HOOKED ↝ DESCENDANTS

[8]

"Something wrong?" Harry asked as Rosalie crouched down in the grass once more, stopping the group.

Rosalie had been following Ben's tracks, as well as his path of destruction through the grass and twigs strewn across the forest floor for what seemed like a mile since they'd reached the edge of Auradon City. They'd made steady progress following after the cursed king, and she'd been so sure they had to be close when the tracks all of a sudden came to an end, as if he'd stopped walking completely.

"It doesn't make sense." she murmured, frustratedly studying the ground in front of her. "His path ends here. Wherever he went, his trail should follow that, but instead it just goes cold."

"Boy," Dude sighed, "Something stinks, and it wasn't me this time!"

Suddenly, a growl sounded from the tree to Rosalie's right, and in a flash of blue and yellow, the Beast jumped out from behind, startling the young princess as well as the others. A roar escaped his throat as he caught sight of the five newcomers, as well as the campus mutt, who screamed in terror and ran to hide behind Carlos as the others backed off, trying to put as much distance between them and Ben as they possibly could without losing him.

"Gil!" Carlos exclaimed, pulling the son of Gaston out of the Beast's path as he lurched forward, claws extended as he went in for the kill. However, he missed, running forward and stopping against the tree in front of him.

The Beast charged again, this time towards Jay and Rosalie, but Harry knocked them out of the way, instead advancing on him with his hook raised as Ben stumbled back. The Beast roared, and Rosalie caught her footing just in time for Jay to pull Harry back to avoid any of them being scratched by the monster's sharp claws. As he tripped and fell into the dirt, Rosalie seized the opportunity to step between the boys and the Beast, putting one hand up in surrender, though the other clutched tightly to her frying pan. She didn't want to hurt Ben, he'd been one of her closest friends since they were born, but as he didn't recognize her when in Beast form, she didn't want to take any chances.

"Ben?" Rosalie asked softly, taking another step towards him. "Ben, it's me again. It's Rosalie. You know me. You know us."

Ben roared again, though this time there was a much duller edge to it as it echoed through the trees, and she stepped back hesitantly, though calmly stood her ground. He looked down at his clawed hand, and Gil gasped softly as the Beast's palm now faced the group, a sharp piece of wood sticking out of the center.

"Oh, he's got a boo-boo," Gil pointed out. "That's why he's so cranky. You know, my dad said that his dad did not handle pain well at all."

"Then we find a way to take it out." Rosalie said adamantly.

Jay looked over at Carlos. "You're good with animals." he said. "Do something."

"But..." Carlos began to protest, but stopped short. "Okay, alright. Rosie, keep him distracted."

Rosalie nodded. "I'll do my best," she told them before looking back at the Beast. "Ben, look at me. You know me. Your name is Benjamin Florian Beast, and you are the King of Auradon. You'd never hurt a fly, you don't even know how. Please let me help you."

Ben watched her intently, a flicker of humanity showing in his eyes, though it was only a moment before it disappeared, turning back to animal. His gaze shot down to the frying pan resting in her hand, and he growled softly, a frown etched onto his furry face.

"Oh, this?" she asked, looking down at it before crouching down into the grass, and setting it at her feet. "Don't even worry about this. I'm not going to hurt you."

Carlos seized the opportunity as Rosalie kept talking to Ben, sneaking around from behind the tree until he had a hold on the Beast's hand. He pulled the splinter out before the Beast could react, rushing back to avoid the monster's wrath once Ben finally realized what Carlos was doing. However, the Beast stopped, growling softly in relief at the pain finally easing before a stream of water flew through the air, hitting him in the face.