King George's Kingdom - Rose's & Aunts' Cabin - 5 Years BDC

[Hollywood Heidi]

Rose and her Aunts' Cabin

The home of Aurora, raised as Briar Rose, and the three fairies disguised as her peasant aunts. Hidden in the woods

Events occurring 5 years before Dark Curse

[Storyteller]

*Enters from Granny's and Red's Cottage*

***5 Years BDC***

The walk through the woods was just what Red needed. It was moments like these that she especially loved- the calm of nature. The sun shone through the branches of the tall trees above her head, casting little pools of light onto the forest floor. She smiled as she heard a rustle come from the underbrush, the tracks beside it marking it as a small rabbit. Probably a young one just starting to get it's footing all on its own. Red couldn't help but compare it's journey to herself. When the cabin came into view, Red kept as low as she could and crept over to the window that she knew to be Rose's. She waited a moment, listening for voices within that might signify that the aunts were also inside. When nothing came, Red knocked lightly and hoped that Rose would hear.

[Hollywood Heidi]

ROSE

Rose sat down at her dresser, cooing soothingly to the bird with the bandaged wing. She opened the cage door and gently ran the back of her fingers over the soft feathers of the bird's stomach. "What do you think, girl? Are you ready to fly again?" The bird chirped and turned her head to the side, observing Rose curiously.

A soft wrap at the her window set the bird to chirping and flapping her wings, the bandaged one moving awkwardly but strong. "Shh, it's okay girl." Rose's voice soothed the bird and she was once again eyeing her curiously and moving back and forth on her perch as if restless. "I think you're ready," she said as she closed the cage door and walked toward her window.

Rose slowly opened the window and looked down at Red, crouched beneath her window. This seemed to be a more recent habit of Red's; sneaking to her window instead of knocking at the front door. Rose folded her arms on the ledge as she whispered. "You sneaked out again, didn't you?"

[Storyteller]

"You sneaked out again, didn't you?"

Red didn't even bother to hide it. Rose would know if she lied. One of the cons- or perks, if you looked at it that way- of being friends for over ten years.

"I wouldn't have to sneak out if Granny didn't keep me cooped up," Red defended, "I'm nineteen years old, I'm old enough to decide if I want to go out or not." Red realized that she was on the verge of pouting, decidedly undermining that last statement, so she quickly toned down the dramatics. "Want to come out for a walk? It's beautiful out here!"

[Hollywood Heidi]

ROSE

She glanced over her shoulder, quickly forming a plan. "I'll be right out." Rose quietly closed and latched the window. She picked up the cage and headed for the main room.


"I'm going for a walk. She's ready to fly again," Rose said, gently lifting the cage and smiling at the bird within.

"Be careful and stay close to the cabin, child," Merryweather said.

"And be careful of strangers!" Flora added.

Always the same litany when she left the cabin. Rose recited the lines in her head the same time they'd said them. Fauna waited at the door, holding out Rose's cloak. Rose obligingly turned to allow Fauna to wrap the cloak over her shoulders and then turned back so Fauna could fasten it.

"It's a bit chilly out. Be sure to keep your cloak on." She pulled the hood over Rose's head and with a sly smile, quietly added, "And be sure Red keeps hers on as well."

Rose smiled. Fauna always seemed to know everything that was going on. "I will," she promised.

Rose headed out the door and toward the side of the house where she'd last seen Red, careful not to jostle the cage.

[Storyteller]

Red's face lit up as she spied the cage clutched in her friend's hand, "Her wing has mended?" She quickly strode over for a closer look. Indeed, the injured wing was no longer immobile and the little bird in the cage seemed in much better spirits than the poor creature had when Red last visited Rose. Almost as if she sensed that she would soon be regaining her freedom. "Let's take her to the stream! That seems like a nice spot to release her."

[Hollywood Heidi]

ROSE

"Her wing has mended?"

Rose gently lifted the cage so she and Red could have a better look. "Good as new," she smiled. "She has been pacing back and forth on her perch. She's anxious to fly again."


"Let's take her to the stream! That seems like a nice spot to release her."

"That is a wonderful idea!" Rose headed in the direction. "I believe I saw more of her kind near the stream. They could very well be her family."

Rose glanced over at Red as they walked into the trees. A part of her told her that she should not pry and should wait for Red to bring up the subject but a bigger part of her, the part that lived vicariously through Red, won out. "Have you seen Peter? Since... that night?"

[Storyteller]

"Have you seen Peter? Since... that night?"

Red felt her face inadvertently flush and a smile tug at her lips at the mention of Peter. He had been in her life for so long that now it felt only natural that their friendship...evolve into something deeper. "No. Granny's been keeping a close eye on me so I have not been able to get to the village. I'm lucky that I managed to sneak here," Red paused, a sly smile on her face as she knew that Rose would be closely following her every word if it was about her relationship with Peter, "But...he did write me a note! I found it on the chicken coop door when I went to collect the eggs yesterday morning." She could barely suppress the girlish giggle that escaped as she withdrew the piece of parchment from deep within her cloak. She had been giddy when she saw who had written it but even more so when she had read the message. She opened her mouth to read it out loud but pulled her eyes away from the parchment to send a teasing look at Rose, "I don't know...it is pretty private...maybe I shouldn't read it..."

[Hollywood Heidi]

ROSE

"No. Granny's been keeping a close eye on me so I have not been able to get to the village. I'm lucky that I managed to sneak here,"

Rose frowned. She could most definitely sympathize with that. Rose perked up at Red's next piece of information.


"But...he did write me a note! I found it on the chicken coop door when I went to collect the eggs yesterday morning."

Rose felt her heart flutter on behalf of her friend and a grin spread across her face as she watched Red pull a piece of parchment from her pocket. If just hearing about it and watching the emotions and feelings setting Red aglow was this exciting, Rose couldn't imagine how wonderful it must be to be the one personally going through this experience.


"I don't know...it is pretty private...maybe I shouldn't read it..."

She saw that mischievous twinkle in Red's eye and knew her friend was teasing her by prolonging the inevitable reading of the letter. "Oh, please do read it!" Rose pleaded excitedly, barely resisting a skip in her step when she remembered the cage she carried.

[Storyteller]

"Oh, please do read it!"

Red grinned at Rose's eagerness and sighed dramatically, "Oh, alright." She unfolded the parchment to read it, even though she already knew the words by heart.

"My dear Red," she began, "I'm not really much for letter writing, but I had to talk to you somehow. You have been on my mind ever since that night after the town meeting. I know we've been friends for so long but out there, by ourselves in the moonlight, things felt different. I don't know if you felt it too but if you did, meet me by the well in two days time. I'll be waiting there after dark and if you come, then I will know you feel the same. If not, well, just forget that I ever said anything. Yours always, Peter"

Red folded the parchment back up, placing it safely in her cloak. "I really think that he was about to kiss me before Granny walked in. If I didn't know any better, I'd swear that she did it on purpose. She has never liked Peter." Red frowned slightly. She didn't understand what Granny had against the boy. He had a good trade as the blacksmith's apprentice and had always been kind to the both of them. "I don't know what to do."

[Hollywood Heidi]

ROSE


Rose sighed dreamily as Red finished reading the letter.


"I really think that he was about to kiss me before Granny walked in. If I didn't know any better, I'd swear that she did it on purpose. She has never liked Peter."

"Perhaps it's not Peter she dislikes but the idea that she will be losing you to him."


"I don't know what to do."

Rose was a romantic dreamer so there was no question as to what Red should do. "Oh, you must meet him at the well! He will already have been waiting two days, knowing that you know how he feels. Think what that must be like." Rose quietly contemplated for a moment, making up her mind. "At the very least, you must write him in return. When the night arrives, I'll wait outside your window and if you cannot sneak away, I'll take him the letter."

It was the first time Rose had ever thought to disobey the most adamant rule of her aunts.

[Storyteller]

"Perhaps it's not Peter she dislikes but the idea that she will be losing you to him."

Red never thought of it that way before. Maybe Granny had seen something between them long before either of them had noticed?

"Oh, you must meet him at the well! He will already have been waiting two days, knowing that you know how he feels. Think what that must be like." "At the very least, you must write him in return. When the night arrives, I'll wait outside your window and if you cannot sneak away, I'll take him the letter."

Red gasped, clearly surprised, "Rose, I can't let you do that. What about your aunts? They would be furious if you met Peter. Even more so than they were when you brought home that flying squirrel and it escaped into the cabin." It was an incident that Red would not soon forget. She never knew that a human face could turn so many interesting shades of red and purple. "You are right though, I need to meet with him and tell him that I feel the same. If only I can leave the outer shutters of my bedroom open, sneaking out would be easy. But Granny has been checking them every night before we prepare the cottage for nightfall."

[Hollywood Heidi]

ROSE

"Rose, I can't let you do that. What about your aunts? They would be furious if you met Peter. Even more so than they were when you brought home that flying squirrel and it escaped into the cabin."

"If they found out, I'm sure they'd understand when I explained." The memory of the flying squirrel replayed in Rose's mind and she couldn't suppress the laugh that bubbled up. "Aunt Flora still insists that she'd been aiming for the squirrel when she'd hit Aunt Merryweather over the head with the broom." Rose shook her head. Those two were always bickering and finding sneaky but careful ways to attack each other. It wasn't out of hate, they just thrived on outsmarting each other.


"You are right though, I need to meet with him and tell him that I feel the same. If only I can leave the outer shutters of my bedroom open, sneaking out would be easy. But Granny has been checking them every night before we prepare the cottage for nightfall."

Rose considered Red's situation. She was right that her aunts would be furious if they found out she'd not only traveled outside the restricted areas but that she'd done so to meet a stranger. "I could wait outside and open the outer shutters when all is clear."

[Storyteller]

"If they found out, I'm sure they'd understand when I explained."

Red gave Rose a look that clearly said that she didn't think that Rose's aunts would have any sympathy for either of them. Rose would be breaking the biggest rule that her aunts' had all for the sake of helping Red break her own rules all in the name of what? An infatuation? She knew that whatever was between her and Peter felt much stronger than that, but she doubted that the aunts' or her Granny would see it as much more.

"I could wait outside and open the outer shutters when all is clear."

"Would you?" Red brightened and abruptly threw her arms around her friend, "Rose, that would be amazing. She always checks right before sundown. If you opened them just after dark, she would never know." As they continued, Peter's dark and handsome features came to mind. Red felt could feel the tinge of pink creeping into her cheeks at the thought of his arms, strong from working in the blacksmith's shop, holding her in the moonlight before they had been interrupted. She was so deep in thought that she barely noticed when they reached the stream, almost falling into the shallow body of water. Her blush deepened. It wasn't like her to be so unfocused out in the forest. "We're here," she announced unnecessarily, her face almost the color of her cape.

[Hollywood Heidi]

ROSE


"Would you?" "Rose, that would be amazing. She always checks right before sundown. If you opened them just after dark, she would never know."

Rose beamed at seeing Red so happy and hugged her back with her one free arm. "If you'd like to have a letter ready as a backup plan, my offer to deliver it still stands."


"We're here,"

Rose stopped near the stream and carefully placed the cage down, looking up just as Red nearly walked into the water. "Perhaps I should have warned you of that," she said giggling. Rose sighed. "I really do envy you, Red. It must be a wonderful feeling to be so in love you nearly walk into streams."

[Storyteller]

"Perhaps I should have warned you of that,"

Impossibly, Red's cheeks grew even brighter but she tempered it with a good natured grin, "That would have been helpful."

"I really do envy you, Red. It must be a wonderful feeling to be so in love you nearly walk into streams."

"It's..." Red paused, searching for the right words but finding none that fit. Instead, she tried a different approach, "My heart beats so hard that it hurts at just the thought of him. Like it needs to be as close to his as possible. My face grows warm, no matter what the air feels like. And when we're together, nothing else matters. The light around us lowers and in that moment we are the only two people in the world..." Red's voice trailed off as she looked at her friend, "I suppose it sounds ridiculous. It's so strange, I've never felt anything quite like it before."

[Hollywood Heidi]

ROSE

"It almost sounds as if you have an ailment," Rose giggled and then her face took on a dreamy look. "But it sounds wonderful."

The bird began chirping as if impatiently reminding her why they were there. Rose knelt down in front of the cage. "I haven't forgotten about you, little one." She began to hum as she opened the cage door. The bird quieted and stilled, watching Rose. She carefully unwrapped the bandage from the bird's wing. The bandage removed, Rose held her hand sideways and the bird hopped onto her finger. She carefully removed it from the cage and slowly stood up.

"Did you want to hold her?" She asked Red quietly before continuing to hum.

[Storyteller]

"It almost sounds as if you have an ailment," "But it sounds wonderful."

"It does, doesn't it?" Red giggled as well before continuing with a wistful sigh, "The most wonderful ailment of all, though."

"I haven't forgotten about you, little one."

"It always amazes me how you do that. They have so much trust in you," she shook her head, smiling. "You really do have a gift for it, Rose." Red took a step forward to get a better look but slowly so as not to startle the small bird. She curiously, if not cautiously, tilted her head and peered at Red from her perch on Rose's finger. "There doesn't seem to be any lasting effects on her wing."

"Did you want to hold her?"

"Me?" she squeaked in surprise, "I don't know Rose...I don't have the same talent that you do..." As much as Red enjoyed animals, they usually seemed to have a bit of an aversion to her- especially the smaller ones.

[Hollywood Heidi]

ROSE

Rose continued to hum as she gestured with her free hand for Red to come closer and put out her hand, palm up.

[Storyteller]

Red hesitated, not wanting to scare the poor thing. But she trusted Rose and if Rose thought that it would be fine, then she would give it a try. So she took a few more careful steps forward until she was less than an arm's length away and held out her hand like Rose had indicated.

[Hollywood Heidi]

ROSE

Rose reached into the bag in her pocket and pulled out some seeds, placing them in Red's palm. She slowly moved the bird next to Red's hand and after a moment's hesitation, the bird hopped onto Red's hand and began pecking at the seeds.

Rose smiled and spoke softly. "A little bribery never hurt."

[Storyteller]

"A little bribery never hurt."

Red laughed quietly, "Whatever works." To her amazement, the bird stayed on her palm even after the last of the tiny seeds were gobbled down. The way that her tiny eyes seemed to be looking right at Red was a little disconcerting. It was almost as if she could see something in Red that even Red didn't know about. Finally, with a little chirp, the bird flew up into the air and away towards the clouds.

[Hollywood Heidi]

Back at the cabin the next evening...

ROSE

Rose waited until the house was silent for a good while before quietly scooting out of bed. Her aunts would be in a deep enough sleep by now; at least she hoped. She quickly got dressed, careful to avoid the floorboards she knew creaked. She tied the cloak as she walked to the window and froze when the floorboard beneath her foot creaked. After several long minutes without hearing her aunts stir, Rose continued to the window, slowly swinging it open.

She boost herself onto the window sill and carefully turned, gathering up her skirts so she could more easily jump down without entangling her legs. Rose carefully swung the window closed, leaving it open about an inch so she'd be able to open it back up upon her return. She put up the hood of her cloak and took a shaky breath before heading in the direction of Red's cabin.


***Rose exits to Granny and Red's Cottage***

[Hollywood Heidi]

ROSE

Rose quietly closed the back door of the cabin and leaned back against it as she steadied her breathing.

"Rose, dear, is everything alright?"

Just when her heart rate had started to steady, right back up it went. She put her hand over her racing heart. "Oh, Aunt Fauna, you gave me a fright," she said. "There are people combing the woods--"

Aunt Merryweather chose that moment to turn the corner. "The woods! What were you doing in the woods? How many times must we tell you you are forbidden to--"

"--enter the woods around the time of the full moon," Rose interrupted, finishing the lecture she heard a dozen times a day when this time approached. "I know, Aunt Merryweather and I am sorry but I am unhurt and I was not seen." She pushed away from the door and made her way to the heart of the house where her third aunt was preparing supper.

"Rose went traipsing about in the woods." Aunt Merryweather was quick to tattle on her to Aunt Flora.

"Rose, how many times..."

Rose sighed as she drowned out the rest of the lecture. As soon as there was the slightest pause, she spoke up. "I heard them talking. There was a wolf attack last night. There were fatalities."

Her aunts exchanged looks, communicating in their own silent way which frustrated Rose. She'd never been able to crack the code of this silent language of theirs.

"Rose, dear, go on to your room and keep silent. I'll fetch you when supper is ready."

Rose's shoulders hunched in defeat. "Yes, Aunt Fauna."

~*~

Rose kept to her room switching between pacing and reading a book. More like staring at the same page of a book until she gave up and started pacing again. It felt like hours. She'd figured she had to stay hidden away in her room in case the search party showed up at their cabin inquiring about wolf sightings. But nobody came. For as long as she could remember, nobody ever came to their cabin, save for Red and on rare occasions, Red's grandmother. It's true that the cabin was tucked away but it was not so remote that people wouldn't stumble upon it. When she brought this oddity up to her aunts, they waved it away and smiled in amusement, telling her she had a fanciful imagination.

Rose hoped that Red would pay her a visit soon. If not today, then hopefully by tomorrow. She needed to calm her mind and since neither of them could ever get answers from their guardians, they worked together to try and figure them out.

Even though her aunts and Red's grandmother tried to keep the two of them from leaving their homes during the time of the full moon, they always managed to sneak away to visit each other.

[Storyteller]

Red couldn't find her footing, stumbling over her own feet as she and Mary rushed through the forest. Angry voices filled the freezing night air around them, the sound of men out for blood. The blood of the Wolf. Her blood. The once familiar trees were distorted as they ran between them, one terrifying hulking creature after another. Another wave of dizziness hit her and her knees buckled- Mary's arm fastened around her waist the only thing keeping her from collapsing to the ground. And Red knew that once she hit the ground, that would be the end. She didn't have the will to get back up again. 

"Just a little farther, Red." Mary's voice sounded in her ear but Red could barely hear it. Peter was dead. Her Peter. The strong, handsome blacksmith boy whom she had been planning to run away with not a day ago. And she had killed him. Bile rose in her throat at the thought. The image of severed, mangled limbs- disconnected from being the person they had once formed and covered in sticky, red gore- was all she could see whenever she closed her eyes. What had remained of her sweet boy.

The voices of the hunting party began to fade as Mary led her into a different part of the woods and a cabin came into view. Mary, still supporting the hysterical girl, began to frantically bang at the cabin door. She didn't know whom owned this cabin that Granny had sent her towards but she hoped that they could offer some form of protection. Red's hazy mind barely registered where they were as the door open.  

[Hollywood Heidi]

ROSE

Merryweather, Flora, and Fauna all stopped and looked at each other as they felt the intrusion of the magical barrier.

"It's Red," Fauna said, already heading for the door as the pounding started.

"Wait, there is another-" Flora began.

Merryweather waved her off. "She's with Red." They'd all felt the warning of an uninvited guest but if Red had brought a stranger to their cabin, it had to be an emergency.

Fauna opened the door. "Come in. Quickly now, my dears," she said, shooing them into the door. With a quick glance outside, she closed and locked the door.

Flora rushed to Red's other side to assist the dark-haired girl as Merryweather pulled out a chair at the kitchen table.

[Storyteller]

Snow gave a grateful look to the woman as she came to Red's side. She wasn't sure what else to do for the girl, who hadn't spoken anything other than nonsensical noises since they'd left, and in that respect the presence of these three women certainly set her mind at ease. But she was still a wanted fugitive and this was far removed from staying out of sight. 

"There was an...accident. A boy was killed. They're hunting for-"

"Me. They're hunting for me." Red looked up at the aunts with haunted, pain filled eyes that had once again found their lucidity. "I killed Peter. I...I'm the Wolf." As she stared at the aunts, she gave a jolt as her surroundings suddenly made sense. Her heartbeat quickened as fear set in. "I need to leave! You can't be near me-" She frantically stood, knocking the chair over in her haste to flee. 

[Hollywood Heidi]

ROSE

Fauna, always the most level-headed and comforting of the three, was quick to step in front of Red. She placed a calming hand on Red's shoulder, quite literally as she released a barely discernible tingle of calming magic. Just enough to calm the girl without giving anything away, though she could feel her sisters' disapproval all the same.

"As long as you're wearing this," she said, gently wrapping the ends of the red cloak tighter around Red, "everything will be alright."


~*~

At the sound of the pounding, Rose had pressed her ear up against her bedroom door, trying to discern who was out there. Was that Red? It sounded like her. She inched her door open just in time for Red's exclamation of having to leave and Rose rushed to the kitchen. Rose stopped short upon seeing the stranger she'd caught a glimpse of earlier.

"As long as you're wearing this," "everything will be alright."

Stranger forgotten, she looked at Aunt Fauna in confusion. "Her cloak?"

[Storyteller]

Red could sense her pulse slow as Aunt Fauna put a comforting hand on her shoulder. She stopped in her tracks, her mad dash toward the door abandoned in favor of taking a deep, shuddering breath.

"As long as you're wearing this, everything will be alright."

Both Red and Snow looked at the woman in alarm. Even more confusion clouded Red's mind. How did Aunt Fauna know about the cloak when she had only just learned about it herself? Did they-?

"Her cloak?" Unbeknownst to all of them, Rose had entered in time to hear Fauna's words. At the sight of her oldest and dearest friend, Red was torn between several reactions. Her first instinct was to throw herself into Rose's arms and just cry for everything that she had lost in just the short hours since she had last seen her. Her second was completely the opposite- to stay as far away as possible because now Red was dangerous and she couldn't risk it. Above all, she was scared of what Rose would think when she heard just what kind of monster had been in her presence all these years. But Red pushed all this aside to focus on the one thing that was quickly becoming clear.

"Aunt Fauna, how do you know about my cloak?" she asked in a soft, desperate voice. When silence came upon the room, her eyes darted between the three women she had come to consider family. There was something that they weren't telling her.

"You knew," It wasn't a question. Anger began to swell in her chest and her hands found the edge of the red fabric to pull it closer around her. This all could have been prevented. Peter, those men...they could have lived. Her voice rose, "This whole time, all of you knew what I was and no one thought to tell me?" 

[Hollywood Heidi]

ROSE

Quick to temper when anger was aimed at her, especially when she could see that she was in the wrong, Aunt Merryweather chimed in. "It was for your own good!"

Aunt Flora, who had also been in agreement with Red's grandmother back when the decision was made gave Merryweather's arm a warning squeeze as she shushed her. "Your grandmother wanted you to have a normal life."

"Whether we agreed with the decision or not, it was not our place to tell you," Aunt Fauna said sadly. She'd been the only one who had not been in agreement and had only given a weak protest when Red's grandmother had made her decision. As she'd said, it was not her place. Now she wished she'd voiced her protests.

Rose became frustrated as she became more lost with this conversation. She was missing something very important and seeing how much it was hurting Red made her angry. Red was like a sister to her and therefore, she felt betrayed that her aunts had kept some big secret from her as well.

Rose stormed to Red's side showing her full support. She glared down each of her aunts in a very rare show of anger directed at them. "Tell her what?!" she demanded. She took Red's hand and squeezed it, trying to convey that she was here for her no matter what.