Lineage: The Legend of The Red Riding Hood

Chapter 01: The Daughter of the Moon

Inside the woods not too far from the village. Coraline lurked in the shadows on top of a tree, wearing a pile of leaves as camouflage to hide her presence, smiling as her target draws near. The deer walks under the tree where Coraline laid some fresh fruits as traps, sniffing at a distance to see if it'd be safe to approach. The deer comes closer and starts' eating the fruits, while from above the tree Coraline patiently watches, waiting for the right timing. The deer gets closer to the trunk of the tree to finish the rest of the fruit only to step on a snare trap. Its left hind leg gets snag, having its entire body fling up the tree. Coraline then jumps down, discarding the leaves that she wore like a cloak. Seeing the deer hanging upside down, lurking on that tree for more than two hours clearly paid off.

Pulling out a knife hanging on her belt she slit the deer's throat, it squirmed, squealing as it hanged upside down on the tree with one leg. She lets the blood gush out of its neck, catching it with a bottle, making sure not a single drop touches the ground. It would be troublesome if a pack of wolves flock the area if they get a whiff of blood lingering in the air. Putting a cork in the bottle after the blood stopped flowing, she puts it inside her satchel. She cuts the rope, bringing the deer down, and drags it to their house.

Coraline arrives at their cottage, opening the door with a big smile on her face. She and her mother don't have much but it was enough for them to get by. The two of them are really close, though the tragic incident that happened many years ago devastated their family. It did one good thing and brought them even closer together. "Mom I'm home, and look what I caught" Greeted by a kiss on the forehead, Coraline's mother smiled after seeing her daughter.

"Oh my, it looks like we're going to have a fine meal tonight." Coraline's mother Minerva, drags the deer to the kitchen, preparing it for dinner.

Coraline wants to help, but Minerva insisted on doing it herself. Asking her beautiful daughter to wait while she does all the cooking.

Being the obedient daughter that she is, Coraline listens and keeps herself busy by putting the plates on the table, pouring water in the pitcher and doing a few household chores.

Dusting the walls and the corners of the ceiling, she paused, looking at the painted picture of their family hanged on the wall. The picture of her father carrying her sister on his back. They look very happy, Coraline thought. The memories that night were still vivid, and even if she wants to, how does one remove something so horrendous from the mind? The night that scarred her, the night she lost her father and sister. It was only in the purest of luck that her mother was in another town when that happened, which was probably for the best. She couldn't let her mother saw that gruesome sight, no one deserves to go through something like that in their life, no one.

She didn't notice, but tears are running down from her eyes. When she did, she quickly wipes them away before her mother could see it. Although it was her who went through that traumatic experience, the one most badly devastated was her mother. Because she did not only lost the person she spent half her life with, the one man she truly loved. But she also lost her precious daughter, my beloved sister, and bringing back those memories will do no good to any of us now that we've finally moved on.

"Sweetie is everything alright?" Minerva asked, seeing her daughter's sad expression.

Coraline quickly puts on a smile. "Yes mom I'm fine, it's just your cooking smells so delicious it's making me hungry, I can't wait to taste it."

"Well, just a few more minutes before the roast and stew are done, then you can eat as much as you want. Since the deer you caught is so big it will probably last us a couple more weeks." Coraline's mom said.

It didn't take long before the roasted deer was cooked. Coraline and her mother ate together and laughed at the table, talking about the things they did this morning. Her mom laughed when she told her the trouble she had to go through in catching that deer. On how many times she almost fell off a tree while stalking it. They talked and laughed, enjoying their food, until it was time for them to turn in.