When pretty little Red was asked to leave the castle because of the master's rage and need for her best friend Belle, she admitted reluctantly. She had originally thought that they were all being overdramatic. That was until she'd been in the kitchen finishing up the cookies she'd made for her grandmother.
She'd turned around to put them in a picnic basket and grab the riding hood that her grandmother had made for her when a horrifying monster entered the room. He was a beast surely, one that would and could rip her limb from limb.
And when he'd started making demands about Belle all she could do was stand there, her heart in her mouth, beating a million times a minute and try to stay alive. Of course that had started to look impossible, until Belle and the maid Amandine entered. They'd saved her, Belle mostly, by calming down the beast and turning his attention from her. And then like the weak scaredy cat she was Red had fainted onto the posh marble flooring of the kitchen.
And there she'd lain until Belle had carefully nudged her, possibly checking if she was still alive, and when Red had looked up at her through her own bright blue eyes.
'Are you okay Red?' Belle asked, helping her to sit up. Belle. The strongest woman that Red had ever known, the strongest that she would ever meet as well it seemed. She had told that Beast what was what, she had taken control when Red could barely take control of the heart beating within her body.
'Yeah I think so,' Red said and put her hand to her pale forehead when her vision wavered. 'I'm going to be alright,' she assured her as she ran a hand through her knotted red curls.
'Good. You need to get out of here now. Take your cookies and go to Grandma's house,' Belle ordered and Red nodded. The witchy woman, with the raven hair and the emerald eyes standing before her knew what she was talking about. 'You are in danger here, and until I can sort out my beast of a mate, I want to know you are safe from harm.'
'I'm fine, I'll be fine, and grandma will take good care of me…as she always does.' Red added as she stood, her seductively blood red lips twisted in a frown, her generous breasts heaving with the effort to keep from screaming. She was such a coward, and did not want to seem that way in front of her best friend who had more than enough strength and courage for five of her.
'Good,' Belle said as she handed her the red riding cape and the basket with the cookies in it.
'I'll be seeing you then Belle. Please try to stay alive, and don't turn into one of those beasts yourself,' Red called out, jokingly making light of the awful situation. It was the only thing she could do.
'You too,' Belle called back as Red left the kitchen.
That had been more than an hour ago and now Red was trying to navigate her way through the dark forest that stood between her and her grandma's house, she only wished the cookies would stay fresh until she reached the little cottage. Cottages, in Red's opinion were out dates, like something you would find in a fairy tale, not in the middle of France in the 21st Century, but nevertheless Grandma loved her house in the middle of the forest surrounded by the nature of the world. Oh and snow. Grandma loved snow.
'I hope Grandma will love these white chocolate chip cookies I made for her,' Red mused as she passed another tree coated in snow. All around her there was snow falling from trees and making a light thud noise as it hit the ground. And there were beautiful icicles pointing to the ground from many tree branches, reminding Red of the icicle fairy lights she had at home, except for the fact that these were made of frozen water and would have melted all over her bed covers.
And even though this forest looked like some kind of winter wonderland, it was still teeming with life, from the wolves and the bears that paid her never mind, to the little robins and sparrows that liked to make their nests up in the trees. A cold place yes, but they could still find many twigs and things.
Ooh, not forgetting the snow bunnies, Red told herself when she noticed one of her favourite animals hopping just ahead of her. It turned when it heard the crunch of her footsteps in the snow and wiggled his little pink nose at her. It was so adorable that she wanted to scoop it up in her pale as snow arms and carry it with her. Grandma would love it as a pet she was sure. That was if she didn't try to cook it herself. Grandma lived off the land and the animals here, cooking mainly hares and other small but delicious specimen. Each to their own, the vegetarian Red had always thought. She cared way too much for the animals in this forest to ever want to eat them. Not the deer, not the wolf, nor the bear. She thought they were wonderfully beautiful and should stay where they made their homes.
As she journeyed further into the forest she began to sing a little song to herself to pass the time. It was one her Grandma had always sung to her as a little girl to get her to sleep at night when she was too excited about the forest.
Yes in this forest Red could be brave, she could be strong. This was her forest, nothing in it would ever hurt her, and nothing could hurt her. It was almost as though she had cast a spell around it, keeping herself safe from harm. But then again if she'd been able to do that she'd be a witch, and she most certainly was not. There was not a single drop of magic in her blood, or her heritage.
In the distance a pack of wolves howled and Red smiled. What beautiful music! But then the tune changed. It became almost a warning, and startled Red tripped over a raised root from a tree. What was wrong with the wolves today? She wondered. Did it have anything to do with Belle's mate?
