Red

Chapter 1

Most ledgends begin on battlefeilds. Victories that crave names into history. Tales of triumph and glory. Glistening armour and handsome heros. Ledgends seldom tell of the fear heros must feel. Of the dirt and blood on the battlefeild or the scarifice and dedication that victory costs. The battles lost and the hours spent in preperation. The lose of life, dignity and dreams. The truth is watered down and a myth is born. Red blood does be shed.

Some stories take place in grand ballrooms, where lovers first met. There are sonnets of sweet confession. Songs of blissful happiness. Lavish Weddings and happy endings. We never hear of the love stories that take place outside of the usual setting. Away from the soft music and candle light. Heart ache is made to seem poetic. There are few stories that show the duality of love. For as much as love is sweet peoms and first dances, it is tormenting and conflicted. Accepting another entirely. The good as well as the bad. Tears may look like stars, but rarely are we told of how much they sting. How even the most beautiful flowers have the sharpest thorns. Red passion does drive true love.

Some stories are set in encahnted woods, where madins dwell and big bad wolves lurk. Innocent victims led away to their doom. We always follow the sweet girls in red hoods to their demise. Reminded of how we should stay far from danger, or met the same end. Never does the alternative be given. The wolf is never the pray. The girl is never the predator. The victim is always the victim. Never given a fighting chance. Stories are never told of how madins can have sharper teeth than any wolf. The Red hood has been used as a blanket or oppression. Red hoods can be flags of revolution.

We are raised on stories, to help us navigate the challanges in life. To figure out the big questions. To help us understand ourselves for who we really are and the world we live in.

Our story begins in the back of a dark, crowded Tavern, in a poor little village in the vampire kingdom. Speech slurred, voices horse and words unintelligable. Pushing and shoving, simply in an effort to make your way across the room. Grey stoney walls, framed the drunken mess that lay within. Dust bounced off the dry wooden floor with each foot step, creating a thick cloud of musk in the air, making it difficult to see from one side of the room to the other.

At the front of the room, on a stage, stands a rather handsome man. He was delivering his sililique inspite of the mostly dismissive crowd. Sitting behind a table, watching with wide lustful eyes, was a beautiful woman, with long brown hair. With her elebows on the table before her, she rested her chin in the palm of hands. She hung on his every word. Her heart pounded whenever they made eye contact. This young actor had performed in this tavern, the same time last year, with the travelling show. The young woman had fallen madly in love with him, from the first moment she saw him.

Her husband stood at the bar counter, watching his wife as she fawned over another man. The thought alone drove him insane. For the past year he had been living with a broken heart. The only time his heart ever felt at all numb was when he had spent a few hours in the tavern. Altough this was good for him, in his mind, it made life a nightmare for his family. His fits of rage and jealously only drove a wider gap between him and his wife. As he lost control of the situation in front of him, he lost control of himself.

The actor finished his speech and exited the stage for the next scene. His absense shuck the woman from her trance. She glanced around the room to see her husband watching her. She recoiled from the sight of him. He was a filthy nobody. No money, no class, in the past year he had become an even bigger mess. She was humiliated to call him her husband. All the other women laughed at him and teased her. She watched as he struggled to stand up right by himself, leaning against the counter for support. His head swayed from side to side and eyes eyelids hung barely open enough for him to see her. He scowled. What did that actor have that he did not.

It was in that moment, she had finally made up her mind. She would leave him. Leave this horrible village. Leave this whole life behind her. She would start over. Begin a new life with him. She had always dreamed of being happily married, but when she laid eyes on him a year ago, she knew she wanted more. She deserved more. She was the most beautiful girl in the village and deserved a handsome lover and exciting life. She resented her husband from that day forward amd contemplated whether not she should actaully run away. That night was their last night performing. After this they would be packing up and moving onto the next town. This was her last chance before an other year. Was she really willing to live one more day in her cursed life, never mind an other year. She was ready. She would leave that night.

The tension was interputed, by the sudden cry of a baby. It could bearly be heard over the noise in the tavern. The girl ignored it and sat waiting for the actor to return on stage. It began to wail out, the longer it was ignored. It lay in its small basket beside the woman, with a blanket drapped over it, hidding the baby inside.

From the musty air and ruckess, came two small hands. They pulled away the blanket, to reveil the upset baby girl. They reached in and with such care, lifted the baby out. The small hands were connected to small arms, which wrapped themselves around the baby and held it close to a body, not much bigger than the baby. They rocked the baby back and forward, hushing them, until they fell back asleep. Instead of putting the baby back, this small child decided to keep the baby in their arms. They had been sitting alone all night. Scared of the big men and loud noises, but as they held the baby they fear died. This girl knew she would do anything to protect her. She sat there at the back of the Tavern, unnoticed, dismissed by the entire room and indeed the rest of the world.

Her world was one where peasants like her stayed in their place. Where anyone with any kind of power took advantage of it, be it a gaurd who patroled the village. Nobility who lived off the backs of everyone else or her parents, who instead of caring for her, neglected her. Her whole life was dictated by those in power who chose to abuse it. This was the case for many across the realms.

Red would be the one to change all of that.