Here is the start to my multi-prompt Beauty and the Beast AU. I will say I’ve spoiled you all with long drabbles, the following chapters will be over 100 for sure but most likely under 1,000.
Katara had never seen a storm like this.
The snow and wind howled through the trees, making her exposed skin feel tight in the cold. It was bitter, dangerously bitter, but she had to push on. There were lights in the distance that she hoped were a welcoming home or inn. It wasn’t an option to brave out the storm with a shelter made of sticks. And she needed to reach them soon.
She had been on a mission to find her mother when the snow came on all of a sudden and the path she traveled disappeared. Katara accepted that she was lost, but that didn’t help much.
Thankfully, she had worn her heavy winter coat at the start of her journey. But her bag didn’t have enough food for more than a day, that is if she survived through the storm. The path she had chosen was built with rest stops or small towns about a days walk apart allowing travelers to pack light. Only now that she was lost and freezing did it come back to bite her.
But if she just focused on the lights in the distance, she would make it.
It seemed that with every step she made, the snow was an inch deeper and soon enough, the snow was up to her knees. Her pants, leggings, socks and shoes were all soaked through, she could tell, and it chilled her to the bone.
Finally the house was clearly in view, and what a large mansion it was. It made her wonder who lived so far off the road surrounded by wilderness. Minutes later, she trudged up to the large ornate wooden door and was only able to knock once before she succumbed to the cold, fainting onto the stone steps.
When she woke, she was wrapped in a thick blanket by a roaring fire. The heat was a welcoming sensation. She looked around the sitting room to see who had moved her inside but it was empty. The last thing she remembered was seeing the house in view.
Looking closer she saw a tea set prepared off to the side. A kettle was hanging on it’s hook near the fire so that the water she assumed was inside was kept hot but not boiling. She used the metal poker to bring the kettle out of the fireplace and grabbed a towel to open the hot lid. After confirming that water was inside she set to make some tea to help warm up. Whoever had brought her in obviously wanted her to get warm so she didn’t feel bad helping herself.
It was as she walked to the windows, blanket draped over her shoulders and her hands wrapped around the warm tea cup, that she noticed why it was so dark. It wasn’t just that the moon was blocked by the storm, but that the snow had continued so much and filled the whole window, blocking everything.
Wherever she was, she was officially snowed in.
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2087
