A/N: Chapter two ~
Disclaimer: I don't own Kim Possible or any of the Disney Characters. The only characters here that are mine are . . . well, I'll name 'em when we get to them.
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Fireflies and Roses
Chapter Two
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Honestly, it probably wasn't the wisest thing to head into a forest, but that was what he did. At least the men chasing him did break away and left him alone. Now, he was in the realm of the beast, shut off from time and space. The man was trapped and he didn't even know it.
Now, why didn't the woman want a beast instead of rose? Well, she just didn't realize it yet. So, the beast contacted her first.
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"W – where am I?"
Beauty groaned softly as she forced herself to sit up. Strange green flames covered most of her vision. At a far distance, she could make out a faint silhouette a good distance away. The flames looked as if they were flickering around them, careful not to burn them.
". . ." The person mumbled something softly, much too soft for her human ears to pick up.
"What . . . ?"
She was standing now, maneuvering around the flames, trying to reach whoever was on the other side.
"You really need to quit daydreaming and find me, Princess."
Beauty woke up with a jolt. She looked around wearily, wondering if anyone had seen her jump. No one had. Still, she wondered who that was. She couldn't recognize the voice, but it sounded . . . It didn't sound too strange. It was almost . . . nostalgic?
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Now, some would say that the beast cheated by trying to contact the woman ahead of time. But, let's just get this clear right now. They didn't say that the beast wasn't allowed to do that, so it was fair game. So, yes, the beast managed to contact Beauty the only way they knew how, with magic and through her dreams.
But, the beast didn't know that right after that, their one chance to capture the woman would arrive in the form of a soaked old man.
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James Possible woke up in an unfamiliar bed. His mind was foggy from sleep and fatigue, but even he realized the strangeness of the situation. He couldn't remember what happened that ended up with him in that admittedly comfortable bed, but this wasn't home. That much was certain. All he remembered was entering the forest and how it had changed. The deeper he dove, the darker the trees became. In fact, they looked charred. He remembered spotting some large estate and trying to head towards it, when his horse, he believed, went mad and flipped the cart over.
He got off the bed and tugged on his coat that had been hanging on the bedpost. The room was exquisite, unlike any other house he had been in before. Whoever was the master of this place, he knew, must be a true noble. Their taste in furniture was much like one of the members of royalty he was lucky to have met long ago. But, he knew he would have to leave. He wasn't sure how long he had been out, but his family was waiting for his safe return.
Since his things weren't in the room, he assumed that they must have been taken elsewhere. He hoped that the master of the home wouldn't take the gifts he managed to buy for the twins and hesitantly opened the door. It was strange. There was no one around and only one part of the hall was lit, his left. Plus, the lamps were lit by strange green light. I wonder how that works . . .The naturally curious scientist thought as he approached the lamp. It looked familiar to him somehow. As if it came from a dream and his dreams were never ordinary.
An odd sound came from his right just before he tried to touch it and he jumped back. I guess whoever lives here doesn't want me to touch that. He thought as he turned and followed the lit path, wondering how on earth he will get out of . . . wherever he was. It led to a rather large dining table filled with all sorts of foods. Most of them he recognized from the specials at Go City, but he'd never tasted them before for they had been well out of his price range . . . not that he had paid for a meal his entire time there.
"How . . . ?" He walked up to the table and found a note placed on one empty plate, where he assumed he would sit. It was written so lightly he almost couldn't read it. The person didn't use ordinary ink to write it either. It looked more like burn marks by the unique color and the texture of the paper. He couldn't imagine how long it could take to master a technique like that.
'Feel free to rest and eat your fill before you leave. -Beast.'
He was a bit skeptical at first, but his stomach won the argument over his mind. "Maybe just one bite." He told himself. But one became two and soon he had finished a good portion of the dishes on the table. Kim's father leaned back in his seat, completely content. It was then that he noticed the table's centerpiece. He stood and picked it up. "It's a rose." He said aloud as if to wake himself up from a dream. The soothsayer had a hard time looking for one when it was right under his nose the whole time. He thought fondly of the embarrassed looked his daughter would make one he would tell her he had managed to rose was what she wanted. He knew then that he couldn't go home without it. (Because if he didn't then Kimmie-cub would be disappointed, he'd broken a promise, and, from his wife, would probably spend the next few days sleeping on the couch.) If they put it here they probably won't miss it, right? He thought as he placed the rose carefully in his coat pocket. Just as he did so the grandfather clock rang. He jumped, completely surprised and turned around to find another hallway lit up. He guessed that it lead outside and followed it.
The rather large french doors were already open, bringing in some leaves and dust suggesting that it had been open for some time. His horse and cart were there near the gates that led out of the estate. The horse was stomping impatiently in place. Something was frightening it. As he began to approach the horse it began to bray loudly when the old man felt some strange heat behind him. He felt the back of his hairs stand as he turned around to face whoever or whatever the heat came from before it tackled him to the ground.
All he saw was a pair of angry green eyes, planted firmly on the face of a monster. "How dare you take my rose!" It roared.
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Meanwhile, Kim had just gotten back from a mission in a nearby village. She was disappointed not to hear of any news from her father. Not that it worried her more than normal. It was difficult to send messages across the land especially when the city was a few weeks away. It often took from weeks to months for the mail to get to Middletown. Because of their low pay, the mail carriers often took their time getting their mail across. There weren't many that were dedicated to their job. Birds were the alternative but they were extraordinarily expensive and hard to train. Not to mention, the last ones were . . . accidentally "singed" on the wings by the twins' experiments left uncovered.
At the moment, Kim was going to take her time to rest. She napped on a branch of a blossoming apple tree. She liked the smell of spring when the flowers begin to bloom before they become fruits to eat. It was sort of a haven to her, always peaceful and, thankfully, her brothers didn't know how to climb trees. Plus, there wasn't a ladder tall enough to reach her, and they don't have a levitating spell (yet).
Lately, her dreams often contained a strange lonely figure. (She'd never gotten far enough into the dream to see the person's face or even tell if it was human or a humanoid.) Green flames surrounded them and she was never able to get past them. She remembered trying to reach out and help them but, as soon as she touched the flames or she had heard the other speak, she woke up.
Just like now.
She woke up with a bit of a jolt from her current dream and quickly calmed herself down. If she did move too much, she would have fallen off the tree. She blinked a few times to get her eyes to adjust as she heard the loud clattering of boots headed her way. "Hey! Kim!" called a blonde haired young man.
Beauty twirled around and smiled at him. "Oh, hey Ron." Her smile turned into a frown as she saw the expression on Ron's face. It was like someone killed his pet rat, Rufus. "Is there something wrong?"
The baker gave a weary smile. Two days before Kim's father left, he told Ron his most recent 'dream.' It was about Beauty when she grew up. She was married and, to his disdain, currently making out with him. From his point of view he couldn't see Beauty's lover, so he had asked Ron if he knew if Beauty was currently with someone. (The answer of which was no.) But, the next day, when Ron asked about the vision he couldn't remember it. Not any of the vivid visions that he had told Ron only the day before. "Your parents are calling you. They say that it's something really important."
Beauty looked worried. "What is it?"
"I . . . It's best if you didn't find out from me." Ron shook his head. He knew he shouldn't be the one to tell her.
Without even saying another word, Beauty jumped down from the tree easily and began to run towards her house. Her heart beating quickly as she did so. She thought that it was about her father and what happened on his trip. She hoped that he wasn't badly injured.
"It wasn't your fault dear." Kim heard her mother say as she realized she was at their front door. Behind her the horse her father had ridden was heading to the stable by a stable hand and another was unloading the cart. It was rare for them to do that. Not when they preferred to do things by themselves. This must have been something very important that they couldn't wait, she realized. It caused her to hesitate in opening the door. Her hand hovered just above the handle and she took a deep breath before–
"Sis!" One of her brothers called as she stood by the door.
"Hurry up!" The other complained.
She chuckled to herself feeling a bit silly to just stand there like that and quickly opened the door. The twins scampered on inside first, making their way around Beauty to look for their present.
Her father greeted her first. "Kimmie-cub!" He smiled wearily, holding out a red colored flower to her. "I found what you've been looking for."
Kim's worries were dashed away at that instant, at least for that moment. "A rose." She said stunned as she walked towards her father. She took the long stemmed flower in her hands carefully as if it were glass. It was easy to tell that the rose captivated her. If not, you could tell by her hand, a small stream of blood began to flow from being stabbed by a thorn, but Kim did not notice it. Her father did and winced at the sight.
How was he going to explain to her that he had just traded a rose (as well as his life) for his daughter's?
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A/N: Phew, and that wraps up chapter two. c: