Little Red

Red hit her head on the ground with a thump—nothing too serious. A pup licked her chin, and she made a disgusted sound, “Yuk!” as she struggled to sit up. She picked it up by its scruff and placed it on the ground. It leapt onto her knee, its tail wagging. She wiped her face clear of all saliva.

They were heavy. Each pup had to weigh at least ninety pounds. They were so huge; almost triple the size of an average wolf.

Another one pounded its paws into her stomach and she made a painful grunt, lifting its paws and placing them in the grass.

“Erm…” Oznap twisted around in her bed of blankets, mumbling something incoherent in her sleep. What would she think when she saw this mess?

“Um…Oznap…” Red should’ve kept shut. Oznap muttered some more, then one eye opened hardly to a slit.

Red wasn’t sure why, but she couldn’t help but feel responsible. For a crowd of mangy wolfs? Apparently. She quickly took two into her arms and shoved them into the bush, right before getting the other two in one by one.

Oznap scratched her head, and then sat up, revealing a swath of crazy bed-hair. Red looked back at the bush and shoved a black nose back into the leaves with her finger.

“Goo…morning…” Oznap moaned, stretching her pale thin arms into the sky.

“Er…morning!” Red scooted over in front of the bush, gently pushing a furry chest into the mess of leaves. God, what was she doing?

“Did we have to get up at sunrise?” Oznap complained, running her fingers through her hair, but her fingers immediately became tangled in the nest on her head, and she struggled to get them out.

“Oh…no. You can sleep some more, I’ll wake you up.” Red huffed, pushing three more bodies back into the bush behind her.

Oznap gave her a strange look, but then said, “Otay…” in a muffled voice. She fell back into her nest of blankets.

Red heaved a sigh of relief and turned, letting the critters crawl from their hiding place. Red was so confused—what did she do to deserve this? What mother leaves their babies in a bush next to a couple of slayers?

Wolves aren’t stupid—that’s what she knew.

Was someone watching them…?

Testing her strengths?

…Weaknesses?



Why wasn’t she killing them?

These pups were this clan’s future. She had the chance to almost end our next generation. Why wasn’t she ending their lives? They were poor and defenseless. Perfect targets. If Kanon ever came upon a litter of human pups, he would end their line.

Confused, he let out a low growl as he watched the girl in the red cape anxiously glance around. Her eyes caught something, and he followed her gaze to a large beech tree. He wanted to laugh at her stupidity—until he saw the hole in the side of it, a perfect fit for the young cubs.

The girl took the smallest pup in her arms and then slowly walked over to the tree on the other side of the camp. The other three cubs scampered behind her, attacking her feet playfully and biting each other’s ears. Each pup had not grown old enough to have the same coats as their parents, so they were all a shade of dark brown.

She put the pup in her arms into the hole. The tree was awfully thick, giving the pups much room. She lifted each one into the hole—you could see her slightly struggling. They were heavy, even though they weren’t born too long ago.

She watched the pups play in the whole for a minute, smiling. She could be killed for her actions—by her own people. Then, she slowly backed away, as if hoping they wouldn’t notice, and quietly made her way to her waist bag. Last night, she had completely forgotten about the rabbit she had gotten for Oznap.

She lifted the lid from her bag and pulled out the rabbit by its fur slightly above the tail. She brought it over to the tree. As soon as the pups caught sight of it, they yipped and wagged their tails and gave week howls. She couldn’t help but laugh as she tossed it into the hole and they ravaged the plump bunny with all their might.

Suddenly, the girl froze in place, and the ears under her hood perked through the cape. That must’ve been a pain to hide from the other villagers.

She dove to smaller slayer’s side. When the little blonde awoke, she seemed more annoyed then peaceful and confused. “What now—?”

“Shh!” The red girl said, looking around as the small one glared daggers at her.

“Do you hear that?” The half-breed whispered.

“Hear what—?”

“Shh!”

Both of their mouths closed as they listened. Kanon perked his ears to listen, too. All he could hear was the sound of the distant waterfall. Is that what they were so excited about?



“Water!”

“I don’t hear any—”

“Well, I do.” Red got to her feet, excitement bubbling. “We could finally bathe. You could use one.” She made a notion to Oznap’s bed-hair.

“Red, you are so…”

“Fantastic? Wonderful?”

Oznap fumed, but closed her eyes and loosened her scrunched up face. “I don’t get it.” She stated firmly. “Why would you invite me if you don’t even like me?”

Red laughed. “I didn’t know you were like this until we took out first step into the Forest.”

Oznap grunted as she stood, Red right after.

“Let’s go!” And they raced off toward the sound of the rushing water.