Little Red Cinderella and the Three Beanstalks

Previously...

Tears started streaming down my face, unbidden. Was I going to be the cause of two deaths? I hadn't even been here for 48 hours yet! Panic rose in me, what else would I ruin before I managed to get back home? But I squeezed my eyes shut, and pushed the fear welling up inside me back down.

Get a hold of yourself, Rikki. Panicking will do you no good. You don't even remember how the real story ends. Read it, maybe everything will end up okay, I told myself fiercely. I took a deep breath and scanned the page, letting my gaze rest on the last paragraph. I gave myself one more mental nudge, and began to read.

You may imagine how glad the queen was when she heard the
name. And when soon afterwards the little man came in, and
asked, "Now, mistress queen, what is my name?" At first she
said, "Is your name Conrad?"
"No."
"Is your name Harry?"
"No."
"Perhaps your name is Rumpelstiltskin?"

"The devil has told you that! The devil has told you that," cried
the little man, and in his anger he plunged his right foot so
deep into the earth that his whole leg went in, and then in
rage he pulled at his left leg so hard with both hands that
he tore himself in two.

Oh shit.
*********************************************************************************

An hour and a half later, I found myself still wandering the forest.

I was on the verge of panic now; the fact that I was lost in a deadly forest at night alone combined with the knowledge that I had just killed Rumpelstiltskin before he could save the Miller's daughters life were driving me to the brink.

I stumbled around blindly, trying not to hyperventilate, tripping over tree roots and bushes in the dark. Every rustle in the trees, every crack of a twig sent me on edge. I was sure the shadows were monsters waiting for me to turn my back so they could eat me, I was sure the terrible wolves that nearly killed me that first day were stalking me at that very moment. I silently cursed that god damned Book. This whole mess was all its fault! Everything would have been fine if it hadn't sucked me into this stupid fairy-tale world...

I grumbled angrily, trying to force my thoughts to focus on happy things, and failing miserably.

Just then, I heard a branch break somewhere behind me. I froze in place, ears perked, listening intently for any other sounds. I wanted to pass it off as nothing important, a small animal maybe, nothing threatening, but something in the back of my mind wouldn't let me do that. I stood stock still, the fear constricting my throat being quickly replaced with adrenaline. I crouched slightly, unconsciously shifting to a defensive stance.

For a moment or two, there was silence, but then another crack and a rustle made me whirl around in a circle, trying to pinpoint the direction of the noise. Somewhere to my right, something was making its slow but steady way toward me, pushing through the forest with no regard to the amount of noise it made. I swallowed with some difficulty, my throat very dry. If what ever it was was big enough, strong enough, or reckless enough to crash through the dangerous woods like that, I was sure I didn't want to come face-to-face with it.

Unfortunately for me, it seemed to have other plans. It was coming straight for me, moving in my direction with an alarming speed now. I looked wildly around me, trying to decide where to run. I didn't want to make too much noise, and draw any further attention to myself, but if I didn't move now, the thing would be in my face at any second...

Too late.

With one final crash, a large, dark shape came stumbling from the darkness, nearly colliding with me. I barely managed to leap out of the way in time, and I watched in terrified silence as the thing collapsed to the forest floor, shaking slightly. I could hear its labored breathing, and see it try to push itself up to a sitting position. It failed, and fell back down. Against my better judgment, a twang of pity reverberated through my heart, and I edged cautiously towards the dark form.

"Erm... are you... ok?" I asked. Well, squeaked more like. My voice was about five octaves higher than it usually was, and was strained with fear. The thing shifted suddenly at the sound of my voice, and I scuttled backwards slightly.

"R-rebecca? R... Risa? Rikki? Rikki?" It croaked, its voice hoarse and cracked. I froze on the spot, blinking confusedly. How did it know my name? "Rikki, is that you?" It said again. It managed to push itself up, though I still couldn't see it in the shadows. What looked like an arm reached out for me, grasping at my leg. I shuffled back, out of it's reach, confusion beginning to dominate the fear I felt.

"Well, don't just stand there, help me, you stupid girl!" It croaked, sounding annoyed. I paused, thinking hard. Then it clicked into place.

"Ezu? Ezu, is that you?" I whispered.

"Yes! Yes, of course it's me! Who else would it be! Now get over here!" He snapped. I let out a squeal of joy and launched myself at him, throwing my arms around his neck.

"Oh Ezu! I thought the Giants killed you or something! Jinx flew off without me, I was all alone, you were dead, and I couldn't find my way back! I thought I was going to be eaten by wolves or something in here! And then I ran into Rumpelstiltskin, and he made me play a game, and then I killed him, and now we have to go rescue the Miller's daughter before she gets beheaded by the king, since Rumpelstiltskin is too dead to do it! And then we have to find Little Red Riding Hood so I can give her her cloak back, because I have already messed up one story, who knows what will happen if we’re too late with hers? Oh Ezu, thank God you found me!" I whooshed, slightly blue in the face after finishing all of this. I said it all in one breath, my happiness at finding Ezu overwhelming.

Unfortunately, Ezu didn't seem to share my enthusiasm. He gave a whimper of pain when I launched myself at him, and pushed me off with a growl.

"Ow! Hey, Rikki, get off me! What in the world are you talking about?" He said, his face screwed up in pain. I backed off, scrutinizing him carefully.

"Wait... are you hurt? What happened? Where does it hurt?" I asked in quick succession, poking him in the chest experimentally.

"No, I'm perfectly fine, I just had to battle and escape from two blood thirsty Giants by myself with only a bow and arrow to help me--which, by the way, are now destroyed--thanks for asking, how 'bout you?" He growl at me, pushing my hand away roughly.

I felt myself go red, and I averted my eyes. Stupid. Of course he must have been hurt. But I was distracted from my embarrassment by Ezu sighing.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you." He mumbled, looking at the ground. "I'm kinda in a little pain right now, and I just don't... well, I said before... I don't really hang around other people all that often..." He finished lamely, still not looking at me. Well, that just made me feel worse. Where as before I just felt dumb, now I felt guilty for making Ezu feel guilty for making me feel dumb.

Or whatever was going on. So we sat there in an uncomfortable silence for about a minute, my emotions playing all sorts of cruel games with my head, and Ezu just sitting there, one arm cradled on his lap, the other fiddling with a blade of grass. Finally I snapped out of my reverie, pushing my feelings to the side.

"So, where does it hurt?" I asked, my voice steadier and stronger now. I reached for Ezu's arm. He scooted backwards a bit, but I grabbed his arm anyway. He flinched slightly when I touched it, though I could tell he was trying to hide his discomfort.

"So your arm? Here?" I asked, putting pressure on his wrist, "Or here?" I said, moving to his forearm.

"No, actually, it doesn't hurt that bad. I'll be fine, really." He said, trying to pull away. I didn't let him go, instead giving him an incredulous look.

"I thought you just said you were in terrible pain after battle a couple of giants? Are you hurt of not? Make up your mind!" I said, exasperatedly.

"I'm fine. I was just making a fuss. No big deal, really." He said, trying to squirm out of my grasp. He shifted wrong, and gave a little yelp of pain, his eyes wide.

The light caught them, and I could see the colors shining in the moonlight. The right eye a clear, bright blue, like a summer sky, his left golden, like leaves turning in the fall. They were almost a little eerie, glowing in the darkness like that.

"Ok, so your arm is definitely hurt. Broken, probably. I don't even want to know how, don't tell me. Anything else in pain? And don't you act all tough guy and tell me you're fine!" I said, glaring at him as he began shaking his head. He gave me a morose glare, and motioned to his leg.

"I think I twisted my ankle." He muttered. I touched it lightly, and he winced. I sighed, and pulled off the cloak I was wearing. The red one. I stole. On accident.

I stared at it for a moment, feeling guilty about what I was going to do. I had wanted to return it in perfect condition, but at this moment Ezu needed it more then Little Red did. I tore off a long thin strip from the bottom, then took a hold of Ezu's arm, trying to locate the break.

As I worked, thanking God I took an advanced baby sitting course the year before, I took advantage of Ezu's trapped state to bombard him with some questions that had been bugging me.

"So Ezu... When those giants were talking to you... They kept saying 'Argannon' or something. What was that all about?" I asked. Ezu looked slightly green, and took my question with a sort of eager relief.

"'Argannon' means 'Two eyes' in Giant speak. Because my eyes, you know? Argos means eyes, anas is the number two, and non is the declension given to words being used as names in the nominative case--ah, forget it. That's what Urgle calls me anyway. Most of the Giants call me that."

"Oh. OK. And speaking of Giants, it sounded like you were in some serious trouble back there. You owed them something, right? What, are you a gambler of something?" I asked, tightening the makeshift sling with a jerk, Ezu grimacing against the pain.

"Um... yeah, kind of... in a sense, I suppose... I had them do me a favor a while back, something I knew I wouldn't be able to pay back. I was kind of counting on being able to lay low until they forgot about me." He said. I could tell he wasn't planning on elaborating on the subject. I dropped it, but made a mental note to push him about it later.

"You seem to owe an awful lot of people favors. Is it really safe for me to be traveling with you?" I asked, moving on to his ankle. Ezu grinned.

"Probably not."

"So," I continued, "How did you get away from Urgle or whatever his name is, and his buddy?"

"It wasn't easy." Ezu said, helping me hold the wrap in place. "I had to avoid being crushed, first off. That didn't go too well." He explained, gesturing to his broken arm. "I managed to lead them out of the clearing, where the trees there closer together. Their size made it harder for them to maneuver, so that helped me a lot. I shot one of my arrows into Gurtok's eye sometime during the fight. I'm going to be in trouble for that later." He grimaced, envisioning a grisly scene in the future. "Urgle got frustrated, and just began knocking down trees with his hammer, trying to get at me. Half an acre of forest is completely demolished." He shook his head sadly. "Eventually I managed to give them the slip, and I escaped into the woods. I would have gone straight to town, but the pain was clouding my mind, and the darkness didn't help either. Then I ran into you." He finished, shrugging.

I gave the wrapping around his ankle one last tug, and sat back on my haunches, rather pleased with myself.

"Okay, all done." I said, admiring my handy work.

"You'll have to help support me a bit when we walk," Ezu said, glumly. But then he apparently thought of something, an brightened. "Unless you can find a big stick somewhere around here, and once we get into town we can probably find a doctor somewhere to fix me up professionally." Ezu said, struggling to his feet. I went to help him, but he pushed me away. I rolled my eyes.

What was it with guys and acting tough? Ezu stumbled to a standing position, and before he could protest, I slipped under his arm, letting him lean on me.

"I'm not finding you a stick. You shouldn't walk at all with your ankle like that, and we'll go faster if you aren't hopping around on one foot." I told him firmly. We started to walk, but then I stopped suddenly, nearly causing Ezu to fall on his face.

"What is it?" He said, irritably. I shifted my weight to my other foot nervously, remembering the nights previous events.

"Um, I almost forgot... there is this thing I kind of want to take care of, you know, after we stop at town, and um, I might need your help..." Ezu sighed heavily.

"I'll never get rid of you, will I? Well, what is it you need me to do?" He asked warily.

"Um, we need to rescue a princess..." I mumbled, watching Ezu's face carefully.