Game of Hearts (Original Version)

Chapter 5

She choked out a weak sob and covered her face with her hands.

"I just want to be home." She whimpered, and he realized he had upset her.

"Don't worry Snowy...I'm here with you. I'll protect you, you know I will."

She just sobbed harder, knowing that she was not only a burden on him, but was the sole reason that he wasn't off in a fancy carriage on his way to meet the girl of his dreams.

"It'll be alright. Just rest a moment." He said soothingly, and closed his eyes for a moment's relief.

Almost as soon as he began to relax, he heard the sound of a wolf howling. Snow White jumped, and Riku snapped upright, looking around fervently.

"There...there a wolves around in the woods right? That's...that's normal...right?"

The wolf caught his eyes, and his jaw nearly dropped. It was nearly the size of a large pony, with a gray coat the color of fog. In the greenish hued marshes of the Woodlands, the coat faded into the background a bit, but he figured that in its natural habitat down in the Dark Forest, where the world was gray and twisted, the wolf was nearly invisible to the naked eye; as though it were just another ghost in those haunted lands.

"Don't move a muscle." He said, keeping his eyes locked on the wolf.

"Why, what is—" She must have seen the beast, because she gasped and began hyperventilating, "It's him...that's him. It's the huntsman."

"It's just a wolf...no man can turn into a wolf..." He said, though he was beginning to doubt the legends were just legends.

"He's her servant though...who knows what he's capable of..."

"Stay calm...and stay here." He said, slowly getting to his feet and drawing his dagger. The wolf was nearly 30 feet away, and began snarling as he began to move. He hated the idea of killing something infront of his stepsister's innocent eyes, but it didn't seem there was much else he could do.

He began to creep towards the wolf, and the wolf continued to growl and snarl, showing teeth he really didn't care to mess with.

The wolf crouched down and he tightened his grip on the blade. They were in a stand off, almost, now that he was only a few feet from the beast. He was just going to throw the blade, aiming for a main artery in the neck, but as soon as he lifted the knife by his ear to prepare to throw it, Snow White let out a blood curdling scream. He turned to look back, and when he did the wolf pounced on him, jaws snapping and claws dragging across his arms. He lost the blade as he tumbled to the ground, and landed on it. It jabbed into his side, and he had no more than a moment to process the pain before the wolf was on him. He kicked and shoved, then finally managed to get a kick to the ribs strong enough to lift the monster of a wolf off him and away enough that he could get to his feet and look for Snow White.

She was back at the tree they had been resting by, with a tall, dark, cloaked man holding her from behind with a strange looking blade in his hand. Riku grabbed the knife that was sticking out of his lower abdomen and threw it as hard as he could at the man. His sister screamed, afraid he might miss and hit her, but his aim was true, and he hit his target. The dagger stabbed into the huntsman's arm, causing him to loosen his grip on her. She shoved him away, took off running, and that was the last he saw of her as the wolf tackled him from behind and he was pushed into the dirt again.

He fought off the wolf for a second time, got to his feet, then ran after the cloaked man full speed, then jumped and tackled him to the ground. The wolf came running for him again, but the man he was wrestling with whistled sharply and the beast darted off after Snow White.