Send me “Hush, go back to sleep.” for my character to fall asleep in your characters arms.
Belle snuggled close against her mother’s side, yawning widely. The evening was warm, so they had set out a blanket in the field to watch the sun set. It was so nice and calm, and the little girl wanted to wait for the first star to appear so she could make a wish, but she had been running around all day, and her eyelids were drooping, so she simply turned in to her mother’s embrace and fell asleep.
When Dragons Eat the Sun (Belle-centric fic snippet)
Note: Dedicated to Suallenparker whose advice helped me write this snippet. Some of this is inspired by Oscar Wilde's the Rose and the Nightingale
And was it just her imagination? Or are the branches moving of their own accord?
The thought passed her by quickly as she continued her long climb up. Her limbs were quickly tiring and in her 12 years of life, she had never scaled a tree this big.
I can do this. Just a little more and I can save it...
She felt hot even though the sun had long set. And it seemed that the thorns grew sharper and more numerous the higher she climbed. It was as if it was defending itself from her.
But that's impossible! It's just a tree...unless it was a magic tr-
The blow was swift and she had no time to react. She fell from the tree, feeling scratches on her way down and only gaining enough time to prepare herself for a fall.
But the fall never came because a warm arm suddenly grabbed her effortlessly and allowed her to hold on. It was the scaled man, her newest friend (though he would never admit to having friends), Yuri.
"I thought you weren't going to help me save the bird."
Yuri wasn't looking at her but he replied, "As you can see, I'm not here for the bird."
"But we have to save it! I remember now! It can turn any living thing in its vicinity to birds. And use the blood to produce the flowers. I've read about this tree in a book but I never thought it still existed. The book said that-"
She immediately stopped when Yuri shielded her from the blows. For what seemed like hours, but in fact it was only mere seconds, the tree kept hitting Yuri. The blows getting swifter and harder.
Belle couldn't speak. She was afraid for Yuri. She tried to will herself to think of a solution. That is until she saw Yuri's face.
Blood was dripping down his face. But he was calm. In fact, the blows didn't even seem to faze him.
Are his scales acting as an armor?
But before she can ponder more on this, Yuri broke her line of thought.
"Fine. I'll help you save the damn bird or whatever it is that turned into a bird. But I think we better save ourselves first. Hold on to me and don't scream."
The next blow never reached Yuri because he caught it. And before Belle's eyes, fire appeared from Yuri's hand and swiftly traveled its way to the branches and all the way to the tree trunk.
And all Belle thought was why Yuri would ever think she would be frightened. He was her friend. She knew he wouldn't hurt her. And what he did was the most amazing thing she's ever seen.
Belle and Gaston had been running around in the field behind the village all day, pretending to be characters from one of her books. He was the brave knight, come to save the fair damsel from the dragon, using a stick as a sword and singing it at the air while Belle pretended to swoon and cheered for him. When they tired of that, they fell back in the grass and watched the clouds go by. By the time Maurice came out to the field to find Belle, both children had fallen asleep, cuddled together like a pair of kittens.
