Once upon a time, there was a Godly valley with mountains that could touch the sky and trees that cast long shadows. The people who live in the small mountain town are hardworking and happy, so long as they never stray into the forest where the wolves lurk in the darkness. Adults brave the trees in groups to hunt the vicious pack as they have for decades, the conflict is deep with no sign of victory for either side. But wolves are not the only threat, nor the village's only secret - and the link connecting them is a simple cloak of Red ...
Every night, from the highest peak of the uninhabited mountains, a single Wolf howls to the good folk of the valley – as a warning, as a message, and as a reminder of what they did:
"Beware, beware, the Path where the Witch once stood. Beware, beware, of the Wolf in the Wood."
Cover art: thequalityrunaway DOT tumblr DOT COMpany/ post/138570607597/for-confessions-of-the-red-cloak-au-once-upon-a
Quistis crossed her arms as she stood before her eldest brother "And you're sure that's the last time you saw him?"
Seifer nodded, hand awkwardly around a bunch of randomly picked flowers, some white and some blue, and hair smoothed back with hints of charcoal, but, to her relief, there was a small note of worry in his face as he guessed what she was thinking. "I'm the last person who saw him, wasn't I."
Quistis pushed her hair out of her eyes and rubbed her lips "Yes … damn it," she hissed, covering her eyes to keep her calm above her rising fears, "He's been gone for days, Edea hasn't even seen him! No message, no hint at where he is, and the moron left his gun at home, again-"
"Wait," Seifer interrupted her, "He's defenceless and in that God-forsaken woods alone?"
Damn him for being a stubborn and distant brother, but there was no way in hell he'd wish a fate like that on anyone, not even Leon. His mind unhelpfully rushed through several worst-case scenarios like the devil itself was whispering them into his ear. Each one was chilling. Leon was the best hunter, but even he couldn't outrun bad luck – and now, the stupid man couldn't defend himself against it either.
"Selphie checked his house this morning-" she hiccupped into her hand, her breathing speeding up under her fluttering control. Seifer had always been thankful that she was always so calm and in control, it was unnerving to see her emotions bubbling over. "I don't know what to do? What am I going to tell Mother?"
"No, no, don't say anything yet." Seifer glanced at their small group of siblings, Zell and Irvine trying to calm a worried Selphie down, Zell pale and restless and Irvine looking grave. Seifer glanced at the flower in his hand, aware that his day was about to change from pleasant very quickly, and said, "Leon said something about going to meet his secret sweetheart last time we spoke. He's probably still in the woods, Leon knows them very well but if that moron's gone unprotected there's no telling what might have snuck up on him … I'll get Irvine and my musket, and we'll go look for him."
Quistis looked surprised, but then beyond relieved, "You would?"
"Well, of course, bastard's my brother, right?" Seifer shrugged, "Give me five minutes to tell Rin where I'm going and I'll meet you by his hut."
She gave him a look at the mention of the pet name he'd already granted to Rinoa, but nodded and turned to the rest of her family to tell them the plan. Seifer jogged past them, nodding at Irvine's nod of respect, with every intent to get this search on the road as fast as possible. If this failed, he sighed, and the image of Edea's broken-hearted face pushed him past his stubborn pride and he resolved to get on his knees and beg Genesis to order a search for his brother.
As strained as their relationship was, Seifer would never wish ill on Leon.
He found Rinoa at their agreed meeting place, she sat on her front door holding her dog's leash with flowers in her hair and kitted in her Sunday best, from her blue bonnet to her shiny shoes. She smiled at him, shy and beautiful and, for a moment, Seifer was tempted to throw his promise to Quistis away. But Rinoa was fond of Leon too, and she'd never forgive Seifer if he lied to her.
"Good morning, you didn't have to run, I wasn't going to leave without you," Rinoa giggled, her raven hair caught in the light the same way water caught it on a calm day.
Seifer clumsily took her hands and wrapped them in the hastily picked flowers- they might have been weeds for all he knew. Bones and meat and how to slice them were his expertise, not plants. He looked apologetically into her brown eyes and forced out the start of his bad day, "Rinoa, I'm sorry, but there's a family emergency, and I have to go help."
Her brown eyes widened and her brows creased in worry "What happened? Is it your Mother?" she gasped, not a shred of anger or resentment in her voice. She really was an angel, willing to help others and forgetting how much those around her let her down.
Seifer touched her shoulders as his own heart ached with her kindness. "No, Edea's well, thank God. It's Leon. He's been missing for a few days, and we're finally worried enough to suspect something's wrong."
Rinoa's face whitened. She swayed like she was about to faint, her breath had caught, and she had let the flowers slip through her slack fingers. Seifer bitterly growled at her reaction, no matter how hard he tried she was still sweet on Leon. Why was he always second best? He spitefully wished he could see her reaction if he had been lost or injured, and hoped, prayed, that she'd care enough to weep at his bedside like she'd undoubtedly do for Squall "Leon" Leonhart.
"God, no," she whimpered.
"I think it's okay, really. Last I saw he was going to meet his secret lover so he's likely …" his attempts to soothe made her tense and look even more upset. Right, so whomever Leon was currently romancing was not a topic to raise around Rin, he should have known.
He sighed internally and turned away, "I need to go look for him. Sorry Rin, I'll make it up to you."
Rinoa grabbed his elbow "Take me! I'll help, I'll bring Angelo, and she can help you track him," the barely fully grown dog strained on her rope as she begged. The not-quite-puppy looked about as eager as her mistress did, and was equally fascinated with Leon and his misadventures. Seifer realising that this may, in fact, be useful, and so took her hand with a nod, Angelo was pulling in the direction of the woods … she did have an affinity with Leon – much like her mistress, so Seifer hoped the little mutt could be an asset.
"This is not how I imagined our first date," he admitted as he led the way to his small, one room house.
Looking suddenly sympathetic, she cupped his face and agreed. "Me too. But, we can try again when we know Sq- Leon's safe, right?"
Her touch was sincere and so were her words, but Seifer was bitter all over again for Leon's damn talent of getting into every trouble imaginable when it mattered most. What if it were me, he longed and feared to ask, would you worry this much if it were me? He could barely console himself with her promise of a second date as he picked up his gun from his house because he feared the answer to his own questions.
At their approach to Leon's hut, Seifer's siblings gathered and discussing plans intensely, Seifer turned to Rinoa and said, "I can't let you into the woods, it's too dangerous."
Rinoa looked torn, she eyed the woods warily – sensible girl knew of the horrors and devil's tricks that filled the dark shadows at every turn – and yet she seemed upset at the thought of being left to wait. "I … You can protect me, right? I can help," she tried to insist, looking scared out of her wits as she sought to act brave.
Seifer took her hand with a smile, "I'd protect you from anything and everything, but I'd never ask you to go in there. Let me and Irvine handle this, you can help explain to Edea what's happened." Looking a little pleased with the compromise, she nodded and handed the leash of her hunting dog in training to him.
"For luck," she murmured, pecking him on the cheek as they came to stop before Leon's hut.
Seifer didn't have a chance to preen over her affections as Quistis took charge immediately, "You two had better get going, I'll … I'll talk to Genesis and try to get his blessing for a full search if you two come back empty handed."
Selphie looked concerned, Zell held the brunette's shoulder as she piped up, "Quistis … you don't even like Gen, are you going to accept his advances for this?"
Zell and Irvine bristled, Seifer frowned. "He better not be overstepping boundaries," Zell growled, rubbing his fists together and popping each little joint.
"Focus, please," Quistis begged "It'll be a last resort, but there's no way I'm leaving Leon out there if I can change something, God hear me now," she swore. She looked stressed, tired and worried, and more than a little uncomfortable. Seifer had to give it to the women of this town- they did whatever it took to stand by family, it was impressive and scary, and he was so glad he was on her side.
"It won't come to that," he promised. "Let's go," he nodded to Irvine just as Angelo howled and dragged her leash out of his hands. "Hey!"
She didn't even pause.
"Damn dog!" he cursed as she bounded down the path ahead of him. Irvine paused to grab an axe and follow, but they didn't get very far because their sister screamed.
Selphie let out something close to a scream, and she ran past her brothers so fast she slipped out of her shoes and sullied her stockings. She rushed straight down the path the dog had just sprinted down towards a figure in red.
Seifer blinked several times, Quistis was squinting, but once she spotted the colour of their clothing she breathed a sigh of relief, and Irvine voiced everyone's thoughts: "Son of a bitch."
Quistis elbowed him and absently muttered something about manners.
Meanwhile, Selphie had launched herself into Leon's arms, wailing loudly and clinging with every intent to hold on forever. Leon grinned and scooped her up to swing her around, at her ankles Rinoa's dog barked obtrusively and got under everyone's feet until she was stepped on- then she yelped and wiggled some more.
Leon caught her leash quickly and, with Selphie under his arm, he walked towards them with an easy stroll and a smile.
Seifer had never wanted to hit him more.
"Where have you been?" demanded their blond sister, pulling him in for a hug too while flexing her arms hard enough to bruise him, "Do you know how worried we were when you disappeared like that? The boys were going to go looking for you, I was going to beg Genesis for help, what would I have told Mother?"
Blinking and looking so confused it was criminal, Leon patted her on the back with an aura of awkwardness about him – that wasn't new, Seifer recalled, he had always been awkward and uncertain when it came to touches. Especially ones he'd not initiated. But he seemed honestly baffled by their worries.
"I was safe, you didn't have to-"
"Well, we didn't know that!" Zell exclaimed, thumping him on the back. Leon winced, but Zell kept talking, patting his hand lightly in the same spot in an absent gesture, "You just upped and left on us without a word. What were we to think?"
"Oh … I thought Edea might have said something," Leon said, finally looking sheepish. He put his arms back around Selphie as she huffed into his shirt, managing to express an impressive degree of irritation into her face as Leon apologised. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you worry."
Seifer glared as their youngest sister leaned her head into his waist to hide a smile, "Whatever, Leonhart, what kept you in the fucking trees for five days? You skipped chores, the village finished stacking the warehouse without you, you weren't here for Hojo's announcement about our arriving guests, and you don't even bring back something worthwhile to make up for it- so you'd better have a good, goddamn reason-"
"Seifer!" Rinoa scolded.
"What?" he growled "don't defend him! He ran from his responsibilities, left us hanging dry, and he's not interested in anything but upsetting you so why are you siding with him?" She whimpered and looked away, Seifer felt horrible and tried to apologise only for Irvine to speak over him.
"We just want to know where you were and if it was worth this."
Everyone nodded and Leon ducked his head with a blush. "I was … I was meeting someone."
Zell beamed "Your secret lover?" He looked suspicious and peered down Leon's shirt and laughed "It's them alright, bite marks and all- wow! How far do these go down?" he cackled, pulling up the shirt from his stomach as Leon protested and fended him off, the cloak of red helping to defend him from Zell, but not from the girl under his arm.
Selphie squealed "Ha! They got you here too," she hiked up the white material to show off an impressive scatter of bruises of various colours. "Why on earth would they bite you here?" she giggled, Leon helplessly shrugging as he smoothed his clothes back into place as she pestered him for answers, his face as red as his clothing.
Prying her away, Quistis laughed "Selphie, you're too young to be laughing about that," she shooed the grinning, giggling pair of extroverts away and linked her arm through Leon's instead, "I hope you were a gentleman."
Seifer missed the reply because Rinoa whimpered and looked upset, her hands were tightly fisted into her dress and her face an odd mix of pale and angry red. Her eyes were fixed on Leon's middle, where a trail of bites led down further than the eye could see. It didn't take a mind reader to know what had happened between Leon and his secret partner … Rinoa knew, she was shaking, and her eyes had filled to the brim. Seifer, who had been privy to a few of her teary inner thoughts whenever Leon's dismissals hurt her, could predict her thoughts as if he was listening in: why wasn't it me?
In her dream world, she was the one on Leon's arm, sneaking off for secret rendezvous'. Even now, Seifer wasn't her knight in shining armour, he wasn't her number one.
"… Seifer!"
"Huh?"
He looked up at the loud call of his name, Leon giving him a curious look, glancing between Rinoa and his appearance with a knowing gleam in his eyes. "I said, are you going anywhere today? You've cleaned up for it," he nodded at Rinoa, who finally gave Seifer enough attention to see the effort he'd put in. Her eyebrows raised slightly, and there was the hint of a blush on her nose. Seifer hoped that was a good thing.
Quistis hummed a soft laugh, "Looks like the boys are all growing up."
"I'm older than you," Seifer and Irvine reminded her.
She waved a hand dismissively "Age is just a number, Maturity is a process … and it looks like you're all finally catching up." Not waiting for the inevitable protests to her statement, she tugged on her brother's arm and made a move back towards her home, "Come on, Leon, I've got some questions for you and a hole in my roof that needs fixing while you're at it."
"Wait!" Leon protested "Why am I fixing your house?"
"You disappeared without a trace for days and made me worry, that's why," she poked him in the chest and dragged him away, Selphie skipping at their heels with the occasional giggle and Zell quickly linking hands with her to spin her around. Eavesdroppers, the lot of them. Even Irvine offered a powerless shrug before following in their footsteps, Selphie cuddling into his side before they'd left the road.
Rinoa looked down at her feet and sighed.
Seifer touched her arm with caution, Leon hadn't even acknowledged her concern for him. "You deserve better."
She sniffed and rubbed her eyes delicately "I wish …" she forced a smile and whispered "Um … did you have somewhere we needed to be?" her foot idly scrawled lines in the dirt, the shine covered in a fine layer of dust from the trek over from the centre of town. Angelo sitting at her mistress's feet looking very pleased with herself as she held her own leash.
"Walk across the moors, if you're still interested," Seifer revealed, his voice hopeful and obvious in his ears. It sounded pathetic. Without much hope, he continued and added a secret he'd spotted while out on a walk of his own, "There're apples growing on the higher trails, I thought …"
He ended his thought with a sigh.
Rinoa giggled slightly and just when he found the will to suggest they try again tomorrow, she said; "I'll get a basket when we go past my home."
He stared for what felt like an entire minute, she laughed as he floundered, and then a grin as wide as Angelo's turned up his lips. She still wanted to try – and despite all that had gone wrong so far, it somehow made this horrible day good again. "Of course, my lady, shall we?"
I'll be your Knight, Rinoa, I promise.
Thanks for your comments, please leave another.
This might be Saturday for some readers when I post this, but screw it, I'm busy tomorrow and this is ready now so ... have it a few hours early and pretend it's Strifehart Sunday already xx