Chapter 1: His new friend

Humans are cruel beings, that was a lesson he had learned in the harshest was possible. When they had tried to burn him alive for something that was out of his control, the cursed arm he was born with. The fire had somehow burned the rope first, with that small stroke of luck he had just managed to escape. His small body with short legs weren't very fast however, had the people not been as cowardly as they were cruel he would've been caught again.

He very well could've died that day.

He had escaped to London where his second hell began.

Time had slowly dissipated from his awareness, and before he knew it he was part of the circus doing jobs nobody else wanted to do.

Red loves working with the animals, they always treat him kindly and give him a feeling of warmth he usually never has. That damned clown Cosimo also never comes here, he convinced that animals are below him and that their presence will make him lower that he is. That bloody fool, even the stupidest of goats are smarter than he will ever be, he took such foolishness as a blessing, it gave him a small space of safety.

Red smirks and leans against the bars of the lion cage, the circus people had put hum there as 'punishment' for not cleaning the dishes properly. He had acted as though he was frightened of course, he doesn't want them to know that he was comfortable here.

After all, if they knew they would never let him back here, no, they would just find another way to make his life miserable.

Suddenly tired, Red moves over a little and snuggles into the old lions fur, a little nap couldn't hurt, right?

Under unseen watchful eyes Red falls asleep, a sleep much deeper that the child had planned. The owner of the bright silver caring eyes is very well aware of the dangers, thus it waits for the perfect moment. Scaring the child is the last thing the being wants to do.

Danger always comes when it is least expected, Red berates himself for being so careless when he got beaten right out of his peaceful rest, quite literally.

His sole companion, the old lion, is very quiet. Red isn't a fool and most defiantly not naïve, he knows why his old friend's so silent.

Yet he doesn't dare to look, the person who hit him has blood on his clothes and as far as he was aware, it isn't from himself. His inner turmoil goes ignored as the mindless beating continues.

His panicked mind jumps from one though to another rapidly and the world around him seems to slow momentarily.

'They killed him…'

'How dare they!'

'How could they!'

'His only friend…'

'Always warm…'

'…kind…'

Red could help but think that the lion was killed for the simple crime of being his friend.

When the bloodied person kicks him in the stomach, Red doesn't struggle.

His friend was killed, hurt for being something it wasn't, just like Red.

Hurt for things it didn't do, just like Red.

"Disgusting…!" the man yells, but Red couldn't bring himself to care nor listen.

Caught and locked up for being unusual, just like Red.

But at least he's already dead, he won't have to suffer anymore.

After a while the beating stops all of a sudden and Red can no longer hear the man, no, the murderer yell anymore. That monster probably left him there to die. But he couldn't bring himself to be angry, maybe he will see his friend again soon.

Red's vision starts to grow fuzzy and the last thing he sees is something large and white looming over him. For some strange reason, the beaten child doesn't feel scared at all.

He panics, the human child isn't moving, even after he scared the human male attacking him away. He whines, what if he's dead? He doesn't smell like death, but most don't only moments after they went.

He nudges the child with his cold nose and even though the child doesn't respond he is relieved, no he's still worried but at the very least he felt the child's soft almost non-existent breaths against his sensitive nose. However weak the human child is still alive.

He lifts the child gently by the scruff of his shirt and carefully puts him on his large back.

The rotten human thing might come back, and most defiantly doesn't want it anywhere near the fragile life laying on his back.

The first thing Red felt when he woke up is warmth, something soft and furry cushioning him. The sensation immediately makes him suspicious, the last thing he remembered was that he was left for death, bleeding out in the cold snow, something white had loomed over him before he passed out…

Large and white…

With a jolt Red sits up and whirls around to get a look on what exactly he had been laying on. The first thing that greets him are bright silver eyes staring at him in what looked like concern. This however, wasn't what caused Red to freeze, no what shocked Red to he core was the being the wondrous silver eyes belong to.

Large and with fur as white as snow, red markings covering his face and back, his left paw a shock of black. The being looked like a massive dog, yet totally unlike the silly tiny ones he saw at the circus from time to time.

After a moment of staring, Red looks down to see what was covering him. A long white brushy tail, one that without a doubt belongs to his unexpected saviour.

"You saved me…" Red managed to croak out as the massive white being rubs his furry head gently on his cheek in what could only be a comforting motion. Overcome with an emotion he hadn't felt in a long time Red sobs before latching onto the neck of his saviour.

He doesn't care what it is, for the first time in his short life Red feels safe.

It took a while before Red managed to calm down again, his companion patiently held him encircled in his soft warm fur.

Lost in his thoughts, Red could hardly believe what happened. First he loses the one thing he held dear and in the next moment he's safe and warm in the care of a being that could only exist in a myth.

He rubs his slightly warmer hands before casting another long look at the being that hadn't budged the entire time. "So what are you anyway?" Red asks his companion without expecting an answer, however to his surprise the massive white wolf responds by tilting head to the side, as if he's not sure. Red stutters for a moment before recovering "you understand me?". A cheerful bark and a grin was his answer, "That-that's amazing!" with a look of wonder only a child could posses he continues, "I can't believe I finally have someone to talk to! An actual friend!". He looks at his companion with an enthusiastic look on his face "even though you can't talk you can understand what I say!" 'That's the closest this to a human friend I'll probably ever get' he added silently.

As if he could read minds, the beast whines before nudging Red with his cold wet nose. "I'm okay!" Red squeaks, "…I'm fine". When is companion looks at him questioningly he ads, "I just… can you tell me your name" Red blurts out before he could think 'of course he can't, he can't even talk' he berates himself but his mind goes quiet when his companion reaches for a stick and starts to scribble in the snow with it. Slightly awkwardly with the stick lodges between sharp fangs he writes; A-L-L-E-N.

Red blinks in surprise, both at the fact that his new friend knew how to write and that he himself knew how to read. Yet even without any experience or memory of the strange stick like drawings in the snow, he could read it without ant trouble. "Your name is 'Allen'?" the newly named Allen beams, he looks positively ecstatic that Red understood. Red fidgets a bit uneasily under the beaming gaze before continuing, "I don't have a name but everybody calls me Red" 'Woof!' "Not that you can call me anything at all" Allen only smiles back.

"Where are we?" Red asks after settling down on Allen's warm fur again, he looks around as far as he could, a forest? At least none of the bloodthirsty town's people will find him here. When he turns back towards Allen he sees the white being stare at him mischievously. "Why are you looking at me like-" before Red could finish he is interrupted by his stomach growling loudly. Even worse, Allen seems to be grinning at him. "Ah shut it, I haven't eaten in ages" with that Allen's grin seemed to waver for a moment before returning at full force.

Red blinks in surprise when he was gently nudged away from his companion. When he was standing relatively steady, Allen got up. For the first time Red could truly see just how massive his new friend is, he stares at Allen with muted amazement as he had started to rummage trough the bushes. He couldn't help but snicker a little when started to mingle in with his surroundings, he started to look like a large snowy bush, only the bright red markings on his back giving him away. Red could vaguely make out his long brushy wagging with his enthusiasm.

Allen pops up after a while and Red's eyes widen comically in surprise when he saw the large woven basked filled to the brim with different types of food being presented to him.

"For me?" he whispers as Allen puts the basket down in front of him, Allen nods happily and without any further ado, Red digs in. He's amazed by all the things he comes across while eating; Apples, bread, carrots and even some cooked meat.

Red had never seen so much food in his entire short life, and Allen had given it all to him.

He could hardly believe his luck, so he doesn't. He eats the meat and some of the carrots and leaves the rest behind. When he sees Allen stare at him with a strange look in his eyes he decides to explain, "I want to safe some for later."

But Allen doesn't seem satisfied at all, he even seems to look solemn and worried. Though Allen cannot talk, his eyes speak for him, "you're still young" they say "And you're so small and fragile". Suddenly it hits Red, Allen is afraid he'll die. The realisation brought tears to his eyes, he's been with Allen for such a short time but his friend already cares for him so dearly.

He wipes his tears way with his dirty right hand, the left still unmoving, and blinks in surprise when Allen puts the basked with leftover food in front of him. As if he's telling him to just eat it, to trust him with providing food later.

After a moment of staring, Red nods with a shaky smile "Okay, I trust you".

When he started eating again, Red could have sworn that Allen was positively beaming with pride.

A/N:

(The formats on are really difficult, so I end up spamming line-breaks in order to make the story more readable. But it looks a bit weird)

I'm actually writing this story to practise smooth changes of perspective and writing closed endings, meaning that I want to make this feel like a series of one-shots in chronological order. This also makes it easier on me as well because I won't leave any poor readers dying in suspense. The next update is undecided though, for all I know it could end up like an actual one-shot...

Anyhow, I sincerely hope you enjoyed reading, until next time~

(whenever that may be...)