Young Redwyne Hood

Pronunciation Guide

Lynniville - LIN-uh-vill
Redwyne - red-WHEN
Uguay - U-guh-way
Yulong - you-LON

Prologue

     Before I begin this story, allow me to give some explanation as to the appearance and history of a species called the uguay. The uguay are shape shifters, but in this story, it's commonly known that their original shape is that of a wolf, albeit a very large wolf. Uguay can change into any shape, including a human, at any given time, except for when they're digesting, at which time they are forced to take their original form. Very often, in fact, in most cases, a uguay will change into their original shape when they are about to eat as well, since it's easier to eat something when in wolf form. However, uguay that are the result of a human and a uguay mating can only change between their uguay form and their human form. One or the other is their original, and that is impossible to call before said uguay are born. Another thing I should mention before moving on - like most animals, it is not the uguay's instinct to mate for life.

     Several years ago, the humans and the uguay were able to live together peaceably, even though the uguay were carnivores. The uguay realized that the humans were vastly more intelligent and aware than the animals, and certainly more fun to talk to, and so instead of eating the humans, they targeted other meat sources, such as wildcats, deer, elk, etc. However, they never touched anything that was recognized as a human's property, for that would be stealing.

     After seven generations of peace between the two, a band of humans disrupted this unspoken treaty between the two by beginning to hunt the uguay. Since tension between them had been rising for a while anyway, most uguay decided to fight back, reasoning that if the humans wanted to hunt the uguay, what was to stop the uguay hunting the humans? However, a few uguay decided that the humans hunting the uguay were only frightened of what they didn't entirely understand, and desperate to maintain at least a little peace, they shifted into humans and gradually slipped into human villages. A minority considered telling their neighbors what they were, but eventually decided against it, since nearly all the humans were beginning to get aggressive when it came to uguay, having heard a lot of stories about the uguay attacking humans.

     The following story takes place 24 years after the first few uguay settled down in human villages.

Young Redwyne Hood

     Theodore had lived in Lynniville for his whole life, only telling a few that he was, in fact, a uguay. Uguay were a little more accepted by this time, but he preferred not to be shot, or killed in any way, and was, therefore, rather cautious about who he told. He was 20 years old, and helped his father with blacksmithing rather often, although sometimes the metal supply wouldn't go through and both had little to do, at which times Theodore would often visit his young friend Redwyne, whom he treated like a little sister. The day this story begins is one of those days.

     Redwyne and her mother had been preparing for the last several days to go visit the fifteen year old's grandmama, who lived just on the other side of the Uguay Wood, which was filled with malicious uguay. However, on the day that they were planning to depart, Redwyne's little brother Peter, who was five, caught an unknown illness and the boy's mother reluctantly set back the day of departure until either later that day or the next. To everyone's distress, Peter did not get better that evening, and even got worse the next day. Redwyne's mother was determined to stay at Peter's side, for she knew that her husband would not be able to care for the boy on his own. However, Redwyne's mother had promised her mama that she would bring over lunch for the old woman's 72nd birthday, because she was bedridden and her physician had told her to try and remain in bed for as much as possible.

     After some thought and pressing to just 'send a letter to Grandmama' from Redwyne, Redwyne's mother, Mrs. Hood, decided to send her daughter alone to her mama's, for the girl was 15 and had taken the route needed several times before. On the morning in question, Mrs. Hood prepared the lunch, along with other needed supplies with care, and insisted on putting on Redwyne's thick red cloak for her, giving her daughter a long embrace afterwards.

     "Remember, Red," her mother said, while still hugging her, "do not, under any circumstances go through the Uguay Wood. I know it's a great amount shorter, but it's--"

     "--called the Uguay Wood for a reason," Redwyne finished for her mother, smiling. "I know."

     Mrs. Hood released Redwyne from her hug, looking at the young girl with a look of remembrance in her eyes. "Just... be careful, all right?"

     "Every day, mother," Redwyne said, and the two exchanged loving kisses on each other's cheeks, as well as one last hug. Mrs. Hood gave her daughter a picnic basket that was in addition to the leather bag that Redwyne already had hanging off her left side, and said, "I love you."

     "I love you, too," Redwyne said, smiling reassuringly at her mother.

     "See you in about a week, honey!" Mrs. Hood called out the door as Redwyne walked away, onto the path that led to her mama's somewhat secluded house.

     "All right, Mother!" The young girl called back, turning around for a moment to get one last glimpse of her house and her mother before leaving on her travels. Redwyne's mother was able to see the young blacksmith's son run over to her daughter before closing the door, smiling slightly to herself.

     "Hey, Red!" Theodore called as he ran over to the young girl. Redwyne stopped, turning towards the voice.

     "Hey, you," she replied, smiling, then continued down the path, Theodore following.

     "Where're you going?"

     "To my grandmama's," Redwyne replied. "She's not feeling well. Aaand it's her 72nd birthday," Redwyne continued, turning to smile at who she considered to be her older brother. "Or it will be."

     "Day and a half, right?" Theodore said, seeking to confirm how long the trip would be.

     "Yep," Redwyne replied, a bit of sadness in her tone.

     "You could go through the Uguay Wood," Theodore said, somewhat quietly. "I'm not sure anyone could be a safer escort than me."

     "Absolutely not," Redwyne replied. "Obviously, I know that you're a uguay, but Mother specifically told me not to cut through the woods."

     "I understand..." Theodore replied, then paused in his speech for a moment. "But your mother doesn't know I'm a uguay. If she did, she would almost more likely than not let us go through the wood."

      Redwyne considered it for a minute or two, then said, very firmly, "no. You can escort me the long way, though. For a bit, anyway."

     "Okay," Theodore said cheerily.

     "Your father won't mind?" Redwyne inquired.

     "Nope," Theodore replied. "We don't have very much metal to shape today, and the demand certainly isn't high."

     "All right," Redwyne said, smiling.

     The two continued down the path for the next ten minutes, conversing about numerous things, and then, after a moment or two of silence, Redwyne mentioned that she wished she could see her grandmama for longer than just a day, because she feared that her end was very near, and a day didn't seem very long. Theodore then brought up cutting through the wood again, and after a couple minutes, Redwyne gave in, since she knew she was safe with Theodore.
     Before even getting within a yard of the wood, Theodore shifted into his original form, although he exaggerated his intimidating features to hopefully ward off any uguay, and since Theodore would visit the wood sometimes, knew a less frequented way to get to their destination safer. The two were luckily left alone for a couple hours, although unknown to them, they were being carefully watched by a somewhat small uguay, who was, in fact, Theodore's younger half brother, Yulong.
     Yulong was thirteen, and the fourth child of Theodore's and Yulong's mother, who was a uguay, although Yulong's father was a human. Since Yulong was raised by his mother, he was a very spiteful being who despised humans, seeing them as weak. This viewpoint was only enforced by himself being half human, so he was able to see firsthand that humans were not as powerful as uguay.
     After listening in on Redwyne's and Theodore's conversation, Yulong was able to pick up that the two were headed to Red's grandmama's house, the old lady wasn't feeling very well, and where the house was located. After getting this information, Yulong followed them for another ten minutes or so, but then put several yards between them and headed towards the old woman's house.
     See, not many uguay were able to eat humans since the humans hardly ever ventured into the Uguay Wood, and so being able to catch and eat a human was something of a competition that the uguay had amongst themselves, and Yulong was one of the worst. He figured that being able to get two humans (he had developed a plan involving getting Red as well) would surely gain him some points in the group.
     Redwyne and Theodore were about half an hour away from the house when Red spotted some beautiful wildflowers and asked Theodore if he thought it was safe enough to make a slight diversion. Theodore paused, then replied, "yeah, should be safe enough."
     Redwyne quietly skipped over to the patch of red and yellow flowers and began picking them. "I'm sure these will lighten up grandmama's house," she told Theodore quietly, who was pacing around Red, looking out for anything, even birds, although the wood was rather void of animals.
     Thirteen minutes later, Yulong made it to Redwyne's grandmama's house, shifting into his human form, and pulling together as much strength as he could, he did what he had been practicing doing for a while, which was shifting into a human form that wasn't in fact his, and his goal this time was Redwyne. After a couple of minutes and a few suppressed yells of pain, Yulong managed to get himself to look exactly like Redwyne (complete with her clothes), although he had much difficulty in retaining her shape.
     He quickly knocked on the door, and he thought he heard a shotgun cock before a feeble "who is it?" came out of the house.
     "Your granddaughter Red," Yulong said quietly, trying to hold Redwyne's shape.
     "You're gonna have tuh speak up," replied the grandmama. "My ears ain't as youn' as they used tuh be."
     Yulong cleared his throat, then repeated, "it's Red, Grandmama."
     "Oh, Red!" The old woman's voice cheered up. "Well, come in, then, Redwyne."
     Yulong opened the door, surprised that it was, in fact, unlocked, and saw the old woman setting down her shotgun beside the rocking chair that she was in.
     "Red," the old woman started, "where's your mother?"
     Yulong paused, stumped. "She... couldn't come. Other things to attend to."
     The grandmama nodded, then said with a smile, "you came quite a bit sooner than I expected. But I'm glad you did."
     Yulong faked a smile, and the old lady started standing up. "Oh, grandmama," Yulong said, rushing over to the old lady and grabbing her arms with pretend worry.
     "Aw, don'tcha worry 'bout me, youn' Red. I'll be fine." After standing up, Mrs. Hood's mama looked up into Yulong's eyes and saw the recognizable orange eyes of a uguay.
     Upon seeing the shock in the old woman's eyes, Yulong knew he was losing Redwyne's form and so, giving up, he changed into his uguay form and easily devoured the old woman, hiding in the woman's bedroom until he finished digesting.

     Approximately twenty minutes later, Redwyne and Theodore made it to the fifteen year old's grandmama's house, and Theodore changed back into his human form. Redwyne paused at the door, glad to have made it nearly before noon, and turned around, giving a grateful smile to Theodore.
     "Thank you so much for escorting me, Theo."
     "Absolutely no problem, my lady," Theodore replied, bowing.
     Redwyne giggled, then entered the house as Theodore left, changing back into his uguay shape.
     The very first thing Redwyne noticed upon entering her grandmama's house was that her shotgun was left unattended, as it was just sitting down beside her grandmama's rocking chair. Red set her basket down on the floor beside the door, and slipped her shoes off.
     "Grandmama?" She asked hesitantly.
     "Red?" Asked an old voice a room or two away. "Is that you, dear?"
     "Yeah, it is!" Red called back. "I'm afraid I don't have mother with me," Red continued, debating on whether or not to take the shotgun with her to her grandmama's bedroom. "Peter was doing dreadfully and she had to stay with him."
     There was a pause. "Oh, poor Peter. Do you know what he has?"
     Redwyne picked up her grandmama's shotgun, started walking up the hall, and replied, "No, we haven't been able to get a physician to look at him yet."
     "Poor dear," the impersonator replied as Redwyne entered the book-filled room. "Why, dearie," Yulong said, slightly nervous. "What are you doing with that shotgun?"
     "It's yours, Grandmama," Red replied, rather surprised at the question. "You had left it in the living room."
     "Oh, of course," Yulong replied with pretend recollections, and smiled. "So forgetful these days, you know."
     "Of course," Redwyne replied, forcing a smile.
     After an awkward pause, Yulong reached out his hands for the gun. "Giv't here, child," he said, wearing his best Grandma smile.
     Redwyne dropped her left hand down to pick up the end of the shotgun and started bringing it up, watching who she thought was her grandmama closely, unsure. When she brought the end of the shotgun up and the top down, making it horizontal, Red paused.
     "Red, dear, what is it?" Yulong said, then gave a small groan. His body was having a great amount of trouble holding a shape it wasn't meant to have.
     "Your... eyes," Redwyne said hesitantly. "They're orange. Like..." Red didn't have the courage to finish the sentence, and not wanting to let the impersonator know even more that he was found out, she cut herself off, aimed the shotgun at Yulong, and started to cock it.
     However, Yulong had realized that he had slipped up the moment Redwyne said 'orange', and had changed into his uguay form, leaping out of the bed at Red and pushing her to the floor as soon as she had put her hand on the fore-end of the weapon.
     Although Redwyne felt as though she could probably manage to kill the uguay, she screamed, so that if Theodore or someone else was close, she would have backup. That, and the beast's claws digging into her upper chest* caused a shout of pain. Then she quickly grabbed the gun that she was already holding in her right hand with her left hand, pointed the barrel at the beast's chest, and pushed up with all her might, so as to keep Yulong from biting her face off. In the meantime, Yulong was bringing his head as far towards the young girl as he could, moving his jaws quickly. Redwyne tried to get a better grip on the shotgun while simultaneously pulling the fore-end back in an attempt to cock it.
     While trying to cock her grandmama's shotgun, Redwyne's arm slipped and the weapon started going flat on the ground. Instinctively, Red promptly moved her head to the right, but Yulong still managed to get about half of the girl's left ear, which caused her to release another scream, at which point Theodore, still in his ugauy shape, entered the house, breaking the door down in his hurry.
     "Theo!" Redwyne cried out, nearly screaming, although she didn't need to, for Theodore hadn't paused a second. The moment he saw a uguay on his young Redwyne, he lunged at the creature, sinking his teeth into his half brother's neck.
     Because of the momentum that Theodore hit Yulong with, he pulled him about a foot away from Redwyne, and Yulong's claws left Red's body, and to Redwyne's relief, they came out quite smoothly and so didn't tear off too much flesh. Nevertheless, the young girl still cried out quietly, for the retraction hurt a considerable amount.
     The two brothers brawled together for a bit, and in the meantime, Redwyne picked the shotgun up off the floor, cocking it and waiting for the opportune moment to fire. She got her chance once Yulong stood atop the bleeding Theodore like a conquerer, and Redwyne immediately shot Yulong in the side of the neck, ran over to the fallen body, cocking the shotgun again. Once she reached Yulong, who was struggling to stand, she put the barrel to his head, looked in his bright orange eyes who were looking up into hers, seeking, it seemed, for mercy, and paused, hesitant.
     "Red," Theodore said in a groan.
     "Mm?" Redwyne said, acknowledging Theodore, but not looking away from Yulong.
     "Shoot him," Theodore said quietly. "Or else, if he gets an opening, he'll kill you."
     Knowing he had a point, Red nodded, put her finger on the trigger, and pulled her right index finger toward her, which released the bullet from the the gun's barrel, killing the uguay.

Epilogue

     After taking a little bit of medication that was available in Red's grandmama's house, Theodore shifted back into a human, and the two took the long way back to Lynniville.

     The night of the next day, Theodore and Redwyne made it back to their town, and Theodore accompanied Red into her house and into her brother Peter's bedroom where Mrs. Hood was sitting beside the bed, her head in Peter's lap. Redwyne sat down on the bed and started stroking her mother's hair lovingly.

     "Mm?" Mrs. Hood lifted her head up, looking around. "Red? Why are you back so early?"

     "Mother..." Redwyne paused.

     "What is it, dear?" Mrs. Hood took Redwyne's hand.

     "It's Grandmama, mother," Red said quietly. "She was eaten. By a uguay."

     Mrs. Hood gasped, and after taking a moment to calm herself, lead Red and Theodore to the kitchen, where she prepared a late-night snack and had the two explain what had happened, and the two told the story as gently as they possibly could.

     A few days later, after letters had been sent out to various descendants of Mrs. Hood's mama, and after Mr. and Mrs. Hood, Redwyne and Peter were able to get some closure about her death, Peter was finally able to be attended by a physician. This physician was from a well-equipped town that was quite a few miles away, and had luckily seen Peter's symptoms before, and knew how to treat him. Peter was at full health within the week, to the delight of the whole village, for Peter brightened up Lynniville almost more than Red did.

*I feel I ought to clarify that when I say upper chest, I mean roundabout half an inch below her collarbone.

---------------------------

Alternate Ending

     "Red?" asked an old voice a room or two away. "Is that you, dear?"
     "Yeah, it is!" Red called back. "I'm afraid I don't have mother with me," Red continued, debating on whether or not to take the shotgun with her to her grandmama's bedroom. "Peter was doing dreadfully and she had to stay with him."
     There was a pause. "Oh, poor Peter. Do you know what he has?"
     "No, we haven't been able to get a physician to look at him yet," Redwyne replied, going over to the bedroom unarmed.
     "Poor dear," the impersonator replied. "So, you came sooner than I expected." Red entered the book-filled bedroom as Yulong smiled at the girl. "But I'm so very glad you did." Redwyne smiled back.
     "Me, too." Redwyne sat down on the bottom of the bed. "How are you feeling, Grandmama?"
     "Better," Yulong replied, "But still rather awfully."
     Redwyne smiled sadly at Yulong and took his hand. Yulong let out a small groan, and Red quickly moved her hand back. "Grandmama," she exclaimed.
     "I'm fine," Yulong replied, letting out a smile. Unfortunately for Yulong, he was losing the form, and so one of his teeth was elongated, and his left eye had started turning orange. Redwyne stood up abruptly and took a step back.
     "Gran..." the girl started quietly, "Mama? There's something wrong with you."
     "What--" Yulong let out a small yelp, trying with all his might to retain the old woman form. "What do you mean?"
     "You. Are not my grandmama," Redwyne stated, starting to run out of the room for the shotgun.
     Yulong leaped out of the bed, simultaneously shifting into his uguay form, and grabbed Redwyne by her right shoulder with his jaws. Red let out the loudest scream she could muster and collapsed to the ground.
     A little more than a yard into the wood, Theodore heard Redwyne's scream, recognized it, and ran as quickly as he could back to the house. He broke through the door and ran up the hall into Redwyne's grandmama's bedroom to find his little brother, in uguay form, eating on Red's body, which was completely torn apart.
     Thinking more quickly than he ever had before, Theodore shifted into a bird, flew into the living room, shifted into his human form, picked up the shotgun, and shot the uguay that had followed him into the living room three times in the head, tears beginning to streaming down his slim, pale face.

     Mrs. Hood saw her daughter four days sooner than she had expected, in a way that she dreaded ever having to see. Her initial reaction was to blame Theodore, but, with help from her son, was able to recognize that he had little to do with it and had blamed himself anyway - he didn't need any help from the girl's mother.
     A few days later, a physician, who had traveled from a town that luckily recognized Peter's illness, and even better, knew of the proper way to treat it. Peter was up and about within the week, and continued to brighten up the village with his smiles, sweet heart, and marvelous stories. Theodore soon took Peter under his wing, refusing to keep his eyes off the boy for very long.

Merlin Fanfic Part 1

    As most main characters are in stories such as these, Katherine Taylor was far from extraordinary. She went to school as she imagined every other seventeen year olds in America did, and browsed the Internet whenever she was free and had nothing to do. She had, at the age of thirteen, started a blog, but she hadn't written on it often until the age of sixteen, at which point she decided that when she got older, she would remember very little of what she had done when she was younger, and so although Katie's days were filled with dullness, she did her best to summarize her days well in posts.
    In any case, I shall spare you and move on to the day of excitement. Katie was on her way back from school, her pink and grey backpack filled with homework, so she had both straps on her arms and had her thumbs coming in between the grey straps and her plain blue t-shirt.
    She was three blocks away from reaching her house when a cool breeze came upon her and she felt the need to stop, so she did. In addition, she started to feel nauseous, so she closed her eyes and knelt down, clenching her stomach.
    "You all right?" a male voice with a British accent inquired, Katie assumed the question was directed at her, and therefore opened her eyes, looking for a face to connect with the voice. She didn't have to search long before she saw a young man on her right, picking herbs. He had short black hair, and his ears stuck out a bit. The boy was not the first thing Katie noticed. She was in a field with many plants, mostly flowers, and a few trees. There was a medieval castle nearby.
    "Er, yes," Katie replied slightly faintly. "Just a tad nauseous."
    "Do you need to see the physician? I know him personally, and I'm certain he'd be more than happy to help."
    "No, thank you," Katherine replied gratefully, standing. "That's unnecessary."
    "Okay," the young man replied, kneeling down to pick a plant. "But if you need anything, don't be afraid to tell me."
    "Very generous, thank you," Katie replied.
    "Oh, it's no problem," he said, smiling at Katie. Katie returned the smile, and after looking at the city for a while, asked, "Sorry, but... what city is this?"
    The man stopped gathering herbs and looked up at her. After a pause, he answered, "Camelot."
    "Camelot?" Katie replied, surprised. "That," she said, pointing at the wall, "is Camelot?"
    "Yeah," the young man replied. "Are you lost?"
    "I don't know," Katie said faintly. "Um," she added, a bit louder. "I think I ought to see the physician, after all."
    The boy nodded, stood up, started walking towards the wall, then paused, looking back. "Do you need any help?"
    "No thank you," Katie replied, following him down the hill. "I'm quite sure I can walk okay."
    "All right," the boy said, and started walking again, Katie close behind. "I'm Merlin, by the way."
    Katie promptly stopped. "Merlin?" she asked, shocked. After a pause and receiving a short stare at her, Katie continued, "nice to meet you. My name's..." she paused again. Katherine had always introduced herself as Katie, but after thinking about it, she decided Katherine would be more suited to the time. "Katherine," she finished, and continued walking, which got Merlin to continue as well.
    "Nice to meet you, Katherine." Merlin offered Katherine his hand, and Katherine shook it, surprised they shook hands in that time.
    "Where did you travel from?" Merlin asked Katherine as they entered the walls.
    Katherine paused. "Derbyshire," she replied, after some thought.
    "Derbyshire?" Merlin asked, thinking. "I don't believe I've heard of such a place."
    "Really?" Katherine replied, trying to hide her nervousness, but her voice cracked, and she knew she had failed.
    "It must be a great length away," Merlin commented.
    "Yes," Katherine said, nearly shouting. She was bad at being deceptive, as she was aware of previously. "Yes," she continued, more quietly this time. "It is."
     The two remained quiet until they reached the door to the physician's room. "Here we are," Merlin said, opening the door.
     The first thing Katherine noticed upon entering was that there were a great many bottles around, most filled with strangely colored liquids. The second thing she noticed was that there were also a great amount of books, most ancient-looking, which was surprising to Katie since this time era seemed old in itself.  The third thing Katherine noticed was that the place was messily organized, and the fourth thing, or rather the first person, she noticed was an old man with somewhat long white hair and was wearing a red robe.
     "Gaius," Merlin said, "this is Katherine. I found her while gathering the herbs you asked for." At this, Merlin put the few plants he had picked on one of the two tables. "She's just traveled a long way and feels a bit nauseous."
     "Oh, well, sit down, Katherine," Gaius said, putting down a couple bottles he was holding and moved to pull out a chair for Katie.
     "Thank you," Katherine said gratefully, sitting down. She paused a bit as Gaius picked up the herbs Merlin brought, inspecting them. "Um," Katie said, getting the two's attention. "I'm also a bit light-headed and... may be suffering a little memory loss." She said the last bit fairly quietly.
     "Memory loss?" Gaius said, worried. "Do you know how much?"
     Katie paused before replying. "No... quite a bit, though... I believe."
     "Well," Gaius said, "I'm dearly sorry to hear that. I'll do what I can. Perhaps you'd like to lie down instead?"
     Katherine simply nodded, and Merlin touched up a nearby bed before offering it to her.
     "Thanks," Katherine said to Merlin before laying down.
     Gaius pulled up a chair and sat next to Katherine. "Could you tell me what you remember, dear girl?"
     Katherine paused. 'What should I tell them?' she wondered to herself. "Well... my name. My age, seventeen." Katie bit her lip, wondering what else she should say.
     "You're from Derbyshire," Merlin put in.
     "Yes, well," Katie paused again, then quietly said, "I kinda made that up. Sorry."
     "It's all right, don't worry about it," Merlin said, smiling a bit. Katherine returned the smile, glad to be forgiven so easily. "You did seem to recognize the name Camelot, though."
     "Yeah," Katherine admitted. "I... dunno where from, though."
     "Oh," Merlin said quietly.
     "You seem to have lost quite a bit," Gaius said, thinking.
     "Yeah, well..." Katherine started. "Could I take a nap? I am rather tired."
     "Of course," Gaius answered. "In fact, I recommend that."
     "Thank you," Katherine sighed happily, and closed her eyes. She had stayed up longer than she should have the night before doing free reading, and naturally had to get up early for school.
     Gaius and Merlin stepped away, talking amongst themselves, but Katherine was too busy thinking and drifting into unconsciousness to pay any mind. The last thing she thought about falling asleep was, "I wonder why they haven't commented on my clothes yet", but quite naturally, she forgot ever thinking that the moment she woke up.