Another Fairytale Story [REWRITTEN]

26

"Ben!" Carlos called out as they walked through the forest. They had been walking for a while now since the castle was no longer in viewing distance. Even still, there was no sign of Ben or Bella. "Dude, come on, nothing?" he asked Dude, who was by his side sniffing Ben out. The dog didn't respond. Carlos had been asking the same question every five minutes, and the answer was the same each time: nothing.

"It's crazy that these grow everywhere," Gil told Jay as he ate from a berry bush. They had been following Carlos and calling out for Ben, too, but after a while, it got to be a bit disheartening with the lack of response. Since today was Gil's first time on Auradon, he allowed himself to experience childish joy and wonder in his new setting, including eating the fruit that grew all around.

"Yeah, crazy," Jay said. He felt a bit out of it at the moment, but he's been feeling like that a lot lately, best to ignore it. "I bet you've seen it all, you're probably bored of it." It was nice to see him get excited about Auradon. Jay never really gave himself the opportunity since they had orders from Maleficent and what have you. "No, not bored of anything nor have I seen it all, tourney kind of eats up most of my time," Jay admitted, amongst other things, like other people.

"Tourney? That's a wee boys' game," Harry, who was also eating the berries off the same bush, said to them, but they ignored him. Gil could sense that Jay was a bit down, he had been all day, and it wasn't just because of all that was going on, but before he could ask, they were interrupted by a voice traveling through the forest.

"Guys!"

Carlos stopped in his tracks, they all looked around but couldn't find the source of where it came from. They wouldn't have to wonder for long as they could hear the person running towards them, and by the sound of it, two people were coming their way. Carlos stepped closer to where they could hear the person, a smile breaking through as he recognized who it was.

"Bella!"

Bella and Chad came through the trees and into view. She hugged Carlos, happy and relieved to see him and the others safe and sound. The rest of them relaxed a bit, seeing that it wasn't someone dangerous and also someone they had been looking for.  Chad did not follow in her footsteps of hugging anyone, but he smiled at Jay, who did not return the gesture and instead went back to his bush.

"What the hell happened to you?" Carlos asked when they pulled away and saw how gnarly she looked, all the bumps and scrapes looking worse having gone untended. "Well, you know much of a clutz I am. That and I was chased by like some beast." Bella said it so casually that it took him a second to process her words, but when they did, boy did his anxiety skyrocket. He knew it, Audrey had unleashed a beast and now it was more important than ever to find Ben.

"Fucking hell, okay, guys listen up!" He raised his voice, drawing everyone's attention back to him. "Not only are we looking for Ben now, we're also hunting a beast. Keep close, don't stray, and be vigilant. Let's keep moving!" They all nodded, not needing to question the beast part after what they saw back at the castle.

The group walked further into the forest until they reached a water source, and from there they'd follow the stream down. They were all a bit spread out but not too much where one could easily get sidetracked from the group. All Carlos needed was for them to be out of earshot.

"Bella, I need to talk to you," Carlos whispered to her. Before getting closer, she looked around to make sure no one was paying them attention. "Is everything alright?" She whispered back. Carlos wasn't sure how he was going to start the conversation, he felt dumb now for not preparing, but in his defense he had a lot on his mind. Might as well just put it out there.