A/N: Whew! I'm back! Here I am! Sorry for leaving for so long!
Ghost Robot: Well thank you very much! Thanks for reviewing!

Sankhya-kid: Thank you for reviewing, and I am definitely going to follow this story to the end!

Rumicwarrior22: Thank you so much! And to answer your other question….this chapter is some Wirt for you. So there you go.

Cold-heart-Angel23: Yes, I agree, it certainly was. Thank you! Here is your update!

Okay sometimes I honestly feel like I just agree with you people to agree with you and say something… but no really I do agree with you I just like to rant on. Well anyways, here we go!

The Beast/Wirt's POV:

Shocked and scared was all he could think when he'd seen Greg. Well, when he'd managed to get control of his own mind briefly with Greg. The Beast had gnawed at his thoughts slowly while he'd kept himself in check somehow. Beatrice had been willing to take Greg, and for that he was especially grateful. That night, he had only intended grabbing his lantern from her house and moving on, but something about it all caused him to stand outside the house for more than he needed to. An hour passed and the creature remained unmoving.

At half past 9, The Beast rustled in his place, moving one foot then the other. Turning away, he did not glance back at the house but pushed throw the trees on the opposite side, his tall thin figure moving between branches like a piece of grass between two boulders, and his lantern lighting up the way; the Woodsman had refueled it him more than a few days earlier that week and now, now he was ready. Ready to preform work throughout the Unknown in the dark, ready to fulfill what he needed to, ready to capture long lost souls. The Beast moved onwards, not caring just yet for the soul that wandered among the others yet. He would have uses for the boy soon enough.

FB

Slowly he had moved on the first night to the comfort of the trees, drawn in by their majesty, only wanting to hide in the dark. No one could see him like this. Wirt didn't want to be found out about, not when everyone in the land believed the Beast gone. He couldn't bear what had happened to him, and before he bothered that Woodsman again, he wouldn't even dare. He couldn't. Wirt remembered the way the man had acted.

Sitting amongst the trees, he observed his surroundings. It was already becoming dark but that did not bug him, his night vision was making everything clear as day. It concerned him, deeply, but all he could honestly think about was Greg, and his parents, and Sara… everyone back at home had to miss him and probably thought he was dead. Unless Greg somehow remembered everything, though he doubted so, as there was a good chance after being here one didn't remember any of their adventures in the strange land. Only a small part of him held out hope for that end of the bargain.

Then there was Beatrice, who was still here and unaware that he had become like this, completely unaware, so much that it scared Wirt to know that the one person in the world who had a shot at knowing where and who he was wasn't aware of where or who he was.

Huddling closer to the tree, he curled up, or tried to, as best he could with antlers sticking out of his head that still ached. Sleeping probably wasn't a thing he did anymore and anyways, he was supposed to be nocturnal, right? And had the Beast ever slept period? No, probably not, at least from what his brain could grasp at, which at the moment, wasn't much.

It hurt, oh, it hurt. The pain of the spirit running through his blood, and every little moment a new transformation down to the smallest cell in his body went off, and either he felt it and knew it or would know it sometime soon. His head still ached, and his mind was edged with dark thoughts, but not many and not much.

Thus the slowly turning into half human half tree creature spent his night in the forest, staring into the sky hopelessly pondering the meaning of it all.

End of Flashback

The night ended with a swift rise of the sun that day. He hadn't seen anything like it in quite a while, mostly due to the fact that getting out and about was often harder for him just because he didn't know quite where to go. Wirt knew the place like the back of his hand now, there was not a single place in the whole Unknown that was unknown to him. It was something he took for granted a lot of the time but now he was grateful for it, and he even knew the people and beings who lived in the area, not from personal meetings (except for a few) but from nightly stalking and so forth. He'd taken care of the south end last night, gone on a round that completed at his starting place, somehow, right back at the house in which he knew his brother was in. If only he could get to him, let Greg know he couldn't go back. Wishing he could tell him otherwise. But it was for Greg's safety, and that's what mattered here.

He sat among the trees right on the edge of the clearing with the well, watching and waiting silently. Boredom was something that often happened throughout the day, only at night was he focusing and paying any attention to what he was doing most of the time, just because he didn't have to. People walked in and out of the house as he watched for a good long while. It was a bright day, hitting at just the right temperature to make his mood plummet and his mind sink further down into the dark side of things.

Soon the Beast stood under the trees, watching the helpless family that the foolish girl belonged to run around all day doing their work. Only once did he catch a glimpse of the girl or the young boy, and even then he wasn't quite sure if he'd seen them at all or if it was an illusion of his mind because he was so focused on finding them. The darkened figure rustled every now and then, but no one heard him nor saw him.

For his mind was on hunting, hunting that soul of which he knew was here and he didn't like that he was attracted to it. That the boy, Greg, was so important to him only drove the Beast madder, until it seemed almost unbearable. By then a midday sun shone overhead and the house was loud with the sounds of making a lunch no doubt. Such a loud family that inhabited such a small little place, the Beast was sure he could make out Greg's high pitched voice from here. Oh how he needed to get that soul.

He still continued to chew on his thoughts silently, though. All of them turned to the boy and of the times he was sure he'd had with him. Yet the Beast wasn't sure what those times had been or what they had done. Gone on trips? Seen places afar? Talked of frogs? Even eaten dinner together? He was completely unsure of what he had done with Greg before-before all of this. Wirt struggled to get his mind together. They'd had good times. The teen knew this.

It felt as though every memory had been pushed out of his brain, and Wirt knew very well what exactly had just done this to him. It had been the Beast no doubt. That dirty player. If Wirt wanted to make sure Greg was okay, he had to keep his wits about him. The Beast needed to stay hidden. He touched a leaf on a branch near him as if it were the most delicate thing he'd ever seen, suddenly Wirt had become quite fascinated with the object blowing in the breeze. It was delicate, just as that of his brother's soul. Wirt had to tread carefully on the ice he had just created. Everything screamed at him like he was the biggest danger anyone had ever seen here, and he knew this was indeed true. He was one to be feared.

The Beast pondered for a little while longer, observing the graying skies above him. As the day drew on, it appeared storms were coming swiftly. All the better for his hunting in the night, it would cover the moon to create a thicker cover of darkness. He had to think up about how he would use Greg.

In previous times he would have used him as oil. Now it seemed there was a greater use of the boy. The Beast could not, no matter how hard he tried, place his finger on exactly what that use was to be. It evaded his grasp every time he attempted thinking about it, attempted to and caught the edge of something that flitted by quickly afterwards. Whatever it was, it would come to him someday, the Beast was sure of it. That was how everything worked in his mind.

Afternoon passed quickly by, the various stages of the sun floating down lower and lower, the Beast continuing to sit underneath the trees and gazing about him, thinking. Pondering. Then the night came swifter than the morning had, a swift sunset and the settling of the dark around and above him. The Beast smiled confidently, standing in his place. Waiting. He knew she would come out. Her curiosity couldn't help it. And then that poor girl would really pay the price for having taken the soul he wanted, the one he needed.

Sure enough a lantern bobbed from the side of the house and out to the well, coming towards him at a fast pace. A red headed girl stepped out in front of the well now, staring at him. Beatrice. For an instant, Wirt crept in and a small sad smile covered his face, but then in that instant the scowl and dark look returned on the Beast's face.

"You're still here." She crossed her arms, glaring at him.

"I'd have thought we did enough of our arguing." The cold, deep tones of his voice rang out in the clearing.

"Oh, yes, certainly. But I also think it's time to talk about something else. About Greg. What we shall do with him. Surely you do not think I can send him back? You'll have to do something, Wirt." Those brown eyes were filled with more confidence than he had seen them in a while.

"Oh, I'll make my move. Not just yet, I'd like to think of what I can do. I do not have a plan yet."

"Do? To what? You wouldn't dare think of hurting him, Wirt?!"

"Mind you don't intrude upon my secrets, girl. I will not allow you to know of them." His cold white eyes flashed with a thousand colors.

"How would it be if I made a bargain with you?"

"What type?" The cold white eyes narrowed, eyeing her.

"I would like… we need to get Greg back," something else was in her voice, something that hinted at it not just being Greg, "and you're the only other one who can help. You're the only other one who knows. He wants to help you ,Wirt. But I don't know… I think it would benefit him to see what he can't fix. I fear you'd scare him too much, though."

"What is this bargain, girl?"

"I would like…we need to go adventuring again. But I must see Wirt. It must be Wirt all the way through. The only company I'll take with me is that of Greg's. But you, Wirt, not the Beast, otherwise this won't work and," Beatrice took a deep breath, "your part of the bargain…you can take me. Don't do anything to Greg once this is over. You must take me. You want a soul so badly. Mine is just here. Stuck here, being forced to marry a man I really can't stand."

"Adventuring?" Wirt asked, his mouth going slightly slack.

"Take us everywhere, Wirt. Everywhere you know. Show us. Then…take me. Let Greg go home if you must."

FB

Once again he stumbled through another set of thickets. It had taken him such a long time to figure out that this place existed, and now he was stuck in another bush again.

Glancing around, Wirt noticed the clearing he'd just fallen into and absentmindedly brushed off one of his tree branch antlers with his hand. It wasn't strange anymore. The pain hadn't lasted much longer after he'd fallen into a lake. After frantically getting out of the water, he had found all the pain in his head gone and his frustration still there. For some reason he'd been walking to his destination for days. It was on the outermost regions of the Unknown that he finally found the place, and now it was just an empty clearing? Wirt was very confused as to what was happening.

A little nudge from inside his mind told him that what he searched for was there, he was not bound to find it just yet though. That was not helpful in the slightest. At least when the Beast talked to him it could have given him some more direction instead of choosing to be so discreet. But no, Wirt was forced to figure out half the stuff on his own. Like how he'd known to come here, something required his attention. But whatever it was he wasn't going to find out until he would happen to stumble across it.

There in the center of the clearing stood a shack. Rusty, old, what looked to be moss stretching across the front of it and a good amount of rotten wood that it was made up of. Wirt made his way slowly forwards, observing the porch of the shack like it was a trap. No doubt it probably was. Everything was either booby trapped or some innocent person waiting to capture you, so basically, everything was booby trapped. Wirt had learned that the hard way several times over.

After determining the porch to be safe, he stepped carefully onto the old wood. It didn't go down underneath him and he walked across it with a courage he'd never felt before, and knocked on the door rather tentatively. The answer only came after a few moments. He still didn't know why he was here. The minute the door opened, a scream came and it closed.

"Wait! I'm supposed to… be here…" Wirt sighed, feeling a fresh wave of pain wash over him at having lost everything. Apparently he'd just come here because he'd thought-no there was no reason. No reason whatsoever. The Beast stalked off the porch and departed back into the woods, fuming silently.

FB Ended

"Alright." The reply was made by Wirt.

"Deal?"

"Deal." Beatrice was forced to come forwards and shake his root filled hand, a sincere look in her eyes, and a cold one in the Beast's.

A/N: I'm sorry if this was short again. But it had a lot of stuff in it and I think we all need time to process this much. Well, that was chapter seven! I hope you enjoyed, I promise to update soon! Thank you for reading, and please, review, review, review!