[A/N: I do not own Twilight or the Swan Princess]
Ch. 8
--The Wolf and the Swan--
My eyes fluttered open as I hoped I was waking up from a bad dream. I hoped that I would wake up in my bed either at the Cullen castle or my own. It took a while for my eyes to adjust and I stretched my stiff body feeling something soft against my face as I rubbed my eyes. I opened my eyes to examine my hands only to realize that they weren't hands, but wings. A soft groan escaped my lips as I was finally beginning to realize that I wasn't dreaming anymore, no, this was real.
There was some movement next to me and I looked up to see the giant wolf towering over me. Its face was filled with concern, for me no doubt.
"I'm okay…" I said forgetting I was a swan now looking down in the water's reflection. The irony of it all, my last name was Swan and now I was a swan. I looked back at the wolf to see if it understood me, but it probably didn't since we were two different types of animals. However, the wolf gave me a shocked expression as if it did understand me…could it?
I waddled over to it and looked into its eyes, "Do you understand me?" I asked hoping it would. It blinked a few times and then nodded, but didn't speak. It seemed like it was still shocked it could understand me or something, although, it the wolf started talking to me that would be…interesting.
"Can you talk?" I asked curiously trying to figure out if I knew this person. The wolf seemed to think about what I just asked for a moment.
"I don't know," a male voice said, "Can you understand me too?" I nodded and continued to look up at the giant wolf. I wondered if since I was an animal now if I could talk to any animal…that would be a fun experiment to conduct. I shook my head trying to focus on what was going on at that moment. We needed to figure out a way to escape from here. I couldn't let James hurt Edward, I just couldn't.
"We need to develop a plan to get out of here." I told the wolf. I looked back at the lake which would determine when I transformed back and forth between a swan and human. "I can't let James carry out his plan because it's going to only hurt people I care about."
The wolf seemed to think about this for a bit, "Yeah, my family will be worrying about me. I was on my way back from a trip when I smelled his scent." He growled a little at the last two words. "Those things shouldn't be alive."
I looked back at the wolf for a moment, "Not all of them are bad…" My gaze went back to the lake, "Even though they still think that their monsters I don't think they are. I think there are some that don't wish to live like monsters, but wish to live like humans again."
"You're talking about the Cullens aren't you?" The wolf asked growling softly. I didn't look at him, but simply nodded. If he was from where I thought he was then he would know what the Cullens were…what Edward was. "They may drink animal blood, but they're still dangerous. It's in their nature to go after human blood meaning they are still just as dangerous as the two we saw last night."
"I don't believe that…" I said letting out a sigh, "I told Edward that I didn't think he was dangerous…that it didn't matter if he was a vampire or not…" I trailed off remembering how angry he was when I had told him that.
"He's dangerous! Even he knows it!" The wolf yelled.
"No! He's not! If he was so dangerous then why would he have saved me twice?"
"I…um…" He stuttered trying to find a good argument, but he found none.
"What's your name?" I asked after the long silence.
"Jacob…"
I went through all the people I had met at the bonfire, but he wasn't one of them. I did remember however how they said some of the people in the village were out doing some fishing. Fishing? I doubted that now.
"Well Jacob, I'm Princess Bella." I said as I bowed my head politely.
"I know who you are." He blurted out.
"Do you live in the Quileute tribe?" I asked curiously. There was a high chance that he would say no, but I was hoping he would say yes.
"Why would you think that?" He asked a bit suspicious. Well, he didn't say no so that's a good thing.
"I was with them a few nights ago." I answered, "We were at a bonfire and they were telling a bunch of old legends. They said that they weren't real, but I kind of believed them once they started talking about the 'Cold Ones'." I looked up at Jacob for a bit and then looked back down, "They were also talking about how the members of their tribe could transform into wolves. You just reminded me of that legend."
"It's not a legend…" Jacob confirmed.
"I didn't think so," I smiled, "So why don't you transform back?"
"With the bloodsuckers around, no thanks."
I winced at the term, "I guess that would make sense, but please do refer to them like that… Not all of them are bad.
"There you go again," He said rolling his eyes, "Princess…"
"Bella," I interrupted, "Just Bella please."
"Okay, Bella," he corrected himself, "No matter what those things are dangerous."
I flapped my wings angrily, "No they aren't! There are some that are good. Have you ever gotten to know them? Have you ever tried? I didn't know you when you were a big wolf and I took a chance."
"That's different."
"How?"
"You knew what I was and we don't hurt humans."
"I knew what Edward was and he doesn't hurt humans either." I turned and swam into the water.
"Bella…" Jacob begged, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it…It's just that is what the legends say…"
I turned my head back toward him without moving my body in the same direction. It felt funny, but I was a swan so it felt natural as well… "I know that the legends say all vampires are bad, but I don't believe that. There are always exceptions to the rule."
"Yeah, you're an exception." Jacob laughed, "You aren't afraid of vampires or werewolves."
"And I'm the only mind Edward can't read…" I sighed, "I'm a freak…" I looked down at my reflection in the water. A swan was staring back at me with a sad face.
"And you're a swan by day and princess by night." He chuckled walking in the water. The cold water sprayed my entire body making me shiver slightly. My feathers puffed out as I shook the water out feeling a bit warmer.
I had just finished putting my feathers back when Jacob shook a bunch of water off of him like a big wet…DOG.
"Ew!" I exclaimed as I tried to cover myself with my wings, "That's disgusting Jacob!"
He laughed, "It's just water Bella. Don't tell me you're afraid of water."
"No, but I don't like taking unexpected showers." I complained. "I hate getting wet when I don't have to." I remembered what I had told Edward when he saved me the first time letting out a frustrated sigh. No wonder why he was laughing when I said I didn't like the cold…Stupid! I looked up at the sky as the sun slowly made its way across the clear blue sky.
"What's wrong?" Jacob asked standing next to me, "Is it because you're tired of being a swan?"
"That's only part of it…" I said with a sigh looking back down at the swan staring back at me. Even if I did fly to see Edward he would never know who I was. James had even said that was why he turned me into a swan, to keep me away from Edward. There was a splash next to me as Jacob sat down in the pond, the deep water didn't matter much to him considering his size…he was huge.
"You really fell in love with the blo…er…vampire then." It wasn't a question.
I nodded with a smile, but it quickly disappeared as I remembered my recent fight with Edward. Jacob must of noticed the change in my expression or something because he made a soft whine and nudged me gently.
"I don't think he likes me though…or not as much as I love him." I admitted. I didn't want to admit it, but that was probably the truth.
"Why do you think that?" he asked curiously.
"Well…" I sighed, "Look at him, he's perfect in every way."
"Except the fact that he's a monster." Jacob pointed out.
"He's not a monster! If he's a monster that puts you in the same category." I said sticking out my tongue making my swan face look funny.
"Chill Bella," He chuckled, "I was just joking."
I smiled slightly, "sure you were." We both laughed because it was true. "I'm glad I met you Jacob. You're a good friend even though we just met."
The rest of the day we just talked about a bunch of things. I found out that the werewolves and Cullens had made a treaty seventy years ago to keep each others' secrets. They ended up working together to create the kingdom, but kept to themselves for around sixty years. He told me it was because it was better off that both their kind separated from the humans, that and neither of them aged. I told him that I had remembered that from the legend and he just laughed. I was surprised that we became friends so quickly, it was like he was my childhood friend…I liked that about him, I could talk to him about almost anything…as long as it didn't involve Edward…
The sun slowly set in west as the moon slowly rose in the east. Twilight…the end of reality, the beginning of fantasy…
[A/N: Sorry that this chapter is rather short, but I've kind of been suffering from writer's block. I think finals fried my brain or something... I hoped you enjoyed the chapter anyways.
P.S. I also go the title idea from 'The Fox and the Hound' X3 I love that movie and that's what Bella's and Jacob's relationship reminds me of.]
