Hey guys, this is an original story I'm working on. Name's Soreen, no last name yet. If you can tell, it's just a pen name. Anyway, let me know if you like what I've wrote and maybe I'll write some more. Other than that, just enjoy. If you have questions, just message me I guess.
Chapter One: Fear Throughout The Land
"Come on, Abigail!" sixteen-year-old Lace Atter yelled as she ran on the ever twisting path that was being trampled beneath her feet. She clutched her silver bladed sword at her side as she ran, it was a good thing she thought twice before she left her house this morning.
"I'm running as fast as I can Lace!" Abigail yelled to Lace, who was a couple of steps ahead of her. Abigail never understood how Lace could run in a dress, much less something as elaborate as what she had on. The white lace dress was perfect on its own, but she added black belts and buckles over the thing, making it look like a spider had made a web over her dress.
Lace's eyes darted from left to right, looking at the misshapen tree and rock formations that also had different colors on them. She didn't bat an eyelash at it. She felt her leg muscles getting tired underneath her black pinstripe socks and her feet were beginning to ache in her boots. Still, she pressed on. She knew that if she stopped, she'd be dead and so would Abigail. If Abigail died, she'd probably be beheaded.
As Lace's eyes kept looking for anything that could help them now more than ever, her eyes locked onto a tree with a green trunk and large purple mushroom on top. The tree itself was curved a bit at the base and had a secret opening near the base under the tree. She ran over and used her sword to hack away more of the ground so that she and Abigail could hide.
"Go down." she instructed to Abigail, taking her hand and leading her to the underground hiding spot.
"Down there?! My shirt and skirt will get ruined!" Abigail exclaimed.
"Well no one told you to wear white, now did they?" Lace berated her. "And besides, you have on a pink sweater vest over the shirt so get your butt down there before I kick it down there!"
"I hear voices over here!" a masculine voice shouted, followed by metal footsteps trampling the ground.
Abigail's face twisted into fear and she hurried into the hole. Lace lowered down her sword slowly and slid into the hole as well. Once she was inside, she saw Abigail huddled in the corner through the barely streaming sunlight the hole provided. It was better than nothing, she had to admit. Lace felt moss beneath her fingertips and used it to cover up the hole. She then crawled over to Abigail and sat pretzel style next to her with her sword on her lap.
Outside, men in full body armor ran up to the base of the tree. All of them had six red spades on their plate body and red spears with red hearts at the tip. They all looked around frantically in search for something.
"I'm sure I heard their voices around here!" one of them spoke angrily.
"Well find them! Our orders were to eliminate Madeline Alice Atter and Abigail Rabbit. The Red Queen demands it!" Another one spoke.
In the tree, Lace was fuming silently to herself about the full use of her real name. Abigail was still huddled to herself.
"How do we escape from here without being seen Lace?" Abigail asked, making sure to keep her voice down so that they wouldn't get caught.
"I'm working on it, Abby." Lace replied, crawling around the small space in the dark, running her hands on the ground beneath them. Her hands slid over something round and smooth and she picked it up. She felt them in her hand and a smile crept its way onto her face. God, she must look like Cheshire Cat right now. She picked up some of the pebbles and snaked her hand through the moss. She threw the pebbles down the path and like a moth to a flame, the men ran towards the sound, making both girls sigh in relief.
Lace poked her head out to make sure the coast was clear, grabbed her sword and carefully crept out. She winced at the sunlight that hit her eyes. It hurt her right eye more than her left, seeing as how her green eye was way more sensitive to light than her blue one.
"Lace?" Abigail's voice echoed out to Lace, causing the girl to turn around and stare at the base of the tree. "Is it safe yet?"
"It's all tea parties and smiles." Lace replied, using the tip of her sword to move the moss for her friend.
Abigail gasped at the sudden sunlight but moved quickly out of the hole and onto higher ground. She swept away the dirt that was sure to have gathered on her shirt, skirt, and vest and she pulled on the silver chain in her vest pocket. It revealed a small pocket watch with an eccentric design on it, as well as the letters 'AW'. She pushed the top down with her thumb and with a tiny click, the watch cover opened to reveal the time. She widened her eyes and put it away quickly.
"We're going to be late Lace! We have to hurry!" Abigail said, racing off.
Lace took off, catching up quickly to her. "That's what happens when you get caught by Card Guards in a secret entrance." Lace yelled, following Abigail as she came across a fast running stream. There was a bright going across it, letting both girls pass with ease. "Now we have to tell the White Queen that another secret route's been compromised."
"We have bigger things to worry about, Lace! My father asked for both of us at a specific time! He's a very busy man you know?" Abigail replied cutting through a cluster of trees with different colored and sized mushrooms on top.
"My father's a busy man too, but he still has time to throw tea parties every afternoon with your father and his other friends." Lace counteracted, taking the lead with Abigail.
Before Abigail could respond, both girls ran out of the trees and into a huge white gate. Behind the gate was a bustling town with an even busier town square and a noticeably small but crowded village. The one thing that caught the girl's eyes, besides the massive castle that seemed to rise out of the ground and stop at the skyline, was the fact that everything was white. Pure white. Even the people dressed in white. In front of the gate were two men, outfitted with white armor and a sword in each hand.
Lace and Abigail walked up to the two and stopped.
"Halt! Who bothers going here to disturb the peaceful territory of White?" they demanded to know.
Lace drove her sword into the ground and kneeled on the ground, carefully holding the sword as well. She really hated this part of the job since it involved doing something she almost seldom did. "Madeline Alice Atter. Daughter of Mad H. Atter and Alice Atter. Protector of The White family appointed by the White Queen." she got out in one breath.
Abigail kneeled down as well, looking at both men with a straight face. "Abigail White. Daughter of White Rabbit. Protector of the White family, appointed by the White Queen." she said sweetly.
Both men stepped aside and pushed open the gates, revealing the entire town to the girls. They rose and walked by them briskly, saying quick thank you's and rushing off. They walked past many people, who nodded to them gracefully as the girls said hello and waved to them. When the girls reached the town square, they saw a huge white water fountain with a statue of the White Queen in all her glory. She had long flowing hair and an even longer dress. Her head was facing the sky while her hands tilted toward the sky as if she were letting a bird go free. Water sprouted from her mouth and fell into the pool beneath her.
"I always see this statue and for some strange reason, I never get tired of it." Abigail commented as she felt instantly calm by the rippling sounds of the water hitting the pool below her.
Lace scoffed and sat on the edge of the water fountain. She looked up at the sky and felt a bit peaceful. She hated saying her full name like that. Madeline Alice . It was her father that chose her first name, something she didn't have a problem with. She hated her middle name, Alice. It was her mother's name as well and everyone thought highly of her mother Alice. She knew why as well. Apparently, she was born in Wonderland and saved the White Queen and the land itself from total corruption by the Red Queen, or as Lace liked to call her, the Queen of Hearts. Since then, she stayed and met her father, Mad H. Atter, more commonly referred to as Mad Hatter. The rest is history.
was her father that chose her first name, something she didn't have a problem with. She hated her middle name, Alice. It was her mother's name as well and everyone thought highly of her mother Alice. She knew why as well. Apparently, she was born in Wonderland and saved the White Queen and the land itself from total corruption by the Red Queen, or as Lace liked to call her, the Queen of Hearts. Since then, she stayed and met her father, Mad H. Atter, more commonly referred to as Mad Hatter. The rest is history.
It was her father that chose her first name, something she didn't have a problem with. She hated her middle name, Alice. It was her mother's name as well and everyone thought highly of her mother Alice. She knew why as well. Apparently, she was born in Wonderland and saved the White Queen and the land itself from total corruption by the Red Queen, or as Lace liked to call her, the Queen of Hearts. Since then, she stayed and met her father, Mad H. Atter, more commonly referred to as Mad Hatter. The rest, as they say, is history.
"Abigail, how much longer do we have to wait here?" Lace said dramatically, earning an eye roll from her friend.
"My father said he'd come to get us at exactly three thirty and it's only three twenty-eight." Abigail replied. "Time is a very big issue with my family and we're never late, nor early, so deal with it."
Abigail's father was Mr. White Rabbit. He was the royal messenger for the White Queen and her family. He was a professional nut when he came to keeping and staying on time, and somehow managed to instill that lesson into his daughter. Now Abigail Rabbit was the well-kept and put-together Lace was proud to call her friend, all because she made sure to do everything on time. Not the best way to live life, Lace thought, but hey, who was she to complain.
"Abigail! Madeline-Alice!" a male voice shouted that was coming closer and closer.
Lace and Abigail looked in front of them to see a man with a two tail suit that matched the white gloves he wore. There was a silver chain in his breast pocket and a sense of urgency in his voice. He had the same almost white hair that Abigail had and the same pink eyes but was much older than her.
"Dad!" Abigail yelled out, running towards him.
Lace followed in pursuit, dreading the use of the one name she hated the most. Abigail hugged her father and let get to face Lace who just gave him a wave of the hand.
"Hello Mr. R." she said in an almost friendly voice.
"Hello Abby, Madeline-Alice. Glad you two could make it, although why are you two so messy?" he asked, brushing off his daughter's vest.
"Card Guards. They found or secret passage that led to the southern gates of White Territory. I think they were trying to follow us, but we gave them the slip." Lace replied. "And it's Lace. Not Madeline-Alice." she added as an afterthought.
"I see. Well come along. The White Queen has asked for you personally my dear and Abigail did good in getting you here on time, even though you should've bought your weapon just in case." he said, making Abigail pout.
"I didn't think that we'd run into Card Guards in such a well-hidden path." she retorted.
"Let's not dwell on what's been done, let's just go see why the White Queen has requested an audience with you." he said, checking his pocket watch and almost having a heart attack at the time.
Abigail let the argument die with his words and both she and Lace followed Rabbit towards the sky high White Castle.
Wonderland was divided into twelve neutral territories and three ruling territories surrounding it. The Atter family ruled alongside the White Family, with the Red family trying to conquer the entire land. Aside from them, were the Jabberwock family that lived in Tugley Woods, which was on the border of the Outlands. Lace knew the layout of the land by heart and knew all the important players in each ruling territory, except for the Jabberwock family. The only thing she could comprehend was that they are large in numbers and that only one of them caused trouble in the open.
As Rabbit led the two girls to the gates of the castle, they received praise and words of thanks. Lace often protected the White territory from Card Guards sent by the Queen of Hearts. She also had her own team that she led which consisted of her friends. Abigail was in this group as well and had more than enough times gotten tossed around by Card Guards for protecting the innocent. They also did work outside of this territory by helping to protect others. When they reached the gate, two men with staffs in white armor stopped the three of them
"Halt! Who shall try to gain entrance to the Castle of White?" one of them spoke.
Lace was starting to feel that every guard said halt whenever they just wanted to seem important after standing around for what seemed like hours doing nothing.
"White Rabbit. Messenger for the royal family." Rabbit announced kneeling on one knee.
"Abigail Rabbit. Protector for the White family." Abigail curtsied gracefully.
"Madeline Alice Atter, at your service. Protector of the White family." Abigail jabbed Lace in the gut for being so rude, to which Lace laughed under breath.
The men nodded and stepped aside, opening the doors to the castle. Rabbit led the girls inside and let the doors close behind them.
The first thing that Lace noticed as she walked inside behind Rabbit and Abigail, was that everything was white. The walls of the hallway they were walking in, the carpet they walked on, as well as the sconces that were on the wall as they walked. The only color, other than themselves, were oak doors that lined either wall. After what seemed like a lifetime of walking, they reached a four-way interception and turned left. They reached the end of the hall and were faced with two huge white doors.
Rabbit knocked on the doors and all three of them heard a faint "Come in." on the other side. The doors opened slowly, revealing a large room and two white carpets leading up to two currently occupied thrones side by side. The one on the left had a woman with pure white hair and white dress. Her brown eyes and red lips stood out the most in her. Next to her was a girl that was a bit shorter than her who had the same white hair and brown eyes.
In the right throne was a man with fine white hair and wearing a tux. His brown eyes stared at the young man next to him with displeasure, while the young man looked at him with the same hard brown eyes. His white hair matched the man's he was staring at. Rabbit cleared his throat, getting everyone's attention.