Beauties and Beasts

Chapter 13: brought to you by almost incest and edible sparklies

The tale as old as time: Beauty and the Bitch... and the Sullen Hottie. And a wholesome twist that goes like this!

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Neara sat at the fire while flames scattered shadows across her face. Despite her apparent single status, no males had approached her yet. She thought about joining one of the other females, particularly the fox female who had gained 3 new males, but they had scowled when she approached. Maybe they thought she would try to steal their mates. A twinge in her bladder reminded her of the very human, or beastman, urge to relieve one's self, and she wandered towards the sound of water. She bumped into a tall beastman along the way. "Oh, sorry. I was just looking for the bathroom... ugh, a place to relieve myself." She flushed and tried to convince herself it wasn't embarrassing if everyone else called it that.

His large ears poked over his hair and his eyes fixed on her face. He wore significantly more clothing than other beastmen: instead of a simple skirt, the leather fell from his throat to his ankles, bound by belts with stones in them. Large grey pads of fur on his shoulders fell to strips of grey leather wrapped around his arms studded with sharp teeth. "It's... over there." He pointed a shaky finger to the river.

"Thank you." She followed the direction of his finger and found a large sand pit. It looked like a litter box and nobody seemed to be around...

After leaving the sand pit, she heard some arguing and crept a little closer through the bushes.

"So I heard you went out and got an emerald this time?" The voice was high-pitched and a little whiny. "If you give me that emerald, I'll let you be my male. How's that?"

"It's impossible for us to be together." The response quivered in her bones. Winston?

"There's no such thing! If you don't love me, why would you save me? My father is a tetra-marked beast; yours too. If you become my male, the Tiger Clan's footing will stabilize."

Neara edged forward, caught up in the drama. She missed her telenovelas at home and she couldn't be killed for eavesdropping, right?

"I'm only taking care of you because you're my brother's child."

Oh snap! Incest! She peeked through the bushes. Winston stood stiffly in the clearing, starlight gleaming in his hair and eyes. He faced a short, thin female with grey hair and a stubborn smile. She didn't look like a dump truck, but she was no Ferrari either. More like a really nice, top of the line Hyundai. Although in the company of these women...

"Just be my male! With how ugly you are, you're already 27 without a female. It's even worse with those scars. You won't have any children if you continue this way." The girl held up her hand to Winston's face and indicated the blemish over his left eye. "Give me the emerald."

Winston pushed her hand away. "But I've already eaten it myself."

The girl slapped him and Neara winced in spite of herself. "You bastard!"

Unfortunately for Neara, her wince dislodged a branch that cracked ominously. Even if they hadn't been beastmen with superior hearing, it echoed unmistakably in the wake of the slap.

"Who's there?" Winston called out, a growl rolling through his words.

"Shitshitshitshitshitshitshitshitshitshit." Neara whispered as she stood.

"A female?" His voice softened.

"An ugly female." The girl snorted, then folded her arms across her chest. "Look at those marks around her eyes. There are too many ugly females in the world, but she might be the ugliest of all. Look at her long hair and ridiculous cloak!"

Remembering the public humiliation, Neara walked up to Winston and took his hand. "There you are! I've been looking everywhere for you! I wanted to invite you to join me at the barbeque." She pouted her bottom lip. "You weren't sneaking away, were you?" Too nervous to look at the bitchy girl, she pulled Winston along with her and faked her bluff as high as she could roll.

"Hey!" The girl's cry faded behind them as Neara purposefully marched away from the conflict and towards where she thought the fires were. They walked in silence until Neara remembered she was holding the very warm, large, comforting hand of a male. She dropped it and faced him. "I'm sorry for that... I didn't like how she treated you and I know you couldn't get out of there by yourself."

Winston stared at her, his gaze locked on her eyes. "I know."

"Oh, well, that's a relief then." She paused and looked at her feet, then quickly back at Winston. He wore striped furs around his waist and shins and several layers of teeth around his neck.

He held out his hand and something glowed inside. "You can have this as a gift."

Neara squinted at the shiny green object. He pressed it to her lips and his fingers forced it down her throat before she could protest. "Ah! What the..." she coughed and held a hand to her mouth. "What the hell?" She noticed the four marks on either side of his chest. A powerful beastman... Warmth unrelated to his attractiveness (she thought) spread through her body, warming her fingers and toes in the chilly night air. She felt better and stronger, although her vision was foggy. She reached to push her glasses back on her face and froze.

"What the hell?" Her hands fumbled on her cheeks as she dragged the plastic from her eyes. Winston looked stricken. His face almost stopped her heart with its beauty. Silver hairs delicately swung in his breath. The four marks on his chest stood out darkly against his smooth skin. The furs wrapped in a way she couldn't distinguish, though he didn't seem to wear a belt or tie of any kind. Grass poked up between his toes and hers too. The grass swarmed the riverbed, small gasps of midnight appearing and disappearing in the surface like fish. Trees sipped at the water, protecting their delicate vascular systems with rough bark and feeding themselves with umbrellas of full, green, tear-shaped leaves. Stars swam into focus, bright and brilliant drops peppered on a black canvas. The galaxies smeared across the sky and seemed to swirl around the 3 brilliant moons hanging as if suspended. The smaller white one rounded behind one the color of roasted pumpkin and both were overshadowed by the magnificent periwinkle moon that nearly covered them both.

Tears ran down her face and she collapsed to her knees. Sobs racked her body and she clutched her sides, nails digging into the skin.

"What happened? Female, are you alright?" Winston's warm hand enveloped her back and he swept her into his arms.

"Give. Me. A. Minute." she gasped.

He held her the entire time she cried, pressing her body to his. She didn't know how much time had passed when she finally dried her eyes on her hands. Her cloak had fallen when he picked her up and she didn't bother reaching for it.

"Can you speak?" He seemed to pass through her like the ghost of an earthquake.

"Yeah... I've just... never seen the stars before." She looked up again and tears coursed down her face. Were they always this beautiful?

"You are blind?" He looked nervous.

"Not... anymore."