She who's always Red

[SP] The Wolf Pack is a team of witch hunters tracking down the courier known as “Red” hoping to intercept her before she can make the handoff to “Grandmother” aka Baba Yaga.

"Be careful of the one that wears the red cloak"

Those words had been a common warning in Gouthmore.

"For a trail of red would follow paths she walks"

Often was it used as tales to scare off children that would come out at night.

"Ever beautiful, Ever radiant as she appears during the full moon"

Especially during a full moon, word of her hunt and the number of families she had slaughtered soon came to surface, even the talk of the village when the full moon was fast approaching. During those times, it had become a habit for the entire village to not dare leave any door nor window open. For if "Red" sees even the smallest of openings, they would be the next victim of her hunt.

Tales say that she wasn't the only one that benefits from her hunt, but also her grandmother that had turned her... into the creature she had become.

Baba yaga, the most powerful enchantress that resided in the forests that surrounded Gouthmore. She was as mysterious a figure as her granddaughter, Red. Nobody dared enter those woods alone, much more to even attempt to cross the bridge that lead to the forests' entrance. It had always been heavily guarded except for the nights when Red would make her timely delivery to Baba Yaga. those were the only times the bridge would seem abandoned.

For what seemed like decades, it seemed the village knew nothing but fear. Fear to leave any openings in their homes, fear that Red might be following them at any moment, Fear that maybe Baba yaga would finally make her move after teh decline in slaughters that occurred in the village. It was only a matter of time, after all.

The village was running out of options after 60 years since Red made her appearance in the village. Various protection rituals were researched, various priests and adventurers were called in hopes of dispelling whatever curse had afflicted red but none seemed to work.

Villagers who had the capability to leave to look for help did so. Any help was much appreciated but after their 60 years, the village had fell into ruin. Hope was dwindling.

Any attempt to relieve the village from its fear had seemed utterly useless after having lost so many of their own. Even after the arrival of a strange group, not one batted an eye at their direction

"Are you travelers, by any chance? It's best you don't stay here for so long" The Village elder had offered as she guided them to an inn where they could potentially stay in but unbeknownst to them, the travelers were much more dangerous than they seemed to be.

The room the travelers were given was barely visited, per their request. the villagers never bothered with what happened behind closed doors but if they could only see the amount of maps and magical equipment that laid across the room, all for the sake of taking down Red.

"When is the next full moon?" The eldest in the group had asked as she checked the globe one of her companions was holding

"2 days from now. We need to make preparations the soonest" The group all gazed down at the globe before nodding to themselves

"One group will be in charge of gathering intel. Kate, Mae, Lara. You guys up for the challenge?" With the mention of their names, each stood, a wide grin plastered across their lips and without much words, they were out the door.

It was only the Eldest and the one holding the globe left. "So we finally found the woman that killed our poor Rosa all those years ago" With a deep sigh, she pulled out a map that showed the location of each of her teammates and the location where Red would appear in two days time.

"What do we do with her and Baba Yaga when we capture them?"

"We'll have to rip them piece by piece like what they did to Rosa, burn them both and make sure no part remains else she would never get to rest" It was Mina's turn to nod as she got up from her seat to gather the weapons they would be needing for their hunt.

That evening, nothing but frustrated groans and whines erupted from their room with the lack of intel that could be gathered. Only the words

"Be careful of the one that wears the red cloak

For a trail of red would follow paths she walks

Ever beautiful, Ever radiant as she appears during the full moon"

Could be given to them but other than that and the panicked expressions, the village was rather hopeless

"We'll have to take this into our own hands now" Was the only thing the elder could say before she had dismissed the meeting in favor of rest. It was the only thing they could do in the case.

The night of the full moon came, the night she would appear and the night they were the most powerful. The timing was beyond perfect.

Black smoke clouded the room and in a matter of minutes, howls could be heard instead of human voices. No time was wasted. As soon as their transformation was completed, they all leapt out the window and ran to the spot where they predicted Red would appear. And there she was, shrouded in her own cloud of smoke that looked all too similar to their own ways of shapeshifting into wolves and it only angered them to now end.

All at once they attacked but Red was fast, she had made a run for it into the forest where Baba yaga would be awaiting her return.

"Get her!" They shouted in unison as they all bounded towards the forest. Each ran as fast as they could but Red was faster

"She's close- Quick, the traps" That was the moment the wolves had separated, each going off a different direction. Explosions set off one by one. The ground shook and various amounts of elemental materials came rushing towards Red. And as much as she had tried to outrun them, she was eventually caught by one of the branches they had manipulated

"She's caught!" Lara was the proud one that howled as the others rushed to Red that was entangled in vines and branches. Each one of them had taken a limb into their mouth and at the signal, they tore her limb from limb. Pained cries erupted from the forest that night and each limb, they made sure to carry to Baba yaga's house that rested in the heart of the forest.

They each threw the limb that they had taken at the door of said cottage and with a tap of the eldest's paw, the house was set ablaze with flames that engulfed the house. They had managed to avenge their beloved Rosa. Never will their sacred powers ever be used to instill fear again. Now they can all rest easy with the disappearance of the cursed enchantress.

So now that I've warmed up a bit, I can go back to the series I was working on UwU