Red Riding Hood and the Woodsman
Now that the curse is broken, Ruby has been noticing some…changes. Can an old ally help, even if it means putting his children in danger from a wolf?
Disclaimer: I do not own, nor am I affiliated with the television show Once Upon A Time, the ABC network, nor Disney escept as a viewer. No copywrite infringement is intended by this work of fiction.
Storybrooke, Maine—normal font
Enchanted Forest—italicized font
Author's Note: After watching the 11/11/12 episode "Children of the Moon," I've gone back and edited a few things. Mostly it's regarding Red's past as a wolf. Basically, assume that everything that happened to Red still applies, but the Storybrooke portion of the episode doesn't exist.
PART 2
Granny strode down lovely Wesleyan Street with a fierce desire for vengeance in her heart. She wasn't generally a violent person, the need for self-protection in the form of crossbows notwithstanding. But when those she loved were in danger, Ruby (or rather, Red) had once teased her that even mama bears would be wise to back down. Granny had laughed at the time since Red hadn't yet known about their double nature.
And, for the record, no, a mama bear wouldn't take on this Granny. Not lightly, anyway.
She stepped up to number 108, the former mayor's door, and pitilessly thought they should have let the mob have her after the curse broke. Granny curled her hand into a fist and wrapped on the door like she desperately wanted to do on Regina's face. She barely stopped herself from tapping her foot in the few minutes it took the ex-mayor to open her door.
Regina blinked and frowned in confusion.
"Granny," she said, not as a greeting but as a statement of bewilderment before her control and poise came back to save her. Regina squared her shoulders and clasped her hands loosely in front of her. "Was there something I could help you with?"
"Do you have Ruby's red cloak?" Granny asked without preamble.
Regina's frown deepened. "Pardon?"
"The red cloaks that keeps Ruby's wolf in check," Granny clarified, nearly gritting her teeth as she said it. "Do you have it?"
"Why would I have your granddaughter's cloak?" Regina asked.
"No idea," Granny admitted. "But since we don't have it, and you're the one who worked the curse, I thought I'd come ask you."
"Is there a particular reason that you need the cloak?"
Granny hesitated, and it was enough for Regina (so subtly) to gain the upper hand in the conversation. She simply leaved forward the tiniest bit, lifted her chin, and shifted her weight to her dominant foot. Most people wouldn't have seen it, but Granny still had an old, old wolf running around in her psyche, and she picked up on little cues that would pass others by. Oh, everyone reacted to them; they just didn't usually understand why. Regina had just moved into a dominant position and forced Granny into a submissive, defensive role.
The wolf in Granny didn't like it.
She took a step forward, into Regina's personal space, and snarled. "If you have the cloak, you wicked, evil bitch, you need to hand it over now."
"Or what?"
"That is the question, isn't it," Granny answered honestly. She had no idea what she would do or what would happen to Ruby without that cloak.
Regina curled her lip, her hands falling down to her sides to curl slightly.
"If you can't control your granddaughter, that's not my problem. Oh, and I did notice the incredible irony of you calling me a bitch. Rather like the pot calling the kettle black, isn't it?"
"I suppose there are quite of few of us who have issues of control," she replied. "The way you are, Henry's no safer around you than I may be around Ruby. At least my granddaughter has an excuse."
"She'll need more than an excuse if she ends up ripping someone's throat out tonight."
"We should have let the mob have you," Granny snarled.
"But you didn't."
Before Granny could say anything else, Regina closed her eyes and took a deep breath, loosening her shoulders and forcing herself to be calm. When she opened her eyes, she appeared less like the Queen and more like the woman she'd been in Storybrooke before Emma Swann had come and rekindled the evil dictator in her.
"I appreciate what you're implying, Granny," Regina said. "But I can assure you, the last time I saw the Red's cloak was when she was wearing it as she and Snow White's forces attacked me. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to head back to the laundry room. I have a load to finish before I head to my appointment with Dr. Hopper."
Meaning that someone would notice and mention it if she wasn't seen this afternoon, Granny interpreted. Taking a deep breath of her own, her nose confirmed that Regina did in fact smell like April fresh detergent and fabric softener along with her cosmetics, deodorant, and a hint of Chanel. Granny let the air slowly slide out of her and nodded stiffly.
"If Ruby does get loose," Granny said, "I hope to heaven she heads this way."
And with that, she turned away and headed back down the walk.
It took Regina a moment too long to turn around and go back in, but no bolts of magic hit her, so Granny kept walking, head high, back to her car.
Once behind the wheel, Granny let her shoulders fall and her head rest against the seat. She pressed her lips together and tried to force down panic and bile. She hadn't really expected Regina to have it or to tell her if she did, but she'd hoped, with the curse broken, the Queen might see she'd lost and just let them all live their lives in peace. For Ruby, that meant a cage of enchanted red wool without which could lead to death before the week was out.
She sniffled, once, then sat up straight and forced the tears away. She put the key in the ignition and started the car. There was one last place for Granny to check before she gave up hope completely. She needed to go see the man who had created the red cloak in the first place.
Granny pulled up outside Mr. Gold's Pawn Shop a few minutes later and turned the car off. There were even fewer people around this part of town now that the curse had broken than there had even before. No one went to see Mr. Gold unless they were paying him rent or gratuities, or unless they were desperate enough to sell something they held dear out of desperate need. Either way, he wasn't a man anyone went to see on a whim and never for anything but the most mercenary of purposes. Now that the town realized the feared Mr. Gold was Rumplestiltskin, the dreaded Dark One, known for his demonic deals and high-pitched, squealing giggle, the denizens of Storybrooke were even more eager to avoid his shop.
The solitary jingling bell over the door of the pawn shop was somehow not as friendly as the cacophonous jangling of the cluster of silver bells that signaled a new customer at the diner. Granny pulled her sweater tighter around her shoulders, feeling the need for more armor in the Dark One's lair. The man himself hobbled out of the back room and seemed genuinely surprised to see her.
"Why, Granny. To what do I owe this unexpected visit? I believe you're current on your rent, so it can't be that."
"No," she agreed. "It's not about Storybrooke matters. It's about Forest matters."
"I see," he said, and then stood quietly, waiting for Granny to say her piece.
He'd always been one to let someone weave their own rope so he could fashion the tightest noose.
"You see," she began, "it's Ruby. She's…changing."
"Children often do that, I find," Mr. Gold said.
She sent him a quick glare which did nothing to effect his calm.
"I mean, the wolf is coming back," Granny admitted. "I found Ruby outside in the alleyway this morning, asleep, still in her pajamas, and when I woke her up, she had no idea how she'd gotten there. I could smell the wolf in her."
"And the full moon is in two days," he concluded. "Yes, I see how that could be a problem. I take it you no longer have the cloak I made for you?"
Granny sighed, "I was hoping it was here, actually."
He looked honestly surprised by that. "Why would you think it would be here? I don't recall ever receiving it in return for help or a favor."
"No, but odds and ends from our world have a habit of turning up in this shop. Don't think I don't recognize that unicorn mobile you have hanging up." She nodded to it. "I remember Snow and James hanging that above the cradle they were going to put their child in, and I know they didn't sell it, either, but here it is. Seems doubly likely for something of a magical nature to wind up here."
He was silent a moment, considering her statement and, no doubt, the tone of voice she said it in.
"I concede the point, madam. But the cloak is not here. If there's anything else I can help you with—"
"I know you're sweet on that Belle girl," Granny cut him off. "The new librarian. You know as well as I do that she and Ruby are friendly. Belle comes into the diner most days for lunch while she's getting the library set for re-opening. Ruby sets out a different food every day for Belle to try, and then they sit together during Ruby's break. She's a dear girl, and it's good for Ruby to have a friend, with Snow still missing. I wouldn't want anything to happen to Belle if she came by after dark. I'm sure you wouldn't either."
"And, in that case, I'll speak to Belle about perhaps keeping away from Ruby for the foreseeable future," Rumplestiltskin said. "And considering that our town my soon have a rampaging werewolf on its collective hands, I am truly sorry, but I can't help you. The Red Hood is not here."
Granny felt every single year of her age, along with every wound and scar, physical and not, come to weigh down on her. Without the cloak, Ruby would shift. It was clear she didn't have the control she'd been able to
Mr. Gold cleared his throat quietly. "Have you tried Regina? I'm not the only one who attracts items of a magical nature in this town."
She nodded. "It was the first place I went."
With a final nod of appreciation for his time, Granny turned to go.
"I'll keep an eye out for it," Mr. Gold said unexpectedly.
Granny hesitated at the door, the morose bell ringing above her, and debated what that meant and what kind of deal she was making, never doubting that she was making one. Seeing no choice, she nodded. "I'd appreciate that."
And then she walked out the door, wondering what new hell she'd condemned herself and her granddaughter to now.
Snow White and Prince James had their camp set up several miles away from one of the Queen's main supply routes. The map spread out on a table before them and their most trusted friends and lieutenants showed the route and surrounding forest. Stones represented their own forces, and a pinecone stood in for the convoy they were preparing to attack.
"The land around the Winter Palace is rocky and thin," Snow said. "It's no good for farming, and even growing vegetables and fruit in the courtyard gardens takes work and importing good soil from the outlying farms. Growing grain is an impossibility, so she has to have it transported in, either for her own food or to feed the domestic animals in the kitchen garden."
"Why the heck would anyone build a castle there in the first place if it was so hard to keep its occupants fed?" Grumpy grumbled.
"Defense," James explained. "Armies are more likely to attack in the winter when the men aren't needed at home to farm the land. Fathers and younger sons will join up after the harvest in hopes of earning enough gold and silver to help pay for farming expenses the next year. Crops fail. Storms damage the plants with hail, or there's too much rain, or not enough. The money they can earn in the army can help off-set that."
"So the numbers that could attack are greatest in the winter," Snow continued. "And to combat that, the Winter Palace had to be as easily defensible as possible. It's in the mountains, surrounded by thick forests crawling with all manner of magical beasts, and the architecture of the palace is both resistant to an army's attempts to breach or scale the walls, but it is foreboding in and of itself. However, it is that very effective defense strategy which can be it's greatest weakness."
"Which we are going to exploit in one week's time, when the monthly supply of produce is delivered," James finished.
As the Prince went on explaining the plan, Red smiled to herself. Snow and James were closer now than they had been a few weeks ago. And even before the attack by King George's men that, in a strange twist, brought the great Lancelot to their side they had often seemed so in tune with one another that they could predict where the other would be or what they were thinking at a given moment. When they had returned from from their adventure, with Sir Lancelot du Lac in tow, and bearing the news of James's mother's death to their trusted inner circle, the now-married couple seemed to think with the same mind, often starting and finishing the same sentence together.
If Peter had lived...
Red sighed and pushed thoughts of her lost love away. There was no purpose in wondering if she and Peter could ever have developed the same, instinctive rapport that Snow and James shared. There had been too many secrets between them, even if Red had not known the most deadly one at the time.
Sometimes she hated Granny for that. If she had just trusted Red enough, she would never have taken the Hood off on a full moon night. She would never have gone near Peter. Her true love would never have died. Instead Granny had treated her like a child far after she was grown. Or if Granny had embraced her own wolf, the way her daughter had, and had shown Red how to shift without losing herself to the wolf, there would have been no need for the cloak, no need for the secrecy, and Peter would not have died.
But, just as with the grief, Red overcame her resentment and anger toward her grandmother. If their situations had been reversed, Red couldn't say that she wouldn't have wanted to protect someone she loved from a life lived, as Granny saw it, as a monster. Even if that meant lying. Her grandfather was gone, probably dead. Her mother had embraced the wolf too much, turning her back on her human half. Red was all Granny had left. And now, Granny was all Red had, too.
Well, Granny, Snow, and James, she reminded herself as she once again paid attention to the planning details of their scheduled raid.
"You all know your parts?" James checked.
Grumpy nodded, gesturing to the six dwarves arrayed around him. "We cut the trees to block the road and pile up deadfall along the roadside to box the convoy in."
"I'll take the first wave of men in to deal with the worst of the fighting," Lancelot said.
"I've got the rear and flanks," Red said. "In case anyone tries to run."
"Remember, captives are useful," Snow reminded them. "I don't want to kill any more than we have to. Most of the Queen's men are paid mercenary soldiers. They don't have a particular loyalty to her or to anyone. If we can take a few, we can interrogate them about future supply shipments, any updates to the Winter Palace's defenses, Regina's movements, anything."
They all nodded and the meeting broke. The dwarves and a team of foresters who had come to James and Snow White's aide when they set up the call for resistance against both King George and the Queen went out to start gathering dead tree limbs and large branches to start making a fence around the stretch of roadway they had chosen for their ambush. Everyone had a job to do to prepare for the raid. Red just had to wait.
As she walked away from the group, Snow fell in beside her.
"I'm sorry Granny couldn't be here," her friend told her. "I hope she'll feel well soon and will be able to re-join us."
"Thank you," Red said, slipping her arm through Snow's. "I'm worried about her being a lone while she's sick. When the winter fevers hit the village, she felt she had to go back to help nurse the ill since she rarely gets sick herself. Neither do I. Something to do with the wolf, Granny said." Red shook her head. "I'm worried, though. The fever was worse this year than in years past, though, and Granny's not as spry as she once was."
"Don't tell her that," Snow teased.
"Never!" Red laughed. "But she will have to remain snug in her own bed until she is fully recovered."
"Will you be going back to visit her soon?"
Red nodded. "We're not far from the cottage. I can make the trip there in a day to gather the supplies Granny has been no doubt been hoarding for us along with more medicine and tell her the news. Then I can return the day after."
"Is that enough time? The convoy is due in a week."
"Snow, you know I'm useless until then anyway," Red said. "I would be cooling my heels here until the moon was full enough for me to shift."
"Still," Snow said, "I don't like splitting up when we're still battling King George on one side and Regina on the other."
"I can travel fastest alone," Red said. "I know this part of the forest, and even in human form, my senses are better than most. I'll be back in three days; plenty of time to be ready for the convoy raid."
"I don't like it," Snow White reiterated. "It's too risky."
"You can forbid me to go, as my Princess and my General," Red said. "But please don't try to stop me as my friend. Every raid we go on may be our last. We all know the price we could pay if we don't succeed. I could die in a random attack in the forest just as easily as I could in battle by your side."
Snow was quiet for a moment as they reached Red's tent.
"Very well, I won't stop you," Snow said. "But if you are not back in three days, I'm sending Lancelot out looking for you."
"Lancelot is needed here," Red argued.
"James can lead the raid at the front, and we can have archers stationed in the forest to pick of any who flee, but you are not replaceable, understand?"
"Understood," she said, leaning forward to hug her friend. "I'll set out this afternoon. I should be at the cottage just after nightfall. I won't stay with Granny longer than a day, then I'll be back. I promise."
"I'll see you in three days, then."
Red entered her tent and gathered a few things into her basket. She packed food for her journey and a fresh shift and underthings. Since the weather had turned cold again, the red hood rarely came off, except when she bathed, so there was no worry about misplacing it. Her hair brush, tooth cleaning kit, and a corked jug of water, and Red was ready for the journey. She waved to Snow and James as she set forth into the forest, and though they both looked uneasy about letting one of their own go off alone, they waved back and watched her go.
She walked quickly through the forest throughout the afternoon, eating bread and cheese as she went rather than stopping for a meal. The dry pine needles beneath her feet cushioned her steps and created an aromatic carpet. The scent of snow in the air and dried pine sap cleared her head of all thoughts except the joy of walking through the forest in winter. Red was hardly aware that time passed as she made her way thought the forest toward her childhood home until the sun passed behind one of the high mountain peaks and the shadows deepened enough that even her eyes struggled to see very far in front of her.
For all her reassurances to Snow, Red wasn't expecting trouble.
Which is why, even with her remarkable senses, the wolf was able to surprise her.
It was pure luck the wind shifted slightly just before he pounced and Red caught his scent in time to drop to the ground and roll out of the way. She came back to her feet quickly and faced her attacker. He was a huge grey wolf with a black stripe down his back, a black muzzle and paws, and the tip of his tail looked like it had been dipped in ink. His lips were pulled back from his teeth to show dark pink gums and very long canines.
Red shrugged out of the Hood and prayed, but although she could feel the beast lurking inside her, the moon was still days from full enough to allow her to change and the sun, while obscured by the mountain, had not yet fully set. Clearly the werewolf—he smelled too much like cold iron, burned meat, and strong ale to be a natural wolf—didn't have that problem.
With no other options, Red grabbed a fallen branch as the wolf advanced.
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