Know who you're up against.

Since I can't get these two dorks out of my head after finishing OUATIW for the first time few weeks ago, I decided I might as well write something for them. Hope you enjoy it! We're starting with something simple :)

Cyrus could sense that she wanted to ask him something while they were setting up camp for the night, though she seemed to hesitate whether she should actually do it. Being a genie for years gave him ability to somewhat read people minds without them speaking a word and, while usually he found that to be useful, he felt a pang of disappointment at this revelation. It was truly hard to say what exactly was plaguing her mind but… If Alice wanted to speak with him so much yet was also clearly scared to, it could only mean one thing. She was ready to make her wishes.

After few weeks spent in her company, he foolishly believed things maybe would be different this time; he actually thought that… No, scratch this, he had no idea what was he thinking. How could he be so naive? Did he really hope she wouldn't make her wishes, that she would be so unlike his previous masters? It's not as if she owed him anything. Alice found his bottle, the three wishes were hers, "mistress mine, my will is thine", fair and square. It was only right for him to grant her wishes, so she could return to her life – which, thanks to his help, hopefully would turn for better – and Cyrus to his bottle, until someone else finds him. Just as it happened countless times before. So why that thought brought chill to his bones, which he could feel even know, creeping up, despite the campfire cracking barely few feet away? Was it truly that long since he last served anyone, since he could talk to someone and consider them a friend, not just a person who wanted to use him for his powers?

Cyrus looked over the fire at Alice. She was busy making up her bedroll but, upon sensing him watch her closely, glanced up with a smile which was only a little bit nervous. He couldn't deny that he quickly grew fond of his companion – she was witty, clever and a beautiful young woman, whose heart seemed to be always after a new adventure. It was hard not to fall to her charm, truly. He most certainly did.

(The moment she appeared in his bottle, perhaps).

Maybe that's why, the thought of diverging our paths hurts so much, Cyrus wondered bitterly.

"Hey."

He jumped up slightly, not noticing that Alice moved to sit next to him. She winced apologetically upon seeing his reaction.

"Sorry, didn't mean to startle you," she spoke softly.

Cyrus shook his head.

"It's alright. I, uh, spaced off a bit." He scratched his neck, sheepish smile growing on his face as he gazed at her. Alice nodded.

"I wanted to talk with you about something," she said, uncertainty visible in her voice.

Ah, there it was. The wishes. He winced inwardly, preparing for the worst.

"Go ahead, then."

Alice bit her lip, clearly anxious to start and Cyrus couldn't help it but feel his previous anger fade away. She was a wonderful person, who deserved a good life – if he had to let her go so she could achieve it, then so be it. She's shown him nothing but kindness before, never really bringing up the subject of wishes, giving him the taste of freedom others so recklessly denied and he was going to repay in the same way.

He touched her hand softly, causing Alice to look up at him. "Don't worry, okay? You can tell me anything," he prompted. She seemed to relax a bit, though her gaze was still wandering around the camp instead of focusing on him.

"I– I know, it's just…" She took a deep breath to calm herself. "It's kind of silly, actually." Alice admitted finally, causing him to raise his eyebrows. She couldn't possible mean… No, she most certainly wouldn't use a word like "silly" to tell him that she made up her mind and wanted to use the wishes, would she now?

"What do you mean?" Cyrus asked, confused.

"Well, it's just… When we were in the town today, and that one merchant started talking with us?" She looked at him expectantly and he nodded slowly. They did visit one of the towns earlier this day, since their supplies were running low. He had no idea what this had to do with anything, though.

"Yes, what of it?"

"He spoke of something that… made me uncomfortable and you asked about it, remember? I said it was nothing but… I wasn't completely honest with you." She frowned, looking at her hands. Cyrus desperately tried to remember what it was that the old man spoke of. "What he said, it really brought back some bad memories I wanted to forget and I just… I don't know, I guess I didn't want to talk with you about it, because it would make this real, you know? More real than it is already, that is."

Suddenly, he knew. How the merchant warned them about heading east – they assured him they were going in the opposite direction, which was true – because there's been sightings of a terrible beast ravaging the forest. He also claimed that apparently said creature killed three men already, but Cyrus was only half-listening then, his attention fully on Alice who seemed to pale upon hearing this news.

"I remember. Bandersnatch, was it?" She shuddered when he said its name. "The thing that supposedly reigns over half of the forest, according to that man?"

Alice nodded solemnly, refusing to meet his gaze.

"Yes," she replied, her voice barely louder than a whisper. Cyrus watched her intently, not knowing what to make of her reaction – he wouldn't pin her as a person that's easily scared, especially of a rumor. It's not as if bandersnatches were common creatures either, though, being native to Wonderland, he suspected Alice has heard of them before.

"When I first came to Wonderland," she started abruptly, "I was just a little girl."

She glanced at him and Cyrus nodded encouragingly; Alice told him that during their first meeting, but he felt like there was going to be more to this story now.

"It was a splendid adventure and I made many friends back then – you've met Rabbit, of course – but there was also Cheshire, and Hatter, though I heard he's left Wonderland now…" She rambled but he didn't dare to interrupt. "But, as much as I love this place, it's not really safe, is it? Even a young girl can easily make enemies in here, if she messes with wrong people."

She paused and looked him in the eyes, almost calculating, as if she expected him to cut in, to say that she's being ridiculous. When he didn't respond, deciding to stay silent, she decided to continue and Cyrus almost breathed a sigh of relief.

"I don't remember the details about how it started as much as I'd like to now, but I sure do remember what she did when I angered her. I was a silly girl, never really thinking that my actions would have consequences – well, Queen of Hearts made sure to teach me that lesson when I decided to– "

"Wait, Queen of Hearts?" He asked before he could even stop himself. Alice sent him a glare.

"It's not as if I wanted to meet her, alright? Actually, I think it was mostly Hatter's fault… Not that it matters now. Anyway, I ended up stopping one of her parties – which are executions, by the way – and, um, kind of stole something important–"

"Kind of?" Cyrus interrupted with a smile and Alice rolled her eyes, but didn't seem to be angry at him this time.

"It's a complicated story. What's important in it is that after what I've done, she was after my head. Literally, mind you."

"But you were just a child. Surely she wouldn't kill you?" He asked with genuine concern, his brows furrowed.

"The queen isn't the forgiving type, I assure you," she retorted, grimacing. "You are right, though, she didn't want to execute me as others who defied her. I imagine I owe it to her chamberlain rather than the Queen herself. But, she needed to get rid of me… so she sent a monster to take care of that." Alice stated, seemingly calm.

Her pose didn't fool him – she was still clearly upset by this memory and, truth to be told, he couldn't blame her. Cyrus never even saw Queen of Hearts himself but, from what he gathered, she cut quite terrifying figure and Alice's story only confirmed that. He served different people in his life, fought different battles, yet sending a monster to kill a child? That was a new one, he had to admit.

"Then what did–" He stopped mid-sentence, wanting to ask about the monster Queen sent after her, when realization hit him. "Wait. She sent a bandersnatch after you?" Cyrus asked, astonished and she nodded in response.

There were certainly more dreadful creatures in Wonderland than bandersnatches, though he could hardly imagine any of them could be scarier for a child. They were simply tremendous and while perhaps not very bright, they had another quality to compensate it: once they caught a sniff of their prey, they wouldn't stop hunting until they killed it. For an adult man – if he knew what he was dealing with – a bandersnatch would be easy to fool, perhaps even slay, given he was a skilled warrior, but for a child? The beast would tear them to pieces in matter of seconds and Cyrus could hardly believe that Alice was sitting next to him, after encountering one at such young age.

Now her reaction to merchant's words made sense – surviving a meeting with the beast was bound to leave a mark on her and he wasn't surprised at all that she was still afraid of them. He'd probably be too, if he even survived in the first place.

"How did you manage to escape it?" He inquired, his voice gentle with a hint of curiosity.

Cautiously, Alice told him everything she remembered. How the bandersnatch attacked her in the middle of the woods and she barely managed to flee. How she was running for what seemed like hours – though it was probably just few minutes, she commented bitterly – tripping over roots, terrified for her life. And finally, how the beast found her again, cornering her, with no chance of escaping, yet she survived, thanks to her friends.

In exchange, he offered her his knowledge about them. Taught her that bandersnatches are extremely easy to fool, since they're dumb creatures and their eyesight is very poor, making it easier to trick them. He spoke of all their weaknesses he remembered from his books, watching as she slowly calmed down, listening intently to everything he had to say. While Cyrus couldn't exactly make her fear disappear, he could do the next best thing – let her know everything about her enemy, including a way to defeat them. And Alice was more than eager to learn.

They stayed silent for a while after that, both of them processing their thoughts, with Cyrus feeling exceptionally stupid for even thinking that she actually wanted to use her wishes. Of course, he knew it didn't really mean anything, that she would do it sooner or later but tonight, he breathed with ease. There were still new adventures to be pursued and he could pretend to be free for a little while longer. Truth to be told, he found that as long as he was by Alice's side, he didn't care.

"So, you think that this guy lied? About bandersnatch in the forest?" She asked suddenly, successfully distracting him.

"Hm, yes," he replied, toying with a straw between his fingers. Alice looked at him curiously.

"Why? His story sounded pretty real to me," she countered.

"Oh, I don't doubt that it was very real to him, too," Cyrus said. "However, from what he described, it doesn't exactly sound like a Bandersnatch did all of that, don't you think?"

Alice raised an eyebrow at him, clearly unimpressed.

"Are you trying to examine my knowledge now?" She asked, to which he grinned, his eyes twinkling with mischief.

"Come on, humor me."

"Well… I guess it could have been a bandersnatch if not for the number of victims?" She offered and Cyrus nodded, trying to mask that he was impressed with how fast she figured that out.

"And?" He prompted.

"Oh, what are you, my governess?" Alice commented with a roll of her eyes and he just shrugged. He wasn't exactly sure what a governess was. "Very well. They need to know their victim by the scent before they actually hunt them… Meaning that one of them could have been killed by Bandersnatch, but certainly not the other two. The beast would be sated by the first prey and return to his lair." She finished with a nod, clearly realizing herself that it made sense. However, she furrowed her brows a second later, looking at Cyrus in confusion. "But what killed these men then? Bandersnatches aren't animals that are easy to mistake for something else."

"That's true but, no one actually–"

"Saw the beast," Alice cut in. "I'm relieved, though… it makes me feel silly for over-reacting." She winced.

"Alice, you didn't over-react," he stated, suddenly serious. "Given what you went through, I'm actually impressed with the way you handled this. I've served men who would wish for me to take them as far away as possible, have they learned what you did," Cyrus told truthfully. She smiled at his words, a blush growing on her cheeks.

"Thank you," she replied simply.

"And, you know, even if it's not a Bandersnatch, there's still a pretty lethal beast somewhere in the forest. Plenty of reason to be scared. It could be a boar, for example."

Alice snorted.

"A boar? Really?" She gave him an amused look.

"Well, why not? It would match the story," he defended. "A king in a strange land found my bottle once." She looked at him with curiosity now, always eager to hear something about a different land. "He was a terrible king, truth to be told, and a drunkard, but not as bad as many other I've met there. He got mortally wounded on a boar hunt. Never got a chance to say his wishes. Probably could have saved his kingdom, if he just tried to look past the bottom of his wine glass."

Cyrus trailed off, gazing into the distance. There he was, getting all sentimental over the times when he served other people and yet still terrified by the mere thought of Alice using her wishes.

"You know," she said after a while, taking his mind off this subject once again, "I think we should get started on these fighting lessons you promised me. Tomorrow, perhaps?"

He nodded.

"I think that's a great idea, Alice."