Ji Eun lost her voice when she came face to face with the cavernous creature. It was staring at her, its sharp fangs peeking slightly from its long jaw. The bunny hopped into her arms and hid behind her armpits. With her knees feeling weak and numb, she fell on the ground as the wolf slowly advanced by imperceptible degrees. She feebly crawled backwards and searched the area for something she could use to fend off the wild animal. Luckily, she found a turbid piece of wood. It was sharp, and sharp enough to pierce through flesh, she didn't intend to harm the wolf though. The wolf stopped coming closer when it noticed Ji Eun pointing the stick towards it. Somehow, it looked at her with melancholic eyes; those were not the eyes of an animal.

"S-Stay back!" she held the stick firmly with both hands. It stared at her in confusion, tilting its head sideways. Ji Eun was taken aback. It actually looked— cute. She also gaped deep into the wolf's yellow eyes. Those eyes were so beautiful, so hypnotizing that she almost drowned herself just by looking at them. Somehow it reminded her of something important, but her memory didn’t allow her from recalling it. That wolf looked akin to the one in the story book she read earlier and the one from her dream. Ji Eun laggardly stood up and reluctantly, she patted the wolf's head, testing if her assumption of it being harmless was correct. Late realization hit her when she unconsciously touched the wild animal. It closed its eyes and lowered its guard for it knew that the girl would do him no harm. She giggled under her breath, but fear was still present from her tremulous knees. "You're kind of gentle for a creature your size," she said. Noticing that the tension somehow softened, the bunny leaped out behind Ji Eun's arm and continued its hopping towards the path it was taking earlier. "Hey!" she called out. "Don't move!” She hollered at the hopping bunny, now half a mile away from her. She had no reason at all to make it stay; she didn’t even know why she wanted to follow it so bad. Something just compelled her to trail that crazy animal. Although the bunny was almost out of sight, she still jeered, “Stay still! Um...” And with the first thing that came to mind, she cried out with her loudest voice, “SIT!!!"

BOOM!

She was flabbergasted when the wolf, instead of the rabbit, suddenly succumbed wholly on the ground. It silently bellowed. The wolf then glanced above; Ji Eun was leering at him with a slightly disheveled face.

"What just happened?" she blinked. Out of embarrassment, the wolf concealed its visage with its giant paws and whimpered like a puppy. The amused girl laughed. "I really find it hard to believe that you're a wolf. Well, who cares where that bunny hopped off to? I'll keep you company big guy." As she her delicate fingers over the wolf's head, she noticed that it was wearing a large, black collar. "So you have an owner?" Katharina asked. The wolf nodded its head in reply. "Strange..." she said again.” Why can you understand what I'm saying?" She chortled and started scratching behind the wolf’s slender ears. Suddenly, the wind lavishly blew upon them and then the whispers embarked anew. When it passed by the wolf's visage, its ears quickly twitched. It immediately stood up and ran away. Ji Eun stood up as well and pursued after it. "Hey where are you going?” She convened. “Why do you animals just love to play chase?!"

When she finally found a path that led to a clear area, she gasped for air and perched breathlessly on the ground. Her energy was drained completely. Under the shade of two large trees, she decided to take a rest. She was still fanning herself with her hands when her eyes suddenly caught the most outlandish scene. On that area, she found three pigs, walking on their hind legs and constructing a house! She ducked and hid on the tree by reflexive impulse. She rubbed her eyes twice, thrice to make sure she wasn't just seeing things. The first pig was making a little house made out of hay, the second pig was making a house made of straw, and the third pig was making a house out of bricks. "This. Has. Got. To. Be. A dream." She articulated

Then she cited the three little pigs run inside their separate houses in haste. They looked terrified. Ji Eun continued spying on them from the tree and observed them more closely. And there, right in front of her very eyes, appeared a large wolf. It was also standing on its two hind legs, and its coat had a much darker colour compared to the other wolf earlier. It approached the first pig's house, the one made with hay, and when it opened its long jaw, a violent gust of wind poured out from its breath. It looked like a tornado. The house withered in two flat seconds and the pig inside it ran to the other pig's house of straws. The wolf did the same, and then the two pigs ran to the third pig's house made out of bricks. This time, when the wolf was about to open its mouth, another wolf appeared.  Ji Eun was sure that it was wolf she pampered earlier. The two wolves faced each other and growled, giving death glares to one another. It seemed like the first wolf wanted to destroy the pigs' house, and the second wolf wanted to protect them. She watched in intense repugnance as the two animals battled. Biting, scratching and tackling—it was inevitable that blood was spilled.

The wolf with the darker coat intended to blow its signature tornado breath, but the other wolf stopped it just in time by crushing its jaw with its bare paw. After a series of their turn of attacks, the battle finally ended. The victor was the good wolf, and the bad wolf fled, whimpering and heavily injured.

"Whoa," she almost applauded. She noticed that the wolf was badly injured as well; it may have lost too much blood because it was even staggering. She heard the pigs' screams— such vexatious screams. She was about to sprint towards the poor, injured wolf when suddenly, seven short men arrived. "Now what?!" She quickly ducked back behind the trees and shout-whispered to herself. The seven small men were armed; holding axes, spears and knives. They surrounded the wolf and they gave it intense stares. Realizing what they desired to do with the creature, the girl hurriedly hopped out of her hiding place and screamed, "NO!!!" she scampered towards the wolf and protectively wrapped her arms around its neck. "This wolf didn't do anything bad! He protected these little pigs; I saw them with my own eyes! Don't hurt him!" Her voice shrieked in both anger and fear. She just jumped in here without even thinking, and who knows? Maybe these men will kill her instead for interfering with their business.

The tiny men exchanged shocked expressions when they saw her appearing out of nowhere.

"Who might you be, miss?" The man wearing glasses politely asked.

"Stay away you troublesome wench! That monster you're protecting is dangerous you hear?! Now step aside, darn it!" The man beside him hollered.

She stubbornly stood tall and strongly defended the wolf. "Shut up you grumpy, little old geezer!" Then she faced the one wearing glasses. "If you want my name, it is Ji Eun IU Lee. Remember that name for it may be the last one you'll ever hear!"

“IU?” he wondered. “That sounds familiar…”

"What did you just say?! And who you callin' little?!" The grumpy man almost lost his temper. He tried to jump and pound Ji Eun but his tiny companions held his arms and covered his mouth, making his voice muffled and not very understandable. To think that he’d actually want to hit a girl.

"Sorry about this... Um... He's got some issues with people calling him 'little'," The man with the glasses said with an apologetic smile. He rubbed his small, dirty hands together and pushed his glasses above his nose. "Now as I was saying, why do you protect this beast?"

"He's no beast!" Ji Eun yelled. She got annoyed because she knew the wolf didn’t do anything wrong. It’s always the wolf getting blamed for everything—even if they are innocent; people kill them without a second thought. "There was another wolf here a while ago and it destroyed these pigs' houses! This wolf right here saved their lives!"

"I see," The little man replied, nodding his head.

"Pta!" The grumpy little man spitted. "Who cares?! A wolf's a wolf, and wolves do nothing but bring trouble to the forest! Nothin' but darn followers of that darn witch, darn it!"

“She’s also known as the Black Queen, Jessica.” Another little man said. He had sleep eyes and had just stretched his arms as he yawned once more.

"Witch? Black Queen?” Her brows knitted in confusion. “She’s African?" Ji Eun inquired. The grumpy man glowered at her.

"Ha-ha very funny.” He said with all the sarcasm he was able to muster. “That ol' witch lives on the castle on top of that spooky mountain! She controls the wolves and orders them to destroy the whole forest! Darn evil I say!"

A man turning red up until his ears stepped forward. "And miss, since you're so beautiful, she might want to get rid of you... So... So you better watch out..!" Ji Eun wasn’t convinced with their reasons. She looked at the wounded wolf beside her and caressed its head with her gentle hands. After clearing , she glared at the men one by one, glaring harder at the grumpy one. They all cringed with her intense look and took one tiny step back. They had no idea why they unconsciously did that.

“I don’t care about that. This big guy needs more help. Now if you’ll excuse me, er, gentlemen, I shall take my leave.” She said to them and aided the wolf back into the woods.