The Huntress || Gaston

Parting of Ways

It had only been a day, Ada realized, but she felt a sort of connection to Gaston...not one she'd ever admit, anyway. Besides, he couldn't possibly feel the same... But then again, he seemed so polite to her-nervous, yet polite-and they spoke easily when engaged in conversation that morning, then again during the little village tour. She found herself lost in his hazel eyes, reflecting the fire near them, warming them. Subconsciously, both leaned in, only just, when shouts of panic could be heard entering the tavern.

"It's Belle! The Beast... he has Belle!" Belle's father, Maurice, came stumbling in yelling. The three by the fire straightened and Ada removed herself from Gaston, not seeing that he quickly glanced up at her with longing... he knew he shouldn't though; the whole tavern had just sang a song to help him regain his confidence after a rejection from Belle, even Ada joined in, he couldn't possibly have them know he was falling for the huntress. Falling for a bookworm was one thing, but falling for a girl who could very well hunt better than himself was another, and the village didn't accept things such as that easily.

"Crazy, old Maurice." The red-headed woman in the woolen bonnet said rather condescendingly.

"Will no one help me?" Gaston thought up a plan in that moment, one that may just help him stay on his path for Belle... but he liked Ada...

"I'll help you." His voice cut the devastating silence, causing everyone to look at him. "Everyone, stop this at once." Gaston walked over to Maurice and rested his hands on the old man's shoulders, "Well, lead us to the Beast!" He sent a look to LeFou who had sadly understood where he was coming from and was not eager to go through with this plan. Ada had stood as Gaston began to walk out with old Maurice in tow, and LeFou rested a hand on her shoulder, giving her a sympathetic look that loosely translated to: "I see that you two care for each other so I'll keep him safe...and sane." Ada nodded and figured she ought to get home, bidding LeFou a goodnight at the door. She had only gone a few steps when she heard her name, "Ada!" She turned, surprised Gaston hadn't left already.

"Do be careful out there. I know that forest, it's not a forgiving place." She warned him, her arms folded over her chest to keep the chills of fear she received to a minimum... only Gaston saw, and caught on. He rested a hand on her arm, making her look up at him to see his features were gentle and caring,

"What happened to you out there?" He asked softly, just barely above a whisper. Ada glanced in the direction of the woods then back at Gaston, slowly reaching down for the skirt of her dress. She pulled it up just enough to show the long, hideous scars forever engraved in the used to be smooth skin on her right leg. Gaston was speechless; he never would have guessed someone as beautiful as she could receive such an injury as that. Then a thought struck him, his eyes growing wide, "The accident." Ada nodded, blinking back tears of the horrible night. Just as Gaston was about to pull her into a tight embrace, Maurice called out,

"We must hurry! Belle is in trouble!" Gaston looked ready to hit something, then took a deep breath and responded calmly,

"I'll be there in a moment."

"You should go." Ada said softly, a small smile gracing her features in the night. "I should be getting home as well."

"I should be back in two days' time." Gaston assured her, cupping her cheeks then placing a kiss on her head, slipping from her reach just as she had rested her hands over his. She felt cold since his hands were no longer keeping her warm, watching as they rode out of town. Ada shook her head, clearing it of feelings and made her way to the stables.

"Good evening, Bandit," Ada smiled at her horse who rose to four legs when she entered. "It's been a while. Are you ready to go home?" The horse whinnied as if to reply and Ada laughed, her fun demeanor back in place. She tacked him up and was soon on her way back home, riding again through the meadows in the silver moonlight which seemed to illuminate the skies just for her. "Feel like stopping for a moment?" Ada asked once they were near the thin clearing of the woods. Bandit gave a little huff through his nose as Ada dismounted, "Don't be like that, it'll only be a moment." She promised and walked into the woods, a special destination in mind. Ada approached a curtain of leaves hanging from a Weeping Willow, drawing it back just enough so she could fit, then tentatively stepped in. She was at the heart of the forest where a sparkling river flowed and many animals stopped for water, remembering the first time she had stumbled upon it. She was fourteen and was exploring the heart of the woods as her father said he always wanted to do, and she literally stumbled upon it for she tripped and fell through the Weeping Willow's curtain.

It was only a month ago when Ada discovered two deer had settled down to start a family. She had checked on them everyday and they even accepted her to be within a few feet of them, so now seemed like the perfect time... only it wasn't. She gasped, seeing a pack of wolves-the pack of wolves-had just devoured the mother and father, leaving the week old fawn at the edge of the riverbank. The fawn's life would have ended in a matter of seconds if Ada hadn't scooped up the little thing in her arms and ran for her life. The wolves howled, preparing for their next meal, and Ada was having nightmarish flashbacks to the accident while running. Bandit somehow had sensed distress and was ready for her when she mounted, galloping into the dead of night with as little as two wolves following. Ada's mum had told her to be wary of carrying her weapons in the village, but Ada still had slipped a gun in a thigh holster, so she pulled it out and shot one of the wolves, scaring the other enough to end its pursuit. Ada let out a sigh of relief then a shiver of cold fear, realizing that was really a close one.

Agatha looked up when her daughter opened the door, a mysterious bundle in her arms, and stood from her seat at the table. Ada was pale and shaken, but the fawn in her arms was more important. Agatha was going to ask but Bailey came in from the bedroom and sniffed the bundle, moving Ada put kneel and remove the cloak. Agatha gasped upon seeing what her daughter had brought home, "How?"

"I was on my way back from a fun time in the village and I stopped with Bandit." Ada began, smiling at how Bailey had already seated herself protectively next to the fawn who's head lie on her leg. "I went to the meadow I've always told you of only to find-to find, um, the wolves..." She ended softly and Agatha gasped, reaching to hug her daughter. "They killed her parents. I couldn't just leave her." Ada's mum cupped her daughter's cheek then went to fetch some milk in a bottle for the little deer.

"Do you have a name for her yet?" Agatha asked with a gentle smile as Ada bottle fed the fawn some warm milk.

"I was thinking Fleur the Fawn." Ada smiled lightheartedly, the humor coming back as she relaxed. "And Philip if it turns out to be a male." The mother and daughter laughed, the new addition to the family in their arms safely.

Meanwhile, in the darker part of the woods, Gaston, LeFou and Maurice had been out all night and the two men were getting tired of the old man's blubbering into the dawn. All of them grew fearful as they heard the howl of the wolves. "I say we turn back."

"No! But she's out there! The Beast has her!" Maurice insisted and LeFou banged his head against Gaston's tense back, both annoyed with the old loon.

"There are no such things-" Gaston repeated but Maurice let out a cry of joy,

"This tree! It was downed by lightning...and somehow resumed and upright position." The men in the wagon rolled their eyes again. "So that means it was this way. This way? That way, or was it...wait..."

"Maurice! There are no such things as Beasts or magic, but there are wolves, frostbite, and starvation!" Gaston snapped and LeFou stood from the wagon,

"Deep breaths, Gaston, deep breaths."

"Right, come now, Belle is probably at home now, waiting for you." Gaston said, not even believing his own words. Sure he cared about her enough that he didn't want her dead, but his thoughts somehow traveled back to Ada and her leg, the scars.

"If you didn't believe me, then why did you come with?" Maurice asked and LeFou face palmed himself, unsure if he wanted to hear his friend's answer.

"Because I want to marry your daughter!" Gaston heard himself say.

"You will never marry my daughter." Maurice said rather dully and Gaston punched him right across the face. Plans and lies kept growing, resulting that morning in Gaston tying Maurice to a tree.

"Gaston, are you sure we've exhausted all of our options?" LeFou asked, hinting that Gaston was going just a little too far.

"Yes," Gaston said through gritted teeth. One day he had spent getting to know just a little bit of her, and there he was, tying up the father of someone he used to cared for just to keep it going, just to be strong and not get hurt. The women never stayed, he had learned that before the war... it's what broke him, and made him egotistical and narcissistic. "Come now, LeFou," So LeFou hopped on the wagon and the two made their way back to the village in two days' time as promised.