You had run far into the Beanstalk Forest, trying to get away from the dangers that were behind you. The sun was fading fast, and you could hear thunder breaking over the high stalks. The magical shoes that granted you invisibility for near an hour had reached their limit and you became a target again. You slipped the shoes off and sighed, not sure how long it would take before you could use them again. There was no one else around, but you weren't going to be any less wary, especially with night falling, the sound of prowling animals nearby, and the threat of an oncoming storm.
You heard the sound of a wolf howling and for a brief moment your heart jumped with joy, thinking it might be Fang with the huntsman. A familiar, friendly face would be a welcomed change from strangers in dark places with dark intentions.
There was another howl and you realized it wasn't your savoir, but the lunatic wolfman that broke into the goblin castle for...well, you weren't really sure why he did it. He claimed it was to rescue you, but he couldn't have known you. You certainly didn't recognize him, but then again people you didn't know had recognized you your whole life. There was an entire kingdom that could pick you out, and you didn't know a single soul outside of your castle until three days ago.
You remembered why you had set out on this journey in the first place, and found that you didn't regret leaving home. You needed to know more about this world. Your father was trying to get you to marry, but you had never actually seen a wedding. You weren't allowed to journey with the rest of the family to the Land of Beasts for Leblanc's wedding with prince Adam. You'd never even met him. Nor did you know where the Land of Beasts even was. They expected you to become a queen, and you didn't even know a thing about the lands you would be living in. You didn't even know your own lands.
You took in a sharp breath and decided that this was the right thing. Just as you got your confidence back up, a twig snapped to your right. You looked over cautiously, but saw nothing. You decided you would put on the shoes and leg it, going as far as you could before they ran out of juice again, and that's exactly what you did. You were off, and hopefully, whatever was there wouldn't be able to follow you as you ran aimlessly through the forest.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Maleficent's huntsman was prowling the woodlands with a gray wolf of a humbling size at his side. He scanned the floor of the eerie marsh-like woods, looking for anything that might be a sign of his target. His eyes caught on a snapped twig and he whistled for the wolf to stop while he stood to investigate it. The twig wasn't snapped all the way through, suggesting a lighter than average foot fell upon it. It was possible that an animal had caused the break, and it was impossible to find more than the slightest hint of an outline of animal tracks or human footprints in the moss covered ground. He got the impression that the prints he found around the snapped twig were either the mark of a large deer, or the almost tear drop shaped imprint of a woman's high heeled shoe, though he saw no impression from the heel of the shoe.
"Fang, what do you think?" Zack asked, calling the wolf over and having him sniff the ground. The wolf smelled the ground, then whimpered a little.
"So it is her. You're certain?"
The wolf whimpered again, and he gave it a rub on the neck.
"I don't like tracking lost princesses anymore than you do, but you know our orders."
The wolf snapped a bark at him, and he rolled his eyes.
"Oh, now you're a noble soul? How quaint."
The wolf snapped at him again, and he patted it on the head.
"We're the servants of the dark witch, you silly mutt. We hunt people, and we hurt people. That's our job. We're the villains of this world. We can only do as we're told, and we're only ever told to hurt others."
The wolf howled sharply, as if to remind him of something.
"What, ≈≈≈≈≈≈? You help someone one time and suddenly you fancy yourself a hero?"
Fang sat tall and proud, and bowed his head regally.
"I don't think they let guys like us be heroes....especially not for girls like her."
The wolf snapped at him and he sighed, "She's a princess, she wouldn't want me. She's a girl trapped in a tower waiting for a handsome prince to climb up and rescue her from her prison and whisk her off her feet and they'll go home where they get married..." He sighed, and Fang dropped his head onto Zack's knee, and Zack gave him a few scratches behind the ears, "She learns who we are, and the next time she sees us coming she'll go running the other way."
Fang whimpered and Zack stood up. "You'd best forget any dreams you have of a hero's life...They won't help you out here. You need to have honor, and duty to be a hero...and our duty takes us down a dark path in the other direction...come on. We should get on it." He said, giving the wolf the twig to sniff again. Fang did, and then he scanned the area to see if he could trace the scent. He found the direction it went almost instantly and began to dash off, leaving Zack to trail behind him with his heart stealing weapon drawn.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Come on, you have to keep running." Riku said, stopping to look back as his older sister panted and rested against a tree.
"I don't think I can go any farther." She gasped, holding a hand over her racing heart and stinging lungs. Her shoes had broken, the ankle clasp on the right shoe and the heel came off the left one, making her stride rather awkward and uncomfortable. That, and she wasn't used to running or the harsh environment.
"Please, you have to try." He pleaded with her, but she collapsed down onto a rock and held her hands in her head.
"I knew it...I knew I'd be no match for him. The huntsman will catch me and there's nothing I can do about it."
"You can run."
"I'm not like you, Riku, I can't keep this up. If that man doesn't get me, than this boggy forest surely will."
"I will carry you out if I have to, but you can't sit there and give up." He tried to keep his anger at bay, but he was doing this for her and she was already trying to tap out. He suspected that she just didn't understand that this man would absolutely tear her to shreds, or that maybe she would be able to convince him not to kill her. She was a sweet girl, naïve and happy for her peaceful life. She gave everyone the benefit of the doubt, and truly believed there was good in everyone. How she could still think that after living with his mother, he had no idea, but he knew what spoke of her true, gentle character. She couldn't survive out here, and he knew it. He needed to get her out of the swamps and into a town and hide away with her.
"I'll go with you, just give me a moment..." She exhaled, and wiped her forehead.
"Fine...but just a moment." He sighed, knowing that exhausting her wouldn't accomplish much either.
He sat beside her and she rested against him heavily and closed her eyes. "Don't fall asleep." He warned.
"Those are just old stories...the only danger we're in is from the huntsman."
"Don't tell me you believe that to be true. There's a reason ours is the most fortified castle in all the kingdoms. It has nothing to do with our armies, it's the woodlands surrounding us. The woods are more deadly than the oceans surrounding the Land of Beast's, its force is more devastating than entirety of the Enchanted Dominion's armed forces, the terrain harder for an army to travel than the lake covered fronts of the Land of Dreams, and the creatures as twisted and dark as those in the Dark Forest. There are witches, ogres, pixies, trolls, hydras, heartless creatures of the night, living trees, beings of rock, man eating waters and sands, swamps that change their paths to trap and deceive you, and that's all on top of the regular threats....if you think the huntsman is the only being you need to fear out in these wilds, then you are sorely mistaken."
She choked out a weak sob and covered her face with her hands.
"I just want to be home." She whimpered, and he realized he had upset her.
"Don't worry Snowy...I'm here with you. I'll protect you, you know I will."
She just sobbed harder, knowing that she was not only a burden on him, but was the sole reason that he wasn't off in a fancy carriage on his way to meet the girl of his dreams.
"It'll be alright. Just rest a moment." He said soothingly, and closed his eyes for a moment's relief.
Almost as soon as he began to relax, he heard the sound of a wolf howling. Snow White jumped, and Riku snapped upright, looking around fervently.
"There...there a wolves around in the woods right? That's...that's normal...right?"
The wolf caught his eyes, and his jaw nearly dropped. It was nearly the size of a large pony, with a gray coat the color of fog. In the greenish hued marshes of the Woodlands, the coat faded into the background a bit, but he figured that in its natural habitat down in the Dark Forest, where the world was gray and twisted, the wolf was nearly invisible to the naked eye; as though it were just another ghost in those haunted lands.
"Don't move a muscle." He said, keeping his eyes locked on the wolf.
"Why, what is—" She must have seen the beast, because she gasped and began hyperventilating, "It's him...that's him. It's the huntsman."
"It's just a wolf...no man can turn into a wolf..." He said, though he was beginning to doubt the legends were just legends.
"He's her servant though...who knows what he's capable of..."
"Stay calm...and stay here." He said, slowly getting to his feet and drawing his dagger. The wolf was nearly 30 feet away, and began snarling as he began to move. He hated the idea of killing something infront of his stepsister's innocent eyes, but it didn't seem there was much else he could do.
He began to creep towards the wolf, and the wolf continued to growl and snarl, showing teeth he really didn't care to mess with.
The wolf crouched down and he tightened his grip on the blade. They were in a stand off, almost, now that he was only a few feet from the beast. He was just going to throw the blade, aiming for a main artery in the neck, but as soon as he lifted the knife by his ear to prepare to throw it, Snow White let out a blood curdling scream. He turned to look back, and when he did the wolf pounced on him, jaws snapping and claws dragging across his arms. He lost the blade as he tumbled to the ground, and landed on it. It jabbed into his side, and he had no more than a moment to process the pain before the wolf was on him. He kicked and shoved, then finally managed to get a kick to the ribs strong enough to lift the monster of a wolf off him and away enough that he could get to his feet and look for Snow White.
She was back at the tree they had been resting by, with a tall, dark, cloaked man holding her from behind with a strange looking blade in his hand. Riku grabbed the knife that was sticking out of his lower abdomen and threw it as hard as he could at the man. His sister screamed, afraid he might miss and hit her, but his aim was true, and he hit his target. The dagger stabbed into the huntsman's arm, causing him to loosen his grip on her. She shoved him away, took off running, and that was the last he saw of her as the wolf tackled him from behind and he was pushed into the dirt again.
He fought off the wolf for a second time, got to his feet, then ran after the cloaked man full speed, then jumped and tackled him to the ground. The wolf came running for him again, but the man he was wrestling with whistled sharply and the beast darted off after Snow White.
"No!" He cried, looking up as the wolf took off. The huntsman used this opportunity to gain control of this fight, and threw the prince into the ground, pinned his arms, then smashed a rock against the side of his head. Riku managed to cling to consciousness momentarily, and saw the man's hood fall back, revealing a surprisingly young man. He saw that the man's blue eyes were red and swollen, and that he had black hair, but that was all he could get of the huntsman's appearance before a fist made contact with his temple and he was forced into the world of dreams.
"Royal bastard doesn't go down easy, does he?" Zack mumbled, wiping his forehead. He sighed, and looked down at his arm, seeing the prince's dagger still wedged deeply in his forearm. He winced as he pulled it out quickly, thinking there was no other way to get the blade out before the wound became too serious, then he looked down at the prince as he held the dagger. He could very easily kill the boy, and as he looked over him, he very much wanted to. Elegant clothing, a handsome face, strong bone structure, hair like the moonlight...a boy a princess like ≈≈≈≈≈≈ could very easily fall in love with at first glace...and what was worse, he had a bloodline that made him worthy enough to have a princess like the girl he so very badly wanted for himself.
This boy was everything that he wanted to be, and that made him wish he had the strength to plunge the dagger into his heart before he drew another breath...but he couldn't do that. He stuck the blade in the ground by the prince's hand, and stood up. The boy had a fighting spirit, and was using his strength to protect his sister. Even after falling on a blade, being mauled by the biggest wolf in the northern part of the kingdoms, and finding himself in a fight with the shadow of a man feared through all the lands, he still looked away to see that his sister was safe, or at least still trying to get to safety. It was admirable, and showed the boys true character.
With a sigh he began to walk after Fang, hoping the wolf might have caught the girl by now. He closed his eyes, almost as though in defeat, and though that it would be lucky if you were to marry a prince like that boy, who would fight to the death if he had to in order to keep you safe...far better than someone like him, who would only be a danger to you.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The shoes fizzled out and you groaned. It hadn't been nearly as long as you had hoped, but you were a ways away from where you had been. As you were becoming visible again, you put your back to a thick beanstalk and began to peer around behind it to see if anyone was following you. There was no one behind you, and you didn't hear anything. You stayed there for a moment, staring behind you, looking for any sign of movement. There was nothing and no one, and you finally felt at ease. It was going to be a long night, but at least for now you were alone.
You let out a relieved sigh and turned around, only to come face to face with emerald eyes and blazing red hair. You screamed, and he covered your mouth with a hand and laughed.
"My tasty little treat, you didn't seriously think I'd leave you alone out here, did you?" He asked with a devilish grin.
"Get away from me." You shoved him harshly, and began to walk backwards away from him, in order to keep your eyes on him.
"I can't very well do that." He said, slicking back his hair and grinning even more, "You see, I'm sworn to see you safely back home. What better company than a wolf to keep you out of harms way?"
"Sworn to whom?" You spat back, not liking the sound of that.
"Hmm?" He mused, checking to see if there was dirt under his nails.
"You said you were sworn to see me safely home. Who have you sworn to?"
"Oh...um....does it matter?"
You glanced at him sideways, then reached for the shoes again, thinking to run again, but this time faster. He lunged for you and placed his hands over yours to keep you from grabbing the slippers.
"No! No, don't put them on. Come on beautiful girl, you must know that magic comes with a price. Each time you step into those slippers, you place a target on your back that only a witch can see, and you've got your hands full with the witch that's already after you. You don't need to go drawing attention of people in high places when you're so very low and alone." He stepped in closer, looking down on you carefully as though inspecting your features. He raised a hand to brush against your cheek, and you responded by looking him dead in the eye, to show him that you weren't afraid of him, and you weren't going to let him bully you. He saw the look in your eye and stepped back a bit, almost shamefully.
"I'm not staying here not knowing why you're after me, so either tell me, leave, or let me go."
"Fine, fine. I was sent by a foreigner of your kingdom who wished to see you returned, even if it meant an unorthodox approach." He said with a sigh as he took yet another step away from you and turned his back to you.
"A foreigner of my kingdom? What, like someone on a visit? Who would...Cloud. Cloud sent you, didn't he?" You turned to face him and he gave you a sheepish look.
"Oh...yes. He did. He was very eager to see you home safe, and hired me to bring you home." He had to try to cover up his excitement for you being foolish enough to give him something to go on. He tried to, but couldn't cover up a smirk as he realized that you let out a relieved breath and became more at ease. Your posture changed completely, and you lowered your tone when you spoke to him now.
"How did you find me? Both times? I was captured, and taken to a hidden kingdom, but you tracked me down...then before, I was invisible...I don't understand how you found me."
"Well for one, I could hear you," He grinned a little as he closed his eyes and inhaled, "And I can smell you. I could find you at the end of the earth if I had nothing but clothes you once brushed against." He let out a soft sigh, then seemed to snap back to reality, realized you were looking at him, and withdrew himself.
"What's you're name?" You asked, seeing how he would shrink away from you when you looked directly at him, but would stare when you averted your eyes. It was almost as if there was shame in his eyes, and he wouldn't have you look at them.
"You...you want to know my name?" He seemed to soften a little, and the smirk fell from his face and was replaced by a surprised and somewhat ashamed frown.
"Well, I don't see you letting me go on my way anytime soon, so yes. I'd like to know the name of the man I am speaking to."
"I don't think anyone of your stature has ever asked me my name." He seemed almost embarrassed.
"I don't think stature counts for much out here."
"I suppose it doesn't..." He rubbed the back of his neck, then looked back at you, "Axel." This was one of the first times he didn't have to lie about what his name was.
"Axel. Do you have a last name then?"
"Just....Axel, please." This was a strange thing for him, certainly the first time anyone had taken an interest in him for reasons other than wanting to hunt him down.
"Alright then. And where are you from?"
"You wouldn't know it." He felt almost awkward. Lying was his specialty, but talking about himself? It was like he forgot or didn't know a single interesting detail about himself.
"And how did you come to be half-wolf?"
"I'm just a poor bastard who was bitten by a poor bastard who was bitten by a poor bastard. That's how most of us half-breeds are." He shrugged, and you wondered why you hadn't read more about half-breeds and their cultures. He fell quiet for the first time, and as rain began to fall, you cleared your throat.
"Well, I suppose I should return the favor. I'm—"
"The lovely princess ≈≈≈≈≈≈, yes. I well know the name. It seems the whole worlds got your name memorized. It's gotten to be on the lips of an awful lot of people these past few days...I'm not sure the attention is good, either."
"I'm not sure I know what you mean..." You said as the rain began to pick up.
"There's a lot you don't know about yourself, isn't there?"
You shrugged, and he groaned slightly as thunder crashed above. "Come on then, let's find a place to wait out the rain."
The two of you walked for a bit as day turned to night entirely and the rains began to pour.
"Oh no..." Axel stopped after a few minutes.
"What is it?" You asked as he began to look around.
"Goblins are nearby. Three of them. I recognize the scent too. It's the same ones that captured you before, probably out looking to reclaim their prize."
"What do we do?" You asked, looking around for them now too.
"Last time I asked you this, you ran away—but how good are you at climbing?"
"I didn't know you were a friend of Cloud's then. If you had just said so from the beginning, you would have spared us both a great deal of trouble." You said as you began to scale a nearby beanstalk. About thirty feet above the ground, thick, sturdy leaves sprouted from the stalk. They would make the perfect place to hide out for a while. You got up the stalk much quicker than he did, and crawled onto an almost branch like leaf and settled on it with your back leaning against the stalk. Axel soon joined you, and he pulled the leaf's tip up over your heads so you both would be completely obscured from the trolls, and the rain.
As more thunder crashed and you saw the world light up from a massive burst of lightning, Axel grinned a cheeky smile and sighed.
"Get as comfy as you can...we may be here a while..." For him, spending a few hours cuddled up to a beautiful girl who was becoming more and more attractive to him as the minutes went by would be no problem, but he worried that you would have a rough time of it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lavi was pacing the rows of the library where he spent the majority of the day working for the castles scrivener and bookkeeper, master Zexion. Zexion was a young man, but very capable of the task he was forced to undertake when the old master, his father passed away. Lavi became his apprentice after he was caught stealing from the kitchens as a boy and sent there to work as punishment. When they found out his natural talent for reading, writing, memorizing, translating, and deciphering texts, he was allowed to stay and work.
He smiled as he remembered the day he was caught stealing and was brought infront of the king for judgment. He must have had some kind of luck that day, because the king's daughters happened to be there for a lesson in how the courts worked. He pleaded his case before the king, that he was an orphan that ran from town to town trying to steal enough to keep himself alive. The king was all set to leave him to waste away in the castle dungeons, when a spirited young princess expressed her disgust for the notion. He could hear the impudent voice now;
"I steal from the kitchens all the time, and the only punishment I see is a day with the books. Why should he be treated any differently?"
"You live here. You can't very well steal from your own house." Aerith rolled her eyes, but you argued again.
"Father, it's not fair. You can't treat me one way and him another. It's unjusted."
King Stephen must have just thought that it was endearing that his youngest daughter was trying to pick up the words of the court, and decided to reward her by letting her choose the most suitable punishment.
"He should have to suffer Master Zexion. It's only fair." You crossed your arms, and the king and the captain of the guard laughed. The princess scowled at them, afraid they weren't taking her seriously when she was very much serious, and so they agreed.
"Very well, my little lady. His punishment will be three days working in the library under master Zexion's care."
Lavi sighed. That was the day the two of you became friends. You had come to visit him in the library, and asked for him to thank you. You knew what you were doing by saying words incorrectly and acting cutesie for the king, and you expected thanks for it.
"You're a silly girl! No way I'll ever say thank you to a girl." He snottily replied, snatching the flower that was behind your ear and crushing it.
"Father gave me that...You better apologize." You growled, balling up your fists.
"Or what? What could a stupid wimpy girl do? I bet you don't even know how to use those fists."
You responded by socking him in the nose so hard it took over ten minutes to get the bleeding to stop. Master Zexion came over right away to scold you, and take you to your father for punishment, but Lavi stepped in and said no.
"You can't be angry with her. She proved me wrong, so we're even."
Master Zexion of course ignored him and took you to your father straight away, and he had you locked in your room for the night with no dinner, but the next time the two of you met, you were equals in each others eyes.
12 years later, and the two of you were still the best of friends. There weren't really many people in the castle for you to choose from as far as friends, but he was happy none the less. He was a year older than you were, making him the closest in age to you, so it was probably natural that you shared interests and became so close. You both loved to read and hear stories, and that was really how your friendship began. You would sit in the small wooden windowsill in the back corner of the grand library and let the sun warm you through the stained glass window while he sat on the ground below you reading to you.
It was how you spent the majority of your days, even now...well, he thought with a sigh, it was before you left.
He almost whished he never found you that night, carrying a box of armor up to your room. He wondered if you would still be here. No one had seen or heard from you in over two days, and night had already fallen. He was sure you would be able to find a way to get out of the castle, but he didn't think that you would take off and leave town after you did.
He sat down in the windowsill where the two of you used to spend hours, and picked up a book to try and distract himself when the doors to the library burst open and Cloud stormed in with a troupe of guards.
"Where is he?" Cloud demanded of Master Zexion. "I need to speak with—"
"Lavi, yes. Over there." Zexion said, pointing lazily towards the corner where he was sitting.
Lavi groaned and snapped his book shut, wishing that just once his master would have his back.
Cloud walked up to him with his five guards in toe, and he realized that Cloud was being followed by half of the royal guardians. In the Enchanted Dominion military fleet, there were the Guardians, Knights, and then the Soldiers. There were 10 knights who had attained the title of guardian, and they were an elite group that served the king directly to protect the royal family. They were not a very public group, and their identities were kept a secret to all but a select few. Lavi was probably one of the only servants who knew the guardian's real names, and he made note of the ones who were with Cloud. Sir Varric Fair, Sir Auron, Basch Fon Ronsenburg, Sir Hewley (Angeal), and Sir Rhapsodos, all ranked respectively.
Auron and Varric were responsible for the king, Varric serving as his right hand man, and Auron as the watchman for the castle, Basch was the head of the king's army, and Angeal and Genesis were your personal guardians. In a time of crisis, they would be by your side and die before leaving, but you liked to play around with them too much, so the king didn't normally have them watching you. Angeal was originally Leblanc's guard, but after it was discovered that she couldn't behave herself, they were switched to you, and she was assigned to have Lady Farron watch her instead.
He figured this next conversation was going to be a painful one.
"Let me guess...≈≈≈≈≈≈?" He asked with a grin, looking between all the grim and serious faces around him.
"What do you know about her?"
"Where should I start? Her favorite color is—" Genesis took a step forward and grabbed the collar of his shirt, pulling him to his feet.
"Do you think this is a game?"
Lavi quickly raised his hands and shook his head.
"No. It's not a game. The princess is missing, and no one knows how or why. Though if you ask me, it was because her security was to lax."
Genesis threw him back down to his seat and took a step back, knowing full well that Lavi was insinuating it was his fault for not watching you more closely.
"Please, aside from being her friend, I've heard that you have a knack for acquiring information. Some men even call you the fox, sneaking around the castle and learning secrets." Cloud said, trying to keep things on track.
"You've stolen information from me more than once." Basch said, and Lavi chuckled nervously.
"And I've been flogged by you more than once."
"We're not here about that though. We're here to see if there is anything you can tell us about the princess' disappearance."
"Disappearance? I thought we were still unsure if the girl has even left the castle or not."
"Unless she is playing a sick joke on us all, than we can safely assume that she is no longer here. We've checked everywhere that makes sense." Genesis said, seeming a bit down.
"Maybe you should start checking the places that don't make sense."
Genesis made to step forward to knock some sense into Lavi, but Angeal stuck an arm up to stop him.
"Do you know anything? Please?" Cloud pleaded with him.
"Disappearance, eh?" He brought his hand up to his chin and pretended like he was in deep thought, "Disappearance...I know of a prisoner who has mysteriously disappeared from his cell with no damage to the locks or chains...and I know of a suit of armor that has been removed from the armory...but small things go missing all the time. A princess, though? No. I've heard nothing about that. Maybe she just ran out for a bit of fun in the town." He shrugged.
"We've checked the town, and no one has seen her. No one in the surrounding towns have seen her...No one has seen her anywhere. It seems she's vanished, and with Maleficent's curse looming less than a fortnight away, I might be beginning to believe that the witch has her hand in this mess." Varric said, glancing out the window towards the dark forest.
Lavi chuckled, "I believe she'll turn up at any moment from an adventure in the forgotten parts of the castle with a grin on her face, not even realizing the worry she's caused. It's happened before."
"You best hope that's all it is. I'll throw her in the dungeon myself if that's what's really going on here...but if the witch has anything to do with it, then you'd best pray to whatever god you choose to believe in that that girl is still alive." Auron said, before turning on his heels and walking towards the exit of the library.
Varric followed, Cloud thanked him before joining with Genesis and Angeal and heading off, and Basch stayed behind to question him further about the escaped prisoner.
As Basch interrogated him, he sighed, wondering if you were going to be coming back home soon. He wanted you to go out and enjoy yourself for a day in the town, to get to see enough sights to keep you satisfied and happy for a while...he never meant for you to actually leave the kingdom. It was dangerous out there for you, but he knew there was no stopping you. He just wanted you take a few hours outside, not a few days. He was worried sick and missing his best friend, but had to pretend not to be so no one suspected him of anything. Cloud showing up infront of him with five guardians was enough to prove that he might be suspect in this, even if they did just claim they wanted to know if he had information.
Unless someone heard something soon, things were going to start getting ugly at the castle.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You and Axel were still sitting up in the beanstalk waiting for the trolls to clear the area, as well as wait out the rain. For the most part, the rain had stopped, now only a light drizzle that the leaves above your head caught. The leaf you both were sitting on was a large leaf by any means, but still not so large that the two of you could sit more than a few inches apart. It felt strange being so close and dependent on a stranger, but he was a friend of Clouds and had given you no reason not to trust him other than his strange behavior when you first met. For the most part, he was actually being quite kind to you. He told you that goblins have a strong sense of smell as well, and had you put on his velvety purple jacket, saying that his wolfish scent reminded them of dogs, and that they would avoid you for that. You didn't notice any strange dog-like smell, but you decided to shut up and take his offer, half freezing in your wet clothes.
When he gave you the jacket and was left in his simple white linen shirt with the sleeves rolled back to his elbows, you noticed that his relatively thin arms were covered in scars, like wild animals had attacked him, but some of them looked like they had been made by whips, and his wrists had scars like shackles had been too tight. He must have noticed you staring because he unrolled his sleeves to cover them almost immediately.
He smiled bitterly and sighed, "It's about as hard to live with the humans as it is to live with the wolfs."
"I hope you don't take offence to my asking, but please, I know little to nothing about your kind or others like you. I've only ever come across one book, and it was very brief."
"Well, there's your problem right there. We aren't really in the books. Especially not the books in your kingdom. All manners of stuff that they consider to be 'dark magic' were banned there. In the weeks following the queens death and your curse, the king actually ordered that all books and items of magical intrigue be burned in the fire along with all the spinning wheels in the kingdom."
"A fire to burn all magical objects in the kingdom? Whatever for? The witch killed my mother was just one being, why go to that extent?"
"I imagine it was to keep this out of harms way." He said with a small smile as he grabbed your chin gently and wiggled your head back and forth.
"That's ridiculous, he already keeps me locked up in a tower! What more security could I need? He burned an entire culture....and for what?"
"It was for your own protection. You're not in your tower now, and you've been in mortal peril more than once already. When you have something worth protecting..." He shrugged, then trailed off, not sure where his thought was going. He felt very close to you and liked that you had to rely on him, even if your trust only came from a lie. It was the first time anyone ever needed him for something. He wanted to be able to lean over and put his arms around you to stop your shaking in the cold, he wanted you to see all the sights you so desperately craved to see, and more than anything he wanted you to be able to see him for more than just a wolf, half-breed, lying, thieving, murdering, renegade. But then again, his being in that dungeon was the only reason why he was with you now. He was supposed to kill you. To hurt you the way that others had hurt him, and the way that he had hurt them back. And for what? Some old woman who had a vendetta against the only person who had ever been kind to him? He closed his eyes for a moment and thought. It didn't take him more than a few seconds to decide that he wouldn't do it. Not this time. This time, he wouldn't hurt anyone.
While he was thinking, he hadn't noticed that you were ranting on about how your father wasn't trying to protect you, but was trying to make a prisoner of you, "Tells me if I run inside, I'll fall down the stairs, says I can't play out on the hills because I'll get dirty and might slip and hurt myself. I'm not allowed to have a fire lit in my room when there's no supervision because a fire's a danger to my health...not that there isn't constant supervision anyway because 'it's a danger to be alone'...he wouldn't let me learn how to swim because he was afraid I'd drown trying to learn, little does he know not letting me learn to swim almost insured that would happen the first time I came in contact with a lake." You sighed and let your head hang, feeling a bit better for getting your pent up frustration out.
"You know, I envy you. If I had someone looking out for me like your father, then I wouldn't be...well, this." He murmured, gesturing at his scarred arms with rough hands.
"No, but you'd be like this." You said back with a slight smile, gesturing at yourself, a lost, scared girl in torn clothing, a stranger's jacket, with scrapes and bruises from being captured by trolls due to your own stupidity.
He smiled back slightly and decided to take a risk, "If I may be so bold, my lady—"
"Oh stop. Formalities will get you nowhere out here. Besides, if I wanted to hear the pompous talk of the courts, do you think I would have been so eager to run away from it, m'lord?" You said, even giving it a bit of the irritating accent the commoners used. "I'm not a lady or a princess...not out here."
He grinned even more, and offered you his arm, "You seem very cold out here, but I think it would be best if we stayed up here for the remainder of the night. I know I'm supposed to take you home, but maybe we could take a detour to a few towns along the way and make your venture outside worthwhile. That is, if you don't mind being seen with someone like me."
"You're serious? You're not just going to force me back home?"
"No."
"...Are you sure you're friends with Cloud?"
He chuckled and rubbed the back of his head, "He just wants what's best for you, and right now I think that what's best for you is making something out of this trip so it doesn't happen again."
"So you agree with him. And my father. That I should allow myself to be locked up?"
"Not at all. But I think you shouldn't take off recklessly in the night with no experience, help, or backup plan...lest you end up in a beanstalk in the rain again." He said with a smirk as he leaned back as best he could and put his arms behind his head.
You rolled your eyes with a small smile, and turned so you could lean your side against the beanstalk. You snuggled in as comfortably as you could and wrapped his jacket tightly around you, sure that it would be a hard, cold night.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Maleficent sat in her stone castle; her faithful crow perched on her boney, green finger as she listened to reports from some of her spies throughout the kingdoms. Most of their reports were drivel. She wondered if it might not be better just to kill the ones who bored her, to teach the others a lesson...but if she did that then there would be no one left to heed that lesson. She was just about to send them all away when her spy for the goblin kingdom stepped up and informed her that the kings enchanted slipper had been stolen after a prisoner believed to be the princess of the Enchanted Dominion escaped mysteriously.
"Aye ded not get a chance ta see tha gurl meself, but theys was going to 'ave a feast with 'er dancin' for 'em in those fire shoes they had used on yer poor sistah, rest her soul." The goblin said, speaking in a barely comprehensible accent that made her temper rise with each word he said.
"Is the girl not safe at home under dear Stephen's watchful eye?" She demanded of her spies, knowing that more than one of them was supposed to be stationed in the Enchanted Dominion.
"The castle is in a state of crisis at the moment over her disappearance from the tower. The guardians have been called into play, and a werewolf has been released from the dungeons to track her down." Her spy within the castle informed her.
"A werewolf...that certainly is the last thing I would expect the king to do, given his history with unnatural beings..."
"It wasn't the king, my liege. It was the kings sister, lady Tremaine."
Maleficent let out a howling chuckle and gave her crow a stroke on the neck. "How very interesting." She said with an amused laugh. "All of you get out. Except for you, my pet." She said, pointing at the man who worked for her from within your castle.
All the men and creatures left the room almost at once; afraid of what might happen if they stuck around when they weren't wanted.
"Do tell, my sweet deceptive Zexion, all that you can about this werewolf. If our pretty princess has run off, then there indeed is none other than a being such as that who could find her. If he finds the girl, than I know of a man who can find that werewolf, put an end to him, and steal the princess away for me. After all, no one is better with wolves than my huntsman." She grinned, and Zexion dipped his head and bowed.
"I will uncover as much as I can for you, my master, and return as soon as I am able."
"Good." Was all she said as he disappeared in a cloud of black smoke to return to his post.
She chuckled to herself once again and tapped her scepter twice on the cold stone floor. An eerie green smog filled the area, and then there stood her huntsman, with a bow drawn back and a beastly gray wolf at his heels. Upon realizing that he had been summoned back to Maleficent's fortress, Zack lowered his bow, seeing that the girl he was hunting was no longer in front of him and in range of his bow. Now she was leagues away, and about to enter that strange cottage he chased her to. With an irritated breath he lowered his weapon, thinking he lost the only shot he had at killing that girl from a distance.
"Yes, master?" He asked, slinging the bow onto his back, and Fang sat gracefully at his side.
"My pet, I have a new task for you."
Zack tried to keep his face from showing the great irritation he felt at her giving him yet another thing to do.
"It seems my lovely ≈≈≈≈≈≈≈ has run away from home, and so close to the day of the delivery of my little gift to her. A werewolf has been sent after her to track her down and take her home..." She lost the false tone of dismay and her face turned hard and angry, "I want you to find her, and ruin her. Destroy her mind and make her wish for my curse to end her pathetic life. Then when she falls still, take her heart and return it to me as a trophy. You may take the heart of the werewolf to the Queen of the Woodlands, as her vanity does not deserve the prize of a princesses heart. Go, my sweet pet, go and wreck havoc on this meager world."
Fang snapped his jaws, acting the part of the savage killer excited for the thrill of the chase, and Zack nodded with a grim and determined look on his face. With that, she slammed her scepter into the stone again and the two disappeared in the same green smoke they had been brought there by.