I am in the process of revising this story, as it has been about 3 years since I started this Fanfic. The ending is coming soon, though I wish to revise prior to the ending chapter(s) being posted.
Of course I do not own Pandora Hearts or the related characters, though the OC's are mine. Rated T+ just to be sure. May contain some violence and mini love scenes later on. As a warning may contain spoilers if you haven't watched the anime or read the manga.
Alisha wandered through the thickly grown forest looking for any plants that she could eat for dinner this evening. The sun was setting, sending golden light slanting through the leafless branches to dapple the forest floor below. She knew that she had to hurry to get back before night fell. She typically made the trip to the forest every two or three days depending on how low her supplies had become, so she knew the route well. She also knew that she had to keep a lookout for rogue chains, like the kind that massacred her Father, and the rest of her town, just a couple of months ago. She shivered from the memory, and the rapidly dropping temperature.
She glanced up, clouds had begun to mass above her head. The first tiny snowflake fell into her open, outstretched palm. When she looked up to the forest once more, she resumed her search.
The opening of the Abyss had been growing larger and larger by the day, until it finally allowed a powerful Chain out, Tiger. Creeping around one bush that separated them, he was able to get a closer look at Alisha. Her dark brown hair was almost turned golden in the last rays of the dying sun.
Never one to skip formalities, he transformed into his human form; a young man of reasonable height with shaggy orange hair tied back along the nape of his neck.
"Hello." He said, in an attempt to be as non-imitating as a chain could be.
Startled, the girl turned around and came face to face with the Chain. "W-what are you doing here? You do not belong to this town!" Alisha jumped back and adopted a fighting stance.
"You decide to fight even when I don't look like a chain?" He ignored the surprised look that just flashed across Alisha's features. "Now, now. That can't be too much of a surprise can it? What other Humans have you met out here, it does make sense that you would encounter a chain.
"Since you didn't bother to inquire as to my name. I will tell it to you, I called Reiyo, and you are to become my contractor."
"What?" Alisha asked, incredulous. "You have nothing that I need, nor do I have anything you need. You are already out from the Abyss so you obviously don't need me to help you get out. Good bye." Alisha began walking away slowly at first then faster as she realized that Reiyo was following too. "What do you want now? Please just leave me alone."
She had begun to turn around, to look him in the eyes as she was speaking, when a Trump Card reared up in front of her. She pulled out her gun and delivered a couple of shots, all missing its head. The Trump reached down and grabbed Alisha around the waist tightly.
"I will help you, but on one condition. You have to agree to allow me to be your Chain," Reiyo bowed in mock sincerity.
Alisha didn't have much choice since the Trump Card was crushing her lungs, which was making it harder and harder to breathe. "Fine. Just help me!" Alisha managed to choke out, while wriggling in an attempt to get free.
"Ah, not so fast, you have to say that you agree."
"I agree to contract you, Reiyo!" Alisha stated without hesitation.
He gave a slight smirk, oddly surprised that she gave in as fast as she did. Reiyo transformed into his true form, the Tiger. He gave a massive leap, sinking his large claws into the Trump's head, slashing it into multiple chunks which exploded with the rest of its body. Alisha was flung free with the force of the explosion.
By now the sun had fully set and there was a thick blanket of snow that had covered the ground.
'Now to make it official.' Reiyo thought while walking up to Alisha's body. He was about to take some of her blood to complete the contract, but Alisha was already fast asleep. He padded over to her, trying to find some contempt for this weak Human.
Looking down at her face, Reiyo noted that she looked so peaceful in her sleep. She was laying on her right side, facing him. A couple of strands of her hair had fallen onto her face. Watching her as he was, a feeling had begun to surface inside Reiyo, though he was unable to place it. He laid down next to her, and curled up against her back, in an attempt to keep her warm through what was going to be a long, snow filled night.
Opening her eyes slightly, she was greeted by the glaring reflection of the rising sun upon the snow. Sighing, she realized that she must have ended up falling asleep while looking for dinner. Her rumbling stomach told her that it was definitely true. She opened her eyes a bit more, thinking of the weird dream she had. One that starred a Trump, and a Tiger, the last of whom she made a contract with. She attempted to sit up, only to come to the conclusion that she couldn't.
Eyes fully open now, she glanced down to see an arm draped across her waist. She twisted around to see the sleeping face of the Tiger chain from her 'dream', Reiyo. Directly in front of hers. She shot upright, which woke the sleeping form next to her.
Reiyo sat up next her and yawned, revealing two small sharp canines, that looked frightening, and at the same time adorable.
"Good morning sunshine. Couldn't have waited until a little later?"
Suddenly, it dawned on her, that was not a dream, it actually happened. She contracted a Chain. The one thing that she had vowed never to do. Alisha squeezed the bridge of her nose between her thumb and forefinger in agitation. Never one to be a pessimist, she decided that instead of trying to get out of this, why not go along to see where this whole thing takes her.
Taking a deep breath of the crisp morning air, she sighed a good morning back.
"And no, we can't, I have to get home if you don't mind." She responded to Reiyo's previous question.
"That will not do. In case you had forgotten, the contract is not fully complete. We have to go to Pandora Headquarters to make the contract official."
Alisha glanced around at the ornate decorations lining the walls of Pandora Headquarters. Since walking through the door she has been struck with awe. Most of the lighting came from chandeliers hanging precariously from the ceiling. The hallways that branched out from the open foyer were lit with wall lights, decorated with a frosted glow. The crimson carpet oddly went well with the cream-colored walls. Balconies laced around the upper parts of the ceiling.
On one of the balconies, Alisha noted that two men were arguing. With a quick glance Alisha saw that one of the men, a darker haired fellow, raised his voice at the other seemingly in exasperation. The other man however just gazed lovingly, in a brotherly way, at the darker haired man. Then flipped his golden hair over his left shoulder before he turned and walked away. Alisha was too far away to hear the conversation between them, but it appeared as though it could have been a long refuted topic between them.
While she was distracted, Reiyo had continued walking, eventually making his way to one of the mahogany staircases. When he got half-way up he glanced back, only to find that Alisha was staring up at a man on the balcony. Reiyo didn't like the way she was gazing at the dark-haired man. Her gaze offered more than just curiosity.
"Are you coming or not?" He asked impatiently, hoping to jolt her out of her odd fixation with the black-coated man.
Alisha jumped at the angry tone in her chains voice and ran to catch up with him, her blue dress flowing out behind her. When she caught up to him she stood one stair below Reiyo and paused to take advantage of this new vantage point to looked down at the main foyer.
"I'm sorry Reiyo, I was just distracted by the beauty of this place." Alisha whispered breathlessly, turning once more to face him.
"Hm, are you sure that you were not just distracted by the beauty of the man on the balcony?"
Alisha's face became a flustered color of blushing pink as she turned back to Reiyo determined to explain that she was just curious at their conversation, and nothing more. But Reiyo had already continued up the stairs after seeing the color change in her face. Though it should not matter to Reiyo who she gazed at, it bothered him just the slightest.
Once at the top of the steps, Reiyo lead Alisha through a series of twists and turns until she was sure that there was no way that she was getting out of there alone. Watching the back of her chain she began to wonder.
'How come he knows his way through Pandora?' Alisha thought to herself. 'Maybe he has been here before?' Alisha didn't like the thought that Reiyo had a contractor previously, and if that was true, what happened to them?
She was about to voice her question when Reiyo turned back to face her.
"We're here," he said, pointing to a room to the left of them. Alisha hadn't noticed it until now, as she was so engrossed upon her thoughts.
Reiyo led her into the room and up to a woman at the front desk. Even though she was sitting down, Alisha noticed that she was wearing the same uniform of the previous people that she had seen here. She hadn't thought too much about it until now, but decided that it must be the official Pandora uniform.
The woman looked up from the stack of paperwork she was working on to offer them a friendly smile.
"What can I do for you today?"
Instead of answering her immediately, Reiyo transformed into his real chain-self; the Tiger.
"Oh, you are here for a contract, am I correct?"
Alisha nodded her head absently, clearly surprised at the speed everything was occurring. The lady at the desk, however, did not seem mind in the least. Alisha assumed that she was used to people and chains coming in, asking for contracts. As the lady at the desk stood up, Alisha noticed how tall she was, and the aura of wisdom that seemed to emanate from her very being, despite how young the woman appeared.
"I believe you are noticing that I look younger than what you'd expect, correct?" She did not give Alisha a chance to respond before she continued. "That is one added benefit to the Legal Contracts. However, my dear, you are currently a partial contractor. You have not yet given your blood, though I presume you still have the mark of the Illegal Contract on your chest. No matter of course, since you have such a powerful chain that is to be expected. Now if you would come with me for a moment, you can become an official member of Pandora."
Alisha and Reiyo both the young lady, noticing that she was leading them over to a table that was set off to the side of the left room. Alisha reached for a pen that was on the table, with anticipation of signing any paperwork the woman may have, when the lady gave a hardy laugh.
"I admire your enthusiasm, but this contract is not signed in the typical way," She paused for a slight moment to give a slight smirk. "No, you shall sign in blood."
Thank you for reading, I hope that this revised chapter is better. Feel free to review!