Saved By A Spinner (Rumbelle)

Chapter 1

Rumpelstiltskin was hobbling on his crutch down a dirt road late at night. After his wife, Milah, had yelled at him, calling him lazy and worthless, he left their little house and took a walk. It hurt his leg, but it was better than being yelled at.

His thirteen-year-old son, Bae, had wanted to come with him, but he was almost at the age to be able to fight in the dreaded Ogre Wars. Boys at the age of fourteen were taken from the village to be sent to their deaths fighting in the Ogre Wars. Bae's birthday was coming up soon and Rumpelstiltskin didn't want Bae to be seen by any of those foolish knights. Milah had wanted Bae to go into the war. She said she thought he could make up for the cowardly mistake Rumpelstiltskin had made years ago when he himself had gone into the Ogre Wars and broken his leg so he could come home and see his son grow up. Rumpelstiltskin didn't care what Milah said, he was going to keep his son hidden away and safe from those knights.

Rumpelstiltskin took a turn and wandered into the woods. He wasn't really going anywhere, just aimlessly walking.

He stopped in his tracks when he heard a faint cry in the distance. Thinking it just to be an owl or another small creature, he kept walking. The cry, however, only seemed to intensify the further he went. He abruptly stopped as what was making that awful noise came into view.

There were three men punching, kicking, and grabbing at the clothes of a woman who was screaming out for help as best as she could. Most of the strings on her corset had been cut, revealing the top of her breasts clearly, the bottom of her dress had been torn, and the dress had rips in various places, exposing even more skin. She was covered in mud, dust, and blood from where they had cut her and rolled her on the ground. Her shoes had been thrown to the other side of the road, along with a basket full of straw. There were tears falling unchecked down her bloodied and dirt-covered face.

Rumpelstiltskin didn't have any idea what had possessed him, but he hobbled as fast as he could towards the group. No one had seen him, so he took that as an advantage. He raised his cane above his head and brought it down on one of the man's head, effectively knocking him unconscious. The two men dropped the girl and advanced towards him.

The girl's arm shot out and caught a hold of one of the man's ankles. The man fell over onto his partner and they both fell to the ground. Rumpelstiltskin walked over and stood over top of the men. One had hit his head on a large rock, and blood was pouring out of the wound. The man appeared to be either unconscious or dead, so Rumpelstiltskin paid no more attention and turned to the other guy.

"N-No...Please! We didn't do nothing to you! Just leave us alone!" The man pleaded to Rumpelstiltskin.

"Why were you hurting that woman then? I'm sure she didn't do anything to you. Did she?"

"No! Please! I'm sorry! We were just fooling around! We saw her walking down the path, and, since it was dark and nobody would see us, we thought it would be fun to-" the man screamed as Rumpelstiltskin put his walking stick on the man's hand and leaned on it.

"You thought it would be fun to rape and abuse a poor, defenseless woman who was alone at night? That's low. You're nothing but a sad, worthless piece of scum. I'll be happy to put you out of everyone's misery." With that, Rumpelstiltskin raised his walking stick and beat the guy until he was unconscious, a pool of blood forming around his body. Rumpelstiltskin spit on the body and turned to tend to the girl.

"Are you alright?" Rumpelstiltskin asked as he tentatively approached the girl.

"I-I think so. I'm very sore though. Let me try to stand up." She slowly tried to climb to her feet, but quickly feel back down as pain surged up her left leg and a scream ripped out of her throat. He was at her side in an instant.