The image used is by no means my own, all rights are reserved to the actual artist! The inspo for the Scarlet Hunter is Ace from "Alice in the Country of Hearts," by far one of my favorite characters of that series. But I imagine the Scarlet Hunter would look a bit different, having the scar on his face and his coat would instead be a cloak. I think that he would find sleeves to be a hassle. XD

Question, what should his real name be? I have yet to decide on it and have seen considering just calling him Ace (as he is based on the aforementioned character). Hopefully, his real name will be revealed either in the next chapter or the one after it. Please leave a comment on the side! 

Now enough with the details and onto the story :P

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"So, we meet again, Little Red Riding Wolf."

Looming in front of her was the Scarlet Hunter in all his terrifying glory, his aura came crashing over her as her eyes came into contact with his own. She realized then that there was no way she could win in a face-to-face battle, much less a sneak attack.

"Wha— what— !" Grey stuttered trying to find her words but found herself at a loss, caught in between processing what happened at the bottom of the stairs just a moment ago and now facing the sheer epitome of power before her.

The Scarlet Hunter, shifting his grip upon his weapon, glowered down at her as he said, "Well, what? Spit it out already!"

Grey jumped in her place, her fear peaking once again, only to have the claymore move closer and point directly at her throat.

"I—I wanted to know— um, what did you call me?"

This question seemed to take the hunter aback as if he expected her to say something else, but he replied,

"Little Red Riding Wolf, cause that's what you are."

Grey winced at hearing herself called a "what" instead of a "who." The majority of humans believed her kind to be closely linked to the animal kingdom rather than having any kind of personhood. Granted that most of her kind had base appearances akin to wolves, with their bodies covered in fur and elongated, fanged heads, all lycanthropes could shape between more humanoid and wolf-like features at will. Except for her.

Before she could curb her mouth, she snipped back at his statement by saying, "Well, for your information, I have a name."

The maroon eyes above her widened with surprise. Oh crap, this is the end, Grey thought as she closed her eyes, bracing herself for a swift movement of his blade to send her warm blood all over the hallway.

"Well, I don't know your name, do I? So why don't you tell me?"

Grey stared at him, her eyes opening with surprise. This was not the response that she had been expecting. She keenly looked into his face, eyes lingering over the scar she had seen while she hid under the bridge. It was deep and clean standing out amongst his stubble— most scars that she had seen before were like spider webs, stretching across a body creating a variety of connections and breaks. A singular scar stretching from cheek to jaw seemed unusual to her.

It appears he has no intention to hurt me, yet.

Comforted that she was not to die, for the time being, she boldly responded, "I'm not supposed to talk to strangers, human or lycan."

The Scarlet Hunter smirked, "Well, this is the second time we've met and we've been talking for about a minute now. There, we aren't strangers anymore."

"We're not friends either, Scarlet Hunter."

He chuckled, his lips stretched out and his eyes creased. It didn't seem to be a sinister laugh, but neither did it seem a happy one. "Well, well. I didn't take you for a snippy one. The way you ran from me I would've never guessed."

Grey turned her head away from him, gripping her cloak beneath her, once again feeling acutely aware of her circumstances.

"Oh, don't be ashamed little lycan, I was impressed! I've never seen someone run so fast from me, I don't think anyone's run from me as fast as you have. And you even managed to shake me off. That rarely happens." He chuckled once more before adding, "Well, then again, here we are."

His laugh, although breezy, sent a chill that made the hairs on her body raise. Although compared to other lycans, there wasn't much. The claymore still hadn't shifted a centimeter, assuring that it would find it's way into her neck should she make any sudden movement.

"Well, if you're going to be quiet I can guess who you are, although I'd prefer you just told me. But I don't mind a little game."

"Hmmm," he murmured loudly, leaning his head back and forth to get a better view of her body, "I remember from before and can see now that the cloak you're wearing is red. And if I'm not mistaken that's the color of the Whitefang family, and if I'm not mistaken, these woods are their traditional territory."

Grey blanched, his accuracy so far was uncanny. But not unexpected, since there were rumors that the Scarlet Hunter was affiliated with those governing the human kingdom. If anything they had taught this to him.

"I never understood why the four great werewolf families chose colors that had nothing to do with their name. Like Whitefangs should wear white cloaks, and the Blackclaws should wear black cloaks. Don't you think?"

Grey eyes snapped back to his, her citrine colored eyes meeting his blood-red ones. Frightened, but reminding herself that fear would only hinder her, she replied, "What do you want with me?"

The Scarlet Hunter laughed once more, "You're pretty interesting for a lycan! Well, if you want to get to the point," his demeanor instantly became colder, "What was a little wolf like you doing in the woods? I can see you're unarmed, perhaps you are a lure in a group of robbers? Preying upon someone's kindness to rob them of their profit and life. And perhaps this is your thief's den? Although it is rather small and cozy for that..."

He trailed off leading to a moment of silence to pass in between the two before he said, "If you don't respond, I'll take your silence as an answer enough. Although my original purpose for being in these woods was not to find thieves, I don't think a small detour delivering you to the magistrate's office would delay me very long."

Grey finally spoke up, "T—This is my granny's home. I was coming to visit her, but you scared me!"

The man held up one hand, "What? Me? No way! I swear that I didn't mean to scare you, you scared me!"

Grey furrowed her brow, genuinely confused, "Huh?"

Something was definitely off about this man but in a mentally unhinged kind of way. He didn't seem to be the Scarlet Hunter she heard of in rumors, but she couldn't be wrong— all the facts pointed to him— he most definitely was not a fake.

"Hahaha, I'm just kidding. But you were seriously suspicious, I had my guard up. Plus you look really human for a lycanthrope, is this your base form?"

Grey turned her head to the side as her ears flattened, embarrassed that a human had noticed the lack of wolf-like attributes she had. It was a point of embarrassment not only for her, but to the rest of her family. The only parts of her that looked wolf-like were her ears and tail, otherwise, she was indistinguishable from humans, besides having slightly sharper nails and teeth. She could barely transform her legs into lycan feet, whilst the rest of her family could transform into the giant, fantastical wolfs that made her bloodline famous.

Grey responded, "And what of it? Would it make you put your weapon away?"

The Scarlet Hunter raised hand, "Ah, my bad little wolfie. There we'll put that away."

As he slid his claymore back into his sheath, Grey began to feel exasperated with this strange man. Is he talking to me like I'm a pet now? "I do have a name you know."

"Ah, but you never told me since I'm a 'stranger' and I thought you were a 'thief;' are we no longer strangers or thieves?"

He reached a gloved hand down to her and smiled. Huh, that's actually not a bad smile, but something still doesn't feel right about it.

Taking his hand allowing him to help her soggy self up, she replied, "My name is Greylynn, but everyone I know calls me Grey."

"Well Grey, everyone calls me the Scarlet Hunter, but you can call me—"

"DUCK!!!"