Into the Woods

Snow walked up the wooden steps until she reached the small room that held two small, handmade beds her father had made for them. Snow had begun to outgrow hers, but Freya lay snuggled under the soft brown fur blanket. It had been a birthday present Snow had saved up for and brought at the market for a fair price. Her sister’s health had always taken a knock in the cold seasons, but with the new cover at night, Freya was beginning to become a normal and healthy young girl.

“Sing to me, Snow.” Freya’s small voice called out as Annabeth was about to climb into her own bed. She had thought her sister was asleep, but the small mousy blonde girl’s eyes were wide open and pleading for some way to finally rest.

“Okay, but promise to close your eyes and sleep.” Annabeth whispered, knowing her father was downstairs in his own bed trying to sleep. He had an early start tomorrow morning, where he worked in the safer parts of the forest. He supplied wood to the village, and earned a fair profit, especially in the cold seasons.

Snow sat herself on her sister’s bed, perching on the edge as she ran a hand over Freya’s hair. She began singing the song her mother had once sung to her at night, the lyrics floating easily from her mouth. She hadn’t even reached the end of the song when her sister began snoring softly beside her; the song always had a way of relaxing Freya, so much that sleep was quick and easy.

That night, Snow didn’t sleep too well. The weather was beginning to get warmer, which meant her father wouldn’t be bringing in much business soon, so it would fall on her shoulders to supply food. Both Red and she knew that finding even a mediocre catch nowadays was hard. If they had any chance of bringing home more money and food for their families, then they would need to go deeper into the woods. They would need to venture into the forbidden parts that only the brave ever entered. There were stories; stories Snow didn’t believe in, but Red was certain about; stories that had the villagers fleeing into their homes at the crack of a branch. Snow knew there were dangerous things in the woods, but nothing she was scared of.

As the sun began to rise and Snow realised she hadn’t slept more than three hours, she decided she wouldn’t waste another moment. She needed to do something and she knew that until she proved to Red that the stories of wolves were just wife tales, she would have to do it alone.

“Where are you off too, Annie?” Her father never called her Snow. It had always been Annabeth or Annie.

“I’m going to do a round on my traps; hopefully I might have managed to nab a rabbit or two.” She was lying but she was good at it, so her father didn’t question her.

“Okay, sweetheart,” His rough voice was comforting to her; his strong arms as they quickly hugged her, were like a safe haven. “Be safe!”

“I always am,” She smiled, grabbing some clean clothes that had been drying in front of the fireplace.

In her room, Snow threw on the plain long sleeve top over her head, pulling up the dark brown trousers her father had brought her for hunting. She slipped on her shoes and the fur sleeveless jacket that was made from rabbit fur she had caught herself. She braided her blonde hair to the side, sliding in the single red flower her friend had always insisted she wore.

Outside, the sun was hotter than the previous day, the rays beating down against her exposed neck as she headed towards the woods. When Snow reached the edge, she didn’t hesitate walking the usual path she took when meeting Red. But today was different; she was going to do this alone because she was desperate.

Quickly grabbing her bow and arrow from the tree they hid them- Snow didn’t like keeping her weapons at home where Freya could see or ask questions. The little girl didn’t know about the hunting and believed Snow was working the market stalls in exchange for food.

Snow threw the bow over her shoulder and slipped the trusty knife in her boot, before kicking off into a run. She was quick and agile, though it had come with years of experience. Both Red and Snow could move effortlessly and quietly through the woods without so much as a snap of a twig sounding through the silent woods.

As Snow moved further and deeper, she could already see the difference between these parts. The trees felt closer, like the woods was fighting for space; unlike the areas near the village, where the trees sat spaciously apart and offered plenty of space. No, these parts were cramped and left room for sudden surprises around each corner and bend.

Noticing up ahead the trees cleared, Snow was pleasantly surprised to find herself on a road. It was narrow, but it was definitely a road.

For the next hour she stayed to the track, noting every movement she made so she could find her way home. Being lost was the last thing she needed.

As she was about to head into a clearing in the woods, she was suddenly aware of a distant noise that was growing closer. The bend in the road behind her offered no help of seeing what was coming and by the time she thought of hiding in the woods, it was too late. Her eyes became momentarily blurred as she noticed a quickly moving figure. Snow was thankfully quick and managed to throw herself to the side, narrowly missing being hit.

Snow fell to the ground with a hard crash and she held back a cry as a soaring pain invaded her leg. She lay there, hoping the pain would subside, but it began to burn and she was now fighting back tears.

“Are you okay, Miss?” A soft voice spoke from above her; a voice unfamiliar, yet oddly calming.

Snow twisted her neck up and found her eyes landing on a boy. A few meters away stood his horse, the figure that she had seen before being knocked down.

“Of course I’m bloody not,” Snow hissed, sitting herself onto her bum and taking a look at her knee. The fall had broken through her trousers and had taken the skin off her kneecap, leaving an ugly red graze that was now oozing with fresh blood.

“Okay, that was a stupid question,” The boy replied, kneeling down and reaching his hand out to inspect her injury. She swatted him away, but this guy was persistent. “I know what I’m doing, trust me.”

“Trust the man who is the reason behind my injury in the first place?” She asked, yet didn’t stop him from taking a look at the wound. “So what’s your verdict, doctor?” Snow said mockingly, puffing away a stray piece of hair. The boy finally looked up at her and smiled and for a moment, she was breathless. He was beautiful; from the chocolate messy hair, to the turned up smirk that brightened up his face.

“I’m no doctor,” He replied with a small chuckle, ripping off a piece of his clothing and wrapping it clean around the wound he just cleaned with water he carried in a small pouch, “The names Dylan.” He held his hand out for Snow to take; watching as she hesitantly placed her hand in his and helped lift herself to her feet.

“Snow,” She mumbled back, her ice blue eyes finding his chocolate ones.

“Is that your name?” Dylan asked his hand still in hers until she realised and removed it hastily.

“No, but everyone calls me it,” Annabeth replied.

“It’s very fitting.” Dylan smiled, reaching over and tucking a strand of her blonde hair behind her ear.

“Look, as much fun as I'm having, I really need to get going.” Snow stepped back, wincing at the sting in her leg.

“Let me take you where you need to go. You’re not in any fit state to walk or hunt.” Dylan’s eyes were concerned for the blonde, who seemed determined to keep going.

“How do you know I will be hunting?” Annabeth sounded defensive, which made Dylan smirk even harder.

“Well the bow kind of gives you away…” Dylan was holding back a laugh, but Annabeth didn’t find anything funny about it, in fact she felt like he was mocking her. Not taking this, Annabeth turned on her heel and decided today had been a failure and was ready to go see Red and forget about this failed journey.

“Wait, Snow!” Dylan shouted, “I’m really sorry, but look, you are not in any fit state so please let me take you home.” His hand was on her shoulder, stopping her and forcing her to face him.

Being this close she found herself losing her breath. She didn’t want to stare and admit to herself that this was the first guy she had set eyes on that had any effect on her. There were plenty of boys back in the village, but in her eyes they were little boys. She needed someone strong, someone who wasn’t afraid and could match her courage.

“I don’t want to put a stop in your plans,” She spoke quietly, looking down at the ground. Dylan chuckled again, but this time it didn’t feel like it was at her.

“I don’t have any plans, Snow.” Dylan replied, placing a hand under her chin and lifting her head back up to face him. “And anyway, whatever I could have been doing would come second to escorting a pretty young lady home safely.”

A blush found its way onto Annabeth’s cheeks as she watched Dylan’s smirk turn into a dazzling smile.

“Okay, but under one condition?” Snow’s smile turned into a playful smirk as she raised an eyebrow. Dylan looked worried.

“And what would that condition be?” He spoke as Snow walked over to the horse and patted it’s stomach.

“I get to ride up front.” Snow said simply.

Dylan gulped back, the dryness of his throat constricting his breath. A moment later, his face broke into a brilliant smile.