Red

RED - 5

"Why is there blood on this?"

Will stopped walking and glanced over his shoulder, sighing annoydly.

"There's no blood on it, kitten"

I continued to walk after him, catching up to him and showing him the sploch of dried blood on my retrieved red hood.

"Then what do you call this?"

"I call it red fabric" he looked at me again, tilting his head to the side and giving me a lopsided grin and a look of innocense.

I rolled my eyes as well, "Will-"

"F*ck, Ruby," he suddenly groaned, "Do you have a gosh damn off switch?"

I ignored his comment and chose to stay silent, drapping and fastening my red hood over my shoulders.

I followed behind him as he continued to walk down the narrowing cave pathway, and soon enough, we reached the end of the tunnel. Will undid a series of locks on the attatched wooden door before it finally opened up, and we were greeted by a gust of cool air from the forest outside.

He stepped aside and turned to me, "Off you go"

I frowned, "Off I go?"

"Off you go" he repeated, gesturing for me to exit.

My frown deepened, "Where exactly am I going?"

He rolled his eyes, "Away from here" he answered in a 'duh' tone, making a second large gesture for me to exit.

I stayed where I was. Hesistant, skeptical, but also curious.

"Are you coming with me?" I leaned my wieght onto one leg and crossed my arms over my chest, tilting my head to the side just as he had done before.

"Of course I am, kitten," a sarcastic smile made it's way onto his face, "Do you want me to hold your hand too?"

I ignored his comment, "Why exactly are you letting me go?"

He didn't answer me right away. Instead, he strode towards me, but I didn't cower back. When he was directly infront of me, he continued, "I'm letting you go for the same reason that I'm not killing you, Red"

"And what reason would that be?"

Again, his response wasn't quick. He took another step closer, his eyes now showing intensity and something else, "Things are changing around here, Ruby," his tone now was something of slight desperation and intimidation, furthering my frown, "The three little ass pigs found the dwarfs and Snow White. Snow found Aurora, and Aurora took a message back to Cindy. They're all forming an army. An aliance and a military force to get rid of people like me"

My breath caught in my throat at how serious he was speaking, and what all of this meant, "They're going to kill you?"

He nodded his head a bit, hearing the worry and concern in my voice but not remarking on it, "Not just me, Ruby. All of us. This pack, my family, Rumple, the Evil Queen. They're coming after all of us"

I looked away from him and shook my head, something still not making sense, "Why are you letting me go?"

"Not all of us are as wicked as we seem"

I looked back into his eyes and knew that he was tellig the truth. He was never going to kill me at all—he just loved the chase. Thought it was fun. Acted like he was really going to kill me for the greater good of his pack.

The Will I met when I was 16 was still in there—had always been in there. And I wanted to save him.

His eyes told me everything.

"Come with me" I told him, this time, trying to be the one to make eye contact with him, yet he continued to avoid my gaze.

"I know you're afriad of dying" I said to him softly, and he slowly turned his head, a tired smile on his lips.

"Dying's not so bad," he shrugged, "It can be fun"

"Will," I rolled my eyes, my tone void of any humor, "I'm serious"

"Always full of hope, kitten" he brushed off my last comment and took a step away from me, turning his body again and gesturing for me to exit through the escape door. But I wasn't going to go without him. He was, technically, saving my life. And for that good deed, I owed him.

"It's getting a bit drafty in here, do you mind hurrying this up?" He rolled his eyes and I rolled mine back.

"Just come with me, Will"

"Rubes-"

"I wont leave without you," I cut him off, "They'll see that you helped me. That you're not like the others. I can talk to them-"

"Ruby-" his tone was now serious and agitated, but I still didn't care.

"They'll consider not killing you. They all love animals and they'll love you too. They wouldn't kill you un-justly. Not if I talked to them-"

"Ruby-"

"And-"

"Ruby!" his voice echoed inside the cave and a few stones and small rock debris rained on us. He cursed under his breath, knowing that someone must've heard us and would be coming soon.

A howl sounded off in the distance.

"F*ck," he ran a hand through his hair before he grabbed my arm, pulling me outside the door and shutting it. Not letting go of the forceful grip that he had on my arm, he pulled me along as he dragged me in a direction away from the cave opening.

"Where are we going-" I tried to ask, breathless, and he only tugged me forcefully towards him.

We ran through forest trees and made it to a small clearing, maybe a 10 minute walk away from where we came from. Three more howls sounded off accordingly, and Will scrunched his face up in slight agony from the noise. Or maybe what those howls were saying.

He pulled me over to where another, higher level cave sat, and he pulled me against his body as we stopped.

"Will-"

"I think you've said enough for one day, don't you, kitten"

With that, he enveloped my body in his arms, pressing his lips against mine and running his hands through my hair, touching me in every place he could.

I struggled against him, my eyes not closing in the slightest, and he used his wieght to keep me pinned. In response to that, I bit his lip and he abruptly recoiled, slight blood becoming present on his bottom lip.

"F*ck, what was that for?" he didn't stop touching me though, and I tried to make him stop.

"This is called harrasment-"

"It's called, I'm scenting you" he rolled his eyes and turned me around, hugging me from behind now.

"Will-"

"They'll smell your scent, Ruby. We have to make them avoid it"

He pulled away from me and turned me around again, placing his hands on my waist.

"I'm going to hoist you onto that ledge up there, alright?" the wind played with his hair as he spoke and I looked up at the ledge.

"Will-"

"When I do that, you're going to run. I'm going to leave, but I'll find you, okay?"

"How will you find me?" I asked him, stopping him before he could lift me up. He took his bottom lip into his mouth, getting rid of the small amount of blood that I had caused there before he smiled.

"I always find you"