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★ Red had expected something to go wrong. She had expected something to go horribly wrong and to hear from Joelle. Of course, she didn't. And that slightly bothered her. It was almost as though she expected something to go wrong. Well, why wouldn't she expect something to go wrong? She'd left Bigby in the care of this halfling who was so caught up in her own selfish acts that she couldn't see past her nose. Finally, after it got to be around two in the morning Ruby finally brought it upon herself to go ahead and fall asleep. She didn't pay much attention to Hunter. Sure he was there with her, but she wasn't in the mood to deal with him. When she went in her room she shut the door to him. Hopefully if he stayed he'd take the hint and stay out of her room. Needless to say, Red didn't sleep well that night. She kept waking up and tossing the sheets around to try and get comfortable. Perhaps the reason she felt so uncomfortable in her own bed was because the last time she was in it she hadn't been alone...

★ Morning finally came and she opened her eyes slowly only to see Hunter sitting on the edge of her bed. Her eyes narrowed at him and she rolled to place her back to him. Why was he in here? He shouldn't be in her bedroom. There was only one other person she'd had in here... and one person she'd even want in here. And it certainly wasn't him. He asked about breakfast and she soon realized that she was rather hungry. Ruby grunted in response. Hopefully he'd get her meaning. As soon as he left, to go make her something to eat she'd hoped, she climbed out of bed and grabbed a towel then went into the bathroom. She took a quick shower and checked her shin over. No sign that it had even been knicked on the table. Good. That was one of the many good things about being a Fable, you healed from things a lot quicker than the normal human. That and you didn't really get scars. Which was certainly a good thing. Red finished up in the shower then went to her room to get dressed. She draped her cloak over her arm then set it on the back of the chair she sat in to eat her food. "Thank you." She said to Hunter as she put the first bit of oatmeal on her spoon.

★ She'd only just placed the spoonful of oatmeal in her mouth and tasted the sweet deliciousness of the cinnamon apple when she heard a knock on her door. Her eyes darted over to it and she grabbed a hold of her quiver and her bow that sat next to the table. But then she heard the voice. "Bigby." She said then let go of her weapon and got off the chair. She walked over to the door then before she opened it she looked back at Hunter and gave him a stern look.
"Be nice." She turned back to the door then took a breath and pulled the door open as he said something about going to Joelle's father's house. Of course he was going to take her there. "I guess I could go with you guys. Just so long as you aren't taking me just to use me as an extra pair of arms." She gave him a look then glanced over her shoulder. "I know you already know, but Hunter's here. Try not to kill one another." She turned around then went back into the chair where she had been sitting so she could finish eating. Ruby was really curious about how the night had gone. She looked at Joelle and her eyes narrowed ever so slightly. She didn't think the two of them would ever be friends. Especially not with how last night went.

★ "Sit down." She gestured to her couch as she finished a spoonful of her oatmeal. "I'm just going to finish eating then we can go." Red scarfed down the last bit of her food, not waiting around to savor the flavor then she stood up and put her dishes away and grabbed her cloak. Her hands grabbed onto her quiver and bow and she said a few choice words, her weapons shrank down and a chain connected the two. She clasped the now necklace of her weapon around her neck and smiled at Bigby. In the middle of the night she had left to go visit the witches to make her weapon choice a little more manageable to cart around in the middle of New York so she could go unnoticed. "I'm ready whenever you are." Then something struck her as she looked at Bigby and Joelle, the female looked rather uncomfortable and Bigby was all too relaxed. And they were a lot closer to one another than they had been in the past. What the ******** was going on? She eyed the two of them then pointed to the door. "Hunter, you coming or staying?" She asked him as she held the door open. Whatever his answer was, she left the door open for him to either come with them or to just close it so he could be there on his own. As they made their way through the building she looked at Bigby with curious eyes then glanced to Joelle. She shifted her gaze back to Bigby. "So how are you feeling after last night? What happened anyway?" She prompted his question, hoping to get an answer out of him that would explain why she found him unconscious with Joelle the night before.

Bigby had raised an eyebrow at Joelle’s correction over what had occurred that evening. “I think I’d remember that…I told you Red she seems to want to joke around today” he said scratching his head. He wasn’t happy that Hunter was tagging along but he didn’t have a choice in the matter so took it upon himself to stay up front with Joelle where he could, glancing to his side when Red fell instep beside him briefly. “Well you don’t have to help…I don’t want to interfere with you two” he murmured quietly. “You need to remember Ruby….the past is still what it is….you and I may have forgotten it and moved on. Doesn’t mean he will….heck I can’t truly move on after what he did to me. Would you be able to?” he asked before she dropped back to walk alone, the wolf looking concerned briefly before Joelle continued to lead on.

The walk for him was nothing, the cut through the park put him on edge, senses in high alert. When the halfling stopped he followed her gaze, nodding at her words sternly “Good…unruly tenants are the last thing I want to be dealing with” he murmured, following her down the side alleyway. Head turned at the slightest noise before he froze as Joelle stopped, the wolf watching her fingers trace the carved initials. He caught the glint in her eyes and stayed quiet, not wishing to interfere on her moment…her memories. A faint whisper and the wolf found himself surprised as a passage opened. He looked around, eyes settling on every blade and gun he could see “No….he never said about this…” Bigby answered Joelle’s question, pausing before continuing. “I’m amazed he managed to keep it hidden so long….crafty bugger” he folded his arms and watched her head over to a trapdoor, uttering the password and opening it up. “This doesn’t seem ominous at all…” he said stepping towards the open door and gazing down into the darkness. Joelle dropped down first, the wolf glancing to Hunter as he said he wouldn’t be going. “Coward…” the wolf growled before hopping down, taking a moment to turn around and catch Red as she dropped down, eyes locking briefly, a confused glow to them….as if he were trying to understand something. “Sorry…” he pulled away and headed after Joelle, hands touching the wall as they walked, eyes glinting at objects in the dark. “Ouch…” he ducked, holding his head after hitting it on a low root that was poking through the ceiling. “Your father must have been smaller than I remember….” He grumbled rubbing his forehead. He stretched in relief after they entered the room, grateful for the open space.

“Oh wow…your father was doing a lot of work…” Bigby said rubbing his jawline as his head turned to look upon the stacks of books and papers that lined the walls. The scent of the captain and everything that made him was strong in the air and the tobacco only made the wolf crave another cigarette. His hand moved to his pocket before he grumbled “Better not…” he said to himself, stepping further into the room, glancing to Joelle as she sat in her fathers chair. His brows tugged together, seeing the tears in her eyes “Joelle…a-“ she cut him off, handing him a book containing their fable….he opened its pages and let his eyes skim across the pages, Joelle explaining to Red the concept of their original tale. He nodded, closing the books pages and offering it to Red “I stand by what I said…I prefer that version” he said with a brief smile before he moved to look around a little more.

He could head Joelle scuffling through papers behind him and could imagine her actions in his head. Pain began to form behind his eyes, making him wince and stop looking. His hand went to his face, fingers rubbing at his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose before the pain subsided as Joelle spoke. Why did he think he was on the brink of thinking of something…he shook his head and turned to take the letter, his name scrawled in cursive writing across the front. “Thanks….” He murmured, tearing it open and taking a moment to read.

His brows pulled together as he read through the letter, aware of Joelles eyes on his features trying to read his expressions. She was meant to be part of his work….a tool…..an experiment. Fortunately Hooks soft side disallowed him to be duped by Ichabons ways and he’d had the girl enchanted to hide her true self…her…fable side. He couldn’t hide the smirk that tugged at the corner of his mouth as Hook spoke about how stubborn Joelle could be. Finally the letter drew to a close, the wolf folding it in half again and slotting it back in the envelope. “”Nothing important….he said he loves you and best of luck continuing his work” he said with a nod, placing the envelope in his pocket. Joelle didn’t need to know its contents, he had to reason to hurt her with the truth. Had had noticed the shift in her….her scent wasn’t quite right and the letter just explained what he was already concluding. Joelle was half a fable, and now was developing that side of her….maybe he’d need to explain that part….not now. “I’m going to look for some books your father mentioned to me once…” he said stepping past and looking through the shelves, paying no attention to the conversation that transpired between Red and Joelle.

The wolf glanced round as Red announced her departure. “If you’re sure Red…..would have been useful to have another pair of eyes searching” he said, sifting through some books. The red cloaked girl left, leaving him and Joelle alone once more.

He heard Joelle shuffle closer before her hand touched his forearm. “Well hello there….” He could sense the emotions rolling off her, nerves and sadness. “Hey…hey you ok? I know this place brings back a lot of memories but we’re here to make sure what your father did wasn’t a waste” he had placed the books down and placed his hands on her arms, tugging her into a brief hug. “I’m sorry you have to go through this…” he murmured, lips pressing against the top of her head before he let her pull away, those clouded brown hues meeting hers in concern. “Joelle?” he asked before she spoke latin words to him. He blinked, taking a moment to draw on what little latin he knew before folding his arms. “The spell joke again, really Joelle when are you going to stop with this madness” he said, touching her arm. “I love you…..now let’s get what you need and get out of here” he planted a kiss on her cheek and smiled before stepping away to rummage through some papers.
Nearly 10 minutes passed before a pained noise came from his side of the room. He staggered, sending papers scattering over the floor before he fell to lean against the bookshelf, hand going to his head. “Gah….my head….” He said gripping it painfully. It felt like nails were being embedded into his skull, before pain similar to needles poking at his eyes made him groan and cover his eyes. “I can’t…..i can’t think….or see….” He said staggering again he managed to pull his hands away, his eyes searching for Joelle, brown hues glowing a prominent amber colour as the potion worked its way out of his system. His memories were scattered, trying to erase before a scent hit his nose and he whirled around, half falling. “Joelle…” he said urgently before one of the shelves exploded in a flurry of wood and pages and forsaken scuttled into the room in their various forms.

Bigby was instantly on alert, stepping infront of Joelle, his head pounding but eyes shifting back to brown. “RED! HUNTER!” the wolf howled, before a forsaken lunged. He met it mid leap and hauled it aside before looking to Joelle “Go….get out of here…” he said struggling to focus and touching his head. “I…I don’t feel right….” He murmured dragging a hand through his hair before forsaken tackled him to the floor. “GO!” he yelled before snarls were heard as he morphed, claws and teeth tearing chunks out of the beasts. He rolled over onto all four paws, standing at an impressive 4ft, snarling viciously, eyes still clouded. “Leave her be..” he said tail swishing in the air before he pounced. His fighting was sloppy, his senses not at their peak as the spell fought to knock him unconscious and the adrenaline coursing through his body countered it. Howls of agony escaped him as claws, teeth and even blades sliced into his fur. His brown orbs searched desperately for Red and Hunter, paw pinning a small forsaken and ears pulled back in pain. He needed them…..he couldn’t….what was wrong with him!?

____________________________________________

""Who's afraid of the Big bad wolf?
You should be...you wouldn't like me when I'm angry

[OOC: ]

★ Great, now she was up here with Hunter and Bigby was down there with the childish human known as Joelle. Ruby was seething in anger. It was quite easy to spot that she wasn't a very happy person at the time. She could tell that Hunter wasn't in the mood to talk to her. Not that she really minded, but perhaps it wouldn't be too bad to blow off some steam. She knew that he and Joelle didn't get along. At least she didn't believe they did considering the exchange of words when they had first met. She watched him turn to look at the wall that was covered in all sorts of weapons. She hadn't really paid much attention to it when she had first stepped foot in the little shed. But now that she had the time she was admiring everything that was before her. Plenty of swords, daggers, throwing knives... Every and anything that you could ever possibly want to have to protect yourself. Her hand reached out to touch a sword that sat before her on the wall. The bow and arrow had always been her weapon of choice, but it didn't mean that she didn't know how to fight with blades. Now was the time to see just how well her skills with a sword stayed with her.

★ As soon as she heard Bigby yelling hers and Hunter's names. "What the hell..." Then the sounds started. The shrieks from the Forsaken that were both fighting and being slain were echoing up the through the hole in the floor from where Ruby had just appeared not three minutes earlier. Her hand reached out for the sword that she had touched on the wall. With a quick yank the blade was in her hand and not seconds later the walls seemed to explode from where they stood. A yelp of surprise came from Ruby as she wielded the blade before her. She was going to survive this, but why were there so many freaking Forsaken here?! Ruby had just pulled her sword out of the stomach of one of the creatures when she heard Joelle's voice behind her. Her head whipped around to look and Joelle was right. Directly behind her, sharp long claws were aimed for her back. Ruby swiped the sword through the air and cut off the creature's arm right at the elbow. If only she had gotten both of it's arms. It's second swept out toward her and it's claws connected with her face sending a sharp burning sensation down the whole side of her face. From hairline to jawline there were four deep, red, and bloody scratches.

★ Red let out a yell mixed with pain and anger. And with one swift movement of her sword the creature was soon beheaded. She heard Hunter calling to her and she ran to him, placing her back against his. It was almost like old times. The thought made her chuckle lightly. She couldn't believe that there were so many of these creatures. She also couldn't believe that she was fighting with Hunter. Her back stayed glued to his until he broke away and took out a Forsaken who had gotten a bit too close. He yelled at her that they needed to get out of the area and her eyes rolled. "Yeah, no s**t." She called back to him then as she turned her head she saw the actual house back behind her, in front of Hunter. "High ground." She said then pointed with her sword to the roof top. "Come on!" She grabbed a hold of Hunter's hand and hauled him behind her to the house. It wasn't a clear pathway, but she cleared it for them. Ruby threw her sword up onto the roof then pointed at it. "Get up there then pull me up. Now!" Ruby ripped the necklace off of her neck, spoke the words that the witches had told her, then her bow and arrows grew instantly to their normal size. She knocked an arrow and drew the string back. Her arrow flew and hit it's mark, then a couple more. The arrow had gone directly through one of the Forsaken and embedded itself into the one behind. Apparently her arm was stronger than she though.

★ With an elated smile she turned back to Hunter and looked up at him on the roof. "Pull me up!" She called to him. "I can fend them off better from here and keep them away from the trap door to give Bigby and Joelle an escape route. Just, make sure none of them get up here." Ruby nodded to him then scaled up to the highest point of the roof and began releasing arrows almost quicker than she thought was possible. Sure, there were a bunch of those creatures, but that didn't mean anything. Ruby could hold her own with her arrows and that was exactly what she was doing. Finally she had an area cleared around the trap door for the wolf and the human to come out of. All she needed was for them to actually appear. "Come on.... Come on!" She chanted quietly as she kept the arrow drawn all the way back to her cheek.

It had all been a bit of a blur. He'd been lying in a backyard, bleeding and hearing the onslaught of forsaken that would no doubt rip him limb from limb approaching. The first load of footsteps was enough to make him try and haul himself back to his paws, his legs protested and with a groan he flopped back down into the grass panting heavily, eyes drifting skyward. This was it then....this was how his story ended. Not with a bang but with a whimper,the Big Bad wolf unable to properly defend himself.... And why? He didn't know....couldn't remember. He closed his eyes before the first set of claws latched into his back, yanking and tugging at him. He sank his claws into the Earth, snarling before another set sank in just above his hind legs. They pulled hard, skin tearing and just like that they rolled the wolf over onto his back and pounced, biting and clawing at his exposed underbelly. Bigby snarled,trying to roll back before a swooshing noise filled the air and the forsaken was batted away. "Shoo raccoons....!" an old woman with thick glasses wielded a broom. "You leave this pup alone....go on! Get!" Bigby watched in awe as the forsaken fled before a wrinkly hand touched his head, drawing an involuntary snarl from him.

"There there, those nasty raccoons are gone now" Bigby was still looking around nervously, slowly trying to get to his paws. He realised the woman's sight wasn't that good,and for once this had worked in his favor. He whined and stumbled, vision swimming before he fell down again huffing and letting his ears lie against his head. "You're hurt....don't you worry. I may be old but when my son gets here he'll help get you inside...." her hand ran over his head gently,the rhythm more than enough to aid his descent into unconsciousness.

"Here we go Baxter. Some nice beef for you...." Bigby opened his eyes slowly, seeing a plate of freshly cooked beef slices placed infront of him. He looked to the woman, ears tugging forward Baxter? Was she serious? The woman's son had arrived late that afternoon and despite his snarling had carried him inside, laying him on the cushions the old woman had set up by her fireplace. His wounds had been seen to a little and during his conscious moments he had taken to.drawing his tongue over them.

The warmth of the fire soothed his aching body and the meat wasn't about to be rejected. Slowly he plucked a piece from the plate,chewing on it and wincing as the old woman's hand scratched behind his ears. "That's a good boy" she left him alone to eat,the wolf curling up comfortably when he'd finished, dozing off slowly. "Baxter....I have a surprise for you..." the woman's voice drew him from his sleep. Smacking his lips together he looked to her,yawning before feeling shaking hands move near his neck. He struggled briefly before feeling the collar pulled tight. "Shhh.Baxter....you look so dashing" Bigby was sat up, body shaking with over exertion before he felt her hand stroke over his head, scratching under his muzzle. His eyes closed happily, tail wagging involuntarily before he settled down, scowling at the fire. Was he actually enjoying this? Was he crazy? His head rested on his paws, eyes drifting to the old woman who was rocking beside him in her chair, knitting a scarf. "You've made me very happy Baxter...I've been alone for many years....too many" Bigby sighed You and me both.... He thought to himself before letting sleep wash over him.

The next couple of days he slowly began to heal. The old woman feeding him, brushing him and talking to no end. Unfortunately she had missed his best endeavours to tell her his largest wound was infected. Fever was setting in and it was when she brushed her hand over it.accidentally that he snapped and barked at her, getting him a newspaper hard across the muzzle. "Baxter! That's it, out. You Bad dog!" he was dragged by his collar, paws resisting, scratching against the floor before she forced him into the yard. He turned to watch as the door was closed and locked. "You can come in when you've calmed down" she said, leaving him alone.

Bigby walked slowly around the yard, ears pulled back. He couldn't climb the fence and he couldn't morph back. Pain seared through his wound making him bite back a howl. Hours passed and he was soon out cold, resting on his side.

He hadn't even realised he was being carried he was so out of it. It was only when Red tried to rouse him in her apartment that he finally woke. He grunted painfully, rolling to lay on his front, the scents and smells confusing him. "What... Where am I...?" he asked looking around, his dog tag jingling gently. Brown eyes settled on Red, confusion clouding them briefly. "Red...how'd you find me....how'd I get here?" he went to stand only to cry in pain. "The wound... On my side. It's infected...could you? I can't shift until it's clear of infection...." he said looking around slowly. His eyes glazed over in sadness. "Red....was there anyone around when you took me?" he asked, mind imaging that kind old woman crying out for her Baxter, sobbing... All alone in that house once more. He swallowed hard, setting his head on his paws sadly. "It doesn't matter...." he murmured, taking some comfort in the cold metal of his name tag pressing against his chest.