The Beast And The Fairy (ch3)

I'm starting Monochrome Mondays now, so I'll post a new chapter of this fic every Monday until it's finished!

Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY.

---------------------

						Chapter 3. Four Silver Hairs

At the boy's haunting words, the group of beasts charged forward, weapons at the ready.

But despite their brutal actions and cunning speed, the fairies were faster.

Instantly, a protective barrier went up around the huddled group, a bright orb surrounding them. The beasts were repelled and sent backward, spitting curses. The boy with the horns called them off, and the others moved back a few paces.

"That trick stopped being impressive months ago, fairies," he said. "Don't you have anything better? We know by now that you can only uphold your little magic barrier for so long, and there's no way the group of you can fly like that. You're only delaying the inevitable. You will fight us. And we will win."

The beasts and fairies continued to cry out and shout at one another, but Weiss knew the boy spoke the truth. Unless a family of bears happened to trounce through this precise spot, nothing would scare off the beasts until they'd obtained what they came here for.

If it came down to a fight, Weiss was confident the fairies could win and return home majorly unharmed. But that would only be if they surrendered their gems or were robbed of them.

That was what usually ended up happening most frequently in these squabbles.

Fairies weren't violent by nature, and they would surrender if no other options were available to them, no matter how badly they detested the idea. A fairy's wings were so fragile and so important they simply couldn't risk them being damaged in a fight.

Weiss sent icy glares at all of the beasts around them, double the numbers of the fairies. She knew they'd have to fight or surrender their spoils in the end.

Her attention was drawn back to the boy with the bull horns as he laughed harshly. He was taunting one of Weiss' fellow fairy guards, who had a small shell pressed to his lips.

"Go ahead!" guffawed the beast. "Blow your little horn for reinforcements. I'll do the same." He held up a small whistle tied to a string around his neck. "Before you know it, we'll have an all-out war right here on this very spot."

Weiss watched as the guard reluctantly put the shell away into his clothes. She hurried to him, bow and arrow still on her shoulder and in her hand.

"What should we do?" she murmured.

"What we always do," he replied. "We must give them our gems. We cannot fight them."

Weiss hissed under her breath. She wouldn't accept that. The beasts had already taken far too much from her people.

She wasn't about to let them have more.

As the barrier started to dwindle around them, Weiss hatched a plan of sorts. But she didn't tell the other fairies, for she knew they wouldn't like it.

As their barrier started to fade, the boy with the bull horns stepped forward once more, his masked eyes trained on Weiss.

"Well, fairies. Your time's up. What are you gonna do?"

Weiss lifted her chin and glared defiantly at him. Then, she dropped her bow to the ground.

The boy was clearly puzzled at the action.

"What are you trying to pull?"

"I'm pulling nothing," Weiss declared. "I'm going to make a deal with you heathens."

"Oh?" he scoffed. "And what kind of deal would that be?"

Weiss narrowed her eyes, then lifted one hand to comb it back through her long, silken ponytail.

"I am the eldest daughter of the Fairy King himself, and heiress to his throne. In future years, I will reign my people as Queen. Presently, I have more precious gems on my person than all of these fairies combined."

She looked around calmly at all of the beasts encircling her. She hoped her act was good enough to convince them, because truth be told, she hadn't so much as a single gem's worth on her person at the moment. Only her flowery trinkets.

But the greed and desire glowing in the beasts' eyes told Weiss they'd fallen for her little lie, and she continued in a firm tone.

"My wishes are simple. Let the fairies go unharmed and with whatever gems they have in their possession. Do not pursue them. I alone will stay behind and empty my pockets of gems to you in exchange for their freedom and my safety. Have we a deal?"

She waited, gently hushing the fretting fairies behind her and reassuring them she'd be fine.

"Tell my father I may be late in getting home this evening, but I'll get there sooner or later."

The beasts were consulting amongst themselves now, clearly intrigued by the prospect of having the Fairy Princess' prized gems for themselves. The boy with the bull horns finished muttering to the rest and finally gave his attention back to Weiss.

"We have a deal."

He raised his hand in signal, and the other beasts lowered their weapons.

Weiss looked over her shoulder and nodded to the fairies, tossing the nearest one her bundle of wet moss to take back with them. Their green and blue eyes were all full of fear for her more so than themselves.

Despite the tightness in her chest, Weiss sent them all a reassuring smile.

"I'll be home soon," she said. "Now go."

With worried nods and uncertain glances, the fairies began moving their wings. Weiss kept an eye on the beasts to make sure none of them intended to charge, but they all seemed to be behaving for now.

As the fairies ascended, Weiss felt her throat tighten more and more by the second. She had no gems to present to the beasts, and lying to them would surely only enraging them further. She could be taken hostage, and her lies would undoubtedly kindle ire and wrath within the beasts. They'd view fairies as liars and seek to harass and attack them even more strongly than they already did.

And it would be all her fault.

Weiss swallowed, then tried to inhale a deep breath as she turned back to face the beasts. The boy with the bull horns was starting to grown impatient as he waited for the fairies to fly off.

"Now then," he grunted. "Let's have those gems. If you're lying to us, it'll be your wings instead."

Weiss squared her shoulders and glared up at him, boring her gaze into the mask shielding his eyes.

"In truth, I have no gems in my possession," she confessed.

The boy was outraged. With one swift motion, he drew his sword-like weapon from his belt.

"Lying pixie!" he snarled.

"Hush, you barbarian!" Weiss snapped back at him just as ferociously. "I haven't finished speaking yet! Learn some manners, you cur!"

Her vehemence actually caused him to retreat a pace, and the other beasts remained still, ears perked and listening to her words.

Weiss went on loudly. "I've got a collection of gems stored away in this forest. Ones I keep hidden from my father and the other fairies. I gather them in secrecy. As one of the princesses of our people, I must present every gem I retrieve to the King. But I've hidden away dozens of them in an act of rebellion.

"In exchange for the location of those gems, I want your word that you beasts will stop harassing my people once and for all."

The boy with the bull horns scraped his foot in the dirt, like an oxen prepared to charge, but conflicted of exactly how to do so.

"Such a decision wouldn't be up to me," he grunted. "You'd have to speak to the leader of our clan. These must be formal negotiations, not something you and I decide in the middle of the forest without legal witnesses. How many gems are in this collection of yours?"

"Several hundred."

Weiss listened as the gasps of shock rose up around the group, eager mutterings sweeping through them. The boy with the bull horns shook his head, clearly too overwhelmed by the prospect of bringing back so many gems that he failed to understand that it was impossible – even for a fairy – to hide such a vast amount of rare stones in these woods and keep them concealed.

His greed was clouding over his reasoning, just as Weiss had anticipated it would.

The boy grunted again and shook himself like a wolf emerging from the lake.

"Take us to your stash of gems, fairy princess. Then we'll talk more about what to do about negotiations. Where are they hidden?"

"In a place only I can lead you to," Weiss declared. She wasn't one to lie often, but when she had to, she was quite skilled at it. "Follow me and we'll be there by sunset."

"Fine," the boy agreed. "But first..." He turned back to some of the other beasts who were filing behind him and pointed at three of them. "You three. Return to the clan and tell them what's going on. Tell them we have the fairy princess and that she's taking us to her gems."

The three beasts nodded and then swiftly disappeared into the bushes.

Weiss scoffed softly to herself – they didn't have her. She'd decided on her own to stay with them.

But she said nothing by means of correcting them, for she was no fool, and she fully understood the position she was in.

Once the beasts were ready, the boy with the bull horns stepped forward toward Weiss.

"Let's be clear," he growled. "If you're lying, I really won't be opposed to tearing your wings clean off your back. And no flying when you lead us there. You walk. Also," he reached for the arrows on her back. "I'll hold onto those."

"Excuse you!" Weiss snapped, smacking his grimy hand away. "First of all, you need to understand that I am not your prisoner! I'm doing you all a favor with this. And second of all, touching a fairy princess without her consent is grounds for a lifetime of bad luck! Every morning a flock of birds will scatter droppings in your hair, and every night a tree branch will aim to fall on you in your sleep. Care to risk it?"

Her descriptions were enough to make the boy recoil and grimace.

"Fine. But if you pull your weapon, we'll pull ours."

"Fine," she huffed, reaching down to pick up her previously-discarded bow and sling it back over her shoulder. "Now if you're quite finished gabbing, shall we be off?"

The boy looked at her past his mask, then nodded.

Weiss turned on her heel and began marching off through the woods, keeping to her word to not use her wings or so much as touch her bow and arrows.

She began to lead the troupe of a dozen or so beasts through the forest, walking as though she'd been this way a million times before and knew exactly where she was going.

Her plan didn't extend very far beyond this – she was simply playing things by ear now.

But she knew she didn't have much time left anymore, not with the envoys the boy had sent back to their clan. Surely, more beasts would be arriving soon to see Weiss' alleged stash of gems.

A stash that didn't exist.

She began to dread the thought of her lies turning this fiasco into a full-fledged war between the two species.

She needed to get away from these beasts, but do so in a way that wouldn't raise their suspicions.

When she thought about it, she had no idea how that might happen.

She continued to walk, leading them through the undergrowth and even several thickets, using her own magics to heal the little cuts she sustained from them. She hoped the briars and thorns would cause the beasts to grumble and give up the hunt, but they persisted through the minor nuisances.

Midday passed, and then the sunlight began to dwindle.

Weiss could sense the beasts getting more and more angry with her that the trek was taking so long.

She could now hear the sounds of rushing water ahead, and Weiss recalled she hadn't had so much as a sip to drink yet today.

But the beasts were fed up with her by now, and were clearly suspecting her antics. The boy with the bull horns stomped up to Weiss and grabbed her shoulder, forcing her to turn around.

"Enough!" he bellowed. "Where are these gems you speak of, fairy?"

"Hey!" Weiss shrieked, jerking away from him. "I never gave you permission to touch me!"

"I don't care!" he snapped. "Bring us to the gems now! Stop playing games! Or is it that you've been lying through your little white teeth all this time?" He lowered his voice threateningly. "There are no gems, are there?"

He advanced another step, and the other beasts followed suit, all reaching for their weapons.

They'd finally found her out.

With serpent-like speed, Weiss whipped herself around and tore off through the forest as fast as her feet could carry her. Enraged shouts echoed out behind her.

"Get her! Cut off her wings!"

Weiss ran faster still, unable to use her wings here with so much foliage to slow her down and potentially tear the membrane.

She burst through the bushes and snares of tendrils, heart pounding as quickly and as loudly as her feet atop the soil were.

There were so many noises around her now: the rush of blood in her ears, the beat of her heart in her chest, the thudding of her feet, the shouts of her pursuers, the crackling of the leaves as she tore through them, the rush of the water off to one side...

She weaved through another thicket, her smaller stature giving her the advantage, whereas she could hear the bigger beasts getting temporarily tangled behind her. Weiss didn't look back, nor did she stop running, despite her fatigue and dehydration.

She just ran, ran, ran until-

"Ah-!"

She came to a screeching halt, her heels skidding in the dirt.

The forest had ended abruptly, revealing a rushing river. The land fell away in a massive, steep cliff, the water disappearing over the edge, pouring down into a tremendous, deafening waterfall.

Panting, Weiss stared down over the edge. The cliff face was barely visible past the hazy mist produced from the waterfall below. In fact, nothing was visible past that white mist, only the tops of a few trees far below.

It was certainly a long drop.

Weiss gathered her bearings and prepared to spread her wings.

But before she could manage it, the beasts caught up to her. Hollering and shouting threats and curses, they charged her.

Startled, Weiss' heel caught on a root, and her weight shifted dangerously.

The boy with the bull horns was upon her, just inches away, reaching out. He grabbed her ponytail tightly, but Weiss' body was already falling.

And then she vanished over the side with naught but a breathless shriek left behind her.

The beasts skidded to a halt at the edge, spitting ruefully.

But the boy with the bull horns was smiling wryly.

In his hand, he held four strands of long silver hair.

But he knew that a fairy in the water couldn't fly and would surely drown within seconds.

The future Fairy Queen was dead.

But that didn't mean he needed to tell the truth about it.

Already forming his plan, he tucked the silver hairs into his shirt pocket and turned back to the others, giving the order to retreat.

And far, far below in the pool of the turbulent waterfall, there was a feeble voice crying out that soon faded beneath the rush of the water.

---------------------

A/N: No, Blake was not among the beasts in Adam's group~