A Grim Fairy Tale

Chapter Forty-Seven

The Black Forest was as cold, wet, and dark, as Vagatha remembered, though granted she had not been out of the woods so long. There were still the looming shadows and bone-chilling gusts of wind, and the strange noises that made her feel jumpy. She thought that after years of hunting and fighting dangerous beasts, the forest wouldn't frighten her as much. But then again she had never gone to this part before. She mostly hunted predators who came near the village and threatened the people there. She had never sought them out this deep and in the dark before.

"Maybe this wasn't such a good idea." She thought with her confidence weaning. 

But before she could even begin to reconsider her actions, Raphael stopped and proceeded to bark.

"What is it boy?" She asked him.

Raphael ran down a trail, following the new scent he had picked up.

"Raphael come back!" Vagatha said chasing after him. "Raphael this is no time to go chasing after squirrels and rabbits again!"

But it was no squirrel or rabbit that had captured the Rottweiler's attention. It was a person, two people to be exact, and as Vagatha was being led closer to them, she could hear voices.

"Help! Someone!"

"No one can hear you Cherri!"

"You don't know that! Hello?! Is someone there?!"

"No one is there! Who the Hell would be wandering around in the woods?"

"We were."

"Fair point."

"Hold on, I hear someone coming! Oh wait it's just a dog."

"Maybe he can get us down."

"How? Dogs don't have thumbs!"

Vagatha pulled her father's dagger from her basket and cautiously followed the voices. She pushed aside some heavy tree branches and walked into a small clearing where she saw  Raphael barking upward to a nymph-like female and a man in his underwear, both hanging from a tree. Her mouth dropped open. Now this was a first for her.

"Um...Hello?" She called, biting back the laugh threatening to rise up.

The man twisted around, swinging from his ankles and trying to get a look at her.

"Who is that?! Who's there?!" He asked.

"Me." Vagatha said.

"Oh thank God!" The female cried out. "Miss could you please get us down from here. We were ambushed by three al-"

"Giants!" The man lied, trying to preserve his ego.

"Giants?" Vagatha repeated skeptically.

"Yes. They were quite vicious! We fought bravely against them but alas we were outnumbered!"

"Is that right?" Vagatha said.

"Are you calling me a liar?"

"Well it's just that I've lived in this forest my entire life and I've never or heard anything about giants. In fact they're more native to England than Germany." 

"Miss." The female continued. "If you would be so kind as to help me and the honorable prince- Ow!"

"Prince of nothing!" The man said after elbowing her. "I'm not a prince! I'm a commoner! A peasant! A nobody! She's just teasing, right Cherri?"

"Don't you hit me!" The one called Cherri snarled. "Do it again and I'll feed you to the trees!"

"But trees don't eat."