Stained Crimson

The young woman known as Red walked through the moonlit forest, her face obscured by her red hood while her long red cloak trailed behind her, fallen leaves of all hues crunching under her feet as she walked deeper into the trees. Aside from the crunch of her shoes, the forest was silent, stained silver by the light of the full moon.

Sometime after midnight, the woman stopped, her breath steaming in the cold autumn air, and glanced around with a sigh. She bowed her head, slowly reaching over her shoulder as a quiet 'padding' sound rapidly approached from the darkened trees.

With an explosive crash, a huge beast flew from the undergrowth, claws outstretched as it approached Red, its dark brown fur matted against its skin. Red spun; her arm bringing a two-headed axe over her shoulder towards the monster. The beast, however, avoided the would-be death blow at the last second, instead taking a glancing one on its arm.

Landing on all fours it turned, a bloodthirsty snarl plastered on its face. With terrifying speed, it lunged at Red again, who took the axe in both hands and brought it down on the monsters neck, severing its head and destroying it. The huntress watched as the corpse writhed, the blood-soaked fur disappearing and leaving pale skin, the limbs shrinking to a human size.

Where the beast had lain, the decapitated body of a young man now rested.

Red lowered her axe, placing the head on the ground beside her as she looked down at the body. She slowly raised her head as another dull padding became apparent. As the second beast crashed away from the trees, Red released her grip on the axe, letting it fall to the ground, and threw back her cloak, revealing six silver knives on her corset.

As the new, grey-furred wolf lunged, Red took a knife from either side of the corset, throwing the pair at the attacking animal. Both knives lodged themselves in the creatures' shoulders as Red stepped to the side. The lycan crashed to the ground, snarling, yapping and howling in pain as the silver burned it.

Taking her axe back up, Red approached the writhing beast, again looking down on it, before she beheaded it. She turned away before the body began to revert to its human state, instead scanning the dark and silent trees. She stood there for what felt like an eternity, letting out a long breath as she relaxed when no further attack came.

The relaxation was short lived. Hearing an almost silent rustle behind her, Red dropped to the ground, rolling to her left as a massive white mass flew past her, razor sharp black claws missing her by a hair's breadth.

Spinning on her heel, Red faced the new creature, and launched her remaining knives at it. The massive lycanthrope swatted them away with a hand twice the size of a man's head, almost like they were toys, as Red lunged to her axe, abandoned when she had evaded the initial attack.

With her weapon in hand, Red charged towards the monster, swiping at its head.

The wolf moved right, barely avoiding the blade as it dived forwards, swiping at Red's ribs. A flash of blinding pain went through Red as her side and the wolves' claws were stained crimson with blood. She fell to one knee, supporting herself with the axe.

With shallow breaths, Red managed to stand and swung at the white wolf.

Her axe's blade caught the wolf on the eye, trailing a long but shallow gash down its face. Enraged, the werewolf launched a final strike against Red, opening up her stomach and uninjured side.

As she fell, steam rising from the blood around her, she heard a child's laughter, as she saw two young girls in a sunlit garden. Both the same height, with Red's pale skin and silver eyes, they were sisters.

Scarlet danced before her eyes, dark black hair trailing behind her as she ran from the other. Silver chased after her, her pale hair shining like moonlight as it caught the sun. Red smiled sadly as she thought of her daughters, thinking of how long it would be before they met again.