A/N: I can easily tell that some people like this a lot because I got several reviews asking me to update only days after the new chapter came out. I can only work as fast as I can, and I also don't want to pump out short, meaningless chapters that I half-assed. I want to give a good chapter with a great way on interconnecting my own character to the story. This chapter took two weeks to post because it's the longest I ever wrote.

The last review said that they hope there will be a chapter showing how Hook and Edward met. That will come, I promise you. But not for a while.

Chapter 13: Past- A Hood Red as Blood

"I see a Bad Moon Rising/ I see trouble on the way/ I see earthquakes and lightning/ I see bad times today/ Don't go around tonight/ It's just bound to take your life/ There's a Bad Moon on the rise."

The days became longer and colder. Too cold for me. It wasn't that I hated the cold, but rather it hurt me now. To be forced into an element that my own half-sister was queen of, and keep remembering that she died because I failed to act.

When the maester examined me with my frozen heart, he said that I shouldn't have had one because I wasn't cold to the touch, nor my hair turning white. After a week at the bell tower, it was clear that whatever Ingrid hit me with, the Spell of Shattered Sight, or the ice in my heart, wasn't killing me. So I returned to my work with the Assassins.

After a month, the Arendelle branch of the Assassins dissolved into a Nomad branch. Felix said that there was no way that he could help us with the little resources left for this division. So many times this had happened, where our homes were destroyed or taken over by Templars, and we were forced to go into hiding once again. Matthew said that until we found a branch that we could stay with as long as we needed, we would be forced to go at it on our own. We would still see some of ourselves, but most of us would be on our own for a while.

It was a hard three months after Ingrid froze Arendelle. I spent so much time jumping between realms, looking for the beast that killed my family, often jumping back to the Enchanted Forest. The Land Without Magic was becoming more and more dangerous with Abstergo on the hunt for the biggest Assassin thorns in their side like me. So I stayed in the Enchanted Forest, because despite the fact that both Queen Regina and King George's combined forces were tearing apart entire regions to find me, it was the safest place I had left.

Winter was coming, and with it, hunger. I was forced to steal from hard working peasants from their crops and livestock. It felt so wrong, but I often hoped that Robin wouldn't see anything wrong with it. I was poor, and some were richer than I was. As winter started approaching it's peak in this land, I knew I would have to suspend the hunt for Ingrid until I had a better plan. So I went south from the Enchanted Forest, and found something that brought me to a job. A mission that would bring my first step into a different kind of war.

I was heading south, but it would still be a long way before the snow disappeared. The inn I ended up at was a front for a small branch of the Assassins of the Enchanted Forest. When the innkeeper noticed my hood, he slipped me a note.

"Heard of your deeds, Reaper. Got a job lined up that we need your skills for."

I went into the back, where they pointed me into the underground pit. Inside carried the hideout of these Assassins. Nomads were common here, as I saw a few known roamers. People from ruined kingdoms, or far from their homes. The Master, Lawrence, pointed me to the board, where I saw the job pinned up.

It was a top priority, high difficulty job, requesting that only a true Master Assassin take it. This is what it read:

"Wolfstime is approaching for the settlement of Silverforks. The wolf that roams this town has killed enough souls that could rival even the best Assassins, except those lives include innocents. They have requested as much help as they need, and that includes the bravest out there. To any Assassin that wishes to stop another town from falling to these beasts, see Lawrence here."

The gold reward was noted below. I couldn't believe that an Assassin was paying that kind of coin for this. I would be rich!

Lawrence was a brave Assassin who once faced down and killed a clan of vampires in the Land Without Color. But even he would not dare to take this mission.

"It's suicide." He said. "We lost three of our brothers to this beast, and now you want to die, too?"

I put my hands down on the desk between us. "Too much blood has been shed by monsters like this one for me to turn my back. I let one animal go, so I'm not letting this one live to see another full moon."

Lawrence sighed, then got up. "Weapons. Give them here." He said. "If you're going to take this job, then you'll need a restock."

I pulled most of my weapons off, and Lawrence fetched a large trunk for me. He took some of the ones I gave him and placed them off to the side. What remained were my Rope Blades, my flintlocks, and my air rifle. As well as Pick, but I would kill the first fool who would try to take it from me. It was almost all I had left of Anna.

"The air rifle I'll supply you with the right ammunition. All the rest you'll need to adapt for."

Lawrence placed new weapons on the table to replace the other ones.

"The hardest part about these wolves is the silver. There's almost not enough for us to go around. But this should suffice."

"Standard Assassin crossbow, small enough to sheathe on your shoulder, and includes two dozen silver tipped bolts."

Lawrence brought out two new cutlasses and a dagger, both coated in silver, and a full stock of silver bullets and tipped darts for the air rifle.

"I faced down wolves before, Asgeir." He said. "But nothing like this. If you make if back alive, bring me some kind of proof of it's death. A claw, or it's head. Something like that."

"Aye. Any advice before I head up there?"

"Yeah. If if finds you, pray it makes it quick."

It was a week to Wolfstime when I left for the town. I trekked most of the way on foot through the slashing cold, and after most of the way was covered, decided I would seek passage the rest of the way. Spent some of what little gold I had left, and got into a carriage with a few other peasants. The closer I went north to this town, the less people felt chatty about what was going on. I almost knew that the wolf would kill me, but I don't think I cared. I would take it with me, and be reunited with my sisters.

When you walk into another town for the first time, what's the first thing you notice? Maybe there's an inn that looks nice, or the people around have this sort of pride about where they live. Does it have a landmark, or a sign that welcomes you?

What I noticed about the town was it's size. It wasn't small at all. Much bigger than I expected. And there were a lot less people that such a town's size would compensate for. For a town of the exact same size, there were about a third of what there would normally be. This wolf wasn't just killing people, but almost running the people down into the dark cave of extinction. People glanced at me, but either they would give me one look, or nothing.

One man sat on his porch, slowly sharpening his pitchfork. He looked up at me when I approached.

"What you want, boy?" He said. His voice was like that of the worst kind of gravelly sore throat.

"I've been traveling a long time. Is there an inn nearby where I can stay?"

"Innkeepers were torn apart three moons ago, stranger. Talk to Widow Lucas."

"And where can I find this Widow Lucas?"

The small cottage lay outside the broken town, in the middle of the woods. I walked up, pulling my hood down a little over my head. The knocker on the door was missing a screw, and hung on the lone remainder on a crooked angle. So I knocked on the door directly instead, so as not to make the knocker fall off. Three times, then after two seconds, another three times.

"I'm coming! Keep your shirt on!" Came a loud gruff voice behind the door.

A small, but intimidating old woman opened the door a crack. She had her gray hair tied up in a bun behind her head, and small spectacles that seemed to make her even more fierce looking.

"Yes?" She said, almost angrily.

I cleared my throat. "Are you the Widow Lucas?" I asked, quietly.

"Who's asking?"

"My name is Connor." I said. "Connor Kenway. I've come a long way from the south, and was hoping there would be a place to stay for the night."

"And so you came knocking at my door, hoping I would offer you shelter? Get your head out of the snow, boy! It's the first night of Wolfstime! You really shouldn't be here!"

"I'm well aware of what time of the month it is, Widow Lucas. That's why I'm here."

Widow Lucas narrowed her eyes at me. "Now you listen here, boy. Whatever you're getting paid for this, it's not worth your life! You need to turn back and get the hell out of here. You're going to lose too much if you don't."

"Granny?"

Widow Lucas turned and waved off someone behind her. "Go to your room, Red! This doesn't concern you!"

"Who is it?"

"Just a stupid boy trying to get himself killed, hoping we'll let him stay for the Wolfstime!"

I cleared my throat again. "I'm sorry to have disturbed you, Widow Lucas. I've just been traveling a long time, and I'm hoping I could at least have a roof over my head. I can sleep in your barn if it's not too much trouble."

Thinking of sleeping in the barn reminded me of Anna and David. I often wondered how David's life had turned out after we took down Bo Peep. The Templars around that area must have been running scared after their mistress fell by my blade. As far as I knew, her leg would never work properly again. She used a crutch now instead of a crook.

"Granny, he's tired. Can't we at least let him stay for the night?" Said the girl behind her.

Widow Lucas seemed to drift off, angrily shaking her head as she looked at the wall beside the door. Then she looked at me.

"One night." She said, opening the door.

I stepped in, the warmth of a fire washing over me. As I lowered my hood, I was greeted by the girl who I realized was the widow's granddaughter.

She was a pretty girl around Anna's age, with dark hair, green eyes, and pale skin. She wore a red cloak with a hood like mine, but it was lowered onto her shoulders at the moment. She smiled as we sat down at the fire.

"Everyone calls me Red." She said.

Of course. Little Red Riding Hood. That made sense. I bowed my head. "Connor Kenway, Red." I replied.

Granny eyed me suspiciously as we sat down by the fire. "So you've come to hunt this wolf down, Connor?"

Red excitedly looked at me as I spoke. "Yes. I belong to a guild of hunters. They tasked me with this job to help the people here. If this wolf isn't dealt with soon, a lot more than just this town is going to suffer."

"And I assume you're joining the mobs to hunt this beast down."

"I'm a lone hunter, Widow Lucas. Anyone I join with will only get in my way."

"Admirable, but foolish." She replied. "You're going to get yourself killed if you try to hunt this wolf down. Wolf's killed dozens of men in the last five moons. Please listen to my advice and leave."

"I'm sorry, Widow Lucas-"

"Oh, stop it with the name." She scoffed. "If you're going to stay here for the night, call me Granny."

My Granny. What a big temper you have! "Alright. I'm sorry, Granny. But I don't have much left to lose aside from my life. In the past months I've lost enough that would drive anyone down the path to the reaper. My home, my family, everything. Can't take something from a man with nothing really left to lose."

Granny looked at the pot by the fire, then got some bowls for us. Supper. It was a thick stew that was better than something an average peasant could scrape together with what little money they had. This woman proved one cliche was true: Grandmothers could cook very well.

"Many thanks." I said, holding up my bowl after Granny gave it to me.

Red was excited by the circumstances that I was here. "So you're going to hunt this wolf down?"

"Red..." Granny had a strange tone in her voice.

This woman almost seemed to not want me to hunt down the wolf. Like she was protecting it, or something. I was suspicious, but I avoided it, and answered Red's question.

"I'm not going to hunt the wolf. I'm going to end the wolf."

That night I got ready. Pulling back the bowstring of my crossbow, I loaded up a silver tipped arrow, and both my flintlocks and air rifle were loaded as well with the new ammunition.

I got up from my chair. Granny sat at another chair in front of the door with a much larger crossbow aimed at the door. She glanced up at me as I started for the door.

"Last chance to turn back, boy." She gruffed.

I ignored her, and after taking the bars off, and unlocking the door, set off into the night.

The wind was shredding at my face as I pulled my white hood up. I stopped for a second to consider where to go first to track the wolf, but figured that I should go into the woods, and just walk around before I would start tracking it.

So, with a plan in place, I sheathed my crossbow and trudged on.

After about an hour of trudging through the snow, I started seeing the telltale signs. First came the pawprints. I remembered how the biggest wolf I hunted moved about one to two feet every stride. I had to walk quite a bit before I got to the next stride when I found the prints.

Then I saw the clawmarks. The marks were almost six feet long in one swipe. I was astounded. The biggest bear I ever tracked once had claw marked that measured not even three feet.

"Gods be good, how big is this thing?" I muttered.

"*aroooo*"

I perked up like a deer in headlights. That howl sounded way too close and loud for my own comfort. I almost felt like I couldn't move. I wanted to bury myself in the snow, but instead, I climbed up into the trees. Unsheathing my crossbow, I carefully started through the trees. It made me feel safer, but as I jumped down from one branch to a lower one, I realized the only way I could track the beast was to stay on the ground.

I examined every foot around me I could, hoping the wolf wouldn't catch me with my pants down. I picked up the trail again a while afterwards, from the source of some teeth marks on the tree. I started following the trail again, this time making sure I wasn't so spooked by the occasional howl. I heard a few, but nothing that didn't sound close enough that it would take a good jaw clamp around my arm.

Dawn was approaching as I found the biggest piece of evidence the wolf was there. As I heard one last howl, I fell to my knees. I was kneeling right in the blood soaked snow of what used to be a sheep pen.

The owners came out soon enough, the wife screaming loudly, and the husband running over to me to ask me what I saw.

I could only say "It was the wolf" before passing out.

The owners of the place sent me back to Granny's after I woke up. Granny could only shake her head with disgust at me, insisting that she had told me how dangerous this monster was. I left not long afterwards, snow starting to fall. It was dark and cold. There was something about feeling the snow blow into my face as I walked out of the cottage that made me start to cry a little.

"Elsa..." I sniffed. I was one of the most deadly Arendelle Assassins who ever lived, and I was crying like I was only a child. Eventually I pulled myself together and headed for town.

The people around town were furious over the loss of the sheep that night. The women were frightened, and the men were downright pissed. I went off to the woods to see if I could pick up on the trail again, and maybe find something to eat.

It was clear to me that everyone had lost someone or something to the wolf. One farmer was just leaving town that day when I found out that the wolf had eaten all of his livestock the last Wolfstime, and now he had nothing left on his farm. He was moving south to start anew.

"There are still those here who think they can match themselves against this monster. They'll all be dead tomorrow night."

Common knowledge among Assassins. Wolftime lasted three nights a month, with the exact full moon in between the first and last night. After the third night, the position of the moon would prevent enough moonlight to reflect on the wolf, and it would turn back into a human.

The clouds started parting as dusk settled, and then the town went aglow with two opposing lights: torches and the moon.

A mob was gathering in front of Granny's house when I came back with my dinner: Two ducks that forgot to fly south. As I opened the large barn door to start my cook fire, I thought I noticed something move by.

It was a shadow by the cottage. I strained to look, but it appeared to be a man. One that was walking from Red's window and carefully avoiding the mob. I would have thought it was the wolf, but a quick look up into the sky proved to me that whoever it was, was not the wolf. Otherwise he would have been on all fours with fur on his body.

I held my hands in front of the cook fire to get warm as the ducks roasted above the fire. I had it in the barn, but I saw nothing wrong as long as I could put it out fast enough if it spread. I knew how to control my fire.

"Mmph!"

I jumped up in a blur and drew my crossbow. "Who's there?!" I whispered to the voice. "I know you're there!"

I focused, feeling my Sight kick in. I winced with pain. Ever since Ingrid slashed me across my eyes, my Sight never worked properly again. By that I mean I would get infernos of headaches if I tried using it.

I heard the whispers guide me through the barn. Whoever was inside was good at hiding. After ten minutes of walking around the barn, looking for the stalker, I sat back down in front of the fire.

"If you're hungry, I've extra." I said. "And if you have a death wish, I'm armed to the teeth."

I heard rustling, and the stalker sat across the fire from me.

"Please don't hurt me." She said. She had long black hair, almost as black as my own, and blue eyes. She wore a white flowered cloak over her head, though clearly not as an Assassin; She was hiding from someone.

I smiled a little to reassure her. "You looking for shelter from the snow?"

"Yes, and there's something out there!" She whimpered. "You're not going to kick me out of here, are you? To that monster out there?!"

I shook my head. "It's not even my barn. I've come here to kill the wolf."

"You mean that's a wolf?!" She gasped. "That thing?!"

"You saw it?" I said.

"It's huge!" She said, almost too loudly for my comfort. Any louder and the wolf would have been on us in ten seconds. "I don't know how you plan on killing it, but I doubt a crossbow is going to take it down."

I nodded. "I've got my ways." I looked down at the ducks on the spit, then pulled them off, setting them on the rock I had beside me. I held it out to the woman.

"Thank you." She said.

I bowed my head. "Don't make too much noise. The wolf could hear us."

"Don't tell me you're going back out there!"

"I've come here to put down a wild animal, and that's exactly what I aim to do."

I started for the door, but the woman called over for me.

"Can't I at least know your name in case the wolf kills you?"

I smirked. "When I make it back here tomorrow, I'll tell you mine, as you will tell me yours."

Another sleepless night came as I hunted for the wolf. This time I used not only it's claw marks on the trees, and it's pawprints in the snow, but every once in a while used the sound of it's howl to follow it.

As I checked each mark it left behind, I started to notice a pattern. Not only in what directions it would take, but then came the pattern that made me shudder. I was at the exact spot that I started tracking at, and that could only mean one thing: the wolf was following me. I was now it's prey.

I would have climbed up into the trees, but this time I wasn't as afraid as I once was. I drew my crossbow and started backtracking.

"Here, doggie." I whistled. "Here, you big bloody bitch."

I took each step slowly and carefully, hoping that I was facing the wolf, and it wasn't behind me. I kept walking until I found new prints. They told me that the wolf had seen me turn around, but rather than face me down and rip me apart, it also turned around and padded off.

It had quite a distance on me, and I missed my chance to find the wolf again. Because the sun started to rise by the time I found the wolf's latest kill.

It was the mob from last night. Most of the poor souls that stood right at Granny's doorway last night now lay in the snow among their blood and pitchforks. I saw one guy's head impaled on the brow by his own pitchfork. When I focused my Sight, I could see the wolf tearing them all apart. Some of them put up a fight, jabbing the wolf with their weapons, but none of them could take it down.

It was so sickening, even with all I had seen in my life, that I could barely hear what Red or the flower hooded woman were saying when they approached from the well. Red must have found the girl in the barn. They stood behind me in front of the well in horror at the sight of all the mangled corpses. I turned my head towards them.

"I told you I would make it until morning." I muttered to the woman nervously, upset that I couldn't say the same for the ones that lay before me in the reddening snow.

The townspeople gathered later at the largest hall in the town, outraged at the massacres of sheep and men. The town's apparent "leader", who was one of the few survivors of last night, a man by the name of Benjamin, stood at the front of the hall as the townspeople shouted.

"The one thing I know, is that last night was the very last massacre!"

I stood off to the side as men and women shouted in agreement, several holding up more pitchforks and other "angry mob" weapons.

"If I had stayed in that party for another ten minutes, I too would be among the dead!" Stated Benjamin. "And when I think if I'd only doubled back, maybe I could've caught it in the act. Maybe, I would've been able to slay the creature!"

I watched as Red, Granny, and the woman walked in. The woman wore a cloth over her face, which clearly meant even more that she was indeed hiding from someone. A young boy sitting down towards the front of the mob turned and started staring at Red, smiling. She smiled back, but Granny noticed, and practically punched her. Another Romeo and Juliet story. Hadn't seen that in a long time.

"You would not!" Said Granny as she walked up towards the front.

Benjamin crossed his arms, unimpressed. "Widow Lucas."

"This creature is more powerful than you can imagine!" She said in such a tone that made even me feel smaller. I could tell this woman had seen things even I dare not want to know.

"You wouldn't have a chance." She continued. "Stay inside! Hide your children! Forget your livestock!"

Benjamin wasn't listening. "You said all this before!" He smirked.

Granny nodded. "But I didn't say how I know." And she began her tale.

"Nearly three-score years ago, I was a child, with six older brothers. Big as oak trees, all of them. Veterans of the Second Ogres War. And my father, the biggest of them all!"

My own grandfather, legendary Assassin Mentor Norik Swortssen was a hero in that war. Killed dozens of ogres that openly supported the Templars. Many don't know that the Ogres Wars were secretly Templar plots. Every time they got too close to endangerment they'd set the ogres off and bring another spark to the building powder keg.

"Come one Wolfstime, he decided to take on the wolf. A different wolf back then, of course, but just as fearsome. They went out there to protect me. I was supposed to be asleep, but I crawled out on the roof to watch, and laid down in the thatch." Granny was becoming slightly distraught as she told the story. It was so painfully clear the fate that awaited reckless villagers wanting to get even with a monster that big. "They had the beast surrounded, the seven of them! With spears all pointed in at it! And then it started. It was lunging. Not at the men, at the spears. Grabbing with it's teeth, breaking the shafts! They stabbed it with the splintered ends, but it didn't matter. It tore their throats so fast, that not a one of them got a chance to scream, or pray," Granny swallowed deeply. "or say goodbye."

I glanced at Red, who looked close to tears, much like the woman beside her. Although I couldn't entirely tell since her face was covered.

"When my father died, I tumbled from the roof, and I landed in the blood, in front of the wolf. I felt it's breath on my face."

Granny started pulling back her sleeves. "And it clamped it's hot jaw around my arm, and I rolled away!" She showed a nasty set of scars. I counted a good six teeth marks, each like long swipes. She had tried to pull her arm away from the wolf, and that's why the marks were at a length. The other villagers, even Benjamin could only stare in shock and awe. I was the only one who was confused. A bite from a werewolf meant that they would become one. But I saw Granny with the crossbow after the moon rose. That meant the wolf had to be someone else.

"Then it looked at me with eyes so black they weren't even there, and walked away." She rolled back her sleeve. "You ever see a wild animal just turn it's back and walk away like you don't matter?!"

I was stunned. I was a hunter, but one thing I learned is that wild animals never wound what they couldn't or wouldn't kill. If it was a real wild animal that attacked Granny, it would have finished the job.

"If this wolf is like that one, there is no defeating it! It's already won by existing in our world! You don't kill it! You just hide!" She exclaimed.

After the meeting ended, Benjamin resumed in forming another mob for the night, refusing to listen to Granny's warnings. But I was certain that the volunteers he was able to gather then were a lot less than what he would have gotten if the town hadn't heard Granny's story. I don't know why, but the story only made me more sure of what I had to do. I had to kill this wolf, I had to do it quick, and I had only one more night left to do it. Otherwise this town was history.

I returned to the scene of the massacre, and started retracing the tracks of the wolf. It hadn't snowed hard that day so far, so the tracks were fresh enough that I could find it now. The bodies of the dead had been hauled away, but the blood remained, coagulating the snow into scarlet ice.

I kept going through the snow, crossbow drawn. The wolf was back to human form by now, but today I had the advantage. A trail of pawprints that would lead me right to it's den, and all the time in the world to follow them.

"Connor?"

I looked up as Red and the woman walked in. She had taken the bandanna off her mouth, and only watched nervously as I looked down and kept following the tracks.

"I don't think I caught your name, milady." I said to the woman, not looking up at her from my tracking.

"Mary." She replied. "It's not my real name, but-"

"You're hiding from someone." I replied. "I figured. And what are you two doing out here?"

"We're going to find the wolf, Connor." Said Red. "And kill it."

Red seemed confident to me, but there's confidence, and then there's stupidity.

"You can't be serious." I said.

Red put her hands on her hips. "Why not?"

"For one thing, you have any silver?"

"Excuse me?"

"If this is what I think we're dealing with here, this is the kind of wolf that is vulnerable to only one thing: silver."

I held up my dagger. Silver shined a lot brighter than most steel I had, and this was glinting brighter than ever in the snowy forest.

"Then what?" Asked Red. "I can track the wolf, can you?"

"What do you think I've been doing for the last few hours since your Granny freaked the whole bloody town? I've been looking for the culprit to whoever this wolf is before these dumb arses get themselves slashed."

"How do you even know that this wolf is a werewolf?" Asked Mary.

"I'll show you." I said stepping away from the tracks. "Just keep tracking it. I won't get in the way."

Red nodded, pulling the bow over her shoulder. I now saw that she had a quiver of arrows and a bow on her shoulder, but that appeared to be all she was carrying.

Mary pointed at a set of prints as we trekked on. "What about that?" She asked.

Red shook her head. "That's a dog. See how small that is?" She pointed where Mary needed to go. "Don't look where the snow's drifted, it covers tracks."

I followed behind without a word. Red thought she was so smart trying to kill this creature, but she didn't understand what it would mean. No one really knows the kind of darkness that goes into your heart when you kill something for the first time.

Mary pointed at another set of tracks. As she did, I focused my Sight, listening to the whispers guide me.

"Hey!" Said Mary. "Over here."

Red smirked. "That is a rabbit." She said.

As Mary moved on, Red explained what we were looking for. "What we're looking for will be huge. Like a dog print, but big. Like eight inches across, with big, long claws."

"Like these?" Mary breathed.

I looked down at the massive familiar prints that lay before us. "Bingo." I murmured.

Red nodded, although shakily. "Yes." She whispered. She looked further down the trail. "And those! Oh my gods, how big is this thing?"

I kneeled down in the snow, examining the prints. "That was one goddamn stride." I stated. And they knew I was right. "From here," I pointed at the print at my foot. "To there." I pointed at the one by the tree a little over twenty feet away.

Red wasn't giving up. "C'mon. Over there." She continued trudging through the snow with Mary and me following behind. "Through the brush and off towards the hill."

"You're good at this." Said Mary as we followed behind the girl in red.

"When there's something I want, I'm good at tracking it down."

Mary glanced at me as I followed behind. "You're good, too. What are you, a hunter?"

"Of a kind." I replied.

"What does that mean?"

"It means I'll tell you what it means one day. But not today."

We continued down the trail. I didn't want to sound like I was the man protecting a damsel in distress, but ever since Arendelle froze, I wanted so hard to make sure there would be no more casualties from my affairs. I would have rather that Mary and Red stay behind and let me kill the wolf. Anyone would have gotten in my way, let alone someone as determined as Red.

"Here's another one!" Said Mary, pointing.

"Right. And then here's" Red stopped, and noticed the print ahead of the one we were at. It was different than the previous ones.

"This print, it looks like it's...half wolf and half boot!" She breathed.

"Wolves don't wear boots." Said Mary.

"No they do not." I agreed. "I do believe I found the proof I'm looking for: we're not dealing with any wolf."

"And it just continues like it was a man!" Whispered Mary. "What kind of monster is this?"

"There was a story I read once." Said Red. "Wolfstime is once a month. Is this really a werewolf?"

I was about to answer, when Mary noticed something.

"Aren't we awfully close to the cottage?"

Sure enough, the trail of prints that now looked like a man's went on through the woods, right towards the familiar hovel. To Red's window!

"Who's been at your window, Red?" I asked.

Red whimpered, unable to answer the question. I had my guess, but Mary said another idea.

"Is it Peter?"

Peter must have been the boy I saw eyeing Red. Eyeing her like a hungry wolf.

"Red?" I asked. "Has he been to your window?"

Red stared at me, a lump in her throat. "Last night. Before the killings." She said, her voice cracking, and her heart breaking. "And he never joined the guys to hunt the wolf."

Mary shook her head. "But I'm sure he never would have killed them."

"He wouldn't!" Snapped Red. "But when the wolf takes over..."

"What about tonight's hunting party?" I asked.

Red gasped. "They're going to kill him! Or he's going to kill them."

I was getting paid for this. It was a lot of gold to take the wolf to the next world. It could help me live for another year or so. But instead, I chose another path. Red truly loved this boy, and I swore an oath. I would stay my blade from the flesh of an innocent. And if Peter couldn't control the wolf, then what he was doing wasn't his fault.

Red seemed to read my mind. "Please don't kill him, Connor!" She begged. "Please!"

I placed my hands on Red's shoulders, her silken hood under my fingerless gloves. "Never. I have a more important mission than what I signed up for. I didn't sign up to kill someone who didn't know how dangerous he was. It doesn't have to be like that, Red."

"What can we do?" Asked Red.

Mary knew what to do. "Tell him." She said. "If he doesn't know, tell him. Stop him. If he'll listen to anyone, if he'll believe anyone, it's you!"

"You think I can save him?" Whispered Red.

I pulled my hands off from her shoulders. "I know you can save everyone!"

Red looked up into the sky. "It's going to get dark soon. Granny will be out of her mind with worry if we're not home. She'll go out there! Mary, Connor, this is so bad!"

Mary looked fiercely into Red's eyes. "So do something!" She said, almost angrily.

"You're right." Said Red, wiping a tear from her cheek. "I have to."

The moon started to rise as the plan was set in motion. I was to serve as crowd control and distract the mob in case they got too close. The tree that Red would chain Peter up to was not too far away, and Mary was wearing Red's hood to serve as a decoy for Granny.

Lawrence had taken a lot of my regular ammunition, but I still had my sleep darts left on my air rifle, and would use them as best I could to stop the mob from getting to the boy. I pushed the last dart into the cartridge and snapped the clip onto my air rifle. Then I pumped the handle, and set off.

The mob was still waiting for the howl from Peter as I watched them from afar. The howl would be their sign to set off and get him.

But something felt off about the whole thing. Peter seemed to be one of those villagers that despite his reluctance to join the mob in taking on the wolf, still stood with them as one of their angry members. And Granny's story. She must have been inflicted with the curse. I mean, no one can just walk away from a bite like that and not turn. I had even heard that some werewolves have children that even-

No... Oh, how didn't I see it?! Red chained up the wrong person! I sprinted off, the night winds whistling as I heard the howl. The mob started shouting as I shot through the trees towards the clearing.

I ran right into Granny and Mary as I was on the path.

"You damned fools!" Growled Granny at me. "What have you done?"

I pulled my crossbow. "You knew?! And you didn't tell us?!" I snapped.

"Of course I knew!" She shot back. "Her mother was one too, until a hunting party killed her. I thought maybe Red didn't get it, but when she was thirteen it started. I paid a wizard for that hood. It keeps her from turning but she doesn't wear it, and she's found some way out of the house."

I was baffled. "Why didn't you tell her?!" I said again.

"I didn't want her to have that burden!" Said Granny. "It's a terrible burden."

So is the life of an Assassin. But my father still let me begin my training when I turned nine.

"That story you told?" Said Mary.

"That was her grandfather. He marked me that night. Then came back, found me, turned me."

I knew it! She was one too! But if it was a full moon out...

Granny started sniffing the air.

"Granny?" Said Mary. "How are you tracking her?"

"By smell." She replied. "I still have that, even though the rest of it has faded away."

We kept going as I held my crossbow so tightly, the stock was practically cutting my arm right out of my socket.

"Gods, I was a fool to think I could keep this from her." Muttered Granny. "I am a fool, and I have cost so many lives."

"Join the club, Granny." I said. "Where I came from, people died because I failed to act."

Mary glanced at me. "Where do you come from?"

"Later, Mary. You didn't mean to lose those lives, Granny. That's the main thing."

"Is it?" She asked.

I was about to reply when we heard a howl.

"Bow ready, Connor." Said Granny. She handed Mary her lantern and drew her own. "A silver tipped arrow will drop her." She said.

"Oh..." Whimpered Mary.

I crouched low as I strafed away a few feet from Granny, keeping with the direction she was taking.

"We're approaching from downwind, so we have a chance." She said bluntly.

I breathed slowly as we made our way out of the trees and into the clearing. The mob hadn't gotten here yet, but all the same it was pointless; we were too late.

Red, in the form of a massive wolf, had her snout picking through a bloody carcass. My blood turned to water as I saw it closely. It was Peter.

I kept my bow trained on Red, and Granny signaled me to strafe away a little further, but hold my fire.

*SNAP!*

"Oh, shit..."

Mary had stepped on a twig. Red's ears perked up and she turned around, snarling and snapping at us. She lunged for Granny as I pulled the trigger.

Both arrows from both crossbows hit Red, and she fell to the ground, whimpering.

"Cloak!" Commanded Granny.

Mary did as she was asked of, and pulled the hood off. She tossed it over Red, and the hood sparkled slightly. I ran over to check the carcass by the tree. There was more blood than I had ever seen on one body, and his pieces were here and there, scattered about like the most disgusting slaughterhouse aftermath ever.

"It's too late..." Breathed Snow. "He's gone!"

"Who's gone?"

Granny was looking out for the mob that we both knew was coming as Red stood up, human once again. I heard the shouts of anger coming from far away.

"Get up, girl!" Said Granny, helping her granddaughter up. "Get ready to run!"

"What's going on?"

"C'mon, Red."

The shouting was increasing in volume. "They're coming!" I called, seeing the lights of the torches growing brighter with every wasted second. "We need to get out of here!"

She had no idea. I still felt a need to protect this girl, who had killed so many without even realizing. I had a responsibility to her, as I did to every innocent I could help. I needed to go with her. I needed to save her.

"We need to go!" Cried Mary.

"Go? I don't understand!" Red was still woozy from what had just transpired, unaware she had just taken another life.

"No, I'll explain it later. We must hurry!" Said Mary.

"What? I'm confused. What's happened?"

Then Red turned to face what lay at my feet. She looked at the torn bits and pieces of what remained of her love.

"Where's Peter?"

I could only place a hand on her shoulder as Mary sobbed. "He wasn't the wolf..." She said.

Red's mouth fell open. "Granny?" She looked at her only living blood.

"I was wrong to keep it from you." She said over the sound of the approaching mob.

"It's time to go, Red." I said. "We need to get out of here!"

"...me?!" She gasped. "Oh, gods! It's-It's me!"

I looked through the trees as I saw the flashing lights of the torches. We had maybe two minutes at maximum.

"Red, go!" Said her grandmother.

"I don't want to go like this!" She sobbed.

"We have to!" I insisted, starting to pull on her as she sobbed "no" over and over again.

"It's going to be okay!" Said Mary as she tried hugging her friend.

"Mary, there's no time!" Said Granny.

"I know!" Said Mary. "I'll get her out of here!"

Granny grabbed me by the sleeve. "Keep her safe...Assassin."

I was amazed, but didn't bother to ask how she knew of my heritage. Mary and I took Red and trudged off into the night and snow started to fall again, Elsa probably weeping beyond the grave for those lost by my new friend.

My childhood after my father died and Agdar started hunting the Assassins down was mostly running. I ran from guards all my teens. But soon enough I reached an age where I wasn't running away from guards, but against them. Running to kill them.

The weeks after the revelation of the wolf's identity, I was forced to relive those memories of running from guards. As I would find out one night, all three of us were the most wanted outlaws of the kingdom.

We could rarely stop at all unless we had no choice. Whether from hunger or exhaustion. There were some mornings where Red was too catatonic to get up and keep moving. Some days she barely spoke at all. It was Mary and I that had to take charge and make sure that Red would keep moving with us.

Mary was a hard nut to crack. There were some moments during our run that she would notice papers nailed to trees. She would rip them down, but never gave me a chance to see them, stuffing them in her satchel. If we started a fire for the night, she would burn them with the blank side facing me, never giving me a chance to see what was on them.

Three whole weeks we spent on the road, running from the guards. The snow started to melt as winter passed while we moved south. The nights were getting less dark, but no more comforting. Several times we had to dive into bushes to avoid Queen Regina's Black Knights. I first thought that they were after me with my name so high on Regina's hit list. But I soon discovered that I was the runner up, with the grand prize going to the woman who now sat across from me at the fire.

It was a cold night that night, and we hadn't seen the knights in days. So we decided a fire couldn't hurt. It was as Mary started trying to burn the papers she was hiding from me that she picked up when one slipped out of her hands. I fell forwards onto my frontside into the dirt as I reached over and grabbed it.

"No!" Mary protested. "Please!"

I ignored her and looked at the paper. I looked at the portrait on the poster, than at "Mary". I held it up to compare.

"Snow White?!"

The princess winced and nodded as Red sat up. She gaped at Snow in bewilderment.

"You're not hiding from just anyone." I said. "You're hiding from Queen Regina of all people. And all this time I thought that they were hunting for me!"

"And who are you then, 'Assassin'?" Said Snow. "I heard Granny call you that. You kill people for money, don't you?"

I lowered my hood. "Asgeir." I said. "My real name is Asgeir Daniel Swortssen. Although most people in the Enchanted Forest know me as the White Reaper."

Snow was just as surprised as I was when she found out my name. "You've killed a lot of noble blood in this land, Asgeir. Why would you kill kind hearted nobles like the ones you have, and spare Red?"

Red glanced at me nervously. I reached into my pocket and fished out my sign. A torn piece of yellowed cloth with the Assassin insignia on it. I placed it on the ground between us and began.

"Everything you know about history is wrong, Snow White." I said. "Every conflict over anything between two kingdoms is all part of a centuries long war between two sides: the Templars and Assassins. The Templars are an organization of high nobles who have one goal: to control all of mankind. They believe that we are blind sheep that need shepherds. But I am one of the few people that refuses to stand by and let the Templars take control over humanity." I tapped on the cloth. "I am an Assassin. I come from a long line of warriors that fight for the freedom of all from the Templars."

"And those nobles? The ones you killed...?"

"Templars." I said. "The whole lot of them. They may have a public identity as kind hearted nobles, but the truth is that none of the Templars truly seek peace with this world. I oppose their beliefs in their Order. I follow a Creed: Nothing is True. Everything is Permitted."

"That's quite the bold statement." Said Red.

"Well, there's more to it than that. The Creed is not wisdom, but rather the beginning of wisdom. Like a seed for a tree. Nothing is True because there is no higher power that can decide what's right and what's wrong. That is up to you to decide. Everything is Permitted because since there is no higher power to tell you what to do, it's also not there to help you from straying from the path. The simple answer is that your truth is the truth, but you must live with the consequences of that truth."

Snow understood. "Regina. You thought these last weeks that she was looking for you."

"I'm right behind you on her shit list, Snow. Regina is the current Grand Master of the Templar Order with King George as her closest advisor. He believed it should have been him to take the reins in the beginning, but you know just how ruthless Regina is."

Snow nodded. "There were...things that happened when I was a little girl, and Regina never looked at me the same way again. I don't know why, but she framed me for my father's murder. Now I'm stuck living a life running from the whole kingdom. Did you ever have to go through that before, Asgeir?"

"Absolutely. Where I come from, the king murdered my father and ordered a full purge of the Assassins from the kingdom."

"Where was this?"

"A kingdom far across the northern seas called Arendelle."

"Your father. He was an Assassin?"

"Yes. He mentioned to me that your mother Queen Eva and him were friends. Daniel Swortssen was his name."

Snow shook her head. "Doesn't ring a bell."

"He went by the name of Edward Vollan to most."

"That does! He said he was a longtime friend of my mother. Never asked how, but I always assumed he was some ambassador from the kingdom he came from."

"Your mother Queen Eva must have been a supporter of the Assassins, then. I have...had a similar friendship with the queen from my kingdom."

"What was her name?"

"Elsa." I said. "She was my...friend, and things were hard. The kingdom's now a ruined ghost of what it was and I don't know what even happened."

"Seems we've all lost our homes, now." Said Red.

"And that is why I feel the need to stay with you, Red. We can't make it out here if we don't stick together. The whole damned kingdom is trying to take our heads. Two of us are at the top of Regina's most wanted list, and one of us I don't even want to think what they could do to."

Red shuddered with fear. "We're doomed..."

I wanted to argue with Red so badly, but considering the circumstances and how bad they got this fast, she may have been right.

When I left Arendelle for good, I had only three things with me from Anna and Elsa that I kept to remind me of them. They also reminded me that no matter how I fight, no matter how I resist, eventually, all I care about will be gone from me. Even if I were to kill every Templar, and Ingrid and Rumplestiltskin, eventually, everything would be ripped from me.

"That something special?"

I looked up. I had been furiously sharpening Pick for the last hour, despite that I was using it with my magical whetstone. Only a few licks would have done it, but I was so deep in that pit of despair that night, that I couldn't stop sharpening it.

"How could you tell?" I asked Snow.

Snow reached out and I handed the thin blade to her. She looked carefully at it. "It's a good blade. I'd say that very few smiths can make a sword that good. And yet, we've been companions for almost a month and I haven't seen you use that sword yet. You took all of those Black Knights out with your other swords a few nights ago, but not with that. Yet here it is, out every few nights being sharpened for it to just go back to being sheathed, collecting dust on your belt."

"It belonged to my sister. My half-sister." I said after a few minutes of silence.

"And what happened?" Said Red

"I failed to act, and she suffered for it."

Two more weeks passed since I found out Snow's name, making it almost a month since we had ran from the mob. We were eventually chipping away right into King George's kingdom, and that meant they were looking for me. I was probably King George's greatest threat, and he knew it. He and his carefree wanker of a son had nearly bankrupted their entire kingdom, which gave me the means to take him down. Running low on gold meant desperation, and that meant recklessness, which would lead to a slip up for me to rush in and kill him and his son. But I would first need to help Red and Snow find a safe house.

The night was chaotic and frightening. Black knights and George's men alike combed through the woods on patrols, but the manner of how they searched made it look like they were on the warpath. It became apparent why when I saw the clouds part from the light of the silvery sphere, now a full circle.

We rushed through the woods as a patrol moved through the trees with their torches, swords, and spears all at the ready. I shot one of them with my crossbow, but by the time they realized that one of them didn't make it, we were already gone.

"Oh! I think we lost them!" Said Snow, not slowing down.

"Snow! Asgeir! Wait! Wait!" Said Red, trailing behind.

Snow didn't listen, and ran faster, right into a Black Knight.

"You can't run from the Queen, Snow White." Snarled the knight.

I replied as Snow tackled him by putting my blade through his neck when he tried to get up.

"Come on! There are more coming!" I called out.

We kept on going. More knights started appearing, realizing that their two priority outlaws were in the same woods, making them both tied up in a neat little bow like a "two-for-one" deal.

Snow suddenly stopped to glance at a tree. I was about to pull her and urge her to keep going when I saw what was on the tree. The same wanted poster that she had hid from us for weeks.

"WANTED: Snow White. For crimes against the Queen: Murder, Treason, Treachery."

Snow took one more second, then reached over and angrily tore the poster down.

We kept rushing through the bushes, eventually turning into a couple big ones by some trees off the road. We ducked down as another patrol passed by, taking no notice of us.

I leaned out of the bush after a moment, then nodded.

"It's okay." Said Red, listening. "They're gone."

Snow looked at the poster in her hands. "She's never going to stop, is she?"

I was going to reply, but Red yelped in fright. She held up the source of her fear: a tear in her red hood.

"My hood..." She moaned. "It's torn."

She started shuffling away from us on her back. "You have to go! You have to get away from me!"

I shook my head. "We're not leaving you!" I snapped.

"There's a full moon tonight!" Said Red. "Wolfstime is beginning. This hood is the only thing that can protect me from turning."

"It's just a tear!" Insisted Snow. "It'll still work."

"What if it doesn't?" Countered Red. "You saw what I did to Peter! This thing...the wolf... When it takes over me I can't control it."

I was amazed. Fate had brought me from one girl afraid of what she could do to another. Elsa to Red.

"Please, Snow. Asgeir. Go find shelter. I'll go further into the woods and find a place to hide. For your own sake we have to split up."

Red was afraid just as Elsa once was, but this time she had beyond good reason to make us split up. I wasn't afraid that Red had killed so many others without realizing it, but I know I should have been. I still thought I could still bleed.

Snow and I glanced at each other, then agreed. "Alright." She said. "Just for tonight. Let's all meet up in the morning by the stream, and then we'll find a safe place for all of us. Maybe a nice cabin in the woods."

Or maybe an Assassin hideout if any were still operating here. We didn't have the kind of power we did in Arendelle.

"Why are you doing this?"

I looked up at Red. "Doing what?"

"Being so...kind to me, the both of you. You saw what I did as a wolf, and Asgeir, you said you would be paid a lot if you killed me. You saw what I am."

Snow held her friend's hand. "I know that's not who you really are."

"As for me," I said. "Let's just say that I have a responsibility to people like you, Red. I have a tender spot in my heart for victims and outlaws like us. I helped one soul in a similar boat a long time ago, and I do it because I know what it's like to have people hate and fear you for what you are."

I held both girl's left hands tightly, the three of us almost doing a sort of three way pinky swear. Anna had me and Elsa do one together, too. I swore with my sisters that we would never turn our backs on each other. "We're in this together, Red." Vowed Snow.

Red smiled a little, then raised her hood. She nodded to the two of us, then headed off into the night. I raised mine as well.

"See you bright and early." I said, rushing off.

Morning came much later than I wanted it to. I found a rabbit and had a fire as dawn approached, but all the same I hated having to leave Red alone, running the risk that the Black Knights might find her.

When I arrived at the creek later, I didn't find Red, but Snow was there.

"I was hoping you were Red." She said as I stepped out from the trees.

"Likewise. Where has she run off to?"

"I don't know. I've been waiting almost an hour for her."

I did a quick scan of the woods around us with my Sight. "She's not here." I said. "You think she ditched us?"

"No. Even if she wanted to protect us, I don't see Red leaving behind her only friends." Snow winced with fear. "You think the Black Knights found her?"

I looked at my friend as I knelt by the creek and took a quick drink from my hands. "That's a grim possibility." I replied. I got up. "I hate to suggest this since we already lost Red this way, but maybe we should split up again."

Snow raised an eyebrow, concerned that it would lead to the same result, but then nodded. "Fine. Keep hidden, find Red, and if you see any posters of me-"

"Tear them down. I got it." I said, setting towards the forests.

I hate to hide all the facts from Snow, but since she didn't have the Sight like I did, she wasn't as good a tracker as I was.

I wasn't lying when I said Red wasn't there at the time, but I didn't mention the other fact: she had been there before. I followed the path that she left behind as she ran off. The ghosts I saw through my Sight showed that someone snatched her hood and took off with it, Red following behind. He almost burned it, evident by the burned out torch I found on the ground not far from the creek.

Eventually I found the place where the man had led Red, but I was taken off by it. I knew this place.

Many Assassin hideouts were either abandoned for various reasons, or taken over by the Templars. I was standing directly above an old Assassin hideaway. My father told me of this one a long time ago. He said it was made of the ruins of an old castle and became an outpost for Assassins after it sank into the ground. But a savage Assassin who turned out to be a werewolf slaughtered every one of their brothers there before setting off. Some branches of the Order forbade werewolves to become Assassins because of their unpredictability. Arendelle's branch didn't condemn them, but we also didn't encourage them. My father hated them, saying they were another plague we were doomed to if we didn't cleanse the world of them.

I drew my crossbow. Whatever was down there could be the wolf. I took a step forward and fell down after a heavy object smacked me in the back of the head.

"...one of them. Just look at his hood."

"Quinn, he's my friend! He stood by me and helped me escape!"

"He's also an Assassin. They kill us for sport."

I was tied up to a stone pillar in a hall with rugs and tapestries cluttering the entire room most of my weapons gone, with the exception of my silver knife in my boot. A small campfire lay in the center of the circular room, and I found I was surrounded by men and women, clearly the ones who knocked me out. Red stared at me from among them in bewilderment.

"Asgeir! What are you doing here?"

I groaned. "Hell of a smack you put on my head there, Red. I thought we were friends."

A younger man with brown hair and a stubble scoffed, crossing his arms. "Typical Assassin. Always quick to turn against our kind."

"Quinn, stop it!" Said Red. She crouched down in front of me. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." I muttered.

"Why did you draw your bow before you entered our domain, Assassin?" Said Quinn.

I glared at him. "This is a condemned hideout for Assassins because a whole branch of us were slaughtered here. It only has one way in and out. Excuse me if I didn't enter without any caution." I sat up. "My turn to ask questions: who the hell are you arseholes?"

"We're her pack." Snapped Quinn, standing by Red.

I smirked, realizing they were all wolves. "Pack, eh? You can't have known Red, what, a day? Maybe two, I have no idea how long I was out for."

"Almost a day." Said Red. "They're my friends, Asgeir." She turned to Quinn. "And he's my friend, too. Please let him go!"

"He's an Assassin. They hate our kind. They banished half of us from the Order."

"Let's not forget how many lives are taken by former Assassins like you." I replied. "I've seen savagery from some of you first hand. You're unpredictable. Most of banished Assassins were cut off for a good reason!"

"'Ye who lives in a glass house shouldn't throw stones.'" I watched as a tall dark haired woman stepped out from the shadows, glaring down on me. "Who was the one who drew his weapon before entering? I am Anita, Assassin. I am the head of this pack."

I spat loudly towards the woman's feet. "I'm Asgeir, Master Assassin of Arendelle and I don't care who you are, you shite!"

Red looked up at the woman, then at me. "She's...my mother."

That did it. This woman was going to kill me. The last time someone of close relation to an friend of mine came back from the dead, my entire homeland was frozen and my sisters were slaughtered. I wasn't as surprised as I should have been that Granny lied about her daughter's death, but I was scared for my own life.

"Red, listen to me. These ones aren't to be trusted. They'll kill me simply because I wear a hood!"

Red glanced at her mother, a haunting reflection of her daughter.

"Please, Mother. Let him go!"

"You claim to be a friend of my daughter's, yet call us monsters." Anita ignored her daughter. "We saw what kind of weapons you have. No one needs that much silver. Red's just like us, Assassin."

"Wrong." I replied. "Freaks like you tore apart brave men and women who wore the hood because they believed in something bigger than themselves. Little wonder my father hated your kind."

Anita leaned down and struck me across the face. "I know who you are, Asgeir. Your father Daniel often talked about you when I was an eagle. He personally stripped me of my hood when my branch found out what I was. I was only trying to defend myself and they attacked me instead of stay at my side like all Assassins should. They saw me as another Rogue. So if I killed any Assassins, I did it to protect myself."

I glared up, looking at Red. "Don't side with savages who'll kill the ones that care for you, Red. The last friend I know who sided with the wrong people, I couldn't save in time."

Anita pulled out a cloth and gagged me. "We'll decide your fate soon enough, Reaper."

Anita was another Ingrid. Jumping to the conclusion that I was going to take her life for the sole reason that I didn't trust her. But Red was more conflicted than I felt comfortable with.

Yes, some branches of the Order were against werewolves so much that they would banish them, but others would permit them as long as they could control it. Anita must have been that wolf that slaughtered all the Assassins in this very castle, but I couldn't be certain if what she said was true. That they had attacked her unprovoked.

I was perfectly capable of untying myself from the pillar, but I chose not to just yet. I needed to wait until their guard was down. As well, Red's insistence that I wouldn't hurt them was the only thing keeping me alive at this point.

Being nocturnal, the pack began sleeping not long after my confrontation with Anita. I sat nervously, gagged while sitting beside the monsters. I was considering bolting out of there, when Quinn jumped up.

"Hunters." He whispered, and the others got up and raced into the shadows with incredible speed.

The intruder walked down the stairs and into the main hall. It was Snow!

"Aughugh!" I yelled, muffled by the gag.

Too late. Quinn jumped out and grabbed Snow by the throat.

"No! Don't!" Cried Red, running for her friend. "She's not here to hurt us!"

"What other reason does another human have for entering our den?!" Snarled Quinn.

"Aughugh!" I cursed at Quinn.

"She's a friend!" Tried Red. "Who stood by me after she learned the truth! After I killed! Without her or Asgeir I never would have escaped my village alive!"

Anita stood up from her velvet "throne", the highest seat in the room. "Let her go." She commanded.

Quinn hesitated, then angrily obliged, shoving Snow to the floor. I had a nice place in his head to put the knife I had in my boot. I was amazed that it was still there; Assassins almost always leave their backup weapon in their boot, making them easy to find for banished brothers.

Snow coughed as Red hurried to her side. "I'm sorry, Snow!" She cried.

Snow coughed. "When you didn't show up at the stream the other morning I thought the Queen's men had killed you."

"Auughhu!" I replied.

Snow noticed me. "Asgeir?" Then she looked at the people around her nervously. "So...who are your friends?" She asked, getting up.

"We're her pack." Said Quinn, again.

Snow was curious. "Are they-"

"Yes." Replied Red. "They're like me." She smiled a little. "But you don't have to fear them."

"Of course not." Said Snow, curtly.

"How did you find us?" Demanded Anita.

"Aughugh. Aughedileaftugh!" I stated. I needed to get my gag off, but I couldn't risk the wolves realizing I was undoing my restraints slowly. I saw they tied me up with the Freeman knot. Amateurs.

"I tracked wolf prints here." Said Snow. "Like you taught me." She nodded to Red.

"You could've been caught by the Queen's men!" Breathed Red.

"I wasn't gonna leave you!" Said Snow. She glanced at me, then smiled a little. "Why don't we get Asgeir, and then go find that cabin we talked about, okay?"

She started to take Red's hand, but Red wouldn't give it to her. She looked back at her "pack", then back at Snow. The princess understood.

"You're not coming with us, are you?"

Red nodded. "I don't have to be ashamed of who I am here. I found my home." She smiled. "I found my mother!"

I could see why she would find a better place among savages like them, but it was wrong all the same. She wasn't like them. Most of them killed humans for fun. Or food. And I was betting that Snow would have a little trouble taking their next meal with her. I started working harder on undoing the rope. It was an easy knot, but took a while to undo.

Snow was a little aback by the whole bit about how Red's mother was still alive. "But I thought-"

"Granny lied." Red said, simply. "I'm sorry, Snow. I know you and Asgeir risked your lives to come back here for me."

Snow shook her head. "No, I understand." She said. "I would do anything to be with my mother again."

My mother dealt with a devil to hide the magic of one of my sisters and receive a potion to forget me, so my feelings towards her weren't as sincere compared to Snow's.

Red looked down as she took her friend's hands. "I know we planned on leaving the kingdom together-" She began.

"I'll be alright." Said Snow.

"Auyughh!"

"We'll both be. You've taught me enough already, and I got Asgeir with me. I'll manage." Snow leaned in and hugged her friend. "Bye, Red. Thank you." She whispered.

"No, thank you!" Came the reply.

I then broke free of the ropes and stood up. A sudden noise and I saw one of Red's pack fall to the ground, dead. The wolves looked up in surprise as several Black Knights marched in. Anita stalked towards one of them.

"Stand down, or die at the hands of the-"

Anita snapped the guard's neck with her bare hands. The wolves started an all out brawl against the Black Knights with nothing but their own hands. I was just drawing my knife when I saw Quinn standing before me.

"You led them here!" He snarled.

I glared at him. "I'm an Assassin. Since when do I deal with Templar rubbish like the Queen?"

Quinn answered that by getting down on all fours and turning into a wolf before my eyes. I pulled out my dagger and stood ready.

"Play dead, Rover!" I sneered.

Quinn bounded for me and pinned me to the ground. He started snapping at me, trying to bite me. I held both my hands in front, trying to hold back his teeth. My knife was about six feet away, by the fire. Quinn kept snapping for me as I tried to push him back. I reached my arm around so far that it ended up at an awkward angle and I felt Quinn take a massive chomp right onto my arm.

I screamed in pain, realizing that I was now cursed with the wolf. Now my hood would be taken away and the Assassins would leave me to hunt with freaks like these. Because now I was one of those freaks.

The anger of that only made me reach farther for my knife as Quinn started to even chew on my arm. I could even feel some of his teeth lodging into my sleeve. At last I grabbed it and plunged it right into his temple.

A fatal hit all on it's own, it had silver coating just to ensure his death. Quinn's massive body fell on top of me, completely human.

I rolled his body off as I heard Anita scream for her loyal dog. I stood up, jumping clear of the hellhound in a woman's form as she knelt over Quinn's body. I saw all the bodies litter the floor, almost all of them the Black Knights, with the exception of that wolf that was shot first, and Quinn.

I noticed all my other weapons were in a pile that had been out of my sight, and ran over to them, strapping them to prepare for the upcoming carnage.

"May you always run free beneath the moon's pale light." Prayed Anita. I heard it was their "Requiescat in Pace". Ours was "Hvil I Fred", which meant rest in peace in Old Arendellian, or Ancient Norse as most would call it.

Anita glared with piercing eyes at me and Snow. "You. You did this!" She snarled.

I nodded. "And I would do it again."

"How dare you! And you brought the Queen's men into our den!"

"What, no!" Said Snow. "You have to believe me! I had no idea they followed me!"

"Mother, you have to believe Snow!"

"It doesn't matter." She sneered. "Wherever humans go, death follows. The same can be said double for Assassins"

"Are you thick in the head?!" I snapped. "That's what 'assassin' means, you bitch!"

"You came into our den and killed two of our own!" Said Anita to me.

"Hey, I was only trying to defend myself!" I echoed Anita's words. "They saw me as another Rogue! If I killed any wolves, it was only to protect myself!"

Anita grabbed me by the neck with unreal strength. I could barely even move from her grip. "You sicken me, Reaper! The only way to stop people like you is to kill them all first! Tie them up!"

I felt the wolves grab me from behind, and pull me to another pillar, but not before unsheathing and tossing most of my weapons to the far corner of the room.

"When the moon rises, we'll feast on a Princess. And the Assassin will make a perfect appetizer!"

"What're you doing?!" Cried Red, terrified.

"This is what you signed up for, sweetheart!" I snapped. "Hope you're satisfied!"

"They'll pay for the lives we lost." Growled Anita.

The wolves pulled me over and tied me up much tighter to the new pillar. I couldn't even breathe as the rope was wrapped around.

"Mother, you're not making any sense!" Wailed Red.

Anita glared at her daughter. "You already made your choice, Red. You're one of us, now. Act like it!" She got up real close to Red's face. "Kill them." She breathed.

Red sniffed, then looked slightly defiant towards her beast of a mother. "No. I won't kill my friends."

Anita wouldn't accept that. "Then I will." She started for Snow.

"No! Mother, stop!"

Anita looked back at the young girl. "Sorry, my daughter. This is what it means to be a wolf!" She kept going, falling down on all fours and shifting into a wolf. Snow shivered breathlessly as her canaballistic executioner started for her. I could only watch; the wolves had my hands pinned down.

"This is what awaits all Assassins, Son of Swortssen." Snarled the wolf to my left.

Anita looked ready to lunge for Snow, when another wolf jumped and rammed Anita aside. It was Red!

The wolves were so appalled by the double-cross, they forgot to hold me down. I undid my bindings and socked the other wolves in their faces. I jumped over and grabbed my crossbow. Snow was able to get loose of her ropes, and broke free.

"No one move!" I yelled out. "I will end every single one of you since I'm already dead!"

I was in the center of the hall as Snow tossed the red hood over Red's head. Red ran for the body I now saw on the floor. It was Anita, impaled on the fire poker.

"I didn't mean to!" Sobbed Red.

*It was an accident!* I heard a little girl wail. I never heard this girl say that, but there was no doubt who said it.

"I'm sorry, mother!"

"You chose her!" Gasped Anita, spitefully.

Red sobbed harder. "No! I chose me!" She stated. "I'm not a killer!"

Anita kept coughing up blood as I drew my bowstring back and loaded an arrow in.

"I am." I replied.

Red looked at me, and understood. "Please stop her suffering!"

I held up my crossbow towards Anita's head. She glared at me, but for a second, it looked like one of respect. "Nothing is True..." She sighed.

I nodded. "Everything is Permitted..." I pulled the trigger.

The silvery light only brought me more misery as I stood above Red. She knelt down as she placed the flat plank to serve as a headstone. It had a crude carving of a crescent moon on it. I had put down two monsters in one night, and it only brought me dread. The wolves ran off after their alpha was dead, leaving us to see another day.

"May you always run free beneath the moon's pale light." Prayed Red. She stood up. "Goodbye, mother."

All Snow and I could really do was embrace our hooded friend as she wept.

"I'm so sorry." Said Snow, as if it was her own fault. "I know what it's like to lose your family."

"I didn't lose my family today." Red stated, boldly. "I protected it." She glanced at us. "Thank you." She whispered.

"Anita wanted you to choose between being a human and being a wolf." I said.

"Granny did, too." Said Snow.

Red pulled away from our embrace and smiled. "You are the only people who ever thought it was okay for me to be both."

I smirked as the girls laughed a little. "It's because that's who you are, Red."

Snow smiled. "Come on. Let's go find the cabin!"

As we started, I felt it that it was as good a time as any. "I told you about Elsa." I said.

"Yes." Said Red. "Your friend from your kingdom? She's the Queen."

"Was the Queen." I replied. "But she was more than that. She was my sister as well."

Red was amazed. "You're a prince?"

"A bastard." I replied. "I'm her older half-brother, and I kept an eye on her for a long time. She was like you, Red. She had magic no one else could understand. Magic she could barely control. And it hurt people. People were afraid of her as much as she was afraid of herself. But she learned control through the love of our other sister, and I became a loyal friend to her as well as soldier for the kingdom."

"And she died?" How?" Asked Snow.

I sighed. "There was a reason I was so eager to hurt those around me in that hall, Red. It turned out Elsa wasn't the first to have this kind of magic. There was an aunt of ours many of us didn't even know existed. She was more powerful than I could handle, and she was also insane. Completely nuts. I looked at Anita, and I saw my aunt. My bloody insane aunt"

Red glanced at me, but then continued walking.

"She froze the entire kingdom. Ice magic is what Elsa and her both specialized in. She froze the kingdom and killed both my half-sisters. I was the only one to escape. When they had me prisoner, I felt that this was another test sent to me by fate. If I didn't act soon enough, more people that I cared for would die."

There was silence for a while until Red spoke up again.

"Elsa was like me?" Asked Red.

"Not quite. She wasn't a wolf, but she was afraid of what she could do. You would have liked her, Red. You would have been good friends. She was afraid of that which she didn't understand, but learned hope through me and Anna. She learned faith. She learned-"

I trailed off, but it wasn't out of difficulty for the story I was telling. The other two thought they understood my silence, and left me be as I examined my arm.

I was looking for where Quinn had bit me. As soon as I saw where it was, I rolled back my sleeve and kept quiet.

I wasn't afraid I was going to turn. I was afraid that there was no damn wound! There was blood, but no hint of a wound.

A week afterwards, we reached the edge of the Evergreen Thickets. When the trees started thinning out and the fields of King George's realm began, we saw a small cottage. There was no smoke coming from the chimney, so we headed over, and after some careful lock picking, went inside.

It wasn't a good hovel, but decent enough to live in. Snow said that she would stay there, but Red and I both realized we couldn't stay.

"Are you sure?" Asked Snow. "Regina doesn't have authority here. We're safe"

"King George is out for me even worse than Regina." I said. "I can't stay in one place, else I will pay with my life. It's safe for you here, but no for me."

"It's easier this way, Snow." Said Red. "But we'll come and visit plenty."

"Absolutely." I said. "And if you need my help when I'm not here, just draw the insignia on a piece of parchment and tie it to a pigeon. It'll find me."

Snow nodded, then hugged both of us. "Goodbye, Red. Asgeir!"

I smiled, and returned the hug. Some friends run their habits on you. I guess Olaf helped me like "warm hugs" at one point.

"You certain that this was the wolf that was terrorizing the village? This wolf that you killed?" Said Lawrence.

"I'm positive." I said. I had given Lawrence the fangs off Quinn he had left in my sleeve when he bit me. I didn't mention the absence of a wound on my arm.

"Looks like you did good, Asgeir." Said Lawrence.

"Yes." I agreed. "The true monsters are vanquished."