Chapter 21: Through the mist, to the Woods
It had snowed during the night. It was not the soft snow from before, but a heavy fall that stuck to the earth and blanketed the woods. Belle's horse seemed to struggle on the slick wet road and their progress was slowed.
Belle felt the cold on her dangling naked feet. The rest of her was tucked warmly within the enchanted cloak, and yet she could not stop the trembling of her body.
She had been face to face with the creature and yet she lived. The same could not be said for the former inhabitants of the castle. Belle's chest tightened as she thought of those poor souls. All lost. She shuddered again and fought back tears.
She had failed in her mission.
Belle shook her head. I will find papa myself. Then we will decide how to stop the creature. She bit her lip in doubt. If only I knew where…
But her thoughts were interrupted. There was a rustling in the trees behind her. With a sharp jerk of her head, Belle stared into the shadows.
At first, there was nothing. The trees simply swayed in the glistening sunlight and Belle began to breathe again. Then it happened once more, a slow and deliberate crackling of leaves and branches.
The Beast! Belle screamed internally. Her body responded quickly. Grasping the reins in her hands, she pushed the horse forward. Her limbs tightened and urged the animal.
"Hurry!" She demanded, twisting her body to navigate the way.
Belle's borrowed stead tried its best but it was not bred for racing. What it provided with sturdiness it lacked in speed.
Soon the invisible threat was surrounding her within the veil of trees. Then Belle saw them and nearly choked on her surprise. Their eyes gleamed in the early light and reflected back with an evil glint.
Wolves.
She was surrounded. Her horse had pulled to a stop and was prancing back. It threatened to throw its mistress. Belle patted its sides, attempting to calm the increasingly maddened animal.
Her eyes never left the pack. It was large. More than ten, possibly twenty. Likely more than that. The black and gray creatures lifted their snouts to the pair and Belle watched their eyes fill with hunger. One or two of them snapped at the horse's legs. Belle gasped as she felt hot breath on her bare feet and calves.
In the next moment she was flying through the air and landing on the hardened snow. Her body made a painful thud. The horse had succeeded in dislodging her. She watched from the ground as it dashed away through the overhanging trees.
"No!" Belle breathed from her cold bed on the ground.
The wolves began to circle her, growling and snipping. One bold member of the pack caught a thick strand of her hair in his teeth and pulled back viciously. Belle let out gasp of pain as she struggled to release her imprisoned scalp.
Encouraged, other wolves moved in. They bit at her gown and the exposed flesh of her ankle. The wounds weren't deep, but they broke the skin and blood began to soak the virgin snow beneath her.
Belle's vision couldn't focus on the crazed creatures. There were too many. One wolf snapped at her shoulder and attempted to wrap its jaws around her bones, but its razor teeth could not get past the thick cloak that protected her. Belle pulled back forcefully until her garment was released from the its grasp. The act sent her propelling backwards. She landed on her side and slipped down a hidden slope to the edge of the clearing.
The animals followed after her. The further Belle moved away, the more she became cornered against the outlining trees. As the wolves moved in slowly, a few began to fight amongst themselves for the fresh meal. A scuffle took place but was quickly abandoned as they turned back to Belle.
She saw them advance with eyes blurry with tears and droplets of warm blood. There was nothing to do but wait for the teeth to devour her.
Then she saw him. Their leader. The Beast. Belle stopped breathing entirely.
He was enormous. Far larger than he appeared in the tranquil setting of the warm room in the castle. His body was massive. Belle shrank back as the Beast approached. In his presence, she almost forgot the wolves that surrounded her.
He shouldn't be able to move so quickly, she thought to herself, her mind half lost to shock. Yet he did. The Beast sped forward with an ungodly strength that propelled him like an arrow. His claws met and left the ground sharply, soundlessly. His heavy body left only clouds of snow in his wake.
The Beast's face was focused. His blue eyes were piercing. He looked furious.
Belle fell back against the trees and brush as she watched him over the heads of the biting wolves. Then he was upon them.
Them?
Belle wiped damp fingers over her eyes but the image stayed the same. The Beast, the leader of the pack of wolves, the murderer of an entire species, was not attacking her. He was fighting the creatures. Belle gasped as she watched the scene before her.
He was ferocious. His teeth and claws struck the animals without mercy. He tore their flesh, one by one, throwing the wolves to the ground in mounds of whimpering, mutilated fur. The sound was deafening. Roars and wailing, howls and growls, echoed through the empty clearing. The noises bounced off the trees and repeated in an endless symphony of pain.
The Beast fought like the creature he was, but he fought for her. It was clear as any truth Belle had ever known. He wasn't trying to assist in her murder but was attempting to prevent it.
The Beast fought the wolves. He was in the castle and Mrs. Potts called him Master. He had used the name Savior.
Belle felt the ground below her give again. The mangled snow shifted and pushed her back. As her body spun downwards, her mind fought for reason. With difficulty, she pulled herself up and over to where the battle was taking place.
When her eyes refocused she was met with a surprising sight. The Beast was surrounded. Somehow, he had lost the high ground and the wolves were moving in. They did not wait this time. Instead, the pack attacked immediately. They flew at the Beast and ripped at his flesh with savage claws, all at once.
The Beast let out a roar full of pain and fury. He twisted his massive body and flung a wolf off. Belle watched as it landed with a whine against a nearby tree. That wolf was soon replaced with another and the Beast fell to his knees.
Without thinking, Belle searched the trees for something to use as a weapon. Her hands fumbled along the snow before finally closing around a long thick branch.
She didn't plan to attack. Her feet simply started moving in the direction of the struggle. Then she was swinging. Belle's first bat went over the head of a black wolf. Her second made a sickening thud. The force of it vibrated down her arms and knocked her back. But it also dropped the animal.
Belle stared at the wounded creature in shock for a moment, then she turned back to the fight. Her arms began swinging on their own. She was overcome. A force drove her and soon she was knocking the wolves away from the Beast with delirious speed. Over and over she beat them back.
Belle raised the bloody branch up over her head again and swung it down. This time it was caught. Her heart lurched. Her eyes focused in on the fingers that clenched it and she gulped in shock. The Beast simply yanked the limb away and threw it to the ground.
Belle's mind still raced and her blood rang in her ears, but she focused in on the dangerous blue eyes before her and paused.
There was something in those eyes.
Without a word they drifted shut and the mammoth Beast fell forward with a heavy crash.
"No!" Belle cried and rushed forward. She touched a tenuous hand to the back of his torn and blood-soaked shirt.
Her eyes dashed around her, taking in the horrific sight. The wolves were gone, those who still lived. Those who did not…Belle looked away and focused on the wounded Beast.
She ran her hand up to his throat and searched for a pulse. His fur was thick and matted from the fight but Belle felt a heavy heartbeat beneath her fingers.
She raised her hand to her forehead and spun around quickly. The horse was gone. There was no way to move the giant creature. She bit her lip and pulled her hair over her shoulder, cringing from the pain on her scalp.
For a moment a thought entered Belle's mind.
She needed to leave. The wolves were on the loose. She needed to find her father!
Then shame washed over her in a hot wave. The Beast had protected her. He had defended and bled for her. She couldn't abandon him.
Exhaustion found Belle in that moment. The thrill of the fight, the adrenaline that had motivated her, left her body. She felt her knees buckle slightly but managed to remain standing. Her eyes searched the ground and came to rest on her deadly branch. She walked over slowly and grasped it in her hands. Then the broken woman turned back to the Beast.
With steps weighed down by fatigue, Belle made her way over to her sleeping defender. She shrugged her slim shoulders and felt her cloak slip down her arms. The cold hit her cruelly. Belle began to shiver.
She let herself slide down to the snow beside the Beast and flung her cloak over him. Then, with her tiny hands gripping the red splattered branch close to her chest, she slumped back against his hard, bristly body, and give in to the weariness she could no longer fight.
A.N. All rights go to the Walt Disney Co.
Hello, readers! Let's all take a breath. What do you think of our bat swinging heroine? Anyone else want to see her go up against Negan? How did you feel after this chapter? Tell me your thoughts and the Beast will protect you from the scary wolves!
I would like to thank my reviewers,greensarcher, FantasyActionRomanceGirlCraze, PastOneonta, and DiizGirlJess, who hurried this chapter along. I hope you are pleased with it! Thank all of you who have contacted me as well. Your friendship is amazing! And as always, thank you for reading, reviewing, following and/or favoriting! - S.