[center][img]http://i1150.photobucket.com/albums/o620/Vicier/Yoshi%20-%20OUAT%20RP%20-%20Characters/The%20Apprentice_zpsgzwqhrnw.gif[/img][img]http://i1150.photobucket.com/albums/o620/Vicier/Yoshi%20-%20OUAT%20RP%20-%20Characters/Isabella%20French_zpsmhmnaaje.gif[/img]
[h1][color=Rosybrown]Sorcerer's Apprentice[/color] and [color=Moccasin]Isabella Français[/color][/h1]
[h3]Enchanted Forest ~ Village of Springfall[/h3][/center]

Smoke filled his lungs, stung his eyes. The entire village had been put to the torch...whether before or after the senseless slaughter, the Apprentice did not know or care to find out. Yet there was an air of eerie silence upon the ruins. No fire seemed to crackle or pop, no animals scuttled about the outskirts. It was simply silent. 

A sudden flapping of wings drew the Apprentice's attention, his deep blue eyes falling on a flock of ravens that were gathering just near the twisted corpses, as though daring the Apprentice to try and stop them their feast. 

"Begone, scavengers. These dead will not satiate your appetites this day." He said in a harsh, commanding tone, yet just above a whisper in volume. A single raven tilted its head to the side and [i]'Quarked'[/i] but soon departed with the rest, whether by the Apprentice's words or their own accord. 

Letting out a shaky sigh, the Apprentice returned to the dreadful task of wandering through the husk of the settlement. He at least owed it to the people there to see....to witness. If only he had come sooner - could the damage have been prevented? 

[i]'Fate'[/i]...he could hear his Master's words ringing in his mind, [i]'All things have a time, my Apprentice. All things must end...nothing lasts.'[/i]. 

[i]'Even You?'[/i] He heard himself responding naively, during a time where all things were strange and unbelievable. 

[i]'Even me.'[/i]

The Sorcerer had reminded the Apprentice just how much pain he would feel during his long journey under his tutelage. An extended life would leave him hurt, leave him bitter, leave him lonely. 

The Apprentice stopped beside the burnt corpse of a small house, his eyebrows narrowed as he could have sworn he heard something....someone. 

Leaning heavily on his wood staff, the Apprentice moved a single hand to his temple, closing his eyes as he focused deeply, broadening his perception, feeling for life around him so clouded in this field of death. 

Yes....someone was here -- someone was [i]alive[/i]. 

“..Guaine…” This couldn’t be; it just couldn’t… Her body shook lightly as she leant over the corpse of the young man that she had wrapped up in her arms, her eyes shutting tightly as she felt pain shoot through her heart at the mere thought that she could never again see him- never again hear his warm voice welcoming her into the bookstore, or share his sweet smile and excitement whenever they discussed the tales they had both read… He was gone; as was his family, and the rest of those who lived within the village. She thought she would have been safe here, she would have been able to get away from Gaston and the other Knights- it was the reason she had parted ways with Elizabeth in the first place, because she knew people here… people who would help her if she ever truly needed it…

She had only come to the village for help- to seek his help, to ask if it were possible to merely gain something different to wear; something that wasn’t the wedding dress she had been in since that morning, but all that had changed the moment that she had reached the village… the devastation that had befallen all who had lived here- it was just too much to bare… The moment she had managed to get past the original shock that she had felt upon seeing the sight, she had run- run as fast as she could until she had found him laying still and unmoving in front of the large tree which the two of them would spend hours reading alongside and speaking one another… She couldn’t help the soft sobs that slipped out as she hunched her herself further over his own, her forehead pressing lightly against his causing her hair to slip over her shoulders, hiding her face from view as the tears she knew that she was shedding for her late friend rolled down over her cheeks before dropping down onto his face.

“..you did not deserve this… you truly deserved so much better than this… I am so sorry Guaine…”

"I am sorry for your loss." The Apprentice's calm voice said behind Belle as he moved closer beside her, his staff tapping against the blackened and broken cobblestone on the ground. 

Her breath caught in her throat as she heard the voice of another joining with hers in the otherwise silence that filled what was left of the village, her body freezing for only a moment before she slowly lifted herself up, her head turning and her gaze lifting until her brilliant blue eyes met with his own intense though still quite soft stare.

“..the loss of a single friend is hard to bare; however, the loss of the entire village has caused devastation to my heart- how could my father allow this to happen…”

"This is no fault of King Maurice's, my dear." The Apprentice assured quietly as he knelt down, obvious pain in his features as his knees audibly popped with the effort. 

"This is the Evil Queen's work....carried out through her Huntsman, the Raven." He added on a more foreboding note, letting his staff lay down beside him. 

The Apprentice remained silent for the next few moments, simply keeping an eye on the young woman. She could hardly be considered 'grown-up', that much was apparent from the still-dreamy, almost naive look in her eyes. This moment would remain in her mind forever. 

"What is your name, if I may ask?" He implored kindly, trying to manage a small half-smile, hollow as it may be. 

He was kind- or at least, he was being kind towards her; whether it was because it was in his nature or to keep her from shedding another tear however, she was unsure. Dropping her gaze from his so that she was once more looking upon the face of her late friend, she brought her hand up from around his body, her fingers lightly brushing against his forehead as she pushed his messy locks back off his face so that she could see him properly and without obstruction, “My name- my name is Isabella Français... though most who know me, i-including Guaine, know and call me by Belle..."

Nodding slowly, the Apprentice let out a soft sigh, his eyes feeling too dry and sore to shed anymore tears for the time being. 

"I wish we could have met under pleasanter circumstances, Belle." The Apprentice began on a somewhat saddened note. "This village held a special place in my heart, I would visit it often, to interact with its people, to teach, or to learn..." The Apprentice swallowed hard, lifting a single hand up to stroke his beard, as though in deep thought. 

"Guaine....he was the bookkeeper, yes? I would donate novels or volumes I had no more use for to him on occasion." The Apprentice added quietly, a mournful glance in the young man's direction. 

So he had known Guaine just as she did; spoken with him and spent time with him as well… it was something at least, that the two of them could share with one another. Shifting slightly over the ground as she gently lowered Guaine’s head so that it was instead resting on her lap rather than in her arms, she nodded her head lightly in response to his question, her voice soft and slightly shaky as she spoke, “..he did what he could to help the old man who ran the shop- he was only trying to help him, it was how the two of us first met… I could not reach the book upon the top shelf…”

The Apprentice managed a small, lamentable smile at her words, suddenly looking far older than his youthfulness suggested. It was in his eyes...experienced...sad; far sadder than any young man should exhibit. 

Reaching for his staff, the Apprentice rose up from the ground with more visible effort, dusting off his robes as best as he could before looking down at the young woman once more. 

"If you would like, I can offer you a cup of tea, help calm the mind...I find it is best to share one's grievances in the company of friends. Being alone to bear the burden is one of the worst things in this world." The Apprentice said calmly, trying to keep his gaze on Belle and avoid the destruction that seemed to be closing in around him. 

“..a cup of tea to help ease my mind, would be most welcomed sir- but…” Lifting her hand from the side of Guaine’s face, she brought it up to her own as her head shook lightly from side to side at the very thought of leaving him behind where he lay, her fingers lightly wiping away the tears that she could feel once more beginning to form in the corners of her eyes before she lifted her head up completely, her gaze turning up until her brilliant blue eyes caught onto his own in a questioning manner, as though searching for answers that she was unable to find no matter how hard she tried.

“..I cannot just leave him here- not like this…”

"I know you can't." The Apprentice replied, looking down at the body with a remorseful expression. "I believe I know what to do, please step back, Isabella." The Apprentice urged kindly, the 'eyes' of his dragon-head staff seeming to glow ever-so-slightly, just enough to blame it on a trick of the eyes. 

“But I-…” The light glowing coming from the eyes of his staff then caught her attention, causing her to turn her to pause for a moment, her voice lost in her throat before she nodded her head lightly in response to his request, her body leaning over one last time so that she could press her lips lightly against Guaine’s forehead before she sat back up, her gentle touch lifting her friends head up just enough for her to be able to slip herself back up to her feet as she laid him carefully back down upon the ground in which she had first found him.

She was used to magic- at least now she was. Her time living in the Dark Castle had helped her to grow accustomed to the art, though she knew she would never truly get used to the way that Rumpelstiltskin would suddenly appear in the room with her… the action more times than none causing her to jump with the sudden realization that he was there watching. Bringing her hands together in front of her body as she took a couple of steps backwards, she shut her eyes for a moment, spinning a silent prayer for her lost friend before she once again nodded to the man who had been so kind to her, letting her know that whatever it was he was going to do- she was ready.

Breathing in deeply, the Apprentice looked towards the burnt and blackened stump of a tree, a milestone that stood as a landmark in the center of Springfall, a testament towards the village's tenaciousness and determination - now gone like all the rest of it. 

Looking down once more at the body of Guaine, the Apprentice waved a single hand over it, causing the corpse to fade away slowly, leaving nothing but empty air in its wake. 

A few moments passed of complete stillness before a beam of light from the sky above pierced through the clouds, illuminating the center of the village in a basking glow as the stump, too, faded away, replaced by a young [url=http://dl1.scharesoft.de/screens/Skyrim/Gildergreen_Regrown.jpg]sapling[/url], radiating youthfulness and energy; its leaves, brilliant pink seeming to glow in the new light. 

"The Dead cannot return." The Apprentice began calmly, looking at the sapling with a sense of hope in his voice. "But can bring new life in its wake. Guaine has passed on, but this tree stands as memorial: to him, and all who have passed in this terrible event. Neither blade nor spell will bring it down, and it will restore life around it - in time." He finished, bowing his head in respect towards the tree before turning to look at Belle once more. 

She couldn’t help but hesitate for a few moments before she stepped forwards to where the tree stood tall and full of new life, signalling that not all hope was lost, her hand lifting up from the front of her wedding dress before she pressed her palm ever so softly against the trunk of the tree, careful and tenderly as though it might shatter with any wrong move that she made towards it. It was beautiful- better than anything that she could have hoped for… the tree a living symbol of all those who lost their lives, “..the life of the dead, is set in the memory of those who continue to live- I will never forget you Guaine; may you be peaceful in your eternal slumber…”

Smiling softly at her words, the Apprentice placed a gentle but firm hand on her shoulder, his own gaze turned once again towards the sapling. 

"I do believe," he began, adjusting his grip on his staff, "that I owe you that cup of tea, don't I?" He asked kindly, cocking his head to the side to look into her own eyes. 

Turning her head back to look at him as she felt the weight of his firm though still extremely gentle hand resting over her shoulder, she nodded her head softly in agreement, her soft pink lips turning up in a small though still noticeably thankful smile as she let her hand slide softly down the bark of the tree, until it was once more resting on the front of her wedding dress just as it had been moments before she had paid her respect to those who had lost their lives in the village that once stood on the spot where they were.

“..tea would be very welcome at this time sir- thank you…”