Red

Eleven.

The antlers on the stag are huge and he could easily impale Court on them. Court walked over as the stag took a step further standing his ground. Court walked past him and broke a branch off one of the trees before tossing it into the woods.

The fawn slowly walked off into the woods before the doe and stag followed the baby and they left. Court shook his head before he came back over and grabbed the reins from my grip and guided Celeste over to a tree.

Court grabbed my waist as he lifted me off and set me down. "I'm going to make sure they are leaving, go ahead and pick some fruit and berries." Court walked to the edge of the forest before removing his clothes and disappearing in.

I looked over at Celeste before handing him some leaves to munch on. "Good boy." I whispered as I took the basket off. 

I walked over to the bushes as I set the basket down and began pulling berries from the bush. A part of me considered untying Celeste and running off on him. Court had left me alone in the middle of the forest.

He isn't here to stop me. But I had no idea where I am much less what I would encounter. Then the fact that Court would come looking for me. I kept my mind placed on the berries as I filled the basket up before going over to a tree and plucking some fruit from it.

I grabbed the second basket and filled it up some before stopping as I turned over.

My eyes settled over on a patch of flowers in the damp soil across from me. I smiled as I got up and went over. Flowers are one of my favorites. Mom would grow some in the garden for me to pick and put a vase out on the table.

And if there were any wildflowers nearby, I would pick them as well. These were the first flowers I had seen today. 

They were in a small patch together. The flowers were a violet color and had a hooded petal and went up a nice amount of the stem. I smiled as I sat down on the ground admiring the flower leaving the baskets over near the bushes.

Court wouldn't mind if I picked a few flowers. I could just keep them in my hair or find something to put them in. I'm sure somewhere in the house is something made of glass that can be filled with some water. Even a wooden jar would work.

I looked around the flower stem for the best way to break it off. The flower was decently big and taking up a lot of space. I decided breaking it at the top would be the best part.

I grabbed the first flower and bent the stem until it snapped off and I stood up as I heard rustling of leaves. "Court, I uh, found some flowers, they look pretty so I'm going to pick a few mo-" I never got the chance to finish my sentence as Court grabbed me and knocked the flower right out of my hands before yanking me away from the rest.

Court kicked the flower into the patch of grass with the tip of his shoe before turning on me. He grabbed my hands and began examining them.

"What parts of the flowers did you touch?" Court demanded.

"I only touched the stem when I was breaking it off. Why, what is wrong?" I asked snatching my hands away from his in confusion. Court looked up at me before he began guiding me away from the flowers and back the baskets.

"Those aren't just flowers, its wolfsbane. They are highly poisonous if touched or ingested. You could have gotten sick." Court grabbed the two baskets as he attached them back to Celeste.

"I'm sorry, I thought they were fl-"

"Don't apologize, we just need to get back so I can check you to make sure you aren't going to have a severe reaction to it." Court made Celeste back up before he turned to me.

Court went over to grab me before stopping as branches snapped and he looked over letting go of my waist. Two wolves stepped out from the forest their hackles on end and teeth bared. Court looked over at them. "Fuck." Court murmured.

He swiftly stepped in front of me pushing me behind him and out of their view. Celeste handed the reins of Celeste to me and I accepted them as Celeste came over and stood loyally behind us.

For a horse he is confident around beasts that would typically be his predator. Court took a step forward much more serious than he was with the deer. 

When Court had been scaring the deer off it had simply been to make them go in another direction. These two wolves looked ready to turn me into their dinner. Court watched the grey colored wolf as he walked forward.

The sounds of bones crunching, and whines filled the air as the wolf morphed into a bare human man. Court stood there silently in front of me doing his best to block his path.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" The man asked his voice deep. Court firmly planted himself between the man and I.

"A human. . . this far out in the woods. Never thought I would see this much less with you Court." The man commented as Court watched him cautiously as he backed up until I was right behind him. Court was doing his best to take precaution.

"She is with me." Court spoke as he kept his eyes on the man and the wolf at his side.

"That much is clear, why do you have a human with you Court?" He asked making Court furrow his eyebrows at him in irritation.

"Who I have in my presence at what time and for what reason is none of your concern." Court responded glaring at the man. I glanced out from Court's side and at where the man stood naked with the other wolf at his side.

"Now if you don't mind, I have places to be." Court turned around and removed the reins from my hands.

The two didn't leave simply stood there watching us. Court ignored them as he lifted me up onto Celeste before getting up himself. I put my arms on his waist as Court turned Celeste around and tightened the baskets.

"Thorin will be made aware of this." The man said and Court glanced back at him.

"Make him aware of it then. If he has a problem, he can see me, I don't answer to him much less you." Court whirled Celeste off into a trot after that ending the conversation as he rode off into the distance as our berry gathering trip turned sour.

1866. So yes, there is that! Hope you guys enjoyed! ***