Hello, this will be a start of yet another story from me! This time, I will try my hands on an adaptation of Disney since I love Disney so much! While the main storyline will follow the Disney version, I will add some twists and tweaks when I see fit! I hope you guys will like it! ^^
Disclaimer: I do not own either Harvest Moon or Disney (duh...)
In any case, enjoy!
He stared at his hands, or what used to be his hands. He clenched his fists, the sharp claws drilling into his skin. Her icy voice echoed in his mind.
If thou find someone who lovest thou as thou art before this rose shed all its petals, thou shalt be saved. Otherwise, thou shalt remain in this form. Forever.
He glared at the rose, placed in a glass confine. The red petals glowed ethereally, for it was indeed a magical rose. Ever since that day, this rose was his beacon of time. Another petal fell before his eyes—and he could do nothing. As it touched the surface of the table, the glow died and it became very sombre, sad shade of red. Like the colour of darkened blood.
Another piece of hope had been lost.
An arrow sped through the bushes and pierced into the deer's heart and it fell down to the ground, unmoved. A clean shot. A moment later, a young maiden emerged from the bushes and approached the body, before hauling it to her slender shoulder. Her arms tightened, their firmness spoke of years of hard labour.
She fastened her hunt on the back of her horse before mounting it and rode back to the town, her bow and quiver on her back. As she rode slowly past through the market, she couldn't help but overhear the townspeople whispering to one another—not that it was unusual for her, anyway.
"How brazen! A woman with bow!"
"She is actually quite pretty. Such a waste…"
"She will never marry that way…"
She kept moving as if she heard nothing as she approached the butcher. "Hey," she grinned.
"Oh, good day, Reine!" the butcher greeted. "I see you have another."
"Yeah, can sell some part to you and bring the rest back home."
"Sure! Sure! Bring it over!"
Reine handed the deer over and watched as the butcher expertly skinned it and sliced it into pieces. He put some of the meat into a bag and handed it over to Reine with a bag of money. "How's your mamma and your sister?"
"They're fine—thanks for asking."
"Must be hard, three women living alone." The butcher remarked ruefully, "Really, girl, anything I could do…"
"Well, your buying off my hunt is a great help." Reine replied cheerfully, "You always give me good prices."
The butcher laughed, "My wife'll beat me if I don't help a girl in distress, y'know."
"In any case, I'll go back now. Mamma and Gwen're waiting."
"Tell them I said hi!"
"Yeah, thanks for this!" Reine mounted on Thor, her horse, expertly and she rode back home.
When she reached the ranch, which also served as her home, she dismounted and led Thor back to the stable, before she walked into the small farmhouse in which she had grown up. Her twin sister, Gwen, was already preparing stew for dinner. "Is venison a good addition?" she asked as she took off the quiver and bow on her back and put it at the side of the room.
"Meat's always welcomed."
Reine put the meat on the counter before she rolled her sleeves and put her hair up into a bun before washing her hand.
"How's Mamma?"
"She's resting," Gwen replied. "I'm gonna go to the town to ship the harvest after this."
"Departing at night?"
"Well, have to reach the town before sunrise. Earliest birds get the best worms, right?"
Reine shuffled on her feet uneasily. "You're right."
"Besides, I can get potions for Mamma at the town."
"You're right." Reine glumly agreed.
Gwen fitted the carriage onto Thor before she mounted him. "I'll be back as soon as I could."
Reine nodded. "Be careful on the way,"
Gwen smiled. "I will,"
The brunette kicked Thor's stomach lightly and she left. Reine sighed heavily—between them, Gwen was the one with the knowledge of herbs and potions. If not, surely she would be the one going to the town instead of Gwen.
Reine looked up and watched the dark clouds began forming.
She hoped everything would be fine.
The rain suddenly fell in sheets, and soon Gwen found herself being off-track from the main road. She noticed that Thor was already tired as well, so Gwen decided to dismount and led Thor by its rein. Gwen looked around for shelter and she noticed a tower standing tall at a distance.
"Hopefully the owner will be kind enough…" she muttered as she walked to the direction of the tower. Unfortunately, a lightning struck a nearby tree and it frightened Thor that it immediately ran away before Gwen was able to call him. "Thor! Thor!"
Soon, she couldn't hear the sound of his hooves or the wheels of the carriage anymore.
"Oh, dear…" Gwen sighed in defeat.
Gwen trudged through the forest ground, which had become sticky and muddy because of the rain, and finally she reached the tower, which apparently was actually a part of a grand castle. Gwen stood in wonder for a moment, for she had never heard about any castle in their area.
The brunette braved herself to open the gate, and much to her surprise, it was unlocked. She carefully walked into the castle garden, dark and gloomy, and soon she reached the front door. With trembling hand, she knocked as hard as she could, "Excuse me…"
The door slowly moved open, but there was only darkness in front of her. She took a step forward, looking around in curiosity, "Hello…? Anybody home?"
Suddenly, a candle was lit, then another. Soon, it formed a trail of candles as if showing her the way. Gwen, the more imaginative between the twins, was charmed by this. She smiled and began to walk, following the candle.
She was led into an empty ballroom when another lightning struck and the flash allowed her to see a dark figure standing there. It turned. "Who's there?!"
Its voice resembled a growl with something not human in it. Gwen felt chills running down her spine. That dark figure turned and walked towards her, "I say: who's there?!"
A moment later, the room was suddenly lit by two standing chandeliers and a beastly figure, coated in messy dark golden fur with fangs protruding out from its mouth and claws in place of hands was made visible before her. It wore something like clothes, but it was tattered and unkempt. Its expression was clearly not one of pleasantness and hospitality.
"What are you doing in my castle?!" it growled.
Gwen felt her heart skipped a beat, and before she knew it, she fell onto her knees and screamed at the top of her lungs.
Who is this Beast?!
What will happen to Gwen?
Stay tuned to find out! ^^
Thanks for reading! Please rate and review!
A/N: For those familiar with the Disney version of Beauty and the Beast, can you give me some suggestions of who should be Gaston? Can be from any Harvest Moon title ^^ Thanks!