying to say. The now eloquent frog went on to explain how when he'd reached their rooms Daring's half of their dorm had been in shambles; it looked like something horrible had happened and Hopper had feared something bad.
Students had panicked over the news; there were all sorts of monsters that roamed he lands, and students feared for their own safety as much as they feared for the popular prince.
Dexter and Darling had been particularly upset at this. The youngest Charming girl raging about how she would slay whatever creature did this to her brohter while her twin questioned anxiously about the efforts to form a search party.
Headmaster Grimm rallied the staff to go looking for him; at first asking students to remain where they were (and not to roam about when a possibly threatening monster was running around), but the high anxiety in the air left many students too restless to do nothing. Soon enough so many groups had gone to search on their own for the popular boy the faculty had given up on trying to get everyone back to their dorms and classes.
Now Cerise had joined in her own way as she entered inside.
As she took a step forward an audible gasp escaped her. She had expected a mess, a struggle, what she hadn't expected was the destruction. The wall paper was sliced cleanly to ribbons as if by something very, very sharp, some gouges made so deep if you looked closely you could see the brick base. Bed sheets were tossed aside and messy, but what really caught her attention was the glass.
Glass shards littered the floor like a spilled gar of glitter. It was as if someone had systematically found every mirror and picture frame the Charming boy owned (which was a lot) and threw them to the ground. The many self-portraits in them had been sliced as much as the wall paper and the frames for the mirrors were dented, but the master piece in his display of carnage: A full length mirror that had been attached to the wall. Whoever had done this had taken one of Daring's own swords and rammed it straight into the center deep enough that only the hilt was sticking out. It all looked like it had been dome with such venom an anger Cerise couldn't hold back a shudder to think what they could've have done to Daring himself.
Those thoughts had to be pushed to the side however, it did no one any good to assume the worst. Daring was a fighter. If he could slay a dragon in his sleep, then he could survive this.
As Cerise looked further she noted that Hopper's side was practically untouched, which struck her as a bit odd, if this had happened in a fight one would think the whole room would've been affected.
The she wolf shook her head, that didn't matter right now. She wasn't here to investigate the crime scene; she was here to find his scent, and hopefully find him. As she made her way further in it did hit her that if the culprit was presumably still where Daring was it might not be a good idea to go this alone, but so few knew her secret. She had no idea where Raven was or her father, and in these sorts of situations time was of the essence.
His scent was easy to find, hanging clearly in the air near the prince's bed. There were other smells here as well; one was clearly just Hopper's scent, drifting over from where he'd been in the room, hair products and colognes. It took a second for her to realize that was all she smelled.
It had been a few hours, yes, but but she couldn't pick of a trace of any other creatures having been in this room. It made no sense, everything had it's own smell. You could disguise it, but whatever had caused the destruction of this room should have left some sort of trace. Maybe magic? But why go to the trouble of something so subtle when everything else they've done was so apparent?
Cerise supposed she'd find out when she found them.
The trail led her into the forest, where the search parties were much harder to avoid. She nearly lost the trail at one point avoiding a particularly large group of girls Cerise sort of recognized from having seen them hanging around the currently missing prince on occasion.
Once she'd managed past them she was thankfully able to find it again as it led her deeper, far past where everyone else was still yet looking.
Cerise knew the forest like the back of her hand, and recognized the area her nose was leading her to; soon she would find the opening to a cave that eventually led to an underground lake. A good chunk of it was above ground though, and she hoped that if Daring was in there, he was somewhere near the top. Who knows how long it would take to get to them if they had to search underground.
She got her answer soon enough as she approached the mouth and could make out with her inhuman vision a shadow moving just far enough in to be hidden to the eyes of normal humans.
The scent was strong here, but she moved forward with caution. The wolf girl moved like a true predator, silently, slowly, so that nothing could hear her path until it was too late. She attempted to get a better look inside, and saw the creature was large, not giant-large, but at least a good two feet taller than herself and three times as wide with muscle. They were covered in fur under their jacket, but other than that she couldn't make a lot out.
There was no sign of anyone with them, but the trail ended here so Prince Charming had to be inside somewhere.
Cerise moved to turn around and go back to the school for back up, but paused when she started to think about the situation. This didn't add up, sure, whoever it was in there was big, but Daring was trained to fight bigger beasts on a regular basis, hex, she could probably take this guy if she switched forms. She would too if taking him on wouldn't have possibly led to the reveal of her lineage.
Another thing struck her as odd, she could smell Daring like he was next to her but still couldn't pick up the second sent of whoever this was. What was going on here?
So instead she moved closer, as close as she dared, and this time paid attention to her hearing. Through the hood over hear ears the teen could hear the normal sounds of the forest, birds singing distantly, water running freely, and through the mix she could hear faintly the sounds of whimpering coming from the direction of the monster in the cave.
She observed them more closely now; took in their body language, their position. This creature didn't seem like the same one who could've trashed someone's dorm room so thoroughly. For one, they were hunched over, unmoving, their head in their hands. She almost felt sorry for them; they seemed more defeated than anything, but appearances could be deceiving. It wouldn't do to let her guard down.
Still, whatever threat they may have been; their fit seemed to have passed. Weighing the risks, she moved out into the clearing.
"...Hello? Hey! You, in the cave!"
Their head snapped up at her voice, and she saw the shadow scramble back.
"What-what do you want?" They answered back, and Cerise's jaw nearly dropped to the floor.
She knew that voice. Everyone knew that voice.
"Daring!?"
The Prince stood up even taller now than she's guessed, but his eyes were on his feet. A vague part of her brain knew of the Charming family curse but right now she was having trouble understanding.
"Wha-how, why are you?" Cerise sputtered, "You weren't kidnapped at all!"
Daring looked up, confused, "I never said I was? Why? What's going on?"
"EVERYONE'S LOOKING FOR YOU! THAT'S WHAT'S GOING ON!" Cerise took a deep breath, and Daring once again hung his head in shame.
"Trust me, they don't want to find me." He looked up, eyes narrowing quizzically, "How did you find me anyway?"
The wolf flushed, "That-don't change the subject, what's going on here? What happened? Why'd-"
"I'M A BEAST!" He finally growled, temper flaring so suddenly she was taken aback, "LOOK AT ME, what was I supposed to do, waltz right up to everyone like things were normal?"
"WELL EXCUSE ME if the whole school is looking for you! Everyone's worried! THERE WAS A SWORD THOUGH YOUR MIRROR FOR CRYING OUT LOUD."
He straightened up, pointing at her, opening his mouth as if to usher a retort, but closed it again, thinking, and shrunk under himself again.
"I...might have overdone it a bit. but I was just...so angry." His new claws curled into fists. "All my life...All my like I was told I was to be the perfect Prince Charming to the future Snow White. To one day rule as king. Now look at me! I've inherited the CURSE!"
He punched the cave wall on the last word and bits of rock sprinkled down from the dent he'd left there.
Cerise felt bad for him; she knew knew what it was like to struggle with control and it seemed his new from had brought with it a short temper. She needed to get him calmed down if she was going to get him to go back with her.
"Daring," she took a step forward, "I know things are confusing right now, hex, I'm confused. and I promise I'll do everything to help you, but right now your family is sick with worry over you."
He looked away from her, shuffling his feet like a guilty child.
"Look, sitting in a cave isn't solve your problems."
"Just tell me something."
"What?"
"Was I...was I ever a bad person?" He looked at her, his blue eyes pleading.
Cerise hesitated, generally, no, he wasn't a bad person, but he wasn't always a good person either. She choose a safe answer.
"Why do you ask?"
He looked away from her, disappointed by the implications of her non answer. Disappointed in himself.
"I remember..." He started slowly, "back when Rosabella was trying to save that ogre...she asked me to help. I just laughed."
He snorted bitterly. "She warned me that's how her own father had been cursed. I guess I should've taken the advice."
An awkward silence permeated the air.
"Look," the hooded girl eventually said, "it's in the past now. Whatever you did or should have done doesn't matter, what matters is what you do now."
Daring sighed, "I suppose you're right."
"Come on, it's getting late. Let's get back before the sun sets, or do you really want to sleep in a cave all night?"
The prince looked at the cave, a deep frown forming on his face. "...Point taken."
He stepped out into the sunlight and Cersie could finally see his new form in all it'd detail. She looked up to see blonde fur peeking out of the many tears in what was left of his usual outfit. His sweater vest was stretched to it's limits and it was only by a miracle his pants had stayed on. His letterman's sleeves had torn free of the torso of his jacket and hung limply on his forearms.
Long, pointed ears protruded from the sides of his head and is snout made the wolf girl think of a lion. In addition to this two short horns had sprouted on either side of his forehead.
She thought he still looked rather handsome, and voiced that comment since he could probably use the pick-me-up. However the usually vain boy didn't seem to believe her. So she tried a different tactic to get his mind off things.
"Betcha still can't beat me in a race." She offered playfully. He took the bait.
"Ha! Do you know how fast I ran here?"
She crossed her arms ans smirked at him. "Yeah but that was when you weren't thinking about it. You've only been a beast for a few hours, controlling that body the way you want gonna take a lot more practice than that."
"We'll just have to see about that. I an master any skill easily, this will be a piece of cake." He smiled hsi signature smile for the first time since she'd arrived. She smiled back and quirked an eyebrow.
"Oh really? Are you challenging to me a race?"
"Only if you're not afraid to lose."
"Oh it's on like a fairy song. first one to the edge of the forest wins."
A/N: Well that happened. I hope there weren't too many spelling or grammar errors.