A/N: Episode 16: Heart of Darkness; This is from Red's point of view in the beginning of the episode. I love Red and loved how they put her in the beginning so I couldn't resist doing another oneshot about her. Warning, definitely T for blood and gore.
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the epic characters (and David/Charming) in the television series Once Upon a Time, those belong to the creators, writers, and ABC. These characters were brought to life by the amazing actors that play them (and Josh Dallas; just kidding) :)
Red Riding Hood gazed at the full moon, knowing what she would have to do.
"I'm giving you a head start," she said, beginning to pull her hood off. Charming sent a hesitant look, but turned and galloped off, leaving her with the guards.
As soon as she shed the magical garment, Red felt her whole body shift, the change occurring almost immediately.
Red's senses heightened to an acute point, already she could smell the scent of the men running her way. Without even a second thought she ran at them, feeling her body begin to contort until soon a huge beast of an animal pounced upon the first man, her strong jaws ripping and tearing at the hard armor, shredding it as if it were paper.
Blood splattered her vision, but even after years of trying to master this, the animal was in charge, and all she could do was watch. She hadn't...turned in a long time, and as always she was scared of what would happen.
Snow had helped her manage the beast inside herself enough to at least not black out, but often Red would fear of waking in some unknown area, her hood gone forever and she would be forced to forever live with this monstrosity.
Red heard the man's screams of mercy, but the wolf wasn't a forgiving predator, ripping into the man until he was an unidentifiable pile of meat and gore.
The others were yelling in anger, aiming at her with swords, the blades reflecting the moon's light, and Red gave a predatory smile, her muscles tensing. This was going to be fun.
Cleverly dodging the men, she began to toy with the high and mighty guards, leaping around them, letting the blades almost touch her, but not quite connecting. Red felt herself give a bark of a laugh, thrilling in the men's anger.
She couldn't understand what they were saying, but she understood them enough to know they were getting increasingly frustrated. Come on you monster, Red thought, trying to get the wolf to follow her command. Get them to chase you.
The wolf understood, and pulling back on its haunches the animal leapt, sending a few of George's men scattering as they ducked for cover.
As she leapt Red felt intense pain sear into her thigh. Sending a yelp of pain, Red landed unceremoniously on the ground. She looked down, noticing a deep gash on her upper thigh gushing with blood.
Turning, she saw the one who had cut her, his blade shining red with the crimson liquid. He was slightly older than the rest, with the beginnings of a beard forming, showing these men had been following her and Charming for a while now.
The first response the wolf would usually have would be to rip throats and maul ruthlessly, but over the past years, Red had gotten a better grip on the wolf inside. She didn't black out anymore, even though what she usually saw was worth blotting out.
Red also had enough control over the beast that she didn't immediately turn towards the killing, she was becoming more clever than the beast before, and she still wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not.
She didn't want to kill this man, oh no, she was going to leave her mark, send a message to good ol' King George. Charming had friends and he better back off.
The Wolf was about to make it's debut with these handful of guards. These would be her first survivors Red realized in an afterthought. Maybe she could finally shift between woman and beast without any corpses, save the first man, which was understandable.
Over the years Red had become more callous, bodies were things that she caused often. But not tonight.
Letting out her fiercest growl, Red ran towards the leader, the blood on his blade a reminder of the wound on her thigh. Being careful of the blade, she leapt on the man, her claws digging into the armor of his shoulders, pinning him to the ground, a shout escaping his lips.
She could feel her wolfish features give a smirk as she lifted up a large paw and swiped at his face, four long slashes appearing on his face, crimson blood blooming from the fresh wound.
Oh, how amazing that smelled. Against her free will, Red bent down and licked the blood up, her head getting dizzy with adrenaline. She heard the others coming towards his aid.
Putting extra pressure on his shoulders, Red pushed herself off the soldier, taking them all head on, teeth biting an arm, claws swiping a man in the legs. All around, men were falling at her...paws, she supposed. The sheer amount of fear from these grown men was extraordinary, the scent of their wounded bodies filling her nostrils, her mouth watering.
Need to feed...need meat, a much more primitive voice thought. She could feel herself prowling up to the bodies, prone and weak, powerless. She could do anything to them and they could only lay there and hope someone hears their screams. These strong men were hers now, men as strong as trees... No!
The thought brought memories of her Granny, how awful this thing that she was could affect people. Tonight she wasn't going to take anymore lives.
Making sure they were all out of commission, Red began to walk to her hood. It took her a great deal of concentration to put the garment into her mouth and bound away from the war zone, with the smell of weak flesh always beckoning her back.
When she had finally left the scent of blood behind, Red stopped. She threw the hood from her mouth, getting under it as it descended from the air. As soon as the fabric touched her fur, the fur shot back into her body and she was little Red Riding Hood once again.
Groaning, Red pulled the hood tightly around her throat, her legs giving way and she leaned against a thick oak tree as she slid slowly to the ground. When she brought her knees to her chin, pain screamed in her right leg.
Red gasped in pain, and looked at her blood soaked dress.
Just perfect Red thought, groaning again as she forced her exhausted back up and started to strip cloth from her dress, binding what was now an enormous gash that dominated most of her upper right leg.
With her leg bound, Red carefully scooted back towards the tree, leaning her head against the strong trunk. A manic laugh escaped Red's lips. The laugh felt good, her body relaxing more and her mind becoming drowsy.
She had defeated the beast, she had walked away, she had not killed, and Charming was on his way to find his true love.
"Hope you find her, Charming," Red said into the night air, falling into a deep sleep under the stars.