The Stranger and the Beast - Retired Chapter 2, a beauty and the beast fanfic

Gaston stalked his prey in the woods. This was another buck he had picked up the scent for. Part of his human hunter instincts led him to males, as to keep the population of the game from dwindling. The buck he was chasing was losing its rhythm. Gaston smiled to himself, knowing his prey was tiring. He could taste the delicious innards already and quickened his run.

He never knew how exhilarating it was to be an actual predator. He hunted and served in the war for many years and killed all manner of men and beasts, but to do so without a gun was more intoxicating that the strongest wine.

The buck drove through a bush and Gaston momentarily lost sight. Bristling with confidence, he charged down the same path and barreled through the same foliage as the deer. As he broke through the other side, a loud crack echoed around him.

His prey was splayed out in front of him, a tiny hole bleed out behind its shoulder blade. Gaston paused, fully visible in the clearing. He turned to the familiar sound of a musket cocking and saw the hunter.

The man clearly had wet himself and was trembling. The barrel shook all over, and the man took a gulp and tried to steady himself.

"Y...You cannnn have the deer… just… go away!" the man stammered.

Gaston knew that voice. He slowly moved forward, looking at the trembling man.

"La...fou?" Gaston asked. He hadn't spoken in years, and the words were foreign to him.

"How… do you know me, beast?" LaFou stammered.

"I… it's" Gaston wanted to erupt in laughter at the chance meeting of his dearest friend! He wanted to go to the pub and banter back and forth, chide his friend about his silliness and find out about his life.

Gaston saw the fear in his friend's eyes, he had no recognition of who he was, and to tell him would only cause him more pain. LaFou was settled down with his partner and had a life. Not something he wished to interfere with. It was best to just leave him.

Silently Gaston turned his back on the trembling man and trudged back to the dear. He hefted the carcass over his shoulder and looked back at his friend.

"Do not hunt around this part," Gaston said. Each word was forced from his deformed mouth, and he had to focus on each enunciation to make them intelligible. Turning away from his only friend, he disappeared into the woods, leaving a confused and terrified little man alone in the clearing.

"G… Gaston?"

Gaston threw the deer in a corner of his cave. His hands trembled and rage filled his mind. He let out a bellow that echoed down unexplored channels of his home. Grabbing the scattered bones and skulls of his kills, he broke them in half and crushed them with his bare hands. He raked the stone walls with his claws as he wailed in anguish

The vibrations of his rampage had shaken off the black drape over his mirror and he the misshapen monstrosity that he was. Patches of fur, and a twisted misshapen body that hunched. He was most comfortable on all fours, and could not stand straight if he wanted too.

He threw a skull at the mirror, and it only bounced off the glass. Many years ago, as the final petal fell, and his curse became permanent, he tried to destroy the mirror. It's enchantment endured years of abuse and damage.

He hated it. He hated himself. He hated the Enchantress. He hated the Beast. He hated Belle. He hated all of creation.

Gaston's rage subsided, and depression overwhelmed him. All he could do was slump under the mirror and roll into a ball. A blanket of fatigue washed over him, and his mind slipped into a slumber.

Gaston awoke to the warmth of a fire, and the smell of deer roasting on a spit. A familiar song was sung by his unwelcome guest

Mon amant me delaisse

O gue vive la rose

Je ne sais pas pourquioi

Vive la rose et le lils

Il va-t-en voir une autre

O gue vive la rose

Ne sais s'il reviendra

Vive la rose et le lilas

On dit qu'elle est tres belle

O gue vive la rose

Bien plus belle que moi

Vive la rose et le lilas

On dit qu'elle est malade

O gue vive la rose

Peut-etre elle en mourra

Vive la rose et le lilas

Si elle meurt dimanche

O gue vive la rose

Lundi on l'enterrera

Vive la rose et le lilas

Mardi reviendra me voir

O gue vive la rose

Mais je n'en voudrai pas

Vive la rose et le lilas.

"You always were romantic," Gaston said after his friend finished the last verse.

"It's a silly song anyway. I left my accordion at home, so I can't sing it properly." LaFou chuckled and poked the fire.

"Why...are you here?" Gaston asked.

"Can't an old friend stop by unannounced after ten years?" Lafou asked as he twisted the spit.

"Leave… I'm no longer the man you knew." Gaston said and curled his knees to his chest.

"The man I knew was a monster," Lafou said. "This… is an improvement!"

With that, Lafou erupted in laughter and slapped his thighs. His merriment was contagious, as Gaston felt a smile creep across his lips.

"Come to the fire… eat the deer you poached from me." Lafou patted the space next to him and brandished a wineskin. "I have some brandy too!"

Gaston rolled over and begrudgingly took the seat that was offered. He grabbed the wineskin and fumbled with the opening, his hands were too big. Lafou put his hand on Gaston's to steady him.

"Let me help," Lafou said and quickly unfastened the lid. "At the hunting lodge, everyone talks about a monster in the woods. They think that the fairy who cursed Prince Adam, never really turned him back to a human, but he turns back to the beast at dusk."

"And what does the Prince say about that?" Gaston asked after swallowing a mouthful of brandy. He shook the wineskin and found it mostly gone. Lafou took it back and took a swig himself.

"I'll bring you a barrel next time." Lafou chuckled. "As for Prince Adam, he doesn't seem to care. He's too busy fawning over Gabrielle. She is a little beast if I ever saw one. Her nickname around town and at the castle is La Bette."

Gaston grumbled and reached for the rest of the carcass that Lafou hadn't butchered. With a twist, he separated the head from the body. He sat back down next to his friend and drove a claw into the eyes of the deer, aptly removing and consuming it.

Lafou watched wide-eyed as Gaston grabbed both sides of the head and cracked it in half like a walnut. He scooped out the brains and slurped half a hemisphere down in one gulp. Looking at an open-mouthed Lafou, he offered the uneaten half to him.

"I umm… am trying to cut down." Lafou said with a grin, his hand behind his head. Gaston turned away from Lafou and slurped down the remaining gray matter.

"Sorry…" Gaston said sheepishly.

"No, it's fine. It's not like the deer was using it anymore." Lafou chuckled and sliced off a large chunk from the roast. "So… do we need more witty banter or are you going to tell me what happened?"

"I… am tired," Gaston said. "The story is… long and talking is… difficult." Gaston said. He laid down and rolled over, turning his back to his friend."

"I can guess that the same fairy who cursed the castle, turned her vengeance upon you?" Lafou asked.

"Tomorrow…" Gaston said sleepily. "Come back tomorrow. It's all mixed up and I need to think of what is real… and what is madness."

"Okay… tomorrow then, my friend." Lafou said. Gaston felt a blanket draped over him, and heard the little man plod out of his cave. As he drifted off into slumber, Gaston resolved himself to move to a different cave, so Lafou could never find him again.

Yes… when he wakes up…

Gaston's mind drifted into a deep slumber.

Gaston swam back to consciousness to the sound of an accordion playing Viva la Rose and Lafou humming the tune. He opened one eye and peered out the cave entrance. It wasn't even noon. Why was he here, and so early?

"Never the early bird, eh Gaston?" Lafou chuckled.

Gaston pulled himself to a sitting position and rubbed his face.

"Why… are you here?" Gaston grumbled.

"You said to come tomorrow, so I did, and with gifts!" Lafou said, grinning ear to ear He pointed to one side of the cave. The carcasses and bones were cleaned away, and twelve barrels had been stacked in a pyramid.

"Some is brandy, others is wine," Lafou said with a saluted glass. He drank down his cup in one gulp and refilled it from his wineskin.

"Please… forget you found me." Gaston asked.

"I will never forget my best friend," Lafou said and took another drink.

"I… was not a good friend," Gaston muttered and grabbed the top barrel. He carried it under his arm and sat next to his accordion playing friend. Using his claws he wrenched off the lid and dunked his head into the wine. It was sweet and satisfying.

"I agree, you were a terrible person." Lafou said, "But… you were Gaston! It was alright that you were terrible. You meant well, and that's all there is to it. Everyone knew you had rocks in your head, so that was that."

"Lafou…" Gaston whispered, looking at his misshapen reflection in the wine.

"Please… my friend… tell me." Lafou asked, he rested his hand on Gaston's forearm, and gave him a pleading look. Gaston had a good look at his friend in the cascading light from the cave mouth. He had gained weight, and his hair was longer and gray. He had wrinkles on his face, that always make him look like he was smiling.

"I will, but first, I need to apologize. I waited too long to say this… and even if it won't help me, at least to you… I must say this." Gaston said. Lafou looked up at him wordlessly, allowing his friend to talk.

"I… regret," Gaston said softly. "I regret many things in my life before."

Gaston sat up straighter to steel his resolve.

"I regret how I treated you. How I teased you and made you look like a fool to everyone in town. I have done countless humiliating things to you and laughed at your expense." Gaston said. He couldn't bring himself to look at Lafou while he spoke. "I made your life terrible, and I'm sorry."

Gaston waited silently for an answer. He readied himself for Lafou to unleash years of anger and frustration at him. He was probably glad this had happened to him, what more fitting punishment than to wander the earth and immortal misshapen monstrosity.

"Brain full of rocks," Lafou said with a chuckle. "How many times have you saved my life? The rampaging boar? The war? I am all thumbs and bum. My parents named me Lafou simply because I could not even manage to suckle my mother without bumbling. You think you lead me to do my foolishness at my expense? I was foolish for your expense Gaston. I owe you my life several times over, and if my bumbling can make you laugh, well then, that is an easy enough price I would pay several times over to the man I love and admire… but, don't tell Mitch, he gets jealous."

Gaston looked down at his friend and grinned.

"There is that dashing smile that would make the triplets have to change their garments," Lafou said. "Now… tell me how this happened!"

"You… saw me slip on the roof and fall." Gaston said. Lafou nodded in agreement. "I… died, almost."

"You were right, it was the Enchantress." Gaston continued. "She came to me after her curse ended with the Beast. I laid there, fighting for each breath. I would not succumb to death unless it clawed my soul from my chest, and I couldn't fight anymore."

Lafou adjusted himself to a more comfortable spot and listened.

"She offered her magic to me and said I had indeed changed my ways. She would heal me, and allow me to make amends for my pride and arrogance." Gaston said.

"And, she changed you into this?" Lafou asked. "It's even worse than the Beast!"

"My body was broken and dying. Her magic didn't work the way it was supposed to." Gaston said regretfully. "She was more surprised than I was."

"So, she was going to curse you the same way as the beast, and what? Love's kiss or something to break it?" Lafou asked.

"No… nothing that simple." Gaston regretfully replied. "I… had to amend my wrongs and regrets."

Gaston pointed to the covered mirror at the back of his cave. Lafou grunted as he stood and walked over to the wall. Silently, he removed the black cloth covering the silver mirror. Gaston waved silently to the Mirror and the reflection became alive. It showed Gaston's life, and all the things he regretted in life.

"I see," Lafou said. "So, let's break the curse together! We can start with the villagers, and once word got out about your reform, I'm Sure Belle and Adam would have an audience with you!"

"It's impossible," Gaston said. Lafou looked to where his gnarled hand pointed too. His smiling demeanor fell to sympathy as he spied the wilted rose under glass.

"The same curse," Lafou said somberly. "And… you ran out of time."

"Yes, there is no redemption for me," Gaston said. "I will never walk with others. I am a monster in this forest. I will live forever, and children will fear me. I will be a story mothers tell their children in order to get them to behave."

"Gaston…" Lafou said with a sigh. He plopped down next to Gaston. "You have a head full of rocks… even now."

"What do you mean?" Gaston asked.

"You're still thinking of yourself."

Author's Note:

For those wondering about Viva La Rose, it was a popular folk song in the 1700's. When researching the song, I remember Lafou did play the hand accordion, and surely this would be something he would sing.

Whoop-dee-doo, long live the rose

I do not know why