A/N: Yes, I know what you're saying. Another fic, another fandom, WTF? But here's the thing. If you're a follower of me, this is going to be a bit of a "break" for me. I have decided to take a short-ish break from Transformers fics. So my TF fics will not be updated for a little while. Don't worry, they'll all be back but in the interim I'll be writing this shorter fic and "Son of Iron" to help my writers block a bit, because I've had it for a bunch of stories for a while. And I think a break from that world will help.

So anyways, this is a plot bunny that has bothered me for months now. And I think I've finally nailed the plot of it. So here we go... It's a severe AU obviously, and while Belle will not be in it (as opposed to other characters like Gaston) I do hope you'll join me for this "What if?" speculative fic to one of my favorite love stories of all time. It may not be a romance, but I have lots of fun plans in my head for it!

NOTE: Part of this "What if?" is what if Beast had never given Belle the mirror to bring back to the village, to clarify. Also, while I am NOT ignoring the fact he has some animalistic natures. I am ignoring the idea that Beast/Adam would eventually become an animal in every way, shape, and form for the purpose of this story. Where's the fun in that with a storyline like this after all? So yeah, it's completely AU.

PAIRINGS: BellexAdam (of course), LumierrexFifi, pretty much anyone canon but those are the mains.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own what is arguably the greatest love story ever told, nor its characters. I really wish. I do claim the OC in this fic though, whose probably going to be the only OC. Barring any change.

CHAPTER 1
The Boy From The Forest

Once upon a time, there was an enchanted castle, within which lived a monstrous beast.

This beast, however, was not always a beast. He was once a prince, whom, after turning away an old beggar woman, found himself cursed upon the revelation of her true identity: a beautiful enchantress. She bestowed on him the curse, and gave a dire warning: if he could not learn to love another, and be loved in return, by his twenty-first birthday, he would remain a beast forever. A timeline which he, and his equally cursed servants, could keep track of by the falling petals of an enchanted rose.

It came to pass, many years later, that a young woman came to the castle. Her name was Belle, and though she came as a prisoner, the most unlikely of things happened. She began to change the heart of the once selfish, angry beast. An action which seemed near impossible - yet, over time, it became clear that the curse was coming closer and closer to being broken.

But the blossoming romance was not to be.

For the night the beast intended to make his feelings known, Belle glimpsed a vision of her town in her magic mirror. Her father, whom she had taken the place of, was to be sent to the mad house for his ravings about the castle. In an act of selfless love, the beast let Belle be free to go to her father. Desperately hoping, against all odds, that she would return, and fall in love as well.

But the poor maiden, faced with an ultimatum, had no choice but to never return. Forced into a loveless marriage with a man from the village, Gaston, in order to save her father. She soon found herself confined to her home, abused, and trapped. While the beast languished, and waited... Waited for his love to return even as the final petal fell, and his curse, seemingly could not be undone.

Days faded into weeks, weeks faded into months, and months into years... And still, the beast waited, longing for the love he'd lost. But by the time eleven years had gone by, even he knew that it was a foregone dream. One that he would never see come into fruition...

Fate, however, had far different plans for the beast. As though he would never see the maiden again, she would none-the-less play a role in his life, in the most unexpected of ways.

And this is where our tale picks up again. Deep in the forest, with a young boy...

The snow fell gently all around the child, who shivered atop his horse quietly.

Percival "Percy" Laurent wondered how far from the town he had traveled by now as his eyes traveled around the landscape. He was already scared, as anyone who had just fled the abusive home they'd been raised in would be - but the fact that the night was slowly creeping in only made it worse. His thin coat was hardly the thing to be wearing in this weather, but none-the-less he had no choice.

After all, the snowfall in the middle of June indicated he was on the right track.

The ten year old could hardly believe his eyes when he'd found it. After all, his father had often ranted and raved at how she had made it all up. The snowfall from nowhere, the castle, it's residents... But Percy had always held out hope that somewhere, deep in the forest around their town, their truly existed such a magical, enchanted place. A safe haven from the world.

A place where his father could never find him.

It had been so long now, he didn't even know if this "Beast" would remember his mother. She'd spoken of him so fondly, called him her one true love... All of which made her husband angry, but gave Percy hope that maybe one day, she may take him and flee there. If the creature were even still alive, that was. But had she? No, she had not... Instead she'd taken ill and died no more than four weeks ago.

With his grandfather, Maurice, dead nearly four years prior, he could not live in the home of Gaston any longer. And so, in the dark of the night, he'd taken one of his father's horses and rode, long and hard, until he was sure he was so far away the hunter would give up the chase.

He didn't know what he expected to find; but a part of him was shocked to see the snowfall.

It was both exciting, and terrifying all at once. Exciting, because it had confirmed everything she'd told him to begin with. Terrifying because this was his second day out there without food, he wasn't dressed for the weather... And... He still wasn't sure where he was going exactly. He only knew to keep moving along the path, and perhaps he may just find it.

Stopping the horse, he carefully got off, quietly surveying the area.

The "path" went on for so long that Percy wasn't sure he would be able to see the castle if he tried. But even so, he was being hastened by the low howls in the darkness. The overwhelming reminder that these were the woods - and all manner of creature dwelled within him. A boy like him, armed with only a small knife, was easy pickings for a wolf.

"Easy girl." He whispered quietly as the horse bucked slightly. "We need to keep going. You hear that? Those are wolves..."

He took the reins but the horse only bucked again, backing away from the path. Quietly, the boy turned his blue eyes further down it, and remembered his mother's story. Her father's horse, Philipe, had been scared in such a manner after seeing the beast. Did that mean they were close? Even if his horse, Adalene, had hardly seen such a creature.

With a deep sigh, he turned to her. "Fine, I'll go on up ahead. But if I'm eaten by wolves, it's on your head." He replied with a grunt, pulling his thin coat further over his body. "I'll come back for you, I promise."

And so he continued, trying his best to show no fear. He continued to tell himself the castle could not have been far now. That there would be a warm fire, and friends there. Maybe they'd be happy to see the progeny of Belle; or maybe they'd be distraught. But either way, they would not turn away a small child, would they?

The snow crunched underneath him. Becoming deeper with each passing step. The cold shooting through him like a tremor as he tried to keep his mind on the positives. Tried not to think that perhaps, Adalene had turned around to return to his father. He continued on this way for what seemed like an hour before he needed to stop, both from the cold, and from hunger.

There was no sign of a castle, despite all of his searching.

He shivered quietly, wondering if this was to be his fate. If he would freeze to death out here chasing a whimsical fairy tale. Percy didn't want to believe that, but he was beginning to lose hope. And the thought of rather going to see his mom was an albeit dark comfort. He closed his eyes, no longer able to handle the cold, nor the walk, he resigned. If he died that night, he supposed there were worse fates.

He'd barely become aware of the snapping twig when he heard the breathing. His eyes twitched open a very small amount to see a purple fabric wrap around his shoulders. He could only faintly make out a shape through his blurred vision, and then a gruff, albeit kind voice speaking. "Don't worry. I'll take you somewhere warm."

His lip quivered, his eyes trying to focus. "Who...?"

"Silence, child." The voice spoke again. "You're safe, that's what matters."

The last thing that the confused child saw grabbed his attention. As hairy army carefully wrapped around, and lifted him up, he came face to face with the very person he searched for.

After all, how could one mistake a Beast?

Adam wasted no time laying the child in front of a warm fire.

His mind raced with many questions, but the top one was the most obvious: where had the child come from? It had been many years since he, or his servants for that matter, had seen another living soul in their neck of the woods. With the exception of woodland creatures, they had no visitors. And yet, here this child was, half-frozen and probably scared.

The boy couldn't be very old - about ten by Adam's estimates. He was quite scrawny, with fair skin, and shoulder length raven black hair. And while he appeared to be growing somewhat-normally, it was easy to gather the child hadn't seen a meal in some time.

Years ago, Adam may have left such a child to its fate. But that was before Belle, or at least, before she had changed him for the better. Nowadays, he looked at a child in need of help, and knew exactly what to do.

He turned his head at the sound of Lumiere clearing his throat. The large beast turned around, looking down upon his old friend quietly. "Master, I came to see what the commotion was about. Chip was telling me the strangest story about a young-." He paused as soon as he saw the bundled child, lying in front of the fireplace. "Sacre bleu! Is he...?"

"Alive, but freezing and starved." Adam responded, looking at the small candelabra quietly for a long moment. "Have food prepared for when he awakens. And find someone to watch him while I see if I can find some of my old clothing. He is hardly prepared for the weather."

"Where did the lad come from?" Lumiere asked in complete wonder. "There hasn't been another human here since-."

"I know when the last time we saw someone was."

It was said with such ferocity that Lumierre chose silence over responding to the prince. Belle was a sore subject, and one of the few things that could send Adam over the edge anymore. Sure, he had changed for the better all those years ago, but his anger, and depression towards Belle for leaving had not.

And yet, this boy was not helping in some ways. Perhaps it was his imagination but when he looked at the boy's nose, and some of his facial structure...

No, he told himself, Belle would never send her own child out here. She couldn't even face him herself, so it was truly a joke to think of that. "I'll see to the preparation of dinner, master. And set a second place for the lad's behalf." Lumiere bowed slightly. "And I will send Cogsworth in to keep watch over him."

"Thank you, old friend." Adam managed.

He truly wasn't sure what to make of this situation. Nor was he sure what he was going to do from there... But for the moment, he was concerned with making sure he wasn't responsible for the death of an innocent child. He could worry about what came next later, for now, he would simply have to wonder.

A/N: Ugh, that felt so good to FINALLY write out. I do hope it was good. I've never written a Disney fic before but it IS my favorite Disney Princess movie, so I hope it came out well.