The Brothers' Tales

The bright, setting sun beats down the last of its warm rays onto the farm. The grass and dirt are ripped, as a beast drags the bodies of monsters to a large shed. Two young women open the doors for the beast to stow the ghastly corpses away. Another young woman is petting a fearful bull. A terrifying battle has just been won and others remain. The sullen looks of those involved tell that story all too well. The beast throws the monsters' bodies into the shed and shuts the doors behind him. "You okay, Adam," one woman asks the beast. Adam nods, "yes, Anabelle. How are you feeling?" "A little shaky. A little nervous, but I'll be fine," Ana says unsure of herself and their future, "how are you holding up, Allie?" The other woman at the shed was quiet as she was lost in her thoughts. "Allie," Ana tries to snap her friend out of it. She comes to, "there was a wrecked motorcycle in the shed. I could make out the plate. It was Tom's," she thinks of a missing friend and looks to the bar, "could he be one of the animals, too?" Adam and Ana looked to each other. They didn't know how to respond. If he had not been killed, then it was a certainty that he was an animal within the barn, if not the bull itself. Allie went towards the bull to see if it was him. Maybe he could speak again, she thought. "Hey, uh. Thanks again for the save. Do you have a name? Is it Tom," Allie inquired. Though the bull regained some of its humanity from the transformation, speaking proved difficult. It instead shook its head, no. Allie sighed and slumped. Tom could be any one of the animals there, she thought. It, however, did not stop her resolve. She marched to the barn and questioned every animal there, to no avail. Some blankly stared. Others skittered off. The third young woman, Pearl, led the bull back to the barn, "here. We'll try to figure this out. We'll try to get everyone here and out there back to normal. I promise. Just stay here until we do, okay?" The bull nodded and went to its pen. Allie also felt reassured by Pearl's words. She was young, but her words carried weight to Allie. Simple and nothing dramatically flashy, but authentic and with conviction. "Allie. Pearl," Ana called to them from outside the barn. They walked out to find Ana with Adam, beckoning them. "Let's head in for the night. It's getting dark," Adam leads them to the house, "we'll come up with our next move. Then we should rest for the night." "Good idea. It's been quite the day," Allie exclaims. Pearl's expression shrinks with the thought of the events. Allie notices, puts her hand on her shoulder and smirks. Giving her the same reassurance Pearl gave her just moments ago, though unspoken. They head inside to plan and rest.

The four of them enter the living room and take seats, resting their weariness while they plan their times ahead. Ana giggles as Adam, a large beast, sits awkwardly onto the couch. "Sorry, I'm finding difficulty in sitting," Adam apologized. "No, no," Ana chuckled, "it's cute." Allie and Pearl also let out little giggles. Adam blushes, though unseen through his furry visage. This was needed for all they went through in this short time. It was good to laugh and take a breather. Yet, it would be short lived as they would begin their discussion. "So," Ana begins and takes a breath, "Pearl, you were saying that you ran into one of these... things, too?" "I believe so. She just didn't transform like the Macdonalds did," Pearl answered, "but she changed my brother, John, and--," Pearl chokes up remembering her family. "Was it with a green light coming from her mouth," Allie questioned. Pearl nodded. "That's their methods of transforming living things into whatever they please," Adam chimed in, "however, once changed, they cannot change that thing again. That's why I was attacked by the old man rather than transformed into something harmless. The Enchantress' curse on me, is also an asset." "So there's no way to change them back," Allie asked. "Apparently this curse can be lifted according to the blackmailing the Enchantress put me through. She told me I and the others could become normal again, if I just played along. But the curse could not stack atop another curse. If she told the truth, there's hope yet," Adam explained, "though, I don't know how. "So where do we go from here? Pearl has a monster to get even with, and so do I," Allie stated. "I guess, we take them down, one by one. Then see what we can find to reverse the curses," Ana proclaimed. "It's as good as a start as we got, right now, I suppose," Adam said, "we can--." Loud noises from the barn interrupted their talk. The four of them burst out of the house with Adam leading the charge, roaring. The animals seemed in extreme distress, so Adam swung the doors open to find two men consoling the barnyard animals. "Ah, sorry for the commotion. We understand that we can be quite light-footed. We just startled the poor things," the first man apologized. "Ah, brother! The Beast of the Enchantress," the second man exclaimed. Adam roared and got back into an attack stance, "you're the same as them!" "No, not quite," the first man said. "We are brethren to them in blood only, not in practice or ideology," the second man exclaimed. "Let us introduce ourselves," the first man pled. "We are the Brothers Grimm, and our sisters are headed to warn our mother," the second man said. "You can find the ones you seek, as they and our sisters are one and the same. Or should I say two," the first man continued. "The perpetually frozen waters of The Everwinter Pond is where she rests," the second man added. "Let us go! There's trouble to be found," both brothers exclaimed as they walked out. "Not yet, though" the first man said. "You four rest. We'll be back for you at dawn," the second man ordered as they quickly moved out of their field of sight. The group looked perplexed, but took the brothers at their word, weirdly enough. They went back into the house with no words to be shared and rested soundly for the night. The next event will prove to be their toughest yet.