Part 4- Little Fate the Bedtime Story

"Nano-chan's going to tell me a bed time story?" Fate looked up curiously at the White Devil that struck fear into the hearts of many throughout the land.

"Mmhmm. I won't even rely on some stupid book to do it either. Now, once upon a time..."

"Can I name the characters?"

"Mm... all right, but I name the first one."

"Okay." Fate wiggled in Nanoha's lap, the large blanket covering most of her chest.

"Now once upon a time..."

"Is there going to be more than one character?"

If it had been anyone else interrupting, Nanoha would have surely fried their lips shut with some rendition of her demonic ability. But with Fate... "Fate-chan?"

"Yeah?"

"If you keep interrupting me, there won't be any other character but the first one."

"Oh." Fate looked down at the blanket with quiet remorse. "Okay. Sowwy, Nano-chan."

"It's all right, Fate-chan." Nanoha sighed and started again. "Once upon a time, there was a little girl named Fate who was known popularly as Little Red Riding Hood because of the Red Wolf skin cape that she always wore when she traveled. It helped scare off predators because no animal, especially no human, was about to mess with a girl who could kill and skin one of the fierce Red Wolves that the area was known for.

One day, her old granny of a mother, Precia-baasan-"

"Hey!" Fate pouted stubbornly, looking up at Nanoha.

"What now?" Nanoha wondered if she was ever going to finish this otherwise short story.

"You promised! You promised I could name all the other characters!"

"Oh, right. Sorry. Then what is Fate's mother's name going to be then?"

"Um." Fate looked around for inspiration. She saw Nanoha's chest. "Lindy-mama!"

Nanoha sighed and rolled her eyes. "If you insist... One day, Lindy-mama was sick in bed with no one to care for her in her isolated cabin in the woods behind Uminari. Fate-chan, being the good little child she was, immediately set out from her home away from her Lindy-mama to go visit her and take care of her.

Little did she know, the previous owner of the Red Wolf skin she bore on her back had a baby, now an orphan, who lived in that neck of the woods. Its name-"

Fate blinked and looked up at Nanoha. "Why'd you stop?"

Nanoha believed that Fate was freakishly lucky that fate had dealt the cards in her favour or else she would be dead right about now. "Name the red wolf, Fate. That's your job, remember?"

"Oh. What does the wolfie sound like?"

"What does it sound like? I don't know. It probably howls. Or goes 'Arf arf' or something. I don't know- I don't listen to them."

"Umm... Arf then!"

"... You want to name it Arf?"

"Unh!" Fate wiggled her socked toes underneath the blanket. "And it's a girl, too!"

Nanoha sighed. "Fine, have it your way... Arf, the orphaned Red Wolf, didn't like Fate at all-"

Fate looked up at her in horror, and then tears started to form around her eyes. "Why doesn't Arf like me?"

"It's just a story, Fate. I'm sure if there's an orphaned Red Wolf out there named Arf that's female, that she doesn't dislike you."

Fate beamed at that.

"Can I continue?" It was almost sarcastic at this point.

Fate nodded happily.

"Let's see... Arf didn't like Little Fate because Little Fate had killed Arf's mother to wear her warm fur on her back. So when she heard that Little Fate would be traveling through her turf, Arf decided it was time for revenge... She went ahead to Lindy-mama's house, and when Lindy-mama, sick and expecting Little Fate opened the door, Arf ate her."

Fate stared in open mouthed shock. "She /ate/ her?! Why?! What did your right boob ever do to Arf?"

Nanoha chose to stay silent for a moment rather than risk yelling at Fate. "Fate-chan, honey, it's /just/ a story. And I would explain if you let me."

"Oh." Fate settled back down again. "Sorry."

With another sigh, Nanoha continued, "Arf then stuck Lindy-mama's remains in a box in the closet and then dressed up in Lindy-mama's clothes. She then slipped underneath the covers of Lindy-mama's bed, because she planned to trick Little Fate into thinking that she was Lindy-mama."

"That's silly."

Nanoha raised an eyebrow at Fate's declaration. She knew full well that it was silly. "And why do you think that?"

"Well, what did Arf do, take off Lindy-mama's skin and cover her fur with it? Little Fate knows Lindy-mama would never be that furry."

Nanoha chuckled and patted Fate's head. She repeated, "It's just a story, Fate, it's just a story. Now, Fate wandered down to Lindy-mama's house, not knowing what had happened to Lindy-mama. She knocked and Arf told her to come in-"

"Arf can speak human-speak?"

"Yes, Arf can talk like humans. She's a very talented creature. Red Wolves use it for trickery and are magical like that."

"Oh. Okay then."

"And Little Fate went to her bedside and noticed that something was wrong with Lindy-mama, because she was a smart little girl like that."

Fate giggled, but didn't say anything.

"She said, loudly, 'Lindy-mama, what a big NOSE you have!' and Arf responded, sensitive about her big snout, 'All the better to sniff your sweet-smelling hair, you rude little brat. What have you been learning while you've been away?'

"Little Fate paid this no mind and went on with voicing her observations. 'Mama! What big EYES you have.' To which Arf, as Lindy-mama, replied, 'All the better to see how beautiful you've become, Little Fate. And I can't help my big eyes. The Creator seems to think big eyes equal 'moe' which equals good for hunting, but it doesn't.

"Finally, Little Fate gasped and said, 'You're not my Lindy-mama! Lindy-mama wouldn't care about hunting!' It was then that she saw Arf's pointed fangs and she started to get scared. 'My, what big t-teeth you have!' At this point, Arf dropped the act and yelled out, 'All the better to tear you limb from limb and suck and chew on your bones until-"

Nanoha stopped, watching Fate quiver and whimper, a little ball underneath the blanket.

She smiled softly before continuing in a whisper, "But when Little Fate was brought close, she saw Arf as the little wolf pup that she was and, despite her predicament, said, 'You're so cute!' This stopped Arf in her tracks, and Little Fate continued, 'Why are you dressed up in my Lindy-mama's clothes? Your fur is so soft and you look so cuddly... We should be friends.' To this, despite all her bravado and attempts to be fierce, Arf could only answer with her name: 'Arf'?"

Fate peeked out from underneath the blankets.

"Little Fate helped Arf out of the clothes and befriended Arf, allowing them to let bygones be bygones. They had both loved their mothers and had killed each other's mothers so the scoreboard was even now. They could shake paws and be friends, couldn't they? They lived in the forest happily and Little Fate grew up big and strong, just like Arf did.

"One day, a hunter with long blond hair and green eyes came looking for the rare Red Wolf to hunt down and bring home as his prize. But when he saw Fate, he fell in love and tried to court her. Arf saw this and when Fate wasn't watching, she killed and ate him. No one dared to mess with the pair after that, and they lived happily ever after. The End."

Fate stared, her head now completely outside of the blanket. "The End?"

"Yup, the end."

"The hunter got eated?"

"Yup, the hunter got eaten."

Fate still wasn't sure how to react to this story. Sure she was adopted by demons and demon animals eating humans wasn't entirely unheard of, but... "Nano-chan?"

"What?"

"Does this mean I get to have a Red Wolf for Chri-"

"We demons don't celebrate Christmas. You know that."

"Day of the Dead then?"

"... Maybe. If you're a good little demon-in-training."

Fate perked up and hugged Nanoha. "Thank you, Nano-chan! I wuv you!"

"Demons don't talk about love or 'wuv' either."

But Nanoha would not deny that she was just a "teeny bit" happy about Fate's admission.

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A/N: Yayz. Look forward to Arf in the next chapter. :3 Thanks for giving this story love.