Red Is for Traitor

We were unique children, my brother and I. We had free reign over our childhood for as long as either of us could remember. Our Ma and Pa let us wander the small village on our own and once we were seven, they even let us walk through forest to our grandmother's. Most of our days, after chores of course, were spend among the plants and animals near our grandmother. She taught us all we could ever know about the different plants and animals that called the forest their home. She was the one who taught us to respect all life, from the smallest of seedlings to the deer and rabbits that fed us and even the grandfather trees that offered us shade and protection.
The plants and animals were more my friend than the children that ran around our village and went to school with us. Whereas my friends lived in the forest, Arawn, my twin brother, made many friends with the children of our age group. Not to say he did not adore the forest, he just preferred talking humans on occasion. I could never understand that but who was I to stop him? So we were strange but accepted by the village we lived in. Many of the townsfolk would go to our grandmother for healing. Some called her a witch but I never saw that. I saw a woman who knew what plants helped and what plants would harm. There was no witchcraft involved only knowledge of the world. But to each their own I suppose.
While Arawn and I played and ran around, our father worked as a woodcutter. He spent summer through autumn with many of the other men in the village cutting down trees for houses and for firewood. During the winter and spring he picked up odd jobs, helping widows or other households with whatever they needed. He used to tell Arawn and me that although we had our mother's dark brown hair and light green eyes, we were all him in spirit. I sometimes questioned him about Arawn since my brother was more of a people's person, but Pa would always laugh before kissing me on the head and head to the forest.
Our mother on the other hand only ventured into the forest to visit our grandmother (her mother). She liked the village life more than the forest; she adored people. Everyone knew Lillian Lightwood, from the eldest of widows or widowers to the youngest of children. People always asked about her as Arawn and I ran through the streets. It was not that surprising that her job in the village was to be a midwife. She found great joy in helping other families deliver healthy babies into the world. She was always smiling and kind even when we came home covered in mud and blood.
My family lived a perfect life. My parents loved each other and their jobs, they loved and cared for us, and my brother and I had a freedom that seldom had (not that I knew at the time). My childhood was as perfect as anyone could ever hope for... But in one winter everything changed for the worse. The winter of my ninth year my father went out to help find a lost child in the snow and did not return alive. We found out later, over the wails of my mother, that a tree had fallen on him. My father saved a man at the cost of his own life. Arawn and I were not aloud to see him for he no longer looked like the father we once knew. My mother's happiness vanished and she became a husk of a woman. She no longer wished us safe passage through the day and barely looked at us.
We mourned the loss of our father differently than her. We lost some of our vigor and spent more time in the forest instead of the village trying to come to terms with our loss. Our grandmother helped us. She taught us more and let us talk when we wanted or remain silent. Slowly as winter turned to spring and spring to summer the mind numbing hole became a mild constant throb. It hurt less but never truly went away.
That summer as I stalked the forest trying to hunt down food for my family to eat I met a strange boy. Arawn was with grandmother learning a new receipt while I hunted down the meat for it. I had a deer in my sight line when a snarl startled both the deer and me. I paid no attention to the deer that bolted as I turned my head to listen. Another sound reached my ears causing me to run towards it. The creature that made the noise was in pain and something in me needed to make sure it was okay. As I got closer, I slowed down and started creeping until I was hidden behind a tree. My eyes widened and mouth dropped at the scene before me. A young boy perhaps a year holder than me snarled with glowing silver eyes and pointed teeth. He tried to lunge but could only go so far before his trapped right leg caused him to stumble. My eyes slid to the object of the boys anger and fear. A man a little older than my late Pa pointed an arrow at the boy with a cruel smile painted on his face.
As the man knocked back the bow string, I swung around my tree and pointed my arrow at him. "Oi! Whatter yer think yer doin'?"
Both males turned to look at me surprised. The boy bared his teeth at me while the hunter returned his stare to the boy. "Stay out of this young lady. You do not understand what is happen. Go back home to do chores or something."
"Yer aimin' thaht ahrrow at a dahfensless youn' boy, yah put down yer bow or I shoot yah." I warned, knocking my own arrow back and taking aim.
"I would like to see you try-" The man yelped when I let my arrow fly and knocked his out from the bow.
"Next ahrrow won't meess." I narrowed my eyes, another arrow already in place. "Theese be ah fahrest ov peace. Yah only keell fer food or salf defense."
"This boy is a monster." The hunter glared no longer paying attention to the boy.
"Only muntah I see 'ere is yah. Whaht 'as de boy dun to prahvoce yah?"
"Noth-"
"T'en out! I aint below shootin' yah and reportin' yah." It took the hunter a moment but he finally relented and left. I followed after him until I knew he was no longer a threat, then I headed back to the boy. He was struggling and growling at the trap encircling his ankle. I approached cautiously and tried to pose no threat. He took a swipe at me with blunt finger; a warning. "I aint goin' ta hurt yah." I swatted his hand away and looked at the contraption. It was entwined with a flower I had never seen before. Carefully, just in case it would harm me, I avoided the flower, stem, and root and pulled the trap apart. The boy quickly pulled his foot out and backed away with a limp. His eyes still glowed but his teeth were no longer pointed. "Yer 'urt, let me look aht yah."
"No, I'm fine." His voice was high but guttural. It sounded as though he rarely used it.
"Ye'll die wit' thaht ahnkle."
"I'm fine." He went to take a step and collapsed with a surprised yip.
"Fine yah say?" I smirked and walked over. I bopped him on the head when he growled at me. "Hush, I ahm lookin' not tahkin' yer foot off." The ankle was dislocated and beginning to swell, if I did not hurry it would be at least a day before it could be set. "T'is'll hart. I need tah set it." Begrudgingly he agreed. His nails bit into the ground as I prepared to pop it back into place. "Un, two-" In a swift motion I heard it click. The boy yelped then whimpered at the pain. "Thahre ees ah rivah nahr by, yah should soak yah foot." Together we managed to hobbled him to the cool water where he dipped his foot in.
After a few minutes of silence he whispered, "Thank you."
I gave him a smile and replied, "No problem. Mah nahme ees Macha (Maxa)."
The boy, whose eyes settled on a turquoise color, looked at me and with some hesitation replied, "Sindri."
"Nahce to meet yah. How ees yer foot?"
Sindri glanced down at it as it cooled and mumbled. "Fine."
"Good." I chirped happily. "Will yah bee okahy eef I 'unt? I ahm sahpposed tah brin' meat tah mah grahndmahthah." Sindri nodded and waited patiently as I slipped through the forest. I did not stray far as I tracked and swiftly killed a young doe. She was not large thus I was able to easily drag her to the river. I quickly went to work on removing the organs. Sindri watched curiously as I carefully slid my knife from the pelvis to the sternum. I skillfully removed all the unwanted guts and placed them in a pile about a minute's walk for the animals passing by. I gave a silent prayer before heading back. I then wrapped the doe's liver, heart, and kidneys in a cloth after washing them and attached them to my quiver.
"Why did you do that?" Sindri asked as he pointed to the organless deer.
"Orgahns spoil dah meat ahnd we cahn't eat most ov t'em." I replied. "Do yah not gaht yer kills?"
Sindri shook his head. "We eat all of it." I went to open my mouth to ask a question when Sindri jerked his head to the left. My breath hitched for the second time that day when a large brown and red wolf emerged from the tree line. "Mama!" Sindri smiled when the wolf trotted over and rubbed his face.
"Mama?" I asked in shock and some fear. The wolf looked over Sindri's shoulder and straight at me. The she-wolf dislodged herself from the boy and shifted into a human. The woman that now stood before me had waist long dark brown almost black hair with a red sheen to it, her skin was tanned from hours out in the sun, and her eyes were a darker shade of turquoise than Sindri's.
"Hello." The woman greeted as she slowly approached me. "I am Trista Moonshadow. I hope my son has not been bothering you." Her annunciation was perfect and very eloquent, it made me feel ashamed of how I spoke.
I did not respond right away for no words would come. Sindri took mercy on me and replied, "I wasn't, she saved me." Trista's eyes shifted from me to her son's. "There was a hunter in our forest. He's got traps laying about. I stepped in one and dislocated my ankle, but Macha set it for me."
"Thank you for saving my son." She bowed her head in thanks. "The hunters know not to tread on our territory. Are you okay pup?"
"Ah, yes. I ahm fine. Mahy I ahsk somethin'?" I twitched nervously as I waited for Trista to answer. She merely nodded and waited. "Waht ahre yah? Yah chahnged from wolf tah humahn ahnd Sindri's eyes went frahm silvah to turquoise."
Trista smiled cautiously at me as she replied, "We are werewolves. Not feral mind you, but the moon does have an effect on us." I knew fear crossed over my eyes, but I tried to not let it take hold of me. "I promise we will not harm you as long as you do not try to harm us." I nodded an understanding but could still feel my hair standing up. Sensing my desire to run, Trista offered, "I am here now if you need to be somewhere. I can take care of Sindri now."
I felt kind of bad for how I was reacting. I knew deep down that to fear them was natural -they were werewolves after all- but they had shown no inkling that they would purposefully try to hurt me. I scuffed my boot into the dirt and asked, "Will I see yah ahgain?"
I saw Sindri perk up a little as his mother thought. "Perhaps. This forest is our home and if you travel through it often enough you will most likely see us running."
A smile bloomed on my face. "Okahy! See yah ahround. Sindri, feel bettah!" I gathered my small doe and headed back towards grandmother's.
Over the course of the summer I became best friends with Sindri and met many of his pack mates. Interestingly, his pack was a mix of both pure and werewolves. Sindri was the third youngest out of his five siblings and seven cousins. There were eight pure wolves and six adult werewolves. Sindri's mother and father were the Alpha pair while his uncle (on his father's side) was their Beta. About three to four times a week Arawn, Sindri, Mia, Corbin, Trinity, and Caleb would run the forest together hunting, exploring, collecting herbs, and playing. Summer soon turned to autumn and our time with the Moonshadow pack dwindled but Arawn and I still managed to see them at least twice a week.
Everything was almost perfect for the first time since our father died. Our mother still mourned him, but the hole that was once all encompassing shrunk until it was manageable. We thought nothing could stop our happiness. We thought we would live the rest of our lives freely. We thought nothing would change, but change did come. It came in the form of a big burly man with more money than any of the villagers had ever seen.