Little Red Ruby Hood and the Big Bad Wolf.
Summary: Scarlett had always been warned of a violent and murdering wolf that lived in the very same woods that she travelled through each day on her way back to her Granny's house, but she had never imagined that one day she would come face to face with the beast. Age old stories of interactions with the fated big bad wolf had taught her to be scared of the creature and what it could do to young girls like her, but a soft look of pain in the eyes of her unwilling attacker made the young girl wonder if there was more to the old tales of the big bad wolf than anyone could ever figure.
Pairings are Emma x Graham, and Mary Margaret x David, but mostly Ruby x OC.
Disclaimer: I do not own Once Upon a Time or any of the characters affiliated.
Rating is PG-13 for language, violence and a little sexuality.
Authors Note: Hello all! This is not my first fanfic on here, but it is my first after about a three year hiatus of writing regularly, so I am back with a brand new name and a fresh start. I've wanted to write this since I saw Meghan Ory played Ruby, she is one of my favourite actresses, so finally I sat down and took a whack at the idea I had for Little Red Ruby Hood. (Which in the fairytale world will be named Scarlett, I know it's been used before by lots of people but it was the best moniker I saw so I apologise for lack of creativity.) I will warn beforehand that this story will include femslash, not of Emma or the main characters but by as you probably guessed Ruby, so I hope that nobody is too bothered by it. I hope that everyone will enjoy!
Spoilers include most canon plot points up until 1x07 "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter."
Inside the Enchanted Forest.
"Just who does she think she is?" A grumbling voice could be heard from deep within the woods. Minor cursing and yelps of pain accompanied the clear snarl the young woman had in her throat as she ranted to herself about everything from her Grandmother's strict rules to the state of the path she was taking.
This was not the first time Scarlett had had a complaint about some law her Granny had told her to obey, and it was certainly not the first time that she had purposefully broken the rules only to complain about the consequences after it was too late to fix her mistakes. It would also turn out to not be the last time she fought authority, either. But as her final broken rule had not even been written yet, this was definitely the stupidest time she had failed to listen to instruction.
Which is exactly what brought her to the situation she was currently in ; three hours past her curfew, caked in about a layer of mud, covered with scratches and cuts that she would fuss over later as she made herself look pretty for the baker's son and one hundred percent completely, utterly lost.
"Why did she even tell me about the second path in the first place?" Scarlett complained to herself again, more to fill the silent air with a comforting sound rather than actually being upset. "She knows I'm going to want to take it, even if it's dangerous!" Letting out a huff of air in frustration that fluttered a couple of black hairs out of her face, she slumped back on a stump to give herself a moment to think.
It took Scarlett to abandon her thought process and concentrate on how scratched up her hands, more specifically her nails, were getting, before she noticed anything odd about where she had decided to sit.
The conveniently placed stump she was resting on caught her attention first as she realised it had a back to it rather than just being flat across. Somewhat in delight, she let herself lean back against the wood, her back was rather sore. Despite needing a minute to notice the stump malformation, it took nearly seconds for her to realise that stumps did not naturally shape like that, nor did someone cut it down in that way without them planning on using it like furniture, eventually. Finally, she dared to look around.
She was in someone's camp. Scarlett had never personally been in one, but it was familiar to the small little areas she sometimes found in the forest with tents set up and a fire being built. Only this camp was vastly different from any other one that she had ever come in contact with. It wasn't as neat or tidy as the others and an unmistakeable stench of death crept in through the trees carried on the wind.
"... Is anyone there?" Scarlett whisper-called, afraid to get any louder for fear that whoever it was that owned the camp was the reason behind the dead smell, or that whatever that was the real reason for the smell might still be lurking in the nearby bushes ready to attack at any sign of life.
Mere moments after her attempt to find out the truth, a lone howl cut through the air and left Scarlett frozen in her tracks, her heart pounding with fear and recognition. She knew that there were rumours of a wolf in these parts of the woods but never imagined that the rumours were anything more than parents trying to keep their children away from the forest. Naturally, hearing proof of what she had enthusiastically argued as false stories shook her to her very core and made her head swim with fear.
As the second howl exploded into the night sky, Scarlett jumped up from the stump and looked around the camp quickly. She hoped to god that the rotting and decaying smell that had filled her nose for the past ten minutes wasn't linked in any way to the noises she was hearing, and she hoped to god that she just had really good hearing and the creature was half a forest away from her instead of just a few feet.
Unfortunately, Scarlett knew from years of her Granny telling her that she didn't know how to listen and that she had worse hearing than a deaf duck when it came to certain things... the wolf had to be close.
Panning her head from side to side hoping to catch a glimpse of anyone, even the wolf to figure out how far away from safety she was, Scarlett took a couple of small steps towards the confusing and twisting maze-like path that had taken her from the edge of the forest to here. If she could run for it and remember which way she had gone, she could run for the village and hole up there until the wolf left.
Almost as if it sensed what she was about to try, the moment she stepped towards the path, a deep growl shook the trees. Scarlett knew it had to be close now and decided she had to take her chances.
Breaking into a run that would have made her athletically-concentrated deceased father proud, she all but sprinted to the path and ran her way down it as fast as she could. Scarlett didn't dare stop for even a second to check if she was being followed, certain that the farther she ran the safer she would become.
Reaching the little fork in the path that had confused her the first time she had come across it and feeling seemingly safe at the time being and exhausted beyond all belief, the black-haired teenager slowed down for a second to catch her breath, think about which way to go, and lean against a tree so she could feel safe and supported while she figured out her dangerous predicament.
Mere moments after she stopped running, another loud growl was heard, this time from somewhere close behind her. Scarlett spun around in fear that the wolf could be sneaking up behind her tree in order to catch her by surprise, she had always heard they were smart and at first she hadn't believed it... She hadn't believed any of it, but since wolves in these woods existed, the other rumours must be true.
Confident that it wasn't sneaking up behind her, Scarlett turned to get started back on the path when she came face to face with the wolf and let out a scream that travelled all the way to the village.
Feeling a little sick to her stomach that she had clearly walked right into its plan, she cursed to herself for being so stupid to turn around long enough for it to get ahead of her and trap her against the tree. She wanted to both kick herself and begin crying as it started to pace back in forth, it's eyes never leaving her face. The wolf didn't look much bigger than ordinary wolves, but the look of hunger and manipulation in its eyes made her feel like it was vastly different from the others... more dangerous.
Whimpering just slightly as a final growl escaped its throat, Scarlett feebly held her hands up trying to protect herself from its teeth and claws as the wolf made up its mind, hunched back and pounced.
And thus I end the first story I've worked on of three years on a cliffhanger, I've got guts don't I? I apologise for both the length and the spelling/grammar. I usually do about two checks on whatever I write to make sure that it's up to my best standards but since I really wanted this to be up for the new episode, I've had to sacrifice on the normal length I usually like my chapters to be (fifteen hundred) and I could only do one quality check for this chapter.
I hope that you all will want to keep reading as I continue onto the second chapter of "Little Red Ruby Hood and the Big Bad Wolf."