The arrogant hunter Gaston must work together with the Beast, if either of them want to escape the Enchanted Forest alive.
What could possibly go right?!
Direct sequel to Beauty and the Beast.
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The air was calm with the distant twitter of small birds and a warming breeze. It seemed like the snow might already be starting to melt, inviting a supernaturally early summer that had bypassed spring completely. It was all such an impossible contrast to the chaos of moments before.
Beast might have believed it had all been some terrible nightmare, if not for all the blood, stemming into the snow and colouring it a bright crimson.
There was so much blood.
It was the only thing he could process, for a few mind numbing moments.
"...Gaston."
He knelt down, paws trembling over the hunter's gaping shoulder wound, almost too afraid to touch him.
The hunter's eyes were closed and his skin far too white, even greyish. If not for his slowly moving chest, Beast would have believed he was dead.
It wasn't fair.
This couldn't happen now, not when it seemed like things might be getting better, whatever better was. Too much had happened and it made everything different. Beast only needed to look upon the hunter to know that.
And this...this couldn't happen.
"No."
With a swift wrench, he ripped a part of his own cape off, and pressed it into the hunter's gory injury. The blood soaked through within a few seconds, staining the material dark red. Beast tried not to dwell on that, and with an unsteady paw wrapped it the rest of the way around the wound, as tightly as he could manage. It would have to do, for now.
There was still blood spreading out, close to his feet, and he couldn't waste anymore time.
Very gently, he gathered the hunter up and into his arms. He stood slowly, adjusting the weight before he began to walk. A dull pain still threatened in his back leg, but that all seemed very minor now.
Gaston was typically heavy, but not in an unmanageable way. Besides, Beast had carried him before, though in that case he hadn't been half so concerned about harming him.
He walked slower than he would have liked because of that, not wanting to disturb the injury any more than he had to.
The hill was tapering off into flat lands once again, and the outskirts of deep forest were finally coming into sight. There were far off bird calls coming from within it, like something had disturbed them from roost.
Beast paused a moment, teeth gritted and on edge with what might follow. When nothing came, he took a deep breath, and continued downhill toward the edge of the forest. He held Gaston a bit tighter against him.
**
**
"You passed out. No...don't try to move just yet. Don't."
