A/N: And we're back with our protagonists again. I pace things a bit slower than the movie does. There will be some elapsed time before Ahiru's curiosity gets the better of her and things blow up. Whether that blow up happens in this chapter or the next remains to be seen as I am not entirely sure yet. We'll see how it goes. Have I mentioned how much I love writing recently? Because I really love writing! SO MUCH! I really think I may be addicted… Eh, whatever. So long as I don't start neglecting taking care of myself to the point that I get sick it's fine. I'm not quite that bad… I only forget to eat sometimes…and bathe…and sleep… Hm…maybe I do have a problem…. NAH. I'm fine. I think… Eh heh… Let's, uh, get to the chapter shall we! Yeah…

Disclaimer: I do not, have not, and will never own any of the things I am using for this fic. This includes Princess Tutu and Beauty and the Beast (either version) which belong to their respective owners.

Chapter 6: Crossing the Line

If there was one thing all occupants of the castle soon became accustomed to in the first two weeks of Ahiru's imprisonment it was her clumsiness. In the first week alone, Autor had taken to keeping a running tally in his head of all the things she'd knocked over, broken, or scratched and their respective values. The sum was not inconsiderable. She'd also had several close calls involving staircases and the only reason she hadn't been seriously injured is because, in spite of his intentions to avoid her, Tier kept rescuing her at the last second. He'd never been as grateful for his speed as he had been the first time she tripped at the top of the stairs leading down to the dining room and nearly fallen over the railing. He'd barely managed to reach her in time to pull her back. Admittedly, he had also bolted the second he had placed her back on solid ground, but still…

For her part, Ahiru was grateful for how he kept saving her from her own clumsiness and was growing frustrated by how he never stuck around long enough for her to thank him. His presence might make her uncomfortable, but she had been brought up to show gratitude when helped. She thought it was a rude of him to just run away like he did, but didn't really complain. The other servants were just relieved she was safe and had started taking steps to effectively 'Ahiru-proof' the castle as much as they could. By the middle of the second week the number of incidents where she knocked things over had effectively stopped, and she had started taking extreme care when moving about near any of the staircases. It was a relief to everyone. She still tripped occasionally, of course. The young woman had ruefully confessed to Hermia that her clumsiness was an issue that had troubled her for as long as she could remember and was always worse when she was nervous. The wardrobe was enough of a gossip that word soon spread to the rest of the staff…and Tier as well.

The red-haired maiden had mixed feelings about her captor, even if she did want to thank him for how he had kept saving her from falling. Part of this was because he was keeping her imprisoned in his castle for the rest of her life. She supposed there were worse prisons as the grounds were spacious enough and the servants were very kind – even if the fact that they were all household implements of some kind caught her off guard at times – but it was still a prison. Another part was his inconsistent behavior towards her. In the course of the first night she had spent at the castle he had been chillingly formal, then he started trying to be nice to her, and finally there was his clear discomfort during the one dinner they shared together. His current habit of avoiding her – except for when she was in danger – was just another example of his odd behavior as far as she was concerned. She couldn't figure out what his intentions towards her were, and that made her uneasy.

Finally there was his appearance. Tier was, quite simply, an intimidating figure. He was far taller than she was, he had those talons and sharp teeth, and he was clearly much stronger than his lean build would otherwise imply. She couldn't forget how easily he'd lifted her father off the ground as he carried him away. Her father was not exactly a small man and his work as a smith had given him a solid physique…yet the draconic humanoid's actions had been so effortless. The only reason she wasn't terrified out of her mind was because she also remembered how gentle his touch had been when he'd helped her to her feet. Privately, she had started thinking of him as being a bit of a walking contradiction.

Barring her inability to make any sense out of her captor's motivations, and her resentment of being imprisoned, she wasn't entirely miserable. She had struck up several friendships among the servants. Most notable were Hermia the wardrobe, Raetsel the teapot, Mytho the candelabra, Uzura the teacup, and Rue the feather-duster. Each of these five had taken to the young woman almost immediately. Raetsel was a motherly figure which was a novel experience for the red-head. The closest she could come to a mother-figure while growing up was Charon's cousin, and the woman had only visited once a year. She was constantly asking after Ahiru's well-being and if she needed anything to make her stay more comfortable, yet somehow managed to avoid being smothering in her concern. Hermia and Rue were both starting to feel like sisters. The wardrobe was like a slightly spazzy, caring, and gossipy sister while the feather-duster was her composed, assertive, and sassy sister. The feather duster also seemed to be in a relationship of some sort with Mytho. Ahiru'd never gotten a straight answer out of either as to whether they were courting or what, but there was clearly something there.

As for Mytho, he was so polite, charming, protective, and…well…noble that she had once impulsively asked him if he wasn't an enchanted prince. That had caused him to burst out laughing before he assured her that, while he found the fact that she thought so highly of him flattering, he was only a humble servant and was content with his place in life. She'd actually started seeing him a sort of a brotherly figure much as Rue was a sisterly one. She didn't get why he and the clock, Autor, were so often at odds though. Granted, her efforts at befriending the enchanted timepiece hadn't gone so well. He was always in a disagreeable mood when she tried talking to him and tended to take a condescending tone when speaking with her. Ahiru still tried to be polite to him, but had mostly stopped going out of her way to be friendly.

Her relationship with Uzura was a bit more complicated. The little teacup clearly adored the young woman, and Ahiru appreciated her company…but she was just so curious. It was pretty much inevitable that, at some point, the naïve teacup would ask a question that reminded the imprisoned girl of life back in Grünefelder and that would lead to her growing depressed. The teacup, of course, would be confused by this and end up asking her why her she was sad and the red-head would always try and come up with an excuse to avoid hurting her companion's feelings. There was also the fact that Uzura was clearly a very young child, so Ahiru was more inclined to treat the teacup in a motherly fashion than a friendly one. It was an odd companionship they shared, but one the blue-eyed young woman honestly treasured.

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Ahiru had mostly eaten her meals alone in the two weeks of her captivity with her only company being the servants handling her food, and occasionally one or more of her friends would be present. Usually Mytho or Rue as Uzura usually had chores and Raetsel had to handle affairs with the kitchen staff more often than not during meals. Hermia spent most of her time in the bedroom Tier had given her because it was simply far too difficult for her to get through the door. The young woman honestly enjoyed the dinner conversations she had with the pair. Sometimes she'd ask them about her captor, but she'd yet to get a straight answer on that topic either. The feather duster was quite good at deflecting questions she didn't want to answer. The candlestick was a bit more honest, but tended to stick to partial answers that only whetted her curiosity. All she'd learned so far was that they were both quite fond of him…and that Rue got impatient with the dragon-like man rather frequently.

"So how come you can all talk anyways," the young woman asked Mytho and Rue one evening, "I've been wondering about that for a while. Is this castle enchanted or something?" It was something she was quite curious about, but had never quite gotten around to bringing it up until now. The candelabra winced, "Ah ha… Um, I…uh…" The feather duster took over in response to the pleading look he shot her, "What makes you think this castle is enchanted?" "Household implements don't normally talk," Ahiru pointed out reasonably. "We could all be possessed by ghosts," Rue pointed out as an alternative explanation. The red-head blanched and shook her head vigorously, "Nuh uh! Not ghosts! That is too scary!" "We aren't ghosts," Mytho admitted in an attempt to calm her down. "So you are enchanted," the young woman beamed. "I never said that," the candelabra protested. "Well, how else do you expect me to explain the fact that you can talk and how you all have faces," the blue-eyed girl frowned.

"It's not something we like to talk about," the feather duster stated firmly, "Please just drop the subject." Ahiru sighed, but agreed to let the matter go for now before she moved on to the next batch of questions that had been bothering her. "So why is Tier avoiding me," she asked. Rue scowled in annoyance, "Actually, that is something I'd like to have answered as well." Mytho frowned in concern, "I've tried asking him several times, but he just gives me this exasperated look and tells me to shut up." "Classic avoidance tactic," the burgundy-eyed feather duster sniffed in disgust, "He always pulls that move when he doesn't want to talk about something." "It sounds like you know him really well," Ahiru observed curiously. "We've had a long time to get used to his little quirks," Rue admitted wryly, "Including that temper of his."

"Temper," the blue-eyed girl blinked in surprise, "What do you mean?" Mytho winced and sighed, "His lordship…has always had a temper problem. He gets angry very easily and that makes him lash out…sometimes violently." The red-head started to get a bit scared by the revelation that she was basically living with a living time bomb and the feather duster moved quickly to soothe her fears. "He's not going to attack you," Rue pointed out, "His control may not be the best, but he's had plenty of experience at finding ways to vent his anger in ways that don't cause physical harm. Besides, his rages tend to be focused primarily on the one who set him off in the first place. He tends to remain in a foul mood for a while after his temper snaps, so if you run into him then he will be pretty snarly. Still, the worst he'll do in that case is snap at you or shoot you a dirty look. However, since he's been avoiding you lately, you shouldn't even need to worry about any of this. You're perfectly safe."

Ahiru relaxed slightly before moving on to her next topic, "So how old is this castle anyways?" "Ah," Mytho looked embarrassed, "You'd have to ask Autor about that. I'm not very good with history to be honest. I'm pretty sure he has every history book in the castle library memorized, though. At least one of them probably had to do with the castle itself. If anyone were to know, it would be him…also his lordship, but…" "Not asking him," the red-head shuddered before asking, "So he's probably in the library, right?" "He seldom leaves," both feather duster and candelabra chorused flatly. Ahiru giggled at their response and thanked them. "I'll go ask him after I finish eating," she stated with a smile.

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True to her word, Ahiru set out for the castle library after finishing her meal. Her path took her passed the stairway leading to the North Wing and she hesitated at the foot of the stairs. She had done her best to respect Tier's wishes to stay out of that section of the castle, and for a while it had been easy since she had the rest of the building and grounds available to explore. While the blizzard raged those first three days, she had been confined to the castle interior, but after the storm ended she moved out into the grounds. Only one other blizzard had interrupted her exploration of the massively expansive castle gardens and lawn. She'd spent that time exploring the other areas of the castle she hadn't gotten to yet. By the middle of the second week she had completed her exploration of the areas she was free to access. However, the North Wing was now the only part of the castle she had not explored…and her curiosity had been growing increasingly demanding.

She knew she shouldn't go up there. Especially after the revelation that her captor had a temper problem, but…she was really curious. 'Maybe if I'm really quiet and don't touch anything I can sneak up there and look around without him noticing,' Ahiru thought as she tentatively took a step towards the enticing staircase. She took another step, then another, and then another before hesitating once more. She finally gave a frustrated sigh, scowled determinedly, and headed up the stairs. She'd just take a quick look around and then go back to looking for Autor. Tier would never know she'd gone into the forbidden section of the castle, so there was really no harm in it…right?

To her surprise the North Wing was fairly dull, and she could find no reason for it to be off limits. There was a long, winding hallway with several doors leading off into side rooms, but most were empty of anything save a few scattered pieces of furniture covered by sheets and a thick, velvety layer of dust over it all. A few of the doors were locked, but she didn't bother trying to force them open. She was trying to avoid drawing attention to her presence after all. At the end of the hall was another staircase which she followed upwards until she came to another hallway. This one was fairly short and led straight to an ornate carved wooden doorway. The carvings were obscured by a thick coating of dust, so she dismissed them.

The hallway floor was strewn with broken pieces of furniture and bore signs of extreme neglect. The only sign that anyone even came up here was a worn trail leading from the ornate door to the stairs that was entirely free of dust and debris. Ahiru followed this trail to the door which she hesitated outside of. So far she'd seen no sign of Tier anywhere leading her to wonder if he maybe wasn't wandering some other part of the castle. There was always the chance that he was in one of the locked rooms, but she doubted he'd be able to ignore the rattling of the door handle…unless he was sleeping. Then again…he could always be in the room behind this one too. She was a bit anxious. Still, her curiosity was not letting up, so she reached out to open it. To her surprise it swung open easily and silently on well-oiled hinges. Swallowing hard, she slipped into the room and looked around curiously.

The room almost looked as though someone was using it as a storage room for broken furniture there was so much of it scattered across the floor. However, she doubted it was actually a storage room. There were signs that indicated this room was used for something else. There were bookcases lining the walls for one thing, and the books on the shelves looked well taken care of. She started to make her way across the cluttered floor and noticed other things that suggested this room had some importance. A large black and silver rug was rolled up and leaned up against one of the walls with an unusual degree of care in its placing. A writing desk in pristine condition was nestled in a small nook with a delicate looking lamp resting on it. A damaged painting hung on the wall next to the nook, and actually drew her in to take a closer look.

It was torn and charred in places, but she could just make out the figure of a teenaged boy in fine clothing. The area around his head had suffered the worst damage, but one characteristic in particular had survived unmarred: a stern pair of green eyes framed by thick, dark lashes. Those eyes were captivating in their intensity, and she couldn't help but stare into them for a few moments. Eventually, however, her curiosity urged her to move on. She still had the rest of the room to explore after all.

The far wall featured four large windows partly covered in torn dark blue curtains. Centered between these curtains was a windowed door leading out onto a balcony. To the left of the door, resting against the wall perpendicular to the one with the windows, was a large, four posted bed with torn green and black curtains hanging down from the overhead canopy and dark blue sheets covering the mattress. The sheets were crumpled as though the occupant had simply thrown them aside upon waking and not bothered to re-make the bed. That alone was enough to indicate this room's purpose: it was a bedroom. Most likely Tier's which made her more feel than slightly edgy, not to mention a bit guilty. There was no way she'd be able to deny that she was trespassing if she were to be caught, and she was starting to feel that she should have never given in to her curious nature.

Yet, as she turned to leave, she glimpsed a table resting immediately in front of the balcony doors and the items resting on it captured her attention just as strongly as the damaged painting had. She walked over to get a closer look in spite of her better judgement. Resting on the table was a silvery white vase containing a blood red rose that glowed faintly. Six petals lay scattered around the foot of the vase, and the fallen petals did not glow at all. The vase sat under a clear glass dome with a small knob on top that, Ahiru realized, would allow one to lift the dome off of the vase.

Her curiosity burned as she drew near the table and reached out to lift the glass cover so she could get a closer look at the rose. She was taken aback by how light it was and she carefully moved it so that it would not break. Entranced, she reached out to touch the glowing flower but was halted by a sudden gust of cold air coming from the door to the balcony. She froze and looked up guiltily to behold the owner of both room and rose… Tier was standing in the doorway with a look of surprise that was swiftly turning in to an expression of pure rage. She'd been right on all counts. This was his room and she had made a terrible mistake…

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While Ahiru had been investigating the North Wing, Tier had been perched on the balustrade along the balcony outside his room for the past hour gazing across the castle grounds and along the bridge that was the sole link between castle and the rest of the world. His castle rested on an enormous – not to mention extremely tall – stone spire rising out of the middle of the gorge. The spire stood at the confluence of the two rivers that had carved out the massive gash in the earth over the past several million years. It was a pretty ingenious location for a castle as the only avenue for attack was the bridge connecting it to the northern rim.

Furthermore, the distance between stone pillar and canyon wall was so long that no siege weapon yet invented could clear the gap and inflict damage on the castle itself. The bridge was quite narrow and provided no convenient cover which didn't particularly lend it much appeal as a point of assault…and even to reach it attackers would have to breach the iron gates and massive defensive wall running along the canyon rim for a good mile on either side. Defenders had ample time to set up blockades along the bridge to slow any advance, plus the broad court of honor outside the actual castle doors was large enough for the inhabitants to set up their own siege weapons…and focus them on the bridge itself. The entire set up had basically been engineered to turn the entire length of the bridge into one long kill zone. The end result was that no one had ever breached the castle's defenses in its entire history.

Tier had been musing on how, in the end, it hadn't been an invading army to bring him down but a lone enchantress who took issue with his behavior. However, it had started to snow and he wasn't willing to stay sitting out in the cold if he didn't have to. The last thing he'd been expecting to find when he returned to his room was Ahiru reaching out towards his rose. His temper instantly snapped and he lunged forwards with a snarl to shove her back before she broke something. She'd cringed away well before he reached her and was moving away from the rose which suited him fine.

He carefully replaced the cover with a faint sigh of relief that her clumsiness hadn't kicked in before his fury returned in full force. "What the hell are you doing in here," he hissed as he slowly stalked towards the retreating young woman. "I'm sorry," Ahiru apologized as she continued backing away, "I…" "I told you the North Wing was off limits," Tier's voice started to register a faint hissing on the vowels as his eyes narrowed menacingly. "I know," the red-head's eyes were starting to fill with frightened tears, "I shouldn't have come up here. I didn't mean any harm! I was just so curious..."

"You were curious," the scaled man repeated incredulously before he suddenly lunged forward causing the terrified girl to quack in fright as she tried to dodge, but tripped over a broken chair leg and sprawled helplessly backwards. She cringed, expecting to feel his claws slicing into her, but her fears were not to be realized. Ahiru quivered as he grabbed her arm and roughly pulled her to her feet. Unnoticed by either, though, he'd gripped her far more strongly than normal. His talons easily tore through the fabric of her blouse sleeve and dug just deep enough into the soft flesh below for blood to bead up around the puncture sites.

"Do you have any idea," the draconic humanoid's breath was hot on her face as he leaned in, "Of just how close you came to sealing the fates of everyone in this castle!" "I'm sorry," the red-head sobbed in terror, "Please, stop!" Tier froze for a few seconds before he finally released her arm; the fear in her voice managed to pierce the red haze of his temper and the rational part of him knew she needed to leave before he got any angrier. The blue-eyed girl stumbled and looked up at her enraged captor as he glared down at her furiously. "Get out," he hissed in a menacing whisper. Another sob escaped the terrified young woman's throat as she started to back away slowly once more. "Get out now," the beast-man snarled angrily as he flexed his taloned hands. The action only served to draw attention to how long and sharp they were. Ahiru quacked in fear and turned to flee as fast as she could as a final furious roar rang in her ears, "GET OUT!"

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Tier panted as his anger slowly started to drain out of him and clarity returned. "Damn it, I need her to like me not be terrified of me…," he murmured in irritation, "I shouldn't have yelled… She definitely deserved to be told off for trespassing, but… I think I may have gone too far…" He raised a taloned hand to run though his mane out of sheer frustration when he got a glimpse of something odd. He paused and looked closer before a horrified gasp escaped him as he realized two of his talons had a few drops of her blood on them. "Oh God…," he groaned as he covered his face in dismay, "I…I hurt her… How could I have…? I didn't want to…" He shuddered and staggered backwards as the consequences of his actions started to sink in. There was no way she'd ever feel anything for him other than fear and loathing after this.

"I'm such an idiot…," he whispered as he fell to his knees with a despairing sigh, "I've ruined everything now… God, I…I never wanted to hurt her…" Tier knew he should probably try to apologize, but he also knew she probably didn't even want to look at him right now. Not after she'd seen him for the monster he truly was. He sat for a good five minutes wallowing in his guilt and self-loathing before his keen hearing picked up the faint whinny of a horse. There was only one horse in the vicinity of the castle, and for him to be able to hear it so clearly… The draconic humanoid surged to his feet and bolted out onto the balcony praying desperately that it wasn't what he thought it was. Unfortunately, his fears were confirmed. Ahiru had taken her horse out and was riding across the bridge as fast as she could… She was leaving.

The scaled man felt a thrill of fear surge through him. Not because she was leaving, but because she clearly had no idea just how much danger she was putting herself in by doing so. Tier knew the local wolf pack was still hanging around the castle, and that game had been so scarce lately that they were willing to attack anything that was made of meat. Including people. Not to mention the snow was coming down thicker by the minute and the wind was starting to pick up. These signs indicated another storm was blowing in…and she would be caught out in it with the wolves.

"That idiot," he hissed as his wings flared agitatedly, "She's going to get herself killed. I can't…" 'I can't let her die,' he finished in his head as he tightened his grip on the balustrade, 'I have to go after her.' He flapped his wings once experimentally. He'd never actually tried to fly before, but…he may be able to glide and with the wind… Maybe he could catch up to her in time. He doubted she'd be in the mood to thank him even if he did save her, but…he didn't care. He didn't deserve thanks when it was his own damn fault she had been so frightened. So long as she was alive… "Please let this work," Tier prayed fervently before he launched himself off of the balcony and started to glide across the gorge.

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Ahiru had not even hesitated in her course of action after fleeing Tier's room. She made a beeline for the room he had given her, pulled her pack out from under her bed, and started to pack. Hermia gave her a concerned look as the young woman rushed about, "Ahiru? What's wrong?" "Can't stay," the red-head gasped out as she shoved the last of her clothes into the pack, "Too dangerous. Gonna kill me!" The wardrobe tried desperately to calm down the frightened girl, "Calm down. Who's going to kill you?" "Tier," the blue-eyed young woman gasped out as she grabbed her winter cloak, "Gotta leave. Sorry."

Before the pale brown and yellow wardrobe could say anything more the terrified young woman slung her cloak around her shoulders, picked up her pack, and bolted out of the room. Ahiru promptly made a beeline for the doors to the court of honor passing a startled Autor and Mytho on the way. "Ahiru," the candlestick's eyes widened in surprise, "Where are you going?!" "Away," the red-head replied as she choked back another frightened sob, "I can't stay here anymore! I'm sorry!" The clock froze and started to sputter, "Wait! You can't leave! You promised!" The frightened girl paused at the bottom of the stairs and shivered, "I know. I don't want to break my word, but…I really can't stay!"

She ran for the doors, threw them open, and darted outside before the stunned ornaments could react. "Oh, this is not good," Mytho moaned, "What could have scared her so badly that she would leave like that?" Autor huffed and brought a carved limb up to rub his 'face' in dismay, "In brief? The master's temper. I'd stake my life on it." "But he's been avoiding her for the past two weeks," the candlestick protested weakly. "Doesn't mean she couldn't have had a run in with him in a bad mood by accident," the clock sighed, "I should have known this would never work…"

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The frightened red-head wasted no time in racing for the stables where Fafnir had been staying, and was just as quick about saddling him up. She led the horse out into the courtyard before pulling herself up into the saddle. "We're going home, Fafnir," she said shakily as she squeezed the gelding's sides firmly with her legs and flicked his reins. Responding to the signal, the loyal equine launched into a brisk canter along the bridge.

Soon enough they were across and racing down the road leading away from the castle. However, the swirling snow made navigation difficult and it didn't take long for the young woman to lose the road. She ended up directing the gelding down a game trail leading towards a small mountain lake, but didn't realize the error until they reached the shore. Ahiru started to turn the horse around when a chorus of howls sounded from nearby. She'd grown used to the sounds of the wolves in her two weeks at the castle as they often sang at night, but she'd never realized how chilling the sound could be up close. Fafnir was even more frightened than his rider and promptly bolted across the frozen surface of the lake.

The ice groaned ominously under their combined weight and several sharp cracking noises alerted the young woman that the ice was likely to give. She managed to steer the frightened gelding back towards shore before they went through, but only just barely. Matters soon worsened when the wolves ghosted out of the trees and started racing alongside the frightened horse with grim intent clear in their movements. They were hungry. The wolves were not about to miss out on a meal as large as Fafnir, and were hunting the horse.

Ahiru whimpered in fright as she realized just how much trouble they were in. The poor gelding was absolutely beside himself in terror at the sight of the wolves closing in and reared up in fright. The red-head yelped as she lost her grip and fell off. She expected the wolves to fall on her the second she was vulnerable, but they had different prey in mind. When she looked up she saw the pack closing in around her horse… It would be a far more filling meal than a single human, so they completely ignored her for the moment. The animal was trapped thanks to his reins getting caught in the overhanging branches of a nearby tree. The young woman might be afraid, but she wasn't about to let the loyal Fafnir die like this.

"Leave him alone," she screamed as she scrambled to her feet. The wolves continued ignoring her. Human mouth noises meant nothing to them. Furiously, the red-head grabbed a nearby branch, ran forwards, and slammed it into the side of the first wolf she came to as she shouted, "Go away!" The wolf yelped in pain and surprise at the blow and stumbled aside just far enough for her to pass through the closing ring. She determinedly took up position between the wolves and Fafnir with a scowl on her face. This the wolves took note of; this loud two-legged creature was between them and their food. That made her an obstacle.

The largest wolf – the pack's alpha not that she knew that – growled viciously making Ahiru shake in fear, but she swung the branch threateningly. "Get back," she yelled. The wolves were not impressed. The alpha wolf growled louder and lunged to grab the branch in his teeth catching the young woman off guard. Twisting its head sharply, the wolf ripped the branch out of her hands and dropped it at his feet with another growl. Another wolf darted in and slammed into her legs causing her to fall over. The young woman's eyes widened in terror as she realized she was completely helpless, but didn't look away from the hungry animals that were closing in. The large wolf lunged forwards – whether it was to attack her or Fafnir she didn't know – but didn't get far before a familiar winged figure dropped out of the sky and slammed the wolf into the ground.

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Tier hadn't hesitated for a second when he saw Ahiru surrounded by wolves through a break in the swirling snow. He immediately folded his wings and fell into a steep dive. He grunted slightly as he hit the wolf, but the pained yelp it let out assured him that the sudden impact had hurt it far more than it had him. The alpha wolf scrambled away as he stood up slowly and casually flicked his tail in disdain. "Touch her and die," the draconic humanoid snarled coldly. The other wolves all growled in response; not to his words, but to the fact that he was clearly another predator and they thought he was after their prey. The pack moved in with a new target in mind…the rival predator that had appeared.

The young woman scrambled backwards as her captor fought off the attacking wolves. His greater size and strength gave him a bit of an edge, but the wolves had numbers on their side. One of them managed to grab hold of the scaled man's wing and wrenched hard causing a pained cry to burst out as he stumbled to his knees; another pair of wolves joined in the attack on his now vulnerable appendage. Tier's tail proved to be remarkably flexible as it snapped up in response to coil around the wolf that had grabbed his wing and slung it away. He then whipped it back around to knock away the remaining wolves savaging the now mangled limb. Wincing at the pain in his crippled wing, he scrambled back to his feet. The rest of the pack would tear him apart if he remained in such a vulnerable position for any longer.

The wolves had backed away when their three pack-mates were flung away, yet soon resumed their attack. One female wolf darted in and sunk her teeth into his leg drawing a pained gasp before she was knocked away with a swipe of his claws. The wolves were excited by the scent of Tier's blood, and grew more and more bold. The draconic humanoid was soon covered in bleeding gashes torn open by their fangs. He was growing tired, but he refused to fall while Ahiru was still in danger. He knew he wouldn't be able to hold out much longer, though. His best chance would be to go after the pack's alpha. If they lost their leader there was a chance the pack would scatter. It was his – and his red-haired captive's – only hope.

After what felt like an eternity of fending off the attacking pack, the injured beast-man managed to catch the alpha wolf with a vicious blow from his talons that tore open a gaping wound in its side. The mortally wounded canine flew backwards and slammed into the frozen lake where it whined once weakly before going limp. The rest of the pack broke away in a chorus of frightened and pained yelps. This prey was just too dangerous for the pack to handle no matter how hungry they were. Tier sighed in relief that his gamble had paid off and looked over at where Ahiru was huddled up against Fafnir. "Are you…all right," he asked between gasps for air. The young woman nodded shakily and a tired smile flickered across his face as he whispered, "Good." The draconic humanoid then staggered, moaned, and collapsed limply into the snow as he passed out from the pain of his many wounds.

Ahiru was stunned. Tier, the creature she was convinced hated her and wanted her dead, had just saved her life and now appeared to be severely injured as a result of his efforts. She didn't know what to think. In a daze, she stood and numbly freed Fafnir's reins from the branch they were tangled in before she hesitated and turned to look back. The young woman contemplated the unconscious form of her captor and the blood-stained snow around him.

It didn't feel right to just leave him there like that…and he had saved her life after all. Warily, she approached and, as she drew near, she could make out more of his injuries through the swirling snow. He was in bad shape. A deep wound ran across his torso diagonally that bled sluggishly in the cold, his left leg bore a massive gash from where the female wolf had ripped into him, and he was just covered in smaller gashes and bite wounds.

The worst injury, however, was his right wing which was a torn, mangled, and sagging mess. He was clearly still in pain in spite of being unconscious. The agonized grimace on his face made that clear, as did the pained, shallow gasps escaping him. Worse, from the way he was shivering…the cold was clearly getting to him. Ahiru chewed her lip nervously as she concluded that she definitely couldn't leave him like this. Not in his condition; he'd either freeze to death or bleed out long before he ever regained consciousness.

Ahiru removed her cloak and draped it over his body for warmth before she returned to Fafnir's side. The young woman then led the horse over to the unconscious man's side and coaxed the equine into kneeling. With great difficulty, she eventually managed to drape her captor's body across the gelding's back before coaxing the animal into standing once more. The red-head then clambered on so that she was sitting right behind Tier; that done, the girl directed the horse to retrace their steps and return to the castle.

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The storm made finding the way back difficult, but Fafnir's sense of smell enabled him to retrace their panicked flight. Besides, he didn't want to be out in this storm anymore with those predators on the prowl. The sooner he got back to his nice, warm, and safe stall in the stable the happier he'd be. Ahiru wasn't entirely certain how she'd get Tier back into the castle as she had barely been able to get him onto her horse. He was much taller than she was, and surprisingly heavy. Fortunately, by the time they got back the unconscious man had started to stir and moan faintly as he stared to wake up.

"Tier," the red-head asked warily as he started to wake up, "Can you hear me?" The scaled man only groaned quietly in response. He was still mostly out of it. "Tier," the young woman tried again, "I can't carry you inside so you're going to have to try to stand. I'll help you as much as I can." She then reached out and slid his limp form off of the gelding's back. To her relief he'd registered her words enough to try and stand shakily, but he was still leaning heavily on Fafnir just to remain upright. As she slid down herself, she realized his eyes were just barely opened wide enough for him to see and were glazed with pain.

The wounded beast-man didn't seem to fully realize she was even there. He was clearly wavering on the very edge of consciousness, and could easily pass back out again with little warning. Ahiru bit her lip in concern a she wrapped an arm around his lean waist and coaxed him into leaning on her before she guided him towards the castle doors. She had to get him inside before that happened! Tier's steps were unsteady and soft moans and gasps of pain escaped him with each move he made. However, they managed to make it inside before he collapsed a second time with one final moan of pain. "Someone help," the red-head screamed as she fell to her knees by his side. Ahiru was relieved to find that his breathing remained steady if still shallow. Further relief came when one of the taller servants responded to her cries: Johann the footman. He'd been turned into an ornate wooden coat-rack.

"Miss Ahiru, what happened," he asked as he hopped over. "Tier's hurt," the young woman replied as she brushed some of her captor turned savior's mane back from his face, "He got injured saving me from a pack of wolves. I can't carry him by myself and he really needs to have his wounds taken care of!" Johann bent over and took hold of an arm as he spoke, "I can help with that. There's a chaise longue in the parlor we can rest him on. Come on." Tier remained unconscious all throughout being moved, and being settled on the chaise. Johann then left to inform the other servants of their master's condition once he was settled.

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The reaction, upon learning of their master's condition, was instant. Raetsel hopped on the stove to provide hot water for cleaning his injuries. She then jumped onto the tea cart to be rushed to the parlor with a bowl and clean rags provided by Rue and her maids. Autor retrieved the castle's resident medic from the infirmary, much to her disapproval. However, she couldn't protest too much considering she was the med kit. The medic, named Agatha, guided the uncertain red-head through the initial stages of treating her master's wounds before calling the clock back to carry her back to her station. She had judged that the girl was competent enough to handle the rest on her own.

Ahiru made quick work of cleaning and treating the scaled man's injuries. Yet still he remained mostly unresponsive. In fact, it wasn't until the worried young woman pulled out the beast-man's damaged wing to try and tend to it that he awoke with an agonized cry. "Sorry," the red head yelped as she immediately released the mangled appendage, "I'm sorry. I was trying to fix it." Tier didn't respond immediately and only panted heavily for a few moments as he shivered from the pain radiating from his damaged wing. Slowly he opened his eyes and blinked in surprise as he noticed the bandages wrapped around his body before turning to stare at Ahiru in confusion.

'Did she do this,' he wondered, 'Why? I thought she hated me…' The young woman cowered slightly under the intense stare being fixed on her before she shoved her fear away, scowled back at him, and demanded, "Are you going to let me try to fix your wing or not?" Tier blinked in confusion before he shifted his gaze to his shredded wing and winced slightly. There was no way it was ever going to heal right, but there was no harm in letting her try. He sighed and murmured quietly, "Go ahead."

A pained hiss escaped him as she grabbed hold of the tattered appendage and gently extended it. "Sorry," she apologized again. The scaled man shook his head slightly before he replied tersely, "It's fine." His wing was in such bad shape that it was going to hurt no matter how careful the girl was. He could deal. Still, he couldn't hold back all of the pained noises that slipped out of him as she did her best to straighten out the broken bones in his wing and bandage it. It was a relief when she finished.

Ahiru sat back as she finished bandaging Tier's wing and looked down at him with an uncertain smile, "How does it feel?" "Sore," the scaled man answered with a faint wince, hesitated for a few moments, and then asked her quietly, "Why did you help me?" "Eh," the red-head jolted in surprise, "Well, it just seemed wrong to leave you in the snow after you'd gotten so badly injured saving me…" The draconic humanoid scoffed bitterly, "You realize you would have been free to return home to your father if you had." "It still would have been wrong," the young woman retorted stubbornly. "Even though you wouldn't have been in that situation if I hadn't lost my temper," he pointed out.

The blue-eyed girl reached up to fiddle with a strand of her hair before she replied, "I had been warned about setting you off right before I gave into my curiosity and started poking around in your quarters. I knew you had a temper, but I crossed the line anyways. It's more my fault than it is yours." "I could have just told you why I wanted you to stay out of the North Wing the night you came here," Tier stated as he glanced back at her. "I don't think I would have registered it if you had," Ahiru admitted, "I was kind of in shock from everything changing so suddenly." "I could have locked the door to my room," the beast-man persisted. "I still would have poked around the rest of the North Wing though," the red-head countered, "So it's still partly my fault."

Tier sighed quietly before a bitterly amused smile crossed his face, "I suppose I can't deny that. I guess we're both to blame for this mess…" "I'm sorry for trespassing," the blue-eyed maiden apologized quietly after he trailed off, yet he did not respond. If anything he felt he owed her an apology far more than she owed him. All she'd done was poke around a bit. Whereas he'd terrified her so badly she'd fled and had drawn her blood in the process. He still felt terrible about that, but had no idea how to actually apologize for it. He wasn't very good at such things.

The two sat, or in the injured man's case reclined, in silence for a few moments before the draconic humanoid spoke once more. "How are your injuries," he asked her quietly. "Eh," the young woman blinked in confusion, "What injuries? I'm not hurt…" The scaled man partly rolled over to give his captive an incredulous look, "You seriously haven't noticed the cuts on your arm?!" Ahiru blinked again before she looked at her arms, "Eh? What cuts? I don't think the wolves ever touched me, and the snow cushioned my landing when I fell off of Fafnir earlier." Tier sighed and looked away, "Idiot. Not from that. My talons sliced into your arm when I grabbed you in my room. I didn't notice then because I was so angry, but after I calmed down I found blood on them. Your blood."

The red-head looked down and rolled up the sleeve of her blouse on the arm he'd grabbed earlier to check. She tilted her head in contusion a she noticed the two puncture marks in her skin that were still slowly oozing, "Huh… I never noticed. They don't even hurt." Her captor sighed again before he ordered her firmly, "Help me up." The young woman blinked in surprise, but obliged. He grunted quietly as she rolled him over and helped him into a sitting position that didn't squish his bandaged wing. The draconic humanoid took a few deep breaths as he waited for the pain to fade before he looked over at his captive and held out a taloned hand, "Give me your arm."

Ahiru blinked again, but went along with his request. Once again she was taken off guard by how careful he was when touching her. It stood in stark contrast to how rough he'd been earlier. Tier intently examined the injuries his talons had left in her skin before he sighed in annoyance, "They may not hurt, but they still need to be treated, moron. You could get an infection." The young woman scowled up at him before trying to tug her arm free, "I'm not a moron!" The scaled man only tightened his grip slightly and held her in place as he continued to examine the injuries. She started to wonder if the reason he was so careful was because he'd always known how easy it would be for him to hurt her…and he didn't want that to happen. His behavior now certainly seemed to support that idea.

Finally, the scaled man acted. "Rue," he called firmly, "I know you're listening in. Get in here." The mahogany handled feather duster sashayed into the room with an annoyed scowl on her face, "What is it?" "Tell Raetsel I need a fresh bowl of warm water and some clean rags," he ordered firmly without looking up from the cuts on Ahiru's arm, "And fetch a fresh roll of bandages from Agatha!" The red-head stared at her captor in surprise as the feather duster swept back out of the room. Tier didn't meet her eyes as he explained quietly, "You cared for my wounds. It's only fair that I do the same for yours."

It was the closest thing to an actual apology he could come up with, and Tier figured it would at least show he regretted harming her. The two sat in silence until Raetsel's tea cart rolled in with a fresh bowl of steaming water and the other items her lord had requested. The draconic humanoid released the young woman's arm long enough for her to retrieve everything and set it nearby before he grabbed hold of it once more. Ahiru watched curiously as her captor carefully cleaned the cuts on her arm before bandaging them. Once he finished treating her injuries he released her once more and looked away.

Ahiru ran her hand across the bandages before she reached out and placed her hand on Tier's undamaged shoulder. "Thank you," she said softly. "I'm the one who caused those injuries in the first place," the scaled man scoffed quietly, "There's no need to thank me for tending to them." "Not for that," the red-head shook her head as he turned to look at her in confusion, "Though I am grateful. Thank you for saving my life." The beast-man's eyes widened in surprise as he stared at her for a few moments; then, to her amazement, his expression softened as he replied quietly, "You're welcome."

A/N: This chapter did not want to be written… It took me a week to finish it. Admittedly, most of that was because I got sidelined by the other Princess Tutu fic I was working on. Yes, I was actually writing two stories at once. I normally only work on one at a time, but the inspiration is there and I am taking advantage of it. Thankfully, the other fic, The Knight's Tale, is finished and, as I re-edit this chapter, it is being posted. For those of you wondering what a chaise longue is…the best description I can give you is that it is sort of like a couch only different. They come in a lot of styles; type in an image search in Yahoo or Google if you don't believe me. Anyways, the version I am referencing looks like the one in the following image (2. bp. blogspot _R2K1cNRdTl8/ TKaCrldcPoI/ AAAAAAAAAl0/ EgZJbZxjW6A/ s1600/ victorian + mahogany + chaise + longue_1184444656. jpg) only my mental image has the fabric bit dark red instead of white. Blood stains don't show up as well on dark red…they blend. Only reason I know this is I get massive nosebleeds when the air gets too dry and I have a dark red shirt. Nosebleed happens, I bring sleeve up to nose to catch blood while I run to grab Kleenex or toilet paper to shove up there until it stops, and stains do not show up on the fabric. These experiences have also taught me that blood does not show up on black or dark blue either; does show up on dark green, though. And every other color.