The two spent the rest of the evening climbing down the beanstalk, Lovino thoroughly not enjoying that. He ended up looking down on several occasions, but managed to overcome the dizziness he got from looking.
It was about three quarters the way down, they found themselves without any light, the sun setting and the night air growing cooler. Antonio sighed and found a rather large branch to settle into for the night, "Come on, we haven't much choice but to set up here. We'll likely fall in this darkness."
"Ohhh no!" Lovino said, his knuckles white from holding on tightly, "I'm not setting up this far off the ground! We'll fall to our deaths!" he shrieked.
"You're not going to fall! These vines are set up perfectly for this." Antonio said, leaning back, "just come lie beside me. It's a tight fit, but it's still safer than climbing down with no light." Lovino slowly crawled over to Antonio, desprately trying to touch him as little as possible "See, if you sit like that, you'll fall." Antonio pulled him closer, wrapping his long coat around him "Here. I'll keep you warm I'd turn into a wolf so you could cuddle on my fur, but I'd have a better chance of falling like that."
"Thanks..." Lovino mumbled, trying to make himself comfortable on the other. "Just don't let me fall."
"I won't. I promise." Antonio said softly. "Just get some rest. You'll need it." Lovino nodded, before falling into an uneasy sleep, with Antonio not far behind
Antonio awoke with a start in the middle of the night and went rigid. There was a light thudding heading up the stalk, despite the lack of light. He could tell immediately the only person crazy enough to do that. He let out a soft breath and trying to make himself and Lovino as small and hidden in the vines as possible. Sure enough, moments later, the woodsman was climbing passed them, digging his boots roughly into stalk and his hands wielding climbing tools.
Lovino shifted and Antonio slapped his hand tightly over his mouth and let out a soft hush to the waking human.
Lovino froze in confusion then fear when he heard the thunks in the large plant. He looked up at Antonio with terrified eyes. Antonio just watched closely at the man as he climbed. Once he was far enough out of sight, Antonio looked at Lovino, "We need to go now…" he whispered.
"But you said it wasn't safe!" he hissed just as quietly.
"Do you really want to be here when he discovers we aren't up there?" Antonio countered.
"There's a lot of houses up there for him to search. He doesn't know what we're after, so he wouldn't know why we were up there in the first place. I'm tired and I really don't want to fall. Maybe we'll get lucky and he will…" he muttered, laying his head back down on the wolf's chest, his eyes drooping shut.
Antonio whined softly, "I wish you had better judgement…" he looked up where he could no longer see the man in the darkness that lingered around them."Get up. Now." He pulled Lovino off him, and started to climb down, pulling Lovino with him whether he wanted to go or not.
Lovino whined and tiredly followed him down, gripping tightly to the vines. He'd been in such a good sleep, too. It took half an hour to finally reach the bottom. Antonio dropped off the last few feet and looked up, ready to catch Lovino, who was up at a considerably higher spot. "Come on, Lovino, we really don't have a lot of time."
Lovino turned to look at him and blew a raspberry. It was terribly immature, but he was terribly exhausted. He blinked, "Oh good… catch me." he let go.
Antonio's eyes widened and he caught the other, who grinned, "Good boy~" he cooed, sleepily patting Antonio's cheek. "You're downright mad when you're tired…" Antonio muttered. Lovino answered with a snore as he snuggled into Antonio's chest.
The wolf sighed in defeat and began walking briskly through the trees and beanstalks, carrying the sleeping man in his arms. It was likely better this way so Lovino couldn't do anything irrationally again.
Antonio yawned as he walked. He lost track of how long he'd been moving now, but the sun was peeking up over the horizon and he's just left the beanstalks. It was wide open now and no cover for miles in each direction. He licked his lips and looked around for the best direction to travel. It had to be wooded area so he began walking towards the trees in the distance, wanting to cover as much as he could before that woodsman discovered them walking. It would much more difficult escaping him if he actually saw which direction they were headed.
Lovino began waking up an hour later. He blinked and looked up in confusion, "The hell are you doing…?" he hissed. He looked around, "What the hell!?" he shouted, struggling to get down.
The wolf set him down, "Sorry, but you fell asleep in my arms…"
"Of course I did and I thought we were going to climb down when we woke up! Oh god! We fell and died and this is hell and I'm stuck with you!" he said, gripping his head.
"Rude… and no, you don't remember?" Antonio asked, furrowing his brow, "That's woodsman… he found us… well, our path. He climbed right passed us. I woke you up… We climbed down… you really don't remember any of that?"
Lovino crossed his arms, "No, where are we anyway?" he looked around.
"Well, we're at the edge of Gretel's Glen." he said, looking into the trees, "It's a large forest where Hansel and Gretel were rumored to have been left and where they found the cottage, but like I said, hundreds have searched for it, but there's been absolutely no luck. They've scoured everything, but it's gone. Disappeared. Hopefully, those clues will help us find it's true location."
He stretched and walked into the trees.
Lovino looked around, shivers running down his spine as he looked around. For a forest, it was actually gorgeous and well lit and birds sang, but there was something very off putting about it. He couldn't place his fingers on it as he walked alongside Antonio.
Antonio led him down winding paths and finally stumbled upon one that led through thick in accessible brush on either side. He glanced at Lovino, who nodded and the two began walking down the winding path. Antonio chewed lightly on his lip as he broke out into a clearing. The clearing was large, with a small pond of water in the center. Antonio looked back and saw the way they'd come in was marked with a large wooden woven archway with a sign hanging that read in worn letters, "Welcome to Gretel's Glen" and below that, "Enter with caution".
He turned and looked at the rest of the clearing. There were several other archways, each not marked. "Which way do we go…?" Antonio asked softly, looking down each one. They all looked similar with no clues as to which one could lead them in the right direction. There were thickly woven vines and trees keeping them from straying off any of the paths or even the clearing itself.
"This one." Lovino said, pointing down one of them. Antonio nodded and the two began walking down the pathway. Soon, they came to a small clearing with three more paths. Antonio frowned, "Which way now?" he licked his lips and looked down each path, running into the same problem. They all looked the same.
"Um…" Lovino blinked, "That one?" he said, walking down the one to the right. Antonio felt unsure and walked down the path with him. They walked the rather short distance down the path and exited into the first clearing. Lovino blinked and turned and looked up behind them at the sign that read welcome. He sputtered, "But… we just… and that… what is going on…?"
"I think it's an old magic… a trickery type to keep people away from something. The old witch might have had it in place to protect herself. It might explain one of the reason Hansel and Gretel were lost out here… that or put in place to keep people from getting to the gingerbread house again… who knows." he said, "We'll be at this all day." the wolf muttered, walking down another one of the paths.
Lovino quickly followed after him. They once again came across splits in the road, this time, two of them.
"Right…" Antonio said, heading down the right path.
"I think I'll go left…"
"We can't split up in here…" Antonio warned, looking at him, "If you found it and I didn't, I might never find you. And if I found it and you didn't, I might not be able to access the clue. We need to stick together."
Lovino frowned, "You said it yourself that we were going to be at this all day. If we split up, we'll get it done twice as fast. You can just sniff me out or something." he said, turning down the left path. He began walking.
"Stop being so stubborn!" Antonio huffed, heading down the other. He grumbled to himself, "I mean, seriously, there's also that woodsman to worry about! What if he gets Lovino while my back is turned…?" He whimpered softly as he came to another break in the trees, four paths lay before him. He licked his lips and walked down one on the left. It led him back out to the original clearing. He groaned and ran his fingers through his hair.
Lovino blinked, coming up to a path of three choices. He kept going straight and walked right up behind Antonio, "Well, that was a waste…" he said, "It's got to be some sort of puzzle. Did the clue have anything about this?"
Antonio shook his head, "Nothing…" he said, "Just that we'd have a winding path… I didn't think it meant this winding." he thought for a moment before snapping, "I know! I got it! To help them find their way home, Hansel and Gretel laid bread crumbs and stones down. Maybe we can use this to help us get through this puzzle, you know? Mark where we've been. I mean, it's not substantial, but it might actually work."
"And just where are we supposed to find this bread?" Lovino, replied, looking around.
"We'll just have to use something else, the bread fails anyway." Antonio said, pulling out his bag.
"And the woodsman? It'll lead him straight to us, Antonio."
Antonio paused, "You're right…" he looked out to the paths again, "Alright, let's just go then." he said, heading down another path.
Lovino sighed and nodded, following after him. They wound down paths three more times before they came to a round clearing with no paths branching off of it. Antonio frowned, "Lovino, write down the way we came to get here…" he said, walking around a bit, "I think it's important."
The other nodded and began writing down their path choices that got them there. Antonio wandered around a bit and licked his lips. He leaned down and brushed some leaves off the stone path. There was something carved into the stone.
"I can't read it, can you?" He asked Lovino.
Lovino blinked and wandered over. He stepped by Antonio and yelped as the stone gave out beneath them as a trap door. It swung closed and the two slid down a long tunnel, screaming.
Antonio hit the bottom first and groaned in pain. He sat up and rubbed his head, only to be knocked down by Lovino coming out of the tunnel immediately after.
They both groaned in pain, but got up. Antonio rubbed his head, "That hurt…"
Lovino blinked, "Okay, sorry, but look…" he pointed up. There before them was a long path that ended right in front of a large gingerbread house.
The house looked as sweet as it must have to Hansel and Gretel, the brown sugar walls, with the white frosting holding the home together, to the lollipops stick up from the ground, and the sugar glass windows.
"I don't believe it…" Antonio said, getting up. He dusted off his pants and began walking over towards it.
His companion was a little more wary about the situation and cautiously followed after him. As they approached the small cottage, Lovino's mouth began watering at the sight of the house, "You think that food is any good…?" he asked, walking up to it. He dipped his finger into the frosting and popped it into his mouth. He groaned in pleasure and took more.
"Lovino!" Antonio frowned, "Do you know anything? Hansel and Gretel were caught eating the house and nearly cooked!" he pulled Lovino's hand away.
"Yeah, but everyone's dead right? It's been forever."
Antonio paused and frowned, "I suppose that's right. They pushed her into the oven and ran away, so we should be in the clear…" walked into the house and looked around, "I guess it's the magic that left this place like it was back then." he said. The house was very cheery and dust free. There was hot food sitting on the table. Lovino groaned and walked over to the table. He sat down and began digging in.
"Lovino!" Antonio shouted, "You can't just…" he looked up and licked his lips. Meat pies, turkey legs, steaks, hearty meat stews and roast were all set out along the table. He licked his lips, "Well… the witch is dead." he said, sitting down. He began digging into the food. Immense pleasure washed over him. He began feeling like he was lifting into the heavens. The food was so good, he couldn't stop eating as he wavered in his seat.
Lovino, also on cloud nine as he ate, laughed in joy. He looked over at Antonio, watching the man double, triple and return to one Antonio. They moved through the house, eating all that was in front of them. Lovino laughed as he fell onto a couch, eating a bowl full of frosting. Antonio was at his side, and Lovino held up his fingers and let him lick the frosting from them.
"Mmm..." Antonio murmured, licking the sweet candy off of the other, starting to feel a bit dizzy, but he shrugged it off. He let sugar fall onto Lovino's legs, before leaning down and licking them off. Lovino giggled but made no move to stop him. Antonio gave a sort of drunken playful growl, as he continued.
They worked their way back to the table, taking turns eating off each other.
"I feel... Sooooo good Lovi." Antonio said helping himself to a plate of pasta
Lovino blinked and yawned, "Tonio… I don't… I don't…" he was unable to finish his sentence before he passed out, face first into the pasta in front of him.
Antonio looked over and grunted softly, "L'ovino…?" he slurred, leaning over to shake Lovino's shoulder. However, he toppled over against his side. A woman's laughter filled the room before Antonio went completely unconscious.
Antonio awoke with a jolt and looked around. He found himself in a damp and cold cell. His head pounded heavily and he whined, clutching at it. He sniffed around a bit and found Lovino wasn't in the room with him. On shaky legs, he stood up and stumbled over to the rusted metal bars. He wrapped his fingers around them and looked around, "Lovino…?" he called out. He didn't remember anything after seeing the cottage. What had happened?
He called out to his companion again, but with no response, he was left quite worried. He paced his cell for a while, trying to remember something, anything. However, it was of no use. He couldn't recall anything. He dug around the cell for something to help him break out when a piercing scream rang out through the entire cellar.
"Lovino!" Antonio shouted, running to the bars. "Lovino, i'm coming! I'll get out of here I promise!"
Lovino woke up strapped to a chair, unable to move at all. He looked around the room, confused. How did he even get in here, where was Antonio? So many things unanswered. He looked around the room and licked his lips, seeing a knife he could use to cut his ropes. Biting his lip, he wiggled, trying to push the chair with his bound legs, over towards the counter.
He froze and trembled in fear when the door opened behind him and shut.
"Naughty, naughty. Do you know what happens to those who break into my house and steal my goodies?"
Lovino swallowed harshly and slowly turned to looked at the woman behind her. He felt ice wash through his veins. The woman stood tall, but she was covered in scars from head to toe, her skin looking patchy and calloused from burns. Her eyes were missing and her hair long and wiry and her clothes were ragged and burned on edges.
The young man trembled and let out a shriek of pure terror. He scooted faster, trying to get to the knife to cut at the ropes. However, she was now behind him, "Trying to grab this?" she cackled, waving her hand, sending the blade across the counter.
Lovino choked out a horrified sob, "Antonio you bastard, where are you!?" he tried moving away from her, but his chair tipped over and he crashed to the floor. Then it began sliding before righting itself in front of the table. He trembled, pain now throbbing in his left arm. He looked across the table as sweets and cakes were laid out in front of him.
"Eat." the witch demanded. Lovino shook his head and sealed his lips together.
"Eat!" she said, the fork holding up some cake picking itself up and aiming towards Lovino's mouth. Lovino turned his head and tears ran down his face as he watched the witch hovering in the corner, a glare on her face. She growled, "Eat it!" she snapped.
Lovino continued to refuse. The fork dropped down and landed on the floor with a soft clatter, the bite splattering on the floor. Lovino whimpered softly and turned his head to wipe the dab of frosting on his cheek off on his shoulder.
"What the hell do you want from me!?" Lovino asked, "Where's Antonio!?"
"Eat!" she repeated, her voice crackling in rage.
"Antonio!" Lovino shouted, hoping the wolf would come running to his rescue.
She appeared before his and hissed, "He can't come for you now! Now eat!" she snapped, shoving a bite of cake into Lovino's mouth. He tried to spit it out, but the flavors melded into his tongue and he groaned softly and swallowed the bite, opening his mouth for more. The self feeding spoon shoveled bite after bite of cake and he obediently swallowed them down.
Antonio growled in anger and slammed his weight against the bars, trying to make a dent or anything that would get him through them. "I'm coming for you Lovino!" he shouted, unable to tell if the other could hear him. He whimpered in pain and rubbed his shoulder and looked around for another exit. He licked his lips and shifted into a larger wolf form before he began pawing at the stone and dirt on the ground. Using his massive paw, the pulled the stones up and began digging quickly under the bars.
He was able to make a hole big enough for his smaller wolf form to get through. He shifted and went under. He changed back into human form, throwing his pants on, and charging up the stairs. He made his way into the kitchen and charged the witch knocking her into the open oven.
"Are you alright?" He asked Lovino untying him.
"I'm fine.." He got up "Watch it!" Lovino cried as the witch's burnt hand reached out of the open flame, towards Antonio's tail. Lovino slammed the door closed, and he and Antonio held it there as she screamed and clawed at the door, until no more noise could be heard inside.
"Think she's finally dead this time…?"
Lovino said, groaning and rubbing his stomach. He was feeling sick from all that cake. He shook his head, "I don't think she was alive this time to begin with…" he muttered, "Just find the clue…" he said, looking around.
Antonio looked around and blinked, "There." he pointed to the table. He shoved the food off to the side and looked at the golden inscription appearing on the table.
"A single rose, the petals fell,
A prince left to rot in his personal hell.
A maiden fair, beauty divine,
Come to his rescue just in time.
Twisted darkness, evils take form,
Snarling teeth and a broken horn."
"So?" Lovino looked at him for the answer.
"It's Prince Adam's old castle, the Castle of the Beast. Belle was a beautiful young woman who had to learn to love his because his outside reflected who he used to be on the inside, dark, mean and selfish." he licked his lips, "It's about a two day walk from here. Let's just get to the nearest village." Antonio said, scratching at his head going to get his clothes before he stopped. "Thank you. For slamming that door. She would have gotten me if you hadn't."
"No.. I mean, you rescued me first..." Lovino said looking away a light blush dusting his cheeks. Antonio smiled over his shoulder heading back to grab his clothes. And Lovino smiled as well.
They chatted lightly as they walked to the nearest village, seeming to suddenly be much more comfortable around each other. They say that nothing bonds people like saving their life, and having yours saved in return.
"So, two brothers?" Antonio asked, the lights of the village just beyond them.
"Both of them are awful, and they're both taller then me. Which isn't fair, I'm the oldest!"
Antonio chuckled softly, "You're right, but I think you're fine the way you are~"
"You only have room to speak because you're a mountain." Lovino huffed. Antonio just shook his head and the two continued walking along the beaten path.
"If we're lucky, that man got lost on the path through those woods." Antonio said.
Lovino snorted, "If only. Look, I see the village." he pointed to a wooden gate wall just outside of the trees.
Antonio nodded and the two picked up pace as they headed towards the gates in hopes they would be let in.
They passed into the town, trying to find a place to settle in for the night, both silently agreeing, food was not the best idea. Once again, they bought a small one bedroom. Once inside Antonio was about to transform when Lovino stopped him.
"Is sleeping in wolf form uncomfortable? You seemed a little stiff last time..."
"It's not ideal, but I don't mind."
"I don't mind either.. If you wanted to stay human." Lovino said softly his face red. Antonio himself blushed a bit. "You know, if you wanted..."
"Ok." He said crawling into bed after peeling off his jacket, hat and shoes. Lovino slipped his cloak off, and with a large blush let his shorts fall down, leaving him in his over sized shirt. Antonio had to stop himself from panting at the sight.
"Wh-what? It's hot... You don't have to sleep in all your clothes either..."
Antonio nodded dumbly, stripping his shirt off, letting Lovino crawl in next to him. They laid close to each other, skin brushing skin, heart rates elevated... Antonio could hardly stand it until he heard soft snores coming from the other.
He licked his lips and let out a soft breath, closing his eyes to force himself to just go to sleep no matter how enticing Lovino was being at the moment. Antonio honestly didn't want to spoil their solidarity with something like that. It took him only a few minutes to fall asleep.
When morning came, both were a bit too lethargic to crawl out of bed immediately. Lovino found himself resting against Antonio's chest but he didn't mind much. He liked the sound of the other's faster heart rate. He was also quite warm. He smiled warmly to himself and closed his still sleepy eyes while Antonio gingerly dragged his finger tips over Lovino's back.
The magic was still wearing off on them from the witch's house.
Antonio grunted softly and shifted to his side, "We have to get up now. I want to be lazy and lie around, but he'll catch up to us…" he yawned, sliding out of the bed, much to Lovino's chagrin.
Lovino whined and nodded. It took him a few more minutes to force himself out of the bed and begin getting dressed. The air was only slightly awkward, as they redressed and packed up.
"I wanna hit the market real quick for some food. We won't reach the next village til nightfall, and we'll need lunch later." Antonio said fixing his hat.
They hit the market buying some fruit, Antonio claiming he could catch something later. They left the town, and walked along the path idly chatting to each other.
The next few days went on like this, until they came upon the dark castle in the distance, a grey cloud hanging over it.
"There it is. Beast's Castle."