An Epic, Tragic Love Story, Chapter Four

~Going For a Ride~

"And where are you running off to, young lady?"

Escargot froze, one foot planted daintily over the threshold of the mansion door, the other still anchoring her to the room and her duties. Putting on what she hoped was a convincing smile, the royal girl turned back to her stately mother and said lightly "Well it's such a lovely day, I thought I'd take a walk in the woods!"

"You took one yesterday" her mother started calmly, her arms folding over the bodice of her elegant yet simple gown, "and you didn't return until the sun had nearly set."

Laughing in an all too incriminating manner, Escargot Pudding responded quickly "Oh, you know how fast time flies when you're out for a walk! I mean, it's so hard to see the sun through the trees, and –"

"Escargot" her mother interrupted, and though her voice was stern, she wore a light smile "It doesn't matter to me what you do in the woods or how long you're out, but I ask you that today of all days you'd not go." At the sudden sad look in her daughter's eye her voice softened as she hurried to explain "Pierre is arriving today, and we all need to be here to greet him when he comes! You especially, since you're the one he'll be marrying. It was your idea, after all."

Escargot looked away quickly, worried that her mother had caught her eye-roll that had accompanied the mention of Pierre's name. Sure it had been her idea to get married… but she hadn't chosen to marry him. Shifting imperceptibly onto the outside porch, Escargot said in as reassuring a voice as she could "Mother, don't worry! I won't be gone long! A couple hours at most! I'm sure Pierre and his family aren't leaving until late in the morning anyways, and it'll take some time for them to get here. Even if I came back at sundown again, I'd probably arrive before he did!"

Despite the victorious smile she wore at the infallibility of her own argument, her mother was unconvinced. "Yes, and when you come back at sundown to greet Pierre with dirt on your dress and leaves in your hair, I'm sure you'll make a wonderful impression on the royal family. Don't forget, he is a prince."

Lady Escargot paused mid-frustrated-sigh as her mother's words sunk in, and suddenly she felt the growing heat of anger burning in her, a scowl starting to quirk her mouth. With a resolute step that left no room for debate, she picked up her skirts and walked fully onto the porch, turning back to her mother with bright eyes and saying stiffly "If Pierre can't handle a little dirt and some leaves, then maybe he'd better go look somewhere else for a wife." And without another word she stormed huffily away, never noticing the smile and approving look in her mother's eyes as she watched the young girl go.

Frown still firmly in place, Escargot stomped her way into the forest, making quite the racket as she went and not bothering to keep track of her path. She wasn't so much mad at her mother as she was at herself. Of course it had been hasty of her to demand marriage arrangements, but she hadn't thought it would get so out of her control! She had wanted options and company and something new; what she got was an arranged marriage with a man she didn't actually want. Not to mention… a secret relationship with another man she shouldn't really have been meeting with. There was nothing inherently bad about Hanabart, aside from some demon blood which Escargot didn't mind in the least, but he wasn't exactly the type of man a lady such as herself could take back home to mother and parade around with. No matter how much she wanted to.

A heavy sigh escaped the young lady as she plowed on through the undergrowth; she had gotten herself in this mess, and now she didn't know how to dig herself out of it.

"What's your problem?"

Escargot shrieked and stopped abruptly at the sudden voice beside her, turning to see Hanabart's handsome face scrunched into a grimace. "Damn, is this gonna become a regular thing with you?"

"Hanabart!" She gasped, a hand over her racing heart and pulse still throbbing from the scare, "I- I'm sorry! How long have you been here?"

His grimace turned to a cocky smirk as he looked down at her and said "A few minutes now. I've been walking beside you for a while, but you didn't notice. What you stewin' over anyways?"

Escargot couldn't respond at first. A few minutes? He'd been beside her and she hadn't noticed at all? 'Must be his demon abilities' she mused, more intrigued than anything. He was quite the skilled hunter.

"Well?" He said sharply, cutting her from her daze as she looked to see him with his arms crossed impatiently, "You gonna tell me what's wrong? Shouldn't I, uh… help with that kinda stuff now?"

For a moment she just stared at him some more, wondering at his deep blush, but then their conversation from the previous afternoon filled her head, and she remembered his words as if he'd just spoken them: 'Can I court you?' Suddenly her face bloomed red as well, and her gaze fell to her fidgeting hands as she said "I-it's nothing. Just some silly argument I had with my mother."

"You shouldn't argue with your mother." His voice was so soft yet so heavy all at once that it made her look up to meet his serious golden gaze. "You're lucky to have a mother" he continued, and suddenly Escargot felt like a fool. She didn't know what it was he'd gone through, but she had clearly upset him with her flippant remarks.

"You're right" she said earnestly, hoping he could see her sincerity "I don't like to argue with her. I do love her very much… I'll apologize when I go back."

He nodded with a smile, and for a moment just stood looking at her, not saying a word. She waited for him to speak first, but after a few minutes all he said was a simple "Hi."

A giddy smile broke Escargot's patient stare, and she giggled slightly, responding "Some hello!"

Hanabart's expression turned sheepish as he smiled back, a clawed finger scratching at his cheek as he said "I ain't very good with this 'formal' stuff. I don't know what I'm supposed to do now."

"Well first of all" Escargot responded with mock seriousness, reaching out and grabbing his hand forcefully "don't be formal. If there's one thing I've had enough of, it's doing things the way they've been planned. I'm more than ready for some spontaneity!"

She was surprised to hear Hanabart laugh lightly at her words, and he met her gaze with his eyebrows cocked in a curious expression. "So does that mean you wouldn't be up for something I'd planned?"

Her surprise was evident as she parroted "Planned? You mean you planned something for us to do?"

"Sure! I mean, it's not anything fancy, and it might be asking a little much," he trailed off, his voice getting more unsure and unsteady as he went as his courage slipped. Escargot caught his rising anxiety over whatever he had wanted to do and said in a firm and reassuring voice "Whatever you planned to do today, I'd love to. I trust you!"

His responding look of surprise set off a burst of colors in her mind's eye, and Escargot Pudding found she didn't really care what he had planned, so long as she got to spend time with him. "In that case…" he continued, sounding a little more sure of himself, "how'd you like to go for a ride?"

"Really?" she said, a bit surprised and a bit disappointed at such a mundane activity. It was just the kind of thing she would expect Pierre to ask of her. "That sounds nice" she replied in a polite and unenthusiastic tone that she had up to this point not had to use on him, "so where are you keeping the horses? Do we have to go hunt some down?"

"Horses?" He copied in a very confused and slightly offended tone, "Why the hell would we need horses?" Now it was Escargot's turn to be confused as she answered "Well what else are we going to ride? Do you have a carriage that pulls itself?"

Scoffing and folding his arms, Hanabart responded gruffly "Geez, is that the only way you people get around? Who needs a horse or a carriage? They'd just get in the way! I meant I'd carry you!"

Escargot was sure her eyebrows shot high enough to meet her crown as she registered what he'd said. "Carry?! Carry how?"

"On my back!" He replied, as if it were the most obvious answer and one he shouldn't have even had to explain. "How else am I gonna get us above the tree line and over the river and such?"

'Over the river… above the trees….' The idea of a piggy-back ride had seemed silly at first, but the more Escargot thought about it, the more she realized what he was really offering: freedom. She'd never been very far in these woods, and certainly never crossed the river. She'd tried to climb the trees when she was a young girl, but her advisors had put a quick end to that. But he could climb a tree with her. He could take her across the river. They could scale mountains, cross deserts, dive into waterfalls and leap canyons, and he'd never tell her she shouldn't do those things as a lady.

And suddenly it occurred to her just why she liked being around him so much: she wasn't 'a lady' to him, she was just 'Escargot'. She was herself.

Giving him her most dazzling smile, she swung the hand she still held happily and said "I'd love to go for a ride with you!" The crooked grin he sent back warmed her heart, and as he turned and knelt on the ground for her to climb onto his back, she found she couldn't get off the ground fast enough.

And thanks to her skirts, she almost couldn't.

There was an awkward scramble as she tried to grip his sides with her legs through the layers of chiffon and silk, and he fumbled a bit trying to find where her legs began and her skirt hoops ended. She could almost feel his frustration building, and it was almost enough to match hers. Heaving an exasperated sigh, Hanabart let go of her and stood, turning his unhappy gaze on her as he said morosely "You want I should take you back to your place so you can change, or should we just call it off?"

Escargot wouldn't have any of that. She was not going back to her stuffy home to change out of her stuffy clothes because her stuffy lady in waiting had decided to put her in the stuffiest dress in her closet to meet the prince who, while nice, was stuffiest of all. And she most certainly was not going to miss this opportunity to explore. Growling angrily and stepping back to put some room between her and her would-be-ride, Escargot reached behind her to the laces on her dress and began to pull insistently.

Hanabart watched her in confusion as she groped behind her back, not quite getting what she was up to; that is until with a triumphant laugh she loosened the dress enough to shrug out of it, letting it fall in a heavy heap onto the dirt and leaves of the forest floor. It took Hanabart a moment to register the sight of her soft white undershirt, pantaloons and corset before it occurred to him that he was, indeed, staring at the girl he was courting in naught but her underwear. Face redder than a ripe tomato, Hanabart turned around abruptly and bellowed "ARE YOU CRAZY? PUT YOUR CLOTHES BACK ON!"

"I am wearing clothes, thank you" Escargot responded tersely, "and it's going to be a heck of a lot easier to carry me without that frilly mess of fabric in the way." Daring a glance back at the girl at the realization that he wouldn't be slapped for it, Hanabart responded hesitantly "You sure you're okay with that?" Rolling her eyes and crossing her arms over her corset-covered chest, Escargot said brusquely "Honestly! I wouldn't have done that if I wasn't okay with it!" Her own cheeks colored a bit as she noticed his eyes roving over her, and she shrunk back in embarrassment, her voice squeaking slightly as she said "You're just making it worse by over-reacting! Now please, just carry me and let's get going!"

She feared he would refuse, but after a moment his breathing evened out and his eyes lost their 'deer-on-the-hunt' look as he thought it over. Finally he nodded, saying in an even tone "Right. Hop on." And as he turned and knelt again, Escargot did just that, happily linking her arms around his neck as his hands found easy purchase on her cotton-clad thighs. Both froze for a moment, the close contact wholly new, but as neither found it… unpleasant, neither made mention of it.

Hiking her up slightly higher on his back, Hanabart said a quick "Hold on" before coiling down and springing straight up into the canopy, redirecting slightly to land on a sturdy branch nearby. Escargot used the moment after their landing to catch her breath, her heart already going wild as her body tried to right itself after such a move. He didn't give her much time to catch up to herself though before he was off again, bounding over the tree tops towards the deeper parts of the forest. Escargot found she hardly had breath to laugh as they jumped and leaped and flew through the air; but that was alright. She'd find her breath later.

"Are you sure it's this way?"

Escargot followed nervously after Hanabart whose nose was to the ground as he sniffed over the forest floor. "I would be sure if you'd stop distracting me. Now shut up and let me concentrate!"

She resisted the urge to roll her eyes as she clasped her arms around herself. It may have been the middle of summer, but it still got cold in the forest after the sun went down. Escargot cast longing eyes at the last rays of sunlight still seeping into the sky; it would be dark by the time she got back, and even harder to make up with her mother. No doubt she would miss Pierre's grand entrance, but that was alright with her. She wouldn't have traded this afternoon for anything.

Still… "Have you found it yet?"

The half-demon sniffing the dirt growled, turning his head slightly to glare up at her as he bit out "Unless you plan on helping, would you kindly butt-out? It wasn't my idea to leave your dress in the middle of the woods."

Temper rising at his ire but not wanting to ruin her mood, Escargot looked away with a huff, though the action was undermined by a violent shiver that ran through her at the cold on her arms.

"Here." Confused at the sudden softness of his voice, Escargot turned back to see her vision filled with red, and beyond that saw Hanabart looking away, his arm outstretched to offer her his red outer-shirt. A small smile growing on her lips, Escargot took the proffered coat with a grateful "thank you" and quickly wrapped it around herself, burrowing into it and inhaling deeply of the woodsy smell it held.

Her cheeks grew warm to realize that it was almost like a hug.

By the time they did finally find her discarded gown, she couldn't help but be disappointed. She would much rather wear his shirt, though she didn't have the nerve to tell him. Awkwardly redressing (and even more awkwardly having Hanabart help lace the dress back in place) Escargot let her half-demon suitor lead her back to the edge of the wood for their goodbyes.

In a replay of the previous day's events, Hanabart once again took hold of her hand to kiss the back of it; but Escargot had other ideas. She pulled out of his grip and before he could react she threw her arms around him, hugging him tightly and burrowing into his chest, once again feeling the cloth of his red shirt and smelling the forest all over him. He froze at her sudden movement, but it was only a few seconds before he reached around to hold onto her as well. They stayed in that embrace, neither one wanting to let go, until finally Escargot pulled back with a sigh.

"I don't know when I'll see you tomorrow" she said softly, not wanting to relinquish his body heat but knowing if she didn't now, she never would. "After this, I'm not sure my mother will even let me leave the grounds."

"Then I'll come to you." His voice was so firm and unwavering that Escargot forgot to protest, only able to nod mutely as he continued in a heavier tone "Don't worry – I won't let anyone see me."

Then he was gone, and Escargot found herself wishing she could go with him instead of back to the mansion, back to her fiancé, and back to all her troubles.

*Author's Note:

This came outta nowhere. Hopefully that means new chapters to my other fics will come outta nowhere too :P

anyways, I was gonna include Pierre/Hojo in this one, but as it is he's getting bumped to next chapter. Not like anyone is really reading this for him. Hojo is a sweetheart, but he ain't the leading man.

Anyhow, huge thank you to those who are reading/following this, and especially to those who have taken the time to review! It means a lot to me! :D Hopefully I'll see you soon, and hopefully soon we'll get to that wonderful Hanabart/Pierre confrontation that happened in the episode! ;)