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coolcattime · 4 months

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Home and Free: Chapter Eleven - The Wolf Chase

Characters: Captain Capsize, Sonja Firefox, Skipper Redbeard, Jordan Captainsparklez, Tucker Jericho, Tom Syndicate, Martha the Mystic, Mot Screziato, Alyssa Countybat, Waglington, Farmer Steve, Prince Andor, Jeriah, Lady Ianite (mentioned)

Relationship: Captain Capsize/Sonja Firefox, Captain Capsize/Jordan Captainsparklez (onesided)

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Capsize’s thoughts were very much still panicked when she found her way to the entrance doors of the castle. All she could think about was escaping. How could her thoughts be on anything else when she was so aware that she could be stopped at any moment? If the Beast caught her now, stopped her from leaving, what would happen to her? Would she be thrown into the cell she had found Red in? Would she somehow have a worse fate? She hadn’t originally been scared of being locked in the cell, that was the circumstances she thought she had been agreeing to, and even now it was not the worst fate she could think of. However, she was so afraid of being at the mercy of the Beast, of what those claws could do to her if she was in reach of them when her mood turned. She hadn’t been hurt yet, but how close had it been? She couldn’t remain in this place and just wait to be harmed. She had to go back to the town, because even if she hated it, she could at least be sure she was safe there.

As she approached the grand entrance doors, she still felt shaky. She hadn’t collected her few belongings, not wanting to risk the extra time it would take to collect them. However, that also meant she didn’t have her cloak on her, as she opened the heavy doors and felt the cold air hit her. Winter was just the beginning, but the nights were already bitterly cold. Her shirt and trousers were warm enough inside, and she was technically wearing a coat, but it was thin and not designed for travelling, let alone for travelling through winter nights. But she needed to leave as soon as she could, so that wasn’t a problem she could fix. Yes, it would be an unpleasant journey, but what did that matter? She could deal with a few hours of unpleasantness. She needed to leave now. She’d head back to town and pretend this was all just some dream.

“Miss, what are you—?” Capsize whipped around in fright at the sound of a voice behind her, only calming slightly upon seeing the small form of Martha. Even if she was not afraid of the person who had found her, she could not calm completely. She hadn’t been calm before the voice had spooked her, and she was still trying to leave – the one thing that she had promised not to do. Martha understood immediately upon seeing her face that something had gone terribly wrong. Her features were highlighted with fear, her breathing quick and fast and her gaze did not stop shifting to the staircase as if she was terrified of someone following her. It did not take a genius to figure out who must have scared her. And it was far too much fear to have just been caused by a chance encounter. The clock realised with a terrible sickening drop that she must’ve entered the West Wing. Usually that realisation would’ve led to lectures about that being a ridiculous and unnecessary action that only served to get her in trouble, but she knew such words would be at this moment as cruel as they would be unneeded. She moved forward as gently as she could, trying to think of any way to provide her comfort, to get her into a calmer state of mind, but very few things came to mind. “Miss, just try to steady your breathing… you shouldn’t be making any rash decisions in your current state.”

“No, it’s not rash, I…” She swallowed, realising that she was talking far too fast as that’s the only way her breath would currently allow her to speak. She took the advice, trying to slow down her breathing, though she struggled to actually do so. She didn’t feel like she was acting rashly. She knew beyond all else that she could not remain here, that she needed to leave as soon as possible and not matter what the risks. Perhaps if she was calmer, this would be seen as rash actions, but she saw her panicked thoughts as perhaps the most logical she had had since she had arrived. Because she was sure at this moment that she could not remain here, and if she could not remain here, she had to leave now. If she stayed here when she had tried to escape, there was as good a chance that she would be locked up in a way that meant she’d never be able to try again. Maybe she’d deserve that, for going back on her word, but that didn’t stop that thought from once again making her breath quicken and her chest tighten. “I know what I promised, but I— I can’t stay here. I just can’t!”

“Did she… Did she hurt you?” Had any of the others been around, Martha would not have had the bravery to ask such a question. None of them liked facing the idea of the Mistress being violent, or rather they didn’t want to believe she had fallen so far as to physically and purposefully hurt a person. Martha didn’t particularly want to consider it either, but she had to check. How could she not check if she was this scared? Capsize shook her head, though there was a certain hesitance to the action. She wasn’t hurt. She wasn’t even sure that she had been close to being hurt, but the uncertainty wasn’t enough to ease her fears. Though it did add to the odd guilt she had in this situation. She was breaking her word. Thinking about it that way made her slightly sick, but what choice did she have? “Okay, that’s good. Do you want to come to the kitchens? Or somewhere in the castle she can’t reach?”

“No! I… Please, I swear I won’t tell anyone about this place, about any of you, I just. I can’t,” She almost begged despite the fact that the clock could not physically stop her even if she wanted to. Martha just looked at her sorrowfully. She knew she should argue with her, try to convince her to stay. This girl was the only chance they had of breaking the curse, she had to remain here, but how could she stand here and argue that? How could she argue that anyone should stay in this place? She thought about what Tom would say, something that she had never thought about before in her life and frankly seemed to make all the clearer just how desperate she felt, but nothing came to mind that was actually helpful. The only thing she could think to say was that the woman clearly was not ready for any sort of journey through the night. Even without the cold, she knew there were predators in the woods, the sort that had originally started the mess with her brother’s arrival. Did she have any chance of fighting or even just scaring them off without some sort of supplies? With the rush she was in, she didn’t even have a light. While she may not in good conscience be able to argue for her to remain here, she also could not allow her to leave without saying anything.

“Okay, I won’t make you stay, but you really aren’t in a fit state for the journey. At least come with me to collect your cloak and at the very least a light,” She spoke softly, hoping to mostly just get her out of danger and perhaps delay her decision a little. She couldn’t let her run off into danger. Even if she ends up leaving, she could at least feel okay with that decision if she knew the woman wasn’t running off into danger. And maybe if she collected her things, had some time to think, she’d choose to say of her own accord. She doubted such an outcome, but stranger things had happened. Capsize found herself frozen. The logical part of herself wanted to listen, to prepare rather than just running out into the night when she knew she wasn’t ready, but that part of her mind was barely audible at the current moment.

Perhaps if she had remained alone with Martha for a few minutes longer, she may have been quietly talked into properly preparing. Her thoughts were already swimming with doubt, perhaps she could’ve been convinced to not go out into the night at all. However, she saw movement in the upper landing. It wasn’t the Beast, had she looked for more than a mere moment she would’ve seen that fact clearly, but her mind was moving too fast for that. Her panic restarted as if it was fresh. She could not remain here. She just couldn't.

“I’m sorry!” Were her last words before she dashed out the door. Her flight was seen by an already panicked Tom and Mot who had been desperately hoping to find her before any sort of altercation could happen between her and the Beast, only to realise they were now far too late. All three cursed individuals that witnessed the scene had a different kind of devastation run through them. They were doomed. None reacted in quite the same way.

“Capsize!” Tom called out, hopping as quickly as he could out the door after her. Her horse was in the stables. She’d need to saddle it to ride back to town, and he had to hope she was planning to ride and not just run. He had to still have time to try and persuade her, to beg her to stay. Neither of the others even tried to stop him. Neither had any belief he’d be able to bring her back either, but there was no point in stopping him from trying.

Mot wanted to follow, he really did, but he could not feel anything but a numb pessimism. He wished that he could just be disappointed, angry that he had once again put his faith in the Beast and that he had been so thoroughly let down. However, he couldn’t feel anything but numb as it was not only his fate that was sealed by Capsize leaving, but Alyssa’s was too. His daughter would never be human again. Neither would the champion and princess he was trusted to watch over. The sorrow and guilt combined into a numbness. All their fates were being sealed in that moment, how was he meant to feel anything else?

Martha, meanwhile, found herself completely frozen with thoughts far away from their fates. Instead, all her thoughts latched onto a memory of a time that felt almost like a dream now. Years before the curse, a good handful of years before even she found herself taking residence in the castle, back when for a few months between travels she had been staying with her father. Her mind had been lingering on those particular few months in the past few days, a fact she had attributed to simply missing her father and being reminded of that fact more by the arrival of someone with such a close family relationship to this cursed place. It was only now though that it finally clicked.

She had met her before. The woman had been young, still a child, she hadn’t realised until now. She had been brought to her father, looking very much like she suspected herself in trouble, as the woman that had brought her there questioned him about the young girl’s possible connection to Lady Ianite. To be honest, she hadn’t paid much attention, it had seemed like a private affair after all, but it was clear to her now that child had grown up to be Capsize.

That realisation, however, left her with a deep sickly nausea rising within her, the sort she had not felt since losing her human form, because she remembered what her father had offhandedly mentioned about the girl. How had someone that had talked to Lady Ianite ended up here? A messenger of the very god that cursed them. Could it really be a consequence? But the woman certainly didn’t seem like she had been sent here intentionally. She seemed like she had no idea what was going on, but that just left Martha with further questions. However, there was an even worse fear that came into her mind now she had realised this fact about the woman. The woods were dangerous, that was the exact reason she had tried to talk her into staying, but if she truly was one of the goddess’ favoured, what would that mean if she didn’t make it back to the town? The goddess had already cursed them for one woman’s slight, what would she do if the same woman’s anger led her messenger into harm’s way? Ironically, Martha could only pray that they would never find out.

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It was no longer than ten minutes before Tom re-entered the completely dejected as Capsize rode away from the castle. The most interesting person he’d had to talk to in years and she’d left in fear. He honestly wasn’t sure if he was more upset about the fact that he’d be stuck as an object for the rest of time, or that he was losing someone he had seen as a friend. It was almost certainly the former, not much could bring down a person’s mood like knowing they were stuck with a terrible fate, but he couldn’t help but think about her clear unhappiness whether she talked about the town and how she was riding right back into the life she clearly disliked. Really, how could such a fact sit easily in his mind?

It was only around another ten minutes later that all the living furniture were gathered together in the kitchen. It was incredibly rare for them to all actually be in one room, but at the current moment it has seemed a good idea to all gather in one place. Originally, they had been attempting to form some kind of plan, but that very quickly stopped as the mood succumbed to the inescapable truth of the curse. That wasn’t to say that the room was silent, but the talking that was actually taking place was, well, anger and annoyance that hadn’t been directed towards each other for years once again causing sparks.

“Why do you even have an opinion? You didn’t even meet her!” Steve was not quite yelling, though he was certainly more riled up than he had been in years. It was unsurprising to the others that Wag and Steve had so quickly started arguing, the two had never gotten along. However, they had not interacted for years at this point, after all it was quite easy for the wizard turned fabric to avoid someone that was literally stuck to a wall. Now they were actually in the same room, their dislike of each other had quickly rebloomed and it was easier by far for Steve to yell at him than to actually confront the actual painful situation they were all stuck in.

“Well, I’m just as affected by her leaving as you so I should get some kind of opinion. Besides, it’s not as if me meeting her would’ve changed the outcome,” The robe shrugged, fabric flopping around as he did so. His nonchalance only annoyed the stove more. The rest of those gathered were frankly exhausted, not just from the bickering, though it certainly did not raise their moods. Most of them had tried to interrupt the arguing at some point, though none had had any success in stopping it. Normally Martha would’ve yelled at the two to actually act like adults, but she simply didn’t have the energy at this moment. “I know it’s a little hard for you to know what’s going on in the castle, but I have been working on breaking the curse.”

“Oh of course you have! Working on some magical solution. Go on, tell us all about the way you’ve figured out that’ll put us all back to normal,” He didn’t hold back his disdain. The amount of disrespect he’d suffered prior to the curse from the princess for not having any magical abilities. He’d only put up with liking magic at all because of Martha, because of the friends he had in the castle. He’d had his annoyances towards magic, and particularly the wizard and the princess even prior to the curse, but then he had been magically fused to a wall. Unsurprising that left a man with more than a little resentment. “No, you can’t, because you haven’t found a solution, because magic is what got us into this mess in the first place!”

“No, the Beast is what got us all into this mess in the first place!” Alyssa spoke full of annoyance, gaining the attention of everyone in the room. She didn’t care if she was being improper, or whatever it was that everyone used to lecture her about. She was so entirely done with being respectful about the Beast, about this curse. She was always expected to be nice and polite. She had been expected to bite her tongue when her dad was being disrespected. The number of lectures she’d gotten from Martha about proper etiquette and manners she was meant to have, while the one she was meant to use such things around barely used them herself. She was so bored of it all. “It has nothing to do with magic. If she’d just let an old woman stay for a night, we’d all be fine!”

“I mean, she isn’t that bad…” Andor said quietly. His words were somewhat undermined by his current form, though he did truly mean them, as much as they were not much of a compliment. Alyssa rolled her eyes. How many times has she heard such a line? It was always some variant on not so bad as if that was the highest compliment in the world.

“She got us all cursed and has now chased off the one person who could’ve broken said curse. If she isn’t that bad, then who is?” She huffed. Her words were met with silence, none quite knowing what to say. Mot wanted to comfort her, but what could he say? He certainly couldn’t deny her words, and he certainly couldn’t blame her for them. How much of her life had been spent as an object rather than a person? He didn’t want to blame the Beast, obviously he didn’t, since she hadn’t even been an adult yet when she had triggered the curse. She had been old enough to know better, to act kinder, but still a child nonetheless. He could not place the blame fully on her, so he took on that guilt himself as much as he knew saying such a thing would only cause his daughter to lay more blame upon her.

Outside the kitchen, the Beast stood frozen, hearing the words she was not meant to hear. She deserved their dislike. She knew that she did. That’s why she needed to break the curse. She deserved her fate, but she needed to start taking responsibility for her actions and that meant attempting to fix the effects of the curse on them. She had no idea if her idea would work, though as she gripped the mirror tightly, she hoped beyond hope that it would because there was nothing else that she could do at this point. But… she needed to do it in front of them. She’d chicken out if she tried alone. However, she also couldn’t bring herself to enter the kitchen. She had already let them down once that night, what would happen if she did so again?

“Mistress, you should come inside,” Martha said, her tone hollow in her exhaustion, but loud enough to gain everyone’s attention. She knew that she had been lingering for a number of minutes, which she regretted not mentioning until now as she realised, she likely should’ve warned Alyssa, but she had not really been in the headspace to register such things. She was far too drained from the realisation she had had as the woman was leaving, one she knew she could not reveal to anyone for fear of what it meant, for how it would change things. Besides, it was not as if warnings had ever dissuaded the teenage flowerpot from speaking her mind before, still she could not stand the fear that appeared on Mot. Perhaps she should be scared too with what the Beast’s anger she had done today, but she simply could not muster it.

The Beast entered the room hunched inwards, the fact that this was intentional on her part to try and avoid looking any of them in the eyes, to hide the shame she felt at her actions that night, at first hidden by her need to duck to enter the room at all. It was impossible for her to look small, especially to the rest of the castle’s residences in their current forms, but still she tried to make herself tiny so she could not be stared at. She couldn’t look at any of them, sure they were all staring at her in anger and knowing she would feel all the worse if they weren’t angry. The idea that they might still see her as possible of being better, that any of them were disappointed rather than angry or resentful being the thing she wanted to confront the least.

“I’m sorry,” She said. Her voice was rough, all the hopelessness that had wormed its way into her spilling out in her tone. Though still almost a growl, she sounded so much more human in this moment, and that made listening to herself all the harder. There was an indecisive look between Tom and Mot. They wanted to confront her, but both knew she needed to speak on her own accord, else she may never try again. It did look like she may retreat at any moment, though at the same time she was almost painfully still. All she could think about was that everything was completely over for her, so she had to try and fix some part of this. “I’ve… I’ve ruined everything for you all. I don’t expect any of you to forgive me, but I…”

She couldn’t say the words she wanted to, it felt far too much like justifying. She pulled up the mirror to actually be able to see herself in it, forcing herself to look at her reflection. She hated seeing it, the horns, fur, and fangs. She hated that she could not fully remember the face that was meant to be staring back, the portraits that could’ve served as reminders were long since torn apart. However, on this night she forced herself to keep her eyes open and to look at the monster that stared back, it was not as if looking at herself made her feel any more ashamed than that she deserved for her actions tonight.

“I’m going to try and fix what I did to you all,” Her voice felt weak as she tried to believe what she was about to do would do anything. The furniture looked between themselves, though none said a word. There were words that some wanted to say, of course, some gentle some not, but none actually did. There was such a fragility. It was as if a single word would shatter the moment that continued to drag on. The Beast kept staring into the mirror, the last beads of hope within her hooked with frayed thread to this idea. “Show me Lady—”

A distant noise cut off every thought in her head as if it was right next to her. Her ears pricked up and focused as soon as she heard the howls, far closer to the castle than they normally would be. She had heard them like this a few nights ago, though covered by the rain. She had had no reason to care, no reason to think any of it. Expect for now it made her blood run cold as she remembered painfully the words of the man. She had not cared about any of his excuses when she had been dragging him to the cell, but she remembered them, his cries of having been attacked by wolves. Her entire focus shifted.

“Show me her—the woman! Show me Capsize!” She desperately spoke to the mirror, an impending terror of what her rash actions might have caused. The amount of time it took for the mirror to actually work and form the image was agony, but that agony did not leave her when the image actually formed. Rather than the terrible images in her imagination being proven false, she saw them in front of her. No, this couldn’t—she couldn’t let her be hurt because of her. She dropped the mirror, bounding out the room on all fours, focused now on nothing but reaching her in time.

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Capsize barely managed to shift her body to land on her good side as she was thrown from Phillipe, the shock of hitting the cold, frost-hardened ground coming in a quick wave of pain that quickly dulled but didn’t disappear. She did not have time to focus on it. She had to get back onto her horse and away from the attacking pack of animals as quickly as possible. Her horse that was currently panicking as wolves were quickly surrounding him. The horse that only hadn’t fled already as his reins had become tangled around a tree’s branches keeping him stuck in place. The horse that currently had her cane strapped to her saddle and she had been thrown an uncomfortable distance from. She tried not to focus on how utterly screwed she was. She wasn’t going to die here, so she needed to do something.

She grabbed the first thing she could feasibly use as a weapon, the frost covering the fallen tree branch unpleasant against her bare skin in a way she just had to ignore. She had known it was stupid to leave without preparation. She had known it was too cold and too dark for her to just leave, but fear had overwritten those thoughts, and had been louder than the voices both within her own head and from others telling her to stay. It had been rash and reckless, and where had it gotten her? Dashing with a painful limp to hit away wolves from trying to attack her horse.

As she swung the branch, knocking them back at least a little, the wolves quickly changed their focus. Very quickly, rather than leaping at Phillipe, they were leaping at her. Adrenaline was the only thing keeping her arms swinging as the growls turned onto her. Her thoughts were run by simply knowing if she didn’t, she would not be alive to see the sunrise. And that kept her going until one of the wolves leapt up at face. She swung the branch wildly, knocking the creature back with a sharp crack and a whine. However, the crack was not from an injury she had caused. Only half the branch remained in her hands, splintered and useless and the other half had been thrown back with the wolf.

She stood frozen, completely frozen, attempting to come up with anything she could do. She tried to scramble for another branch, but ended up dragged to the ground as a wolf grabbed her coat. Her left leg was painfully twisted in the process, completely ruining any tiny chance she had of getting back up. She let out an unhelpful, pitiful sob as she tried desperately to think of something to do. Another wolf leapt at her. She threw up her arms as the only shield she had. She awaited the pain of a bite.

It never came. There was a wave of air as the wolf was thrown away from her. It was so sudden that she didn’t stop bracing for impact until something else touched her. Stood in a protective stance, growling at all the wolves, was the Beast. She almost thought she was dreaming. It didn’t feel real that the reason she had been scared enough to land in this situation in the first place was now standing protecting her. She had saved her life.

The wolves changed their target as she threw back another one, focused on the larger threat rather than the easy pickings they had originally been targeting. As they began to circle her, Fox roared ready for a fight. Capsize tried to process everything but found herself completely unable. So instead, she stood up. There was a wave of pain she hadn’t felt for a long time shot through her as she stood, the weight on her left leg far more painful than it had been a minute ago. She tried to push that fact to the back of her mind, as hard as such a thing was, and pushed herself to move back to Phillipe.

Despite only being a few feet, it was painful, the lingering fears of what she had done to her already weak leg haunting her with every step. The only other thing to focus on was the growls, grunts, and whines coming as the wolves pounced at and attacked Fox, which wasn’t exactly something more pleasant to focus on. Despite the leg pain certainly being worse, if she could choose to ignore one, it would certainly be the noises. She tried to focus on Phillip as she found herself now in front of the horse, stroking his neck with shaking heads to calm him before untangling his reins. As she did, she knew that she should leave now, while she had the opportunity and distraction to make good progress back to town, but instead she found herself transfixed on the wolves and Fox.

The wolves had encircled her, lunging at her with claws and teeth as she fought against them. She seemed so powerful, batting away the wild creatures as if their attacks were nothing. However, some still broke through her defence, managing to claw or bite her, though Capsize struggled to know if they were actually doing any damage as she never reacted to any of it. She tried not to pay attention, to instead focus on escaping while she still could. An opportunity she was sure was fleeting by the second as, after one took a particularly nasty hit from Fox, the wolves begun to flee.

She stared at Fox, wondering how much time she had before she was forcefully dragged back to the castle. She expected her to start looming towards her, braced herself for it in fact, but what she feared didn’t actually happen. Instead, she looked at her, blood covered her right arm. She wasn’t glaring as she had been earlier, there wasn’t anger or anything of the sort, in fact her gaze barely seemed to reach her. It was so unlike anything Capsize had seen from her within their few meetings. She kept staring, trying to figure out why she seemed so different. Her features seemed lighter, and her expression almost sorrowful. And then she collapsed.

Capsize grabbed her cane from the saddle, rushing over to the Beast. Crouching, ignoring the aching pain in her leg telling her such an action was a bad idea, she examined her arm. Her stomach turned as half-hidden by blood matted fur was an injury that she just couldn’t tell in this darkness how bad it was. Her breath shook as she tried to process the sight. She had been injured protecting her. If Fox hadn’t turned up, she surely would have died, but instead she was lying unconscious on the floor of the woods. She wasn’t going to get any better out here in the cold. Capsize had no idea what she should do. No, actually she had a very distinct idea of what she should do, but every fibre of her being was telling her it was a stupid idea.

She should just leave. She should go back to the town, find her brother, and go about her life as if she hadn’t been missing for days. Back to that boring life surrounded by people who made her question everything about herself being constantly bothered by a man who she absolutely couldn’t stand. Wouldn’t that be easier? Was that what she should do? At the very least, it was the logical thing to do. She was a prisoner, wasn’t she? She should escape now that she’d been given such a good opportunity to do so. But she wasn’t scared anymore. Or rather, she was scared in a very different way. She was scared of what was going to happen to someone who had saved her life. Regardless of circumstances, she could not bring herself to abandon her. She sighed. She could only imagine what Redbeard, Jeriah, or Ianite would say if they knew the decision she was making, but she knew she would only have regrets if she left someone, regardless of who they were, in such a situation when she could’ve helped.

It was going to be a long walk back. One she knew she would likely regret when she actually rested as, while having her cane to support her was certainly helping, the fall had not done her leg any favours. However, there clearly was not any other choice. Given that she was unconscious, Phillipe would need to carry Fox. There was no way he could carry both of them without a cart, so she would just have to be on foot. She was, ironically, quite relieved that she had not made it far in her escape attempt. While she might be stuck in the cold and dark, she would be back to the castle sooner rather than later. She did not like how that statement reassured her. There were a thousand questions poking into her mind as she guided her horse with a sleeping beast on its back back towards where they had just fled from. She didn’t understand why she did not fear going back there, but as she looked towards Fox, she knew she was doing the right thing. Though that didn’t shift the tightness in her chest nearly as much as she wished it would.

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The world came back to the Beast in groggily bursts at first. Noises and sensations, but not actual wakefulness. The first time she actually felt awake, the first thing she acknowledged was that she was moving, the second was that her arm was filled with the worst pain she had ever felt. The second thing quickly became her only focus as it was sharp and biting as opposed to the rest of the world that was foggy and far away. She groaned, the noise escaping her as a low growl as she tried to move, but still was not awake enough to have the strength. Whatever had been moving her stopped. There was, for a moment, nothing in the world except for the pain in her arm and the cold wind hitting against her body, only partly shielded by her fur.

“We’re almost back, just a few more minutes,” She heard a reassuring voice, one that steadied her mind as the movement began again. The woman was safe, she didn’t need to worry about having caused someone death. Though, why would she be hearing her voice? Surely, she had continued her journey back home, to the normal life that she deserved, once she had fallen unconscious. So maybe she was just dreaming, dreaming that the woman would be trying to help her. Wouldn’t that be nice. That was the explanation her mind settled on as she drifted, and she was asleep once again.

The next time she woke up, everything was far clearer, and she realised her explanation did not make sense. As she opened her eyes and had the strength to look around, she saw she was in the castle’s grounds, the thick rose bushes surrounding her. Why was she back? She had been in the woods, by all means she was alone, so how had she gotten back? She looked up, her head momentarily dizzy before the actual things she saw brought her back into control as if she had been physically shocked. She was slumped over the woman’s horse, hanging over the animal as she had clearly been carried onto it while she was asleep. The woman was on the steps, rushing to open the doors. She had brought her back. It was an undeniable fact, but it did not fit right in her head. There was no reason for her to have done so, no reason the woman should’ve come back at all. Unless did she really…? No, no. There was no reason for this to have happened, so the Beast decided she was going to ignore it.

She stood, her legs feeling weaker than they should. Her steps were shaky, her arm was killing her, but she had no reason to stay out here any longer. She should just go back to the West Wing and lick her wounds, leave the woman to do whatever she wanted, leave and go back to her life. As she walked, the cold air quickly killed her wooziness. The horse startled a little as she walked past it, an expected reaction that unfortunately got the woman’s attention. Widened eyes met her as the woman turned and saw her moving, though they did not have the fear they had contained earlier. However, the look did nothing to quell the Beast’s thoughts, she could not bring herself to believe she was actually concerned.

Capsize found herself distracted from her original task of opening the door, concerned more that the Beast may fall again than the fact she was moving towards her. She moved down a couple of steps, attempting to figure out if she should say something or help her, but she found herself being brushed past without so much of a look. There was a brief moment of confusion, wondering if she should have expected anything else. Something had been different, hadn’t it? When she came to save her, the moment before she had collapsed, something had been different. And something, at least to her, was still different, as the fear that had previously always been at the back of her mind when being around Fox was no longer there, but it seemed as if Fox was not willing to act as if anything had changed. Capsize turned as the doors were opened behind her, following the Beast as quickly as she could, unsure if the concern she felt was still reasonable.

“If you’re awake, your arm needs to—”

“You’re back! You’re safe!” She was cut off by a very relieved Tom as she entered the room, Fox not giving a single look towards either of them as she proceeded to the stairs as if there was nothing to be said. Maybe there wasn’t, maybe she should just let her stalk off to wherever she wanted and deal with her injury alone, but she couldn’t do that. Whether she wanted her help or not, her wound needed to be treated and Capsize was the only person in this castle with hands. What would’ve been the point of bringing her back, if she just went off and let her wound fester and get infected? Still, Capsize decided not to ignore Tom.

“Yes, I’m fine, just cold and had a bit of a fall. But she—”

“Get her a change of clothes and make sure her fire is lit,” The Beast said, aiming her words and gaze at Tom. She could tell the woman’s clothes were not nearly thick enough to have protected her from the night air, and her fall into the frost must have left them at least slightly damp. By now, she must surely be freezing. If she gave Tom the task of making sure she warmed up, it’d distract the two and stop word from spreading about their return, at least for long enough for her to rest off the pain. That was her thoughts as she turned around, intending to go back to the West Wing and sleep.

“Are you being serious?” Capsize’s incredulous voice stopped her from continuing to leave. She turned around to see her staring with a frown and a glare laced with a very different kind of anger than she was used to seeing from anyone, let alone the woman. It was not quite enough to make her change her mind on her plans, but it was certainly enough to leave questions in her head. Why did she look like she cared? Capsize, with an absolute annoyance that the person she was talking to apparently had so little care about her own health, took a step forward. “Your arm has a massive wound on it. It needs treatment.”

“I’ll deal with it,” She tried to deflect, to ignore whatever concern she was imagining in the woman’s tone. Capsize scoffed. She couldn’t understand such an attitude. No, actually she very much could. It was her own attitude of just pretending everything was fine to her own detriment. It was the very same attitude that had slowed and damaged her own chances of recovery. She took a few more steps forward, to the point that she was now standing on the bottom step of the grand staircase. Yes, she was cold and frankly her leg was killing her, but she could deal with both of those things at the same time as making sure Fox’s arm was probably looked after. Her determined expression should not have been intimidating. Logically there was no reason the Beast should find any person intimidating as she towered over even the tallest of them, and certainly processed more strength than any of them. She was a good two feet taller than the woman looking up at her and would certainly win against her in any physical contest. However, it was the look on her face, one that made it so clear that she was the one in charge, making her completely unable to look away.

“Just let me help you,” She said, her voice clears in such a way that the Beast knew she couldn’t say no to her. She had a look of authority that simply seemed to exist. Like she knew just by instinct that she should not be questioned. It almost offended the Beast. This was her castle, her authority shouldn’t be questioned, she was the one who should be in charge, but she could not bring herself to be. What she actually felt, well, she couldn’t quite describe it. However, she could not ignore the woman’s request, not when she could still feel her eyes boring into her. She huffed.

“Fine but get changed first. I’m not having you collapse from the cold; it’d just make you a hindrance,” She growled before stalking off in a direction away from the West Wing. Tom blinked in disbelief. She was still being rude, but she’d actually accepted help rather than yelling that she knew best, and she should just listen to her. That meant something, didn’t it? Even if it didn’t, it certainly excited him despite the situation it had occurred in. He hopped up to Capsize.

“Hey, I’m glad you’re back,” He said, giving her a smile. She smiled back despite her thoughts being filled with confusion. Despite everything, she was glad to be back, glad to see Tom. She had made friends here, more than she had had back in the town. Maybe that was foolish of her, but… maybe she had had too much activity and excitement in the day to actually process such thoughts.

“I’m glad to see you,” She said, sure of that at least. The rest of the situation she was less sure about. She had no idea why she felt the need to help the Beast. Yes, she had saved her life, but that wasn’t enough to make her feel indebted to her, after all she wouldn’t have needed to be saved in the first place if not for her. She should by all means leave the stubborn beast to her own devices, if she didn’t want help, she did not need to provide it, but unfortunately, she couldn't bring herself to actually do that. Or, maybe not unfortunately, her thoughts on the subject were a little unfocused.

She shivered, maybe she was colder than she thought. Well, she remembered there being spare clothes in her room. She had no idea why, given that they certainly wouldn’t fit anyone who lived here, but she was appreciative of the oddity at this moment. If she was going to remain here, she might as well use them and figure out the mystery behind it later.

🌹 🌹 🌹

Despite the woman’s words, the Beast did not expect to actually see her again that night. She was sure she would realise that helping her was a lost cause and would instead go to rest. Yet, still had still slumped off into her actual bedroom rather than her study turned den in the West Wing she didn’t want to force the woman to enter again. She almost didn’t recognise the place. How many years had it been since she was here last? She had entered it since the curse, though not many times before she stopped using it as it just stood as another reminder to her of her lost humanity. The room was not in disrepair as her enchantments were still strong, cleaning and keeping the room dust free despite how she had not dared to enter the place in years. The fireplace lit at her presence, a warm glow illuminating the room. It all felt as familiar as it was alien, a piece of the past where she no longer belonged. Her possessions still littered the room, books open, pens and inks abandoned mid note taking, all still fresh as if she had abandoned the place hours ago rather than years. There was a part of herself that wanted to leave immediately, so she could ignore the memories of the past that the place was bringing to the front of her mind, but her exhaustion won out against that idea.

She looked towards the bed, made and welcoming, but she ended up slumping onto the rug in front of the fire. She lent on her right arm at first, an uncharacteristic yelp escaping her as she put just a bit too much pressure on it. She took a sharp breath and grunted as if she wasn’t in pain despite having no one to try and cover for. She curled up in front of the fire, staring at the flames as they danced around giving her warmth that she didn’t need due to her fur but still appreciated. Despite the amount of time the room had sat abandoned, familiar smells still lingered. The magical wood burning nearly overwhelmed the lingering scent of the odd fruit blossom that she originally used in the wards that ran the room's magic. It was still there though, still clinging on and reminding her how excited she was when magical research wasn’t just some desperate hope that she was clinging to to solve a mess she created. She had been so young, still using common ingredients in her experiments as she had not yet gained the confidence to use anything rare in case it ended up wasted; still messing around with Tom rather than seeing him as a distraction. When did she lose those feelings, that passion? If she could, she’d retreat back to those times, not change. Though, for once, her memories felt pleasant rather than an uncomfortable reminder of how terribly she had failed.

For once, she did not mind being lost in the memories as, even with the melancholy undertone they had now that she was stuck in this form, they were still a nice distraction from the unpleasantness the night had brought both physically and emotionally. Her arms still ached, though it was easy enough to ignore as long as she kept it still. Granted, this was not a great solution, but it wasn’t as if she actually knew what to do. She’d never gotten an injury like this one, one that felt serious. Obviously she knew that she shouldn’t have tried to reject the help offered by the woman, but she just couldn't ignore the pit in her stomach whether she was with her. She couldn’t quite describe it. She wanted to pretend that it was guilt for having led her into danger, but it had been there before tonight. She knew what it really was, like she knew the real reason she had allowed the woman to stay instead of her brother, but she didn’t want to acknowledge those thoughts. She just wanted to stay away from the feeling, even if it meant hoping that her injury would magically heal on its own. It was not as if the woman would actually come and help anyway.

However, despite her sureness that she would be alone for the night and that would be for the best, she was not disappointed to look over when she heard the door open and see Capsize standing there. In fact, she found herself staring at her, mostly out of disbelief that she actually came despite how clear she had been about her intentions, but also because she looked so nice. Not that she hadn’t looked nice before, but she had changed now, and well, the outfit suited her. It was still simple, as her previous clothes had been, a soft shirt and a long deep blue wool skirt, but both pieces were decorated with beautiful embroidery and not worn so often that the colours had begun to fade. She didn’t recognise either piece. Had they been Martha’s? The Beast reasoned they must have been, though they fit Capsize so well that she could not imagine them having been tailored for anyone else.

There was the briefest softening on the woman’s features before she turned serious again. Not stern nor angry, but merely just a look of knowing she had a task she must do. Still though, she almost hesitated to enter the room, just almost, but as quickly as that thought sat in her mind, she shook it away. It was not as if she was unwanted or uninvited, and even if she was, the wound needed treatment so she would do what she must. With a breath to steady herself, she entered into the room hoping that the supplies she had gathered would be enough. As she did her eyes were drawn to Fox, her form slumped on the floor. She did not look small, Capsize doubted she ever could, but she certainly was not the large looming creature she had been previously. Perhaps that’s why worry formed rather than fear. As, while she was at least awake, her arm was clearer in the firelight and not easy to look at with the amount of blood covering it. As she walked across the room, the tea cart she had gathered supplies on followed her as it had followed the furniture on her first night here.

The Beast was unsure if she should move or try to help the woman in some way currently unknown to her. Unsure, she merely shifted away as Capsize took a place in an armchair by the fire. They were closer together than they had been at any point during the past few days, and she hesitated to move any closer. Yet, after Capsize poured water from a metal kettle into a china basin, she looked up at Fox confused.

“You know, we’re going to need to be next to each other for me to be able to do this,” She said with the smallest amount of confusion hidden in her tone. Fox knew that her face flushed, though thankfully that fact was hidden by her fur. She was already embarrassed enough as she shifted her position to be sat in front of Capsize without blushing like an idiot. She sat in such a position that she could place her arm on her lap, but she was still facing the fire so she could ignore the world and that suited her just fine.

Being ignored suited Capsize well enough as well. It was better for her to actually focus on the task, even if there were pressing questions in her mind. After all, she still had no idea how bad the wound actually was and that wasn’t going to change until she got to work, even if she was a little unsure where to begin. She was experienced enough in first aid, it was kind of a requirement of a lifestyle where you’re always travelling, as well as one where you need to make sure you haven’t injured yourself terribly while recovering from an already serious wound. However, she had never actually done any sort of first aid on animals, as awkward as she felt comparing Fox to such a thing when she could talk and seemed built far more like a person than any animal she had ever seen, but really, how was she meant to deal with fur? All of it up to her elbow was matted with dried blood and it was near impossible to tell where the wound actually was, but she guessed cleaning up the arm was the first task regardless of any other questions she might have.

The task was quiet, just the occasional splash of water as she rinsed off the cloth she was using. She found herself concentrating, making sure to be gentle as she could as she had no idea where the wound was. The Beast found herself struggling to stay focused on the flames. She was being treated so gently. Why? Why was she going out of her way to help her? The questioning felt almost as bad as the wound, like some false hope had wormed its way inside her head. She almost did question, the words forming then rearranging in her head, but a sharp pain interrupting her thoughts pushing out everything else in her head.

She yelled, short and sharp though it still sounded more akin to a roar and yanked her arm away. Capsize didn’t quite flinch. She hadn’t expected to find the wound so soon, but she had hoped she was being gentle enough. Clearly, she was mistaken. There likely wasn’t any amount of gentle enough for a wound to not at least sting when being cleaned. Still, she couldn’t just stop because of that.

“You need to keep still,” She said, sternly but not without sympathy. She understood the pain of getting wounds treated, obviously she did, but there wasn’t really anything she could do about that. Thankfully, despite the fact that it had initially looked a mess, the actual wounds were not all that deep. There were three long scratches, but they seemed manageable. The Beast tried to bite back her frustration. She didn’t want to yell, didn’t want any sort of repeat of their previous interactions, but she also didn’t want to be around anyone. Her arm hurt, even with the careful actions touching the wound sent even more waves of pain through it. She wanted to be alone, completely alone, to just wallow and ignore the fact that anything is wrong. And, seeing that her commands had not been listened to by the woman in the slightest, the only thing she could think to do was yell and insult until she left of her own accord. “I know it hurts, but it’ll sting less and go quicker if you stay still.”

“It wouldn’t hurt at all if you hadn’t run off,” She said, deliberately trying to sound harsh. She watched the woman’s face flatten, her eyebrows lowered, and she frowned. But she didn’t leave, she just sighed.

“I wouldn’t have run if you hadn’t frightened me,” She said, barely raising her voice. She didn’t have the fear of Fox she previously did, and frankly was not in the mood for whatever argument she wanted to have. She was not going to take being yelled at and blamed for this situation. Though she was, frankly, confused by why the Beast was acting this way. She must surely care at least in some way, else she wouldn’t have saved her in the first place, but at the same time she seemed almost resentful towards her being in the castle at all despite that being entirely her fault. “And no matter who you think is responsible, the pain isn’t going to stop unless your wound gets treated. So, I would suggest that you sit still and let me help you.”

“I--!” She tried to come up with any argument, anyway, to be belligerent and get her to leave. However, looking at her she shrank back down. There was something about Capsize that made her feel as though she had to listen, like there was no question that she was the one in charge. It was almost overwhelming how confident she seemed, but she wasn’t cold, just clear. She could not find the words nor the will to argue against her, so she just silently put her arm back. She should hate the feeling, this was her castle, she was the one in charge! Yet… she did not mind. There was something about how the woman looked at her, not like she was a noble nor a monster that was so fascinating and gave her such a warm feeling that she would not chance changing it. Though she knew that it would change, at least if she did not change the way that she had been acting, with her yelling and allowing her frustrations to get the better of her. What exactly was she meant to do though? Tom would say that she should do some grand gesture to get romance going, but this definitely didn’t feel like the moment to do anything of the sort. She knew, as she looked at the focused woman, that she needed to say something. She had to try to fix the situation that she had created. “I’m sorry for yelling at you… and for scaring you…”

“Thank you,” Capsize looked up for a moment, almost unsure what to make of what sounded like a genuine apology especially as Fox was looking down at the floor. She had not spoken so softly before, even the first night her gentler words had been interlaced with growling and yelling. She seemed so vulnerable for the first time. Capsize placed a gentle hand atop her paw. “And thank you for saving my life.”

“You… you don’t need to thank me for that,” She said, so quietly that it was only audible because they were right not to each other. The Beast did not want to admit that she had been terrified upon realising the danger she had been in, that she was beyond glad that she received a major injury rather than her. Maybe that wouldn’t be such a bad thing to admit, but she did not feel in any way safe in saying it. Capsize tried to look at her, but she was still looking into the fire and avoiding her eyes. She chewed a little on the inside of her cheek as she looked back down at the injury and continued to treat the injury. Only then did the Beast speak again. “Why did you come back? You could’ve left and gone back to your life.”

“Well, whether you want to be thanked or not, I wasn’t going to abandon someone who saved my life,” She said, quite sure of her words, but hesitant to say the rest of the truth. She did not want there to be any mistake about the unfairness of the circumstances for her being here. She still was not happy about her freedom being taken, even if she had willingly come back, but she also knew the truth in her own thoughts. The life she had been living, the one she had given up in order to remain here, was not the life that she missed and resented losing. But did that really need to be said out loud? Likely not, but perhaps it would make clear that her help was not some form of paid debt. “And there was not much for me to go back to. Aside from my brother, I only had one friend. I can’t exactly say I had much love for that town.”

“Oh, I… I’m…”

“Don’t be sorry, Fox. It’s an unfortunate fact, but it’s not like you had anything to do with it,” She said, trying to laugh and sound as neutral as possible about the situation so as to not give away how much the town actually bothered her, how there was some part of her glad to never see the place again. However, for the first time since entering the room, her face was not quite steady. There was a clear frown, and while she had tried to stop them, a tear was rolling down her cheek. And the Beast found herself staring, wishing more than anything that she could cheer her up. She couldn’t understand how she could only have a single friend when she was so kind, so needlessly kind. She was a monster, a beast who had taken her prisoner and she was helping her and… she had called her Fox. She could call her monster and it would be completely reasonable, but she didn’t. What had been wrong with that town to not want to treat her kindly? And Fox thought of her own actions, and realised she needed to do something, however small, to make up for them. And something sprung to mind, something she had been keeping hidden for such a long time.

“Anyone who rejects your friendship is clearly a fool. You’ve only been here a few days and I don’t think I’ve ever seen everyone so happy,” She said. Capsize laughed a little, a sound that made the room feel lighter. It was enough to almost make the Beast feel confident in saying her next words. Almost. “And I should know myself… I’ve been terrible, and I know that it’s not possible to start over, but… let me introduce myself properly. My name is Sonja.”

It felt wrong to say out loud after so long of rejecting her own name like she had rejected every remainder of her humanity. Capsize looked not quite in shock, but definitely in confusion. She had suspected that Fox had not been entirely truthful about her lack of name, but she had not expected it to be so ordinary. Their eyes met briefly, the Beast quickly looking away as she still felt shameful. She wished she could hide or take her words back. But that wasn’t a choice she actually had. Instead, she just had to continue on.

“I’ve not used it in years, but if you—”

“Why?” Capsize questioned before actually thinking about how inappropriate such a question might be. The Beast knew she couldn’t tell the whole story, that her name was a remnant of a human that no longer existed, but she needed to say something. She couldn’t keep avoiding topics because she wanted to ignore them.

“It is not a name for a beast,” Her voice betrayed her grief. She hated what she had become, but it was so much easier to try and forget and cast away her previous self than have the crushing feeling of longing for it back and knowing she never could. Capsize heard her tone and, though she had no idea its actual cause, she understood the grief all the same.

“Perhaps not…” She started, wishing she had fully formed her thoughts before starting to speak as she saw the way Fox shrank away. It felt wrong for her not to yell, and indeed it felt far worse. But she needed to actually think, because she did not want to say empty words. “But I doubt many people would say my name is one for a woman. Names aren’t rewards; you don’t need to be deserving to have one. And, for whatever it’s worth, I think Sonja is a nice name.”

The Beast looked back at her, not quite believing what she had heard. She was met with Capsize genuinely smiling at her. A small smile, but it was warmer and lighter than the fire burning beside them. And, for the first time in years, Sonja smiled too.

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