𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐰 ❅ 𝐥𝐨𝐤𝐢 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 - 𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐥

"𝐢 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐰𝐧; 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐚𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟-𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐫."

❅

Not sparing a moment, Belle and Fury rush through the forest, the girl relying on the white stallion to help navigate the unknown terrain.

Belle stifles a gasp as Fury takes a sharp right turn, crossing an invisible threshold as the forest quite abruptly turns into snow. Fury lets out another whine as he skids to a halt in front of the wrecked carriage, nudging the now-broken windmill that had fallen out with his nose.

"Keep going, Fury," Belle urges. "We need to find him."

Fury bolts through the looming ice gates just as he had the night prior to escape the wolves, and comes to a stop in front of the grand stairway of the castle.

"Great," Belle huffs, dismounting Fury in one fluid movement and rushing up the stairs. "This is just great," she repeats, picking up a significantly large stick in her ascent. Not that she actually knew how to fight, per se, rather, to make her look more intimidating.

A blast of warm air meets her as she pushes open the large door into the palace, and she unconsciously lets out a sigh of wonder and amazement slip out as she scans her surroundings. The entryway itself was larger than her room back at home, let alone her entire home!

Unbeknownst to Belle, she is being watched by two unexpected figures.

"Look, Clint. A beautiful girl!"

"Yes, I can see that it is a girl. I lost my hands, not my eyes."

"But what if she is the one? The one who will break the spell?"

Belle whips suddenly whips around at the sound of voices behind her, adrenaline coursing through her veins.

"Who said that?" No answer. "Who's there?"

As Belle cautiously ventures closer to the source of the voice, she hears a cough echo through the halls, putting her on even higher alert.

Swiftly grabbing the golden candelabra in front of her, Belle all but runs up the stairs towards the sound.

"Father?" She tentatively half-speaks half-yells as she rushes up a spiral staircase, relying more and more on the light from the candelabra as she ascends into the darkness above. "Father, is that you?"

"Belle?" She hears her father's raspy voice echo out just as she reaches the top of the stairs, and she immediately spots him in a cell. "How did you find me?"

"Your hands are ice," Belle says instead, reaching through the cell bars. "We need to get you home."

"Belle, you must leave here at once!" The man says instead. "This castle is alive! Now, go, before he finds you."

"Who?" she asks immediately, and is met with a deep growling from behind her. Across the dark corridor, she sees a dark figure looming at the end of the hall, and she quickly scrambles to grasp her makeshift stick/weapon. "Who's there? Who are you?"