Raven (redletalis x Evergreen98)

[redletalis]

It had been a long time since there had been humans in Wonderland. A very long time. A large number of the denizens of this place had almost started to think the humans a legend, or extinct or just magically cut off from the Wonderland, but here was the proof that they had been wrong.


Because Raven was staring at a human. A girl. Perhaps a woman. He wasn't quite certain exactly what the differences were in the human mind, but she was definitely a female.


A female human.


He frowned and crouched down next to her, and the flowers that she was laying in tried to bend away from him, staring up at him in fright and disgust. That was another thing. She was surrounded by flowers in all colours and shapes and sizes. He hadn't seen this many flowers in years.


This could be either really good or really bad.


Or just really annoying and not go Anywhere. Then again, Here certainly wasn't a good place to stay either. There were enemies all around, and everyone would love to get their hands on a human.


Raven reached out and hesitantly touched her shoulder. "Female. Wake up. This is not the place to take a nap."

 

[Evergreen98]

Lana, a girl with red hair and blue eyes was walking down the street from the cafe she owned. It was another nice day in the city, well night since it was night time now. She was heading after another long day at work. Nothing really interesting happen like always but that wasnt new either. She looked at the night sky, sometimes she something happens, but she guessed that was wishful thinking.


She saw a beggar sitting out in the cold and frowned a little. She walked over to him and gave him her scarf and an apple to eat. "here" she said to him softly.


The beggar smiled and took them, the red head then noticed a book titled, ' Alice in Wonderland' she smiled, " thats my favorite story book" she said to the beggar. " do you mind it I look at it?" She asked. The beggar shook his head and let thr girl look at the book. She sat down as she looked over the book, " you know sometimes I wish I went on adventures like Alice. It looks like alot of fun you know"


" do you wish to go to Wonderland?" The beggar asked her.


" I would love to. It would be a nice change of pace you know" Lana said with a smile. As soon as she said that she became tired and sleep, " oh... i need to go" she said to him thinking she was getting tired from work, but she lost consciousness afterwards.


The girl felt someone shaking and soon started to wake up. She opened her eyes ti see a male, she blinked as she stared at him, "... who are you?" She asked him as she looked around, ' this looks like a forest...' she thought to herself as she sat up, she found it odd that she wasnt panicking at all. Why wasnt she panicking? That has yet to be answered.


---


@redletalis

 

[redletalis]

Raven stared at the human. Wasn't she supposed to panic and shout and try to hit him? Or was that just a faerytale? Did all humans act like this or was she the exception? He had no idea, he had never met a human before. There had been tales of a young human girl child coming to Wonderland a long time ago, before even his birth, but that was about all that he knew of them.


"You are a weird female human." He finally stated and got to his feet. "Come, it is not safe to stay here. Bloodhounds are hunting in the woods today. We need to get away to There or to Morrow. Get up." Raven grabbed her wrist, pulled her up and started to drag her along. The few leaves were rustling, the flowers were shivering and cowering and this time it had nothing to do with Raven himself.


There was a weak coppery scent on the air and what little life there was in the forest was settling down in fear. A snapdragonfly fluttered in up in front of him, squeaked and then sped off towards the safety of the upper branches of a tree.


A second later the tree's branches lashed out, grabbed the snapdragonfly and brought it to the single hole in the tree where it was consumed.


Raven wisely turned left and away from the tree.

 

[Evergreen98]

Lana blinked and almost tripped when the mysterious male pulled her up to her feet and started dragging her away. She blinked a little, " wait did you say bloodhounds?" She asked him as she tried to keep up with him. His hold was tight and it was hurting her a little. " please loosen your grip. You're hurting me" he said to her and then ran into him when he suddenly stopped.


She looked up to see him starring a snapdragonfly. She stared at it in awe and found the creature quiet adorable. She smiled a little at it and goes to extend her hand so the creature can rest on it, but it went away before she could. She watched it fky off and then blinked at what happened, "oh dear..." she said as she took a step back from the tree. She looked at the male, " did that tree just eat that creature?.." she asked him.


-


@redletalis

 

[redletalis]

"That was a snapdragonfly and that was a meat-eating tree. And this is Wonderland. Well, whatever is left of it." Raven pulled her along, stepping over poisonous mushrooms and avoiding thorny vines hanging from trees. Even the trees themselves seemed to reach for them with spiky, knobbly bare branches, and the mottled grey grass under their feet had edges sharp enough to cut cloth and skin if one wasn't careful.


There was a bark in the distance, and Raven looked in that direction, tensing up and tightening his grip on her wrist.


"We need to hurry." He muttered and hurried on, pulling her into an almost jog. They couldn't go much faster in this thick, root-infested wood. "We will have to hide, we cannot outrun the bloodhounds now, they are too close. There is an old cottage not too far from here, it belonged to the Mad Hatter and the March Hare. We can hide there. Hurry!"

 

[Evergreen98]

Lana stared at him as he spoke the word, 'Wonderland' to her. She couldn't believe her ears as she followed him, ' this is Wonderland? How can that be?' She thought. She didnt fall down a rabbit hole, and she didnt hit her head anywhere. How did she end up here? She tried to remember what happened before she woke up but nothing came. All she remembered was that she was walking back home from her ahop and then the rest is blurry.


She softly sighed and didn't notice the cut that she ended up making on her leg, due to her not paying attention and trying to keep up with the male's fast pace. She almost tripped again when he started jogging and winced when he tightened his grip on her wrist.


She looked at the raven and nodded as she tried to move as quickly as she can. She wondered what happened to Wonderland, it certainly wasnt like the book and what her mother told her when she was a child. The more important question that kept bothering her, why was she here? She looked at the house ahead of them before looking at the male, " what happened to Wonderland?" She finally asked him in a quiet voice.


---


@redletalis

 

[redletalis]

"A lot of things." Raven said and didn't really answer any of the questions. They didn't have time for that right now. He dragged her along, forcing her to jump over a small dip in the road, dark and full of branches. And eyes. A lot of yellow eyes moving about and staring at them, blinking and pushing against each other.


The trees around them were getting more and more gnarly and entwined in each other, the branches reaching for the two of them and hooking in their clothes and hair. The holes int he trunks and the bark formed ugly, hideous faces in the gloomy light.


"You're going the wrong way." One tree whispered.


"Turn around before it's too late." Another added sounding much like a witch.


"The enemy is ahead." A third one hissed.


"They are waiting for you. It's an ambush." A fourth one shivered.


He paid them no mind. "False alarms. It means we are getting closer." He pulled her along until they could see cold, weak light amongst the trees ahead of them.


The barks behind them were getting closer.

 

[Evergreen98]

Lana was slowly starting to get nervous as she and the male moved through the forest. She almost tripped after she jumped over the small dip. She was never an athletic person, people always said she is a frail and weak individual with a big heart for healping others. Which is true, she is weak, frail and not a very athletic person, but that doesn't mean she is completely helpless. 'Don't judge a book by it's cover' is what her mother would say, ' you may think you have someone all figured out but you're wrong. You will or can get surprised in the end'


As they kept moving through the forest, more cuts got on her body, for not wearing the right shoes and not be use to the terrain. She looked at the trees and stayed or at least tried to stay close to the male. The ominous looked on the trees scared her. She then noticed the eyes and stared at them as she moved. She looked at the male, " false alarms?" She said as looked at them as she kept moving. Again almost tripping.


She really wondered what happened to Wonderland. 'What could have destroyed this place?..' she thoughf to herself as she kept walking with him. She heard the barking and blinked, " we need to hide nearby. We wint make it to the house in time" she whispered to the male.


--


@redletalis

 

[redletalis]

"We do or we die." Raven focused more on their surroundings than what the human female was saying. They could barely hear the rustling behind them as the bloodhounds came crashing through and, behind the hounds, there was the roar of a hunting horn. The sound was sharp and high, cold and long.


"The White King is hunting. Hurry!" he pulled harder and forced her into a full out sprint when the breached through the trees. The clearing was cold and a thing mist covered the overgrown grounds. The colours were grey and muted, the grass was knee high and razor sharp. In the middle of the clearing stood a crooked, thatched cottage. It had two floors, the whitewashed walls were more grey, the windows were broken and the thatch looked like it needed replacing. There had once been a chimney but it was long gone now, and the various tables and mismatched chairs lay abandoned on the grounds in front of the cottage. Teacups and teapots of various shapes and sizes were thrown around, smashed and littering the grounds like snow.


Raven ran up to the door, dragging the girl with him, only to crash to a halt when it refused to open. The door was locked from the inside and no matter how much Raven pushed it refused to open. The smell of coppery blood and the barks were almost at the edge of the clearing.


"Stay right here." Raven said to the female and then forced himself against the door again as if he was trying to push it open. Instead he started shimmering and sliding through it. Like a ghost.

 

[Evergreen98]

Lana's eyes widened and she didn't get the chance to scream since the male just pulled her into an all out sprint, " there is a White King?" She thought as she ran, her chest was already burning and her breathing was heavy. Again. Not an atheletic person. She almost tripped again and her arm was feeling numbs from him holding on tightly, but right ahe didnr want him to loosen his grip ahe want to hold onto her or she will get captured.


She looked back as she ran and then forward toward the house they were approaching. It was old and run down, it looked like if you touch it will crumble up and fall down. What caught Lana's eyes was the different tea pots and the shatter cups and silverwar. The only person with all this teapot and silverware was the Mad Hatter. 'Mad Hatter...' she thought to herself.


When they stopped her breathing was ragged and she started coughing half hazardly. She looked at the male as he tried openeing the door which didn't open. She calmed down a little but was still coughing as she nodded to him. She looked at him and blinked when he entered the house like a ghost. She heard the barking and backed up a little, she coughed again as waited for the male to open the door.


---


@redletalis .

 

[redletalis]

His head was the last part of him that disappeared through the wooden door. A moment later he was through completely and he took a few seconds to become solid again and check that everything was there and that he hadn't left anything of himself behind. That was always embarrassing. And awkward. And surprisingly painful. But every part of him had made the trip, and he turned to the door.


Raven pulled off the planks that barred the door from inside and then used his powers to force the lock to turn before he opened the door and reached out. Latching onto the female's arm he pulled her inside and then went about locking and replacing the planks. While he used his powers to replace the planks Raven turned around and pushed her towards the rickety stairs leading up.


"We need to get high. Bloodhounds cannot deal with heights. Quick. Get as high up as you can." He said and crouched down. A few brushes of his hands pushed away the dust and dirt enough to reveal the faint outline of a secret hatch. Raven lifted it just enough to disturb the dirt and dust and then followed the human female upwards.


The entire cottage shook as a bloodhound threw itself at the door.

 

[Evergreen98]

By the time male opened the door, Lana managed to catch her breath. Her chest was still hurting but she will live. She softly sighed and stiffened when the barks got louder. ' please hurry...' As soon as she thought that the door opened and she was pulled into the house.


She watched as the male secured the door and the almost tripped yet again as she was pushed up the stairs. She nodded as she started to head upstairs as quickly as she can. She watched her feet making sure she didn't step on any holes and weak wood that can fall through and her feet can get stuck in, as she quickly made her way upstairs.


She lost her balance and grabbed the railing when the house shook because of the bloodhound. She tried to go back to head up stairs but the railing gave in and the next thing she knew, she if falling. 'Oh god..' she thought as she closed her eyes tightly and prepared herself to hit the ground and possible break a few bones and die.


--


@redletalis

 

[redletalis]

"Fiddlesticks!" he snarled as the human female fell, and his cloak came alive. It twisted and shot after her and grabbed for arms and legs, wrapping around one wrist and halting her fall inches from the ground. The tug this created nearly pulled Raven down with her but another piece of his cloak shot out and pierced the wall behind him, hooking him in place until he could lift her back up again.


"You have the worst luck I have ever seen." He nearly snarled at her as he grabbed her hand and pulled her back onto the stairs properly and his cloak settled down again and became a normal cloak once more. Raven pushed her up and up and up until they couldn't go anywhere. He looked around at the single-room floor right under the thatched roof. There was a lot of stuff here, it seemed to have served as both a bedroom and a storage space. The bed was off in one corner, dusty and the sheets moth-eaten and a dingy grey, and in the opposite corner was the fireplace. Right in the middle were the stairs.


The house shook again as the bloodhounds threw themselves at the door, and the ominous creak of breaking wood reached them where they stood.


Raven urged her towards the fireplace. "Hide in there. Go inside, climb up as high as you can without peeking out the top. Stay as silent as you can and be prepared for a possible sword or spear to be stuck up in there in case they decide to check. Here, use this to cover your mouth and nose." He ripped off a piece of his cloak and pushed it into her hands and then urged her to the fireplace. "Quickly now!"

 

[Evergreen98]

It was almost as if everything stopped for just a moment when the cloak wrapped arouns her arms and legs as well as one of her wrist. She slowly opened her eyes as she was being pulled up, she looked below and soflty sighed in relief ehen she was standing near the male again.


" I am sorry" she said to him, knowing what he said was true. First she arrived in Wonderland which is cleary in the middle of something, now getting chase by bloodhound and now falling to her doom while going up a flight stairs? Yeah, she had the worst luck.


She started to head up the stairs again and this time trying not to fall to her doom and not lose her when the house shook her again. Once up she was catching her breath again as the male looked around for a place to hide at or something. She blinked as he pushed her towards the fireplace and expected her to climb up. It was like asking her to climb up the ropes in her highschool gym. " I cant do that! And even if I could I can only hold on for a about 30 seconds to a minute!" She said to him.


---


@redletalis

 

[redletalis]

"Either you do it or you die. This will protect you a little bit, now do it." He pulled off his cloak and wrapped it around her shoulders before he pushed her to the fireplace once more. Raven wasn't going to hide with her. He made sure that all of her was as hidden as possible. He used his powers to help the cloak hook into the wall and help to keep her up, and then he used his powers to disturb the dust and grime and old ashes to hide her tracks. Finally he hurried over to one of the walls where the thatch was greyest and fullest. He reached up and pulled himself up and into the the thatch, settling down like a ghost and blending in perfectly.


And not a moment too soon for the door downstairs gave out with a crash and barking and shouting echoed through the house. Things being thrown around and turned over, heavy boots on the old wood floors and then up the stairs.


The scent of blood was almost sickly overpowering by now.


"Blasted bloodhounds! Get! Up!" someone growled.


"Leave 'em. You know they're useless higher up than their own noses." Another voice answered, coming closer and closer. "Now let's see if we can find what they smelled."


The door to the room where they were hiding opened.

 

[Evergreen98]

Lana frowned a little and started to climb up the fireplace. Luckily it was an old fireplace and she managed to find cracks to place her foot in as climbed to the top. Her body shuddered a little, she felt like she is going to fall and she wont have the male to rescue her. She then felt the cloak hook into place give her some reasurance that she wont fall. She was still scared about falling. Once she reached the top, she did her best to stay up in the chimney and wait.


She closed her eyes and tried to remember what her gym teacher told her. She needed to control her breathing. ' ok Lana... stay calm and control your breathing...' she thought as she breathed in and out calmly as she listened to the bloodhounds barking and the to footsteps coming up the stairs.


As she was focusing on her breathing, she she didnt feel the cut on her ankle and other cuts start to bleed. (You can decide if the blood drips and falls ans if they find her. :3))


----


@redletalis

 

[redletalis]

Raven watched the two men walk around. Their armour was white with a cold sheen to it, uneaten spikes growing here and there. The heraldry on their short capes showed a proud black clover on a white background. Clubs. The White King's men. They carried short, light spears for hunting and short swords at their sides. They opened the chests and looked under the bed before knocking down the old, elegant wardrobe.


"You certain those idiot bloodhounds got any scent at all?" one asked.


"These are the White Knight's bloodhounds, of course they got something. They might be afraid of heights but their noses are still good."


The first snorted. "What kind of critter is insane enough to be walking around in these woods?"


The second man walked right past Raven's hiding place, close enough for Raven to reach out and touch if he had wanted to. The guy walked towards the fireplace. "Fuck if I know. Remains of the old order I suppose, they're everywhere."


"Cockroaches." He harked and spit. "Why're you checking there anyway? There's nothing stupid enough to hide there."


"Exactly because of that."


"There are no marks. Let's just go. Whomever it was probably got away through a back window while we were trying to break down the door."

 

[Evergreen98]

Lana's heart was racing so loud and fast that ahe thoight they could heart. She silently breath in and breath. ' stay calm stay calm....' she thought to herself. She was so concentrated on staying calm, she didnt pay attention to their conversation. The only thing in her mind was to stay still and quiet. Her wrist has gone numb from the pain again but was shaking, whoch she tried to stop desperately. She did want any gravels to fall.


She closed her eyes as started to calm down when she heard that they were about to leave, but at that moment a drip of blood fell from the cut on her ankle onto the ground. She didnt notice it notice it, but if she did she hoped the men didnt notice it as well.


--


@redletalis

 

[redletalis]

"One can never be too careful. I'd rather check and not find anything than not check, realise that there was something there and then have to explain to the White King exactly what happened." The man snorted and kneeled down by the fireplace. He looked between his spear and his sword, wondering for a moment which one to use before settling on the spear and angling it.


Raven tensed as the man approached the fireplace and the chimney. He gathered his power and made ready to attack, to move, to rustle, to do anything that would keep them from discovering where the female was. He needn't have bothered. There was a bark and a shout from downstairs.


"They found something! I told you there was nothing here." The second man snorted and headed towards the door. The first man looked at the fireplace where his spear was almost in, then sighed and pulled back and followed his companion out the door and down the stairs.


Raven slid silently out of the thatch and ghosting across the floor the second he felt that they were far enough away. "Come down. We will watch them retreat from the windows."

 

[Evergreen98]

Lana heard listend to their conversation and tensed when she heard one of the knights wanting to check up the fireplace. She clenched her fist and shudder a little as she waited for them to check and discover her. She wondered what was going to happen afterwards. Will she be out on trial and have her head cut off? Probably, not since this is the white king and the red queen is the one that cuts heads off. She will most likely be thrown into a cell of something.


She was soon taken out of her thoughts, when she barking and shouts. She relaxed as she listened to the two leave. She then listen to the foosteps fade which meant they were walking away. She relaxed and let out a soft sigh as she looked below to see the male come over and telling her to come down. She sweatdropped, if she tried anything she was going to fall. " um... I think I am going to fall if I move..." she said to him. " Can you catch me?" She asked him.


---


@redletalis

 

[redletalis]

Raven stopped up, looked at the fireplace and then rolled his eyes. He snapped his fingers and the cloak wrapped tighter around the human woman. The edges bit into the wall and walked her down until she could stand on her own two feet. Once on solid ground the cloak unwrapped and slid down her body, fluttered across the floor like a shadow and climbed up Raven's body to rest on his shoulders once more.


There were barks and shouts outside and he stalked over to the window. It looked out onto the backyard, and there were even more tables and teapots and mismatched chairs here. The first to come to view were the bloodhounds. They were great big beasts, coat a dark red-brown like dried blood and leaving behind footprints in the same colour. They sniffed around, barked and were off again. A moment later came the riders. All on horses, all in mail and all with the same heraldry on their short cloaks. There were ten of them.


Raven watched them thunder into the forest, barely slowing down for the trees and branches to pull back and open up a safe path for them. Any branch that didn't get out of the way fast enough was turned to ice and shattered in the blink of an eye.


"The White King of the Icy South." He snorted. "The big idiot is what."

 

[Evergreen98]

Lana frowned when she saw him roll his eyes thinking her wasnt going to help her. She sighed and was about to try to come down without falling but before she could do so, the cloak wrapped around her and held her get down. She got to her feet and dusted herself off, she softly sighed to herself. Her entire body felt sore and there was a bruise forming where the male had held onto her tightly. ' at least I am alive and dont have a broken ankle' she thought as she followed the male quietly to the window.


She peeked and blinked at the bloodhounds. They were nothing, absolutely nothing like the ones back in her world. She closed her eyes and sighed a little, ' too much in one day...' she thought to herself. She then opened them again to see to see the 10 riders.


Armor as white as snow, riding through the forest. She frowned a little when the trees got hurt because of they couldn't move out of the way in time. She sighed as she turned around and put her back to the wall, she wanted to fall asleep, she hasnt run as much as she did ever since she graduated from highschool. She looked at the mail, " now can you tell me what happened to Wonderland?" She asked the male as she started to look at the cuts on her body.


@redletalis

 

[redletalis]

Raven watched the woods as far around as he could until he was certain that they weren't coming back. The unnatural movements of the trees indicated the party's passing. There was little chance of them sneaking back around, the creaking of trees and fleeing creatures would alert them hopefully in time to escape.


"The White King's men or not, the riders are not stupid enough to spread out one by one," he said quietly. "The Tulgey Wood gives them passage but it would just as well swallow them whole and they know it. Those woods suffer only their own for any length of time."


He looked at the human female for a moment before he nodded at her request.


"I need to check downstairs in case someone stayed. After that we shall talk and I will tell you what you wish to know." Raven made use of his skills and passed through walls and ceiling and floor as he made a quick sweep of the house and the front of it. He was back five minutes later. "No one here and no indication for a quick return. We will be safe here for the night at least."


He looked for the least dusty piece of floor to settle down on, found it right to the side of the old fireplace and sat down, leaning his back against the stone walls of the fireplace. He motioned for her to pick a seat too. "You have some knowledge about Wonderland, that is obvious. Tell me what you know first and then I shall know how to answer your questions."

 

[Evergreen98]

Lana nodded to the male and looked over the cut on her body when he left to check around the house. She sighed a little knowing, she'll need some bandages. She had some in her purse which was no where near her when she woke up. By the time she was done checking over herseld she looked over at the male who came back and sat down.


She nodded to him and walked over and sat down next to him. " well... there is an old story about a girl falling into wonderland and travelling around trying to find her way back home. She met all sort of people, the talking door, Mad Hatter, March Hare, Doormouse, White Rabbit, The talking mean flowers, Red Queen, her card soldier, the Dodo bird, Twiddle Dee and Twiddle Dum and my favorite the Chesire cat. She ate the cake that made her big and then the Shrink me drink I think to make her small. The Red queen tried to cut her head off, but she managed to get away.. by the end of the story it was all a dream..." she said to him quietly as she put her knees to her chest and looked at him.


---


@redletalis

 

[redletalis]

"That is because when she visited things were very different." Raven pulled out a small knife and picked up at piece of wood laying about, and started to whittle away. "She came when there was still peace in Wonderland, when there was still balance between the good and the bad. After she left the King of Spades and the King of Clubs and the Queen of Diamonds and the Queen of Hearts thought it a good idea to breed. Four kingdoms turn to two kingdoms joined together and then, years hence, when the children were grown join the two kingdoms into one big with a common ruler."


He blew some of the shavings away. "They decided to test it out, most eagerly at that, between the King of Clubs and the Queen of Diamonds. The Icy South joining forces with the Freezing North. It could have worked, they had the same elemental affinity and, by all accounts, the King and the Queen were genuinely fond of each other. And All four lands were overjoyed when the Queen of Diamonds announced her pregnancy. It was when the child was born that things went wrong. Can you imagine the shame of your firstborn being a boy?"


Raven turned the little piece of wood around, looking it over before he started to whittle again.