All characters are over the age of consent, 18+
*
The wind picked up blowing bits of leaves, dirt, and debris into their faces without mercy. The wind slipped through the holes in their shabby rags of clothing. Donatello looked at his daughter hunched in on herself, as she sat on the bench of the work cart. She hugged her shawl tighter to her body as the first drops of rain fell.
Rose's lips pursed against the pieces of the forest. Donatello shook his head as he watched the elements raining against her face. She was suffering and it was all his fault, he thought as he watched the cold and moisture from the sky rip through her and freeze her to her core.
"Daddy, please can we stop and build a fire? I'm so cold," she said shivering.
Donatello's heart ached at her plea. He needed to push on and find a town or village. Somewhere they could rest for the night. They would freeze in the rain before morning.
"Just a little longer, baby," he said, stopping the old workhorse. He removed his cloak and wrapped it around her trembling body. Her skin was ice cold to his touch.
"No, Daddy," she said, pushing aside the cloak he'd wrapped around her. "You need it more than I do."
Donatello smiled at her gesture and continued to wrap her in the cloth. He hated himself in that moment. The fact that he couldn't provide her the most basic things in the world made his chest ache. Shelter, food, security, but he tried to provide for her. He grabbed the reigns of the horse and trudged along the unsteady forest ground of roots, dead branches, leaves, and dirt. He fought the wind in his face as it ripped through his thin and tattered shirt and breeches.
As they made their way through the forest at a slow pace, the rain began to pour from the sky in earnest. The trees were too bare to provide coverage from the downpour.
Donatello spotted a soft glowing light ahead of them through a break in the trees. He urged the horse forward with all his might, which wasn't much considering he was three days hungry. They reached the break in the trees that revealed an expansive castle, decrepit with age and weather, but a shelter nonetheless.
"Stay here baby. I'll be right back," Donatello whispered as he secured the black and gray horse to a tree.
"Yes, Daddy," Rose obeyed as her teeth chattered. She sank down next to the tree and used the overhang of the work cart, which provided little relief from the weather.
He approached the castle tentatively. He prepared himself mentally to beg and plead for entrance. He pushed through the iron gate which was rusted and barely standing. Donatello stumbled up the stone steps to the large wooden doors and banged against the doors until his hand was numb.
There was no answer but even from his small ministrations, the heavy door cracked just a bit, although it was massive thick wood panels.
He pushed against the door until it opened fully and called out, "Hello." His voice echoed off the stone walls. "Hello is anyone home?"
He waited for an answer, but the only one he received was his echoing voice. He could see a fire in the hearth and that set him on his path. He would just explain to whomever that the door was open and that his daughter needed to warm by the fire for just a bit. There was no one to explain anything to, even after he'd recovered his daughter from the cart and helped her inside.
Rose shivered as she sat on the fur rug and placed her hands out in front of her until they warmed. She rubbed her warmed hands over her bare skin below her skirt and along her arms. Donatello sat at her side with his arm around her shoulders lending what little warmth was left in his own body to her. He looked around as the wind beat against the walls and windows threatening to shatter glass and pull boards loose.
When Rose had warmed herself enough she stretched out on the rug and closed her eyes falling asleep within moments. Donatello stood and searched the castle for an owner but after forty minutes of not finding anyone he gave up and returned to his daughter.
There was a tray of food set up near where she slept and after three days without food, Donatello was starving. He tried, unsuccessfully, not to devour all the food and began sipping at the thick meaty broth chased by warm broken off pieces of bread. He washed down the food with the mead and felt guilty as he finished off the last of the filling meal.
With his belly full, he stretched out next to his daughter. He cradled her now warm body against his and hoped for another meal to magically appear for her as he drifted off into a full belly slumber.
~~~~~
Rose woke to her father's soft snoring in her ears. She stretched into his frail arms wrapped around her as the aroma of delicious food nearby filled her nostrils. She immediately tried to wake her father to show him the food. He whispered in his slumber that he had eaten already. The more she tried to wake him the more he mumbled that he wasn't hungry and that she should eat as much as she could. Satisfied by his answer but knowing her father usually gave his food over to her to eat, she picked at the meal like a bird. She left more than two-thirds of the food available should he wake up.
Once she finished eating she got up to explore the castle. She searched for the kind owner who had provided them a place to stay, food, and fire. Like her father she found no one in her search of the downstairs area. She was curious where the food had come from and began a prayer of thank you to Heaven as she explored the huge castle. Although the place was worn and old, it was spotless as if there were hundreds of servants in attendance.
Rose gave up on finding someone to thank and went to attend to the horse and check what damage the storm may have caused to their cart. The cart was gone from the tree where her father had tied it and after an hour of searching the grounds, she found both their horse and cart safely secured in a barn not far from the castle.
She rushed back to the castle to tell her father of their good fortune and to ask about the kindness of the Lord who would own such a manor, but she did not find her father where she'd left him.
~~~~~
Donatello woke to find more food available. Porridge, juice, bread, and fruit on a tray like the night before. He left it alone in fear that Rose had not yet eaten and went looking for her and the owner of the castle. He explored the grounds slightly and found a beautiful garden of various colored roses. He was compelled to pick them for his own Rose.
He missed the large wooden sign with burned-in letters that warned to keep out of the garden. He picked a red, a yellow, and a pink rose from the beds and returned to the castle to place them on the food tray.
As he turned a corner in the stone hallway that would lead him back to the fireplace room where they had slumbered, he ran into a wall of flesh and fur.
A creature, for surely it was not a man, towered a good head above him in height. The creature's arms and legs were thicker than branches and trunks of trees. Donatello's eyes followed the path of leg muscles up to the expanse of stomach and chest to land on the creature's face, elongated and covered in dark fur.
Donatello could not contain the scream that built in his throat. He cried out as the monster roared at him.
"I give you fire, food, a place to sleep! How do you repay me? You steal from my garden! Did you not see the sign warning against touching my roses?" his voice was deep dark evil and it rumbled up from his massive fur-covered chest and out his snarling mouth in a loud growl.
"Forgive me, forgive me please, Sir. Take mercy on me. I only wanted to give the pretty flowers to my daughter. Her name is Rose, she would appreciate them so much," Donatello rushed his words past his trembling lips as he cowered against the floor.
With shaky hands he held out the flowers he'd picked from the garden to the creature. "I'm sorry for my ignorance. I can't read and did not see any such sign against it."
Rose, heard the commotion and ran toward the voices. She stopped as the massive monster that stood over her father overwhelmed her. It was just a breath that she let her fear pause her forward motion before she charged and hurled herself at the creature. "Get away from him! Leave him alone! You animal!"
The Beast barely felt her fists against his back. As Rose attacked him he turned to swat her away like the nuisance he felt she was and froze. She was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen in his entire existence.
She had long shiny black hair the fell in a loose plait down her back. Her skin was creamy ivory colored but her face and neck flushed bright pink with her anger. Her lips were perfect plush petals, the color of the scarlet red rose in her father's hand. The Beast could see a full and voluptuous bosom below her thin bodice and shift that led to a small waist and bloomed again into thick hips and thighs on down to muscled calves and small ankles with dainty boot covered feet.
Donatello recovered enough to crawl along the floor and pulled himself upright. He grabbed his daughter to stop her ineffectual beating of the creature. The Beast crouched down to scoop up the discarded flowers and offered them to Rose without thought, as if it were the most natural action he could do. He attempted a smile but his fangs made his mouth crooked and it appeared as a grimace to Donatello and Rose.
Rose flinched into her father's arms. The Beast dropped the flowers and remembered his appearance even more. Embarrassed but no longer angry he tried to calm his frightened visitors.
"You will leave now!" he grumbled at Rose. He wanted her away from him. He didn't like the way her terror filled eyes looked at him.
"Come, father, I found our cart and Old Henry out back. We should be on our way," Rose said. She raised her chin and glared at the Beast as she backed away taking her father with her. She wondered how such kindness as food and shelter could come from such a hideous creature. Pity filled her eyes as she shook her head.
Looking past Rose to her father the Beast said, "Wait! You cannot leave. You will be my prisoner until your debt to me is paid."
"Of course, anything," Donatello said, confused. He feared for his life, so he agreed quickly wanting to get his Rose away from the monster.
