A/N: I'm baccckkk sooner than I had planned …wow. Also I didn't mention this in the last chapter last night but happyd ... one year birthday to this fic! Yay! It's been a little over that now but eh whatever, this poor story is over a year old and I still haven't finished it. I'm planning on getting it done before it turns two.

Shadowfang14: Agreed. She certainly is. Oh…I'm planning…planning. Yeah. Planning. *chuckles* *cackles* *maniacal laugh*

Cold-heart-Angel23: Here's the update! Yes it is soon. And yep, I thought it was pretty beautiful as well. And nice. Tension lasted long but just long enough.

Aaannd action!

Woodsman's POV:
The abrupt knocking at the door sent Anna hurrying towards it, before he could stand up. She hadn't even hesitated. It bothered him a little that his daughter wasn't terribly cautious, but he didn't mind. He gripped his axe at his side where he kept it constantly, watching as the door opened and- Quincy Endicott, the same man that he'd seen the night before, stood there staring at them.

"I…I don't mean to bother you but I was instructed to do this and so I followed her direction." The small man gulped. The Woodsman scowled at him, fingering the axe still.

"What did she tell you to do now?"

"We need to help and… she instructed me to get everyone on board. Yours was the first house so I figured I'd head here and….well here I am." Endicott was a braver man than he'd thought, to have the guts to approach his house right now so early in the morning with all the nerves he figured Quincy and that horse had.

"You know as well as I do that there is a limit to how much one can help the one chosen by the Beast, Quincy," He said gruffly, standing, nodding to Anna to leave, "And I already refuse to assist you in any way and you should as well. They're kids, Endicott. Kids who should know well enough that meddling in this ordeal is as dangerous as anything else. Weren't we the same way, way back when? Not kids, oh sure, but we were as foolish as them."

This silenced Quincy, who stood in the doorway, folding his hands over and over again. All the Woodsman could think was of how shocking it was to hear those words come out of his own mouth. Saying they had been foolish…it was true, perhaps they had, but it had been in order to save a friend that never could have been saved. They should've known better, but to no avail. And Endicott was the only one he still knew who thought about it as constantly as he did; and he was sure of this because of the man's pale face and shaky breaths.

"That … that was a different ordeal…You know as well as I do that…"

"It never came of any use to us, eh? Did it? Tell me it did, Quincy." He shook his head, standing up and walking to the door, looking past the man who stood there and out to the creek and the trees. "We couldn't save him. They won't save this one."

"There's still human in…in this boy, Eric."

He stood staring at Endicott for a moment, now more shocked that his name had been uttered and that this man still believed that there was human in Wirt still. It seemed shock was the emotion of the hour, and he was continuing to feel it as they stood in silence for a few minutes, Endicott still wringing his hands. The Woodsman's own hands had left the axe and were hanging limply at his side now. He gave a sigh, rubbing his face with one of them and looking directly at Quincy.

"Come in and sit."

They walked to the couch, and he sat the other man down in it, and sat opposite him, legs crossed and arms on the armrests on the chair.

"You surely don't believe there is nothing there anymore, do you?" Endicott leaned forward, as if to hear his response better.

"What I don't believe is that you would. Endicott…"

"Eric, we lost him because we didn't believe. I think Wirt has more than he did."

The use of his name still made him freeze a bit, but he shook his head, "We lost Abraham because we did believe. We believed just like they do, are, and look where that landed us? What makes matters worse is that Abraham was a man, not a child. He was older, more intelligent and that thing destroyed him, Endicott. Just as it will with this one. It is the Beast's duty to destroy, and the first thing one ever does as the holder of the Beast is destroy himself inside and out."

"Abraham let himself go."

"They all do that." Eric muttered shaking his head and feeling the axe handle again, as if it gave him some comfort. Admittedly, it did, but not terribly much and not enough so that he felt completely better about what he was doing here with an old friend who feared nothing more than standing up for himself. Endicott was a bit of a madman, always had been, but now…

"If you think that is true, which it most certainly can be, then think of what one has of holding themselves there, here, as themselves. I believe Wirt has Greg, who will hold him down for as long as possible. And if that fails, then I believe he also has the girl, Beatrice, who reminds me an awful lot of a bird that I met, a talking bird, a lot like Fred, with the exact same name and who has the exact same personality but I couldn't imagine they were the same person…" Quincy trailed off, but the Woodsman gave a snort, because he knew that bird and this girl was the exact same person. Bewitched perhaps at first, but now she was in her normal state, just more stubborn than ever.

"That girl does not believe that she can let anything slip from her grasp. It is a matter of self-control, something I think many of us wish to have, and she wishes to have over her life and everyone else's, not to control but to relax and keep a balance. You've wished for that exact thing, eh? You have."

"We let Abraham slip and he didn't belong here, Eric. You must believe me. We must help this boy."

"Abraham is the reason I have given up on this situation. You should too. Don't just go on telling people to aid them. We tried that, did it work? I didn't think so. He had his own things that he was attached to here. And just like this boy and his brother, he didn't belong here. I find it is the innocent the Beast targets, the ones who are not from here because it is easiest to attach one's self to that sort of prey." A painful memory shot across his mind, and for a moment he looked to the kitchen where he knew Anna was probably listening in from. She had been Abraham's stronghold, even if both were not from the same place. The Woodsman could only think of what would happen to that stubborn red-head girl had the same experience as Anna had, and knew it may destroy her forever.

"History shall not repeat itself." Quincy shook his head while stating this.

"I do not think it is a matter of history repeating itself here. I believe it is a matter of the Beast repeating itself. That spirit knows very well what it could and will do to everyone in this mess if it follows through." He gave a loud sigh. "And when we tried to get help from the others, even when they did somewhat, they only gave half their heart to it. They knew it was hopeless from the start."

"He's just a boy, Eric."

"And Abraham was just a man. They both resemble something. Something that can be easily corrupted; and that is the statement the Beast means to make with this."

The sound of sobbing came from the room closest to them, and he felt a silent stab to his heart as he knew Anna had been listening. Endicott sat up slightly, looking alarmed, but he sat back down uncomfortably when the Woodsman shook his head.

"What was with the façade yesterday of not knowing me?" Now they would come to this topic?

"I didn't recognize you in the dark, Quincy. And there is also the fact that they could not know I knew you or there was to be a story to follow that explanation. I hardly remembered you existed, Endicott. That is why I was so surprised to run into you, and that new-fangled horse of yours." He gave a shake of his head; it was a tad hard to remember as well that Endicott had the ability to bring topics back at probably horrible times.

Endicott, though, didn't seem too fazed by that fact, "I wanted to know, don't be so strange about it."

"Well I am sorry then, I suppose." Eric watched Quincy look at his watch, and then straighten up almost to standing.

"I must go. It is too late in the morning, I have to deliver tea and get back to my mansion. But stay in touch while they are…busy, will you? I must know the outcome. I cannot stand to see such a young mind corrupted." Endicott made his way to the door, and then stopped halfway there. "I have this to give to you as well. I've carried it for years, but I forgot about having it up until last night, and I had it in my pocket this whole time! Such a strange thing to forget about."

The Woodsman stood up and took the small piece of paper from Quincy, who gave him a small smile, opened the door, and left immediately. He looked down at the paper and a bit ashamedly, choked back a sob. There was a picture there of the three of them: Quincy, with his gray hair and awkward stance, himself, holding the axe but actually smiling a tad bit, and Abraham, with his blond head and suit with a bowtie, in the middle of them. It had been taken all those years ago, when Abraham had arrived in fact, arrived lost and confused, but had taken to the both of them quickly. He could remember the way he'd stared at both Quincy and the Woodsman himself, and then broke into a smile for he was grateful to have found life. Or what was somewhat life. The Unknown was a mysterious place, and Abraham had known little of it at that time.

If only it had stayed that way. That name, Eric, the name he rarely used, the name he couldn't stand using because it symbolized a time when things were a bit careless, before the arrival of the Beast and before things were meant to be corrupted. But nothing stayed the same, nothing but this place and his house and the running water and himself and his daughter and everyone else here except for those who happened upon it from time to time.

Anna!-he had nearly forgotten how he'd heard her sobbing. Setting the picture into his pocket, he swiftly made his way to where she stood in front of the cabinet, pulling something down and hiding her face from him when he came in.

"I know you heard that." He said as softly as he could.

"Oh father, why did he have to… to come back? What is happening that could make everything so much worse than before?"

"It appears the Beast is repeating himself. I told you about it. But here, here is something that I will keep with me and if you ever need to look at it, just ask." He held out the picture in a shaking hand, he was feeling worse than he'd thought. Anna took the picture and gave a gasp, staring at it while tears streamed silently down her face.

"I didn't know that still…was here."

"Endicott brought it with him. Said he'd been keeping it for ages."

"May I just go…I need to go lie down, may I?" She looked to him for guidance, asking if he wanted food no doubt sooner or later.

"Go ahead. It ain't a problem if we have dinner late. I can work until then." Taking the picture and placing it in his front coat pocket, he leaned in and kissed the top of her forehead, and with a small nod, walked away and headed to the door, gripping his axe still, and thinking of simpler times before the Beast and before things got angry and before anything, anything at all was corrupted.

A/N: Oh…oh man historrrryyyy! I really like how that went. And what I did there. That was actually completely unplanned. What's planned comes nearer to the end. Which will come but it's gonna take it's time. Yes I did just create my own character who has history and was friends with our two men here and was the Beast before and yes. Yes. The Woodsman's name is Eric. Hehehe. Alright, well, that was chapter …12 is it? Yeah. I hope you enjoyed! Thanks for reading, and please, review, review, review!