"Lottie!" a mother called out of the small house towards the well. "Hurry and bring the water! The basket is ready!"
A dark-brown-haired girl the age of fifteen turned from filling a large bucket with well-water. "Coming, Mother!" she called back as she hoisted the bucket and trotted to the small house. She quickly went inside and poured the water into a large pot inside the kitchen.
"Hurry, child. It's almost midday."
"I know, I know. Is everything in there?" Lottie closed the pot lid, stepped over to the counter, and lifted one of the basket lids and peeked in. The usual bread, cheese, ham and butter were in there along with other things.
"I added a bottle of wine and an extra knife. You left the last one at Grandmother's."
"I told you; the Tooth Fairy took it! She thought I was going to hurt her! " Lottie slammed the basket lid closed, grabbed the handles and yanked the heavy thing off the counter. "I thought she was a burglar!"
Her mother rolled her eyes."The tooth fairy isn't real. You know you were exhausted on that day."
Lottie crossed her arms. "I was fully aware of what I saw when I lost my last tooth, mother. The Tooth fairy had green feathers and her wings beat like a hummingbird! She was followed by three tiny fairies as well! Even Grandmother agrees with me because she can't find the knife!"
"Your grandmother was playing along and your imagination has always been over-active. You are nearly of age! Act like it." Her mother dismissed and Lottie groaned. "Give your grandmother the wine in small cups. She told me her coughing has gotten worse when she visited last week."
Lottie's mother pulled up the hood of Lottie's favorite red cloak over the girl's head. She paused before adding. "Be careful out there. We'll have your favorite supper when you return. Be quick."
Lottie perked up at the news. "Thank-you, Mama! I will be back as soon as I can!" Lottie left the home and walked briskly to the edge of the village. She waved at her father when she passed by the butcher shop. He returned the wave while holding a large cleaver, making him look absolutely monstrous to the customers in front of him.
She skipped into the forest, thinking about Large juicy steaks and potatoes. Oh, she wanted to drool at the thought; her papa always got the best meat and her mama always cooked it just right! She only wished that her stomach was large enough to eat it all IT'S SO DELICIOUS! Ahem. That was embarrassing.
It always took a while to reach her grandmother's cottage, so Lottie hummed various songs to keep herself occupied. She always became tense when things were too quiet.
YIPE!
She turned her head to the source of the sound. Curious, she left the trail to investigate.
It was a good thing she did. Hanging off a high branch from its hind leg was a small gray puppy caught in a hunter's trap. The small creature saw her and began to whimper and whine, begging her for help.
"WAH!" Lottie cried out. "Oh, poor thing! Let me help." She used her left hand to hold the puppy's belly and the puppy squirmed. "Stop moving, stop moving." She took out one of the knives from her basket with her right hand, and carefully cut the rope that held the puppy's leg.
She quickly adjusted the puppy's position in her arms and petted it as it licked her face. "Where is your mother? Let's go find her when we leave my grandmother's." she cooed.
She petted a little too close to one of the puppy's hind legs and it yelped. "Oh. Oh, sorry! Oh, no. It's alright. Everything will be okay." She knelt down and gently put it onto the ground. She then took off her apron and stuffed it into her basket and put the puppy inside on top of it.
Making sure that the puppy was comfortable she opened the basket's other lid, sliced off a piece of ham and gave it to the puppy. She set the knife next to the ham, closed both basket lids and went back to walking.
0o0o0o0
The sun was nearing the afternoon when Lottie came across the local woodcutter. She didn't like this young man. He worked hard, he was friendly, and he always lent a helping hand. Though he was handsome - with blue eyes and coppery hair – and very kind Lottie stayed away from him if she could help it.
The way he grieved with Maria's family when she went missing didn't look right.
Her instincts kept telling her to stay away. After her previous encounters with danger, she will follow them till the end of time.
The woodcutter stopped what he was doing."Off to your grandmother's again?" He asked.
"Yes I am. Goodbye." Lottie replied simply and kept walking, trying to not make eye contact.
Right as she turned to leave in a different direction he grabbed her arm. "Why don't you stay with me? It's dangerous out there. Wolves have been roaming here lately."
"No thank you. I am fine by myself." She tugged away but the man's grip tightened. In a flash she had her knife out and pointed at his throat. She glared up at him. "May I ask why you're holding me back?"
"You need protection. I can accompany you to your grandmother's."
She pressed the knife right onto his skin. "I have encountered wolves before. Unhand me." She pushed harder.
Not the furry kind of wolf, though. She wanted to add. This isn't the first time a man came to her in a forest, but this is the first young man. After Maria went missing Lottie became a target.
The woodcutter finally released her and she ran. No. That's an understatement; she practically flew away, zigzagging past the trees and held the basket close. The puppy inside barked and tried to peek out of the basket, but Lottie held it down firmly. "No, no. You might fall out."
She ran over the hills to where the largest trees grew. She searched frantically and quickly ducked underneath large roots that formed a small shelter under the ground. She crouched on her front to cover the basket and tried to merge with the roots.
She waited, silently. The puppy seemed to know what was going on and stayed quiet.
Lottie quietly lifted the basket lid to check on the puppy. It was perfectly fine, it sat up on her apron and stared up at her with its gold eyes. Wait. Gold?
She looked at the puppy carefully. Its fur was a lot thicker than other dogs she had seen, and its paws were also larger and its legs thicker. She realized; this is a wolf.
It's so... cute! She never knew wolves could be so fucking cute!
There was a snap of a branch and she quickly and quietly closed the basket and listened. She quieted her breathing to the point where she couldn't hear it.
There were footsteps – one set – coming her way from the right. She retreated further, and for a moment she swore that the tree's roots moved to close the den entrance to the point where she would barely be able to squeeze through.
For a moment, she was scared with the thought she might be eaten up by the ground. The feeling was soon chased away when the footsteps left. When she couldn't hear them anymore, the roots moved again; this time it opened up the entrance with a soft creak. The tree must have known the woodcutter was gone.
She reached up and touched the roots. "Thank you." she whispered.
Lottie poked her head out and glanced around. Seeing no man, she went back in and kicked off out of the den and ran in the opposite direction the footprints went.
She reached a small clearing and dared to glance back; only to see the woodcutter's hand reach for her. She quickly stepped to the side, narrowly dodging his swipe and skittered backwards, only to bump her back against a tree. Knife in hand, she gripped it tightly and held it up.
The woodcutter stumbled and stood straight; towering over her.
"Stay away." She nearly yelled.
The puppy let out tense yipping and whimpering, wanting to know what was happening.
"What do you have in there?" The woodcutter asked.
"A puppy to give to my grandmother." She replied. "Leave me alone."
"I have been eying you as of late."
Not him too!
"Many men have." It could be because her skirt barely reached past her knees, but that was the fashion of girls her age in the village. "You're the first young one to come after me."
And the first persistent man, too.
"Perfect." The woodcutter stepped closer and Lottie pressed back even further. His body was close enough to touch hers. "This won't hurt at all." He whispered and reached out to cup her face.
"This will!" She lashed out and managed to land a blow on his torso. She ran out into the clearing and into the tall grass.
But because of the tall grass, she tripped on something she didn't see. She let out a small surprised scream and the basket fell out of her arms. The wolf pup tumbled out along with the cheese, ham, and one of the knives. Lottie landed front-first with her breath knocked out of her, but she quickly clamored to her knees to see what she tripped on.
A rotting corpse.
A corpse with a green cloak.
Maria's cloak.
It's Maria! She's dead!
Her lower regions were exposed!
Good god!
Lottie gasped and covered her mouth to quiet a scream and crawled to the basket. "Come, come here!" She called to the wolf pup, who in turn stumbled to her and jumped into the basket. She picked it up in time to dodge the woodcutter's attempt to tackle her to the ground.
The basket was much lighter now so Lottie ran faster; along with the sudden grief of seeing the dead body of someone she knew and fear of meeting the same fate.
She quickly looked up and saw that it was nearing the evening and ran back into the forest. If she reached the deepest part of the woods she can escape his sight.
She ran and ran and ran. She ignored the pain in her lungs and kept running. She didn't care that she had to clamor over huge tree roots she won't slow down!
0o0o0o0
By the time she finally stopped the moon had risen high and the sky was dark. Lottie looked around, then behind her. Nobody.
Good.
She leaned against the trunk of a tree and opened the basket. The puppy whined, as if asking if it was over.
"It's alright, it's alright." She petted the pup's head. "I'm sorry; I just realized that your leg might need to be bandaged." She sat down and tipped the basket; the pup rolled out and she playfully ticked its – his – belly and making "Rawr" noises at him as he batted back at her, clearly enjoying this.
She then laid him on one side to check his leg. It didn't look like he hadn't been injured too badly. She petted the area softly, and when the pup didn't make a noise she petted down the leg to the foot.
The pup yipped when she reached his heel. She looked at it closely and saw that the fur in that area was mussed; possibly from the rope he hung from. It wasn't swelled, but it looked smaller than the other heel.
"I will need to move your leg, it might hurt for a little while." She told the pup, took hold of his foot, and gently moved it in circles from front to back to stimulate blood-flow. The pup whimpered and Lottie pet his back to distract him from the pain.
After a minute the pup stopped whimpering; she stopped petting him to see if there was still some pain. When he didn't whimper again, she stopped the circular motions and smoothed the fur.
"Let's see if you can walk." She let go and the pup sat up on his front paws first, then unsteadily stood. He stumbled at first, but then he started to walk toward her. Lottie held her arms open and lightly cheered when the pup was able to climb into her lap. She picked him up and nuzzled his nose with hers. "You did it! I'm so proud of you."
She settled him back on her lap and petted him again. The forest was now dark and the moon shone bright.
She quieted down to listen for the woodcutter. She heard crickets, the buzz of other bugs, a deer chewing on bark – she could see the deer appear to her left – and flowing water from a nearby creek.
No footsteps from a man.
She sighed in relief and began to enjoy the summer night. At this time of night she wouldn't be able to find her grandmother's cottage nor go back to the village.
But her grandmother might be coughing right now.
That thought sent Lottie into a near-panic. She had left behind the items that spilled out of the basket. She quickly grabbed the basket and felt around inside.
The bottle of wine was there; good. The bread was there, and one knife was in there.
Uh oh.
…
Surely the woodcutter has given up now. After this he will behave like the rest of the lechers that came to her: never talk or be near her unless they had to and she will have her father nearby. No one would even try to flirt with the butcher's daughter if the butcher himself was around.
But this man might have killed Maria... Maria was known for her speed.
"We need to hide." she whispered to the pup, gathered the apron and basket and stood.
Suddenly she was pulled into an embrace and her arms were folded and pinned against her. A knife touched her neck and a smooth voice rang right next to her ear. "No, you don't."
She gasped and tried to thrash around, but the knife pressed harder and she felt the sting of a shallow cut.
"You're not getting away, Little Lottie." The woodcutter threw her to the ground and her back hit a tree root. She tried to get up but he got on top of her and held her hands above her head.
She kicked and thrashed and was even able to kick him where it hurt. He only groaned and smacked her hard enough to hurt her neck.
While she was stunned the woodcutter pulled on her legs so she wasn't bending backwards over the root. He held her hands in place again. He took the knife and sliced the laces that held the girl's simple corset together.
Lottie became alert again and tried to thrash, roll, kick, do anything violent, but the woodcutter sat on her legs. She was getting desperate and was starting to cry.
Scratch that, she began to scream.
The pup barked and charged at the man and managed to bite his arm before being grabbed and thrown. He tumbled and skidded to a stop but he didn't give up and charged again.
This time the man slashed the pup's face and the pup collapsed; howling in pain.
Lottie screamed louder as she tried to rock the man off her to help the pup; the man moved to cut her throat.
Just as he cut into a large vein, a loud howl of a large wolf cut off the screams and grunts.
The man looked up to see twenty – maybe thirty – large wolves growling and slowly closing in on them. A woman in green stood near the back of the pack, looking on.
"Leave the girl. She's mine." The strong voice of the woman commanded.
Instantly the snarling wolves tackled the man off Lottie; not knowing what the force of it did to her.
Two wolves went to check on the pup, and Lottie quickly rolled to reach her apron and crawled to the pup. The two wolves growled but looked on as she lifted the pup's head and pressed the cloth on the cut.
She ignored her profusely bleeding neck in favor of helping the pup and began to feel dizzy.
"Let me help." The woman walked up, knelt next to Lottie and touched the pup's cut. The injury healed almost instantly and Lottie sighed in relief; but instantly regretted it and had coughed up blood.
The woman turned to Lottie. "Tend to your injuries."
Lottie quickly leaned against a large root and pressed the apron against her neck weakly. She stared at the woman and the woman stared back.
"You won't be able to survive through this." The woman said. "Why not let yourself die?"
Lottie was surprised at her comment. "Can' y-you heal me?" she coughed.
"You are past the point for me to save you. Do you want to die now?"
She was bleeding to death in the middle of a wolf-infested forest where the local wood-cutter made an attempt to rape her. That would make anyone ask to be put out of their misery.
Her grandmother went through worse things than this. The old biddy survived wars, ethnic cleansing, and has been living in said wolf-infested forest for thirty years.
So, no. This is child's play compared to what her grandmother went through. Lottie is young, so she'll be damned if she lets this kill her!
She narrowed her eyes and pressed the cloth onto her neck harder.
The woman smiled. "Not going down without a fight? Have it your way."
"I'll take that as a challenge." Lottie thought as her breathing became shallow. She pressed harder but could still feel blood leaking out.
Minutes passed by; almost like hours, but Lottie persisted. She didn't notice when she became lightheaded and her eyes drooped.
"Pupp..." She murmured.
"The wolf pup will be fine." The woman said. "His family named him Gregor."
Lottie smiled at the wolf pup that was now sleeping between the two adult wolves. He looked perfectly fine, other than the scar that ran right over his eye.
Her bloody hand fell and her green eyes closed.
Her last breath came out like a sigh of relief.
0o0o0o0
The woman stood and looked at the other wolves chasing the disgusting man away. Then she looked at the full moon.
"Man in the Moon," she began. "...this young lady has impressed me with her endurance and spirit. She has lasted longer than others I have met on the brink of their death. Even then she put others before herself and tended to a small life. I propose you make her a guardian under my care; as the Guardian of Survival. Guidance, even."
There was a moment of silence before she continued.
"If you don't, I will. With that said she will be wild and may cause more problems than solve them like Cupid did." The woman smirked and moved her hand above Lottie's forehead.
There was a small chime, similar to the sound of a small bell, and the woman stepped away from Lottie, leaving her bathed completely in moonlight.
She was slumped on the large tree root, with tattered clothes covered with dirt and dark blood. Moments passed and she began to change. The blood slowly disappeared and the gash in her neck healed slowly. Her clothes were repaired and cleaned . Her hair darkened and curled and the rosy color returned to her face
She began to breathe again...
...and slowly opened her red eyes.
0o0o0o0o0
Lottie became Red Riding Hood: Guardian of Survival and stayed in the care of Mother Nature, who taught her everything there was to know about the dangerous world.
Along with nearly getting the younger one killed wherever they went but Lottie pulled through.
The girl's memories of her previous life remained intact, but she wished she didn't have them when nobody in the village nor her grandmother could see, hear, nor touch her. Though she was finally able to deliver the wine, she had unintentionally scared her grandmother close to death and had left immediately.
Still, after her sorrowful day, she left with her mentor and followed her around the world with her basket in hand.
After fifty years passed, the two parted ways. Every now and then they would cross paths.
Usually during earthquakes, hurricanes, and the occasional volcano eruption.
Usually when Mother Nature was in a bad mood and taking it out on the world.
0o0o0o0o0
Red felt an urge near a New World town. In a forest in the middle of winter.
As she floated down on a patch of fog and stood by a tree, she assessed the situation.
A little girl about the age of eight, maybe nine, was standing on thin ice that was cracking beneath her skates. Her older brother, possibly seventeen, was trying to keep her calm.
"You're gonna be alright." the brother assured. "You're not gonna fall in. Y-you wanna play a game?"
Red mentally smacked him. Playing a game in such a dire situation?
"We're gonna play hopscotch, like we do everyday! One," The boy counted, took a step, and pretended to loose his balance; the sister laughed at his antics.
"Two, three!" He took another two steps and grabbed a large stick that was hooked at one end. Red was now interested.
"Okay, now it's your turn."
"One," As the boy counted his sister took steps toward him. "Two, that's right," The ice cracked louder and more frequently and Red stepped out near the lake and reached into her basket, ready to intervene.
"Three!" The boy quickly hooked his sister with the stick and flung her onto solid ice.
Red was relieved and impressed. She even lifted her hands to applaud before she noticed something wrong.
The brother had stumbled onto the cracked ice.
"Oh no..." Red breathed.
Just as the brother laughed and was about to step forward, the ice beneath him gave in and he fell into the freezing water.
"JACK!" His sister cried as she stood and began to skate to the hole.
"Stop right there!" Red shouted.
The girl stopped for a split second, but began to skate to the hole faster. "Jack!" She cried out, close to tears.
"Idiot." Red groaned and rushed out onto the ice, between the hole and the panicked sister. "I said stop!" Red yelled and stomped hard; making a huge crack that cut the girl off from reaching the hole.
Red stomped again and a small crack slowly made its way toward the girl.
"Move, move..." Red chanted, "Get off the ice, now! Quickly! Move NOW!" Red could feel her magic embrace the sister and tell her what she needed to do. The little girl took a deep breath and slowly backed away, grabbed her brother's skates, skittered off the ice and quickly took off her own skates.
Forgetting her shoes and running barefoot in the snow, the sister began to scream for her mother. "Mama! Mama! Jack fell under the ice! Mama!"
As the girl ran off, Red summoned a patch of fog to kneel on and hovered over the hole. She could see the brother waving his arms; trying to reach the surface.
His eyes closed and he stilled. Red briefly panicked and reached into the water and brushed his fingers, only to be stopped by a gentle voice.
"Please stop." it whispered.
Red sat up and looked up at the moon, conveniently letting the moonlight shine into the hole. "Why should I?" she – nearly – growled at the speaker.
"Even if you did save him he will die." The Man in the Moon replied.
"I can make a fire to warm him, I have blankets too!"
"Even then you would have been too late. But no need to worry. I have something special planned for him. Look."
Red paused, and looked back into the water at the still boy.
The brother's hair, which used to be brown, was now white.
White as snow.
"You're turning him into a Guardian? What for?"
"You witnessed his deed yourself. You will figure out my reason in due time, as you figured out the reason for your transformation."
Mother Nature was impressed and thought it would be a waste to leave me there. Then she black-mailed you. Red slowly stood up on the fog patch. She would have protested, saying that it wasn't right to make a guardian out of a child, but that would be hypocritical of her because she was younger than - Jack, was that his name? - when she became a guardian.
She'll keep an eye on the town for a while. He must have been very dear to the town. It won't be good to have suicides because of his 'death'.
Red didn't want a repeat of what her parents did.
0o0o0o0o0
Please tell me what you think of this. There will be future one-shots of different events.