Who: Belle & Ezra (Beauty & the Beast) What: It's not safe for pretty girls to go wandering through the forests when there are wolves around. Where: Springwood. When: Late afternoon, Wednesday. Warnings: TBD. Status: In progress.
Shafts of sunlight shone down through the canopies of the trees, creating dappled patches of light on the forest floor. Birds chirped and twittered happily, squirrels flitted from tree to tree, a warm breeze rustled through the leaves... and Belle was oblivious to all of it. With her legs tucked up underneath her and the skirt of her simple blue dress spread out around her, Belle was oblivious to everything but the book which rested in her lap. Her long blond hair stirred in the breeze, a squirrel chittered near her ear and ran past in a rustle of leaves, and yet the young girl didn't move at all, except to carefully turn the page of her book.
For anyone who knew Belle Marchand, this was nothing unusual. Everyone knew that when the young girl had a book in her hand, the rest of the world ceased to exist. Today was no different; in fact it was only when the sunlight began to dim and the words became harder to read, that Belle finally looked up from the page. Blinking up at the trees above her, she frowned as she realized that the sun seemed to have begun setting far sooner than she expected. She would be hard put to get home before dark... and though she loved the forests of Springwood, she didn't like to be in them after the sun set.
Reluctantly closing her book, Belle rose to her feet and brushed stray bits of grass off her skirt. Her horse had been picketed a short distance away from her, and as Belle moved towards the animal, she couldn't help but notice how fast the sun seemed to be setting today. Ahead of her, the chestnut horse shifted in place and gave a low whinny- was it just her, or did it seem just a bit skittish? The mare gave a nervous toss of her head that Belle couldn't ignore; Rosie belonged to a friend of hers, and she'd rode the horse more than enough to know when she was acting beyond her normal calm. Rosie wasn't a skittish horse, and this was definitely not normal.
Before she could reach the mare's side in hopes of calming her down, Belle heard a rustling from off to her left and then, from within the growing shadows, a faint low growl. "Hello?" She turned her head nervously towards the sound, blue eyes widening in her heart-shaped face, even as Rosie began to strain at her lead and huff nervously through her nostrils. Another snap and a louder growl and Belle called out again, her voice cracking, "Is someone there?" A shape formed from within the shadows: two glowing yellow eyes above a long snout, and then a low, fur-covered body slinking out from between two trees. The moment her brain supplied the word- wolf- the horse beside her let a panicked scream.
Rosie snapped her lead, knocking Belle off-kilter as she reared up on her hind legs, eyes white with panic as she kicked her hoofs in the air. As the horses weight thudded into her side, Belle spun around just in time to spot two more wolves stepping from the woods behind her. Not big enough to be the Great Wolves she'd heard about from Winterwood, but descendents perhaps, interbred and smaller here in the warmer realm. Smaller, but no less frightening. Their teeth were bared, their haunches up, low growls rumbling from deep within the creatures' bellies... and their feral yellow gazes were fixed directly on her. Just as the panicked horse took off into the forest, the sound of Belle's shrill and panicked scream pierced the air.