First, I'd like to thank Meg and Spook for their kind words and their input so far… they were very encouraging and gave me lots to think about! Thanks, guys.

Second, I forgot to mention before that I don't own exclusive rights to any of these characters… we all do. This is just my own twist on the stories we've all been telling (and were told) throughout history. Enjoy!

CHAPTER 3

5. The Elixir

"Well, this is it. Here's where I leave you … unless you want to come with me to the giant's mountain." Jack spoke as the five of them paused at a fork in the path. The afternoon sun shimmered through the dark cover of the trees.

Red Riding Hood shook her head. "Thank you, I'd better be on my way. But I wish you well on your journey."

"Well, the more of us that go, the better chance we have of taking on the giant." Jack was insistent. "Are you sure you don't want to come? Once we slay the giant, we'll be rich, and we can put your Granny up in a lovely room in the big castle." His blue eyes sparkled with adventure.

"But..Granny needs her medicine..." the girl seemed uncertain.

"Just what kind of medicine is it, anyway?" asked one of the pigs, who was getting tired and impatient. "You say it can cure the witch but you're using it to cure your grandma. Is she a witch, too?"

"What! How dare you say such a thing!" the girl's face became as red as her cape. "This is a magical elixir that can cure anyone of anything, no matter who they are and no matter what's ailing them. It works on anybody!"

"Really." Jack spoke. It was the first time he'd heard this business about the elixir being able to cure anyone of any ailment. He'd been carrying on all day about his giant-killing plans he hadn't really paid attention to anything else. "How much of this stuff do you need to drink for it to cure you?"

"Well, I don't really know, but the bottle is so small I don't suppose you need much."

"Well, why don't you share some of it with your old friend here?" Jack smiled greedily. "I'm sure grandma wouldn't mind if…"

"No!" Red Riding Hood screamed, clutching the basket tightly to herself. "Let me go! I have to get to Grandma's!" Tears started to well up in her eyes.

Realizing he'd been too forward, Jack changed his approach. "Shhhh…. there, there now. Look, I don't want you to do anything you don't want to do. It's just that a few drops would fit nicely into my whiskey flask her..." he pulled out a small bottle of his own, about the same size as hers.

"You... drink?" she stammered, eyeing the bottle doubtfully.

"Just a little, to keep the nerve up. Fighting giants is tricky business." He began to plead with her. "Please, couldn't I have just a little bit of that medicine, in case I get hurt up there on that big, cold, scary mountain?" Red Riding Hood still hesitated.

"Oh, come on," piped up the little runt, "I'm sure just a few drops won't make any difference. And besides, he's been so nice to you this whole time … we all have, making sure you'd get through the woods safe and sound!" The other pigs grunted in agreement.

The girl sniffled, feeling guilty.

"No, it's alright," Jack sighed, putting on a show of heroism. "I have to do this on my own. I'll take on that giant myself, elixir or no elixir." He smiled sadly at Little Red Riding Hood. "Goodbye, my dear. It was really wonderful getting to know you. You will remember me when I get up onto that mountain, won't you? Promise you'll never forget who I am." He bowed gallantly and without another word, turned and went off towards the mountain.

The three pigs looked at him, then at each other, then at the girl. "We can't let him go up there alone," the eldest one finally said. "I'm going with him. Who's with me?" and without answering, the three of them took off after Jack.

"Wait!" they heard the girl's voice call back. They stopped and she ran up to join them. "I'll come with you all, if you promise to let me hold on to the elixir. If anyone gets hurt we can use it sparingly. But I have to be the one to keep it with me at all times. Okay?"

Jack smiled. "That's my girl. I knew you'd come through for us."

"And can you promise me that we'll be back before sundown tomorrow?"

"Of course."

"And one more thing. If… I mean, when we kill the giant… then do you promise to share the wealth with me?"

"Naturally," replied Jack. "Everyone who helps out gets a fair share of the spoils. There's plenty to go around. Now come on! It's getting late, and I'd like to reach the mountain before sundown."

6. Julima

It was close to sunset when they reached the edge of the woods near the foot of the mountain, and the further they traveled the colder it became. Jack and Red Riding Hood were walking slower now, and the pigs were getting tired.

"You know, now would be a good time to stop and rest. Maybe you should think about sharing some of the food in your basket." Jack looked at the little girl.

"Maybe you should look for berries or something," she retorted, and plopped herself on a fallen tree trunk. She was tired and annoyed that she was always being asked to share everything. Wasn't Jack supposed to be the hero?

"Alright, let me go see what I can come up with. Pigs, you come with me, if you want, Red Riding Hood, you can stay here by yourself."

"No," she cried, suddenly afraid. She didn't know this part of the forest. It was darker, colder, and the trees were almost bare. "Don't leave me here alone. Here, please have some of the food in my basket."

Suddenly there was a rustling in the thicket, and a young, wild-haired woman dressed in white with a crazed, intense gaze rushed out at them. Jack drew his pistol and one of the pigs grabbed a large rock. Red Riding Hood screamed and drew back.

"Help me!" the woman cried, flinging herself at their feet. "I've been attacked by wolves!"

They all froze, not knowing what to do. "Are they still around?" asked one of the pigs, nervously.

"Get up," Jack demanded, his pistol still trained on her. "What wolves? You're not bleeding anywhere, and I didn't hear anything. Who are you!"

The woman stood up, trembling. "Th… they started chasing me, and I ran as fast as I could. But the leader lunged at me, so I threw myself down a steep ravine and escaped. They must have lost my trail." She was breathing heavily and perspiration dotted her forehead. "I made my way through the thicket and that's how I came to find you all. Please let me stay with you, it's dangerous out here alone." She looked pleadingly at Red Riding Hood, but Jack jumped defensively to the little girl's side.

"We still don't know your name, where you came from, why you're here."

The woman lowered her voice, and the crazed look left her face but her eyes still burned with a strange, unnatural light. "My name's … Julima," she said, choosing her words carefully. "I used to be a beautiful princes, but now I'm just a poor orphan girl. I've been living in these woods my whole life, fending for myself. I only wish that one day some kind humans will take me away from this forest forever and I can be a princess again..."

"Why don't you tell us what happened to your parents." Jack's voice was cold and pitiless.

"Jack, take it easy," murmured Red Riding Hood, who seemed to be the only one with any compassion for this strange creature.

"It's okay," Julima said, then continued to Jack, "My parents were killed by a witch when I was very young. She kidnapped me and whisked me off to this forest, but I escaped. Now I'm on the run and I have to keep an eye out for witches and wolves, as well as other nasty creatures. Please," she cried, "Take me with you, I can't stand it here any more! Rescue me from this forest and I promise I'll reward you all when I reclaim my royal heritage! Please!"

Red Riding Hood was captivated by the story. A real princess! On the run from a witch! "Of course you can come with us! We're off to that mountain … to kill a giant and take his treasure! So you see, you'll be rich once again! We all will!"

Jack was a bit more skeptical. There was something about her that made him uneasy. Still, if she'd meant to do them harm she would have done it by now, he figured. And if she really were a princess, there would be an even greater reward waiting for him after their excursion to the giant's castle. "Alright," he finally grumbled. "She can come with us. But I've got my eye on you, so don't try anything funny." Even though she was a woman, she lacked the delicate charm that Red Riding Hood possessed. The little girl was sweet and caring, if a little too innocent, Jack thought, and suddenly he began to feel very tender and kind towards her. He'd have to keep an eye on her too, for her own protection. The other one … Julima … seemed harder, tougher, and somewhat mysterious, in an unpleasant sense. Probably from all that time spent in the woods, Jack assumed. Makes you wacky. He addressed the group.

"Come on everyone, let's go. We'll settle down and eat once we get out of these woods, it's only a little bit longer. Then we'll continue until nightfall. If there really are wolves in this forest," he glanced at Julima, "then we shouldn't be spending any more time around here."

7. The Mountain

They were well into the mountain when darkness fell. A damp chill pervaded the air. Half-dead trees spread their gnarled branches overhead, as a full moon cast a pale glow over the jagged rocks and stones, forming strange, uncanny shapes. Mysterious shadows flitted about, and the earth was silent save only for the soft footsteps of the six weary travelers. "Come on, let's keep going," muttered Jack, "this place gives me the creeps." But they were all exhausted, and the road ahead looked equally dismal.

"Please, let's just stop for the night, I can't go any further," whined the runt. "we'll have nothing left to fight the giant with tomorrow."

"I'm hungry," Red Riding Hood complained. The food in her basket was long gone. Divided among six individuals… including three pigs, and a young boy with a growing appetite… there hadn't been much to go around anyway. Now her stomach rumbled.

"What's that over there?" She pointed to a bush full of berries as red as her cape. It seemed to be the only thing that grew on the mountain.

"Those are yew berries," Jack answered. "You can't eat them, they're poisonous. I swear, everything on this mountain is evil. Even the plants." As if to confirm his words, a small bat flitted past them. "Come on, let's just find a place to lay our heads for the night, you'll forget about your hunger."

"We could set up a campfire," Julima suggested. "We'd at least be warm, and we'll be protected from wild beasts." Before Jack could answer, she swept up a small pile of sticks, twigs and leaves into a small circle. From the pockets of her skirt she produced a flint stone and struck it over the leaves, and the sparks flew. Before long a small cozy fire was blazing.

Red Riding Hood dropped her basket and curled up next to the welcoming heat. Jack sat down next to her. So that crazy woman's good for something after all, he thought. Still, she'd better stay away from this little girl. Red Riding Hood's soft pink cheeks glowed in the light. She's such a soft, gentle thing, he said to himself. I have to protect her. After all, I did drag her into this crazy scheme. But I need that elixir, in case anything happens to me. And in any case, I'll make it up to her. After all, I am going to make her rich.

His eyes grew heavy and he saw that she was already drifting off to sleep. He could here the snoring of the three pigs, and Julima's eyes were closed and her breathing steady. He gently removed Red Riding Hood's cape and spread it over the child like a blanket. He lay beside her. "Once I kill that giant and steal his treasure, I'll marry this girl," he promised himself. "And then we'll be rich and in love and live happily ever after. People like us always do. That's just how the story goes."

8. Julima, Part 2

The moon was low and the campfire was now reduced to glowing embers. Julima roused herself and, taking are not to wake the others, stole off deep into the woods. She made her way into a small clearing, out of earshot from the rest of the group, and gave a soft, low howl.

Within minutes Redeye was at her side. "Graytail! Is that you? My goodness, what happened…"

"Shhhh!" Julima whispered. "Keep it down. The Black Woman and I have a plan. As you can see, she's transformed me into a human being. She's taught me how to speak and act like a human, even make a fire, so I could really pass. This way, I can kill the little girl without bringing trouble to our pack, see? And I can take her basket and bring the medicine back to the Black Woman."

Redeye frowned. "I thought the Black Woman's on her death bed."

"She used her last bit of strength to transform me. And it's only temporary. I have to be careful not to let my anger get the better of me, otherwise it'll become so strong it'll break the spell and I'll change back into a wolf again. So I have to keep it down, and it hasn't been easy." She rolled her eyes. "Especially around them."

"Them?"

"The girl in the red cape's with others this time. I was rushing to attack her when I suddenly saw she had company. Lots of it." She grinned sheepishly. "I suppose you could say I was caught off guard. So I made up a story about being attacked by wolves..."

"What!" Redeye was incredulous.

"Wait, let me finish. There's a boy there and he has a gun, and he's very protective of her. He would have killed me on the spot if I hadn't made up an excuse. So I told them I was a princess named Julima, and that I'd been kidnapped by a witch and chased by wolves, so that I could infiltrate their group... apparently they're off to kill some giant and steal his money... and I'm just going along for the ride... and once I get her alone, I can make my move, and then everything will be settled..." her voice trailed off at the expression on her brother's face.

Redeye's voice was cold. "Let me get this straight. You've had yourself transformed into a human… the thing you hate the most …and you made up slander against wolves and witches, just like they do, and now you're going to kill an innocent giant who never did anything to you... and who knows what else. Graytail, this has gone far enough."

"Redeye, please, you don't understand…"

"Yes I do understand! You refuse to let go of the past, and so now you're stuck in a hell of your own making! You've become the very thing you were against all these years! Starting fires? Telling lies? Killing for sport? Since when do we do those things?"

There was a look on his face Graytail had never seen before, and it frightened her. "Julima… Graytail…. whatever your name is now," he said sadly, "I don't know what's happened to you. You've let your hate take over; it's as if you're something else entirely now. And what that is, I'm not even sure. But this I do know… you're not my sister anymore."

With that, he bounded off, and before she could call to him, he'd disappeared into the twilight.

Graytail stood for a long time in the clearing, alone. "Well," she said finally, "He just doesn't understand. One day, when he gets older, he'll see how the world really is." She found her way back to where the others were still sleeping soundly.

"Anyway, I'm doing what I have to in order to save the Black Woman. Sometimes you have to do bad things in order for good things to happen." And with that, she resumed her place among the sleeping pigs. But as she did so, she caught sight of Jack and Little Red Riding Hood cuddled together, safe and sound in each other's arms and love. Her heart lurched… it reminded her of happier days, when her mate was still alive and they would curl up together on a cold winter's night. A wave of grief washed over her, and a renewed lust for revenge took hold in her heart, as dawn slowly broke over the mountain.