Eyes of a Stranger (table C, prompt 01. wind)
Title: Eyes of a Stranger
Author: josiefier
Disclaimer: Once Upon a Time is not owned by me but by ABC. I'm just borrowing these characters for non-profit entertainment.
Characters: Red Riding Hood, Rumpelstiltskin, Granny
Summary: A late walk in the woods proves to Red that there's one thing her cloak can't protect her from.
Notes: This was written for onceuponaprompt, table: c, prompt 01. wind.
~~
"Oh, dear girl, are you sure you wouldn't rather stay the night?" Red Riding Hood's grandmother asked, once again pleading with her to not go out into the darkened forest.
"You worry too much, Granny. It's not too far of a walk. I shall be home soon and I will see you tomorrow," Red told her with a smile as she opened the door to the old woman's cottage.
Granny absolutely loathed the idea of Red going out into the night alone. But the girl was nothing if not strong-willed, a family trait it was clear she had inherited even when she was young. Red always felt she could trust the forest even at its blackest nights and when Granny knew she couldn't change her granddaughter's mind, she told her, "Do be careful, dear."
"Always, Granny," Red smiled before she raised her hood to cover her head and stepped out into the night.
Truthfully, as she realized once a few steps from the cottage, she had left her grandmother's home far too late to see her way through the forest by anything more than the light of the moon shining high above.
But Red feared not as she took a deep breath and inhaled the sweet air, knowing these woods as she knew her own hand. Not even the cold was enough to shake her, not as long as her cloak remained snug around her body and its red hood stayed perfectly perched atop her head.
The crickets chirped loudly all around, an owl hooted above, then finally she heard the faint sound of footsteps not too far from her.
She stopped, resting one of her booted feet gently against the ground as not to allow the leaves beneath to crunch and alert whoever may have been coming closer. Be it a woodsman or a hunter or even one of the queen's guards, she didn't want to find out.
The restless wind continued to swirl in the trees above her. So lost in the sight and the sound she could almost swear it was calling a name. Whose it may have been she couldn't tell. But before long she felt as though the wind was moving her, spinning her, causing her to fall for what seemed like ages.
Only when she felt she was on solid ground again, realizing she in fact hadn't appeared to have moved an inch, a pair of wild brown eyes found hers.
Red spoke not a word in her surprise, nor did the man she then knew had to be the forest's famed Imp. His mass of unkempt hair and golden skin reflecting in the moon's light was all the proof she needed. Then, and only then, did she come to a realization that both terrified and thrilled her.
Truly her cloak could shield her from the cold night wind surrounding her. But this night had proven even its warm wool wouldn't be near enough to protect her from the chills that the mere sight of Rumpelstiltskin had sent through her body.
As she lay in her bed, still awake even hours later, she found herself hoping that it would never be. As it was those chills hadn't come from a place of fear but rather a rush of excitement.
She had felt his gaze all over her, through her, as though he had been studying the most intimate details of her being; as though she were his to view in such a way. Anyone else may have made her feel afraid or violated, but though she had never truly seen him before neither emotion seemed to register for her where he was concerned. Why that was, she couldn't be sure.
Still, she found herself remembering the sight of him just as clearly. For so long she had been told to fear him that part of her had hoped she would never find him in those woods. Surely they were vast enough she could evade him if ever there was a need. But clearly tonight had proven otherwise. Tonight had also seemed to have proven she hadn't wished to attempt to evade him. She wondered if this wasn't why she had been warned away from him. Could this be what they had all been so afraid of? That he would be the one to tempt her out into the night?
As she closed her eyes again she was happy to see his golden, smiling face and his brown eyes wide with mischief so fresh in her mind once more. And when she felt that now increasingly familiar chill return through her body she knew that her friends and her family had been right to be so afraid. For she still wasn't.
The End
Author: josiefier
Disclaimer: Once Upon a Time is not owned by me but by ABC. I'm just borrowing these characters for non-profit entertainment.
Characters: Red Riding Hood, Rumpelstiltskin, Granny
Summary: A late walk in the woods proves to Red that there's one thing her cloak can't protect her from.
Notes: This was written for onceuponaprompt, table: c, prompt 01. wind.
~~
"Oh, dear girl, are you sure you wouldn't rather stay the night?" Red Riding Hood's grandmother asked, once again pleading with her to not go out into the darkened forest.
"You worry too much, Granny. It's not too far of a walk. I shall be home soon and I will see you tomorrow," Red told her with a smile as she opened the door to the old woman's cottage.
Granny absolutely loathed the idea of Red going out into the night alone. But the girl was nothing if not strong-willed, a family trait it was clear she had inherited even when she was young. Red always felt she could trust the forest even at its blackest nights and when Granny knew she couldn't change her granddaughter's mind, she told her, "Do be careful, dear."
"Always, Granny," Red smiled before she raised her hood to cover her head and stepped out into the night.
Truthfully, as she realized once a few steps from the cottage, she had left her grandmother's home far too late to see her way through the forest by anything more than the light of the moon shining high above.
But Red feared not as she took a deep breath and inhaled the sweet air, knowing these woods as she knew her own hand. Not even the cold was enough to shake her, not as long as her cloak remained snug around her body and its red hood stayed perfectly perched atop her head.
The crickets chirped loudly all around, an owl hooted above, then finally she heard the faint sound of footsteps not too far from her.
She stopped, resting one of her booted feet gently against the ground as not to allow the leaves beneath to crunch and alert whoever may have been coming closer. Be it a woodsman or a hunter or even one of the queen's guards, she didn't want to find out.
The restless wind continued to swirl in the trees above her. So lost in the sight and the sound she could almost swear it was calling a name. Whose it may have been she couldn't tell. But before long she felt as though the wind was moving her, spinning her, causing her to fall for what seemed like ages.
Only when she felt she was on solid ground again, realizing she in fact hadn't appeared to have moved an inch, a pair of wild brown eyes found hers.
Red spoke not a word in her surprise, nor did the man she then knew had to be the forest's famed Imp. His mass of unkempt hair and golden skin reflecting in the moon's light was all the proof she needed. Then, and only then, did she come to a realization that both terrified and thrilled her.
Truly her cloak could shield her from the cold night wind surrounding her. But this night had proven even its warm wool wouldn't be near enough to protect her from the chills that the mere sight of Rumpelstiltskin had sent through her body.
As she lay in her bed, still awake even hours later, she found herself hoping that it would never be. As it was those chills hadn't come from a place of fear but rather a rush of excitement.
She had felt his gaze all over her, through her, as though he had been studying the most intimate details of her being; as though she were his to view in such a way. Anyone else may have made her feel afraid or violated, but though she had never truly seen him before neither emotion seemed to register for her where he was concerned. Why that was, she couldn't be sure.
Still, she found herself remembering the sight of him just as clearly. For so long she had been told to fear him that part of her had hoped she would never find him in those woods. Surely they were vast enough she could evade him if ever there was a need. But clearly tonight had proven otherwise. Tonight had also seemed to have proven she hadn't wished to attempt to evade him. She wondered if this wasn't why she had been warned away from him. Could this be what they had all been so afraid of? That he would be the one to tempt her out into the night?
As she closed her eyes again she was happy to see his golden, smiling face and his brown eyes wide with mischief so fresh in her mind once more. And when she felt that now increasingly familiar chill return through her body she knew that her friends and her family had been right to be so afraid. For she still wasn't.
The End