[beauty and the beast au]

[angstennou]

Who: Beast!Nephrite, Belle!Ami
What: Ami meets the Beast
When: Around 18th century?
Where: Beast's castle, somewhere in France?


One day, a proud prince called Nephrite and his companions were hunting when a poor-looking woman appeared in the woods. She begged the prince for one of the rabbits they had caught to feed her children, and offered the prince a rose as payment. He laughed at the woman. Why would he want such a puny rose? The woman revealed herself to be a powerful enchantress then, transforming him in a beast to match his inhumane character, and the servants into inanimate objects.

Some time later, a doctor got lost in the woods after visiting a patient in a distant village and ended up in the beast's castle. The beast demanded that she cured his curse, but as it wasn't a medical condition, she couldn't do anything to help him. Angry, the beast locked her up in the castle's dungeon.

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[angstennou]

The staff made sure the rest of the castle was well-kept (even though a bit dusty due to the lack of use and Usagi's bigger interest in chatting with the rest of the staff than doing her work), but the beast didn't always allow them in the west wing, and had the habit of thrashing it when his mood got sour.

He was nowhere to be seen, but there was a ruined portrait of a young man dressed in red gala clothes and near the balcony there was a red glowing rose encased in glass.

[innerflow]

Was the portrait a former owner of the castle? It seemed likely, or else the owner's own lord, with the portrait hung as a compliment. Ami looked at it for a long moment. The young man in the portrait was actually quite handsome, she noticed.

Then she spotted the rose. The glowing rose. As if the gentle light itself attracted her, she found herself stepping closer, staring it at openly.

[angstennou]

The beast came back from his running through the gardens to find the prisoner girl in his quarters. He panicked when he saw her walking to where the rose was, and rushed to intercept her, growling.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE? GET OUT! GET OUT OF THIS ROOM NOW!"

[innerflow]

Ami froze at once. It was all the worse because she really had no excuse. It was rude of her to just walk around someone else's house without permission - and especially when she knew he didn't want her in this room.

On the other hand, it was ruder to keep her prisoner. And she had realized that maybe, just maybe, there could be something in this room that could help to free her. (It would be a good reason for him not wanting her to come here, after all.)

"I wasn't trying to pry!" she said, when something made her turn around to face him. "But if I have to be locked up here, I want to at least know what's going on around me!"

[angstennou]

"YOU ARE NOT EVEN LOCKED UP IN A CELL! YOU CAN WALK AROUND THE WHOLE CASTLE AND THE GARDENS! CAN'T I HAVE PRIVACY IN MY OWN ROOM?"

And she hasn't even been a prisoner for one whole day! He hasn't been able to leave the palace for years!

[innerflow]

There's some justice to what the beast says, but Ami doesn't quite back down yet. "But I can't go home," she points out, quietly but firmly. She's promised herself she won't be afraid.

She has no idea that he's as trapped as she is; she imagines him free to come and go - which, technically, he is. But it hasn't occurred to her that in more practical terms, the beast can't exactly show up in the middle of town and make friends.

[angstennou]

"You know what? Go home. You don't have to stay here anymore." The beast turned its back to the girl, defeated.

Sorry, household staff. Nephrite can't make anyone like him.

[innerflow]

She hadn't expected that. And as Nephrite turned away, Ami felt an odd urge to want to comfort him now that he seemed.... well, hurt.

But he also might change his mind. Ami hesitated for only the briefest of moments before turning to hurry straight out the door, down the hallways, down the staircases and towards the main doors of the castle.

[angstennou]

The staff had heard the beast yelling and came out from their rooms to see what was going on. As Ami rushed through them, Usagi called her:

"Ami-chan! Where are you going? Don't go out at night, it's dangerous!"

[innerflow]

Ami felt a small inner twinge at ignoring Usagi, and she knew it probably was dangerous outside - but wasn't it dangerous, inside, too? With the beast here? She had to take her chance of freedom while it still existed. She only ran faster, to make sure she reached the doors before anyone would stop her.

As she plunged into the fresh air, Ami realized she wasn't entirely sure where to go... or how she was going to get all the way home on foot.

[angstennou]

The household staff followed Ami to the front door, not daring to leave the castle. After she had left the west wing, the beast climbed to the highest tower in the castle to mope. He saw the girl run through the gardens and run...to the opposite direction of the village, further into the forest. The dangerous part, where some monsters lived and preyed on people who got lost at night.

He rushed down the tower and through the main doors, almost running over his staff. He had to get to her before the other monsters did.

[innerflow]

Ami was hurrying so fast to put the castle behind her, that - most unusually for her - she didn't even take much notice of the danger ahead of her, the little sounds of movement through the trees of the forest that should have warned her. Instead, her first realization that something was wrong came when she heard the inhuman voice of the first youma to notice the human prey...

[angstennou]

When Nephrite found her, the youma had already surrounded Ami. He roared and punched the nearest monster, sending it flying away. They turned their attention to him then, and started to attack the new beast that had interrupted their dinner. Every bite and cut they landed on him also drained some of his energy, so the only way he'd have a chance was if he didn't restrain any of his beastly violent behavior. Nephrite killed all the youma, and when he finished he was covered in blood.

He looked at Ami and said, "Go. Your village is in the opposite direction." The beast turned to go back to his castle, but had walked just a few steps before he fainted.

[innerflow]

Ami started to leave - she wasn't going to have a better chance - but something made her look back after only a few steps.

He was hurt. Bleeding. Injured. Because he had protected her. And he hadn't done it to keep her trapped; he was still saying to go home. She couldn't be so ungrateful and just leave him. She found herself walking back towards him, almost without thinking about it.

There wasn't much she could do here... but. "Come on. Lean on me until we get back to the castle."

He probably couldn't rest much of his weight on her, but at least it might hold him steady.

[angstennou]

It took him a moment to get back to his senses and understand what the girl was saying. He tried to sit up but his body felt really heavy, so he decided to stay laying down a little more.

"Back to the castle…? Didn't you want to leave?"

[innerflow]

"I did," Ami says frankly, refusing to lie to the beast. "But right now, this is more important."

That was the best explanation she had, at least. She didn't want to be his prisoner. Of course not. But she couldn't ignore him while he was injured and helpless, either.

"If you stay here, you'll be hurt even worse," she said, keeping to practical concerns. "We need to get you somewhere safe."

[angstennou]

"You don't have to do this. I can go back on my own." Maybe. He managed to sit up but he still feels a little lightheaded. Just give him some time to rest and he might be able to stand up. "Or my servants will come pick me up." If they notice he has been gone for too long?

It doesn't matter much to him, though. Maybe if he died at least the curse would be lifted from the staff?

[innerflow]

There really wasn't much time to argue! Ami shook her head. "No, those creatures could come back before anyone comes to help us! We need to get moving."

As much as she didn't want to leave him alone and injured, she didn't want to stay here to get hurt, either.

[angstennou]

That was true. Other youma could show up at any moment and the beast was in no condition to protect Ami if they got surrounded again. He decided to obey and accepted her help to stand up. Nephrite swayed, but at least he could support most of his own weight.

"Okay. But if they come, you leave me here and run to the castle."

[innerflow]

She had no intention of leaving him. Not when it was sort of her fault he was hurt in the first place.

Ami was also clever enough to agree, however, since she didn't want the beast to refuse to come with her. She nodded, saying nothing in agreement or disagreement.

"I think we came this way..." she said after a moment. She didn't know this forest well, and she had been running from the youma, so she wasn't entirely sure; but she did have a good sense of direction, so she had some confidence in her choice.

[angstennou]

"Yeah, but let's take that side path. It'll reach the castle's gardens faster." Sometimes Nephrite ran through the nearby forest to pick fights with whatever was around just to let out some frustration, so he knew all the paths very well. That side path would take them to a side entrance to the gardens that was closer to the castle.

He was feeling more numb than pain now and stumbled a few times, but he still made an effort to keep walking without leaning too much on the girl.

[innerflow]

She must have been paying close attention, because each time the beast stumbled, Ami was there trying to support some of his weight and help him keep his balance.

"Are you sure?" she asked; but she didn't doubt him. She just didn't know this forest at all. It meant she was going to have to rely on him and trust him. And she wasn't sure, despite what had just happened, if she could do that.

[angstennou]

He was too weak to yell and roar, but still got annoyed at her question and replied gruffily, "I know these paths." He had to run through them to go back to his castle if people showed up down the road, after all. After having been shot at and gotten rocks thrown at him (at the beginning, when he still tried to find help), he preferred to keep away from humans.

He was quiet (except for the occasional grunt as one of his wounds starting hurting again) until they entered the castle gardens, when the beast told Ami, "Tell someone of the staff to bring you a horse if you still want to leave tonight. But I think it's better if you wait for the morning."

[innerflow]

Right. Of course he knew these paths. He lived here. But there was still no way she'd just leave him here. She'd seen him fight for her. He wasn't all bad. He was just...rough. And it certainly wasn't going to help him be more kind if people only treated him badly. They were close enough to safety now to tell him the truth, quietly, "I'm not planning to leave."

Well. Unless he really wants her to. But she doubts that's an issue, considering what he did to get her to stay near him in the first place.

[angstennou]

He was so surprised that he stopped walking to look at her.

"What?? But you wouldn't shut up about it earlier! I thought you wanted to leave as soon as you could!"

The household staff could now see Ami and the beast at the garden and were rushing to meet them, Usagi calling, "Ami-chan! Master! Are you okay?"