Twisted Fairy Tales - Beauty and the Beast

Chapter 5: Debts to be Paid

Happy Fourth of July to my fellow Americans!!!! I hope you guys had as great a day as I did!!! To my Canadian friends I say Happy (belated) Canada Day!!!! Enjoy this next chapter, My Lovelies!!

And now for a little 'tooting of thine own horn' if I may.....Monday....July 6, 2015.....I TURN 20!!! Happy birthday to me...happy birthday to me!!

Aquitaine, France, La forêt de Coeur noir et vert del la Terre: La Cliff du loup mort.

October 17th, 1895.

"Goodbye, my friend, how I shall miss your familiar presence." Belle spoke quietly, the wolves still inching closer to her crumpled frame. She closed her eyes and buried her head in the snow waiting for the bites that would never come. She felt a presence above her and looked up to see the beast standing over her and scaring off the wolves. "My Lord, you came." Her voice broke as she said it and she doubted he heard, but her heart warmed at the sight of him even if he could only see his chest above her. She continued to cower beneath him as he tried to fight off the wolves, but one grabbed onto the skirt of her dress and pulled her out from under the beast. He noticed this when she screamed and picked the wolf in question up by the throat before throwing him against a tree.

"Get out of the way Belle, now!" he roared before picking her up by the waist and placing her on a tree branch. She scrambled to climb higher, but her injured wrist and ankle made it difficult to do. All of the wolves forgot Belle at that point and went to attack the beast who was actually on the ground. Each slowly gave up the fight and after ten minutes the were gone. Belle climbed down the tree and limped over to the beast to find him relatively unharmed save for cuts and bites that left his arms and legs covered in blood that still came forth from the wounds. He passed out in front of Belle as she cried softly, she moved quickly to get him onto his back so he wasn't face down in the snow and she pondered how best to help him. She huddled up near him for a moment to regain some of her warmth before having Felipe crouch down so she could move the beast onto his back. It took her a while to do so, but she finally got him onto the saddle and they were on their way. An hour later they walked through the gates of the palace grounds. She petted Felipe's muzzle and let him know it was almost time for him to walk back to the stable to rest. He was panting and surely hungry, tired and thirsty from having to carry the master for so long when he was twice the size of his usual load.

The three most familiar items to her came running as best they could out of the castle; Cogsworth, the small little clock came out with Lumiere, and Mrs. Potts trailed not to far behind him. Mrs. Potts brought along Chip so that she could pour some tea for Belle to drink. Chip hopped his way over to her and she noticed that he now had a half cup of tea in him from having most of it splash out on his way over to her. Belle eagerly drank the hot liquid and it to warm her up before leading Felipe into the house and into the study off of the foyer where the beast liked to sit and warm himself. She helped him into the chair before heading down to the kitchen.

Without a word to anyone she placed a pot of water onto the stove to boil while she prepared a bucket to carry up to the beast. Everyone seemed to understand it was not the time to talk as no one tried to get answers from her just yet. She grabbed some rags and soap and let them soak in the cold water before pouring some of the now boiling water into it to warm it up. She also grabbed the basket she had made over the past few months with herbs she could use to help heal many types of wounds and afflictions. Belle carefully picked her way up the stairs and back to the study with the beast as she was trying not to spill anything. He was starting to come too as she came in and set the bucket on one side of the armchair preparing to clean his wounds. She pulled a small bottle of witch hazel out of her pocket and poured it inside the mixture. Grabbing a cloth she grabbed one of his arms and began to pat the wound clean. Everybody took a few steps back to give them some room, or to give the Master a wide berth in case his temper flared.