Title: Belle and the beast
Series: Twisted fairy tales
Author's note: This is also featured on Tumblr and my AO3 account.
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Belle's father goes into the woods, and for seven days, he doesn't return. Believing he's been caught up in another town's market, as has happened before, Belle doesn't worry about her father. She realises just how wrong she was when he's brought out of the woods, blood-splattered, drenched with snow, soiled, and trembling with the onset of a winter fever. She stays by his side for the next three days as doctors and nurses try to treat him, but even Belle can tell his health is failing rapidly. Scratches litter his face and bite marks cover his arms, but it's his ranting that has the doctors concerned. The doctors blame the winter fever, though Maurice is adamant about the castle in the woods, about a talking beast, and his agreement to send his daughter to the hideous beast in exchange for freedom.
The winter fever takes complete hold of Maurice, and it doesn't let go. In Maurice's last breath, he makes his daughter promise to return to the beast in his castle in the woods. Belle attends her father's funeral, dressed and prepared to enter the woods. People who didn't know or even like her father when he was alive now mourn his death, and quietly judge his daughter. They whisper that Belle has caught the winter fever, that she's crazy to be going into the woods in winter, that everyone knows there's no castle in the woods. Hunters and woodcutters have scoured every part of the woods, and they have never found a beast's castle. When Gaston, the village's best hunter and most eligible bachelor, corners her after the funeral, he not so subtly hints that a young maiden shouldn't be left alone, especially at night. Belle ignores his advances, side-steps him and marches into the forest. Behind her, the townsfolk whisper about how they'll find her in five days, just like her father. Belle ignores them as well.
Belle walks for the rest of the day, trying to piece together her father's journey from his feverish ramblings. She finds blood, torn material from his clothes, a swatch of fur that she doesn't recognise. Belle continues along the path of broken branches, footsteps found in the sodden path, and spots of blood. She rests fitfully that night, the warm cloak barely warm enough. In the morning, she eats a crust of bread, cheese, and then continues walking. As she walks, Belle thinks of her father, of when she'd last seen him whole and healthy - only a week ago! - and she stops still when she realises he'd ridden to the other town's market. So where was her father's horse?
A shudder flows through her that has nothing to do with the drop in temperature. Belle gathers her cloak around her firmly before continuing on, if not for the promise she made to her father, then at least to find his horse. The path she's following drops away suddenly and Belle looks back to the part of material she found, then forward to … nothing. The trees are standing upright, no branches broken, no spots of blood on the ground, no material or cotton. Belle cautiously makes her way to the slight decline nearby, eyes sharp as she tries to find her father's path once more. She sees a massive paw print, her eyes widening as she thinks of the beast. Her father wasn't delusional after all! Belle's excitement has her rushing through the woods, not even caring that her cloak snags on the trees. She's looking up, searching for the castle her father spoke of, and doesn't see the pit until she's already fallen into it. Belle's dizzy at the unexpected tumble and takes a moment to get her bearings. The pit is deeper than she expected, the sides are too damp to get a good hand or foothold, so there's no way to climb up, and she's stuck. Clouds overhead darken the pit, and as her eyes adjust to her surroundings, Belle discovers what's left of her father's horse. The smell hits her in the same instant, and she turns away to retch at the sight and smell of the mangled and bloody carcass.
As she regains her composure, Belle hears a low growl from the other side of the pit. Her heart racing, she stands on her toes to look past the bloody remains of the horse, only to see a tunnel. Belle waits nervously, thinking that she might follow the same fate as the horse, and tries to think of anything in her pack that might serve as a weapon. She has a small box of matches, extra clothes, the remainder of her food, and not much else. She can no longer hear the growling, and Belle hopes the animal or beast has decided she's no threat. Still, if she had any chance of getting out of the pit, it would be through the tunnel. Her father had been found above ground, after all. Stepping her way around to the tunnel, Belle looks inside. It's not a castle, but to the fevered mind of an old man, it could be seen as such. There are a series of tunnels and no beast in sight, so Belle walks in cautiously. She leaves her matches in her pack, her eyes adjusted enough for now. Belle trails a hand along the wall to find her way, turning where she can and trying to follow the same path she made through the woods towards the pit. The tunnels get darker the further she walks, the lack of light playing havoc on her sense of time. Not only that, but she has the sensation of being watched, of eyes following her in the darkness, and yet whenever she looks, there is no one there. Her anxiety increases until she brings out her matches, lighting one just to prove to herself that she's not alone. For the second time in a week, Belle is wrong. Golden eyes flash at her in the match's dim light, the scarred beast leaping at her with bloody jaws wide open. Belle raises her arm to shield herself and screams in pain as the beast's teeth embed in the flesh of her arm. The match burns out and falls to the ground, surrounding them in darkness. Belle sobs in pain, pleading and begging, but the beast doesn't remove it's sharp teeth. It also doesn't eat or gnaw at her, as she expected, and after a few more painful sobs, the beast lets go of her and leaves her lying there in the dark. Unbearable pain, exhaustion, and the damp cold of the tunnels combine to make Belle slip into a fitful sleep, full of nightmares with doctors telling her she has winter fever, and beasts with glowing eyes and sharp teeth.
Belle wakes hours later, her heart pounding, but otherwise feeling fine. She wonders if the bite was even real. Maybe it was a result of being in the tunnel too long, or perhaps it was part of her nightmares, or maybe she really does have winter fever? She touches her forehead and determines that she's fine. Belle frowns when she realises that she can see her arm, despite the darkness in the tunnel. It hasn't become lighter since she'd entered, and the tunnels are solid dirt, so there's nowhere for the sun to shine through. She fumbles in her pack for her matches. She strikes a match, and winces at the sudden burst of light. Looking to her arm, Belle can see teeth marks and blood staining her long-sleeved shirt, but there's nothing on her skin. There's no hint of the bites or blood that match the holes and stains on her shirt. Belle curses when the match fizzles out and burns her fingertips. She blows on her fingers to ease the pain, but surprisingly, the pain is gone before the cool air touches her skin.
Belle hears a low growl again and looks down the tunnel to face the scarred golden-eyed beast. Nightmarish before, Belle now sees that these scars are worn with pride, scars that tell tales of battles endured and won. She snarls and growls in return, the noises making up a language she never knew existed before now. The beast howls, a long noise that snaps something wild and primeval within Belle. She's standing before she even registers the movement, tilts her head back and howls as well. She leaves her pack and follows the beast through the tunnels. With her new eyes Belle can see that her father was right in saying these tunnels were a castle. Underground though it may be, it has all the natural wonders that the earth can provide: large chunks of precious metals and rare uncut jewels. Belle swears she can see diamonds glittering in the walls.
She keeps up with the beast's fast pace, though soon discards her warm cloak, then her shirt, and her other garments soon follow. The beast winds its way through the tunnels until it pads out into the woods itself. Belle sees that it's actually night-time, and overhead is a full moon. A change takes over her, making her tear at her limbs and skin until her own beast surges forth. Her howl rents the night air, and in the village, children huddle under their blankets in fear.
Belle and the beast run through the woods, thousands of scents teasing at her nose, smaller creatures scuttling away in fear, and she delights in the feeling of freedom, of running without consequence or worry. The world beyond the woods does not exist in these moments, and Belle rejoices in everything the night has to offer her. The beast stops, and she does as well, panting softly in exertion. She hears the sounds of hunters gathering below, brought out to the wood by their howls. Belle snarls, but the beast leaves to return to his castle. Reluctantly, Belle follows the beast to her new home.
The full moon does not sway her, as the stories would have her believe. It is a change that can be brought on willingly, though it takes time and patience to learn. With no need to return to the village, and a lifetime of dealing with her eccentric father, Belle has endless amounts of both. She spends three days as a beast, then another two as a human, and the next two days randomly switching between both.
After another week passes, there's nothing left of the horse, so Belle and the beast steal a sheep from the villagers. Gaston leads his hunting party through the woods the next day, while Belle and the beast sleep off their late night and meal. Belle almost gets her paw caught in a trap later that night, narrowly dodging the metal teeth at the last second. The beast tries to get her to return to the castle, to hide away, but Belle refuses and watches as the beast leaves. She uses a large branch to trigger the trap, then goes to a nearby tunnel entrance to wait and watch. The hunters arrive and are soon divided: some think the beast in the woods is bewitched by the devil to knowingly set off hunter's traps, while others blame the night's strong winds and old trees. Gaston does not join either argument, instead standing and surveying the woods around them. He steps forward, close to Belle's resting place. She doesn't dare breathe too loudly, and then she hears a howl in the distance. The hunters leave in a rush after the sound, and both terrified and relieved, Belle runs into the tunnels to the beast's castle.
Though Belle doesn't trigger the traps again, the hunters set more and more traps until it's difficult for even normal wildlife to move around the woods. The beast leaves a sheep's carcass in a hidden spot, only accessible to other animals, just so they can eat too.
Belle spends more of her time as a beast. She regards the beast as her mate, and the castle as her own. The woods are theirs, and the humans are nothing but trespassers intent on hurting her and her own. Belle is out hunting a cow, something large enough to keep her and the beast fed for the rest of winter, when she hears the beast's howls of distress. She leaves the cow and runs to her beast, only to find him caught in a bear trap, the metal teeth sinking deep into his leg, his paw stuck at a crooked angle. She hears hunters approaching, brought by the beast's distressed noises as well. The beast snarls, telling Belle to return to the castle. She snarls back at him, then turns on the hunters instead. They're not expecting a second beast, especially not one who knows that Lefou has a bad right knee, that Tom's left hip has never been the same since the boar three winters ago, that Dick's sore arm makes him a slow aim, or that Stanley can't see things in his peripheral vision. Belle turns on Gaston, her maw matted with blood, jaws dripping, and snarls. Gaston seems to realise who he's up against, her name stuttered in a fearful whisper, but he raises his weapon anyway. Belle charges, dodging left, right, left when he fires off in opposite directions (he spent so much time bragging about his conquests of 'stupid animals' that some of it was bound to sink in). Belle's jaws close around his throat, he barely has time to scream, and then he's on the floor, just as dead as the rest of his hunting team. Belle changes back to human, shivering in the cold, and frees the beast from the trap. He limps a few steps, whining, then slowly changes to human. A broken hand is easier to set than a beast's broken leg. Belle looks at her beast, her mate, and smiles at the familiar golden eyes and scars that litter his body. The she turns back to the hunters, and decides they will suffice for the rest of winter instead of the cow. She drags them back to the castle to store, the beast covering their tracks with his feet and uninjured hand. When she's finished, Belle dresses the beast carefully, finds her own clothes to wear, and takes him up to the village to get his hand treated.
When the doctors ask about where she's been in the last eight weeks, Belle smiles and tells them she found the castle in the woods. The doctors think of Maurice, winter fever, and don't linger after that. Belle's bloody smile ensures that the beast is treated with both care and wariness. Word passes through the village of Belle's return with an unknown man, and when Belle and the beast leave the village, she once again ignores the villagers' whispering. But later that night, Belle and the beast return to the village. They sit in the main square, tilt their heads back and howl. In houses throughout the village, adults and children alike huddle under their blankets in fear.
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The end.
Thanks for reading; I hope you liked it!