Riku and Alice

By Beth Higdon

The Kidnapping

Alice couldn't see anything through the curtain, but she could hear the sounds of the battle raging out side. She could hear the Queen yelling, "Off with their heads!" quite venomously. Alice didn't know for certain, because she had never had her head chopped off before, but she did have a feeling that it wouldn't be a very pleasant experience. "For if my head were to be separated from my body, how shall I ever eat?", she thought.
Alice was a very curios girl. "If I hadn't been so curios," she said to herself furiously, "I wouldn't be stuck in an over sized bird cage on top of a ten foot hedge." She had yellow hair tied back with a black ribbon and eyes the color of rain. She also wore a simple blue dress that matched her eyes, with a milk white frock, and layers of petticoats underneath.
"Hello," came a smug voice behind her. Alice turned around. Through the bars of the cage, she could see a boy. He was taller than her and probably two or three years older. He had long blonde hair, almost white, that came down to his shoulders. Alice couldn't help but notice that he had striking turquoise eyes. They reminded her of the eyes of a cat: always staring out into the distance, tense, and alert. He also wore some of the oddest clothes she had ever seen, but than again everything was odd in Wonderland.
Alice gave a quick curtsy. "How do you do?" she greeted in her proper English accent. "Did you fall down the rabbit hole also?"
The boy just tilled his head and gave her a confused look. "Whatever," he said, "I'm here to get you out."
"Oh, why thank you so much. I say, that's very kind of you. By the why, my name is Alice and you are…"
"Riku," the boy said with a grunt as he worked to break the hinges on the cage with his sword. "There," he sighed as the back of the cage finally broke off. Alice primly stepped out, smoothed her apron, and held out her hand: "Pleased to meet you Mr. Riku."
"You can drop the Mister. Come on, let's get going." Ignoring the offered hand, he then turned to leave.
Alice started to follow but stopped when she saw another strange boy fighting below them. "But… What about my friend Sora? He's trying to save me too. Shouldn't we let him know that I'm alright?" she asked with concern.
Riku looked down from the hedge. At the moment, Sora was busy hacking away at a tower. "I'm a friend of Sora's also. He asked me to help you escape while he created a distraction. Don't worry about him, though. He can take care of himself. Now come on." With that, Riku grabbed Alice by the wrist and started to drag her along the top of the hedge.
"Well! You needn't be so rude about it!" Alice cried indigently.
"Where… Where are we going any ways?" she asked, breathless from the run. Her side hurt, and she was getting tired of this boy bossing her around.
"We getting out of here; that's where" Riku impatiently replied. Why did she have to ask so many questions? It was starting to irate him.
He pulled her along until they had reached the end of the hedge. Than suddenly, a black mist began to rise from the ground. It came together to form, what looked like to Alice, a hole in the air.
"It's a portal." Riku explained. "It'll take us out of this world"
"Oh! Will it take us home?" Alice excitedly asked. "I can't wait to see Dinah again!"
Riku paused with his back to her. He seamed hesitant to answer, and when finally he spoke his voice was unsteady. "I…I can't promise you that."
"Than where does it lead?"
Riku whirled around to face her, his cat like eyes slightly sparking with anger. "Look do you just want to stand around here and get behead?" he bellowed. "Will you just come on?"
To say the least, Alice was taken aback by this sudden alteration in temper. However, she quickly composed herself and retorted, "My, aren't we bossy! You know you have less manners than a… a flower! Besides I don't see why I have to go any where with you. I believe I'll just stay here and wait for Sora to come back."
"Oh, you're going." Before Alice could protest, Riku picked her up and slung her over his back.
"What are you doing? Put me down! This is so uncivilized." Right as Alice began to scream for help, the black mist caught in her mouth and strangled her words. All she could see before her was darkness. If only she knew what lied in wait for her.