Once upon a time, the lands were all at peace and harmony with numerous kingdoms scattered throughout the world.  One in particular was settled on top of a grassy plateau, surrounded by bright green rolling hills and forests.  The sky was clear and blue as any good day would, and the air was clean all over the kingdom, except where the blacksmiths worked in their workshops, where smoke was always rising and smelled like burnt boars.  The kingdom’s walls were tall and thick, a height of ten grown men and as wide as four cattle head to toe, and were made of heavy slate bricks, each one being about six feet tall, five feet wide, and five feet long.  The buildings, majority of them were houses, were taller than buildings in the open countryside, having two or more stories each.  The roofs were covered in ceramic tiles or had thatched roofs, but both served the same purpose.  In one of these homes, a girl was sitting in a chair while her parents were cooking their breakfast.
“Hey mom, what’re you making today?” the girl asked.
Ruby, a young girl who had just turned sixteen just days ago.  She was a bit shorter than most at her age, but her curiosity outmatches everyone else in the kingdom.  She wore a black dress with a short skirt that had a red trim along the edges, unwomanly in terms of her mother’s fashion, and she wore dark boots.  Ruby had a crimson red cloak wrapped around her neck, along with a hood, and it extended down to her ankles whenever she stood straight up.  Ruby’s dark hair reached her neck and she also wore long dark leggings, which her mother described as indecent as well.
“Ruby, you must remember to speak properly now or we’ll have our heads given to the king,” Ruby’s mother stated plainly.  Her voice wasn’t warm, yet not cold, not even in between.  She was taller than Ruby, but shorter than her husband.  She also had long brown hair that ran straight to the middle of her back.  “Your grandmother would’ve helped you speak it more fluently.”
Ruby’s mind lit up as a memory deep within rose to her attention.  “Mom, wasn’t Grandma’s birthday a few days ago?”  Her mother stopped preparing the food and cried in shock.  “Ahh!  We forgot!”
Ruby’s father replied, “Don’t worry.  It’s only a few days.  Plus, Grandmother lives far out, so it’s reasonable to why we might be late.”  He was the tallest member, also the strongest, out of his family of brothers.  He was Ruby’s favorite, being casual most of the time.  “Ruby, since you’re old enough to go out on your own during the day, do you mind taking a few gifts to Grandmother’s?”
Ruby leapt up from her chair, crying out, “Yes!  I would love to go to Grandmother’s!” 
After a couple of minutes trying to find a few last minute gifts, Ruby takes an old hand drawn picture of herself with her grandmother, drawn by her father, and then remembering what her childhood was like before they had moved into the kingdom.  A corner was torn off, but Ruby disregards it and tucks the picture into the basket in her hand. 
As she walked through the kitchen, her mother stopped her in her tracks.  “Where do you think you’re carrying Crescent Rose?” Ruby’s mother asked.  In the basket in Ruby’s hand, sticking out from the small blanket, was a portable yet deadly scythe made by Ruby’s father himself, folded into a smaller object as some tools do.  “Can’t I bring Crescent Rose with me to Grandma’s?” Ruby pleaded.
“Do you want your Grandmother to think you are a rogue or a serial killer?”
“No…” Ruby says guiltily, then takes Crescent Rose out of the basket and returns the weapon to her room, bounds back downstairs to pick up the basket and leaves out through the front door.  Ruby’s father calls out as she springs outside onto the medieval streets.  “Remember, quickly rush through the woods!  Grandmother lives--”
Ruby cuts him off, “Yes, Dad!  I know where I’m going!  Be back soon!”
“And use proper speaking manners, please?!”
About some time later, after numerous skips and casually walking for certain periods, as if looking around aimlessly, Ruby arrives at one of the forests surrounding the kingdom.  The sun was near the horizon and Ruby wondered if she should wait or go on through the twilight.  Ruby chooses to go, thinking that Grandma might be impatient, and casually walks into the shade of the forest, holding the basket of gifts with both hands in front of her, swaying side to side slightly.  Ruby then begins to hum to herself a lullaby tune.
“Hmhm hmhmm hmmhmm hmmmmm… hm hm hmhm hmhm hmmmmm… Twinkle twinkle little star… How I wonder where you are…”
An sharp, eerie howl breaks Ruby’s humming, stopping her in her tracks.  “Wh-Who’s there?” Ruby questioned to no one.  Another howl echoes through the darkening trees and bushes, lasting for seconds more than the first.  Ruby thinks to herself, Come on, you can do it.  Lads are more scared than ladies.  She continues walking, shivering every few seconds when the howls continue to last longer and become louder.
After several minutes of walking in the dark, with the only light coming from the moon and with fog clouding the forest floor, Ruby relaxes as the constant howling stops.  “Phew, that lasted for a while… What kind of creature could do that for so long?”  As Ruby accidentally steps onto a dry tree branch, a shadow bounds out of nowhere, landing in front of Ruby, who yelps in surprise.
The shadow figure was a large wolf, but much larger than a normal one.  It was seven feet tall and about ten feet long from tip to tip.  In the moonlight, its backside and sides were coated in black fur while most of its head and underside were white.  Its jaws were growling and baring their teeth at Ruby, as if it hasn’t eaten for days.  The giant wolf was snarling and barking at Ruby, as if it was threatening her.  Ruby steps back away from the giant wolf as it slowly approaches her one big paw at a time, shaking the ground slightly.  In her head, Ruby thought, No, Grandma needs to see her presents and me.  I have to get past, but what do I do?  Ruby looks at the giant wolf’s sides and legs, noticing that they’re quite bulky and strong, then looks at a group of small trees to her left.  They were dried and dead, ready to fall apart at any moment.  Ruby immediately sprints over to the group of trees as the wolf swipes a paw at her, but misses her cloak by mere inches.  Ruby speeds through the dry branches, but a thick branch, as wide as a human arm, catches onto her cloak, yanking her back about two feet.  The giant wolf slowly approaches Ruby as she panics and tries to get her cloak free.  Desperate, she tugs full force on her cloak again, tearing the fabric, halving its original length and she dashes off into the woods, then the wolf begins its pursuit through the dark forest floor, and the fog begins to thicken.
The wolf catches up to Ruby within five seconds and clawed onto her right side, cutting her dress and flesh.  Ruby cries out in pain and falls onto the ground.  The wolf snatches Ruby up into its jaws, shaking its head side to side for two seconds, then throwing Ruby out towards a thick tree.  THUNK!  Ruby’s back slams onto the tree trunk and Ruby falls down onto the ground, on her bottom.  Her sides were bleeding from the claw swipe and the wolf’s teeth, her back slightly bent from the force of the impact against the tree.  Ruby slowly stood back up as the giant wolf slowly makes its way to Ruby.  She stands, her left leg buckling down a bit and shoulders slumping low.  I should’ve brought Crescent Rose with me, Ruby thought.  She stands upright and dashes past the tree behind her and the giant wolf makes its pursuit after Ruby.
However, it didn’t realize that Ruby was still at the tree, crouching low.  Ruby exhaled in slight relief.  Ruby stood up, holding the basket in her left while placing her right on her bleeding wounds.  Blood was dripping, streams flowing down onto her top and skirt, like a calm creek but not like a rainstorm, and were slightly visible in the night.  Ruby silently makes her way back onto the trail, not far off since the wolf had caught her so easily and quickly, then resumed travelling towards her grandmother’s house, slowly as she limps along.  “Great, now Grandma will not only be mad at us for not coming, but for me putting myself in danger and Mom and Dad for not coming.”  Ruby looks at the basket in her hand, the blanket under the presents looking like a usable bandage.  Quickly as possible, Ruby takes the blanket out and wraps it around her waist and stomach, tying two corners to the front of her chest to hold it.  Ruby felt uncomfortable, but she knew what she learned at the academy about patching injuries and continues to slowly walk on the path.  The fog rises and thickens even more as seconds passed, making it seem as if anything within it were nearly blind as they would not be able to see five feet in any direction.
Then, a low growling makes Ruby’s eyes widen in fright, sensing what could be called “The Big Bad Wolf”.
Ruby then runs as fast as she could without causing her to bleed out from under the blanket, the giant wolf loping behind her, closing the gap rapidly.  Then, Ruby’s head receives a sharp pain, unlike any of the wounds on her body, then a single, small stream of blood drips onto Ruby’s left eye.  She assumed that was from the tree impact as her head throbbed and continued running.  Ruby made a sharp right turn, throwing the wolf off course, and ran.  She then made a sharp left just as the wolf had returned and nearly bit onto her cloak to pull her back.  Ruby, away from the path once more, panicking, wounded, and now slightly lightheaded, limped through another group of dead trees that led back to the path, then ran again limply and exhausted.  Behind her, the wolf trembles the earth as it lands on all fours onto the path.
“Come on, go away, please…” Ruby pleaded as she ran, dashing blindly through the dense fog, barely hopping over a dead log and swerving around several boulders with the giant wolf about two wagon lengths behind her.  Now terrified, along with the previous feelings, Ruby continues to sprint through the forest as her fear fueled her legs to run and run, regardless of her injuries with the giant wolf slowly catching up to her every few seconds.  Ruby barely sees a large group of bushes in the dark, dim moonlight and heavy mist, then dives into the rough leaves, getting pricked by thorns that poked at her cuts.  She crouches tightly and holds her knees close to her chest, blood dripping from her head and falling onto her leggings, her ripped cloak was under her bottom.  Her heartbeat was too quick to count every second, her head throbbing painfully, sweat covering all over her, her breathing heavy and fast, and her eyes were shaking from exhaustion and fear, making her see everything as a blur.  Moments later, the sound of sniffing comes near the bushes and Ruby cries silently to herself, holding her breath tight as her lungs cry for fresh air.  Please… I’m too young to go away…
The giant wolf sniffs for a further ten seconds, stepping closer and closer to the bushes, growling at the same time.  Ruby shuts her eyes and covers them with her hands, tears dripping onto them and down her arm to her elbows, some tears mixing with the blood along her face.  Then, she hears a few whimpers, as if the behemoth was crying, and sees the giant wolf trotting off while sniffing the air, still whimpering.  Ruby exhales and pants heavily in relief and exhaustion.  She gets up from the bushes, realizing that they were rose bushes, a bright red species she heard that were the roses meant for courtship between couples as well as a symbol of growth and trust.  She had learned that the flowers’ unusually heavy scents were capable of masking nearly everything, even her own blood-covered pheromones.  “Thank the heavens for saving me, I am in debt.”  She bows down to the rose bushes and quickly rushes toward Grandma’s house, limping carefully, basket in hand, just as the first rays of sunlight were beginning to rise over the horizon.
Two hours later, Ruby arrives at a little cottage in a clear opening that was relatively okay in shape and structure.  Unlike the houses in the kingdom, the cottage had only one story and a relatively large garden behind it with vegetables growing and ripening.  Ruby examines the front porch and door, all seemingly well, except that there were two large bowls that seemed rather unnecessary in the kingdom, but Ruby thought the country folk needed them for gathering and collecting.  The front door was also slightly opened and cracked along the frame.  Ruby cautiously walks up the front steps, as she hurts terribly, and enters through the door.
“Grandma?  Grandma, are you home?” she called out.  No response was given back.  Ruby looks around in the kitchen.  No one there.  “Grandma?”  She checks the small living room.  Nobody here.  “Grandma?  Hello?” Ruby calls out louder.  She opens a door, hoping that it could be Grandma’s bedroom.
Sure enough, Grandma laid on her bed, seemingly asleep.  Her bedroom was small, but had a bed next to the doorway on the left, a body-sized mirror next to the bed, and some drawers with hand drawn pictures on paper, some yellow with age while others were white and wrinkled.
“Hey, Grandma.  I’m Ruby, if you remember.  I’m sorry we forgot about your birthday a few days ago, but we came up with some gifts to give to you as an apology… And sorry for my appearance.”  Ruby held out the basket in front of her, but noticed that Grandma hadn’t stirred.  She walks over to Grandma’s bed and examines her, brushing several fingers against her cheeks and through her hair.  Ruby said, “Grandma, what rough skin you have.  Your hair is dried too.”
“Grandma, what cold hands you have.  You must be sick, right?”  Grandma still hasn’t stirred or made any reaction.  “Grandma?  Grandma?”  Ruby drops the basket onto the floor, spilling the presents, and pats lightly onto her grandmother’s face.  No reaction.  Panic and fear crept onto Ruby’s mind and face.  “Grandma?!  Grandma, wake up!” Ruby cries out, tears flowing from the corners of her eyes, not mixing with the dried stream of blood on her face’s left side.  “Grandma!  Wake up!”  Grandma still doesn’t react, and now Ruby is shaking her by the shoulders.  She continues to attempt to wake her grandmother, crying heavily as she does, tears soaking her sleeves as she wipes them away.
As Ruby does so, she remembers some faint highlights she had with her grandmother, such as gardening and learning how to read and draw.  “Now, draw me a wolf, Little Ruby,” Grandma had instructed.  Ruby grabbed a piece of charcoal and drew a horizontal oval onto one of the walls, then a circle on one corner of the oval, drew two triangles on top of the circle, drew four sticks on the bottom of the oval, and a long curved line on the oval’s opposite end.  “Good job, Ruby.  You’re learning quite fast, as you always are physically and mentally.”
After fifteen minutes, Ruby gives up hope.  Her grandmother laid still, cold and unmoving.  Ruby then notices very shallow bite marks on Grandma’s arms and side, seeing through her teary eyes.  She looks around and sees small tufts of black and white fur along the bedroom door frame, which seemed to be cracked all over as if it was stretched out to fit something too big for the room.  Ruby looks at the pictures on the drawers.  She picks up a few, seeing many of them with a woman and a sort of large black and white dog with pointed ears.  One picture had a few written words under it and Ruby reads them out loud to herself.
“Today, me and Sunny were busy farming out back, getting ready for Spring and Summer.  She would dig the shallow trenches while I plant the seeds.  I remember when she and Little Ruby had helped me so much and had fun as well before they moved out.  I miss the old fun times they had.”
Ruby thought for a moment of who Sunny was, then she remembered the picture in her basket and took it out.  She then examines it all over, until she reaches the ripped corner.  It had a small black triangle along with a long curved line to the side as if both was an ear and a tail.  “Sunny… What was she?”
Outside, Red hears some loud whimpering and quickly rushes outside to the front porch.  There, five paces from the porch steps, was the same giant wolf from last night, sitting on its bottom.  Ruby instantly took a step back away, but stayed as the wolf continued to whimper, crying deeply about something.  “Sunny?”  The wolf whimpers some more and slowly approaches the porch steps, leaning its head towards Ruby with its ears folding downwards.  She hesitates to touch it, but does so on the forehead, brushing her small hands onto the fairly soft fur.  The wolf continues to whimper, as if it was apologizing.
“Sunny, is that you?” Red asked.
Sunny nudges Red on the chest with her snout.  “What happened to Grandma?” Ruby asked, knowing that Sunny may not understand her words.  Sunny then moves her nose in a circle several times.  Ruby notices that it was the same direction the Sun went everyday, towards the West and coming from the East.  “Did she grow too old?”
Sunny barks softly, as if in a sad confirmation.  Ruby looks onto Sunny’s sides, noticing a few naked spots where fur were ripped off, connecting them to the fur on the doorframe and then to Grandma’s shallow bite marks on her.
“Sunny, you… You tried to put Grandma in bed… And you didn’t want me to know… Right?”
Sunny made a whimper, hanging her head low and ears drooping while looking up at Ruby.  She then hugs Sunny on the snout, crying and weeping as she was glad someone, or rather something, had cared for her grandmother.
A few hours later, Ruby and Sunny had carefully taken Grandma out of the cottage and onto the earth near the garden with a bit of struggle.  With Sunny’s help, they dug out a grave about three feet deep until they hit shale and limestone.  Then, they buried Grandma together as best they could, with Ruby trying to not reopen her injuries.  After finishing the last bits of earth, Ruby plants a wooden grave with Grandma’s name and her death year.  She also puts a few seeds onto Grandma’s grave, and she steps back with Sunny.  “Grandma, I apologize that we couldn’t see or be with you for the last time together, and for not visiting for such a long time.”  Sunny whimpers along with Ruby, who holds both hands in front of her skirt, one overlapping the other.  “Please forgive us, and… rest in… peace.” Ruby sobs at the last words, but perseveres.
Ruby then turns towards Sunny and says, “Sunny, come with me to your new home, okay?”
Sunny whimpered in protest, but she knew that her master was no more once the smell of death came from grandmother.  Ruby, facing away from the grave, turns her head slightly to the side. 
“Goodbye… Gr-Grandmother…”
The Sun was high in the sky and both Ruby and Sunny ran through the woods, none of them speaking or making any other noise besides their running, even when Ruby’s wounds are cracking and stretching in pain.  Ruby cried on as Sunny loped behind her, not noticing that they had ran past a small group of travellers who scurried out of their way once they were seen.  Ruby’s torn crimson cloak flailed behind her, herself bloody and scarred, Sunny close by as they continued to run down the trail.  Once out of their sight, the travellers came back out onto the trails.
“Aye, that must be the big bad wolf from our stories!” shouted one of the older men.  “I thought it was nonsense, but it was true all along!” cried out another.  “Mama would be so proud that I survived a wolf attack!” the young boy stated in excitement.  “Don’t you tell your mother that I brought you just to get us eaten, got that?”  They quickly left, excited to tell the story of a little girl who managed to get away from a terrible wolf.  At least, that’s what they would say from the surface of the story.
Later that same day, twilight arrived and Ruby’s family mourned after the loss of their beloved grandmother.  Her father was hurt the most, now knowing that both of his parents were now in the Beyond, and Ruby’s Mother knowing that her family was leaving them on their own, in a sad way.  In the middle of the night, Ruby had taken Sunny outside of the kingdom walls, by leaving through a broken and crumbled portion, and both of them sat on a grassy hillside in the night, the long blades of grass flowing with the slow breezes.
The stars rose above them, bright and many in different colors.  Ruby sat on her bottom, holding her arms under her thighs and her chin resting on top of her knees.  Sunny was sitting on her bottom as well, her tail wrapped around Ruby.  Ruby was wearing nothing but loose red cotton leggings, some wool slippers, and bandages covering her cuts on her waist, stomach, and chest.  Wrapped around her forehead was another long bandage, just along her hairline.  Her shoulders, neck, and some parts of her stomach were bare and the night was breezy, but she did not notice.
“Grandmother… I miss you already…”
Ruby sobs quietly to herself, and Sunny joins her by howling loudly throughout the night, not caring if anything thought she was on the hunt or was threatening them.  Ruby then cowers her face close to her thighs, crying and soaking her leggings as a part of her heart was torn away from her, like something had sliced off her arm in an instant.  Ruby, experiencing death and loss for the first time, knew that the world was cruel but truthful.  However, she also knew that the people who thrive are those who persevere and managed through their losses.  Ruby, a sixteen year old girl, began to understand how the world works, all because of one major impact to her life.  As a member of the world, she will tell others of her loss and how to help others not mourn forever.  Ruby knows that everyone needs some love, and she will help others find it when they have lost it. 
Months later, on Grandma’s grave, a small bush had grown onto the middle of the earth mound.  The bush had buds that soon bloomed into roses redder than anything else, including the roses that saved Ruby and Ruby’s famous crimson cloak and hood. 
In loving memory of Grandmother… 

Fin