Hidden Heart (Beauty and the Beast AU)

The White Shroud

The destination was not as close as the simple directions first made it seem. The landmarks it described were stretched further apart than Susato had anticipated, and the sun was collapsing by the time she reached the penultimate marker.

She peered around, eyes wide and alert, drawing her horse into a slow canter. It was getting harder to make out shapes in the rising gloom, but she was certain she would discover the location soon enough. Glancing down at the paper, she realised with a jolt that no house was actually described. It seemed the recipient wished for the medicine to be left at a particular tree stump, likely on the edge of a property. But when Susato peered around herself, there was nothing but trees on one side and a moorland on the other, presided over by an impossibly thick mist.

Susato nudged towards the fog. The horse cried out, a strange and braying whinny. Startled, Susato veered away from the bank of white. She placed her hand against the horse's neck, whispering to soothe it as she pressed on.

And then, at long last, her eyes alighted upon it.

Fog was beginning to sprout from the earth, snaking through the trees in serpentine whispers. Yet she could still clearly make out the squat, snarled stump. It was indeed very distinctive.

Susato drew up alongside stump and reached to remove the satchel from her shoulder. She would simply set it down, then turn around and make her journey back to the village at a gallop. The path had been a bit winding; however, she was certain she could find her way back easily enough. And with the onset of dusk, it was vital she make it home as swiftly as possible.

Yujin would likely be furious. Susato was not normally a woman who disobeyed her father's commands, yet she had seen no other choice but to act against his wishes. Surely he would be persuaded to forgive her once she made it back entirely unharmed.

Susato gripped the strap, about to pull it free. Froze. Her breath clicked.

In the descending darkness, in a swell of mist, a shape. Immensely tall. Broad-chested. Wide-shouldered. Hunched strangely. Shrouded in a long cape with a high collar. Two flames of ice glowed at her through the mist.

The horse reared up with a shriek. Susato broke out of her awestruck daze. Tried to grasp the reins. It was too late. Impact shocked through her as she toppled from the horse, the breath crushing out of her lungs. For a moment she lay there, stunned, as the horse galloped away.

Susato glanced up. It was closer now. The beast. Her heart raced, beating back to her from the ground, as she struggled to push herself up. She glanced around frantically, pulling at breath. Winced as pain throbbed through her body.

The forest was too far. The ground too open. It would seize her in an instant. Before she could reach the treeline. Her only choice was to try to lose it in the mist. The fog was enormously dense. A shroud of white upon a world rendered entirely featureless. That was her only hope of escape.

Susato turned and hurtled for the mist, gasping as a terrible pain pounded in her ankle and shot sharp-edged through her, its many sides bursting in knifepoints up and down her leg. She gritted her teeth and pushed through the pain, desperate.

She broke through the mist. Could see nothing around her. Just a world of endless white. The ground sent hard shocks through her feet, fought to cripple her knees and throw her down. She pressed forward, even as her feet began to slide in uneven ground, suddenly moist beneath her steps.

The mire yawned open beneath her and took hold of her body. Susato gasped as the thick, cold water lunged at her, surrounded her. Yanked her down with many hands. She began to sink. Thrashed ineffectually.