Fan Fiction ❯ The Red Red Rose ❯ Deals and Roses ( Chapter 2 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: Amphitrite 
How it all takes shape
Anime/Manga: Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Fantasy / Classic | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 10.11.2005 | Pages: 2 | Words: 2.6K | Visits: 148 | Status: Work In Progress
How it all takes shape
Anime/Manga: Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Fantasy / Classic | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 10.11.2005 | Pages: 2 | Words: 2.6K | Visits: 148 | Status: Work In Progress
1 Disclaimer: See Chapter 1
A/N: In chapter 1 we met the lovely Ebony and her not so lovely family. We also met the young hunter, Henry. Ebony and Henry spent many an hour together and started falling in love. During all of this Ebony's father is in town conducting his business. That is where we continue our story...
Chapter 2- Deals and Roses
It took Ebony's father three days to travel to the city. As it turned out, he
arrived about two weeks early and had to stay in the city to await the arrival
of the shipment, so that he could make the deal. The night before the deal was,
finalized Ebony's father went to a tavern in one of the more seedy parts of the
city.
While at the tavern he sat at a table full of people, because he kept buying the
drinks. With a scantily clad lady on both his knees he talked about how rich he
was going to be after tomorrow, and all the beautiful things that he was going
to buy his two true daughters. When four men came over and asked if they could
join in on the party, and he agreed whole heartily.
"By the way, my name is Curtis friends," said Ebony's father.
The four men just mumbled something, which no one could make out. Not that it
mattered because Curtis had turned his attention back to the two women on his
knees. The men spent the next two hours listening to how Curtis bragged about
all the money he was going to have after tomorrow and all the things that he was
going to buy his daughters.
When morning came, Curtis started to leave his room. Then he turns around and
looks at the two battered and bruised naked women and says, "Thanks that was
fun. I'll look you up next time I'm in town."
As he closed the door, he could hear the women start to cry which (of course)
put a smile on his face and a bounce in his step. By the time that Curtis
arrived at the office where the deal was to be conducted he was grinning from
ear to ear and whistling a happy little tune. For the next five hours Curtis had
to sit and wait as all of the little points of the deal were worked out. With each passing hour his good mood lessened, until by the end it was as if it was nonexistent. The only thing that brought some of it back was when the amount that Curtis was getting was announced. This actually turned out to be quite a lot more than what he had first thought it would be.
Curtis decided that he was going to spend another night in the city to celebrate
his new good fortune. He ended up at the same tavern that he had spent the night
before at. Also, he kept the two same women with him the whole time. When he was
ready to go up to his room the women were close to tears because they remembered
the hell that they had been through the night before.
When morning came Curtis was in the best mood that he probably had ever been in.
The women though were probably in the worst shape that they had ever been in.
Curtis just whistled as he walked to the front room where he paid his bill and
started on his way home to his two true daughters.
Curtis was about one day from home when it happened. The same four men that he
drank with the first night at the tavern attacked him. They came when the sun was setting, surrounding him on all four sides, and dragging him to the ground knocking him unconscious. Then they moved him and his horses about an hour into the woods by which Curtis was passing. When Curtis finally woke up it was pitch black and he was tied to a tree. He looked around the camp trying to figure out where he was and what was going on. The first thing that he noticed was that all of the men were around a fire and that they were going through the presents that he had bought his two true daughters. When the men noticed that he was awake they started to take turns on punching and kicking Curtis until he was unconscious again. This time when he woke up it was full light out and the men were gone with his money, his presents for his two true daughters, and his horses. That was not the worst part though, the worst part was that the stole his clothes and left him tied to the tree.
It took Curtis half a day to get himself untied from the tree. By the time that he was done he had rope burns in places that should never see rope. Of course he cursed the rope, the four men, and for no reason what so ever he cursed Ebony; for everything bad that happens to him is her fault. Curtis walked around the forest for the rest of the day walking through bushes and over logs. What he did not realize was that the bushes that he was walking through happened to be poison ivy.
As night began to fall, Curtis (who was very tired) tripped and he fell down this big hill. He rolled over rocks, sticks, and some more poison ivy before he came to a sudden stop at a pair of ornate iron gates. Curtis laid at the gate unconscious until it was full dark. When he woke up the first thing that he started to do was to curse everything around him, then he cursed the four men, and yet again Ebony. After about an hour of cussing Curtis got up and noticed that the gates were actually open. As he walked though the gates, he also noticed that the walkway led up to an old castle. The castle was covered with ivy vines and climbing roses. As he looked around the grounds, he saw that they were wild and unkempt. The one thing that he did not notice though was that in one of the trees was a small silver winged falcon.
When Curtis finally got to the doors of the castle, the doors opened with out him having to knock. Now, normally Curtis would have turned and high tailed it out of there at this point in time, but he was tired, hurt, and he was starting to itch from all the poison ivy that he had passed though that day. So Curtis walked into the castle.
Once he entered the castle he did not notice that there was no one around. At the end of the hall he did see that there was a room with light coming from it. When Curtis walked into the room, he saw that there was a table that was full of every food that he could of possible imagine and some that he could not. It was then that he noticed for the first time that there was not a single person around. This was starting to freak Curtis out so he did the only thing that he could think of. He called out, "Is there anyone home? I'm lost, hurt, tiered, and as you can see I have no clothes can anyone help me?"
Of course there was no answer to his questions but once he thought about it the food really had to be for him since there was no one else around. With that thought in mind Curtis started in on the food. He ate as if it had been days not hours since he had last eaten and by the time that he was done over half of the food was gone. By this time Curtis was beginning to feel sleepy and decided to look for a room. When he went and opened the door that he had come through instead of the hallway that lead to the front door he found there was a bedroom instead.
In the bedroom the main focus was the huge four poster bed that was in the middle of the room. To the left of the bed there was a dresser and when Curtis opened it it was full of clothes that were just his size. On the wall to the right of the bed there was a door, when Curtis opened the door he saw that it lead to a bathroom that contained everything that he could possible need including a small container that held ointment for his poison ivy. When he saw, this Curtis immediately decided to take the bath that was drawn and put the ointment on to stop the itching.
After his bath Curtis put on a pair of the nightclothes that were provided and settled in for a restful nights sleep in this magical castle that he found. In the morning he got up and put on some of the clothes, which were of a much better quality then anything that he had ever worn before and went to break his fast on food that was just as good if not better than the dinner the night before. When Curtis was finished, he decided that he deserved a few days to relax after all that he had been through. So he figured that since no one lived at the castle, and it was magical and everything was provided for him, he would stay but only for a few days.
What was to be only a few days turned into a few weeks. During those weeks
Curtis not only relaxed he also took some of the small items that were of worth any value but would never be missed, a gold fork here, a jewel- encrusted cup there. These things he put away so that he would have something to give his two true daughters when he got home. When he felt, he had enough Curtis decided that it was time for him to return home. As he took a bag that was full of clothes and the items that he had stolen he walked outside. When he looked around Curtis noticed that there was what looked to be a rose garden, it was then that he remembered that Ebony had wanted a single red, red rose. Curtis went over to the rose garden and found a bush that had the most beautiful, darkest red, red roses on them. He started to chuckle to himself as he pictured what Ebony's face would look like when he gave a rose to each of his two true daughters along with everything else.
As Cutis picked one of the roses, he heard a terrible roaring sound that came from the castle and it froze him where he was. The next thing he realized was the warm breath on the back of his neck. When he turned around Curtis was face to face with the most hideous monster that he had ever seen. The thing's fur was a combination of brown, gold, and red. It stood on its back legs making it almost look human, it seemed that it was a patchwork of different animals. The different animals that Curtis could identify were a bear, a wolf, a lion, but there were at least five more that he could not. Only then did Curtis look into the eyes of the monster it had the most beautiful hazel eyes that he had ever seen. They looked too human to belong to such a monstrosity. The next thing that caught Curtis' eye was the monster's gleaming razor-sharp teeth that were protruding from his mouth.
"What in hell do you think that you are doing? Here I give you hospitality, heal your wounds, open my house to you so that you can recuperate and not only do you steal from inside my house you plan on taking one of my roses, also?" the monster roared at Curtis.
Curtis was so petrified that he could not answer the monster for a few seconds. By the time that he had regained his composure the monster was speaking again, "I was going to let you go with the few things that you had stolen, and I would not have said a word. Now though you will have to die for the injustices you have done to me," it said.
Now Curtis was never one that did not think quickly on his feet. After the monster was finished, he fell at his feet, paws, whatever you want to call them and started to beg. He said, "Please you don't understand this rose is for my only daughter, she is the light of my life. When I went on my business trip, I asked her what she wanted and the only thing she said was a single red, red rose to put in her hair. When I got to the city my business went really well but as you know I was robbed on my way home and that is why I took the things from your castle, sir. They are now all the wealth I have and you have so much I didn't think that you would miss a few items. So I'm begging you to spare my life so that I can go home and be with my beautiful Ebony."
"You have a daughter you say?"
"Yes, I do."
"All right I have a deal for you then."
"A deal..."
"Yes, you can live if and only if you send your daughter here to live with me for the rest of her life. If not you will come back here and die," the monster stated in a low tone.
Curtis thought about this for a few minutes and then said, "If I don't send my daughter Ebony to you I have to come back and die. What will happen if I don't send my daughter and I don't come back myself?"
"I will hunt you down and kill not only you but your daughter too. You have three days in which to decide. The horse in the stable will take you home today and bring you or your daughter back at the end of the three days. Leave now!"
The monster watched as Curtis climbed onto the back of the horse and rode off. It was then that the silver winged falcon flew down and landed on a branch at eye level with the monster. "What in the world do you hope to accomplish by this. We both know that you will not go after the poor man and that the man will not send the light of his life to live here with you. So what were you thinking, Dimitri?"
Dimitri turned on the little bird and roared, "I thought I told you never to call me that again, you stupid little bird!"
A/N: In chapter 1 we met the lovely Ebony and her not so lovely family. We also met the young hunter, Henry. Ebony and Henry spent many an hour together and started falling in love. During all of this Ebony's father is in town conducting his business. That is where we continue our story...
Chapter 2- Deals and Roses
It took Ebony's father three days to travel to the city. As it turned out, he
arrived about two weeks early and had to stay in the city to await the arrival
of the shipment, so that he could make the deal. The night before the deal was,
finalized Ebony's father went to a tavern in one of the more seedy parts of the
city.
While at the tavern he sat at a table full of people, because he kept buying the
drinks. With a scantily clad lady on both his knees he talked about how rich he
was going to be after tomorrow, and all the beautiful things that he was going
to buy his two true daughters. When four men came over and asked if they could
join in on the party, and he agreed whole heartily.
"By the way, my name is Curtis friends," said Ebony's father.
The four men just mumbled something, which no one could make out. Not that it
mattered because Curtis had turned his attention back to the two women on his
knees. The men spent the next two hours listening to how Curtis bragged about
all the money he was going to have after tomorrow and all the things that he was
going to buy his daughters.
When morning came, Curtis started to leave his room. Then he turns around and
looks at the two battered and bruised naked women and says, "Thanks that was
fun. I'll look you up next time I'm in town."
As he closed the door, he could hear the women start to cry which (of course)
put a smile on his face and a bounce in his step. By the time that Curtis
arrived at the office where the deal was to be conducted he was grinning from
ear to ear and whistling a happy little tune. For the next five hours Curtis had
to sit and wait as all of the little points of the deal were worked out. With each passing hour his good mood lessened, until by the end it was as if it was nonexistent. The only thing that brought some of it back was when the amount that Curtis was getting was announced. This actually turned out to be quite a lot more than what he had first thought it would be.
Curtis decided that he was going to spend another night in the city to celebrate
his new good fortune. He ended up at the same tavern that he had spent the night
before at. Also, he kept the two same women with him the whole time. When he was
ready to go up to his room the women were close to tears because they remembered
the hell that they had been through the night before.
When morning came Curtis was in the best mood that he probably had ever been in.
The women though were probably in the worst shape that they had ever been in.
Curtis just whistled as he walked to the front room where he paid his bill and
started on his way home to his two true daughters.
Curtis was about one day from home when it happened. The same four men that he
drank with the first night at the tavern attacked him. They came when the sun was setting, surrounding him on all four sides, and dragging him to the ground knocking him unconscious. Then they moved him and his horses about an hour into the woods by which Curtis was passing. When Curtis finally woke up it was pitch black and he was tied to a tree. He looked around the camp trying to figure out where he was and what was going on. The first thing that he noticed was that all of the men were around a fire and that they were going through the presents that he had bought his two true daughters. When the men noticed that he was awake they started to take turns on punching and kicking Curtis until he was unconscious again. This time when he woke up it was full light out and the men were gone with his money, his presents for his two true daughters, and his horses. That was not the worst part though, the worst part was that the stole his clothes and left him tied to the tree.
It took Curtis half a day to get himself untied from the tree. By the time that he was done he had rope burns in places that should never see rope. Of course he cursed the rope, the four men, and for no reason what so ever he cursed Ebony; for everything bad that happens to him is her fault. Curtis walked around the forest for the rest of the day walking through bushes and over logs. What he did not realize was that the bushes that he was walking through happened to be poison ivy.
As night began to fall, Curtis (who was very tired) tripped and he fell down this big hill. He rolled over rocks, sticks, and some more poison ivy before he came to a sudden stop at a pair of ornate iron gates. Curtis laid at the gate unconscious until it was full dark. When he woke up the first thing that he started to do was to curse everything around him, then he cursed the four men, and yet again Ebony. After about an hour of cussing Curtis got up and noticed that the gates were actually open. As he walked though the gates, he also noticed that the walkway led up to an old castle. The castle was covered with ivy vines and climbing roses. As he looked around the grounds, he saw that they were wild and unkempt. The one thing that he did not notice though was that in one of the trees was a small silver winged falcon.
When Curtis finally got to the doors of the castle, the doors opened with out him having to knock. Now, normally Curtis would have turned and high tailed it out of there at this point in time, but he was tired, hurt, and he was starting to itch from all the poison ivy that he had passed though that day. So Curtis walked into the castle.
Once he entered the castle he did not notice that there was no one around. At the end of the hall he did see that there was a room with light coming from it. When Curtis walked into the room, he saw that there was a table that was full of every food that he could of possible imagine and some that he could not. It was then that he noticed for the first time that there was not a single person around. This was starting to freak Curtis out so he did the only thing that he could think of. He called out, "Is there anyone home? I'm lost, hurt, tiered, and as you can see I have no clothes can anyone help me?"
Of course there was no answer to his questions but once he thought about it the food really had to be for him since there was no one else around. With that thought in mind Curtis started in on the food. He ate as if it had been days not hours since he had last eaten and by the time that he was done over half of the food was gone. By this time Curtis was beginning to feel sleepy and decided to look for a room. When he went and opened the door that he had come through instead of the hallway that lead to the front door he found there was a bedroom instead.
In the bedroom the main focus was the huge four poster bed that was in the middle of the room. To the left of the bed there was a dresser and when Curtis opened it it was full of clothes that were just his size. On the wall to the right of the bed there was a door, when Curtis opened the door he saw that it lead to a bathroom that contained everything that he could possible need including a small container that held ointment for his poison ivy. When he saw, this Curtis immediately decided to take the bath that was drawn and put the ointment on to stop the itching.
After his bath Curtis put on a pair of the nightclothes that were provided and settled in for a restful nights sleep in this magical castle that he found. In the morning he got up and put on some of the clothes, which were of a much better quality then anything that he had ever worn before and went to break his fast on food that was just as good if not better than the dinner the night before. When Curtis was finished, he decided that he deserved a few days to relax after all that he had been through. So he figured that since no one lived at the castle, and it was magical and everything was provided for him, he would stay but only for a few days.
What was to be only a few days turned into a few weeks. During those weeks
Curtis not only relaxed he also took some of the small items that were of worth any value but would never be missed, a gold fork here, a jewel- encrusted cup there. These things he put away so that he would have something to give his two true daughters when he got home. When he felt, he had enough Curtis decided that it was time for him to return home. As he took a bag that was full of clothes and the items that he had stolen he walked outside. When he looked around Curtis noticed that there was what looked to be a rose garden, it was then that he remembered that Ebony had wanted a single red, red rose. Curtis went over to the rose garden and found a bush that had the most beautiful, darkest red, red roses on them. He started to chuckle to himself as he pictured what Ebony's face would look like when he gave a rose to each of his two true daughters along with everything else.
As Cutis picked one of the roses, he heard a terrible roaring sound that came from the castle and it froze him where he was. The next thing he realized was the warm breath on the back of his neck. When he turned around Curtis was face to face with the most hideous monster that he had ever seen. The thing's fur was a combination of brown, gold, and red. It stood on its back legs making it almost look human, it seemed that it was a patchwork of different animals. The different animals that Curtis could identify were a bear, a wolf, a lion, but there were at least five more that he could not. Only then did Curtis look into the eyes of the monster it had the most beautiful hazel eyes that he had ever seen. They looked too human to belong to such a monstrosity. The next thing that caught Curtis' eye was the monster's gleaming razor-sharp teeth that were protruding from his mouth.
"What in hell do you think that you are doing? Here I give you hospitality, heal your wounds, open my house to you so that you can recuperate and not only do you steal from inside my house you plan on taking one of my roses, also?" the monster roared at Curtis.
Curtis was so petrified that he could not answer the monster for a few seconds. By the time that he had regained his composure the monster was speaking again, "I was going to let you go with the few things that you had stolen, and I would not have said a word. Now though you will have to die for the injustices you have done to me," it said.
Now Curtis was never one that did not think quickly on his feet. After the monster was finished, he fell at his feet, paws, whatever you want to call them and started to beg. He said, "Please you don't understand this rose is for my only daughter, she is the light of my life. When I went on my business trip, I asked her what she wanted and the only thing she said was a single red, red rose to put in her hair. When I got to the city my business went really well but as you know I was robbed on my way home and that is why I took the things from your castle, sir. They are now all the wealth I have and you have so much I didn't think that you would miss a few items. So I'm begging you to spare my life so that I can go home and be with my beautiful Ebony."
"You have a daughter you say?"
"Yes, I do."
"All right I have a deal for you then."
"A deal..."
"Yes, you can live if and only if you send your daughter here to live with me for the rest of her life. If not you will come back here and die," the monster stated in a low tone.
Curtis thought about this for a few minutes and then said, "If I don't send my daughter Ebony to you I have to come back and die. What will happen if I don't send my daughter and I don't come back myself?"
"I will hunt you down and kill not only you but your daughter too. You have three days in which to decide. The horse in the stable will take you home today and bring you or your daughter back at the end of the three days. Leave now!"
The monster watched as Curtis climbed onto the back of the horse and rode off. It was then that the silver winged falcon flew down and landed on a branch at eye level with the monster. "What in the world do you hope to accomplish by this. We both know that you will not go after the poor man and that the man will not send the light of his life to live here with you. So what were you thinking, Dimitri?"
Dimitri turned on the little bird and roared, "I thought I told you never to call me that again, you stupid little bird!"