Chapter Five everyone! Thanks to LilactheDryad for your reviews! I loved getting them!

"I swear I just heard a whinny!" I announced around lunchtime. Well, I think it could possibly have been a whinny. The good news was that we were still following hoofprints, which meant that Zinc and Nickle were alive.

"I didn't hear anything," Papa said, tilting his head to listen.

I shrugged. "Well, you are pretty old so…."

"Paragon!" He exclaimed, feigning anger, "What about respecting your elders?"

I grinned. "Who said I don't respect you? I simply do not have much faith in your sense of hearing."

He grunted. "Wait! I hear it now!" Together, we broke into a run, pausing every so often to listen. Abruptly, we stumbled into a clearing. One moment, there was nothing but trees for miles, and the next, we were at the edge of a clearing. The first thing I noticed was the mansion. It was a massive stone building that looked a thousand years old. Vines crept up its sides, swarming around the windows. Papa tapped my arm, breaking into my thoughts.

"The Rose." I gasped a little when I saw it. The Horn hovered a few inches over a stone pedestool in the middle of the courtyard. Inside sat the Rose. I don't know what I was expecting, but this wasn't it. The Rose looked almost ordinary. It was just a pale pink, slightly wilted rose. It glowed just a little, though, and when I took a breath, I could smell it even from twenty yards away.

"We have to go get it!"

Papa nodded. "Yes, but how will we get over the fence. The fence? Oh. The giant metal fence right in front of my face. That fence.

"Should we knock? The gate's right over there."

"Okay. But be ready, if someone lives here, they could have been the one who sent the wolves."

"Well, they also called off the wolves so…." There isn't a doorbell or anything on the gate, so I just tap it with a stick. Apparently, I hit it a bit harder than I meant to, and the gong bounces off the mansion, echoing back at us. "At least they definitely heard me?"

"Remind me why I let you come?"

"Because you knew I was just going to follow you if you didn't take me with you." I gave him a smug smile. We waited a few minutes, but no one came. "I'm going over." I grabbed the bars and started pulling myself up.

"Paragon! Get down!" He reached for my foot, but I yanked it out of his reach.

"I'm just going to grab the Rose and get out!" I swung over the top and dropped to the ground on the other side. "See? Easy." I ambled across the grass, taking in the courtyard and house. "Papa, isn't this place gorgeous?" I called over my shoulder.

"Hurry up, Par! Someone might be in there!"

I laughed. "Aren't you a worrywart?" Gently, I lifted the Rose from it's stand. Feeling a bit nervous all of a sudden, I ran back to the fence. "Here, Papa." I passed the Rose between the bars. He took it, glanced up, and went pale. "What's wrong?" I don't know why I asked. I could already feel someone behind me.

Duh. Duh, duh. Are you all excited to meet the Beast ?

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