"Baxter, Baxter!"
The baker ignored his wife's frantic calls and awkwardly smacked the hand that shook his meaty shoulder, grunting as he rolled over and clutched the blanket tighter to him. The room was too dark to be after dawn, and sleep was precious after spending a raucous night at the tavern.
"Get up!" she shouted as she pushed him out of bed, smirking as her husband screamed before he hit the floor.
"What did you do that for, Marie?" he demanded as he clambered back onto the bed, gently rubbing his sore nose.
"Some husband you are, staying asleep while there's a wild rider racing through the village." she snapped, putting her hands on her hips. "Go see what's going on."
"Do it yourself," he grumbled, but obediently went to the window. If she chided him for being sluggish tending the ovens tomorrow, he could remind her of this. "Probably just some drunken fool looking to break his neck-mon Dieu!"
"Don't tell me the poor man killed himself," she softly pleaded.
"It's Belle!"
"What?" She ran to the window next to him and threw open the shutters, staring slack jaw as the girl galloped down the street, seemingly oblivious to everyone hanging out their windows and calling out to her. "I thought she was gone for good, the way Maurice went on about her disappearance."
"I thought she was dead from a wolf attack, but Maurice couldn't accept it and his addled brain made it seem that a beast imprisoned her." He closed the shutters and ran to the bureau, hastily changing out of his night clothes. "Stay here and mind our daughters. Gaston will want to talk to Belle, and he'll need our help."
"Be careful!" she cried, giving him a kiss for luck before he ran out the front door, joining the mob gathering outside as they ran after her.
Belle quickly patted Philippe's neck in praise as she hastily dismounted and pounded on the doctor's door. "Doctor Smith, Doctor Smith! Please, my father is sick, he may be dying!"
"Maurice doesn't need Jean to cure him, he needs Monsieur d'Arque," an angry voice from behind her replied as a meaty hand grabbed her shoulder and forced her to turn around, squeezing it tighter as she tried to escape.
"Let me go, Gaston," she angrily demanded, biting her tongue so she wouldn't cry out in pain as he grabbed both her shoulders in a vice grip. She refused to ever give him the satisfaction.
"He's clearly deluded and insane, talking about a beast in a castle, that it kidnapped you. Care to tell me why you were gone all winter?"
"Never," she growled, glaring dangerously at him. She stood up to the Beast's temper numerous times these past few months, someone who could kill her with one strong swipe of his paw. Gaston was a child compared to him. "Let me go."
"You might want to change your answer, before I stop being a gentleman," he softly warned, tightening his grip on her. She could feel bruises starting to form already, and tears welled up behind her eyes from the intense pain, but her only response was laughter, loud and clear to everyone surrounding them.
"You, a gentleman? You're the one who's clearly deluded and insane."
The villagers gasped, looking around at all the shocked faces to confirm what they just heard.
"She's as crazy as the old man."
"I knew something was wrong with her when she turned down Gaston's proposal."
"The best catch in the village and everyone knows it!"
"He's the only one who would even consider marrying such a strange girl. He tried to do her a favor by saving her from becoming an old maid."
"Everyone agrees that your father belongs in the asylum after he told everyone you were the prisoner of a beast, but I can save him, and you from any rumors that you kept some stranger's bed warm all winter. All you have to do is tell me where you ran off too. I'll even offer to marry you to save you the shame of being with child. No one will blame you for lying with me before our wedding vows," he continued in hushed tones, seemingly deaf to the comments of the villagers surrounding them.
Belle felt as if she channeled the Beast's rage as anger flooded her like never before, her thin frame shaking as her vision became fuzzy and took on red hues. What she wouldn't give to wipe that smug grin off of his face, that false confidence that he had her cornered. "I said let go of me, Gaston!"
Gaston's response was stolen by a deafening, monstrous roar. Belle took advantage of his now loosened grip and slipped free as everyone turned to stop and stare at the intruder. Though part of her worried for his safety now that Gaston had seen him, she couldn't help but feel pride as the Beast put the fear of God in all of them, scaring them into frozen statues as he stood before them at his full height, his fur bristled, adding to his already large size, his teeth bared, and his eyes ablaze with rage. Even the mighty hunter was cowed for a moment, and it was a beautiful sight.
The Beast dropped to all fours and ran towards Gaston, panicking the crowd who dispersed in all directions. Belle grabbed Philippe's bridle and quickly mounted the ball of quivering nerves that called itself a horse, running away as soon as she touched the saddle. He didn't need any guidance; he was going back to the castle where it was safe!
Gaston cursed himself for not arming himself before he left home. If he had to, he could wrestle a wolf or two, but this creature was bigger than a bear. He tried to sprint to the right as the Beast drew near, hoping the creature would bash his head against the door, giving him temporary advantage, but he slipped on a large pile of fresh horse dung poor scared Philippe left behind and fell on his face. He got to his knees but it was too late, as the Beast tackled him and slammed him into the doctor's door, shattering it, and shoving a bruised and bloodied Gaston halfway into the main room.
"Stay away from her," the Beast warned, and withdrew to the now empty street, running as fast he could after the panicked horse.
Gaston spat blood out of his mouth and glared at the Beast's retreating form. "Stay away from her? Never, now it's personal." He paid no mind to the creature's apparent sentience. That was for the priest or scholars to debate. All that concerned him now was how Belle publicly humiliated him, and how dearly she must pay for it.
"Gaston, Gaston!" LeFou came running into the shop. "Are you okay? Did he hurt you?"
The hunter replied with a brutal uppercut that sent the small man sprawling on the floor. "Did that hurt you?"
"I guess I deserved it," he shamefully agreed, getting to his feet, but Gaston grabbed him by the shirtfront and lifted him high in the air.
"You guess you deserved that? I gave you an order not to move from that spot until Belle and her father came home. So why did I find out from the crowd outside my door? I was the one who was supposed to tell them!"
"It's been so cold at night; I was worried I was going to get sick, so I slept in my own bed at home."
"So sleep in their beds! I broke in and left the door unlocked for you, remember?"
"Oh yeah…"
"Idiot!" He shouted, throwing the small man out onto the now empty street. "I should have known you would mess this up. If you weren't such a fool, that beast wouldn't have caught me unarmed, and we'd be prepping the hide and head for mounting right now."
"What are you going to do now?"
"Bring back two trophies: the beast's hide and Belle as my wife. Come on, help me suit up." He grabbed LeFou's shirt collar and dragged him to his feet, pushing the man when he didn't move fast enough.
"Are you sure she's worth it? Maybe you should just let her go. People will talk about why she's been gone so long since she's still alive, like maybe she was with other men."
"No one steals Gaston's girl," he growled.
"People outside of Molyneux barely know you. They won't know that she's your girl—ow!" He rubbed his sore head where Gaston had just hit him.
"Keep your dumb comments to yourself! Even if she did sleep with other men, the village will see she's under my control, and that I always win, I always get what I want. Lover boy will rue the day he ever laid eyes on her by the time I get through with him. No one bests Gaston!"
"Stop!" Belle ordered as she pulled back on the reins as Philippe neared their cottage. No! Castle, stable, warm blanket, rub down, apples, forget this nightmare ever happened! But he was too well trained and too loyal to his master and mistress to ever disobey, and he brought himself to a halt, though he fidgeted in place, anxious to leave.
"Good boy," she patted his neck. "We won't be here long."
We better not be! He snorted. He wasn't sure if his nerves could take another fright, and he didn't want to abandon his humans again like how he left Maurice to the mercy of the wolves. He was still ashamed of what he did.
"Belle!" Chip jumped out of a small snow pile near the stairs as she ran towards the front door. "I thought those men were coming so I hid."
"They might be. Hurry, get inside." She scooped him up and put him and the mirror back inside the satchel that Beast left on the porch, swinging it onto her shoulder and quickly regretting it as soon as the strap hit her injury.
"You okay? I saw that bad man grab you," came Chip's muffled voice from inside the bag.
"I'm fine," she grunted, running inside the cottage. It was nothing the knowledge that everyone was safe behind the castle walls and being in the Beast's arms wouldn't cure.
"Belle? What's going on? Where's the doctor?" Maurice worriedly asked.
"We're not safe here, we need to go to the castle," she explained as she put his boots on and wrapped a cloak around him.
"But the Beast…"
"He'll protect us, I promise, but we have to get out of here before we're committed to the asylum. I can explain later."
The old man was still confused, and especially worried about spending more time with the Beast, but he followed his daughter out, trusting that she was in the right, and mounted a very strangely happy Philippe behind Belle. What happened at the castle that made them both so eager to go back?
"Let's go, Philippe," she cried and the horse responded with a happy cry and took off running.
As if to match the intensity of the rage still smoldering inside Belle from Gaston's actions, the sky opened up with a loud crack of thunder and a heavy rain began to pour shortly after Philippe reached the forest. The noise only encouraged him to go faster, and to start hollering for a whole bushel of apples when he was back in his stable again. He deserved it after all his humans made him endure tonight!
I don't see the Beast anywhere. Belle panicked as they made great speed, but there was no going back now. She had to get her father and Chip to safety, and between the rain and the horse's speed, she could not pull out the mirror and be certain of her grip on it. Please be safe, please come home to me, she prayed.
An arrow whizzing past her was her only response, barely missing her by a few inches, embedding itself in a nearby tree. The horse stopped and reared in fright, but Belle managed to steady him before he threw them off. She turned around and saw Gaston had caught up on his own horse, readying another arrow.
"I didn't have to miss, Belle! Come home with me before your father has an accident!"
"Go, go!" She spurred Philippe, taking him off the main road and darting through close trees, breathing a sigh of relief as she heard wood crack as another tree trunk took the arrow meant for her father's back.
A deafening, monstrous roar filled the forest behind her, followed by a horse's shriek, and a man's grunt. She turned and smiled gleefully as she saw the Beast stand over a dismounted Gaston in the distance, his horse running scared back to the village. "He's alive!"
"Belle, we must go, now!" Maurice reminded her, and then gasped as she slowed down. How fortunate for both of them that they could not translate the horse's neigh of protest and the nasty words he had for his rider right now. "What are you doing?"
"I can't leave him," she said matter-of-factly as she dismounted, handing him the satchel. "Take good care of this. I'll never forgive myself if Chip gets hurt."
"What about you, caught between a rampaging beast and an obsessed hunter? I'm an old man, Belle; this alone could kill me!" He argued, but obediently slipped the satchel over his neck and shoulder.
"The Beast would never hurt me, and he would never abandon me in my hour of need, just as I can't abandon him."
"Belle!"
"I love you, Papa, and I'll see you soon. Take him to the castle, Philippe!" She shouted as she smacked the horse's rump. The poor horse cried out in a panic and sped away, Maurice clinging onto the reins for dear life.
Please forgive me for everything that happened tonight, Papa, Philippe, she prayed, before turning around and running toward the Beast, who was currently dodging Gaston's club. Beast tried to disarm him, to give himself the advantage, but Gaston was having none of it, clipping the Beast on the arms and head anytime he made such an advance.
"Were you the one Belle wintered with? She chose an animal over me?"
The Beast only growled in reply, too focused on the fight to verbally rebuff his opponent. He had to keep Belle away from this man, the true monster. He ducked a swing at his head and tackled the man's abdomen, forcing him to the ground. Gaston thrust his weapon horizontally to try and block the Beast's attacks, but the Beast grabbed it with both paws and forced it downward, pressing the shaft hard against the hunter's throat.
"One last chance, leave, now, and never return," he growled, digging the club deeper into the man's flesh. Gaston glared at him and shook his head as he struggled to breathe, weakly pushing the club away, but he only lost ground as the Beast dug it even deeper, his teeth bared in a strong snarl. Kill him, kill him, screamed his animal instincts. He hurt your female, he wants to take her for himself, kill him! You're the alpha male!
The hunter gave up on fighting the creature's strength, desperately trying to come up with a new plan as his hands now wildly groped the area around him and a brief, cruel smile came to his face as he found a solution, smashing a rock the size of his fist against his opponent's face.
The Beast dropped the club as he cried out on pain, gently touching his injured cheek, feeling blood ooze from the wound as he stood up in a daze. Gaston leapt to his feet and retaliated by slamming the club against the Beast's head, sending him to the ground. "Don't worry, Beast, I'll make sure Belle doesn't forget you. How could she, when the wedding bed is going to be your hide turned into a rug?" He raised the club high, a gleeful, murderous grin marring the beauty of his face. No animal ever gets the better of Gaston! "You're too ugly for a trophy head in the tavern, and this will be much more satisfying."
"No!" Belle shouted, running toward them. She swooped down to grab a large rock and threw it as hard as she could at Gaston. It collided with his left cheek, causing him to fall on his back. He touched his cheek and found his hand covered in blood; the rock had cut open quite a gash. Belle grabbed the club before Gaston could, holding it over her shoulder with a tight, two-fisted grip, standing protectively between him and the Beast, who stared at her completely dumbfounded. She was soaking wet, her hair blew free and wild in the wind, her face was pale, and her eyes blazed with a ferocity he had never seen before.
"You spent the winter with him, didn't you?" Gaston demanded.
"I'd gladly spend the rest of my life with him instead of you," she replied.
"I am a man," he reminded her. "He's an animal! You belong to me!"
"He's more of a man then you'll ever be!"
"Lies, all of it!"
Gathering all of her courage, she spat in his face. "You threatened me, tried to coerce me into marrying you, promised to make my life hell. The Beast asked only for the grace of my company, never wanting to change a thing about me, giving his affections freely with no strings attached, and let me go to my dying father's side though he was convinced I would never return. Is it any wonder why I love him from the bottom of my heart, and despise you from the same depths?"
Both men stared at her in shock and awe, but for different reasons. Gaston was horrified at her words; couldn't even begin to contemplate how such a thing was possible. He was human, the most popular, most attractive, and wealthiest bachelor in Molyneux. How could she possibly choose the Beast over him, over Gaston?
The Beast rejoiced at hearing the words he never though he would hear, and perhaps the shock of it is what prevented him from realizing what was happening until too late. With lightning speed, Gaston grabbed the hunting knife from his belt and buried it, hilt deep, into Belle's abdomen. "I could forgive you of many sins, Belle, but such misguided thoughts are not one of them."
Her head swam as she tried to comprehend the pain, like a fire was burning through her, and dropped to her knees, clutching her wound. The Beast's roar echoed in her ears as she looked up in a daze, watching him vault over her and slam the hunter against a tree. She strangely felt nothing as the man's body slumped over to the side, presumably dead as he did not stir. Nothing mattered except the pain in her side and the knowledge that the only loved one she would soon see would be her deceased mother as they reunited in death.
"That bastard," the Beast swore as he carefully cradled her in his arms. "Why, why did you tell him? That forced his hand, don't you see?"
Belle weakly smiled, her whole body relaxing as she gazed into those beautiful eyes she loved so much. "I was convinced I was dead no matter what. I had to tell you before it was too late."
"Belle…" he choked on the word before leaning down to place an awkward kiss on her forehead. "I love you too."
Her breath caught in her throat as tears came to her eyes, burying her face into the warmth of his shoulder as she tried to surround herself with him and block out the tremendous pain of her wound, and finding the love she spent her whole life reading about only to lose it so shortly afterward.
Gaston struggled to regain control of his body as he stirred against the trunk, grabbing the dagger that had fallen a short distance from his hand. Both of them had to die, and the villagers would sing his praises as he told them how the Beast killed Belle and then he killed the Beast. No one would ever question him, would ever suspect that they died any other way. "Time to die…" he softly growled, feeling that wave of euphoria come over him again, the thrill of killing a wild animal and proving once again that he was Gaston, the mighty hunter.
"Enchantress, please, save her!" The Beast cried out to the open air, unaware of the hunter's small movements. "Take my humanity; take my life, whatever it takes to save Belle!"
She looked up at him in confusion, what was he talking about? She opened her mouth to speak but promptly closed it and clung tighter to him as they were suddenly surrounded by familiar growls and glowing yellow eyes. She knew them well, as they loved to invade her nightmares and wreck her sleep, the wolf pack that nearly killed her and the Beast that long ago night was back.
The one who nearly ended her life months before, presumably the leader, howled as the others ran past their former targets, now focused solely on the hunter as they all jumped him with murderous intent. The Beast shut his eyes and held Belle as closely as he could, burying her face in his chest so she could not see the carnage as the wolves tore him apart, though they could hear the man's inhuman screams until a sickening bone crunch finally ended the man's suffering.
The Beast lowered Belle to the ground as he stood over her on all four legs, growling menacingly as the animals turned to face him. Belle would not go in the same manner, not while he lived.
With a blinding flash of pink light, the wolves disappeared, merging into one being: the Enchantress herself.
"Save Belle, I'll do anything, please!" the Beast pleaded, too scared for Belle's life to fully comprehend what he just witnessed. "Take my life instead if you must."
"Such a difference compared to the last time we formally met," she smiled, "and here I was afraid you were completely reverting to an animal's mindset the way you fought Gaston. Your willingness to give up your life to save Belle has forced my hand and saved you both."
Belle clung to the Beast's right arm, terrified of this strange woman who could transform into a pack of wolves at will. Did she want them dead if she was indeed the same wolf pack that attacked them before? Who was this woman, and why did the Beast act like she was so familiar? She shrank back as the Enchantress nodded and raised her arms, no doubt conjuring some spell, but to what end?
Without warning, the Beast began to rise, as if he was suddenly a marionette on strings. "No, no, Beast!" she desperately cried as he slipped from her grasp. "What are you doing to him? Let him go!" Ignoring the pain, she stretched as far as she could, trying to grab the Beast though he hovered several feet out of reach.
"All is well, my dear, I promise," the Enchantress assured her as she gently pushed Belle back onto the ground, her hands glowing with a pale, yellow light as she touched Belle's cold skin. Warmth exploded within her, covering every inch of her as she felt her body repair itself of the ache and pains she received in the past few hours. Strength renewed and full of energy, she stuck her fingers through the opening in her dress, but felt only smooth skin, not even the hint of a scar. She rolled her shoulders and felt no discomfort.
The Enchantress smiled and motioned for Belle to look up. The Beast was gone, and how a man wearing the Beast's clothes, now far too baggy for his thin frame, was now descending from where the Beast had hovered moments before. "You said yourself you saw a man's soul within the Beast. This is the true form of that man."
The prince slowly got to his feet, grateful that his body hadn't forgotten what it felt like to be human, though his mind was still catching up. He touched his face, expecting to find dried blood and a jagged scar from where Gaston hit him with the rock, but there was nothing but smooth skin. Skin, not fur! Hands, I have hands again! He realized as he stared at them in wonder, just the right size to wrap around Belle's hands without overwhelming them—Belle! He swiftly turned and smiled widely as she stood on her own, alive and well just like he was. "Belle, it's me," he said gently, surprised at the softness of his voice compared to the gruff tones he had spoken with for so long.
Belle stood there numbly, staring at him as if he was a complete stranger.
The Enchantress chuckled warmly before giving her a small push, sending her straight into the prince's arms. Belle blushed, suddenly feeling shy as the stranger watched her every move with a knowing smile, his arms gently holding her in the same familiar way the Beast did, possessive yet gentle, as if he was afraid of crushing her with his amazing strength. She lifted her eyes to meet his, and she rewarded him with a radiant smile. No one had the eyes of her Beast. "It is you!"
Questions plagued her: how was the spell broken? Why was he cursed to begin with? Who was the strange woman who wielded magic straight out of a storybook? Who was the Beast, really? But the former beast had a question of his own that demanded precedence above all: what would it feel like to finally be able to kiss the woman he adored? Belle happily provided him with the answer, and both agreed it was fantastic.
Author's Note: Must have rewritten the fight scene about ten times in as many late nights. Much more to come; reviews, faves, and follows help me write faster!