Tyger, Tyger burning bright, 

In the forest of the night. 

                       - The Tyger by William Blake

********

When Hazel and Amber had been summoned by Princess Snowflake, she had instantly known that a quest was approaching. As she reached Snowflake's tent , she saw the Huntsman and Ced standing outside.

"Wow, it's almost a double date." Hazel remarked, inviting confused glances from the three of them.

They were ushered into the tent by Edyta and Edina. Cindy and Hansel were already present inside. But Hazel was surprised to see Odette with them.

" Good Morning." the princess said , " I have important business to discuss with you. This is a matter of utmost importance and needs to be attended to urgently .The talismans , the magical objects on which the life force of this land depends on , have been stolen ."

" Who might be behind this ?" Ced asked.

" The imp." said Snowflake. "Rumplestiltskin. I want the five of you to retrieve the talismans from him."

"The five of us?" Ced asked.

"Odette will be joining you."

"Is that necessary?" Hazel asked, "I mean, Odette has only just recovered."

"It's not like her presence will improve our chances, anyway." the Huntsman muttered.

"Please, I insist. I can be of help." Odette said.

" Where is Rumplestiltskin ?" Ced asked.

" I don't know." Snowflake stated.

" A quest to nowhere ? " said Ced. 

" No. The Plum Thief...Prunella , she knows his location. You must find her."

"Flattery will be of much help to you , on this particular occasion ." , Hansel advised, "You must coax her into telling you."

" No problem." said the Huntsman , winking at Amber , who rolled her eyes.

" The imp is not to be underestimated. He is known to have a nasty reputation. You do not want to get tricked by the imp . Know that there is a high probability of this being the hardest mission of your lives . I am sending all of you on this quest , because each of you possesses something unique , that will be of help to you , along the way ."

" So when do we begin ?" asked Hazel .

" Now ." the princess answered .

They nodded.

" Remember." said Snowflake , " In the end , it is all about winning a deal ."

*******

Hazel stood at the rendezvous point , with a bag of necessary supplies slung over her shoulder. Ced was next to arrive.

"Who's getting the food?" he asked.

"Amber will be here any minute."

Ced nodded. There was a moment of awkward silence.

"Ced, about what happened in Neverland..." Hazel said, "I wanted to talk to you."

"Yes, I am aware."

"Why did you go on the quest with Hansel and Gretel without telling me?"

"It came up suddenly."

"Oh. Because it felt like you were trying to avoid me."

Ced sighed. "Well Hazel, that's exactly what I was trying to do."

Hazel was surprised at his upfront manner. "Wow. That's flattering."

Ced chuckled. "You know Hazel, I really caused you a great deal of trouble on the Neverland quest. I was completely out of sorts and said things that I did not mean, at least not the way I said them."

He seemed to be rambling, which was interesting to observe, considering her own reputation as the rambler.

"You were right to be worried about me, Hazel. I need time...to myself, to return to myself. Someday, I will muster enough strength to talk about this to you, at length, but I never meant to be hurtful, Haze. That's the last thing I would want to do to you."

Hazel was almost teary eyed. At a loss of words, she smiled and nodded at him.

"Did we miss a love confession here?" Amber said, as she and the Huntsman approached them.

"Someday, I will die, not because of the million dangerous situations I find myself in, but the massive headaches that faerie gives me." Ced remarked.

Hazel glared at him disapprovingly. As soon as Odette arrived, they set out on their quest.

*****

The journey had been surprisingly quiet. Odette was a woman of few words, who strongly believed in the power of monosyllables.

Amber wondered why someone as timid and gentle as Odette would volunteer to go on such a dangerous mission. Perhaps, she only wanted to pay them back in kind. After all, Amber knew a thing or two about not wanting to owe any favours.

" What are you day dreaming of , mademoiselle ?"

Amber titled her head to look at the Huntsman , his dark eyes , filled with amusement .

" I fancy it is me ." he continued.

" Fancy is all you can do , darling ." , Amber said , with a coy smile .

" Really ?" he said , sliding his fingers down her arm and taking her fingers in his grip .

She looked at him , not knowing how to respond . He gave her his cocky smirk and shrugged lightly.

At that moment, a loud bark was heard . Its screech filled her ears and made her bones shudder. Amber turned swiftly and saw her companions look at her with an equal amount of confusion. 

She noticed the black silhouette of a beast come into the scene.As it approached them , Amber realised that it was a dog. Amber might have petted her if she hadn't been so ...well , huge and aggressive . 

Their enemy did not believe in making a deceitful entry. It growled at them, challenging them.

Amber's impulse took over. She ran at the beast , with her dagger in her hand , planning to jab it in her abdomen . But the dog had estimated her move. It attacked first, its mighty claws slicing through Amber's upper arm , spilling a rivulet of faerie blood .

Amber heard a cry . " Am !!" Hazel said. She heard a loud rustle of footsteps on both sides. Her companions were running towards her and the predator's friend seemed to have joined her too.

" Am, you are bleeding like crazy. This might be highly infectious ." Hazel said , immense worry on her face.

Trust Hazel to panic in such situations . " I am absolutely fi..." , she began.

" Shut up ." , Hazel cut her off and then proceeded dragging her away to the side, while Ced and the Huntsman prepared to face the beasts.

They were halfway through , when Amber wriggled out of Hazel's grip and ran towards the battle scene . She needed to finish what she had started .

She heard Hazel following her , cursing simultaneously. However , Amber's way was blocked by Odette .

As Odette sprinted towards their attackers , Amber saw something her eyes refused to believe. For a moment , Amber had no doubt that she was hallucinating.

The lower half of Odette's body seemed to have caught fire.

As the Swan Queen ran forward , the orange seemed to spread upward and strokes of black were painted  upon a feline silhouette .

It all may sound pretty on paper , but to be brutally honest , it was a gruesome sight .

In place of Odette, stood a tigress . She glanced at Amber , with nothing of the Swan Queen's tender fragility in her eyes .

She was a huntress ; her gaze was bold and determined . 

She lunged forward , bloodlust welling up within her eyes . A fearsome growl escaped her . 

She planned to write a tale in red.

******** 

AUTHOR'S NOTE

And that's what you call a twist in the tale !