I thank lavadiamond10, Fanatic97, and Yen mi Eruion for helping me. The Rhodri species were created by alaitallon of Deviantart.
Leon was still in the kitchen when Karla came in. "And how are you this evening, Princess?" he asked as she walked in.
Karla groaned, collapsing on a friendly stool which offered itself to her. "This is going to be a lot harder than I thought. And I knew it would be hard. Can we get some of the leftovers from dinner, Mrs. Potts?" she called to the teapot.
"Of course, Madam," answered Mrs. Potts. "Somebody's got to eat it, after all." Quickly, she assembled a few dishes and served up some of the uneaten dinner. It had been quite fancy, as the dishes had taken special care in preparation of it.
As they ate, Karla asked, "So, got any new songs lately?"
Leon took a moment to swallow before answering. "Well, there's a couple new ideas floating around in my head."
"Can you sing one of them?" asked Karla curiously.
"What, now?" asked Leon, rather surprised.
Karla shrugged. "Sure."
So, swallowing the last of his food, Leon took a breath and began.
Although loneliness has always been a friend of mine
I'm leavin' my life in your hands
People say I'm crazy and that I am blind
Risking it all in a glance
Leon's voice carried through the empty halls of the castle, causing all who heard it to stop and listen. Upstairs, the door of the East Wing opened a crack. Belle peered out, making sure no one was there, then slipped quietly out of her room and snuck down the hall, past Lumiere, who was busy with one of the maids behind a curtain. "Where's that music coming from?" she wondered to herself.
And how you got me blind is still a mystery
I can't get you out of my head
Don't care what is written in your history
As long as you're here with me
Karla gazed intently at Leon as he sang, swaying slightly with the music. She couldn't help but wonder if this was the same Leon she'd met in the forest that first time. Almost unconsciously, she leaned closer to him, her tail slowly entwining with his.
I don't care who you are
Where you're from
What you did
As long as you love me
Who you are
Where you're from
Don't care what you did
As long as you love me
Leon's voice died away as he turned, staring into Karla's eyes. They gazed long at each other, slowly drawing nearer...
Their noses touched as they stared at each other. Mrs. Potts acted as if she wasn't paying attention, but she was happy to see a nice sight. Karla and Leon really didn't eat the rest of their food, so the dishes walked away to get clean. Just then, Leon's ears perked up, bring him and Karla back in reality.
"I heard it too." Karla said, sitting up and noticing Leon's ears. "Footsteps...coming this way."
"Are you sure?" Mrs. Potts asked as she put her children, all teacups, in the cupboard.
"Positive," Karla answered, "but I don't think it's Adam. He isn't that light-footed." She looked at Leon and the two of them decided to get out of the kitchen. As soon as they left, Belle entered the kitchen.
"I had a feeling it might be her." Leon whispered, "You really don't think...?"
"Adam can't make her do anything she wants." Karla answered, "Something he should know...from dealing with me." The two of them left the kitchen door and walked down the hall.
"Karla." Leon spoke up and she turned to face him. "About earlier...I'm sorry."
"For?" She asked and Leon raised his brow. "I was fooling. You don't have to apologize. It's starting to show, isn't it?"
"Can we talk about this in private?" He asked and Karla agreed to that. They walked down the hallways until they reached Karla's room. She closed the door because she certainly didn't want her brother or any of the servants overhearing them. "I feel stupid."
"I think almost anyone feels like that when they realize their feelings." Karla said.
"I didn't think I would ever feel...'that' to anyone...ever since I was turned into this." Leon spoke up. "I don't know...why I feel this way towards you, but...you touch my heart in a way I can't explain." Karla smiled, still grateful that her fur covered her blush.
"Your singing touches my heart the same way." She said...and Leon also blushed, with his fur covering it as well.
"But...what about your brother and...?"
"We just have to be careful." Karla answered, "Right now, we need to help him with Belle. This is his only chance...and I'm not going to let it go horribly bad." Leon just nodded in agreement. The two of them stared at each other, just like before. Both of them were blushing very harshly as they got closer, not wanting to break their stare. Their noses touched...and their lips were a breath away. Leon gathered his courage...and brought his lips to hers.
It was rather odd, to kiss as rhodris; still, the experience was not unpleasant. It lasted for some time, until Karla suddenly pulled away, sighing. "No, we shouldn't."
"Why not?" whispered Leon, wrapping his tail around them both. "Like you said, we just have to be careful."
"My brother-" Karla began.
"- isn't here," interrupted Leon softly, drawing her close again. "Let's not worry about him right now."
Gazing into his eyes, Karla melted, kissing him once more. So they continued to not worry about him for quite some time after that.
That is, until a terrific roar shook the castle.
Leon and Karla jumped apart. "What was that?" gasped Leon, trembling slightly.
"Uh-oh." Without another moment's delay, Karla sprang to the door and raced out into the hall, making for the West Wing. To her surprise, she met Belle coming from there, running as fast as she could the other way, her face white as paper. Oh, great, thought Karla, sprinting faster.
Leon started as Belle raced past. "Where are you going?"
"Promise or no promise," cried Belle over her shoulder, "I can't stay here another minute!" She passed Lumiere and Cogsworth on the stairs, deaf to their pleas, and hurried out through the front door, out into a snowstorm.
Meanwhile, Karla burst into the West Wing, where Adam stood, head in his hands. She pounced onto him and glared, while snarling, "What happened?!"
"I...I went outside to clear my thoughts." Adam started, "I heard someone in here...I thought it was you, but...it was her. She removed the bell jar and was about to touch the rose."
"Did you attack her?" She growled as she grabbed the fur of his chest.
"Not...exactly." He said and Karla glared at more at him as she brought him closer to her face. "I got in between her... and put the bell jar back over the rose. I got...so scared and upset that...I started destroying the items around her and told her to get out."
Just then, Karla heard the neighing of a horse. She got off her brother and went to the balcony. It was snowing hard, but she saw a figure on a horse...leaving the castle. Karla growled as she back at Adam.
"Your only chance...our only chance...has left the castle...and it's YOUR FAULT!" She roared at him and, for the first time, Adam was afraid of his sister. "If she continues to run in this weather, not only will she not make it home, those wolves will go after her. Since you caused this, you go after her and convince her to come back. If she doesn't want to come back, you better make sure she's at least safe!" Adam really didn't think of anything else. He cowered away and ran off, but Karla chased him to make sure he went outside. As soon as Adam went outside to follow Belle, Karla stopped at the edge of the doors. "If you're a real man, don't you dare come back without making sure she's safe!" She yelled and slammed the front doors to make her point.
After slamming the doors, Karla sat down, stared at the floor and started panting, to catch her breath. She couldn't believe it: her brother just possibly lost his only chance to be free. She did understand why Adam was afraid of the rose being touch, but that doesn't excuse him from scaring her out of the West Wing.
"Karla?" She heard, immediately looked up and saw Leon. He seemed a little...fearful when Karla turned to face him. "I saw Belle leave, saying that she couldn't stay here another minute."
"I know the reason and I just sent Adam out to fix his mess." She calmly said.
"You let him go out there? In this storm?" He asked.
"He caused the mess!" She almost growled, causing Leon to back up and sit down on the stairs. "I'm not cleaning up after him this time! He's going to fix this, whether he wants to or not."
"Oh, come on, Karla," said Leon, hurrying after her. "He's your brother; what if he gets hurt out there? What if they both get hurt?"
"He'll be fine," Karla snapped fiercely over her shoulder. "He's a big boy now; and that girl can certainly take care of herself."
"But the storm!" cried Leon. "And wolves? I'm pretty sure neither of them can face those by themselves."
"There won't be any wolves out in this weather!" said Karla exasperatedly.
As if in answer, a long howl was heard outside the castle, soon followed by another.
Leon raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure about that?"
Glaring at Leon, Karla sprang past him, hurrying back downstairs, through the door, and out into the night.
"Me and my bleeding heart." Karla said to herself as she went into the snow. The wind howled as snow flailed against her face and fur. She raised her nose into the air, trying to catch any scent of Belle or Adam.
Just then, she heard the wolves again, but this time it sounded more like whimpering than growling. It sounded like it was coming from the north, so that's where she headed. Soon, the storm started to die down. When it did, Karla caught her brother's scent, but her face dropped when she realized something else. There was the scent of blood mixed in with Adam's scent. Karla feared the worse as she headed towards a different direction. When she jumped out into a clearing, she heard someone
gasp. She turned to her right and saw Belle, holding onto her horse's reins.
"Karla." She said, "You startled me."
"You're okay." Karla said, but then noticed the huge bulge on the horse's back. Her eyes grew wide, thinking the worst.
"Thanks to your brother." Belle said, "He saved my life. He...passed out and...I'm trying to get back to the castle. I think I'm a little lost."
"Follow me." Karla said, turning around. She led Belle through the thick brush and blinding snow. The storm was going back and forth from dying down and being resurrected. It took a while, but they all made it back to the castle. "I'll bring Adam inside. You can put your horse back...if you want."
"I don't think I'll be going anywhere in this storm." Belle said as she turned to put her horse in the horse stalls. Karla carried her brother into the parlor, summoned Mrs. Potts to bring some warm water and bandages. She smelled the scent of blood on Adam's fur. He was injured somewhere, just wasn't sure where. When she put Adam in his chair, he started coming around.
Belle leaned over to soak one of the bandages in the water. Karla sniffed her brother over, trying to locate the injury. She found it on his arm; a nasty bite was oozing blood. "Oh, dear; those wolves are awful." Turning, she reached for another bandage; when she turned back, Adam was licking his arm. "Ew, Brother!"
"Here, now." Belle glanced up, then came nearer. "Don't do that!" She tried to take his arm, but Adam growled at her. The servants backed away, but Belle stood her ground. "Just hold still," she told him, reaching again for his arm.
The prince roared in pain as the rag touched his wound. "THAT HURTS!" he screamed at Belle.
"If you'd hold still, it wouldn't hurt as much!" she yelled back.
"If you hadn't run away, this wouldn't have happened," Adam retaliated.
"Well if you hadn't frightened me, I wouldn't have run away!" cried Belle.
"She has a point," Karla told him sternly.
Adam searched for a reply, then retorted, "Well, you shouldn't have been in the West Wing!"
"Well, you should learn to control your temper!" said Belle firmly.
"That's for sure," agreed Karla.
"So, you're taking her side?" Adam asked his sister pointedly.
"Because she's right," snapped Karla. "For the record, I risked my safety to make sure the wolves wouldn't tear you to shreds, so watch your mouth!"
Adam, even though he didn't show it, became a little afraid of his sister's words. He finally gave up as he put his head on his fist.
"Now hold still." Belle said, lifting his arm again. "This might sting a little." When Adam heard that, he quickly turned his head away, bracing for it. "By the way, thank you...for saving my life." Adam opened his eyes, surprised from hearing that. He turned to look at her.
"You're welcome." He said, allowing Belle to finish. Karla turned away for privacy. She felt a tiny bit guilty making her brother go out after Belle by himself, only because he got injured in the process. She was relieved to know that Belle wasn't injured either.
"There you go." Belle said, bringing Karla back into reality. She turned around to see Belle tying the knot in Adam's bandage. "I would take it easy if I were you." She added, "I don't think want that any more worse that it is."
"I think all of you should retire for the night." Mrs. Potts decided to speak up. "Everyone had a bit of a...'restless' night." Everyone agreed, even though Karla was still wide awake. Adam rose from his seat and walked out on two feet and the servants hopped away, leaving Belle and Karla being the last ones in the room.
"Karla...thank you for...coming out and finding us." Belle said, "I don't think I would've gotten back here with your brother passed out."
"Don't worry about it." Karla said, "I'm just happy that it didn't turn out worse than I thought. I want you to know that I don't take sides. You might be right that my brother needs to control his temper, but he does have a point. Why did you go into the West Wing?"
Belle hung her head, a little ashamed. "I... got curious, that's all." Looking up, she asked, "What was that thing in there? That floating flower, or whatever it was, I mean?"
"Oh..." Karla bit her lip, wondering if she should tell her about the curse. Finally, she said only, "It's nothing. Nothing you need to worry about, anyway. There's lots of strange things here, as you've probably noticed."
Belle nodded. "I certainly have. The servants are all so very sweet; the ones I've met, anyway. But how did you all become like this?"
"Hmm, you're a very curious girl." Karla pointed out.
"You making that sound like a bad thing." Belle said with a somber tone.
"No," Karla quickly said, "no, I didn't mean it that way. It just...proves a point that it can...sometimes leads to trouble. I didn't mean anything by that."
"You're right; it does. I just proved that not too long ago."
"To answer your previous question, it's an answer that you'll have to wait to find out. It's a very sensitive topic to everyone, especially to me, my brother and Leon."
"Very well then." Belle said, "I suppose we should get some sleep."
"Would you like me to lead you back to your room?" Karla offered.
"Sure." Belle answered and the two of them walked towards Belle's room. The dark halls were quiet with only the sound of the snow hitting the windows.
"As long as you love me" by the Backstreet Boys.
