LITTLE RED [futa fairy tale]

Summary: A twist on the old fairy-tale.

Warnings/Notes: loli-ish? | Intergenerational (very old/young].

* * *

"Are you sure," Ruby's mother said with tears standing in her eyes, "are you sure that you'll go?"

"Yes, I'll go. It will all be fine." Ruby tried to nod reassuringly, but her father's stony expression and mother's tears were quite unnerving. The rest of the village was standing some distance away, a crowd of hard-working farming people with resigned, sympathetic faces. The cold air was still around them, the calm of early morning. Over Ruby's village, there were always grey clouds and the farming was always difficult, the fires always low. It had always been that way.

"Don't worry," Ruby repeated, but her voice trembled. "I'll be fine."

"Keep on the path," Ruby's father rumbled, looking steadfastly away from her. "Goodbye."

Ruby blinked and then nodded, making sure her basket was securely fixed over her arm. She kissed her mother on her tear-damp cheek, checked that the red hood and cloak were fastened properly and turned to enter the dark forest.

The silence of the villagers followed her in.

*

After few hours of careful walking, Ruby was sure she was being followed.

When she stopped and listened, the furtive movements through the shadowy underbrush stopped. As she began to move quickly over the beaten-down black earth of the path, magically clear of even the smallest dry autumn leaf, the sounds began again.

"Who's there?" She called out fearfully, stopping again and looking around with wide eyes. There was a long pause, then a dark form slunk out of the bushes to her right.

Ruby stumbled back, staring in fright at the yellow eyes, the sharp fangs and the black fur. A wolf, sleek and intelligent, sat on its haunches and regarded her curiously.

Finally, it deigned to speak. "Is this what they're sending Grandmother Witch these days! Pretty scrawny, if you ask me. Just a child."

Ruby frowned, her fear almost completely washed away by anger at the Wolf's mocking words. "I'm a woman," she informed it. "I've started my monthlies and I'm the best person they had. There's no one else to send to Grandmother Witch." She lifted her chin. "So, excuse me, Mister Wolf. I have to get to the Cabin in the Woods before nightfall."

There was a hoarse, coughing sound and Ruby realised that the Wolf was laughing.

"A mere running of blood doesn't make you a woman," the Wolf said derisively. "What season were you born in?"

"Summer," Ruby said stiffly and turned around to continue on her way. To her annoyance, the Wolf went with her, trotting along slightly ahead.

"I'm sure you're not more than ten summers," the Wolf mused.

"I'm thirteen summers," Ruby snapped and the Wolf laughed harder.

"With that scrawny little body and all that silly red hair, I was fooled!" the Wolf exclaimed in amusement. "Well, I was wrong about something and you were wrong about something. That mak