Unconditional Loyalty
Summary: Kurapika is a Kurutanian beauty but keeps it a secret for his and Pairo's safety, he's also the bookworm that doesn't fit in among the towns people, and Leorio is the cursed prince all thanks to his own attitude. Both are from different worlds, yet they suffer from the same feeling of isolation. A parody of Disney's Beauty & The Beast. Alternate Universe setting.
Disclaimer: I certainly do not own anything of the Disney franchise, and I don't even own Togashi sensei's wonderful works for the Hunter X Hunter anime and manga. This is purely for fan entertainment, and to fulfill my craving for writing a Leorio and Kurapika centered fanfic.
Pairings: Leorio and Kurapika, slight Pokkles and Ponzu.
Author's Note: Sorry everyone for not updating for a month, I had been feeling lethargic and I didn't have much time to jot down ideas for this chapter until a few days ago… Also thanks to ideas from some of the reviewers, I finally decided that this fanfic's universe will be somewhat the same as Hunter X Hunter's, just without Nen or occupations like Hunters… There will be a mixture of different cultures in this story hence it explains why a town could have people from multiple ethics, but most prominently it will have French and Japanese cultures…^^
Italic font indicates a character's thoughts or feelings.
Pairo and his trusted giant hybrid bird continue on their journey until they become lost. At first Pairo would deny it himself, but with his glasses accidentally dropped to the ground an hour ago and it cracked, chances of him going to the right way towards the invention fair had become slim to none. But part of him insist that as long as he remained calm and trust his own instincts things will turn out better.
I can't be going back home empty handed. Kurapika will be so disappointed. Imagine him waiting for me for a whole day and letting him know that I've lost my way.
Knowing that his short-sightedness would hinder him from seeing the paths clearly, he squint his eyes hoping to get a clearer view. He could somehow make out two pathways, with one looking bright and sunny, while the other path filled with dying trees and sounds of bats clicking could be heard.
''Hmmm, Kurapika often taught me not to judge a book by its cover, so just because the left path looked good and safe doesn't mean it really is. Alright! I'm already lost so I have to make a decision anyway!''
Without any clue about how his decisions would seemed impulsive, Pairo made Birdie turn towards the right direction. All things seemed well until a swarm of bats fly out of a tree. Birdie runs through the forest in fear, avoiding everything until it almost runs over the edge of a cliff, ignoring its master's frightened screams.
''Back up! Back up! Back up! Good boy, good boy. Steady now… Oh no!''
The giant hybrid bird was too nervous and jumpy for Pairo to be able to calm it down. It started to flap its wings to swipe away the swarm of bats but that act caused Pairo to fall off from its back. Birdie finally ran away, leaving the young inventor on the edge of the cliff.
Pairo thought that this day couldn't get any worse, when suddenly he hears some growling sounds. It sounded like its coming from a pack of wolves. He didn't want to wait any longer to find out if it's really wolves; it still spells DANGER so he runs away from that cliff. Somehow he stumbles down a hill, and fell down hard on a grassy land.
What the? There can't be grass growing in such a place, unless I had reached on somebody's property.
The brown-haired boy immediately knew that he guessed it right, for when he just looked around he could make out a giant gate right in front of him. The gate is so huge that he figured it could only be for a castle, or at least a large mansion that belonged to royalty. He grabs the locked gate and tries to shake it open.
''Help! Is someone there?! I think some wolves are after me, so please!''
Miraculously the gate opens, and Pairo runs in. He slams the gate in the faces of the wolves, again his guesses were right. However the rain begins to fall, so Pairo runs towards the castle and bangs on the door. It creaks open and he enters, cautiously.
''Hello? Hello? Is someone there?''
Unknown to Pairo, watching from a table near the entrance are a talking candlestick and a clock. The candle whispered to the clock, ''Come on, Hanzo. Young lad must have lost his way in the woods.'' But the clock retorted, ''Keep quiet Pokkles! Maybe he'll go away.''
Pairo swore that he could hear someone nearby so he tried to beg politely for a temporary shelter, ''I'm sorry, whoever you are. I don't mean to intrude, but I've lost my transport and I need a place to stay for the night.''
The talking candlestick named Pokkles looks at Hanzo, like a child having just found a lost puppy. He felt sorry for the lost brown-haired boy so he pleaded his clock friend, ''Oh Hanzo, have a heart. It's not always that we have a guest in this castle.''
Hanzo would have none of it so he shushed his companion. Pokkles who is tired of Hanzo's reluctance to help out a person in need proceeds to burn Hanzo's hands with the fire that comes from the top of his head, which is one of the advantages of being a candle.
''Ow, ow, Ow, OW, OW, OUCH!''
''Of course, young sir, you are welcome here,'' says Pokkles to the confused brown-haired boy. Pairo can't seem to figure out where these voices come from, he definitely can't imagine that it would be coming from objects like a candlestick and a clock.
''Who said that?'' inquired Pairo and then he took the candlestick for some source of light in the dark room, not realizing that the speaker is in his hand. Pokkles already expected for this to happen though, thus he taps the boy on the shoulder to get his attention. ''Over here!''
Pairo spins around, pulling Pokkles to the other side, wondering who could have touched him since there's not a person in this room. Pokkles chuckled and taps Pairo on the side of the head. Finally Pairo looks at him and got the shock of his life when he realized that a candlestick could talk to him. Startled, he gasped and drops Pokkles onto the floor.
''Incredible! A great inventor had probably created this talking candle!''
Hanzo sighed in annoyance as he hops towards Pokkles and grumbled, ''Well, now you've done it, splendid, just peachy, what would our master say when he-aaarrrgghh!'' Hanzo the clock was shocked when he was picked up by the confused and yet amazed young inventor.
''How is this accomplished? You could talk even without the help of batteries!''
''Put me down! At once!''
Pairo tickles the bottoms of Hanzo's wooden feet and it felt too ticklish that he can't control his laughter. Then Pairo begins to wind the spring on the back of Hanzo's head, unintentionally twisting his face around with the clock hands. The curious boy opens the front of Hanzo and begins to play with his pendulum. Growing more annoyed by the minute, Hanzo slams his front shut.
''Sir, close that at once, do you mind!''
''I beg your pardon, it's just that I've never seen a clock that...aah...I mean...aah aah aah-chooo!'' Pairo sneezes and then sniffles, indicating the cold he has caught from being in the rain.
''Oh, you are soaked to the bone, young lad. Come, warm yourself by the fire.'' Pokkles kindly showed Pairo the way towards the castle's fireplace. ''Thank you, I am grateful for a roof that could shelter me.''
''No, no, no, do you know what the master would do if he finds you here?!''
Unbeknownst to the three of them a hideous and large, fur covered creature, is watching the scene from an overhead walkway. The furry creature carefully observes the young lad and then runs to another corner and rushes off as the trio enters another room that has a fireplace.
Hanzo at this point got even more paranoid and distressed when Pairo was ushered by Pokkles to sit on a red cozy arm chair. 'No, no, not the master's chair…'' Hanzo didn't get the chance to finish his sentence for he stumbles down the steps that leads to the room they went into.
Pairo can't stop feeling amazed as yet another animated object, this time a coat rack, enters and helped him removes his cloak. Soon he hears a friendly and warm female voice asking him, ''Would you like a nice spot of tea, sir? It'll warm you up in no time.'' He looks down from his seat and saw an elegant looking teapot pouring tea into a teacup. Then the tiny teacup hops over into Pairo's open hand.
''No! No tea, no tea Miss Mito and Gon!''
''Oh Hanzo-san, what kind of host would we looked like if we can't at least serve this poor boy a warm drink? Right, Gon?''
The teacup, apparently named Gon, replied to the female voiced teapot, ''Right Aunt Mito! Besides it gets boring after not having anyone enter into this castle for 10 years!''
Pairo listened to their conversation excitedly, finally realizing that every object in this castle could talk and even behave like humans. Eventually he felt a slight chill again so he decided to take a sip of warm tea from the teacup, when all of the sudden, the door to the room slams open and a strong gust of wind blows into the room, extinguishing Pokkle's candle flames and even the fire in the fireplace. Hanzo couldn't handle the obvious warning signs of a trouble coming so he hides under a table for cover. Mito the teapot begins to shake. Gon the teacup jumps back onto the tea cart and takes refuge from behind his aunt.
The creature, known as the Beast, despite the animated objects knowing his real name to be Leorio, showed himself in front of everyone in the room. He walked on all fours towards the frightened young inventor. In anger the Beast growled, ''There's a stranger here. Who let him in?!''
Pokkles muster every courage that he has inside him and explained, ''Master, the boy was lost in the woods and he was cold and wet...''
His last sentence is drowned out by the very loud growl of Beast, so Pokkles stopped, looking down, feeling dejected because his Master didn't understand his attempt to be kind towards a person in need.
Hanzo crawled out from under the table that he had been hiding in, trying to explain to the Beast that he's against this as well, for he fears the possible punishments that his master might give him, ''Master, I'd like to take this moment to say...I was against this from the start. I tried to stop them, but would they listen to me? No, no, no! And…''
Even the talking clock couldn't finish his sentences because his Master gives out another loud growl that almost made the whole room tremble.
''Who are you?! What are you doing here?!''
''I, I, was lost in the woods and...'' Pairo was in too much fear to continue speaking to this large, furry creature that is obviously furious at him for entering into his castle. Pairo stares at the Beast, and wondered how could such a monster even exist, let alone be able to talk as well. He is only short-sighted, so when the Beast is standing so near him, Pairo could make out how the Beast looked like. The Beast is such a strange looking creature, with horns and fangs, that he can't even figure out what sort of animal would the Beast be.
''What are you staring at?! You find me ugly don't you?!''
''Noth-noth-nothing! I'm sorry!''
Pairo didn't waste any time and tried to run away from that room, but alas the Beast blocked the entrance with surprising speed.
''So, you've come to stare at the beast, have you?!''
''Please, I meant no harm! I just needed a place to stay!''
''I'll give you a place to stay!''
The Beast roughly grabbed Pairo's collar from the back, and swiftly take him out of the room and slams the door, leaving the room and the disappointed occupants in total darkness.
Kurapika, if I don't make out of this strange place alive, you better not try to find me. This huge creature is too hot tempered for a proper reasoning, you deserve a better life out there.
With all of that in mind and having the feeling that Kurapika might be smart enough to find him here, Pairo shed a tear. He'd rather die than for his best friend to get hurt by this creature. He is worth nothing; he is just a dreaming, invalid person who wasted much of Kurapika's time because he constantly needed extra care and supervision back at home. So now that he naively puts himself in such a difficult situation, he certainly felt that Kurapika should just move on in life without a cripple like himself.
The last thing that Pairo remembers before his world turned black is being thrown into a prison filled with hay by the Beast.
I sucked at details, please forgive me. I still hoped that a longer chapter would make up for it, so please let me know how this chapter fares. Thanks for your time and patience minna... ^^