Red

Huntress

Warning: Adventure. Sorry none of these are fluff yet! I'm trying to finish the first four prompts in my description then start posting my drabbles.

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I woke up in the den. Oh so cleverly hidden, away from the Red.

Papa would use it to scare us when we were misbehaving; every time we disobeyed Mama, she would say, "The Red will find you and slice you open!"

Scared the crap out of my kin.

Would you like to hear the tale? The Red doesn't scare me as much, anymore. She isn't real...right?

The tale goes that there was once a young huntress, strolling down the dirt path that the humans used.

She was a rebellious girl of sixteen, with glossy black hair and scar filled skin, famous with her flowing blood stained cape and long bow. Famous for her ability to take down bears, wild cats, wolves.

She was walking down the trail to visit her dear grandmother. She arrived.

She found her grandmother's blood on the floor, the front door broken and with claw marks, and tufts of gray fur covering the floor.

It was summer, mind you, and wolves would be shedding during that time.

The huntress, immediately assuming a wolf did it, ran outside and searched for tracks. She found some from an investigating wolf.

That wolf had just come from a kill.

Are you accusing my kin of killing the huntress' grandmother?

We did not! The wolf had just killed an elk nearby!

She spotted the wolf and ran at it, screaming bloody murder.

A man with graying hair and an axe, who had been urinating on the side of the house, chased the wolf and sliced its belly open once reaching it.

Remember how the huntress did not find her grandmother's body? She believed that she was in the wolf's stomach.

The huntress thanked the man and turned, determined to hunt down every last wolf to avenge her grandmother, cutting open their stomachs, trying to find her.

She soon became a legend to the area, word spreads fast in the countryside, after all; she became the Red.

Now, you may be wondering who actually killed the Red's grandmother. Now, say it with me:

Who killed the Red's grandmother?

Easy, the man.

Gray hair can easily be confused for gray wolf fur when you don't look close enough. The claw marks? Axe marks. Why was the man carrying an axe? He was an axe murderer, of course. The villages, and the Red, mistook him for a lumberjack. The urinating on the wall? Well...I don't know why he did that, but that is just downright disrespectful.

Are you wondering what happened to the grandmother's body?

Well...nobody knows. All I know is that he killed the grandmother, did something with the body, and killed a wolf.

But, hey! At least I get to use the tale to scare my pups now!

But we must get back to the present.

The last rays of sunlight vanished from the mouth of the underground cave as the sun set, a signal for me to wake up and take over the hunting.

I nuzzled my mate and left the den, quickly picking up an odd scent. We had been without food for a while...lucky day!

I sniffed again and followed the scent; it was strong.

I happened upon the glade not too far away and dived into the bushes, hearing footfalls.

I peeked between the brush.

Human.

Red cape. Long bow. Black curtain. Scar filled face.

Wolf skins.

She tossed down the skins like a blanket, fur upwards and crusty blood coating the underside.

So, so many skins. Roughly sewn together with intestines, teeth outlining the edges like a fringe.

No.

The Red was standing. Holding her bow. Three arrows notched. Trained on the air behind me.

I turned stealthily.

No!

The Red had released her arrows.

Into my family. Behind me.

Not air.

I howled and ran for the Red. I didn't get very far.

I crashed into her legs and felt pain in my belly, my flesh ripping open from the Red's knife.

I looked down.

What are those?

Bones. The bones of an old woman.

I looked up.

The Red smiled. "Good night, murderer..."

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I woke up, breathing hard. What happened?

I hurriedly looked down at my hands. Hands.

It was just a dream.

...Right?

You wish.

I knew that voice.

Good night, murderer.