• I sat in the darkness, quivering. I heaved great breathes of air, trying to slow my breathing down. My eyes were shut tight in an attempt to keep the blood flowing from the wound on my forehead out of my eyes. I clutched the Book tightly, as if I were a mother and it was my child.
    It's okay, it is OKAY. You still have the Book, and you still have your life. Everything will be fine. I told myself, trying to calm down a bit. I hesitantly unwrapped one arm from my strangle hold on the Book and wiped the blood out of my face. I ran a shaky hand through my hair, pushing it back out of my eyes, and holding it in place with sweat and blood. I managed to stifle my wheezing gasps for a moment, and listened intently. Damn, I could still hear those infernal wolves out there! Although they had stopped howling now, I could hear then sniffing and growling at the little hole I had managed to slip through. While even I had barely made it through, the wolves were much too big to even get their heads all the way in. So I was safe.
    As safe as a girl could be while hiding in a hallow tree stump, nearly unconscious from exertion and blood loss, trapped in the darkness unable to go back outside on account of the blood-thirsty hounds of hells waiting eagerly just beyond.
    Yup. Perfectly safe.

    I sat there for about two hours, in the cold, damp dirt. I could feel all sorts of insects and God-knows-what crawling over me. The moisture in the dirt had soaked through the seat of my pants, and my butt was throughly soaked. I could feel cramps throughout my necks, shoulders, and hind-quarters, but there wasn't enough room in my little prison to move around enough to get more comfortable.
    I had tried to make my escape about 40 minutes before, but to my utter dismay, I found the wolves hadn't given up, and were waiting patiently on the other side of freedom for me to poke my head through. I had just barely managed to pull myself back in to escape their snapping jaws, but I did lose a few precious hairs from the top of my head.
    I was beginning to suspect I would never manage to get away. With a huff of pent up rage and exhaustion, I slammed my fist into the wooden barrier in front of me, sending splinters flying. I let out a whimper of pain hand clutched my freshly bleeding hand to my chest. Right when I had made noise, I could hear the wolves jump up and begin sniffing at the opening again, growling hungrily. I let out a cry of frustration.
    "I'm not Little freaking Red Riding Hood! Leave me ALONE!" I hollered. Stupid, stupid animals... But I sighed. It really was partly my fault. Wearing red... What the hell was I thinking?
    That's just it. I wasn't. I'd have to be much more weary next time. If there was a next time...

    But I was suddenly broken out of my state of depression by the unmistakable sound of a yelp, then the whimpering of a dog in pain. I pushed my self up slightly with my uninjured hand. Maybe two of them got in a fight or something, or, maybe... no, I didn't even dare think it, for fear of jinxing myself. So i just held my breath.
    Another yelp, and then a growl. A moment of complete silence, then, in one huge flurry, there was a confused mass of barking and yelling and whining, noises I couldn't pick out from the others, noises I couldn't identify, and noises that sounded almost like the shouts of a human being!
    I scrambled to my knees, shoving the Book into my shirt, and began crawling as fast as I could to the hole in my stump. I paused for a moment, then tentatively poked my head out.
    I was momentarily blinded by the bright late afternoon sun, but after the spots had cleared and my vision returned, I saw the single most beautiful thing in my whole pathetic life.

    A young man was fending off about a half a dozen wolves, with only an axe and his bare hands. And a nice pair of hefty boots. I couldn't get a clear look at him, there was so much chaos all around, wolves were leaping at him, blood was flying, and a mop of sandy colored hair flew about his face in a whirl.
    I sat there motionless for a moment, my mouth wide open. Finally, what I was seeing processed in my brain.
    "Oh s**t!" I cried. "Hold on!" I called to him. I hastily scuttled all the way out of my hidey hole, and dashed over to the boy, grabbing a large branch that was conveniently laying on the ground on the way. I flew as fast as my feet would carry me into the midst of the fight, and started swinging. I heard the satisfying CRACK! as my makeshift weapon connected with the skull of a wolf.
    "This isn't so hard," I grunted, taking another swing, and knocking another canine away from me.
    "What the HELL are you doing!" I jumped nearly a foot in the air. Oh, right. My rescuer. What with all the mind-numbing violence, I had nearly forgotten.
    "I'm helping!" I said defiantly, spinning to face him.
    "You can't help!" He grunted, still chopping at the oncoming hoard. I looked at him in disbelief.
    "Wait- what? I can't help? And why not?!" I insisted, putting my hand son my hips and squaring my shoulders, a stance I use when I get defensive. He whorled around, and stared me straight in the face, and for the first time I saw him clearly. Our eyes met, and I saw he had one blue eye, as clear and bright as a gemstone, and one eye the color of the autumn leaves, almost golden in the light. Then, I saw him raise his axe, and as if in slow motion, I saw him swing. I screamed and ducked, throwing myself to the ground. I rolled over just in time to see the boy's axe collide with a wolf, still in mid leap. Blood splattered my face and chest. And just when I didn't think I could get any bloodier.
    "You know, it isn't smart letting your guard down in the middle of a fight." I shoved myself upright, picking up my fallen branch.
    "Oh, so know it is okay for me to fight, is it?" I scoffed.
    "You know what? Now is NOT the best time!" The boy practically shouted at me. I huffed in exasperation, but took his advice and continued beating off the wolves. There were only three or so left standing now, one one of those was limping severely. I could tell their attacks were becoming less and less forceful, and they were falling back. I swung my branch threateningly a last time, and the began to back off. With one last growl and a snarl, the remaining wolves turned and ran back into the depths of the trees, being enveloped by the shadows and disappearing from view.
    I took a deep breath, and then slumped to the forest floor. I rubbed my temple, and chuckled.
    "What's so funny?" Asked the boy, a bit breathlessly. To be honest, I was amazed he could even still be standing. I was aching and exhausted after all that!
    I shook my head slowly. "It's nothing." I panted. I shifted me seat slightly and looked up at the boy, squinting in the light. He was pretty young considering everything, he couldn't have been much older than myself, at the oldest in his very early 20's. His features were slightly more on the feminine side, which was a little unusual in these parts, where men tend to be more rugged. He was on the thin side, but he was undoubtedly in peak shape. You could see his muscles ripple and tighten when he moved, and the way he moved... It was very smooth, but practically bursting with untapped power. To this day, the only thing I can compare his body to is a cats, powerful and strong, but elegant and slim. As I noticed before he had sandy hair, also another oddity, darker hair was more usual around here. And his eyes, his mismatched eyes. They both bore into me with a strange kind of intensity, as if staring right through me. I shifted under his gaze, and averted my eyes.
    "Who are you?" He asked finally.
    "I could be asking the same thing!" I retorted, my eyes snapping back to his. He raised an eyebrow.
    "You could, but it wouldn't make much sense." He stated.
    "And why not?"
    "Because, I am the one who lives here, and you are not. And you can't very well just waltz into someone's house and demand to know who they are, now can you?" He explained in a sickeningly sensible tone. I opened my mouth, then closed it, and opened it again, before closing it for a final time, at a complete loss of what to say.
    "Fine." I huffed finally. "My name is Rikki." The boy stared at me.
    "What?" I said, getting uncomfortable under his relentless gaze.
    "That isn't what I asked. I asked who are you, not what is your name?" It was my turn to stare at him now, and then I rolled my eyes.
    "Well, we are very technical, aren't we? Well, tough cookies. All you get is my name. That is, until you tell me a little about yourself. What is your name?" I asked, rather cheekily. He narrowed his eyes at me. I could tell he knew where this was going.
    "...Ezu." He grunted finally.