WARNING: THIS IS A CONNOR X O.C FANFICTION!
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ANY OF THE ASSASSIN'S CREED 3 CHARACTERS, SETTINGS AND STORY LINE. THIS IS SIMPLY ANOTHER WORK FROM A FAN AND ITS FOR FUN. I DO OWN MY OWN CREATED CHARACTERS AND PLOTS.
Pure white snow covers the grounds and trees of the Frontier. A lone girl, barely in her teens, riding a horse stares in awe at the peaceful imagery mother nature has bestowed for the season. Her silver grey eyes takes in every beauty with appreciation, her natural pink lips curls up in a smile at the scenery, preserving the memory deep in her mind. She kicks the horse gently, making it canter through a familiar trail every Frontier travelers use.
A sudden slow breeze made her pull her red cloak around her closely, trying to keep whats left of her body warmth. The girl grimaces at the biting cold assaulting her body, holding the reins to hasten her journey home to Lexington. She had hoped to finish her errands quickly at Concord and take a relaxing stroll on the peaceful Frontier forest but seeing as the sun is about to set any moment, it wouldn't be wise to do so. The girl thinks about her grandmother, probably worried sick than she already is, sitting by the window awaiting for her return.
Looking at the trail, the girl thinks to herself that it might take too long to get home using the usual trail. Her eyes moves to the other trail, calculating in her head how fast she can get home using the trail. The other trail is less used thanks to rumors of it being filled with bandits and wolves awaiting for a prey to pass by. She turns her head to the skies again, true enough the sun begins to lower over the horizon, signaling a coming end to the day. She bites her lower lip in thought, pulling the reins gently to the left trail that's never been used to her before, keeping a positive mind that its too cold for anyone to be out and about. As for the wolves, she'll just have to rely on her luck.
The light brown horse runs at full speed through the unknown trail at the command of its master. The girl holds on to the reins, her eyes and ears alert of any incoming danger while her heart beats a hundred miles, praying her hardest that no danger choose to befall her today. Unfortunately, her prayers were not answered today.
Half way through the trail, the howling of wolves can be heard nearby. The pack caught scent of them miles before they had reached half of the trail. Their yellow predatory eyes set on the fast moving horse and the red clocked girl on it.
The young girl cursed under her breath, commanding the horse to run faster, hoping to get a head start in case the wolves decided to chase after her. Her ears pick up a number of legs running through the thick snow, the many growls from the wolves near her heels. The strings of her mind shouts fear in her ears making her heart set on doing her best to make a run for it desperately. Seeing as the horse and its owner would not stop or tremble in fear, the leader of the pack decided to initiate the attack. It leaps from a rock, stopping right in front of the horse. The steed stops abruptly, raising its front legs high to the sky, neighing in alarm. The rider, unaware of the sudden stop, failed to grab hold of the reins tight enough, making her fall on her back to the ground.
The horse makes a run for it, leaving the rider behind. Upon seeing it leaving without her, the girl mutters another curse under her breath at her stroke of luck, reminding herself to train the horse again when she gets home. The many growls surrounding her, made her sit up, remembering the real reason why is she on the ground. She slowly gets up, not intending to alarm the already preying wolves surrounding her in a circle that's getting tighter as they move one paw after another closer to their dinner.
Her hand hidden behind her cloak, moves slowly to grab a small hunting knife, taking it out of its sheathe strapped to her right thigh. Gripping the hilt tightly till her fingers feel numb, she eyes the wolves bravely despite feeling dread inside of her.
One of the wolves pounced at her from the right but her reflexes are quick enough to dodge it by ducking low. Another tries to do the same from her left. Again she ducks to dodge it, only this time the knife on her hand makes its appearance, stabbing the wolf's stomach as deep as she can. Feeling the warm red liquid on her hand, she drops the now dead wolf on the ground, taking out the knife quickly. Her fingers are sticky from the blood but she still hold on to her knife like a lifeline.
The wolves became more aggravated seeing a death from their pack. They began pouncing on her, snapping their sharp teeth at her way mercilessly. Although the girl's reflexes and instincts manages to keep her head in one piece, she knows her luck is going to run out soon. After dropping another wolf with her knife, she makes a run for it, hoping the many trees would confuse the angry pack.
The pack of wolves are still able to get her scent and they're much faster in running. It didn't help now that night curtains the day into darkness with only a few twinkling stars and a crescent moon to light her way. Her legs starts to feel wobbly but her want to stay alive kept her moving.
The hungry growls from the wolves became louder and louder as her energy wanes after running none stop. Her eyes move to the trees, planning to climb them as soon as she finds a suitable tree to ensure her safety from the ground. With the ground heavily covered in snow, she didn't notice a big rock in her way.
She fell again, face first into the thick snow on the ground. The many growls made her get up again but she stumble down, wincing in pain. It took her a moment to notice she had sprained her ankle. To make matters worse her knife is out of her reach, fell into a heap of snow somewhere. The wolves finally caught up to her, circling on their prey hungrily.
The fire in her to stay alive moments ago starts to diminish little by little. Soon enough she'll be dinner to these predators. Her head quickly berated herself for choosing the dangerous trail instead of the usual one. Her thoughts fly to her grandmother, how devastated she would be to find out her granddaughter's dead body near a wolf's den. Assuming someone would actually found her. The Frontier is no small place and nobody was accompanying her except for her runaway horse.
One of the wolves pounces on her. Her survival instincts still pushes her own even though she's starting to accept her death. She pulls her arms up, trying to keep its snapping teeth away from her face. Her teeth grits in anger, feeling rather annoyed at her situation. Her left uninjured feet meets with its stomach, kicking it away from her angrily.
The pack became more aggravated, pouncing after her one after another. She does her best to keep them away by rolling away or kick them before they could get close. Even so, she receives a few scratches from them. One particular wolf was able to render its claws deep into her right hand. Her pale white flesh now tainted scarlet red much like her hood. This for some reason starts to frighten her.
"HELP! SOMEBODY PLEASE HELP ME!" She screams loudly in a last resort attempt.
Hoping she still had a small shred of luck in her because her mind might've settled to be dinner but not her heart.
A young boy of Native American descent stands on top of a tall tree, unafraid of how high he is from the ground. The cold winter doesn't bother him one bit as he watches the sun goes down. His eyes move from the orange ball to the small Colonial villages called Concord and Lexington. It may be small but its been growing year by year. An unexplained worry growing in him, fearing what would happen to his village that's been living here far longer than the brick houses in those villages. A peculiar mind for a 13 year old boy.
"Ratonhnhaké:ton! Ratonhnhaké:ton! Where are you?" A voice calling after him from below in their Native tongue.
The boy moves to another branch, giving him a better view to look below him.
"I'm over here, Kanen'tó:kon!" He raises his voice a little, waving his arms to his good friend. The young boy, same age as him, runs to the big oak tree his friend hides every time to get away from doing chores. He stands by the bark, not having enough courage yet to climb the tree.
"Its almost nightfall. Clan Mother says its time to go home," Kanen'tó:kon informs him just like any other day. The young boy up in the trees nods silently.
"Fine. I'm coming down now," he says, looking at the Colonial villages one last time, an unreadable look in his eyes.
"HELP! SOMEBODY PLEASE HELP ME!" A scream of distress from a girl stops Ratonhnhaké:ton's attempt to climb down the tree. He climbs even further up to find the source of the voice.
"Ratonhnhaké:ton? What's going on?" Kanen'tó:kon asks, wondering why did he climb up instead of down.
The young boy didn't answer yet, his sharp eyes searching everywhere in the big forest for the distress call. His eyes widen at the pack of wolves attacking someone in bright red cloth. It was easy to spot against the white snow. He makes a move, jumping from one tree to another quickly.
Seeing his friend's sudden action, Kanen'tó:kon runs to catch up from below, confused as to where is he going.
"Ratonhnhaké:ton! Where are you going? That's not the way to our village!" Kanen'tó:kon yells in alarm, seeing as he's going to cross the border of the valley without the permission from their elders.
"Someone is in trouble! We have to help her!" Ratonhnhaké:ton replies, still jumping from one tree to another without breaking a sweat.
Kanen'tó:kon strains his ears to hear anything only to finally catch a girl's voice in distress. However, she was't speaking their language.
"Ratonhnhaké:ton, she's speaking ENGLISH!" Kanen'tó:kon say again in alarm. Ratonhnhaké:ton stops on a tree, looking down at his friend's way.
"She's in danger. We have to help her," he says, sincerity in his eyes.
"Fine," Kanen'tó:kon sighs, unable to deny his sincerity. "But Clan Mother isn't going to like this," he reminds him with a grimace.
"We'll deal with that later. Climb up. We'll have a better advantage up on the trees if we're taking down wolves," Ratonhnhaké:ton's voice drop to a whisper, his eyes on the girl still doing her best fighting the wolves off.
"We're fighting against wolves?!" Kanen'tó:kon exclaims in fear.
"You stay on the trees. Try and shoot them. I'll be on the ground defending her," he says, taking his tomahawk out.
"Are you sure? What if i shoot you instead?" Kanen'tó:kon say uncertainly, gripping his bow nervously.
"I trust you my friend," Ratonhnhaké:ton gives an encouraging smile, patting his stomach. His friend nods, a shred of confidence in his eyes now.
The young boy leaps from the tree, striking his tomahawk down strongly on a wolf that's on top of the girl. The girl froze, watching the life ebbing away from the wolf's eyes. She didn't push the wolf out of her way but it fell limply on the ground beside her. A shadow stands tall, his back facing her. Her eyes fell on his strong grip on his tomahawk, standing in defense, facing the wolves.
One of the wolves attacks him but it was taken down easily. Two wolves starts to attack him. The girl almost shouted in alarm as the second wolf tries to attack from behind only to have an arrow struck on it. She looked around to see where it had come from. After taking down another two, the remaining wolves ran away, leaving them in the quiet forest.
The girl on the ground watches Ratonhnhaké:ton's shoulders calming from the adrenaline rush earlier. He turns around to face her after making sure the wolves won't return. Her eyes takes in curiously at his attire and facial features. Its obvious he's not a Colonial boy but his skin tone is a little fairer than the Natives. His attire though says otherwise.
The young boy also takes in her being with same curiosity, able to tell instantly she's a Colonial girl with her fair white skin. Her red braided hair is a new sight to him as no one in his tribe had such color on their heads. Even her silver grey eyes is something new to him.
When his eyes move to her right arm, he bends down quickly seeing deep claw marks. She backs away in alarm, holding her injured arm closer. Ratonhnhaké:ton lays his hand in front of her, nodding at her right arm.
After a few moments of thinking, the girl slowly lands her arm on his hand, unsure what is he going to do. She hisses in pain as he gingerly touches the claw marks. He looks at her apologetically, moving his hand into one of his pouches. The girl watches him curiously. Ratonhnhaké:ton takes out a small pouch, dropping its contents on his palm. It looked like dusts. She looks at him questioningly.
"These claw marks are deep," Ratonhnhaké:ton finally speaks. The girl widens her eyes, surprised to hear him speaking English fluently. "These herbs will stop the bleeding and hopefully cover the marks from being too visible. I must warn you that it stings a lot," he says, holding the smashed up herbs on his palm uncertainly.
The girl nods in understanding quietly, shutting her eyes for the coming pain. Ratonhnhaké:ton gently lay them on her arm, spreading it evenly on the claw marks. The girl shut her eyes even tighter, biting her lower lip hard to stop herself from crying in pain. He then rips a part of his shirt, wrapping the cloth around her arm and tying it with a string meant for his bow.
After feeling his hands away from her arm, the girl slowly opens her watery eyes to see his work. The stinging feel is there but its subsiding soon. Ratonhnhaké:ton gets up, giving her some space. He looks around the trees for his friend, a little worried to see that he's nowhere near any of the trees surrounding them.
"Why did you help me?" The girl's question made him turn quickly to face her again. "Why did you help me? I'm just a stranger," the girl ask again, looking at him curiously.
"I was passing by," he shrugs. "I couldn't just ignore something that's already in front of my eyes," he explains further.
"Thank you. It was really kind of you putting your life on the line like that," she says gratefully, trying to stand up, only to wince in pain again. Ratonhnhaké:ton helps her up, looking at her ankle.
"Don't worry, its just a sprained ankle. I'll be fine," she waves him off, wobbling a little. "It was really brave of you facing them head on," an impressed look on her face.
"The wolves have been a problem for my village as well. It was only a matter of time before we drive them away," he says. "What are you doing in the forest alone? It is not safe."
"I was on my way back to my village in Lexington when the sun was coming down. The wolves starts chasing as soon as i set foot on this trail. My horse got scared, dropped me on the ground and ran off," she explains with a grimace. "Guess i'm walking home now," she sighs.
The sound of horse hooves can be heard in the distance, stomping on the ground loudly.
"ARIA! CAN YOU HEAR ME?" A few voices accompanied the stomping hooves. Both of them crane their necks to see a few horses coming their way.
"Over here!" The girl yells, waving her arms and smiling in relief to see the people from her village.
Out of nowhere Ratonhnhaké:ton's mouth was clamped shut with a palm and his body pulled to a nearby bush. He elbows the assailant's stomach, making him release his arms around him.
"Peace, Ratonhnhaké:ton."
He could hear the painful strain in Kanen'tó:kon's voice even though he's whispering. Pulling his arm down to make sure they're hidden in the bush.
"Sorry, my friend. Where did you go? I thought you left without me," he says, hitting his arm.
"I heard voices in the distance. I thought it was our Elders only to find out they were Colonial villagers. Most probably looking for her," Kanen'tó:kon nods at the girl talking to a full grown man. A look of relief on her face.
"Come on. Its time for us to go, Ratonhnhaké:ton," Kanen'tó:kon whispers, pulling him away from the bush to run into the forest before they see them.
Ratonhnhaké:ton take one last look at the girl before she covers her head with the red hood. He sprints away into the night catching up with his friend, cringing at what punishment his grandmother would put him through this time.
The girl, Aria, looks around to find the boy that saved her from the wolves. She was telling the search party what had happened to her and was about to introduce her savior only to find an empty spot next to her. Her head moves around to find him but could only see the dark forest ahead.
"The event must've tire you out greatly. Let's get you home now," one of them say sympathetically as if she had just hit her head hard and is being delusional.
Nevertheless, she gets on the horse quietly, not wanting to waste time arguing with the adults. They did come to save her after all. Her eyes still move around, hoping to catch a glimpse of the Native boy. All of that hope wasn't fulfilled as soon as she reach the grounds of her village in Lexington.
"Mr. Smyth, does the Iroquois tribe speaks English?" She asks the man steering the horse they're on out of nowhere.
"Some of them do. Mostly the hunters though. Why the sudden question, Aria?" He asks curiously, looking back.
"Nothing... Just entertaining my curiosity," she says dismissively, realizing that she doesn't even know his name.
A/N: ELLO ELLO THERE! :D Thanks so much for taking your time reading this. If you were a previous reader then yes this is the new version of The Red and The wolf. I'm sorry if this different take might not be as good as the previous one but I still hope you'll enjoy it nevertheless. :)
Chapters will be uploaded weekly every Thursday if given time.
Don't hesitate to give out opinions and reviews if you have any since i'm still a budding writer. :D