Staring at the filmy canopy draped over the bed, Ace frowned as her stomach growled.

Hunger had begun to gnaw at her not very long ago, but she refused to acknowledge it.

'I can go one night without food.' She told herself.

'I don't need to eat anything, especially not if that jerk wants me to.'

Another growl.

'…God, I'm hungry…'

Her eyes drifted to the door, and Ace considered sneaking into the kitchen for a snack despite the very-real threat of being mauled.

The more she thought about food, any food (even those little green, sour apples she normally hated), the more she considered taking the risk.

Throwing caution to the wind for the third time that day (and ignoring how well things had gone the last time she had done that), Ace slipped off the bed and tugged her boots on.

Opening the door silently, she scanned both ends of the hallway before stepping outside.

Her training with Master Fung was put to good use, taking her down the stairs and to the kitchen without a trace…

"She's awful stubborn." Clay pointed out, licking some spilled custard off his paw.

"If she had just come down to eat, we wouldn't have such a mess on our paws…"

"Don't blame her, Clay." Kimiko argued, tiger tail swishing angrily as she closed a drawer.

"Acacia has been through a lot today. It's understandable for her to be upset."

"I understand that, Kimiko." Clay assured.

"I just wish she would have given the Master a little more credit. He said 'please'."

"What the Master needs to do is control his temper, or he'll never break the spe-."

Clay whipped around at the soft creak of the door opening, intent on cutting the tigress off.

"Nice to meet ya, ma'am." He greeted politely, lowering his head as Ace stepped inside.

"I'm Clay, head of the household-."

Jack, skidding on the smooth tile, literally butted the lion out of his way.

"And I'm Jack!" The albino panther introduced, purring and doing a figure-eight around the girl's legs.

"Um…Hi." Ace greeted, slightly confused at the sudden affection from a giant cat.

"Is there anything we can do for you, ma'am?" Clay wondered, pulling Jack away by the scruff of his neck.

"Well…I am a little hungry…" Ace admitted sheepishly.

"We'll get dinner heated up for you in no time!" Kimiko assured, spurring the other big cats into action.

"Remember what the Master said, Kimiko." Clay warned.

"I'm not letting her go hungry because she bruised his ego." The tigress retorted, baring her fangs as her hackles rose.

Deciding it was best to let Kimiko have her way, Clay looked towards the door as if expecting Chase to suddenly appear.

He wasn't sure who he was more scared of at the moment…

"She's not a prisoner, Clay!" Jack agreed, grinning like the Cheshire Cat.

"She's our guest! We should help her feel welcome here!"

Turning to Ace, Jack pushed against her legs, steering the girl towards the double doors that led to the dining room.

"Alright…Just keep it down. If he hears, it'll be our necks." Clay relented, still worried.

"Sure, sure. But what's dinner without a little…music?"

"Music-?"

BAM!

Ace choked on a laugh as she was led to a high-backed chair, taking a seat at the head of the table.

The lights dimmed until only a spotlight was left in the center of the table, and Ace leaned back in her seat, curious.

Lumiere (Jack):Ma chere Mademoiselle, it is with deepest pride and greatest pleasure that we welcome you now we invite you to relax, let us pull up a chair as the dining room proudly presents - your dinner!Be our guest! Be our guest!Put our service to the testTie your napkin 'round your neck, cherieAnd we'll provide the restSoup du jourHot hors d'oeuvresWhy, we only live to serveTry the grey stuff

Chip (Omi):It's delicious

Eyebrow raised in curiosity, Ace took a chip and dipped it in the dip Omi had brought up.

After the first bite, she was surprised by the wonderful flavors and smiled widely as the cub grinned, proud.

Lumiere (Jack):Don't believe me? Ask the dishesThey can sing, they can danceAfter all, Miss, this is FranceAnd a dinner here is never second bestGo on, unfold your menuTake a glance and then you'llBe our guestOui, our guestBe our guest!

Lumiere (Jack) and Chorus:Beef ragoutCheese soufflePie and pudding "en flambe"

The sudden ignition startled her, but Ace overcame her surprise to sample the sweet.

Her tongue tingled with how good it tasted, and she barely resisted the urge to eat the whole thing.

Lumiere (Jack):We'll prepare and serve with flairA culinary cabaret!You're aloneAnd you're scaredBut the banquet's all preparedNo one's gloomy or complainingWhile the flatware's entertainingWe tell jokes! I do tricksWith my fellow candlesticks

Chorus:And it's all in perfect tasteThat you can betCome on and lift your glassYou've won your own free passTo be out guest

Lumiere (Jack):If you're stressedIt's fine dining we suggest

Ace had to admit, for a cat, Jack definitely had a flair for the dramatic…

Chorus:Be our guest! Be our guest! Be our guest!Get your worries off your chestLet us say for your entreeWe've an array; may we suggest:Try the bread! Try the soup!When the croutons loop de loopIt's a treat for any dinnerDon't believe me? Ask the chinaSinging pork! Dancing veal!What an entertaining meal!How could anyone be gloomy and depressed?We'll make you shout "encore!"And send us out for moreSo, be our guest!

Lumiere (Jack):Be our guest!

Chorus:Be our guest!

There was so much food to try, and Ace was happy to do just that, accepting the little dishes and half-filled goblets of sweet drinks.

She had never had so much fun before.

Mrs Potts (Kimiko):It's a guest! It's a guest!Sakes alive, well I'll be blessed!Wine's been poured and thank the LordI've had the napkins freshly pressedWith dessert, she'll want teaAnd my dear that's fine with meWhile the cups do their soft-shoein'I'll be bubbling, I'll be brewingI'll get warm, piping hotHeaven's sakes! Is that a spot?Clean it up! We want the company impressed

Chorus:We've got a lot to do!

Mrs Potts (Kimiko):Is it one lump or two?For you, our guest!

Chorus:She's our guest!

Mrs Potts (Kimiko):She's our guest!

Chorus:She's our guest!Be our guest! Be our guest! Be our guest!

The room went darker, matching the slowing tune of the music.

Ace nearly choked on a milkshake as Jack started hamming it up, pulling an unwilling Clay into the fray.

Lumiere (Jack):Life is so unnervingFor a servant who's not servingHe's not whole without a soul to wait uponAh, those good old days when we were useful...Suddenly those good old days are goneTen years we've been rustingNeeding so much more than dustingNeeding exercise, a chance to use our skills!Most days we just lay around the castleFlabby, fat and lazyYou walked in and oops-a-daisy!

Chorus:Be our guest! Be our guest!Our command is your requestIt's been years since we've had anybody hereAnd we're obsessedWith your meal, with your easeYes, indeed, we aim to pleaseWhile the candlelight's still glowingLet us help you, We'll keep goingCourse by course, one by one'Til you shout, "Enough! I'm done!"Then we'll sing you off to sleep as you digestTonight you'll prop your feet upBut for now, let's eat up

Be our guest!Be our guest!Be our guest!Please, be our guest!

Applauding the performance, Ace leaned forward to scratch behind Jack's ear in thanks.

As the panther practically melted into a purring mass of white fur, Clay approached, surprised and happy to see her smiling.

"I hope you enjoyed the performance, ma'am."

"I did." She answered truthfully.

"Unfortunately, it's time for bed."

"You're no fun, Clay!" Jack whined, instantly soothed by Ace scratching underneath his jaw.

"Actually, I'd like to look around the castle. I've never been in an enchanted one before."

"I don't think-."

"Sure! We can take you on a tour!" Jack answered immediately.

"This way!"

Clay soon got into the spirit of the tour, giving out information like an encyclopedia and leading the way through the winding hallways.

Having lost interest after the first hallway, which was lined with suits of armor, Ace's gaze wandered.

Even one of Jack and Clay's humorous arguments couldn't catch her attention, and she caught sight of the staircase in her boredom.

It was worse for wear than anything else in the castle, with cracked stone and gouged handrails, bits of carpet hanging off the higher steps.

Ace's irrepressible curiosity stirred, whispering loving secrets and mysteries into her ear, and she went towards the staircase, wanting to know what was beyond it…

"Ma'am!"

"Ace, don't!"

The two large felines blocked her path, looking panicked and shaken.

"Why not? What's up there?" Ace wondered, noting their unsheathed claws and warily-raised hackles.

"Nothing! There's nothing in the West Wing! Zip! Nada!" Jack answered hurriedly, frazzled.

"So that's the West Wing, huh?" She muttered, curiosity getting the better of her.

Jack withered under Clay's glare…

'What's he hiding up there?' Ace wondered to herself, stepping easily over her personal roadblock.

Scrambling over each other, they blocked her way a second time.

Nearly tripping over Clay, Ace managed to catch her balance as Jack gripped her sleeve between his teeth.

Reminded of Puppy, Ace wished with all her heart that she had taken the canine's warning and not come inside…

"There are other things we could show you, ma'am." Clay insisted.

"Like the gardens, or the training room, or-."

"Or the library!" Jack suggested.

"You have a library?" Ace questioned immediately, unable to hide her excitement.

"Yup! The biggest library around!" Jack assured, glad for a distraction.

Nudging Ace's hip so she turned away from the West Wing, Clay followed his hyperactive friend down the stairs.

"It's full of books!"

"Mountains of books!"

"Oceans of books!"

Ace took a step down after them, but paused.

They were so excited to be leaving the West Wing behind them, they didn't seem to realize she was not with them…

Taking the opportunity, Ace spun around and ran up the steps as quietly as she could manage.

Hidden in the shadows of the hallway, she paused to let her eyes adjust to the new darkness.

Though rather short, it was lined with dragon-like gargoyles that looked ready to crumble into dust, missing horns or wings or claws, giving an aura of mystery and danger.

Cautiously moving down the hall, eyeing the statues as if they were about to pounce, Ace approached the large, foreboding doors.

They looked scratched and slightly warped, as if from abuse, with a snarling gold dragon's head as handles.

'Very homey…' Ace thought sarcastically, unnerved despite herself.

But her curiosity pushed for answers, so the redhead pulled one of the doors, digging in her heels to move the heavy wooden barrier.

Once there was a suitable gap for her to slip in through, Ace did just that, leaving the door open behind her.

The room was a disaster area; every square inch she could see was occupied by half-broken furniture and tattered cloth, making a maze of splintery wood for her to navigate.

Stepping further inside, Ace edged around a three-legged coffee table, looking around in interest.

The moonlight brought her attention to a portrait on a wall to her left, highlighted by dark wood.

It looked half-torn, as if a bear had swiped at the painting in a rage, and she was drawn in.

The only thing really intact were the eyes, these deep gold eyes that reminded her of…

An unexpected glow in her peripheral startled Ace out of her musing, and she spun on her heel to see whatever had caused it.

Floating peacefully in a delicately-detailed glass cover, a pink rose shed its soft light on the ravaged room, creating warped shadows.

'A magic rose?' Ace wondered, creeping closer as her eyes stayed locked on the delicate flower.

'It's kinda hard to see…'

The glass was smudged, as if someone constantly ran their hands over the surface, making the glow a bit dimmer than she thought it should be.

However, Ace hesitated to remove the covering.

'Maybe magic roses are more delicate…'

But her curiosity got the best of her again, and she gingerly lifted the case, setting it on the ground.

Unimpeded, the rose practically lit the room like a candelabra, pushing the shadows further away.

"Whoa…"

It was like the rose was whispering something in a faint voice, something she couldn't quite decipher…

With a snarl, Chase slammed the glass casing back over the rose, as if he expected her to destroy it at any moment.

Startled back by the suddenness of it, Ace felt her heart stutter at the glare she was given just then.

Stumbling back to keep out of range of his angry tail, Ace caught her balance against the footboard of a sturdily-built bed.

"Why did you come here?"

Voice lost as her brain redirected all efforts to survival, she went utterly still in the face of Chase's rage.

"I warned you never to come here!"

"I'm sorry…" She finally managed to say, adrenaline pounding through her veins.

"Do you realize what you could have done?"

Ace barely managed to avoid getting her shoulder slashed open by his angry claws.

"GET OUT!"

The roar spurred her fight-or-flight reflex, and she was across the room faster than anyone could have expected.

"I'm sorry."

Ace didn't wait to see if she had been heard, or retrieve her cloak; she went straight for the main staircase, taking the steps down three at a time.

Clay and Jack found her then, after a frantic search of the castle after her disappearance.

"Where are you going?" Jack wondered, ears back in worry.

"I'm leaving."

Pulling the main doors open, Ace shivered at the blast of snow and cold that came in.

A blizzard had rolled in when she wasn't looking…

Nestled in the snow, Cerberus raised her three heads at the sudden appearance of their mistress.

"Ace, you can't!"

"Please, wait!"

"I'm sorry."

Closing the door with a hard shove, Ace looked up as Cerberus bounded over, looking both excited and concerned.

"It's alright." She muttered, swinging onto the broad back and taking the reins.

"Just run."

Knowing the command, Baby shook the snow off her ears and urged her fellows into a run, taking off like a shot through the gate.

But once they were amid the trees…

Cerberus snarled, hackles raised, as four or five wolves blocked their path.

Forced to skid in order to avoid running into the wall of fangs and claws, Ace yanked the reins to the left.

Barreling through the snow-laden trees, she leaned forward against the frost-tipped fur to avoid sharp branches as the wolves pursued them.

'Shit-Shit-Shit-Shit-!'

Ace saw the wolf moments before it tried to pounce.

Lashing out with her foot, she kicked the foolish creature in the throat and into a tree, hopefully unconscious.

The growing pack was right on Cerberus' heels, unwilling to let them escape, and she cursed heatedly.

One of the beasts had managed to get on one side of them unnoticed, and lunged for Dolly's throat.

Instinctively, the large canine veered to the right, crashing shoulder-first into a tree trunk.

This sent them spinning out of control, and Ace was thrown off, skidding and tumbling through the snow.

Groaning in pain as her world came back into focus, she gasped to jump-start her shell-shocked lungs and levered herself up.

Cerberus, having regained their feet, stood over her like a warm storm cloud, snarling deep in their chest as the wolves approached.

Narrowing her eyes on the pack, Ace clenched her fists as she pulled her legs up into a crouch, ready to move.

The foremost wolf lunged, and Ace swung her arm, knocking the beast away with a fist to its open jowls.

Before she knew what had happened, another had pounced on her, ready to dig its fangs into her unprotected throat-

A bloodcurdling roar seemed to make the trees shake as a large, clawed hand struck the wolf away with a spray of blood.

Struggling to breathe, Ace stared as Chase stood between her and the pack, tail lashing the air like a spiked whip.

"Are you alright?"

"J-Just a little banged up…" She admitted, voice shaking from the sudden fear of dying.

A snarl rumbled from his chest, and her confusion grew.

'Why is he upset? I thought…'

In a blur of movement and sound, the dragon lord pounced, and the snow was stained red by the time the last wolf retreated.

As her pulse slowed, Ace pushed up onto her feet and turned to Chase, breath shaky.

"Are you-?"

The blood caught her attention then, dripping from the dragon's shoulder and forearm in a steady rhythm.

"Oh God, Chase-!"

He swayed, blood loss creeping up on him, and she rushed forward to keep the large reptile upright.

Letting a cold-blood dragon fall into a snowdrift didn't sound like a good idea…

"Cerberus!" She called, locking her knees to keep from being knocked over by Chase's superior weight.

The canine came forward obediently, and Dolly helped to lift the dragon onto their broad back before he lost consciousness.

Taking the reins, Ace turned back towards the castle with a sigh.

"Come on, girls. Time to head back…"

Dropping a clean cloth into a bowl of steaming water after testing the warmth with her fingertips, Ace glared at seeing Chase trying to lick his wounds.

Again.

"You're going to make it worse." She warned, wringing the cloth out.

A growl was her answer, and the felines ducked into hiding.

Refusing to be intimidated, Ace folded the cloth and approached the seated dragon.

"Just hold still."

Liking being ordered around as much as Ace did (which was not at all), Chase avoided the warm cloth in her hands on principle.

He was not being childish.

He was being stubborn.

Once the cloth finally landed on his forearm, where a deep set of teeth marks were, it was rougher than expected and Chase snarled.

"If you weren't moving around like a child afraid of getting his candy taken away, it wouldn't hurt as much." Ace scolded, frustrated.

"If you hadn't run away, this wouldn't have happened!" Chase retorted.

"If you hadn't told me to leave, I wouldn't have left!"

Logic was not his friend at the moment…

"If you hadn't been in the West Wing, I wouldn't have done such a thing!"

"Maybe if you weren't such a bastard, I wouldn't be here at all!"

There was nothing he could say to that, not really, but their tempers were cooling, at least.

As the cats came out from their fortresses, Ace sighed, taking hold of his forearm.

"This'll sting."

And it did, though not as much as before; this didn't stop the dragon lord from tensing, hissing between his sharp teeth.

Noticing this, Ace tried to be gentle, a slight frown on her face.

"…Thanks. For coming to save me."

Really, Chase hadn't expected her to thank him at all.

Now that she had…

He felt strangely warm.

"…You're welcome."