Red Riding Sakura

“Well, it’s been a merry evening Pearl. But I really should be heading back to the caravan. It has gotten quite late already.” said a pink vixen pulling her red hood over her head and picking up her basket in a small house. She turned to see her sister coming into the room, a concerned look on her face.

“Are you certain you’ll be alright going home alone tonight Sakura? You could always stay the night here.” asked the three tailed vixen worriedly.

“I have already told you Pearl that I cannot. My minstrel band leaves the nearby town on the ‘morrow and we always start out with the dawn. I must make it back tonight.” she replied giving a hug to her sister.

“You always loved making music. I guess it is to be expected that you’d take risks to do what you love.” said Pearl returning the hug, not wanting to let her sister go again.

“Promise you’ll write to me from each village you visit.” said Pearl, wiping a tear from her eyes.

“I will as always dear sister. And worry not. The lights strung through the forest will ensure I can see and make my way back to the village safely." said the pink younger vixen indicating the string of lights that led through the forest.

“Ok Ok Sakura. But be careful. There have been reports of a ravenous werewolf in the area. Loud howls can be heard, and large carcases have been left in the forest after full moons. Which happens to be tonight.” said Pearl cryptically.

“A-A Werewolf? A-Any casualties?” asked Sakura concerned.

“None yet. But that doesn’t mean that there will not be any either.” said Pearl seriously.

“I understand. I will leave word with the postman before we leave to let you know I arrived safely at the village. Is that acceptable to you?” asked the smaller pink vixen.

“Your mind is set. There is nothing I can do to stop you.” replied Pearl shaking her head in mock exasperation.

“I’ll see you in a month Pearl.” said Sakura as she took a few steps away from her sister’s house into the woods.

***

The chirping of crickets could easily be heard echoing through the forest as Sakura padded softly down the rough road from Pearl’s place. The soft hum of the magic powered gears that supplied the electricity running through the lights above her gave her an idea for a soft tune, and she hummed softly to herself as she went. Unbeknownst to her however she was not alone in the forest. A pair of yellow eyes watched her as she went, a toothy grin spread just below those eyes.

As she went the vixen stopped at the sound of a snapping branch just beyond the bush on her right. “H-Hello? Is someone there?” she asked and stared at the bush for a moment. She got no response and hesitantly turned to continue.

Her erect ears twitched this way and that as she heard small noises seemingly following her in the forest. She began to hear what sounded like panting breaths just behind her and broke into a run suddenly. Sakura breathed heavily herself as she ran, her basket swinging back and forth in her hand as she went. She looked back over her shoulder and missed that the path she was running on took a left turn and she found herself running through the slightly darker forest only lit by the silverly light of the full moon above her.

No sooner had she realized this, that her foot caught under a raised tree root, and sent her tumbling to the ground suddenly. The twin tailed vixen rolled to a stop panting heavily, but her breath stuttered as she could hear her pursuer come to a stop behind her. This was it. She had been caught. Slowly she turned and came face to face with a pair of burgundy shorts. The male they belonged to had gray fur, black fur around his feet, and white fur on his hands and belly. There were lightning bolt shaped markings on his muzzle and back, and a mark on his tail that made it look like the tip of a fountain pen.

There was a look of ferocity in the male’s eyes as he stared down at the fallen vixen, sharp fangs bared in a satisfied smirk. His forearms were more muscular than your average canine, and the hunched low posture he had made him look more beastly and gave him an almost feral air. There was no doubt in Sakura’s mind that he was a werewolf. But getting a look at him, there was also no doubt that she was going to be okay.

“You should be more careful out in the woods this late at night.” said the male with a sigh as she turned herself back over to face him.

“Sly…You half frightened the fur off of me.” she replied with a small smile.

“What can I say? I was excited to see you.” he said with a smirk.

Sakura pushed herself up to her knees as the male leaned down toward her, her basket in his hand. “It has been a while hasn’t it?” she replied as they continued to lean closer to one another. Their faces grew very close before the vixen suddenly drew back, pressing a finger to his nose and stopping him playfully. “We can’t. The caravan has to leave in a little while. I have to get back.” she chided.

“Aww…Alright.” he replied, shifting his position and offering his muscular paw to help the female up. Sakura moved to stand and then whined in pain as she fell back to the ground. “Sakura? Are you alright?” he asked concerned.

“I-I’m fine. I think I sprained my ankle. The healer at the village should be able to fix me up no problem. The hard part will be getting back to the village.” she said, suddenly smirking at the male.

Sly shook his head, a smile on his own muzzle as he caught what she wanted him to do. He turned around and crouched down. “Hop on.” he said simply. Sakura giggled as she awkwardly moved over to the male, and he pulled her onto his back before he turned to walk in the direction of the village.

***

“You know…the village is in a panic right now because of a dangerous werewolf in the vicinity.” said Sakura a bit absently as they went.

“Are they now?” asked Sly with a smirk.

“You’re scaring them on purpose aren’t you?” asked Sakura accusingly.

“Not on purpose. But I am a werewolf. And the letter you sent me telling me that you’d be in the village around this time didn’t have a specific date. So I've had to stick around to make sure I wouldn't miss you. Unfortunately it just happens to be during the full moon. Even my own village doesn’t trust me around this time of month.” he explained.

“I understand. If Pearl ever found out that I was seeing you I would be in major trouble.” said Sakura smiling as she nuzzled the back of the werewolf’s neck.

“Do you think I’ll ever be accepted anywhere?” he asked thoughtfully, looking up at the moon.

“I’m sure you will. People just have to understand that you are not the snarling beast that they seem to think you are. If not, we’ll just move. You can come with the caravan and we’ll look for a place together.” she said, hugging him tighter.

“That actually sounds wonderful Sakura.” he said as they reached the outskirts of the village. “Well here you are.” he said.

“Yep. Thank you for carrying me.” she replied as she hopped off and moved around in front of him.

“You were faking the injury?” he asked quickly.

“Well it’s your fault for scaring me. Call it payback.” she replied sticking her tongue out at him.

“When will your caravan be back?” he asked curiously.

“We’ll be back in a month. We’re only going to the neighboring country for a couple weeks.” explained Sakura thoughtfully.

“Have fun then.” he said a little painfully.

“Don’t worry Sly. I’ll be back.” she said as she hugged him softly. “I’ll write to you to let you know when we’ll be back.” she whispered.

“As always. Have a safe trip.” he said as he gave her a small kiss on the cheek. Sakura blushed a bit as she turned to walk toward the caravan.

“Thank you Sly. I’ll see you later.” she said, leaving him on the edge of the forest, the full moonlight in the background.

***

Sakura sat reading a few stapled papers in Sly’s room. It was a book he was currently working on and hadn’t yet finished. She loved reading his stories. She loved more inserting herself and people she knew into stories like this. She blushed softly as she put the papers back down on his desk and turned to exit the room. As she did so she wondered idly when he’d be finished with the next chapter.


This beautiful pic was done for me as a part of  firetally's halloween presketches. I couldn't resist putting Sly in it with Sakura. And the story just flowed out when I sat down to write. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Art by:  firetally

Sakura Originally Designed by:  shana

Adopted by me.

Sly is Mine.