I wrote this just on a whim. I hope you guys like it.

Disclaimers: Kingdom Hearts is in no way mine, but the idea is. Red Riding Hood isn't mine either.

2,100 words.

A Red Hood

I didn't think I would ever be unhappy.

After all, what else could a girl want? I had a giant forest to myself, a thousand streams to drink from, a hundred paths to take and to chase on, lots of deer to play and to hunt, foxes to talk to when I got lonely, I had everything I could ever want to do or have.

I didn't need anything. I didn't want anything, not really.

It was on a day like this, a beautiful day where the sun does nothing but trickle through the spaces between the leaves like golden rain, that I met that boy. I remember that he was walking through my forest with a basket on his arm, that he was singing at the top of his lungs to keep himself company.

I thought he looked delicious, plus the basket might have something inside for me.

Visitors were rare, baskets even rarer. Goodies were rare and the animals, little wolves like me included, loved them. But the boy didn't seem to know that, he just kept singing and kicking his feet on the path to keep his time. The goodies were tempting, tempting enough for me to sneak into the bushes and follow him without giving more thought to what might be inside.

'Oh, here I am, little one,

Here I am, walking with the sun,

Here I am, mister moon,

Here I am with nature's boon!'

It wasn't a very good poem, but what it lacked in style, he made up for it in volume. The boy sang his heart out and every now and then, he would rock his head back and forth and kick up another bunch of leaves. He looked like he was having fun.

I watched him from the bushes, taking care to memorize what he looked like.

Dark blue eyes that sometimes flashed over to the bushes I hid inside of and frightened me, and a long, dark red hood that covered his hair and face, a puff of brown hair that stuck up beneath the hood and over those eyes. The wicker basket on his arm swung as he sang and walked. It had a red and white cloth on top, hiding the goodies from view.

I wanted the goodies and my want made me stupid.

He turned around and saw one of my paws sticking out from underneath a bush. The boy's immediate reaction was to reach for a sword hanging on his back, hidden by his long hood by a series of red straps that camouflaged it. I cursed under my breath when it appeared in his hand, ripped out rapidly.

"Who's there?" He demanded, making me know that it was better for me to come out now.

If not, I could get a sword in my belly. How would I get snacks if I already had a stomach full of iron? Even better, how would I even be alive after he stabbed me?

"Greetings, young traveler," I said calmly as I stepped out from my bush. The startled look on the boy's face was almost enough to make me laugh, though I did give him a wolfy grin. A quick bow of my head was enough to make him lower the sword and to bend down to look at me properly. I sat down on my haunches and waggled my tail. "How are you on such a fine day?"

Not all wolves could talk, and I was much nicer than a lot of the ones I've ever met.

The boy smiled a little and bent his head back in greeting. "I'm fine, Sir Wolf," He said respectfully, though I immediately let out a growl.

Sir Wolf? Sir Wolf?! How dare he, how dare he mistake me for a male, when I was so obvious a female? With my long long bush of a tail, my pretty clever violet-blue eyes, my slender body made for burrowing into small spaces for my future pups, how could I be anything less than female!

But I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. After all, humans were stupid.

"Ah, not Sir Wolf, but Lady Wolf," I corrected him with a hard thump of my tail on the ground. He blushed and scratched his cheeks, obviously embarrassed at his mistake. "Oh… my apologies, Mistress Wolf. Um, how are you?" He asked next and bowed again for good measure.

I smiled. What a good boy; it was lucky I was much politer than the other wolves I've known, or else he would have been chomped to bits already. "It is a fine day, young traveler," I hummed. He raised an eyebrow in surprise. "The sun is shining, the moon will be full tonight, the little birdies are a-chirping in the trees, and I have a new friend here with me." I nodded toward him and smiled.

"I've never heard of a romantic wolf before," The boy commented with a laugh. I shook my head and let out a howl.

"And you still haven't. I'm only saying it's a pretty day. Lovely for hunting." I paused and took a few steps toward him, carefully angling myself to reach his boots. I brushed my tail against the floor like a dog, giving him the illusion that I was friendly or enough like his pup at home to not be a threat. After all, it had been so long since I've been able to chat with someone. "Are you hunting, my boy?" I asked sweetly.

He nodded politely and then looked down at his basket. "In a way; I'm going to my grandmother's house. I'm a little lost." He confided before bending down on one knee and plunging his hand into the folds of the red and white cloth. "And since you're just as lost as I am, I guess I can share! I'm sure Grandma won't mind!" He added before pulling out a large muffin.

Oh, the sweetness of a muffin… I felt the drool emerge from my jaws even as the boy carefully placed it on the ground before me.

"My name's Sora," He said as I leapt toward the treat and started gulping it down.

Oh, delicious! So delicious and good! So sweet it was dancing across my tongue as I chewed it with my fangs! Ah, it was worth talking to a human for a muffin! It was worth pretending to be an animal for a yummy muffin!

"Kairi," I mumbled back through a mouthful of blueberry muffins. I never liked blueberries much, being a carnivore and all, but this was delicious!

Sora grinned. "Are all the wolves in this forest red like you, Kairi?" He asked curiously before taking a seat on the path next to me, to watch me eat in peace. "I've never seen a red wolf before. You're awful pretty."

I shook my head, ignoring the compliment. He was only human, not a potential partner. As lovely as I was for a wolf, the compliment meant nothing coming from him. "No," I sighed before ripping a second hunk of pastry off the paper cup that enveloped it. "I'm the only wolf in this forest."

His face fell, saddening suddenly. I stared at him in confusion before he leaned over and put his hand on my head. His fingers tickled against my ears as he began to stroke my fur. "… I'm sorry… Did I bring up a sad memory?" Sora asked softly, his eyes full of pain as he played with my fur.

Why was he so sad?

"It's alright," I shrugged, shaking my head hard enough that his hand slid off. I couldn't have a human touch me for long, it wasn't right. "I don't remember my family, I only remember my grandmother and she was gone long ago."

"That's even worse!" Sora cried out, making my heart jump inside of my chest.

All of a sudden, as sudden as he had given me the goodie, the boy jumped forward and hugged me tight, pressing his face to my back and cuddling with me. For a moment, I thought I could remember the embrace of my wolf mother, the way she would lick my damp fur clean and how it felt to have my brothers and my sisters curled up beside me. It felt warm and good and safe, like it used to feel like when I was human and my grandmother used to wrap me up in a blanket. I nuzzled back into him and felt him cry a few sticky hot tears into my fur.

"Come with me," Sora said softly as I crawled into his lap and pressed my muzzle into his stomach. The red cloth of his cloak was warm with sunshine and smelled of good things, of smoke and of dogs and of goodies and of the boy. He lifted my head up and grinned at me. "Come with me to grandma's house!" He asked again.

The look in his eyes were enough to make me go against my instincts of running away and disappearing back into the forest to leave him to die. It was more than enough to make me decide that it would be much more interesting to follow him and to find out where he was going. After all, such a curious little wolf like me, a talking wolf in fact, would be better off following a boy on an adventure.

When I nodded, Sora got up and started walking back down the path to the middle of the forest. I picked myself up and charged after him, only stopping when I nearly smacked into his heels and sent him sprawling forward. He only laughed and put his hand onto my back, letting me lead him down into my forest.

I followed him to his grandmother's house, leading him through the darkness of the ancient woods and keeping fellow predators from tracking his delicious scent. I bit them and killed them, being as frightening and as powerful as possible to keep them away.

But Sora didn't mind me acting on my instincts, he only commented that I was the prettiest wolf I had ever seen. He said he loved how my fur looked, and if he could turn into a wolf, he'd like to be one just like me. A wolf being friends with a human; I never would have believed it, to be honest. I suppose Sora was right when he said I was a romantic.

We talked all the way through the journey, only stopping when Sora got too tired to move or when I smelled a rabbit and chased after it. We spent a few hours sitting at a waterfall, talking about anything and everything that came to mind. As we sat there, he kept my spirits up, telling me funny stories about his life in the village, about his best friend Riku, and how he thought that his puppy would like me and try to follow me around. I told him stories about running through the river on a cold winter morning to get away from a bear I accidentally woke up, about chasing deer and playing with foxes, driving out coyotes from my forest, and the witch that had turned me into a wolf.

I had been only four years old when my grandmother insulted her. Instead of punishing her, she punished me and sent me to live alone in my forest. My grandmother looked for me for years, I know she did, but she never found me. I remember thinking one day that she had died and how it was nothing for me to worry about.

I had the same reaction when my foster family, the wolves that used to live with me, died in a famine. Sora commented that his family had died too, and that his grandmother was the only friend he had left.

"But I don't really like talking about it. … So, Kairi, how do you break your spell?"

"I have to find someone who can look past my wolf and see the real me."

"How do you do that?"

"I dunno, maybe you have to skin me? Peel my skin off and make a girl come out instead? I think I'd be pretty bloody if that happened. Maybe dead. Probably dead."

"You… you're a pretty gruesome wolf, you know that, right?"

"Shut up, Sora."

Even now, ages from that moment in my forest, I remember that this was the moment I started to hope that maybe, just maybe, Sora'd be able to help.