Red Hood

I. The Woods of Grimm

People say the Woods of Grimm is a dangerous place, which is a great length of forest woods so long that trying to go around it will tale months to get to the other side.

They heard tales of the man-eating werewolves who roamed the whole forest floor, hunting for those poor souls who managed to wander there. Every night, you can hear the deadly howls piercing through the silence of the forest, see the hunting eyes through the darkness, and feel the scratches they do to their victims in the cold night air.

Countless groups of hunters tried to take down those pesky half-wolves, armed with silver bullets and weapons, but failed, leaving only few survivors to tell the great massacre that happened under the shades of the trees. They would always tell of their grey fur, their pointed ears, great snout, razor sharp teeths and claws, hungry eyes, and agonizing speed. They were so fast that one werewolf can kill five hunters in a minute.

People started avoiding the woods, jeopardizing trade routes and businesses but no one complained. They know those livelihoods can be replace but their lives cannot.

As a result of such measures, their lives are falling apart. With trade routes gone, merchants cannot sell their items. They will always go around the woods but because of the time to take the journey, many back out of it. Those who managed to get to the other side will have to endure a barrage of people trying to buy their items. Those who dared risk the woods...well, you know what happened to them.

It was like that for decades, the people suffering and wanderers of the woods dead and massacred.

It was like that, until the Red Hood appeared.

People heard rumours of a cloaked figure in red roaming in the Woods of Grimm. They saw Red Hood first when a child from a nearby village wandered to the woods. The mother of the child cried with grievance while the father desperately tried to go into the woods to follow his child but the villagers restricted him. The parents where losing hope when they heard a jingle of bells from the woods with the sound of childish laughter. They couldn't believe to see the child walked out of the woods with a smiling face, followed by the figure in red cloak.

The figure seems to be a boy based from his form, his arms showing muscles not like a body builder but like those baker boys who gained them by baking pastries and rolling doughs everyday. Wearing a white farmer's polo, black pants, brown boots, and black gloves, he looks like a merchant but the knives that decorated his waist, the scythe held in his arm, and the red cloak covering his face says otherwise.

The scythe was something that grabbed the attention of the villagers other than his cloak. The bell they heard was hanging from his scythe's handle, tied by a red rope and green leaves. The scythe's blade was shining from the sunlight but something red glinted causing some of them to gasped.

Blood

The villagers were horrified to see blood coming from the red stranger but the child paid no mind to that. She skipped to her crying mother and father and hugged them.

"Mama, Papa, why are you two crying?" said the little girl. They told her that they thought she had died since entering the woods, losing their precious gift of their life.

She smiled, wiping away their tears and told them that shocked the whole village.

"Mama, Papa, stop crying! That kind stranger saved my life from those scary monsters. He killed three of them!"

The villagers turned to the hooded stranger, who's face still covered but his scythe cleaned from blood. The mayor bravely stepped forward and asked "I~Is it true? Y~you killed t~three of them?"

The stranger nod in response and quickly turned around, walking back to the woods.

"W~Wait! Please, stay so that we can thank you for saving the girl's life." The mayor asked

The male stopped walking and shook his head.

"Can you at least tell us your name." The mayor said

Even with the hood, they can see a smile that formed on his face. He grabbed a card in his pocket and throwed it in the air. It floated to the mayor and he grabbed it. He read the card aloud for all the villagers to hear.

"R~Red Hood. Hear the bells and know I'm near you."

"Bye bye, Red!" Said the little girl, waving her hands as the Red Hood jumped, using his scythe to hang on a thick branch, and landed on top of it. He scanned the village one last time and jumped from branch to branch until he disappeared.

Ever since that day, the village renamed itself to "Red Hood Capital", which became the greatest capital in the whole kingdom of Grimm. Named after the saviour, it became one of the greatest trade center in years. Some merchants travelled through the woods and found to their greatest surprise that they managed to get out of the woods alive and in one piece. Others followed suit and soon, the trade route is back in business.

Many families moved themselves to the capital, including some merchants who decided to stay there, making it bustling with life and happiness. The streets are always crowded with people going to their work and childrens playing "Red Hood vs the Werewolves", inspired by the little girl who told them what she saw in the forest that day. Too gruesome for a child, I know, but she held it with great fondness. That's because she saw the Red Hood fighting them with grace, like he was dancing in a ballroom with his knives and scythe being a part of him and the rustling of leaves and the blowing of the wind as his music.

The king and queen of Grimm were happy to know that the Woods of Grimm can be used as a trade route again. They personally went to the village to congratulate the mayor in making it safe. The mayor explained it wasn't him that made it safe but Red Hood himself. The king and queen were surprised by the news. They never knew of this Red Hood in their court before. The king was suspicious that after countless of hunters, Red Hood managed to slay three werewolves with ease, but the queen assured him that they should be thankful that the gods of Grimm answered their wish.

Now after three years since that day, the annual "Red Hood" festival is going to start in three days in honour of him. The royal family will be celebrating it in Red Hood Capital and they'll be coming to their royal house today.

I know this because I am part of the royal family. The one that will find out who Red Hood is.

My name is Prince Harith Romarto Lithuansia, the Prince of the kingdom of Grimm.