The Lunar Chronicles - Short Stories

Scarlet & Wolf: Be Alert

Sweat ran down Scarlet's forehead as she stood in a defensive position.  She tried to even out her breaths even though she was panting from exhaustion.  She looked around the woods, waiting for Wolf to somehow magically appear and throw a soft punch or kick at her.

She heard leaves rustle and she turned her head in that direction, but saw nothing that the eye could see. She squinted her eyes, wondering what could have caused that noise when she fell to the ground. An "umpf" escaped her mouth as shock ran through her body, her heart beat quickening even more.

She lay on the ground, turning her head to see Wolf smiling.  She unexpectedly threw a punch at his face, hitting his nose and part of the eye.  He hissed, but didn't get off of her.

She tried to get out of the position she was in, but had no luck.  She huffed, lazily looking at a tree that stood in front of her.

"You need to remember that noises won't always be the attacker.  I threw a rock. It gave me an advantage.  You need to always stay alert," Wolf explained, getting off of her and offering her a hand.  She grabbed his hand with the same hand he held out, but in one swift movement, pulled him down and had her foot, on the side of the occupied hand, collide with his shoulder.  She set her unoccupied knee in between his shoulder blades and aggressively pressed her ulna on the back of his neck.

She smiled in pleasure.

"What were you saying about being alert, again?" Scarlet smirked. She released her grip on him and laughed, deciding not to lend him a hand to get up due to what she had just done.

"I was just giving you an example of what not to do," Wolf smiled.

"Yeah...sure," Scarlet obviously didn't believe him.  "Should we try again?"

Wolf nodded and ran into the woods to hide. 

She looked around and listened closely to see if she could make out anything. She heard a faint step and quickly glanced before turning around in a circle to assure her that the noise was Wolf.

When she didn't see anything she turned around again to see Wolf charging at her.  She got ready, heart pumping, almost fast enough to not even feel it.  When he got close enough she turned and kicked him in the back.  He turned around and threw a punch, hitting scarlet in the stomach.  She let out a grunt before kicking at Wolf's stomach which he blocked.  She threw another punch, but missed as Wolf bent down and went into a crouch position, sliding his foot to collide with the back of Scarlet's.  She fell backwards but didn't injure herself while doing so.

Just as Wolf though it was over, Scarlet tried to do the same thing Wolf did, but she didn't even cause him to move.  In fact, she hurt herself more than it hurt Wolf.

Scarlet huffed and sat down.

"How are you so strong? I don't get it.  I can't even get a reaction out of you."

"You got me to hiss before," Wolf shrugged, sitting down next to Scarlet on the grass floor.

"As if that's anything," Scarlet gave him an are-you-kidding-glare before she lightly punched him on the shoulder.

"Ahh!" He yelled jokingly as he pretend he was in major pain, holding onto the place that Scarlet barely even touched.

Scarlet glared, a smile tugging at her lips.

"Whatever," she finally smiled, lying on the ground. Wolf copied her actions, but scooted closer to her, their bodies touching slightly.

"What's your favorite season?" asked Scarlet, watching the trees rattle on top as they were being hit by wind.

Wolf pondered for a minute before speaking, "Autumn."

"Same...that's when my grandmother and I would do most of the planting outside.  We also did it in Spring, but I've always preferred Autumn for some reason," Scarlet explained.  "Do you have a meaning behind why you like that season?"

"I think it looks pretty," Wolf said blandly. "That's why."

"That's a very...interesting reason," Scarlet sarcastically responded.

Silence hovered over them for a few minutes before Scarlet turned her head towards Wolf, his beautiful green eyes staring deeply into hers. 

"Are you hungry at all?" Scarlet asked Wolf.

"Definitely," he flashed a small smile before maintaining his previous posture. 

"Do you want to go get something to eat then?" Scarlet questioned Wolf another time.

"Of course," he spoke as he got up and hesitated to lend a hand before he finally held it out confidently.  Scarlet smirked and accepted the offer, but was immediately pulled up quickly to her feet.  Scarlet held a surprised expression as Wolf turned around, not facing her. 

"Where do you want to eat?" Wolf asked before beginning to walk.

"I don't care," Scarlet caught up to Wolf.

"Well you better choose quick," Wolf told her.

"Umm....somewhere that has tomatoes?" Scarlet smiled as Wolf looked at her.

"Like...Terry's Restaurant?" Wolf suggested.

"Terry's Restaurant it is!" Scarlet yelled as her stomach grumbled.

~·~·~·~·~·~·~·~·~·~·~·~·~·~·~·~·~·~·~·~·~·~·~·~·~·~·~·~·~·~·~·~·~·~·~·~·~·

A/N:

Hey guys! Sorry this chapter is late! I am hoping to update every 3-4 days but lately I've been REALLY busy so I hadn't gotten the chance to update until now!

Also, how are you guys liking this book so far? If you guys have any suggestions or ideas, just let me know!

GUYS I HAD A DREAM LAST NIGHT THAT I WAS GOING TO THE MOVIES AND THEY WERE PLAYING CINDER AND I WAS SCREAMING AND THEY HAD ALL THESE LIKE TOYS AND THINGS AND I WAS TRYING TO BE CINDER AND OH MY GOSH GUYS I'M FREAKING OUT SOOOO BADLY

I CAN'T WAIT FOR WINTER LIKE NO I CAN'T AYHHHHHSPCBWODB

You know you're freaking out when you have many punctuation errors.

All of my friends don't understand me when I say these references to The Lunar Chronicles like no I have no one to express my love to :(

Ayeee this author's note is really long, sorry!

I love you guys xx.

~ Obsessed Fan