TheGodFish: hahaha, Kaiba seemed to be the perfect character for the 'Gaston' role! All that pompous arrogance! Thank you for the review! Sometimes it is a while before I can update, thought I am dedicated to my fictions. I'll do my best, thought.

Fallon Dream: OMG you are the sweetest thing! blush and pins gold stars to shirt Thank you SO much! I try very hard, I'm glad you like it. Yeah, the suspense of what is coming next is killing me! But you will have to wait to find out! Muahahaha! or, you could go watch beauty and the beast... Shuddup other self...

Lorna Shadows: Hahaha, the 'floor splat da la Kaiba' was my fave scene to write! XD

Nekosune: OOH, How about those yamyams! Pocky! Yay! I'm glad you like it!

Black-Dranzer 1119: Thanks!

Gantaeno: I know, I just had to do a fairy tale theme, I've only ever read one good one, and the author didn't finish...sniff

Rosalie: The hardest part of writing a fic like this is finding the characters to match the parts. I refuse to have origional characters fill in space, so finding spots for the servants of the castle was really hard for me to do:P Thanks so much, I was worried the Kaiba thing wouldn't fit but everyone loves it! And, you know, now that I think about it, I've never read a ryou-as-a-girl fic that I've liked...I totally agree! Please enjoy!

MyNameIsNotBakura: (Purrrr-I love u 2) OOH! FREAK! WHO ARE U! STALKER! hehe, glad you like it hunnie-bunnie.

On Wit Da Fic! (as Joey would say...)


Sunlight beamed brightly through the singular window placed high on the right wall, just next to his bed. Ryou's eyes twitched slightly behind his delicate lids, reacting to the cold yellow beams of winter sunlight. They seemed stark and harsh, as if made from some sort of invisible metal, sent from the sun to torture him...The rods of light bored into Ryou's face, crawling beneath his skin and urging him awake.

Shifting with a tired little groan, Ryou sloppily covered his head with a pillow, whining something about too early. In the distance he could hear birds singing, lilting in their beautiful, unique way...

...Birds? But the birds don't sing untill noon...

With a startled gasp, Ryou threw the pellow off and lurched upwards, gazing wild eyed at the dizzyingly bright window.

"Ohhh, no...don't tell me..." Jumping out of bed, he snatched the first articles to wear that his hands touched. A pair of wrinkled under-leggings, a soft brown homespun tunic, and a silly, flower-patterned kerchiff. Gathering his white nest of hair into a tangled knot he hastily tied the kerchiff around it, taking only the time necessary to make sure it wouldn't fall of. Leaving the waistband of the leggings loose, the teen threw the shirt on-

Is it backwards? he shrugged and decided it didn't matter

-and flew down the stairwell.

This was rare. Ryou almost always woke up before sunrise, he had been doing it every day for years. He had to. There was so much work that needed to be done before the customers arrived! All of the cleaning, cooking, organizing, stocking and displaying had to be completed at least in the hour of sunrise, preferably the hour before, but never after.

Chewing at his lower lip, Ryou rounded the sharp corner separating the storage room from their hall, and moved to snatch up his regular cleaning utensils from their usual spot on the front shelf. Ryou put out his hand without looking as the other tugged on the slipping pants, knowing from routine that the little pail and all it's neatly tucked contents would be there. His hand smacked the bare wood with a small 'fwap', making him start and look up.

He uttered a soft "Huh?" of confusion, staring at the spot as though it had sprouted arms and begun cleaning itself. The pail was gone. He bent immpediately to his knees, thinking maybe father knocked it off the shelf, an was lying on the ground...but he would have heard the noise of it falling even in his sleep, and he definitely would have seen it on the ground when he came in...

Nevertheless, he bent down and continued searching the floor. After making the rounds, Ryou uttered a little humph of frustration and hopped to his feet, deciding this was taking way too much time. Going to the rusty sink in the corner, he crouched down and opened the cubbord underneath. Finding an old bottle of some half-evaporated cleaner and a few reasonably discarded moldy rags, he chose the only other option.

He glared at the oddly colored moldy rag with anger. It was nearly one o'clock!

"Arg, It's so late, the shop isn't even open yet and traffic is already picking up..." He could distinctly hear a group of carts clatter by, accompanied by the rare click-clack of a noble-woman on foot. Pouting over his shoulder at the curtained door, Ryou brushed off his dusty leggings and stood up.

I'm opening the shop, cleaned or not.

With a frown he brushed away the curtains and gave pause for the second time at the sight that greeted him. Beautiful, ruby red light hazed throughout the room, so beautiful, in fact, it seemed out of place.

His frown lightened a bit, hovering now only at the corners of his peach lips. Reaching for the 'Closed' sign, Ryou's hand stopped abruptly of it's own accord. Blinking, Ryou wondered dumbly at himself untill his subconcious reminded him...

Kaiba.

Licking his lips nervously, Ryou pulled back and wrung his feminine hands, unsure of what to do. Yes, he should flip the sign over, yes, it was his responsibility, yes, he was losing money, yes yes yes yes; but...

But maybe I should clean after all, you know, in case...in case it gets really dirty...Yes, that's it, I'm not afraid of you at all. So if you're out there, Kaiba, waiting for the shop to open, thinking I'm not opening it because of you, then you're wrong, and you can go away...

Swallowing, Ryou turned around and glanced about. Where was that pail, anyway!


Maurice hooted with glee at his newest creation: a steam engine. A small steam engine. Exitement shined in the old man's eyes as he apraised the whistling, whirring machinery. He would never be poor again, not after this was introduced to the market! No, he and Ryou would never have to go without, and the boy could finish his teen years with a real, professional teacher. The lump of metal in front of him was Ryou's ticket to a better life.

As the cogs spinned and bouts of hot, white steam puffed into the air tears gathered in the corners of his eyes. He smiled, a feeling of releif begining to lighten the age-old load on his shoulders.

He stood in the middle of a large shed, quite away from the shop, in a small glade just outside of town. Their buisness was on the farthest wing from the center of town, which overlooked this little field, so it wasn't difficult for him to get here despite his old age.

When the cobblestone streets of civilization ended small dirt paths took their place, windining through the woods; few made it up into the mountains. One of the longer ones (the only one upkept by the town service team) meandered it's way into the neighboring trade city, which was where Maurice would be traveling later that day.

Every year, a regional fair was held, at which the countries most wealthy buisnessmen attended to keep up on the local competition. Someone important was gauranteed to see his display, hire him, and everything after that would be a dream come true.

Smiling at this thought, he made his way slowly to the door- having to step carefully through the mess -and looked outside. The old man whistled sharply and leaned farther from the shed's doorframe, searching for Phillipe, Ryou's horse. He was much too aged to need a horse unless it was an occasion such as this, in which case he'd just borrow Ryou's. It was expensive enough to keep one animal, let alone two.

It was an old horse, and a skiddish one at that, but Ryou loved it with all his little heart. Phillipe was undoubtedly their most valuble possesion but the child flatly refused to sell it, even when they were on the brink of starvation, and Maurice hadn't the heart himself to deny the boy. He'd never yet met someone who could resist that begging face Ryou had perfected to a fine art.

Whistling again, he cupped his hands around his mouth and gently called "Pilllliiiiipe, here boy, c'mere old buddy, time to go home." He heard a huffed snort somewhere nearby, but nothing else. "Pillipe, over here boy." He whistled once more. A whinney of annoyance met his ears, and with small mutters of his own he limped out of the door.

Hobbling slowly to the back of the shed, he spotted the big chestnut gelding. It chewed thoughtfully on a clump of grass, not bothering to lok at Maurice.

Said man huffed. "Pillipe, what's got you all riled up today? Oh, you get back here you old fool!"

As he hobbled over the the horse, it casually walked away, keeping the same distance between itself and man at all times. Maurice stopped...and Phillepe did, too. He threw up his hands in exasperation but laughed in spite of himself. "Oh, you ol' donkey, let's go home," at this the ears perked,"and see Ryou, huh? would you like that?"

Maurice grinned. The horse flopped his ears comically and wriggled his big, velvety lips, prancing over to his master's feet and rubbing his muzzle against the man's shirt.

They set out again sometime in the late afternoon, cart and man in tow. He sat on the back near his steam engine, watching it carefully as the animal lumbered along, the both of them looking foreward to seeing Ryou. The little rustic roads were uneven and caused the delicate cargo to bounch slightly, but the horse was remarkably able to steady the rattling old wooden cart.

It was getting late, ha'd have to set out right after dinner if he wanted to get to the fairgrounds in Rosewood. Ryou wouldn't like that much. He was always demanding that father stay in bed for a while longer every morning, and the caring child would most certainly object to his late eve travels.

Snapping the reins a little against the animal's neck, they sped up to a steady trot and very quickly the edge of town came into view.

Sparing a quick glance up as he inspired Phillipe into a gallop, he noticed that the sun already began to fall in a steady arc twards the west.


Ryou had become frantic as the sun set, waiting at the stove and aimlessly stirring a pot of stew.

Father, where are you!

Biting his flushed lower lip, Ryou stared anxiously out the small kitchen window which faced the southern woods. They were commonly called the Black Woods, mainly because of the gigantic mountain peaks rising at the far southern border. The forest was almost entirely covered in shadow, thus the name, and no travelers save the ones on the path from Rosewood ever entered there. It was rumored to be haunted, but Ryou didn't believe in such silly things. Of course, he had met witches, warlocks and a very...erm, 'lusty' gentleman which he suspected to be a vampire, but hauntings? Shaking his head no, Ryou went on to the carew of his stew, adding a handful of minced fennel. He didn't believe in hauntings.

Unconciously flickering his eyes up for a moment, he spotted an old wagon clattering along the dusty path leading into the fringe of town, pulled by an overlarge draft horse ridiculous for a cart.

Dropping the wooden ladel into the soup pot with a red, tomatoey splash of liquid and the clang of wood against metal, Ryou dashed to the back of the shop and threw open the small door leading outside. He ran the small distance to father's cart and Phillipe, watching the big animal speet up it's gait despite father's attempts to slow him.

Galloping almost right up to the boy, the big horse pawed at the air and neighed affectionaately. Ryou giggle and held out his arms, pulling the beast into a "hug".

"I wondered where you two went! I was so worried, as a last hope i checked the stables and sure enough, the cart and you were gone! Where did you go? You've been gone all day long!" Ryou smiled up at his father, arms outstretched to aid the man in dismounting.

"Well, we'll get to that soon enough, but I want to eat dinner quickly before I tell you. Have you made anything?"

"Oh, yes, I used the last of the tomatoes in a stew; you know how shabbily they keep during winter."

"Yes, yes, good boy. You always were the smart one!" Maurice ruffled the child's hair, smiling.

"Papa, I'm the only one!" Laughing, the two went inside, Ryou pressing his father to take a longer supper, just as the man predicted.


"Ryou, I want to show you something before I go." Maurice stood up from their little three legged table, pushing in his whicker chair.

"Go? Go where, father, you're in no condition to be going anywhere, -"

"Child! Please, let me show you and then you will understand," he said as if keeping the greatest secret in the world. Mystified, the teen followed his father back out to the yard where the cart stood, a large burlap tarp covering it's rear contents.

Almost immediately Ryou wondered why he hadn't noticed the bundle before. It certainly was large enough.

"This is something I've been working on for the last few months, and recently I came to almost finishing it. The excitement of coming so close has drawn me away for a while, as I'm sure you've noticed," he added with a sort of half-guilty smile. Carrying on before the boy could reply, he unfastened the hooks holding the fabric down and pulled at a heavy, stiff corner.

As the tarp slid off, Ryou pressed the tips of his maidenly fingers to his mouth, supressing a gasp. It took his mind a moment to comprehend the large metalic item in front of him. "What...in the world is that?"

"A miniature steam engine." There was a long pause. "Well," he began uncertainly, "What do you think, Ryou?"

Ryou's eyes grew huge, and he looked up at the old man with an unreadable stare. Glancing back at the glittering thing, Ryou said finally, "It's beautiful, Papa!"

Maurice laughed heartily, putting a hand on the much younger boy's shoulders. "That's not all, son. It can be used to power all sorts of machinery, everything from little trains to ovens!"

Ryou gaped, and as the man told his son of his grand plans, they gathered the items needed for his trip into Rosewood. Surprisingly, the boy relented quickly, deciding not to fuss too much over his father, realizing how important the situation was. At the end of it all, Maurice sat proudly atop the wagon as before, smiling down at his son. They plodded out to the beutiful forest glade, embracing eachother in a farewell hug.

"You'd better hurry if you want to get to the fairgrounds tonight; look, over there to the mountains, is that a storm cloud?" Ryou's brow furrowed with worry.

"Yes, so it is...You're right, I should get going." He hugged his son one last time and gently guided Phillipe untill the horse faced the general direction of the city path, spurring his lightly in the sides.

Ryou watched his father ride away on the wagon, hands knotting in the small gray apron at his waist. There was a gnawing, doubtful feel at the back of his mind, and he felt himself clench his teeth against a call to stop and come back...With sad, brown eyes Ryou waited untill Maurice disssapeared behind the thick trunks of the trees before hurrying up the steps. Rain was alredy begining to sprinkle the cobblestones.


They trudged through the darkness, progress slowing the farther from the treeline they moved. Maurice had lost the lantern's flame a long time ago due to the rain, and traveled in heavy fog with the bright, fair moon as his only guiding light. Sadly, even that was occasionaly blocked by the leafless branches of the trees. Gulping and glancing around the old man tightened his grip on Phillipe's reins for comfort.

He cursed himself for not taking the right path a few miles back; he was sure this had been a shortcut! His eyes flickered from one twisted, black barked tree to the next, shivering despite his winter cloak. It was too silent. Never before had he ever heard of a silent forest; there were no birds, no little animals, not even squirrels...

I've never seen trees like that before...

"OOOH! Dear God!" the man cried out suddenly, eyes wide and scared. He'd heard a frightful 'whump' from up ahead and Phillipe had stopped moving, shaking his golden mane up into the air. "Ph-ph-phillipe? What was that? Where have you taken us?"

The horse snorted as if to say 'You're the one with the reins.'

Noticing Phillipe's lack of reaction, the man decided it was safe, and peered ahead to see what they had run into. It was a sign.

"Finally! I was begining to think we were lost, old boy!" Ha patted the horse's flank as he dismounted, pulling with him a ratty map from the saddlebags. He looked at the ancient vellum with contempt in the shoddy moonlight, tring to read it. "Now, this can't be right!" Leaning over the sign, he attempted to read it, too, brushing gently at the chipping paint with his hands. His focus slipped time after time leaving him to study a blurred, muddy plank of wood. "Well! of all the worthless-"

A snap behind him caught his attention. He whirled, hands flying to find Phillipe's reins, pulling the horse close.

"W-who's there!" silence...and then another snap...

Phillipe went crazy. The huge horse reared up, tearing the reins fron the man's hand, powerful hooves flailing in the air. "Phillipe! Phillipe, no boy! Down! DOWN!" And suddenly the woods were alive with roars and much more than snapping branches. Something huge threw intself into Maurice and he went down, his world spinning in a flash of dull color and chaos. He could hear Phillipe's shrill cries of panic and absolute terror shot up his spine; he'd never heard a horse make that sound before. He didn't know an animal could make a sound like that.

The horrible, four legged thing which had thrown him down dug it's snarling jaws into his side and Maurice bacame acutely aware of his own screams of terror. Deciding the big horse could take care of himself Maurice bolted, feeling the teeth of the animal tear free from his flesh. Rain splattered in his eyes, blinding his vision as he forced his body to keep going. Soon the cries of Phillipe died away and he herd only his own ragged breath and the breath of his vicious persuers, snapping at his heels.

Maurice ran from the hungry wolves as fast as his short old legs would carry him. It was a lost cause, these ani8mals were desperate and he no match for them in conditions sucha s these... He should just give up, hopefully he wouold die quickly...

Ryou, I love you son...

His feet stumbled and he flew foreward, propelled by his momentum. A harsh, metallic clang rent the air and his head slammed against a terribly cold bar, momentarily stunning him. Pausing in his flight from the creatures, the old man looked up. In front of him was an absolutely huge gate, reaching twenty to thirty feet high at least. It was made of a strange, blue-black metal that gleamed in the solitary moonlight, dark ivy patterns laced through the bars at the top. It was a masterpiece of craftsmanship.

Jerked out of his reverie by whines and squeals he turned back around and saw the wolves slinking away into the woods, eyes rolling and tails between their legs. Noting this odd behavior Maurice took the opportunity to get away, shoving at the iron gates with all his might. To his surprise, they swung open silently, not even a slight tremble of the hinges could be heard.

Gaping at them as though they had come to life, Maurice walked onto the enormous path leading to...He looked forewards, eyes bulging at what what he saw.


Ryou lay shivering in bed, tossing restlessly. Tangles of moon white hair stuck to his forehead with sweat, complicating the situation even more. In his mind's eye terrible things were happening.

He saw a monster...it was roaring, muzzle turned up and yawning wide among rows and rows of fangs, while the arms outstreched to the heavens bulged with muscle and untold power. Even in his sleep he could hear the sound of that terrible roar and swore in the depth of his mind that the ground shook...the boy moaned, trying to hide the vision from his closed eyes...the monster turned, slowly, and lowered it's blood-red eyes. Ryou opened his mouth to scream, but the desperate cry died in his throught. Those eyes, they were not the eyes of a monster. They were they eyes of a man...and they wept.


Ok, so that's really bad, but it got us to almost meeting the beast, ne? And then the real fun begins! Yay! Pweeees review! Makes me write faster!