ALICE in Wonderland • Started by Skye
"Welcome to Wonderland."
STORY-BOOK
- Spoiler:
- INTRODUCTION
Alice stared down at the paper in front of her in dismay. It was her latest math exam and it was not at all good. She groaned in agony and put her forehead in her palms, wondering what her mother was going to say when she saw this new grade.
“Hey Alligator, what’s wrong?” The boy behind her sneered. Alice rolled her eyes and sighed in frustration at the mocking nickname that was the target of most of the teasing she has gotten throughout her life. They didn’t seem to care that it was her 16th birthday; every day to them was another opportunity to make her feel misery and give them some sort of gratification. The bell rang for the end of the day, and Alice let out a sigh of relief as she stood, quickly walking with the other students out of the classroom.
“Remember students, tomorrow is the start of the next unit! Be sure to take good notes.” said the teacher quickly as the students scrambled out to catch the buses for going home.
Once out of the classroom, Alice walked leisurely down the hall as the other students ran past her trying to get to their buses. She didn’t have to worry about missing any buses as she always walked home because she lived within a fair distance of the school and on nice days like this it was nice to just walk at her own pace.
Alice walked out the school doors and up the sidewalk leading to the neighbourhoods that surrounded the building. As she was passing a house, she paused at the smell of smoke filling her nose. It seemed to be that an abandoned house had been burned down at some point during that day and all that remained now were the blackened ashes of its structure. She started walking, but paused again when she heard a strange bird call. She was used to hearing birds constantly around this area, but this one seemed different. She looked around to see a little splash of colour among the black ash of the house and curiously walked over, shocked when she saw a Raven sitting on the ground, tilting its head at her curiously.
“Oh, hello. I wonder how you got here...Did you get out of someone’s house?” Alice smiled at the bird, kneeling down in front of it. “House?” said the Raven in a copied normal bird-like voice parrots used to imitate humans. “Oh, you talk?” Alice smiled. She has always loved animals especially birds, and was amazed how they could imitate humans so well that it seemed like they could talk. The raven seemed to nod and flapped its wings, hopping a bit closer and looking up at her. “Hello!” said the Raven. “Hello.” Alice said back with a surprised giggle. “Should we go searching around for your owner? I’m sure they’re missing you.”
“Searching, searching!” yelled the Raven. It looked up at her again as Alice looked over, seeing a local car pass by. "Oh dear." she said hoping she wouldn’t get in trouble for getting so close to the burned down house. The raven flapped its great wings and landed on her shoulder. Alice laughed as the bird continued to nod, shifting from foot to foot as he did so. “Alright then, let’s ask around to see if anyone close by is looking for you.” Alice stood up to start asking around about the Raven but it flew off it a different direction. "Hey!" Alice yelled. Alice sighed as she started walking home.
Alice walked into her room, watching out the window as the bird flew into the distance. "I hope you'll be alright, Raven." She said, drifting off to sleep for a couple of hours... “Wake up, wake up!” Alice heard, sitting up slowly. “They’ve found you, they've found us! You have to wake up! We have to go!” She sat up and looked around the room to see the Raven flying around her ceiling, squawking in warning, before calming down and flying to the bed. The Raven flapped his wings in front of her to fasten her wake. “We have to leave; we have to go before they get to you! I know where to go, but hurry! We have to go now!” The Raven said in his normal parrot-like voice. “I must be dreaming... Are you talking?” Alice rubbed her drowsy eyes as the Raven squawked angrily. “Get up, get up! Talk later, we have to go!” The Raven flew over to the window and let out a terrified screech when red eyes appeared on the other side of the window. “Hide, hide! They are here!”
“What, who’s here? What’s going on?” Alice watched the Raven fly frantically around the room. “The Reds have found us! We must get you back home before they capture us!” He yelled while flying in circles. “Hurry, hurry!” Alice didn’t know what was going on, but she stood up as quickly as she could. “Just be quiet! We can’t wake my mother; she’ll wonder what's going on. Wait- this is a dream, why does it matter?” “We'll be quiet, do not worry. Follow!” the Raven swooped down the stairs wanting Alice to follow. “Alright, alright. Where are we going?” Alice whispered as she crept down the hall. “The park.” Raven whispered back. Alice walked out the door, closing it softly behind her then started running down the sidewalk, with Raven flying beside her. Raven took to the air, flapping ahead of Alice as she continued running towards the park. She heard a loud growl and looked behind her to see a large creature running behind her with red eyes glowing in the night. She let out a shriek of fear and started running faster, gasping for breath as she saw the park in view. She ran into the park, looking around for the Raven who had disappeared. “Raven?!” She gasped for breath as he flew beside her. “We must take you to Wonderland. Trust me, it will be safer there, and the others will protect you.” Raven said, flying past Alice to the back of the park. Alice let out a yell of fear as the creature tackled her to the ground, its large jaws clamping shut just inches from her face.
“Let her go!” Raven yelled, swooping down and ravaging the creature's face with his claws. The creature growled and swiped at him, missing by inches as the Raven flew away. He passed Alice, trilling with excitement as he saw her pick up a large broken branch, holding it like a baseball bat while the midnight beast charged her again. She swung the branch as hard as she could, clobbering the creature on the side of the head so that it fell to the ground dazed, but not dead. “Hurry, hurry! We have to get to Wonderland!” Raven squawked, flying onward toward the back of the park.
Alice followed Raven to the back of the park, avoiding the creatures that tried to bite at her feet again. “Please, please tell me what’s going on! Why are these things all attacking me?” She yelled, as a creature's claws dug into one of her heels.
“Later! We have to find the door.” Raven looked around, flying all through the park. He squawked happily when he spotted a carved door behind some overgrown ivy.
“Found it, found it!” He yelled. Alice followed the Raven over to the door. “What a strange door... Why is this here?” She looked at the carvings on the door of different animals all in some sort of battle with each other.
“It’s the door to Wonderland. Open it, and go through! Hurry before those creatures come back!” Raven flapped his wings frantically as Alice opened the door. "What is your name?" she asked curiously. "Call me Dante! I'll be watching you Alice; Dante is always watching. Just hurry!" Dante pushed her in with his claws before flying in after her, with the door shutting behind them on its own.
THE DOOR TO WONDERLAND
Bright lights filled Alice’s vision to the point of blindness as she tried to keep herself awake. She tried to figure out where she was and make out what she was coming to, but everything was a blur. She noticed book-shelves and pictures upon pegs but everything came to a complete blur very quickly. She had the strangest sensation of stretching boggling in her mind until she heard Dante’s pained squawks close nearby and then finally lost consciousness as everything seemed to suddenly stop.
“Alice, wake up.” A smooth male voice broke the silence in her mind, making Alice move restlessly. She felt confused as it didn’t sound familiar. “Come on, wake up. We have to get moving.” The voice said more urgently. “Listen to me; they are still coming, and I don’t know how long it‘s going to take for them to get here.” “Who... Who are you?” She mumbled as her head throbbed in pain. She soon realized that someone was holding her in a sitting position with large, strong hands easily holding her up. Alice quickly opened her eyes wide and froze when she saw a set of concerned deep blue eyes staring back at her.
“Ah fantastic, you’re alright.” He sighed in relief. “I am terribly sorry; I didn’t know that would be so traumatic for you. I really didn’t mean for all of this to happen the way it has.” The male looked to the ground as if he was angry at himself, then he looked back up to Alice. “Are you at least feeling well?”
“Uh…” Alice looked the male over with wide, shocked eyes. His hair was actually a silky black texture, kind of like the Raven’s feathers and he had a slight strange vibe about him but otherwise; he seemed mostly normal- and handsome. Alice paused and then started shaking her head at that last thought and blinked up in shock at him. “Wait… Dante?” “Yes.” He smiled. There was an awkward pause of silence. “This is probably a bit of a shock to you, huh?” He chuckled. “Uh… just a bit.” She stammered. “So… You’re a… human?”
“No, not human; I don’t think there is actually a name for my species, but were certainly not human.” Dante paused as he looked at Alice suddenly very seriously, his blue eyes forming into a darker shade. “You’re currently the only human in this world, Alice and those creatures will find out what you are and try to capture you; but the others will protect you the best they can. It is our duty to protect our leader.” “Leader?” Alice gasped. “I can’t lead anyone.”
“Don’t panic; it’s only a technical term but there is too much to explain, we have to get moving.” Dante helped her stand, his massive wings unfolding behind him, and the feathers rustling as they swayed slightly with the wind. “Grab onto my shoulder Alice, and hang on tight.” He said, looking down at her. Alice stared up at him in surprise for a minute before Dante rolled his eyes with frustration and grabbed Alice by the waist, pulling her to his side as he started running. Alice looked in front of Dante and she saw that a cliff ended. “Watch out!” she yelled as Dante took one great leap into the air, his large black wings flapping behind him to carry them into the air.
Alice squeaked in fear as she saw the ground below them seeming to get smaller and smaller, wrapping herself around him as she gripped tightly to his chest. “Are you also afraid of flying?” Dante laughed. “Don’t worry; I promise you, I won’t let you fall.” Alice nodded quickly and looked around them again, noticing that instead of the normal colours that things usually were, they were all reversed. The sky was a dark, swirling green, and the grass below them was some kind of teal blue.
“Dante, why is everything so different here?” She looked up at Dante, who glanced down to her. “Well Alice, this is a different world. Once a long time ago we were on your world, but we… well how should I say this… banished.” “What? Why were you banished?” Alice asked, starting to slowly relax in his grip. “I don’t know, I’m sorry but did you know that long ago your world was cleared of all magic that once existed there? We were all brought down here to this world, where most things are similar, yet different. Once we go back through that door, we lose all of our magic and are turned into the animal that we most represent.” “Oh. So when you went back you changed into a real Raven?” “Precisely.” He nodded.
“Well, why didn’t you just tell me you weren’t really a raven? Couldn’t you talk the whole time?” Alice frowned, feeling like she had been fooled. “Yeah, right. Just what exactly would you have done if a raven started talking to you in exact full sentences?” Dante looked down at her with an amused smile. “You could have sold me to a crazy pet circus or something.” “Oh dear, that’s true, I suppose. Well I can tell you I would have been surprised, that’s for sure.” She smiled back.
THE TEA-PARTY AND THE DORMOUSE
Alice and Dante had heard a sound below them. “We’ll go down for a while, something is following us.” Dante held Alice tight as he flew down to a secluded area among the trees. “What’s following us?” Alice asked curiously. Dante put his finger to his lips, trying to listen for anymore sounds. “Boo!” "Ah!” Alice reached out to Dante for protection. “Hey, calm down. It’s alright; it’s only a little guy.” Said Dante calmly, rubbing Alice on the shoulder. “Hey! Who you calling little guy?” A white creature below them yelled, crawling up on Dante’s pants to reach their height. The Dormouse looked at Dante suspiciously before spotting Alice, his eyes widening in surprise. “A human? Where’d you find her?” The white dormouse looked to Dante. “Her name is Alice and she’s from the Otherworld. The Reds were attacking her, so I brought her here.” said Dante simply, his voice suddenly deeper as he turned serious again.
“Oh, I see.” The Dormouse watched Dante for a moment before looking to Alice. “I’m a Dormouse, and yes I’m small but I won’t hold back a fight!” The Dormouse pulled out his little sword and started attacking the air. “How cute.” Alice giggled and picked up the Dormouse. “What is your name, little friend?” she asked him with a smile. “Hey. Hey! Put me down!” the Dormouse tried to get loose from Alice. “Settle down; she’s not a threat.” Dante patted the Dormouse softly on the head. “What is your name?” Alice asked again. “Why should I tell you?” The Dormouse was still struggling to escape from Alice. “His name is Bando; you’ll find out why eventually…” Dante looked embarrassed. “Hm. Alright, Bando it is! I’m Alice and I don’t mean to hurt you.” Alice gently put Bando down on the ground; as soon as she did he started waving around his little sword again. “This may be small but it’s dangerous!” Bando was pretending like he was going to attack Alice. “You’re a funny little mouse, not like any of the ones back home.” Alice suddenly felt sad. “When will I see home again, Dante?” She asked with a concerned look. “Eventually, I promise.” He said smiling. “When am I going to go home? Blah-blah-blah! Hey! Dormouse down here. What are you two doing anyway? You usually don’t see his kind this far north.” Bando pointed to Dante. “Somewhere safe if anything.” Dante stood up, his wings unfolding to be three times the size. “There is a safe place nearby, we should get going.” Dante offered to pull Alice up. “Where is it?” Alice said in interest as she took Dante’s hand. “Not far from here. It’s not that far, it seems you are afraid of high places.” Dante said with a concerned look at Alice. The Dormouse paused for a minute before looking back up in confusion. “Scared of flying? Why?” “Well, you see. I don’t have any wings- I’d completely drop like a rock if I ever fell.” Alice explained.
“Alright then, let’s start going.” Dante smiled, swooping lower, making Alice let out a squeak of fear at the sudden drop. Dante resisted a laugh as they swirled further downward, putting his arms around her for support as he landed on his feet, still running for a bit before slowing down to a walk and eventually stopping, letting Alice down. She gave a sigh of relief once back down on the ground again. “Chicken.” The Dormouse slid down Dante’s arm from his shoulder and gave Alice a rude look. “What an attitude for such a small mouse.” She stated as Dante couldn’t hold in a laugh. “Come on you two; we’re nearly there.” Dante started walking over into the north direction as Alice and Bando followed. They walked through a very jungle like forest until they reached something that almost looked like a tea-party was set up. Alice walked over slowly, studying the two at the table. One was wearing a hat and had crazy hair and the other looked exactly like a Hare. They looked up in shock as Alice passed by, making her bite her lip nervously at their wide-eyed stares.
ATTICUS
Dante glanced over at the two figures sitting at the table, as he walked towards them. “Look; I’ll explain more once I get her somewhere safe. I wouldn’t be surprised if you two were filled with questions by now.” “Hurry up. Tell Hatter, tell Hatter!” Bando grinned to them.
“Yes, I will, don’t worry about that.” Dante motioned for Alice to walk forward first. There were two figures sitting around a large table having a tea-party, but the two were all crowded together at one corner of it. They all looked up at the intruder, and a particularly crazy looking man stood with a frown as he glanced toward Alice. “No room! There’s no room!” Alice stopped walking and paused as she eyed off the whole table. “What are you talking about? There's PLENTY of room!” She stated, still standing there waiting for a response. “Would you like a little more tea? He smiled towards Alice. “Oh well, I haven’t had any yet so I can’t take any more.” Alice continued walking towards the table. “What is your name?” asked the Hatter. Alice started to speak but was interrupted by the Dormouse; “Alice, her name is Alice and she’s a human!” The Hatter stood on his chair onto the table and started walking his way over to Alice, trying to miss tea cups on the table where he stood. “Human? Well, there hasn’t been a human here in over 150 years; but you couldn’t be them.” The Hatter looked Alice over examining her human-like features.
“I don’t really see the difference between you and I, you’re human aren’t you?” Alice asked. “Oh no, no, no my dear; I am just simply mad.” “COMPLETELY MAD!” yelled the Hare, he was holding a tea-cup but his hand was shaking vigorously. “I don’t know why I am even here, I need to go back home.” Alice turned to Dante seriously. Dante looked down to the ground like he didn’t know what to say. The Hatter tapped Alice on the shoulder and she turned around and looked at him. “Your presence in this world is no accident, Alice. You are here for a reason.” The Hatter smiled at Alice. “What reason? Tell me, I want to know!” Alice begged. “There’s only one mind that knows that answer.” Dante looked over into a direction as the others looked to see what he was looking at. “Of course.” The Hatter raised his head with a grin. “Who; who is it?” Alice asked feeling a bit dumb. “The Atticus, he knows everything.” Dante explained. “Shall we see him?” Alice winked and took a step towards Dante, waiting to be lifted again. “Why not, as long as we are quick because it’s getting dark.” Dante looked up at the sky as it started turning to a dark greyish-blue.
Alice bent down and put her hand close to Dormouse, giving him the offer for a lift. Bando stood his feet down in the muddy ground, twisting and turning making his little boots all muddy. He climbed up on Alice’s hand leaving little muddy trails of footprints. Dante brushed the little pieces of almost dried mud off of Alice’s dress and arm, lifting her up after and running off in the distance to find Jet.
THE WHITE CASTLE
Dante, Alice and the others walked over to what was a large mushroom growing in the distance, about the same size of Alice. Dante motioned for Alice to walk towards it, and as she did she realized it was just slightly taller than her, so she stretched herself on her tippy-toes to see what peeped over the edge of the mushroom's top. Alice’s curious eyes immediately met those of a large blue caterpillar, sitting on the top with its arms folder, quietly smoking a long hookah, and taking not the smallest notice of her or anything else. Alice didn’t know what to do or say and she stood there puzzled. The caterpillar let out a sigh, rolled his eyes and looked at Alice. “Welcome, human of the Otherworld.” The caterpillar greeted her. “Welcome to our world.” Alice smiled in relief at the friendly greeting and nodded. “Thank you.” She responded. “I am the Atticus; what is your name?” “Oh- uh, my name is Alice.” She said, just nodding a hello because she figured the caterpillar couldn’t shake hands.
“I’m glad we found you- I have many questions to ask.” She looked at Atticus curiously, awaiting a response from him. “If you seek answers, I’m the source. Now, what do you wish to know?” “I wish to know what my purpose for being here is.” Alice asked. “A question like that is of no matter right now.” The caterpillar shook his head. “First we must discuss what is ahead of you, Alice.” Atticus looked from Alice to Dante. “You are with this human?” The caterpillar asked, as he took a puff of his hookah. “Erm… yes.” Dante said, obviously feeling just as awkward as Alice. “Very well.” Atticus nodded before looking back to Alice. “I have waited a long time to talk with you, Alice. I believe it’s been 150 years and times have darkened since we were once cast from your world. Red’s that were once long ago contained have now grown stronger as the time has passed. I’ve heard you‘re fighting against your own shadows, Arch-angel?” The caterpillar looked to Dante curiously. “Arch-angel?” Dante said in confusion. “Well yes- that is the name for your species, after all.” Atticus let out an annoyed mumble. “Where is your next destination?” The caterpillar looked towards Dante. He thought for a moment. “The White Castle.”
PRINCESS OF WONDERLAND
“We have to get going soon.” Dante looked into the distance to see the sun going down. “I hate to leave you so soon, Atticus, but we have to stay ahead of those Red’s.” “Agreed.” The Caterpillar took another puff of his hookah. “Alright, let’s get going everyone.” Dante looked over to Alice, who was lying against the mushroom yawning, a hand over her mouth. Dante couldn’t help but snicker. “Time to get going, Alice, you can sleep soon. We have to get going if we’re going to keep you and Wonderland safe.” Alice stood up realizing this was important. “Alright, let’s start going.” Alice yawned once more as she walked over to Dante and the others.
They walked back to the tea-party which had a couple of tents set up, just enough for the right amount of beings. “Here we are. You can sleep now.” Dante grinned at Alice. “Thank you. Thank you everyone for everything today, I really appreciate it.” Alice walked into her tent.
Dante watched everyone walk away into their tents before turning around to see Alice staring at him with a frustrated expression. “What? Did I do something?” He asked defensively. “I want to know what’s going on! I don’t understand this. I know we just went to get it all explained but he didn’t explain anything! Yesterday I went to high school and today I’m being attacked by creatures and I’m in some sort of Wonderland and then I just was pushed into this crazy world and the raven I found is actually a guy with wings!” She yelled at him in frustration and plumped down onto the ground, crossing her legs. “I didn’t mean for it to all happen this way, truly. I was hoping I could introduce myself properly when I was still a raven but I didn’t realize the Reds were so close to finding you.” Dante folded his wings tightly against his back and sat down besides Alice on the floor of the tent, which was lined with different animal furs. “Do you wish for me to explain?” “Yes.” She sighed. “Please.”
Dante shifted his position so that he was facing Alice and sighed, looking toward the ground uneasily. “For every Loyalist, a Red is born. What that means is every being of light also has their own shadow that is the opposite of them. So as a being of the light is born, Shadows are too created. We don’t know all the facts, but they are not given birth like creatures of the light do.” “Wait.” Alice was thinking over everything Dante has just told her. “So somewhere out there in this crazy world there’s an evil version of you running around?” “I’m afraid so. There’s an ‘evil’ version of everyone you have seen here.” Dante looked down to the ground again. “The bad news is all of the Shadows and Reds wish to destroy your existence. You’re constantly in danger.” “Danger? I haven’t even done anything wrong to them.” Alice protested, annoyed that an entire race wanted her to die for no apparent reason. “You carry the mark; it speaks of your heritage making you the rightful Princess of our lands.” Alice froze, her eyes widening at that sentence. “What?!” She gasped.
AMBUSH!
“The Princess of Wonderland has say over all magical creatures and there are far more beings in this world than just our kind. You have yet to meet face to face with many Sorcerers, Elves, Demons, Spirits, Druids, Snowy Mountain Wolves, and many more fascinating races.” Dante looked uneasily at Alice’s shocked expression. “You will have control over all. You don’t like it?” “No! I can’t be a Princess; I don’t even know how to lead anyone.” Alice said in panic. “I’m just a high school student who keeps everything to herself! I can’t do anything like that.” She ranted. “If you don’t, our world will fall into shadow.” Dante said solemnly. “You’re our last hope, Alice.” Alice paused, letting it all sink into her brain. “What do you mean ‘fall into shadow’?” Alice whispered her eyes wide again. “The Reds are creating an army of unimaginable size and they wish to take over everything and make the darkness the dominant force in Wonderland.” “Well, what exactly can I do against that?” “How Wonderland works is we all have different tribes of beings that are not joined together. We’ll have to join our forces together to combat this evil before it overtakes us.” “How do you know this is happening, for sure?” Dante looked down to the ground again, feeling uneasy by Alice’s question. “I know this, because my home was destroyed by shadows long ago.” Dante said, his blue eyes turning sad. “They ruined my home, my village and they killed my family, friends and everyone I once knew. They do not show mercy, Alice.” “They killed your family?!” Alice gasped in horror. “Yes, even my little sister.” Dante nodded. “I was lucky to escape and I was rescued by the Hatter only as a small boy.” Alice sat in silence, not really knowing what else to say. She noticed Dante’s face fell into an unemotional mask, but he looked up as the Hatter appeared in the flap of the tent, balancing two plates with food on them. “I’m not really sure what humans eat, so I brought some of everything.” He mumbled uneasily, glancing from Dante to Alice and then back again.
Dante took the plate with few pieces of meat on it, handing the one with more to Alice. “Thank you very much.” Alice smiled happily to the Hatter, who looked at her in surprise, clearing his throat and quickly retreating from the tent’s awkward atmosphere. “Well, that was rather odd.” The Hatter walked back into his own tent. “So… you guys pretty much really need for me to be Princess, huh?” Alice looked down at her food uneasily; it didn’t look like anything she had seen before as they were like everything else in Wonderland, with all strange neon colours. At least the meat was a normal brown. “Yes. Without you, Alice, we have no hope to win. We have armies fighting the Shadows and Reds as we speak, but we don’t have nearly enough people for the Final Battle.” Dante spoke around a mouthful of food. Alice and Dante looked up suddenly as a sudden shout came from outside the tent, followed by another. He quickly but quietly moved to the flap of the tent, looking outside. He swore in shock and shut the flap again, grabbing Alice by the waist, making her drop her plate and food. Dante took a dagger from his belt and slashed a hole through the back side of the tent, pushing himself and Alice through it and away from the chaos outside. “Dante!” Hatter shouted from afar, running away from someone who was following him as he was trying to keep away from the nasty looking spiked weapons in their hands.
“Get her out of here!” Hatter yelled, fending off the follower who growled fiercely, its red-glowing eyes looking to Alice and widening in realization. “WE FOUND HER! SHE’S HERE!” It yelled, pointing toward Alice with a loud shout. The other Shadows stopped to look in the direction he was pointing as silence suddenly fell over everyone.
SAJEN; THE WHITE WOLF
Alice heard Dante curse again as he grabbed her by the waist, holding her up to his hip as he started running as fast as he could, leaping into the air as his great, black wings unfurled behind him, flapping hard to carry him upwards. “Hold on tight.” he said while noticing the shadow that had been chasing Hatter turned to Dante instead. “Move into the forest!” Dante yelled behind him as he flew swiftly toward the trees, narrowing his wings so that he could glide between the trunks, losing the Shadow that had been chasing him. Dante looked over his shoulder to see Hatter following close behind him. Others were running with him on the ground including Dormouse and the Match Hare. As soon as Dante saw a good distance into the tree line ahead, he landed on the ground, running for a bit before coming to a stop and turning around.
An angry expression overcame Dante’s usually smiling face. The trees all around them suddenly started swaying violently and a storm broke out. Roots started rising from the ground, twining the pathway that had led them into the forest, making it blocked off. They could hear the Shadow’s angry shouts on the other side. Dante sighed, bending over feeling exhausted as he looked to those around him. “Looks like we have the forest on our side.” Dante grinned. “Another fantastic feature of Wonderland.” He winked towards Alice.
“Now what?” Hatter panted. “You know if we leave this forest we’re dead.” “Then we’ll stay in here.” Dante replied in frustration. “Where are we going to move to from here?” Alice asked curiously. “I’m not quite sure; I don’t know the forest ground very well.” Dante felt guilty for just flying over it all this time instead of taking a trip through it on foot.
A white wolf stepped out from behind some trees; thick white fur mixing that flowed all along the wolf. “Halt! What are you doing in my forest?” The wolf had a power, deep voice and he didn’t lack confidence. “We don’t mean any harm; we’re actually hiding from Shadows who want the forest and us in it. “Shadows?!” The white wolf gave a whelp. “Why would Shadows be following you?” Everyone around Alice slowly shifted their eyes in her direction. “A human?” Alice looked around her and saw everyone staring at her. “Oh- yes! My name is Alice; apparently Princess of Wonderland.”
“I see. My name is Sajen. I’m the leader and protector of this forest.” He looked at the blocked rooted entrance to the forest sadly. “I see the forests are already aware of your existence and being, Alice, they wouldn’t do that for anybody.” Alice smiled and looked around at the forest, “Thank you.” she said. “So, where are you going to go now?” Sajen looked to Dante. “That’s a good question.” Dante said, crossing his arms in front of his chest. “We should head to somewhere where I can still protect Alice. We must bring everyone together to fight the Shadows.” Dante looked around at Sajen. “Will you come with us?” “As if I had a choice.” Sajen laughed at the irony. “Alright, where are we heading?” Dante looked around him uneasily. “Lost? I’ll lead you to my tribe. We will be able to help you there.” “Great, thank you.” Dante smiled. Alice followed behind them, watching the grass fold under her feet uneasily. She knew in the back of her head that the others were blaming her for their home being destroyed. “If I hadn’t come along, then the shadows wouldn’t have bothered them.” She thought to herself. “Don’t worry about us.” Hatter smiled, placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “You’ll do just fine.” “I’m not so sure about that.” Alice whispered, but knew Dante was listening since he looked over his shoulder curiously. “I’m not used to leading, that’s all.”
THE SPY
“You’ll learn; besides, you have Dante to help you out and I’ll be more than willing to help you as well.” Hatter smiled again. “And I’m sure Bando will be too.” Hatter glanced to the dormouse, who was looking very disappointed. “I wasn’t made for all of this danger and rushing.” He wrinkled his nose in disgust. “I wish we could go the White Castle.” He sighed. “But nooooo, we’re being led by a raven. Typical once again, I have the worst luck.” Dante sighed, shaking his head in disgust. “He may complain, but he’s a good benefit.” Dante looked over towards Alice. “A lot of people here will probably be sad for a while, but I’m sure they are willing to help you. You are the Princess, after all.” “I suppose.” Alice sighed.
“Ah, she is the Princess?” Someone behind them said in interest. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to eavesdrop but that is what you said, right?” “Yes, she is.” Hatter said happily. “Dante brought her here from the Otherworld when she was being attacked by Reds and Shadows.” “Ooh, the Otherworld? What is it like there?” The man looked up to Alice with wide eyes. “It’s nothing like what it is here. There are bigger cities and a lot more people. We have cars, planes and buildings that are really high, only being made by from metal.” “Oooooooh.” The man wondered. “That must be really pretty.” Alice smiled, looking back at him. “It is. What’s your name?” The man looked off into the distance before blinking in surprise at being asked a question. “My name is...Andre. I used to walk through these forests all the time.” “Well it’s nice to meet you; you too Sajen. Do you have any idea how long it will take to get to the tribe?” Alice said uneasily as her feet were already starting to hurt where the claw marks the creature had given her on her ankles. “A couple of days.” Sajen said with a smile. “We need to go through the Treants region of the Forest if we want to stay safe, so it’ll take longer than normal.” “Treants?” Alice said curiously, but decided not to ask as she saw everyone else nodding solemnly in agreement.
SAFE TRAVELS
Alice walked through the thick, sticky gunk on the forest floor in disgust, picking her feet up higher than usual. She was feeling her stomach churn as she watched something drip off the soles of her shoes. “No wonder you said this was going to take longer, it’s taken us an hour just to take 20 steps!” Alice complained as she saw bubbles pop on the surface of the gunk. “Were in the bogs; what did you expect?” The White Wolf was covered in sticky brown gunk; it was hard to call him “The White Wolf” anymore. “Is that all you do, complain?” Bando was annoyed again. “You can’t talk you get to just sit there on Dante’s shoulder why we have to walk through this.” Alice snapped back. “Would you two shut up? You’re going to get us caught.” Dante was annoyed as well. “Look, we’re all annoyed right now, but let’s just get through this gunk and keep moving.” Sajen felt he had to lead the situation, being a leader after all; it is what he does best. “It’s like quick-sand, if we move too fast we’ll get trapped so just all walk slower, and no one stray from the path.” Dante said, looking up at the sky wishing he could just fly over this horrible place.
“Sorry to interrupt, but I do believe that looks quite odd. Don’t you agree?” Hatter stopped, pointing to an area of particularly deep and murky water. Dante and Alice gathered behind him, looking down into the water. “It looks like there’s an animal down there.” Dante said as he concentrated with his eyes trying to make out the shadow beneath the water was. They heard a sigh behind them and the Match Hare picked up a large rock, tossing it into the water as Alice squealed to get away from the muck as it flew in her direction. The large rock moved enough of the water so that what was underneath was now very clear for everyone to see. Dante, Sajen, Hatter and the Match Hare peeped in to see a shrivelled body of a female with long black hair, an expression of anger and horror frozen on her dead face. They were all speechless at the sight. “What is it? I can’t see it.” Alice was trying to make her way over to look in as well. Dante looked over to Alice and saw that beneath her another shadow appeared underneath the depths. “Alice stop!” Dante yelled, with a frightening look on his face. “What?!” Alice stopped in her tracks, looking frightened back at Dante, knowing she shouldn’t look down at the water but she couldn’t help it. “That’s COMPLETELY MAD!” Match Hare yelled as Alice quickly covered her mouth, her stomach churning at the sight. “The water is filled with people!” Alice looked all around them at the shadows suddenly now all forming underneath the calm, gunky waves. “Don’t move, Alice, remember!” Dante said again in case Alice had forgotten. “What?” Alice looked down in front of her and underneath the muck was the body of a small child, only 7 years old, lying forever frozen with short black hair. “What are these freaky things?” Alice looked at another body in the water, who also had black hair. “I think they might be shadows…” Hatter took a wild guess. ‘Correct, and we have to get through here by night fall.” Dante insisted. “Shadows tend to get angry at trespassers during the night.” “’They tend to get angry’; what do you mean?” Alice stared at Dante in horror. “Where are we?”
“I don’t know, but as long as we travel by day, we’ll be fine.” Sajen started looking for ways that would get them to land faster. “I wouldn’t throw any more rocks.” Dante eyed the Match Hare, who looked at the ground in embarrassment. “We should keep going.” Sajen started walking against the thick gunk again. “Wait. You didn’t answer my question, Dante.” Alice said cautiously as he looked over his shoulder uneasily. “Well, look; if we keep going, it won’t matter anyway.” “No, tell me!” Alice insisted, with her tone frustrated. Dante stopped and rolled his eyes. “What do you expect them to do? They will come to life at night, and they’ll most likely try to kill us and then possibly eat us.” An awkward silence broke out on the group as everyone heard Dante, staring down at the creepy gunk around them. A tiny squeak came out from Bando and everyone started trying to catch up after Dante, much more quickly than what their pace had been before.
MY SACRED GUARDIAN
“There’s something circling us in the sky.” Alice squinted her eyes to see what it was and made out an oddly familiar, yet quite different shape. “It’s a Shadow Watcher!” Hatter yelled, grabbing Alice, Match Hare, and Bando by the wrist, dragging them into the shadows underneath a tree. Hatter and Alice watched as a metal ball was dropped down in the wind, falling on the tree branches above where Alice and the others were hiding. Everyone froze as strange noises started sounding from the bog they came out from and suddenly a Shadow with armor and a sword appeared from the bog, its sword drawn as it walked towards the group. Alice swore with wide eyes as she stared at Hatter waiting for him to come up with a plan; she was use to Dante always being alert. “What are we going to do?!” Alice said to the Hatter who was looking very frightened. “I-I don’t know.” The Shadow Warrior started charging towards them, with deep, red eyes. Alice clenched onto Hatter’s arm, shaking him vigorously hoping to get an idea into his head through panic. The shadow suddenly started getting really close but was sent down to the ground by a boy who ran out and jumped between Alice and the Shadow, throwing a hard kick straight into its stomach, sending it to the ground with a gasp and wheeze as the air was knocked out of it.
“Somebody get her to safety and quickly; and do not stuff around!” The familiar boy yelled, grabbing the Shadow’s sword and looking at it in interest before throwing it far into the forest behind him. Hatter nodded and grabbed Alice’s wrist again, running deeper into the forest. Alice tried looking back to see the boy’s face that had saved them, but all she saw was a swarm of shadow warriors suddenly bursting from the bog, and the boy that had protected them before was retreating backwards towards the others. “Oh no; he is in trouble, I have to save him back!” Alice thought to herself and she pushed away from Hatter’s grip, running back over towards the boy. “Alice, no!” Hatter yelled, looking confused and frightened at her decision. The boy looked backwards towards the yell of Hatter, to see Alice running towards him. “What is she doing?!” He thought as he starting running towards Alice only a little bit more forceful, like he was charging at her. Alice started slowing down as she was confused by what he was doing but as he got closer he picked her up by the hip and continued running; just like Dante does it. The boy had got enough speed that he could take to the air and the boy ascended much more quickly than Dante had, which made Alice’s head spin as the boy brought her higher and higher.
“Well, you don’t see this every day.” A voice said from above the boy and Alice. He looked up with wide eyes at the Shadow flying above them. He spread his wings wide; going higher than Alice thought was possible. She watched with horror as the Shadow easily ascended to their height, circling around just above them until it was situated directly above. It suddenly folded its wings, landing on top of the boy, digging its claws into the boy’s wings, making him cry out in pain.
“Remember this, you stupid boy; the Shadow that killed you is Arsenal but I strongly doubt you’ll find me again.” It sneered before pounding its poison into him, making the texture around the claw punctures in his wings suddenly blacken and rot as shots of poison started rushing into him. “Get off him!” Alice yelled, swinging one of her arms in its face and her leg to try and hit it. She watched it whimper as she realized she kicked its groin about as hard as she could. The Shadow dropped off the boy’s back and dropped close to the ground before it realized to open its wings and turn around, gliding safely to the ground among the other shadows. “Are you alright?” Alice looked over to the boy, who was executed with pain. The poisonous rotting wasn’t spreading any further into his wings, but there were two large holes in his wings that probably making it quite hard to fly.
“Land here, we’re safe now and I’ll make you feel better.” Alice’s calming voice said as the boy opened his drowsy eyes to land her safely. As they got to the ground, Alice jumped off to release her weight that was probably making it harder for the boy, and she watched in horror as he dropped to the ground. “Alice!” Dante, Hatter, Sajen, and the others all came out from hiding in the forest. “Are you alright? What happened?” They were all asking so many questions, and Alice was too worried about the poor boy that had probably saved her life. Dante was in front of the others and as he got closer he faltered for a minute when he saw the boy on the ground. “We need to help him. He saved my life from all those shadows and he got badly injured! We need to help him now!” Dante saw how important it was to Alice that the boy ended up alright. “What’s wrong with him?” Dante didn’t know where to help. “His wings; he was punctured by a flying Shadow’s claws and it must have poisoned him because ever since he is really drowsy and his wings have rotted where the claws went in, now he just collapsed!” “This is deadly. If he stays like this for too long, the poison will start to spread to his heart. We need to get him to a healer.” The boy stared at Dante for a minute before slowly nodding and then dropping back down, with his eyes closed. “Don’t worry, we’ll save you.”
A BATTLE BEGINS
“What’s your name?” Dante looked over the boy’s body for any more injuries. “My name is Andre; I’ve met you guys before but it was only for a little while, which is probably why any of you don’t remember me.” He said, looking at Alice and Dante in concern. “I thought you looked very familiar, but I couldn’t think of anyone who you could be because I kept thinking about Dante for some strange reason…” Alice felt embarrassed for admitting she was thinking of Dante. “Alright; I’m going to fly him over to Joylae, hopefully she can heal him in time.” “Wait!” Alice took a step forward towards Dante. “I want to come.” Dante sighed a little bit. “Alright, you can come to.” He picked both of them up and gasped at all the weight, flapping his wings furiously to try and keep them off the ground. “You alright?” he wheezed, looking up to both of them.
“I’m fine.” Alice said, but looked to Andre as he lay limply against Dante. Dante released his grip, letting Alice stand on her own as he picked Andre up, carrying him quickly over to Joylae, who was already healing some wounded creatures. “Just stay there, don’t wonder off anywhere.” Dante yelled back to Alice.
Alice stood and watched Dante run over to Joylae with Andre in his arms but noticed Joylae had a face of horror as she pointed into the distance. Dante and I looked to where she was pointing and people were fighting off a horde of Shadows charging out from the forest. “Oh no, they’re back! They won’t leave me alone.” Alice thought to herself with a look of fear and annoyance on her face. There were a lot of dead creatures on the ground. “This place is horrible! There are so many deaths.” Alice knew she wasn’t supposed to go anywhere but she couldn’t help the urge. Dante put down Andre to Joylae and ran over to join the fighting along with Sajen, Hatter and the others who were defending me too. “Stay back!” Dante yelled over his shoulder, spotting Alice hide among the trees behind him. Hatter growled as he kept fighting the Shadows advancing towards them until he suddenly froze, looking at one of the Shadows. He looked exactly like himself, except devious. “We have a match!” Dante yelled as he dragged Hatter away by the wrist as the other Shadows did the same with theirs. Alice watched with curiosity as Hatter’s body and eyes started glowing as he lay motionless on the ground except for movement indicating he was breathing. Alice quickly jogged over to Hatter, putting a hand to his forehead and feeling his skin was hot. “What is happening to him?” Alice thought. Hatter suddenly cried out in pain as the glow around him started flaring, knocking Alice over as the Shadow on the other side let out a terrifying scream. His glow suddenly faded and he stood up, looking at her with angry eyes. “You were told to stay back.” he growled. “They’re trying to kill you, don’t you understand that?” Alice felt guilty and disappointed in herself. “I-I’m sorry, but what just happened?” She looked over him and saw he was generally looking fine except for a few scratches. “I’ll explain later. Right now we need you to go with Joylae.” He said as he rushed back over, re-joining Dante in fighting. He glanced to Hatter with relief and smiled, continuing their fighting. Alice watched as they avoided getting sliced with swords and nodded quickly, running back to where Joylae was, still healing Andre.
Dante glanced over his shoulder, relieved when he saw Alice was running away toward where Joylae was healing Andre. He turned his attention back to the Shadow in front of him who was wielding a long sword and metal shield. Dante kicked the Shadow around its ankles, making it trip over. Dante looked down at the fooled Shadow and grinned, but faltered again when he noticed a Shadow’s reflection behind him in the metal shield the Shadow was holding. “Come on, Dante. Watch it!” Hatter yelled beside him, kicking away the Shadow that was raising its weapon to kill Dante. He shook his head out of shock and continued his fighting, dodging another swing of a long sword from the Shadow’s. “Is he going to be okay?” Alice looked at the rotted leathery skin on Andre’s wings as he gasped for breath through the pain. “He’ll be fine. I’m just glad that Shadow didn’t put any more of this nasty poison into him.” Joylae said grimly as she moved her hands over the punctured area as a blue aura appeared around her hands. Andre watched Joylae with concern, but his eyes showed a deep worry in them.
Alice glanced over to Dante and then back down to Andre, who was holding in painful cries. Joylae saw him staring at Alice as he was in love; Joylae didn’t know too much about the two so she only smiled, looking back to Andre’s wounds. “They’re starting to retreat.” Dante said to Hatter, who was fighting another Shadow. “It’s about time.” Hatter was sick of sweat dripping down his face. “We got rid of them all!” Dante yelled out to Alice happily, as he high-fived Hatter but a low moan behind the forest trees made Dante and Hatter get a shiver up their spines. Dante and Hatter turned to the noise, but they couldn’t see any sign of movement. They shivered again when they heard another low moan that was followed by another until it sounded like hundreds of angry people, growing louder and more vicious. Dante froze in horror as he saw thousands of undead walking towards them, dripping with bog muck. “RUN!” He yelled as he scrambled to run for his life to the others. Hatter joined him and ran back toward where Joylae was still healing Andre. “Everyone who can fly or run really fast take as many people as you can carry.” Dante said quickly, grabbing both Alice and Joylae by the waist and situating them so that their weight was distributed evenly. Hatter ran over to Andre and picked him up gently, running as he followed Dante flying in the sky. Screams of terror started coming from behind them as Shadows formed again, and the two creatures battled against each other. Dante looked over his shoulder and wished that he hadn’t. The dead were eating everything in their way as they charged after Dante and Hatter. Dante looked down at the girls as they stared at the scene as well. Joylae had a disgusted look on her face, but she was silent. Dante looked over to Alice who was making a low moan as she was gripping Dante’s shirt, trying to bury her face against Dante to get away from the sight.
LIGHT AND DARKNESS
They were flying for what seemed like hours; Alice noticed that Dante was starting to gasp with all the effort he was using to keep them in the air, but he knew he couldn’t stop because the only thing below them was more forest, and who knew what was hiding down there. “I’m sorry guys but we’re going to have to land very soon; or else we’ll fall.” Dante said as he gasped for breath. Alice nodded feeling sorry for Dante, but as she looked around below she was only seeing trees that went on for miles and miles. Dante was relieved at the sight. “Hatter is waving to us down there; I think he found us a good spot near a lake.” Dante pointed downwards and started turning towards it. He grunted as the beating of his wings got faster as they descended towards Hatter. Alice and Joylae tightened their grips on him as Dante struggled to get them down safely. The lake was becoming larger and larger below them until they splashed into it as Dante fell from being exhausted. They sunk down a little bit from the force until they gradually started floating back up towards the surface. Hatter panicked and jumped in to save Alice and anyone else from drowning. He carried Alice out of the water, as Joylae started swimming to shore as well as Dante who was looking miserable with his feathers soaked. “At least it’s warm.” Dante said in frustration, trying to be positive. “Thank you.” Alice looked up at Hatter, who merely shrugged. “It was no problem; I wasn’t going to let you drown.” He said, as he double checked the lake, seeing no one else there. “Do you have any idea where we’re going?” Andre asked curiously.
“Apparently we’re going to the White Castle.” Hatter sighed. “Sadly, it’s taking longer than we hoped for.” “Oh.” Andre said as his face showed a bit of worry. “Don’t worry; we’re a good team together so we’ll be fine.” Hatter groaned as he stood up, his muscles suddenly sore from so much fighting. “We’re not very far now actually, but we won’t do anymore today.” Dante said as he was feeling tired. “Good.” Alice said, sounding miserable as she felt her soaking wet hair and clothes that felt as they were sticking to her skin as if glued. “My hair is going to look ridiculous when it dries after this.” Bando came out from Hatter’s shirt pocket. “Well at least you won’t look like a big fur ball.” He said in frustration, trying to get his little ears as dry as possible. “Shouldn’t we start getting ready to take a rest?” Dante asked. “I don’t know about you guys, but my wings feel like they’re going to fall off any second now.” “A good idea.” Hatter sighed; his legs were feeling no better. Dante and Hatter started making a few small fires as Joylae and Alice re-bandaged Andre and the Match Hare prepared them a meal. Everyone huddled around the biggest fire; feeling and looking like a loving family, all sharing and being happy together even in the worst of times. Alice looked at Andre across the fire as Dante sat beside her, handing her some fruit Match Hare found in the forest again.
“Hatter; you never told me what happened earlier.” Alice said quietly, wondering if it was appropriate to talk about at the time. He blinked in surprise and put down his plate of food uneasily. “Well, there isn’t much to explain; that was my shadow and I won.” He shrugged, feeling awkward. “You won?” She looked to Dante in confusion. “Well, when someone meets their Shadow, their souls have to fight to the death. It is Light verse Darkness, and whoever wins is the one that lives.” “Wait, what? So before you fought your Shadow, and you won so the other Hatter died?” Alice gasped. “Precisely.” Hatter nodded. “It’s probably not the best way to go; I don’t know really know what happens when you lose, I guess you probably just lose your soul.” Alice gulped as she realized how dramatic this was. “You don’t have to worry about it.” Dante chuckled. “You’re from the Otherworld, remember? You don’t have a Shadow.” He smiled down at Alice as she nodded uneasily before eating her food slowly as she thought more.
TIME FLIES
Later that night, Alice walked back over to the fire after checking up on how Andre was doing. His back was looking much better and the punctured marks beneath his skin were starting to fade thanks to Joylae’s healing skills. Alice looked around the campfire where everyone was and noticed that Dante wasn’t there. “He didn’t say he was going anywhere…” Alice looked around curiously, knowing that she wouldn’t be able to handle herself if anything dangerous happened if she had gone looking for him into the forest, so she just kept looking around. She spotted him sitting next to the lake, looking into the water with a confused expression. Alice looked back to the others, but no one had noticed he disappeared for a while because everyone was busy setting up their tents. She walked over to him, being sure to keep very quiet as she listened as he muttered something to himself. She watched him as he was touching his face and turning his head a little as if he was trying to see himself better in the water’s reflection. Alice walked next to him and sat down; making him freeze in surprise, his feathers puffed a bit before settling down when he saw it was Alice.
“What’s wrong?” She said, looking down at his reflection in the water as well, but seeing nothing to be really concerned about. “Nothing.” Dante muttered, leaning away from the water, looking uneasy. “Come on, don’t lie. Really, tell me what’s wrong? You look kind of worried about something.” Dante watched Alice for a minute, deciding whether he should tell her or not. “I’ve been to your world more than once and other than the last time where you and I met; it was a long time ago before that that I was there again and I hadn’t realized how long ago that was until I saw myself today in a shield while fighting those Shadows.” Dante looked down at the ground, then back up towards Alice. “I-I’ve gotten old.” Dante looked disappointed. “Now that I’ve been sitting and really thinking about it, I was only about your age when I went and I obviously didn’t know what I looked like during returning back to Wonderland after all these years. It’s… strange.” He ran a hand through his hair and sighed. “It’s as if I don’t even know myself anymore.” Alice nodded thoughtfully. “Well, he left when he was 17 and he looks about 19 or 20 now.” Alice thought to herself trying to figure out the facts. “Well, you don’t look bad or anything.” Alice glanced up to him, her cheeks slightly blushed. “You look handsome… I wouldn’t worry about it.” Dante blinked in surprise and nodded, looking down to the ground with soft eyes. “So… you think I should just move on and forget about it?”
“Well what else is there to do?” Alice bumped his arm teasingly with her fist. “I’m not going to let you sulk all night if that’s what you’re thinking.” Dante smiled uneasy but nodded, glancing up at Alice before clearing his throat nervously during the silence between them. “Right, well I suppose it’s time for us to get some rest.” Dante stood up, holding out a hand to help Alice up as well. She smiled at him and took his hand, squealing with surprise when he pulled her up so easily to her feet. He laughed and dusted some dirt off of her shirt, noticing how much grime had gotten on her clothes since she entered this world. “We’ll have to get you a new outfit soon.” He chuckled at her as she looked down at her clothes. “That’ll be great.” Alice followed him back up to the others.
A LOYAL BEST FRIEND
“What are you so worried for? She’s asleep and its dark, no one’s watching.” A quiet voice cut through the darkness of the night as everyone slept in their tents around the dying embers of the small fires. “Well, yeah; easy for you to say. Why aren’t you doing this?!” Another voice answered back, trying to stay quiet. “…Because you’re taller so you have to do it!” “So, all of them are bigger than me too!” The voice stopped cold as Dante moved in his sleep, a few centimetres away from Alice who was sleeping soundly as well. “You have to go talk to her! You heard what Mitchi said, he’ll eat us if we don’t!” “What? He wouldn’t dare to eat us. …Fine, just stay there and be quiet!” A dog sneaked out from the bushes, running over to Alice and licking her arm, making her chuckle a little in her sleep. The dog moved up closer to her face, looking down at her. “Hello, remember me?!” He said, in a normal talking voice. Alice grumbled and stayed asleep. The dog growled in frustration. “HELLO, REMEMBER ME?!” He yelled, hoping she would hear him.
Alice grumbled a bit more and blinked her eyes open slowly, looking around to see who was making all the noise and all she could see was a dog’s face looking over the top of her. Alice’s scream cut through the darkness as she sat up, making Dante sit up as well, looking around the area for whatever had woken her up. “Get away from me! Go away! Leave me alone!” Alice was pushing the air in front of her so nothing would touch her or get as close to her face as that. “Please stop! I didn’t mean to scare you, Alice!” The dog shouted to be heard over Alice’s whining. Dante patted the dog, chuckling when he saw the dog was relieved one tall person was friendly. “Thank you, very tall one.” He sighed. “I don’t mean to scare you, Alice. I was sent here to greet you!” “Don’t worry Alice, it’s just a dog.” Dante looked at Alice who blinked in surprise and moved closer to look at the dog as she couldn’t see very well in the dark.
“I am Zak, doesn’t that sound familiar?” “Zak?” Alice looked to Dante curiously, who shrugged. “Yes, Zak, you forgot me already?” Alice paused for a second. “I-I haven’t met you Zak, but my dog back home has the exact same name as- Zak?!” Alice pounced on Zak and he started licking her showing his love and happiness for seeing her. “I can’t believe this- how did you get here?!” Alice had so many questions to ask. “I’ve been searching for you everywhere, I’m not sure how I got here though, but who cares; I’m here with you!” “And who is this to sleep so close to my Alice?” Zak snickered as he looked at Dante. He blushed and suddenly looked serious. “I’m her protector, Zak. We all are, and we are taking her to our White Castle so that we can fight the Shadows.” “Ah yes, the Shadows. I saw them on my way here, walking around through the forests, but I sneaked past them pretty quickly and then I got here.” Zak laughed again. “You saw Shadows near here?!” Alice gasped in shock. “Of course, they like to lurk in forests, you know.” Zak scoffed. He turned back to Dante. “She hasn’t been here long, has she?” “No, but she’s a quick learner.” Dante glanced up at Alice before looking back down to Zak. “How far away were they?” Dante asked with a serious, but concerned tone. “Far, far away. I passed them ages ago and I’ve been searching for you for days, Alice.” “I’m so glad you did and that you got to me with no scratches or wounds.” She said cheerfully as she gave him a big pat. “Where did you come from?” Dante asked Zak. “The White Castle, my friends, they’re looking for you; they wish to meet my Alice.” “Will they be willing to wait a couple more days to meet us?” Dante asked Zak concerned about all the Shadows following them. “Of course! You know your way to the Castle?” Zak said happily. “Inside and Outside.” Dante smiled back at Zak. “Are you alright with meeting a few more faces, Alice?” Dante asked. “I don’t see why not.” Alice shrugged. “As long as no-one tries to take a bite out of me, or something.” She smiled.
Re: ALICE in Wonderland • Sat Jul 30, 2011 10:10 am • by Skye