Hi, and welcome :)
This fanfic is going to be a series of multi-part fairytale retellings using canon characters only. I know no character perfectly fits any fairytale character, but that's the fun of writing this :) Keep in mind that these will all be disconnected human AUs, unless otherwise mentioned. I'm estimating each retelling will be between 4 and 6 parts, so I hope you stick around!
Also, I'm open to any idea suggestions (I'll credit you), so feel free to drop those in the reviews! But I definitely can't promise anything, since I have quite a few ideas of my own. Oh, and I don't own Warriors or any of the fairytale/legend starting points.
Without further ado, we're going to kick things off with a retelling of Little Red Riding Hood!
RED AND THE ALPHA: PART ONE
Once upon a time, she was gifted a striking red cloak that would set her apart from everything around her whenever she pranced through the woods.
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There is nothing in the world that Brightpaw likes less than drinking in front of her friends.
Of course, 'drinking' in this context would never refer to actual alcoholic intoxication, but rather a disgusting concoction of hot sauce, milk, kombucha, and raw eggs that was decided upon by none other than Graystripe hours before they all gathered together around the evening campfire.
It's a different assortment of barely-edible items each time, but never any less stomach-churning, Brightpaw reflects. And Graystripe happens to be the best at creating these repulsive drinks.
The warmth of the fire is comforting on such a frigid autumn evening, and Brightpaw feels the need to stretch her fingers out towards it, even with her knees already huddled against her chest and a brilliant crimson blanket around her shoulders. It's a bold color she would normally never own, but Cloudtail—the platinum-haired boy who sits two spots away from her, on whom she might have an immense crush—brought it out for her today, claiming that the vibrant red complements her blue eyes.
She watches as Cloudtail laughs at something Fireheart says from across the campfire, and can't bring herself to look away from the carefree slope of his cheeks and the way the firelight illuminates his pale skin and cornflower-blue gaze. When he turns to face her curiously, as if he wants to know whether she too found Fireheart's words amusing, a strange warmth reaches her ears.
Fernpaw nudges her gently, and when Brightpaw turns, she finds a knowing sort of amusement in her leaf-green eyes, and flushes even more.
But Fernpaw doesn't mention the furtive glances that she undoubtedly has seen exchanged between Brightpaw and Cloudtail, and instead gives Brightpaw a metal bowl and a friendly smile. "Could you give this to Cinderpelt? It's her turn to choose."
Brightpaw passes on the message, hoping the pinkness has faded from her cheeks by now, and Cinderpelt thanks her before clearing her throat for everyone's attention. One of her arms is in a cast because of a car accident, so Brightpaw holds the bowl out at arm's length while Cinderpelt draws out a folded slip of paper.
"Graystripe!" Cinderpelt announces smugly, placing the paper back into the bowl. "Truth or dare?"
There is a pair of eyes trained on Brightpaw as she passes the bowl back to Fernpaw, who hands it to Dustpelt, who makes sure it ultimately gets back to Graystripe, who looks only a little horrified at being selected by Cinderpelt. Brightpaw can feel the stare burning into her, but she's too busy blushing again to meet Cloudtail's eyes, and she isn't sure if she wants to know what he thinks of her. At least, not yet, and not in the middle of such an intense game of truth or dare!
"Truth," is what Graystripe decides upon, and Brightpaw is a little surprised. From the looks exchanged all around her, she knows she's not the only one, but it makes sense. Cinderpelt won't let him off very easily, truth or not.
A pause, while Cinderpelt thinks. Brightpaw offers her a few suggestions: his relationship with that beautiful, sharp-tongued girl Silverstream back home, the worst thing he's ever done (which, knowing Graystripe, is probably horrendous), and his least favorite person at this camping trip.
Cinderpelt nods and offers some of her own, and the result, an thought put forth by Fernpaw, is a combination of Brightpaw's and Cinderpelt's ideas. The girls face Graystripe, who is practically squirming in his seat, while Fireheart and Dustpelt chuckle at his obvious nervousness.
"What's the worst prank that you and Fireheart pulled together since we got to the campsite... that we don't know about yet?"
Brightpaw figures that Cinderpelt must have appended the last condition because they all know Graystripe is notorious for wiggling out of tough situations on technicalities and loopholes.
From beside Graystripe, Fireheart looks even more horrified than his dark-haired friend and fellow prankster, while Cloudtail and Sandstorm lean in, appearing far too interested in the response that Graystripe is preparing himself to offer. Cinderpelt teases Graystripe, because he is now caught between her prying question and the slop that he himself has created.
Fireheart protests loudly. "That's not fair! It's not even my turn!"
"Suck it up," Sandstorm tells him, but Brightpaw doesn't miss the friendly shoulder-punch that she offers him along with her unsympathetic retort.
"Graystripe," Fireheart says, clearly balking at the thought of their secret getting out, "you can't tell them! Just drink the stuff instead!"
His friend stares at him as if the idea is absolutely preposterous. "I can't do that! You didn't see me making it, but I added—" He cuts himself off to whisper something in the complaining teenager's ear, much to Sandstorm's annoyance, and Fireheart's jaw drops for a second before he buries his face in his hands dramatically.
Cinderpelt wrinkles her nose and wipes her mouth on the back of her wrist. She refused to answer Brackenfur's question the turn before and had opted for a cup of... well, whatever it was.
"Did you hear what he said?" Brightpaw asks her, but the smoky-haired girl shakes her head.
"No, but I'm sure it's even worse than the ingredients he admitted to. Just look at Fireheart's face!"
She's right. Fireheart looks absolutely distraught, as if he can't stomach the idea of Graystripe revealing the grand story he's sure to tell, but he finally nods with understandable reluctance, because apparently, the answer to Cinderpelt's question isn't as dreadful as the sludge-like brown liquid in the pitcher by the fire.
Eventually, they all fall silent, save for the crackling noises of splintering wood, and Graystripe begins to tell a most fascinating narrative. Brightpaw tries to figure out why Fireheart keeps glancing guiltily at Darkstripe, who has so far been safe from all scrutiny and malarkey and is now watching Graystripe with a sneering interest.
Graystripe harrumphs again before beginning, presumably for dramatic effect, but Brightpaw can't help but think that he, too, looks a little uncomfortable.
"Well, before I start, might I just say, Bluestar, your hair is looking fabulous today. The shorter waves really suit—"
"Oh, get on with it!" Cinderpelt snaps.
Graystripe makes a face at her before exchanging a glance with Fireheart and, at last, getting to the real flesh of the tale. "So, um, you're all probably familiar with the fantastic haircuts that people have been getting since we all got here, and well, the thing is, we may or may not be the reason why, um, Bluestar and Darkstripe woke up with burrs in their hair a few days ago."
He says the last bit so quickly that Brightpaw almost misses it before breaking into astonished laughter. Her inspection flickers over to Cloudtail's, and she's even more surprised—and pleased, of course—to find that he's gazing back, his cackling dissolving into a friendly smile when their eyes meet.
Next to him, Fireheart jumps into a crouched squat, and Graystripe is very hasty with his following claim: "I did Bluestar! Not Darkstripe!"
Brightpaw instantly turns to look at Darkstripe, who has a reputation for caring all-too-deeply for the condition of his hair and was vocally outraged when he woke up shrieking that morning with a head full of burrs. He is already on his feet, yelling words that should never be repeated, and the tiny part of Brightpaw that never really liked Darkstripe worries for Fireheart's safety when the taller of the two chases the screaming ginger-haired boy around and around the campfire before disappearing into the woods.
The entire circle has erupted in laughter by this point, and Brightpaw has joined in eagerly, though her scrutiny is now fixed on Graystripe and Bluestar.
Bluestar, fortunately, seems to be in a far better mood, and she just shrugs when Graystripe folds his hands together in a prayer and squeezes his eyes shut. "It was time for a change, anyway, but I'd appreciate if you didn't make it such a painful ordeal next time."
Cinderpelt is laughing loudest of all, her injured hand clutching at her heart, when Graystripe relaxes visibly and salutes Bluestar in a comically rigid posture, with one hand folded into a fist behind his back. Even Bluestar has a wisp of a grin on the face that is typically passive and stoic, Brightpaw notices, and the thought makes her happy.
The hysterics die down—at least for now, because Brightpaw is sure they will start again in less than a few minutes—and Graystripe makes a show of pulling out another slip of paper.
Brightpaw prays it's anyone but her.
The last of the sunlight has faded over the tops of the trees by the time Fireheart and Darkstripe return to their seats, the former visibly ruffled and disheveled but thankfully uninjured, and the latter smirking furiously at him. She has a suspicion that Graystripe has been taking his time with the slip of paper because he was waiting for his best friend to return.
"Swiftpaw," Graystripe declares finally, and Brightpaw exhales sharply when the victim picks dare.
She has never been sure what to make of the shorter boy with white streaks in his black hair, the one who has been in all of her classes ever since nursery school, but somehow turned out far more... well... angsty and chaotic than she did. Still, she can't help but admire him, just a bit, for how bold he can be and how unafraid he is to voice his opinions, cynical and moody as they might be.
And he always acts a little strangely around her, as if she's somehow different from all of the others around them, but maybe she's reading into that just a bit much. After all, she too got flustered and talkative sometimes, though that was usually around Cloudtail.
Unlike Cinderpelt, Graystripe doesn't gather up opinions, and his eyes only flicker briefly to Fireheart. Brightpaw thinks that they must have discussed this before.
"Sing the smuttiest song you can think of at the top of your lungs. And we have to approve it first!"
Brightpaw is the first to laugh. She doesn't mean to be; it just escapes her. And then, as Cinderpelt and Fireheart and everyone else joins in, one by one, she's laughing so impossibly hard that her stomach hurts and she's practically out of breath and she doesn't care if Cloudtail's eyes are on her—oh, wait.
Even Swiftpaw has something that's a cross between a grimace and a grin on his face, and his cheeks are pinched together as if he's trying really hard to be angry instead of guffawing like everyone else.
"Hand me a cup of Graystripe's stuff," he says gruffly, and no one can blame him.
If her stomach hadn't been worn through already from the countless rounds of truth or dare—featuring Graystripe—that they had already been through for the evening, it would have clenched and effervesced and twisted at the dark slop that Graystripe poured far too cheerfully, chunks of only-he-knew-what plunking into the styrofoam cup amidst the smoother, viscous liquid.
Swiftpaw made a face as he studied the cup handed to him, his eyes crinkling with disgust for a moment before he drank the entire thing without stopping for air.
Brightpaw is impressed.
The drink must not be settling very well inside him, though, because while everyone falls silent in anticipation, Swiftpaw presses and hand to his stomach, spitting gulps of nothing into the air and dangling his tongue out of his mouth like it's the most nauseating thing he's ever tasted. Which, in fairness, it probably is.
"Water!" he chokes out, and fortunately, Whitestorm is quite to oblige. They always keep a second pitcher of water beside the first, because there's always someone who makes the woeful decision of choosing Graystripe's drink above whatever lesser ordeal the game brings.
Brightpaw luckily knows better, and has never taken that doomed path.
But she has an odd sensation that her luck is running out even before Swiftpaw drains his cup of water and pulls out another folded scrap. She can't explain it, not even when the fine hairs prickle on her spine or when her heart sinks so low that she has to check with one hand to make sure it's still there.
Cloudtail looks quizzically at her, and she shakes her head, a little confused herself, before beaming brightly at him and fidgeting with her braid to draw upon one of her favorite memories.
The ends of her hair are dyed white, a color that was supposed to fade a day or two after Halloween ended, but somehow didn't, leaving massive white streaks that still don't seem to be getting any lighter. It started with Cloudtail, actually, when he told her on a whim a few days before Halloween that her hair was the color of Princess Anna's, and that she should dress up as the zombie-gothic version of the Disney character for Halloween.
Of course, she took him up on that, just to see the adorable pleasure and disbelief spread across his features when she'd shown up at his house, and now... well, she was stuck with it.
She's jolted back to the present at the sound of Swiftpaw's voice, announcing the name on the paper.
"Brightpaw! Truth or dare?"
Ah, that explains the feeling she was getting earlier. A sixth sense must have picked up on the fact that she was next—but it could definitely be worse now. Graystripe's dare, for example: she still doesn't know what she would do if she were Swiftpaw in that situation, and she thinks he's pretty brave either way.
Then Cloudtail's warm gaze is on her all over again, and Brightpaw suddenly wants nothing more than to switch spots with Cinderpelt so that she's beside him. But now isn't the time, she figures, because she has a very pressing question to answer, and it's not just Cloudtail who's paying attention to her at the moment.
She turns to Fernpaw, uncertain, but she only shrugs.
Brightpaw racks her brain. In all honesty, she can't remember what truths or dares he dealt out in the previous rounds, so she doesn't have much to decide by. Cinderpelt elbows her with her good arm and shoots her a look as if to say hurry up! and Brightpaw makes a quick choice that she isn't sure she's content with.
"Dare!" she tells Swiftpaw, with more enthusiasm than she's feeling. She doesn't dare to meet Cloudtail's eyes.
Swiftpaw isn't the type of person to consult with the people around him; she knows that by now. He's also not very forward with his emotions, as outspoken as he is about things that, in Brightpaw's opinion, don't really matter quite as much, and as far as she can remember, he isn't all that creative, either. The chances of getting a dare that's too embarrassing to handle are slim, so she's optimistic even with the lingering doubt on her shoulders.
Everyone has fallen silent now, except for Frostfur and Brindleface, who are murmuring amongst themselves and sneaking glances at Brightpaw and Swiftpaw, as if they know something she doesn't. Which they probably do, since they're known for somehow having all of the gossip on everyone else without giving up much about themselves.
But Brightpaw ignores them, clinging to that hope that Swiftpaw won't give her anything like what Graystripe gave him.
And she's right. He doesn't give her a dare that's anything like Graystripe's. She sees something almost joyful creep into his otherwise-unreadable expression, and while everyone stares, he stands up and steps around the circle before reaching out a single hand towards her.
"Go on a date with me," Swiftpaw says.
Well, that's Part 1 for you! I hope you enjoyed, and I'll probably drop Part 2 in around a week :)
Please, leave some reviews! Any feedback is appreciated!