| three: damsel in distress |

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Leaning against the wall of the fancy kitchen wall, Red Hold and Carrot watched from behind as Woof was looking through the refrigerator in awe. After some questions and establishing a few things, Red Hood allowed Woof to fill the latter's empty stomach with food inside the refrigerator. Beside the human-sized wolf, Olcan was also pushing its face under his arm to take a glance at the food itself.

"Can I really take anything I want?" Woof's voice tinted hesitant, gazing over his furry shoulder. His eyes looked bigger as he practically was begging for food.

Red Hood closed his eyes as he crossed his arms.  He uttered, "I don't need to repeat myself."

"Why thank you, Missy," Woof replied excitedly, revealing his usual grin that showed his sharp teeth.

After gathering various meat type of food choices into his arms, Woof carried them all to follow Red Hood, who was heading towards the dinning room nearby. His jaw dropped at the sight of the luxurious room that had chandeliers, with the special-looking crafted furniture inside. Smiling childishly, he took a seat at the comfy chair that had cushions underneath.

Red Hood was already seated across the human-sized wolf, while Carrot hopped off his shoulder to rest on top of the tall chair. Olcan leisurely made its way below his feet that were off the ground, curling up to seemingly snooze off. Observing Woof who was in the middle of scarfing down the dozens of meat, he placed his chin on his palm and rested his elbow on the dinner table.

Woof claimed he was the person that the former was looking for, the person that the former's ancestors had been searching for generations. He was the 'chosen one' for unknown reasons, which sounded quite phony to his ears. Besides that, Woof had sworn to him soon after that he would be protected under the human-sized wolf's care. Knowing himself, he was not one to give in to things so easily.

The only reason he took the human-sized wolf willingly because Olcan had sniffed thoroughly for any signs of the humam-sized wolf being any threatening. Olcan was gifted into sensing certain details the average human was not able to, for instance it could tell through smell and body-language if someone had any dangerous intention towards its master.

He received no negative response, which left him to wonder why was this human-sized wolf was not with the said wolf's pack. Not only was there no hostility when they first met, he learned that he was somehow known amongst the other wolves too. It was best for Woof to stay for a while, so that Red Hood could study a bit more about the former.

It could had been the posters hanging around the streets with the bounty on his head. However, wolves such as Woof wouldn't be very interested in the green piece of paper humans craved for. Somehow, he felt that these wolves desired more far fetch than that. He controlled himself from shuddering at that thought.

What intrigued him was how earnest Woof looked. He couldn't particularly read if this was pure honesty written on the human-sized wolf's face. Although the said wolf could be an almost excellent liar, he wasn't the quickest to be convinced.

Honestly, one couldn't blame him for thinking of the latter in such light. He also wanted to see Woof in certain situations that could get him to divulge the human-sized wolf's true colours and intentions. To the said wolf, this could be high possibility of being a bluff to lure him.

While the human-sized wolf blissfully stuffed his face with the high-quality food, a wicked plan was playing in Red Hood's mind. Here in Pledic, trust was an issue. Even the royal family had their own share of betrayal. It was everyman for himself, a war zone that had several deaths throughout the year.

Death was part of the norm ㅡ or part of everyone's lives to be specific ㅡ whether it was something a folk would like or not. Red Hood was about to test Woof's loyalty, which would finally bring him the decision to dispose of the human-sized creature or not. Mercy wasn't an option to be displayed either.

"I haven't eaten meat for days. This is so good," Woof mumbled in between bites. His face lit up with his unique smile."You're too kind, Missy."

"Enjoy your meal, Woof," Red Hood deadpanned. It would probably be Woof's last.

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Usually, his daily stroll would go by much more smoothly, however he had a little extra weight to drag along today. After he had patched up Feather, he brought the drone with him in secret. Feather was flying from above and blending with the other pigeons, checking if the oblivious Woof was still following him from the shadows as he had commanded the said wolf to do.

Glancing back from his monitor wristwatch, his fingers were touching the pistol on his belt lightly in case of any assaults were to occur midway. The crowd split into half, letting him go through without hindrance. His silk hood was up, however he had a feeling people around him could sense the blank look on his face.

It was a rather poor section of the kingdom, where these folks had little number of street gangs of their own. The buildings were near to collapsing, and the people were defenseless with their rags as clothes. The blunt wooden sticks in their hands were their only weapons. In spite so, the staring of a gang couldn't be shaken off from his chest.

Pledic didn't had an offical police force, unlike other countries or kingdoms. All they had was musketeers for the royal family, consisting mainly of the rich folks' blood-line. Not all musketeers were loyal protectors though.

Middle-class folks and the poor had to protect themselves by being apart of gangs, but the joining part itself was a difficult process which was directly linked with life-or-death situations. Even after their traditional initiations, there was no guarantee that they would be one hundred percent safe. Hence, most people like Red Hood would go solo but not all could survive on their own.

He had arranged a meeting with the Thunder Strike. The Thunder Strike was a small gang that wasn't superior in every other areas. In fact, they were one of the weakest kind. Although they were known to be at their strongest in the area he was in, he wasn't really fazed by that fact.

Arriving at the isolated alley they had agreed to meet, he stepped in fearlessly. Sure enough, he was surrounded by the Thunder Strike members once he was in the center of the alley. Revealing themselves from the shadows, they wasted no time to cover up all the possible exits they would think off. Red Hood only eyed them with his arms crossed.

"Do you have what you promised?" the one in front of him started off. Each Thunder Strike member had their faces unseen behind black masks, ones that ninjas would wear.

Red Hood hummed, snapping his fingers. After a few moments, Woof then had done parkour to get down the building to land beside him. His ears could pick up the faint murmurs of astonishment and bewilderment. The same Thunder Strike member hushed them all to silent, before facing him once more.

Red Hood felt Woof's questioning gaze shift onto him, but he replied, "Where's your share, Thunder Strike, or has there been a change in plans with the sudden collaboration?"

"Sharp as ever, Little Red Riding Hood, but even you and your wolf partner can't defeat us with our numbers," the person spoke out proudly. Red Hood felt the smirk behind the person's mask."We can't kept the end of our bargain fully, so I hope you don't mind more company."

"Why am I not surprise?" Red Hood retorted in a dull tone, watching as the Thunder Strike members pull our their distinct type of swords. In the corner of his eyes, another gang came out of the shadows at the end of the alley, armed with guns.

That would be the Storm Cloud gang, which was considered to be a sibling gang of the Thunder Strike. Both of the gangs' leaders were actual biological siblings that were the few to had stayed together since they were young. In spite so, Storm Cloud were much more powerful as they were larger in number and had more access to better weapons.

Even so, they were known for their frequent collaborations that gangs were known to rarely had. It was the advantage of their leaders being related. While the Thunder Strike specialised in swords and dressed in black masks, the Storm Cloud were more into firearms and white masks.

Although, Cloud Storm was extremely popular due to their various attempts on capturing Red Hood alive, for some reason. They had tried several methods such as trying to sneak into his house, trying to smuggle him on the streets and just leading him to traps. All efforts were in vain as Red Hood had turned the tables on them at every time.

This was most likely one of their attempts again.

"Stay back, Missy! I'll protect you from these thirsty men," Woof exclaimed out, switching places so that he was standing in front of Red Hood with his arms out. Behind his back, he didn't notice that he had gotten an eye roll.

The leader figure of the Storm Cloud didn't bother with Woof and pulled the trigger to his AA-12 on. He then shouted out, "Get Red Hood!"

The Thunder Strike charged the two at one go, while the Storm Cloud fired their guns at them. Before damage was done, Red Hood had swiftly grabbed Woof by the back of the human-sized wolf's fur and roughly dragged him along. He pulled out his pistol from his belt and instantly shot down the Thunder Strike members that were blocking the exit one by one. Screams could be heard from outside the alley.

Using the same hand which held the pistol, he managed to grab hold of a katana that a Thunder Strike member dropped on the way out of the alley.  Pressing his back against the wall besides the alley, he watched as the streets were filled with folks fleeing from the area into their respective homes or somewhere far away as they were fully aware of the situation in hand. Pushing Woof away to the side and dropping the katana to his feet, he peeked at the alley to take multiple shots before hitting his back against the wall again.

Taking out another pistol from his belt, he shot half of the Thunder Strike and a few Storm Cloud members by the head soon after with his dual pistols. The alley was decorated with the familiar crimson liquid dripping on the walls, while the area's cringing scent of iron filled their nostrils.

The rest retreated to take cover behind the large trash containers, poking their heads out to take the occasional shot. Red Hood didn't get any major damage, but he hissed under his breathe when his check grazed against a bullet, leaving a straight-lined scratch. He gladly exchanged the gesture with his shooter by sending a shot to the head.

Glancing a quick look at Woof, he let out a sigh. The said wolf wasn't doing better than he was. He noticed it back there, where he heard a barely audible yelp.

"It seems like I'll be the one to protect you at this rate," Red Hood muttered loud enough for Woof, who was holding onto his bleeding thigh, to hear. He carried on to shot down a couple more Thunder Strike members.

Woof had his ears and tail down in unadulterated disappointment. Ashamed at himself, he squeaked out, "Sorry."

"I need to reload soon. I'm losing too much bullets," Red Hood grumbled under his breathe. In spite so, he wouldn't had much time since he had to continuously fire at these gang members.

Red Hood took another look at the alley to see the remaining Thunder Strike members charging straight at them. He aimed at them, firing his leftover bullets at them. Although before he could shot down the last Thunder Strike member, his pistols had already ran out of bullets. Hastily, he jerked out of the way and hit his back against the ground to avoid the Thunder Strike that had tried to stab him.

The Thunder Strike then raised his sword, towering the fallen Red Hood who face backed stoically. He already positioned his foot to kick the spot where the sun doesn't shine. The two couldn't react in time before the Thunder Strike was brutally stabbed on the head.

Crimson blood splattered all over Red Hood's clothes and slightly on his pale face underneath his hood. Before the lifeless body could fall on top of him, he watched as the body was punched harshly until it was flung backwards. Instantly, he looked up behind him to face Woof.

Woof was panting heavily with the katana Red Hood acquired up high in his hand, the same liquid staining his brown-ish grey fur. If one could look closely, his pupils were constricted, with his sharp teeth showing. He looked like he was about to bite off anyone's head at the moment. Despite so, his eyes softened when he saw Red Hood's blank stare.

Red Hood didn't put what happened much into mind, noticing the battle scene had become quieter. Pushing himself up into a sitting position, he retrieved his dropped pistols. Reloading both pistols, he exchanged glances with Woof who nodded.

Peeking his head in, the living Storm Cloud's heads were not seen poking out from behind the trash containers. He hastily rolled over to the other side, getting into a kneeled-down stance. Tightening his grasp onto his pistols, he picked up on the sight of Woof's growing smile.

Not too soon, the Storm Cloud members had popped out of their hiding place and fired all at once. Red Hood managed to take cover along with Woof. A second after they stopped, he promptly shot down the Storm Cloud one by one, while the human-sized wolf conjured up the rest of his adrenaline to flung the katana right at them in a vertical manner.

The katana managed to slice right through two heads, leaving the rest for Red Hood to shot when they were still shocked. Woof only observed from the side, since he was rendered almost immobile and was weaponless. However, he did had the chance to admire how skillful Red Hood was.

Soon, the gang members were lifeless with their blood overflowing out of their bodies from either bullets or due to the katana blade. Red Hood took the risk and went in the alley himself to check for any members left alive. After confirming that they had all crossed the living borders to the afterlife gates, he released a deep breath before leaning against the wall. He then slid down to the ground.

Red Hood's arms fell to his sides, after placing his pistols back slowly onto his belt. His pants were soft and controlled. With his racing heart calmed after all that excitement, he watched from the corner of his eye as Woof limped towards him. Woof halted in front of him, before crouching down to his eye level.

A grin danced across his face as he offered his handㅡ or rather paw ㅡ like a gentleman. He commented, "You're certainly not a damsel in distress. That makes my job really hard, Missy."

"I take matters into my own hands, Woof. I don't need anyone to save me," Red Hood bluntly ejected to that, pushing Woof's paw aside. He rose onto his own two feets, sighing."Let's go back. I'm sure you have a lot of questions."

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"So, the plan was originally that you hand me over to the Thunder Strike, while they give you access to the Storm Cloud's base or something like that?" Woof echoed with his paw rubbing his chin, sitting comfortably in Red Hood's Gucci couch.

Red Hood, who was bandaging up Woof's leg, only hummed in response. He shot back while his eyes were still on his tools,"You're surprisingly not ignited at the presence of your betrayer."

"If you wanted to betray me, you could had left me in that alley to die and not drag me out in the first place. That's why I asked what was your original plan but you said to tell you what I thought it was," Woof pointed out, chuckling.

Woof petted Olcan, who was seated besides him as it watched them with its full attention. Olcan was a great companion, even though it didn't talk. It looked very familiar to home for him. His relaxed expression turned into a hard one as his eyes landed on Red Hood's shoulder. Now, there was one drone he most likely couldn't get along with.

Woof groaned, "Stop glaring at me, you rabbit."

Carrot was resting on top of Red Hood's shoulder the whole time the latter was patching the human-sized wolf up, and it didn't stop narrowing its eyes at Woof with its fangs out. It was obvious who Carrot was blaming for the bullet cut Red Hood had on his cheek. In its mind, Red Hood must had gotten it from shielding Woof.

Red Hood was one to rarely get injured even in battles such as the previous after all, but that was because he was alone during those operations. He didn't actually thought of accusing Woof though, if anything, he wasn't mentally prepared to bring the inexperienced. Despite so, Carrot didn't share that thought with him.

Woof had explained earlier that he was an experienced fighter. Red Hood pushed past the probability of Woof meaning 'street fights' in Pledic's term. Sighing, he got up from his crouching position. He should polish up on his prediction skills.

Taking a seat a bit far from Woof, he pulled the rabbit drone towards his face. He nuzzled his nose tenderly against its, pacifying the white fur ball in his hands. The drone's eyes met his, and it placed its paw gently on top of the maroon-coloured bandage on his cheek instead. It then rubbed its nose against his wound carefully.

Placing the rabbit drone back onto his shoulder, he glanced over to the side to see Woof and Olcan staring at them. The two were practically pouting at him. Carrot hissed at them with its teensy arms crossed, earning itself an unusual harsh nudge by Olcan's nose.

Red Hold titled his head and muttered to Woof, "What are you looking at?"

Averting his eyes towards Carrot, then Olcan, Woof met Red Hood's aevo blue eyes again. He jokingly answered,  "I'm somehow jealous with how you treat your critters. Even Olcan seems jealous of that rabbit."

"Anyway," Red Hood brought up a new topic after rolling his eyes at Woof. He continued, "I wanted to give you a little push to see how far your loyalty was and I had no intention to trade you with them. I knew they would be in cahoots with the Storm Cloud gang, so I knew it was just fair if I didn't really traded you."

"I see. I see. I proved to you that I am indeed loyal by saving your life. So, what did you wanted from these Storm Clouds and what did they want from me?" Woof shot more quarries.

"As if," Red Hood muttered to himself. Facing Woof, he added on, "The Thunder Strikes saw sightings on wolves from your pack, so I wanted to test them out with their reactions when they'd see you. I offered them a real life human-sized wolf, in exchange they'd give me the access to Storm Cloud's base as you said."

"Why would you need access to their base?" Woof questioned, scrunched his triangular-like nose as he blinked in a puzzled manner at Red Hood's serious expression.

Red Hood only reacted with straight face, "I don't."

"You what whaat?"  Woof blurted out. In his mind's baffled state, he only gazed at Red Hood. "Then, why did you ask for that trade?"

"I just needed to lure them out," Red Hood answered. Holding out a white card that had an apple in the center, he went on, "for this. According to my observation, the Storm Cloud was given a pass by the original owner of this card. My drone snatched it from the leader figure while they were attacking us."

"You truly are not one to mess with," was the only response Woof could come up with.

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