Post by Heart on Mar 15, 2012 10:48:50 GMT -5
Bestial
My own Twist on Beauty and the Beast
My own Twist on Beauty and the Beast
Introduction …
Everyone knows the original story of Beauty and the Beast, of a beautiful young village girl whom gets trapped out in the snow, rescued by a once prince turned humanoid beast and brought back to his castle for warmth and food. This story is nothing, and everything like that one, here shall be the turning and alteration that classical horror and action can have on a wonder filled romance fairy tale.
Long ago in a Place far away, there was a great blizzard that made all in its path collapse in a whirlwind, nothing stood in its way for many weeks, and many families died to it if they were too poor to afford proper shelter, warmth and food. A month after the terrible storm, for once in a long time the Snow fell slowly over the city, it was winter this night and no one was outside except for a single young woman. As the chilling winds that felt as if they came from the gates of the netherworld itself blew over the snow-buried city, only the houses that were five stories or higher had roofs still visible. Still this young woman was braving the freezing depths of the snow and ice, because she simply had nowhere else to go, nowhere to flee. Slowly her eyes fell on the house she had found, its lights were off but she saw the glimmering of a fire inside, she shivered with the fear of hyperthermia, and life flooded into her at the sight of the light. She quickly got to the window, and gently knocked on it. There was silence for a moment and her hope dwindled for several seconds, before there was a clatter and a mumble before the window was tugged open and a man with a shaggy beard and long hair stuck his head free of the windowsill eyeing her.
She couldn’t have been older then maybe twenty one, and now that the light shown across the young woman’s face it was appear ant she was actually incredibly beautiful. She was dark of skin, likely of African descent with long braids of dark brown and ebony rolling down her shoulders and front, she was bundled in thick woolen clothing and a deep hood hid much of her head and face. Slowly she stared up in shock, the man held both beard and long wavy blonde hair streaked with brown, fair of skin he was pale from the lack of sun for so long a time in this never ending winter, however beneath it all his own handsome features were obvious. Slowly she smiled at him hopefully, after all how could a man with such intoxicating eyes ever be of a bad soul. He eyed her for several moments before he grunted with a sigh of annoyance and jerked the window open, meandering into the home as a clunk was heard and sparks flew another log onto the fire. “Come on then.” came his short and slightly annoyed, but not unkind words that came from his mouth. She smiled and leapt into the window, swiftly shutting out the cold and immediately sighed in relief to simply be out of the wind as he eyes moved along the cabin itself.
The first thing that her eyes found was that the room was filled with animal pelts, everything from squirrel, to bear, to even animals of the essence of badgers and weasels, she even thought she saw what appeared to be a moose hide. However thought he was obviously a hunter she couldn’t see any form of weapons, perhaps in the other rooms though, after all the pelts were obviously here for warmth and insulation, and they did a surprisingly good job. There was no electricity it seemed then, but that was fine, anything was better then what she had been attempting to survive with the past few days. Slowly her gaze found the door to downstairs, and though she was curious about the rest of the house she knew it wasn’t her place to snoop. He however noticed her glance, and sighed. “Don’t bother, everything below here is completely snowed in … at some point someone left a window open.” He grunted out, before he sat down back by the flames of the medium sized fireplace, slowly he picked up his bowel and she realized why he had been so slow to answer, he had been eating. He went back to his meal of what appeared to be stew of meat and some sparse veggies, something she hadn’t had in a very long time, she couldn’t help but wonder how he had gotten them.
He glanced over and as he heard her stomach grumble slowly smirked as she glanced to the side in embarrassment, he stood up and sighed. “If I’m taking you in for the night I may as well feed you too.” He grumbled with a grunt, slowly he walked over to the door to downstairs and tugged it open, this confused her at first as he said it was snowed in, before she found the answer to her question before she could ask. The snow was a dark crimson, and large chunks of meat were stored in it, a makeshift freezer if you will and the best he could do to keep his meat he hunted fresh. He easily tugged off a steak on an ice cycle and meandered over, impaling it on a stick and putting it over the fire before he handed her his soup, not looking at her as his gaze rested on the steak. She smiled slowly, any food would have been lovely, but the idea of vegetables after so long was far more appealing, had he perhaps noticed her looking? Well, it mattered not and she gladly bowed her head taking the food and ate. “Thank you sir!” She said earnestly before she began to hungrily, but slowly devour the soup with a ravenous hunger of one that hadn’t eaten for several slow and painful days. He arched a brow, and wisely stood up grabbing another steak and sticking It by the fire with a blank expression, she smiled a bit at him, gruff or not the man wasn’t unkind.
Slowly she placed her hands on the deck after she ate, sighing in content as she ate the steak afterward and curiously looked toward him. “Im Ivory …” She said with a soft smile and offered her small and surprisingly delicate looking hand. He eyed her a moment before grunting and taking her hand in his own, large and calloused from work he could tell the difference, she was pampered and possibly spoiled, probably some rich barons daughter from the looks of it. She as well could feel the difference; his hands were that of a hunter, a craftsman and a hard worker, a man of effort and action unlike the royal nobles that she was used to, where even the men were pampered, fat and lazy. She gave him another pearly white smile, countering marvelously with her darker complexion before he released her hand and as she frowned, as she hadn’t gotten his name, he finally grumbled out. “Evion.” He mumbled, the name was very old and had the baseline meaning of honor in the lands native tongue, a rare and surprising thing to find here, let alone to name ones child after such a word. But at the same time for some reason she couldn’t help but nod in agreement, the name certainly fit the man that was for certain. Slowly he stood, crossing his arms and eyeing the small room before he sighed and pointed a nearby bearskin and she blinked in confusion, “Sir Evion?” She asked curiously, before he tossed a bound up blanket at her and a bag stuffed with furr’s.
To answer her he rumbled simply this, “Blanket and Pillow.” From this rumbling statement and his standing, she finally noticed his real size, he towered over her and barely fit in the room, he had to be at least in the upper inches of six foot, it appeared that his body matched his massive hands and feet that he had. She was moderate intimidated, but slowly she fell back and rested slowly into the bear fur, blinking at the surprisingly comfy bed and seat it made as he sat back down by the flames and tossed another log on it to keep it going. She couldn’t help but wonder where the man would sleep, or if it was even safe to sleep in this strange man’s home, but the alternative was far worse, a blistering wind and hyperthermia or this strange man that had yet to show her any ill intent, the choice was obvious to her and so she slept. He watched her for several moments, before he sighed and looked at the ceiling … he after all never should have let her in, slowly he stood and adding several more logs, leapt from the window and locked it down. Normally he could just stay outside during the night when he turned and no harm would come, but with her here sadly it altered his general routine. The massive man walked several miles, getting as far away from the house as he could until he saw the tops of the long dead or hibernating tree’s, slowly he sat in the snow and sighed. He looked to the sky, and waited for the inevitable to come, and prayed she would stay inside the house for the night, and wouldn’t see the horror that he would become.
Slowly she awoke to the howling of wolves, and frowned … knowing they could get in but that hardly stopped the chills from covering her. She slowly sat up and gasped looking around, he wasn’t here. “Evion …?” She called out curiously, scared for the briefest moments, after all she was sure the large man could easily intimidate, or defeat a few wolves. But without him here her confidence dwindled rapidly, slowly she hugged the skins to herself and noticed something for the first time, there wasn’t a single wolf pelt anywhere across the room. She blinked finding that odd since she heard wolves all the time, they were natural hunters in this darkness and it was an easy way for them to hunt, track, and kill their prey when they were required to do so for food in this cold climate. So why was there no wolf pelts …? She frowned and cuddled up tighter into the bear pelt, and blinked … noticing another fact, there were no arrow wounds, no blade markings or stab wounds in the hide, it was perfectly hole except for at the throat where there appeared to be a devastating bite wound that could only be described as being done by a polar bear or larger it was such a large wound. She traced it curiously, wondering what kind of beast must had ended the creature, before she blinked a moment in thought, because a beat has not ended the creature, Evion had.
Many hours later, there was a large clunk on the window and she stiffened in fear, giving a soft gasp of shock as Evion’s head appeared in the now open window, he looked exhausted with bags under his eyes and slowly slid into the room with a thunk, shirtless covered with half-healed wounds all over his body breathing heavily. His gaze found her own, and chuckled gruffly at her eyes the size of platters, before he slowly slid upward and reached into the window, lifting the head of what appeared to be a dear for her to see before he let it drop and slowly he sank down and crossed his arms over his antler wound coated chest, she stared in shock for many moments as he caught his breath before the large man slowly stood to his full height once again. She blinked and finally had recovered from her stunned silence, rising up to her feet and dashing over, “Evion, what happened to you?” She cried in shock, looking around for bandages or a medical kit but finding nothing. He gave a gruff laugh before he simply stumbled over to the dying flames and breathed it back to life, laying up tow more steaks before he stretched his neck. “I went out hunting … I have to mouths to feed instead of one now.” He rumbled before he nodded to the deer, taking out a knife from beneath a rug he exited and left her there stunned, but not wanting to witness him preparing the animal she shut the window and went about cooking their breakfast.
She glanced at the window frowning deeply, who was this man that simply went out hunting with no weapon, came back with a dead deer coated in wounds and acting as if nothing had happened at all? She wondered to herself and sighed, turning the steaks carefully before she placed her chin in her palms and gave an unsure frown, not exactly sure what she should do to say the least. After about an hour, she peeked out the window to find the deer humanely skinned and placed into different area of steaks and meat and bone, and there he was shirtless in the blistering dark and half cold of twilight, rubbing snow over his body leaving it a red from the cold but cleaning him free of blood, repeating the process with the deer before he simply left the bones and tendons, and the leftover meat they couldn’t eat. He picked up the pelt and the meat now freshly cleaned, and with a grunt entered the room, tossing the meats into the meat cooler that was downstairs before he calmly placed the new pelt down over the fire to bake its underside to remove any stink of meat from it. He then sat down across from her with a grunt and took the steak, taking a bit of it with a sigh, her gaze once again slid over to the deers hide, and once again it was flawless with a huge chunk missing from its throat of its hide only. Her brow furrowed again, did he perhaps work with the wolves, and that was why there were no pelts of them? She had heard of hunting dogs, and this man was certainly large and strong enough to perhaps tame wolves for hunting as well, but if he did he kept them far from this makeshift home.
Slowly she sighed, it was none of her business what this man did, after all she was a visitor here, and he could kick her out at any time. She was getting free kindness, food, shelter and company even if the company was gruff and mysterious he was hardly unkind. Slowly he leaned down and checked her steak, before nodding to her to go ahead, she quickly grabbed it and began to eat it hungrily, though showed much more control then last night that was for certain. Slowly he placed his hands over the small cuts on his chest , and her gaze moved to them as he rubbed them as they itched form their healing. However this was not why she stared, she stared because not more than an hour ago those small cuts had been half healed painful looking gashes that coated his chest and stomach, and now they were practically gone. He noted her looks, and chuckled shrugging a bit with an uneasy shrug before he said with a simple and gruff tone. “I heal fast.” He said, before he reached down and cleaned the blade before tucking it away underneath the rug once again and took the last of his stake in a bite, before he leaned back and sighed, closing his eyes obviously intent on a nap, but at least a bit of her curiosity had to be sated, and so Ivory asked curiously. “Did you hear the wolves last night …?” He slowly cracked open an eye and shrugged, “I heard them … didn’t see any though they usually stay away from me since I feed them the scraps.” He nodded toward the window where the bone and leftovers of the deer humans couldn’t eat were left.
She frowned, so he fed them but he didn’t use them to hunt … maybe it was a mutual thing, they killed it and he gathered the body after they ate and separated the leftovers for him and the wolves. But … if that were the case there would be more wounds covering the hide, she sighed and placed her hands on her temples trying to think, before he shrugged and lay back down, eyes closing once again before she once again heard the deep barrel like breaths of the giant of a man. She couldn’t help but smile a bit in amazement at just how unusual this man and her savior was, she really should do something at the least to improve life for them both … perhaps she could contribute to the food as well, she wasn’t good at hunting but she knew of different herbs and plants that grew in winter, if she could find some perhaps she could make their meals more enjoyable then just cooked meat. She nodded, while he slept she would go and gather some herbs and vegetables for their meals, she quickly leapt free of the large room and into the snow, blinking at the sudden temperature drop and shuddered, he really just can’t be human to walk around shirtless like this! She thought with a weak giggle, slowly she placed her hands on the snow and eyed the sky, there needed to be some sort of sunlight for them to grow after all. She finally after several hours of searching located the forest which was filled with animal tracks, the tops of the large tree’s and the moss and herbs that were designed to survive winter that covered the upper branches of it all.
As she stepped forward, she never saw the hundreds of wolf tracks that she stepped through, they were so many to her it simply looked like a massive snow bank instead of footprints and tracks. She smiled as she stood on tip toes reaching for a vine of herbs that coated a branch before she stopped in her tracks as she heard the noise that no one alone out in the woods would ever want to hear, the growl of a wolf behind them. Slowly her gaze slid backward, seeing the gleaming blue eyes and the open panting mouth, filled with razor like teeth as the long bushy tail flicked about behind the beast. She wanted to scream but she knew she had to get away, screaming would only attract the rest of the pack after all, unless she was lucky and this one was a loner. She slowly turned to face it, backing up slowly … but as she backed up she heard another growl now behind her as well, she paled slowly her chocolate toned skin turning a few shades lighter as her eyes widened with fear. Ivory was soon to hear three more growls, surrounded by five wolves she was unsure how to proceed, there was nowhere to run and she had nothing to fight with, beginning to shake in fear she didn’t want to yell out and trigger a premature attack, why hadn’t she simply left with Evion and gotten what she needed but have been safe as well?
She couldn’t help but feel it had suddenly been the end for her, when the first wolf pounced forward, before there was a yelp and suddenly a towering shadow of a man had covered her and the remaining wolves. As this happened the wolf went flying forward and collapsed with a thud into the snow, completely knocked unconscious as the tower of a man slowly stood to his full height and he sighed. “… You should have woken me first.” Evion said as he glanced back at her with a grumble, his large fist raised, knocking another charging wolf flying backward before he cracked his knuckles growling back at the wolves, and for a moment, she stared at him in as much fear as the wolves. It was as if she was watching one much larger alpha wolf making another alpha back down, and slowly the wolves backtracked, shooting dagger looks at them both before the five wolves fled the scene and she slowly rested her gaze on him, blinking in surprise as his once blue eyes found her’s, and for a moment they appeared a bright yellow, almost wolf like in nature. He grunted a bit before he slowly rose up and placed his hands on her own and lifted her back to her feet, his eyes back to normal making her unsure if she had even actually seen what she thought she had within his eyes. He reached up, tugging down the herbs and veggies for her and handed them too her, “Thank you for trying to help.” He said with a slight grunt, “But stay close.” He added and turned, leading the way back to the hovel of a home. She smiled softly in a bit of embarrassment, “Thank you for saving my life.” Ivory said simply in reply, and he said nothing in return … after all little did she know how much she had almost been ended by his hand instead of the wolves jaws instead for his poor ability to control.
Several weeks went past, and weeks turned to months after this incident, Ivroy’s curiosity continued to grow, but she had become accustomed to her hosts odd night time behavior of hunting in the pitch black and sleeping until mid day before they would spend time together. Occasionally he’d teach her to hunt, trap, tell her stories and folklore. In exchange she would tell him stories of her life as a noble, teach him of herbs, gardening, money management and how to better keep their little room clean. He was leading the pair back to their hut, when there came the ring of steel on steel, causing him to frown slowly and hold an arm out for her to stop. No one should be out this far, at least not as far as he knew, he slowly led them forward, placing a finger vertically along his lips in a motion to keep her quiet. Slowly he placed his hand back to his side and they crept forward carefully before he peaked over the edge of the snow bank, watching as the two men surrounded by about twenty other’s carrying torches and cheering occasionally watched the two men duel it out. One was a man of about five foot, quite short but built bulky and strong who wielded a large axe and shield, wearing heavy cloth and leather armor rigged with fur for warmth and comfort as well as ease of movement. As well, in the other he wielded a slim saber in each hand, built lanky and thin he was about the size of six foot in height wearing the same clothing, as did all the other men though each had different weapons and torches of shapes and sizes.
Slowly he frowned, concerned for Ivory’s safety if these were mercenaries he motioned her back and they headed slowly toward their hut once again, he wouldn’t try and hide from them but he hoped they would just pass on by since they had little to no real money. He grunted before he slowly began to pile up the snow in thicker layers, piling ice and such in front of all around the house, until just the window was exposed, it never hurt to be safe. He got the fire ready, and for the first time he picked up a long piece of wood and began to carve it into a spear. His first weapon she had ever seen him work on Ivory frowned, knowing whatever was going on must be serious, her own innocent mindset not understanding that they may try and take this place from them, or even take her away as well. He fire hardened the makeshift spear, and slowly sat down beside the window warily, she was on the opposite side as they finally heard the clunking of metal and horseshow, as they group made their way past the hut, they breathed a sigh of relief before suddenly the sound of a thunk it hit the window and he winced and sighed, “Worth a shot ...” He muttered before he slowly sat up and placed his hands on the windowsill from the side and tugged it open, spear at the read as he took a step to the side warily, to find them all in front of it smirking. “Well look here, we found ourselves a Giant!” One said with and a chuckle.
Still Evion stood calm and easy, grasping the spear ready at his side before his gaze narrowed slightly on the man who talked before he said simply, “No room for all of you. Leave please.” His voice was calm and authorities, voice bellowing and strong like a forge that raged throughout the night, causing the men to flinch a moment, unsure of their decision, before the leader once again said, “Well I’m sure if we remove some … extra’s we can sort something out.” He said with a cold hearted grin, raising his blade slowly on Evion, in the back of the Hut Ivory whimpered softly in fear, making the men blink and their grins grew. “Seem’s we only need to get rid of one extra, the other sounds like a little lass, that should be fine with the men!” He hollered with glee as the men, their courage returned with their leader’s obvious lack of fear, yelled in agreement through the snow and winds. Slowly Evion raised the spear, lowering its head so that it was at the man’s through, his amusement dying instantly with a deep and unsure swallow, as any normal man would do in front of such a peril to their life of course. Slowly Evion gave a light jab, drawing a single drop of crimson life from the man’s throat and making him fall back a bit in shock clutching at his throat as a coward would in fear making sure he was whole. “I said leave.” Evion growled once again, his eyes narrowing calmly showing he was anything but intimidated by these wannabi amount warriors. Slowly the leader stood tall and raised his blade, aiming it at the man once more before sneering, “That will be the last thing you ever say giant, you’ll taste our steel next!” The attack came hard and swift but Evion was no fool.
Swift as the whirlwind of freezing winds and snow outside he stepped back slamming the windows oak covering down and latching it as the steel sword thudded into it. In the same motion tugging down and locking the window in place before he picked up a chunk of half burning wood, and waited as the smoke filled the air, Ivory began to gag and cough and he quickly moved to the back, opening one of the side latches, she pressed her mouth to it and breathed with ease once again keeping the smoke inside. Suddenly as the window caved in, and the men burst forward there came a blast of hot smoke into their face and bodies causing them to fall back gagging and choking, from this came Evion with a thundering roar. His massive bicep’s molded the size of a grown man’s head, slamming his fists left and right before the leader suffered what could only be described as a log aflame makeover, the burning log crashing across his face sending him stumbling back screaming in agony. The battle commenced and carried on well into the darkness, the noise attracting the attention of the wolves, a few even joining in to help he who had fed and cared for them through this hard winter. However over time they were forced back as well was he, and soon came the time when the moon shown bright and the darkness filled the air. Ivory suddenly knew why she felt so odd around this man, as the moonlight hit him, and fur began to grow, the men fell back in terror as Evion, rose taller and taller as his eyes become bright yellow, that of a wolves. Size growing slowly, until he became the size of a full grown male polar bear on his hind legs, but instead stood a massive beast, a cross of wolf and man, and in that moment Ivory knew everything, for the one who had protected her, saved her and nurtured her for these long months had finally shown what he was, a lycan, a werewolf.
A human cursed by only those of the darkest powers, a cure that can never be found and because of this such creatures lived in fear of all other life. A lonely existence, it was no wonder she was welcomed so easily, as slowly a massive shadow passed over her … a lycan couldn’t control their true form, and because of this no one could ever love them, they were monsters in the eyes of other humans and often ran with others of their other side of their family, the wolves. She looked up at the towering monster, looking into his eyes as the men fled for their lives, until slowly her arms rose up and caressed the fur of his face and smiled softly. A single statement left her soft lips, “You are not a Monster.” The massive wolf blinked slowly, as in in understanding before slowly the fur began to fall, and as he slowly became himself once more, collapsing into the snow and her arms as she blinked startled as suddeny a soft chant filled the air. “When love is found, so shall be freedom, not of the body of the mind. Wolf and Human, Beast and Body, Mind and Love, these all shall be that which is one, and once more the Lycan will be Free.” The words were that of an old woman and yet none were to be found, but somehow she knew the meaning, she had not cured Evion, but she had given him something much more with these months with him, she had given him hope, she had given him company, and without her even noticing she had given him her heart, and now that he knew that he would never again have to fear the wolf, the beast inside him. Because she loved him for who he was, both sides of him as one, because that was what made him … exactly who he was.
The End ...