Blind and the Beast

The Reunion

-The Beast-

He was unhappy. There was no longer any good chairs that remained in the castle that did not remind him of Belle, so that meant that when he had decided he was tired of his room and wanted to breathe some fresh air, the good chair in the garden was missing, presumably tucked away into the east wing by Vandy.

 The beast sat in the subpar chair without any complaint. 

The gardens used to bring him so much peace, but he felt nothing has he looked over the flora and fauna. Memories were too painful, they would become more bearable with time and eventually he would treasure them, just like the memories of his mother, but for now he did not know how to escape them. 

The only place without touches of Belle was the west wing. When he finally decided to go to the place he hated most to run away from her memory he was across the gardens and nearly to the castle when a voice called him back.

"Your majesty!" 

The Beast turned and saw one of the forest Nymphs running to him from the garden.

"What?" The beast tensed. If the werewolves were on the move, then it would be close this time.

"There's a girl out in the forest." The nymph said, out of breath. 

The beast frowned, unsure if he heard her right. "There's what?"

"A girl, in the forest. JaEl requested that you be informed at once." 

Belle wouldn't be in the forest. She wouldn't have a reason to... unless something horrible happened. 

"Where is she?"  

"Headed eastwards, right between the human town and wolfmen territory."

The beast nodded and stretched out his wings testing them lightly. He knew it was her. It had to be, he could feel it in his bones. He felt bad, but for the first time since he left her on the edge of the forest, he finally felt alive. Maybe he had some sort of magic power he didn't know about to conjure people up with just his thoughts.

-Belle-

She had left her house with few rations and early in the morning before her father had woken up, and had followed the road to the forest using a walking stick.

It was early enough that the town had not truly woken up yet and it was easy enough to time the guards patrol. By the early morning hours, the night shift was so slow and loud that it was disgustingly easy to get past them without any real effort. 

Once she crossed into the forest a chill surrounded her and the cold entered back into her body, but she was a woman with a purpose and wouldn't be frightened by the forest of beasts.

She had been walking for what felt like a few hours when she heard him flying towards her. It was him, it had to be. There were few sounds she could forget when it came to him. As his wings heralded his entrance Belle found that she couldn't even remember why she came out here anymore. He's here! That was the only thing running through her mind. 

She stopped her progression in the forest when he landed dramatically in front of her, breathing heavily. She tried to listen for sounds that gave away his mood, but she didn't have to wait for very long to find out exactly what he was feeling.

"I told you to stay out of the forest." His voice was low and tight, he was definitely angry with her.

She finally remembered why she had come and leapt to her own defense. 

"I came here to warn you. There's a party of men coming from the township led by some prince." She said, and she was met with an awkward silence that made her feel self-conscious