Ren stared out at the door, still creaking from Kyoko's frightened flight. Distress and guilt were written all over his face.
"I'm sorry." He whispered, his paw reaching out to the long-gone girl.
"I did not mean to scare you."
He stared at his paw, perhaps believing that it belongs to a different animal.
"I did not mean to harm you"
"MURDERER!" a ghastly memory screamed at him accusingly. Vicious eyes glared at him, a ghost from a long ago memory.
"I know." Ren hollered to the invisible source, paws clutched uselessly against his ears. "I know" he repeated in a whisperer hoarse with grief and guilt.
He looked into a nearby shattered mirror and a dozen hideous faces stared back at him, eyes filled with pain, guilt and thousands of other emotions, named and unnamed.
"And in my twisted face
There's not the slightest trace
Of anything that even hints at kindness
And from my tortured shape
No comfort, no escape
I see, but deep within is utter blindness
Hopeless
As my dream dies
As the time flies
Love a lost illusion
Helpless
Unforgiven
Cold and driven
To this sad conclusion
No beauty could move me
No goodness improve me
No power on earth, if I can't love her
No passion could reach me
No lesson could teach me
How I could have loved her
And make her love me too
If I can't love her, then who?"
"Time is running out." He thought "She is my last hope."
Then he remembered those days when life seemed bright and hopeful, long before the curse, before Rick's death. All the way back to when his mother and father were alive and well.
"Long ago I should have seen
All the things I could have been
Careless and unthinking, I moved onward"
He remembered the grand balls they used to have when he was a child, his father; tall and proud with the metals from various wars. His mother; radiant and regal with silks billowing around her while precious gems amplified her beauty. The joy and merrymaking were of legends, all people from every walk of life was invited noble and common, rich and poor, near and far. The loss left a stabbing feeling in his chest.
"No pain could be deeper
No life could be cheaper
No point anymore, if I can't love her
No spirit could win me
No hope left within me
Hope I could have loved her
And that she'd set me free
But it's not to be
If I can't love her
Let the world be done with me"
"Please Rick" he pleaded with his dead friend. "I know I can never be forgiven for killing you, but ,please I'm begging you…"
##############################################################################
Kyoko flew down the staircase as hasty as her legs would allow her.
"Help me!" She thought panic struck as she raced down the third-floor staircase.
"Chiori, Kanae, he's going to kill" she cried out loud now sprinting downstairs past the second floor.
Lory and Yashiro, who were at the bottom of the ground floor staircase, heard her cries and thought at the exact same time, "No, Ren!" "What have you done Koun" Lory whispered, low enough that Yoshiro would have been unable to hear even if he was paying attention.
Both of them knew just how frightening Ren's uncontrolled temper could be to anyone, especially to someone who already had such a poor impression of him.
Suddenly she was at the top of the staircase to the left of them, eyes wide, face pale despite the incredible speed of her decent down the stairs.
"Wait, Kyoko" Yashiro called as she passed them in her desperate attempt to get away.
"Promise or no promise, I will be killed if I stay here another moment!" The frightened girl cried over her shoulder as she hastily fastened her cloak.
Both objects watched in disbelief and horror as their only possible hope of breaking the curse, rushed outside and into a violent blizzard.
####################################################################################
Ren meanwhile had begun to sink back into depression.
"They told me to control my temper." he thought miserably. He let out a bitter laugh.
"Even I knew what would happen if I scared her." He sighed bitterly "Now she will never open herself to me." He paused before gazing back at the rose.
"I will never know happiness"
#############################################################################
Kyoko galloped away on Corn, terror pushing her forward, despite the dreadful weather. Wind lashed out around her as the snow fell overwhelmingly down to earth. Then, Kyoko heard a sound that made her bones chill and her blood run cold. Wolves, the same pack which had chased Kanae and Chiori, now had their eyes set on a new target, Kyoko.
Kyoko screamed bloody murder as one lunged for her.
####
Ren heard the howl of the pact but did not move. He knew his home was built to withstand human attackers. Wolves, with their lack of weapons and human intelligence, had no chance of penetrating its defenses.
Then, Ren raised his head. His heighten animal hearing alerted him to a distant cry of terror.
"Was that Kyoko?" He wondered then heard more howling, followed by another, much louder scream. "Kyoko!" he shouted as he raced out of the room and down the hallway. He did not even notice Shoko, Lory and Yashiro in the great hall as he raced the clock.
####
Kyoko ducked quickly and the first wolf missed her by a hair's length. But, it landed nimbly a few paces from her and
Kyoko grabbed a nearby fallen branch and swung wildly.
"Someone, help me" she wailed, through despite her desperation, she doubted anyone would hear her, let alone help her.
"Kanae, Chiori" she cried "Mr. Tsuruga" even though she doubted he'd help. Not only did she invade his privacy, she also broke her promise.
"Why would he help?" she laughed humorlessly, despite the overpowering fear clawing at her heart.
The wolves growled once, tensed, than pounced on her. Then, by some miracle, he appeared….. Sho!
(Ren: You have five seconds to run
Shining Golden Star: I'm Sorry, but I could not resist, I have to keep the readers on their toes. Besides, we all know that Kyoko will end up with…
Yashiro: back to the story!)
Ren appeared at of nowhere, flinging the wolf off Kyoko and snarling at the rest of the pack. At the sight of their fallen comrade, the remaining wolves turned their attention away from Kyoko, toward Ren.
Kyoko watched eyes wide as they leaped on Ren and became a snarling ball of fur and malice. One wolf was flung away from the pair, but another racked its claws against Ren's right arm. Ren roared in pain and another dug its fangs into his neck.
Again and again, Ren tossed wolves of himself an aside and again and again, the ripped at him with fangs and claws then finally one wolf fled, howling, two more followed until all the remaining wolves fled in No point in continuing a fight which would only result in needless injuries an possible loss of pack members, not to mention it was certainly not going to fill empty bellies.
Ren looked at Kyoko in a daze of pain and exhaustion. With a low groan and a hint of a whine, similar to that of a wounded bear, Ren collapsed onto a snow bank.
Kyoko looked at Corn "Now is my chance to escape" she thought, reaching for her beloved horse.
Then she stopped. "But he just saved my life." She murmured, glancing back at the monster who stole everything she held dear.
In an instant, she made up her mind. Gingerly she took off her own cloak and wrapped it around Ren. Then leaning down she whispered
"Mr. Tsuruga I need you to get up, I will help you on my horse, but you're too heavy for me to lift you"
He did not respond. Kyoko bit her lip as she tried to think of a different approach. Then a sudden idea popped into her head.
"Mr. Tsuruga, there is some strange animal out there, I cannot see most of it, but I can see very large, glowing, yellow eyes."
Almost instantly Ren jolted up, with his eyes wide and alert. Then, his eyes began to droop and he staggered into Kyoko's arms. She was surprised by how soft and fluffy his fur was.
"He kind of reminds me of a giant kitten" she thought as carefully as she could she helped the beast onto Corn, who protested very loudly under the excessive weight.
By some miracle the snowfall had gone from a heavy blizzard to light and gentle, so it was easy to follow the beasts abnormally large paw print back to the castle.
####
To say that Shoko, Yashiro, and Lory were shocked at not only the sight of Kyoko returning but with an unconscious Ren would have been an understatement.
Shoko appeared to have been on the verge of a panic attack.
Yashiro was somewhere between fanboying over and the fact Kyoko was acting so gently toward Ren and worry for Ren's safety.
Lory was muttering something about the loss of 50 years from his lifespan through he had said this with a devilish grin that had only deepen Ren's scowl when he regained consciousness.
Kyoko paid no attention to this mix of reactions, assuming she had noticed. She was too occupied with a very grouchy Ren who was clutching his arm and evading all her attempts to clean his wounds.
"Hold still!" she commanded him, armed with a clean handkerchief, dripping with boiling hot water.
Ren's only reply was a dark glare.
Without another word she reached for his arm, only for him turn away, thus having his arm out of reach. She tried again from a different side only for him let out a low growl. Finally, after several minutes of their 'game' of cat and mouse, Kyoko managed to grab his arm and roughly applies the cloth.
Stinging pain shot up Ren's arm and he let out a roar of pain let all for corners of the earth know about it.
"This is your entire fault" he growled.
"It has to be cleaned or it will get infected". Kyoko told him calmly.
"If you hadn't run away, this would not have happed" Ren accused
"If hadn't frightened me, I wouldn't have run away!" Koyko retorted
"... Well, you shouldn't have been in the west wing" Ren told her triumphantly after a moment's pause.
"And you should learn to control your temper!" Kyoko retorted.
Kyoko gave him a rather unimpressed look as she crudely tossed the cloth back into the bowl of steaming water.
"You are acting like a child." She told him bluntly
Ren turned and stared at her in total shock. His whole life he had prided himself on his maturity
Kyoko simply rolled her eyes. "You yell, sulk, and throw silent tantrums, whenever something does not go your way."
She turned to
Then, to the complete an utter amazement of everyone in the room Ren. An honest to goodness cloud of depression hovered over him.
Kyoko gave him a deadpanned expression.
"You know, we commoners must have certain sense professionalism if we are to get the day's work done. I willing to bet you would find life easier if you tried to do the same thing, which would involve being pleasant to others."
"…" Ren did not know to respond to being scolded by a girl
"By the way" Kyoko added softly
Ren tensed, ready for another round of scolding
"Thank you… for saving my life."
Ren blinked in surprise and turn his head in order to look down at her face.
She was so focused on the task at hand that her head was bent at the angle preventing him from clearly seeing her eyes.
"The firelight is giving her cheeks a pink glow" he noted to himself. "and she appears so… sincere"
"…You're welcome" he finally told her.
Neither one noticed the knowing smiles being exchanged between three certain objects behind them.
Shining Golden Sun: I am so sorry for taking so long to update. A special thanks to everyone who has been so patient with me.
Sho : Wait a minute, I was not in this at all except for that cheap tricj you played ealier.
Shinning Golden Sun: *Holds up a magic pen* you were saying?
Sho: ….
Kyoko: Shinning Golden Sun does not own Beauty and the Beast or Skip Beat otherwise I would have gotten my revenge on the idiot by now.