For the next few weeks, Mistique's daily routine took a completely different turn for once in all the time that she has been in Ordon. Every morning she would get up, go to work, spend a bit of time with her friends and family so they would not worry about her, and finally as quickly as she could, Mistique would make her way to the Faron Woods to spend the rest of her free time with her friend, the Beast. And when Mistique wasn't working, she would spend some time around the village before going to Faron Woods with her friend.
Overtime, however, the villagers began to notice a change in her behavior. Other than the fact that she would rarely spend a lot of time in the village anymore, they begun to notice that the beautiful girl looked much happier and livelier than ever. When one would see her, they would notice immediately that Mistique's eyes twinkled and that there was always a small smile on her face even when the days seem cloudy and sad. Everybody began to wonder what was going on with Mistique and everyone, including her father, jokingly thought she had a secret lover even though she kept denying it.
The only person who knew about Mistique's strange behavior was her best friend, Ilia. When they would spend time together, Mistique would tell Ilia about her days that she had spent with the Beast. The first time that she had told her best friend about the Beast shocked Ilia so much that Mistique had to convince her again so Ilia would not tell anybody about her secret, despite the fact the her best friend was very worried about her. Eventually, Ilia agreed to not say anything and always listened with fascination at Mistique's stories about her and the Beast.
Mistique continued to tell her about how much she and the Beast were becoming best friends and how much she loved spending time with him. Ilia always pouted with a little jealousy at this, but Mistique always reassured her that they would always be best friends, only she loved the fact that her life took a turn into something new that Mistique loved very much.
"The Beast is nothing like you'd expect him to be," Mistique sighed airily. "He's so…different and amazing!"
"You make it sound like he's your dream boy," Ilia replied, giggling a little.
Without thinking about it, Mistique began to blush a little. She began to ask herself why she was blushing if the Beast was just a friend to her and an animal on top of that. However, she couldn't deny the fact that she had grown to care for the Beast a lot these past weeks that they've hung around together.
"I wish I could be wolf…" Mistique said absentmindedly.
Ilia gave her a playful look and nudged her friend's arm. Though Mistique was not annoyed by it, she gave her best friend a small grin in return. The two friends sat in thought as they watched Helio walking around the Ordon Spring. Finally, Mistique told Ilia the next secret that would surprise her.
"I'm going to go see the Beast tonight."
"…Huh?" Ilia asked turning to her friend. "Why tonight? Is that why you haven't gone to see him yet?"
Mistique nodded. "Yesterday he asked me if I would meet him tonight instead. I have no idea why, but I said yes."
Mistique thought Ilia would've acted a little more shocked at the idea, but she seemed to be calm and understanding.
"As long as you're careful out there," Ilia replied, still looking at Helio longingly. "But I know you two working together from what you've told me, you'll be able to fight off any monsters."
"Thanks Ilia," Mistique replied.
After a moment, she added, "I was thinking of wearing my favorite blue blouse and green sash… What do you think?"
"Sounds like an evening out," Ilia replied a little playfully.
"I'm tired of smelling like goat and sweat every time I go see him," Mistique remarked, still grinning. "I'd like to take a shower for a change."
"What an excellent excuse," Ilia added, still teasing Mistique.
The two best friends continued to play around with each other till Mistique decided that it was time for her to leave. As soon as they arrived at Mistique's house, Ilia said goodbye and good luck to her friend before finally departing. It took Mistique about half-an hour to get ready and soon, she was outside in her favorite blouse and sash, along with her favorite pair of black shorts, and finally her long hair was picked up in a low ponytail that made her face shine and her eyes twinkle more. The beautiful maiden then got on her horse Helio, and rode off towards the Faron Woods.
She arrived at the spring and looked for any sign of the Beast. Deciding to head over to Coro's house and see if the Beast was in his little home, Mistique got off Helio and began to hum the melody used to call her horse to herself. She remembered the first time she heard the Beast howl the melody and how beautiful it had sounded. Trying to remember what he sounded like, Mistique continued to sing until she spotted the Beast and Epona making their way from the opening where the Beast slept in.
"Hello," Mistique greeted, happy she had found her friend.
"You look…very pretty," the Beast replied as he gazed at her.
Mistique was thankful that it was night; she started blushing again. Trying to wave off the strange emotion, she smiled at the Beast and made his way towards her. Epona greeted her as well and then made her way to where Helio stood at the spring.
"I wanted to not smell like goat and sweat like I do almost every day," Mistique said, giggling slightly.
"I like your scent," the Beast protested. "So…do you want to take a walk in the woods?"
The beautiful maiden nodded in agreement so they began to head out to where they usually train. The conversations between them were more common and there was rarely any silence, and began to involved more personal stuff. Such as the time the Beast asked her about her biological family and her childhood before Ordon. But when Mistique then asked him about his life, the Beast wouldn't say as much as Mistique would and this made her more curious about the wolf-beast next to her.
Both friends continued with more conversation and without realizing it, they arrived at the north of the woods. They stopped for a minute until the Beast made his way over to a ledge leading to the temple and sat down. Mistique followed suite and sat next to him with her legs hanging over.
"How old are you?" the Beast asked abruptly.
"I'm seventeen years old," Mistique replied as she stared at the bottomless drop. "How old are you, Beast?"
"Seventeen as well," he answered.
"Wow! You're old!" Mistique exclaimed. "In dog years right?"
To her surprise, the Beast snorted in what sounded amusement and began to pant as though he were laughing. Mistique stared at him curiously and wondered what on earth could be so funny from him being seventeen years old. She kept trying to ask him what was so funny until her pout made him reply:
"You're a funny girl, Mistique."
Slightly puzzled by his comment, Mistique only smiled at him and decided to figure out the joke one day. The maiden went back to the staring at the bottomless drop, and the Beast joined her. Neither of them spoke for a moment, and they only let the moonlight bathe them in the warm light it produced.
The Beast then looked up at the star filled sky and said, "I have something to tell you Mistique."
"What is it Beast?" she asked. Her friend sounded sad and it made Mistique worry.
"Coro is going to Hyrule, and I need to go with him to get supplies," he answered.
Feeling slightly relieved but surprised, Mistique replied, "How long will you be gone?"
"A few days," he replied. "I promise this time, to come back as soon as Coro has finished with his errands and mine."
"I'll miss you Beast," Mistique added sadly. "But why do you need supplies?"
"I have to protect Coro from any monsters. It's the least I can do since he took me into in," the Beast answered. "And it's…a little complicated right now why I need supplies."
"I wish you would just explain it to me," Mistique said as she brought her knees up to her chest.
The Beast stayed silent for a moment before responding, "I promise that I will tell you soon. I think it might be sooner than you think… But please believe me that I will explain all the complicated stuff of me and my life and hopefully, you'll understand."
Mistique gave a small nod and turned to the Beast and smiled warmly at him. His mesmerizing blue eyes made contact with the twinkling grey eyes. The two friends locked gazes with one another and they didn't remove their sight even when there was a gentle breeze that somehow embraced them. At the same time, they forced their stares back up at the stars, Mistique feeling her face flushing and the Beast blinking a little rapidly.
"What are your favorite flowers?" the Beast asked out of the blue once again.
Mistique thought for a moment and answered, "Roses and red carnations."
The Beast nodded and began to talk about how much he loved seeing the stars at night. Mistique agreed with him and the conversation continued to carry on between them. Finally it was getting rather late and they stood up and headed back to the Faron Woods.
As they arrived, Helio and Epona looked up and realized that it was time to go now. Instead of getting on Helio, Mistique took him by the reins and continued walking with her wolf-beast friend by her side. At the bridge, Beauty and the Beast said their goodbyes and goodnights that needed to last days.
"I'll miss you Beast," Mistique said, and for some reason, she felt herself getting tearful. "Please take care and I hope you come back soon."
The Beast gave a nod. "I'll miss you too Mistique… I will and I hope this trip won't take long."
He made his way over to the beautiful maiden and gave her an affectionate nudge. In response, Mistique kneeled down and hugged the wolf-beast. Instead of smelling like a dog or animal, the Beast had the scent of the woods mixed with the scent of Ordon. She inhaled the scent before releasing the Beast. With one last look at each other, Mistique left and walked the bridge with Helio behind her. On the opposite side, she saw the Beast still staring at her and it made her heart flip. A wave from Mistique made the two finally go their separate ways, already longing to be back together at the woods with not a thing to bother them.