Little Red Robin Hood

XV - Eli

I've called in my brothers, Dexter and Sphinx. We're getting close to the bastard's camp. I told Sphinx to stay close to the house, just in case. Don't be frightened if you see a huge white lion in the forest.

"He'll probably blend in with the snow," I mumbled, flipping the page of the book currently on the floor in front of me.

I sent him with a proper gift for you, by the way.

"So, he's a lion?"

Yes. A white lion.

"Pretty," I smiled. "I've never seen a lion outside of TV."

First time for everything.

"Raine?" The guard was at the door again. "You, uh, got another gift. It's wrapped in brown paper and yarn, with a wax seal. Think it's from the same guy?"

I stood up and opened the door, "No. It's from him. The god."

Her eyes widened, "You really think so?"

"I know so," I smiled, taking the small brown gift.

"You are a very odd human, Raine Swann."

"Well, this is a very odd town," I shrugged, looking at the wax seal. It was fairly large, with the indents of three animals: a wolf, a lion, and a tiger. "Thank you. This is definitely from him." I slowly closed the door. I sat back down on the floor with the books with the brown package on my lap.

I easily peeled the wax off the brown paper. With a bit of effort, I pulled the yarn off the box. I eased the paper apart, coming face-to-face with a small white box. I slowly opened the box. There was a piece of paper, which I picked up and unfolded.

Raine,

I thought you would need this. It already has my number and a couple of my brothers': Dexter and Sphinx. The code is 1448. If you need anything, text or call at any time. I got a basic red case for you but we can go shopping for a different one later if you want. We can go shopping for a lot of things once all this is over. We'll be able to buy almost anything you want. Clothes, food, accessories.... Almost whatever you want (within reason, of course).

With love, Cloud, god of storms and sanctuary

"Thank you, Cloud," I smiled, looking at the cellphone. "Oh, wow. I had a flip phone once, but.... You are.... You are spoiling me, you feisty god."

You've barely had anything your entire life. You deserve to be spoiled.

"Oh, please," I lightly scoffed, looking at the contacts.

I have to go now. We're getting close.

I nodded in understanding. Indeed, there were only three contacts: Cloud, Dexter, Sphinx. I looked at the photos, which happened to be photos of each man, not just random pictures off the internet.

Dexter had pale skin and vibrant blue eyes decorated with blue, silver, and black eyeshadow. His hair was white with black streaks. He wore a black turtleneck and a white jean jacket. Other than that, I couldn't see much of anything else.

Sphinx had a beautiful white beard decorated with familiar silver and blue jewelry, and I could see that he had long white hair with a few braids. His eyes were also bright blue, and he wore black winged eyeliner.

Out of curiosity, I stood up and walked to the window, looking out for the white lion that was Sphinx. I saw... something slinking between the trees and bushes, mostly hidden in the snow. Some sort of... creature. I slowly opened the window, leaning out into the cold. The creature raised its head and looked up at me. A lion. A huge, white lion. It--he--stared up at me for a moment, then disappeared into the forest.