I don't own any of the Alice games/movies/manga.

There will be violence in this story, as well as some gore. I'm trying not to get too descriptive, but if anyone is uncomfortable with that sort of thing, I'm just letting you know ahead of time.

Prologo

It was suddenly Sunset.

Birds chirped their final coos of the day when only seconds ago the bright rays of the rising sun had seeped through the forest canopy. The figure underneath the tree shifted minutely at the change, quickly returning to their state of complete motionlessness. It been a few weeks now—Or was it more? Time had no meaning in this nightmare, and it had been just so easy to lose track—but the adjustment had come disturbingly easily. Besides, losing your focus and startling your prey can cost you a meal.

The figure watched as the deer ambled past, lifting the newly acquired shotgun to look through the sight at the top—

- I'mgoingtoshootsomethingagain-

-take aim—

-It'sananimalnotapersonIt'sananimalsoit'sokay—

-exhaled slowly—

-OhGodI'msorryI'msorryI'msososorry—

-and pulled the trigger.

BANG

The deer staggered from the impact and let out a noise of pain, taking a few rushed steps before collapsing onto the ground. Inexperience with the shotgun's backlash caused the figure to stumble a little bit themselves, but they quickly stood up and rushed out of their cover towards the downed animal, keeping the weapon handy as they ran. The deer turned its head towards the noise and balked, immediately trying to get up and escape, but the wound in its leg hindered its process and it was only able to wobble forwards slowly.

The figure finally got within a close enough distance and raised the shotgun again. The weapon shook steadily in the tight grip, but at this range it was impossible to miss the kill shot.

BANG

The deer fell.

The figure, a young woman, lowered the weapon and approached the body of the animal. Reaching into the pocket of her slightly bloodied, overlarge trench coat, the girl pulled out a sharp piece of stone. Kneeling down over the body that was bleeding heavily from the bullet holes—I'msosososorry—she cut into the fur and began to painstakingly remove the fur-lined skin from the meat below.

She retched and had to avert her eyes more than a few times. Skinning an animal was not something that had gotten easier with time. There were no bakeries in the middle of the forest though, and with no knowledge of edible plants of the wild, meat had been the most viable option. Hunting disgusted her, but there wasn't room for animal lovers in a survival situation. Food was food.

The traumatizing ordeal lasted for what seemed like hours, but finally, the young woman came away with several nicely sized chunks of meat. Pulling out a clean plastic bag from another pocket, she stuffed the meat into the bag and neatly tied it off, leaving the body of the deer for whatever creature wanted it next.

Trudging along through the forest to what she had deemed to be "base camp", the young woman let out a sigh and tried not to let her mind wander. Staying focused on the chirping of the birds, or counting the number of pine trees she passed made it easier to not remember her first days in this twisted purgatory—bloodgunsdeathdeathdeath—and stay relatively alert.

What seemed like an eternity later, she arrived at a little rocky outcrop surrounded by a dense collection of trees. Hiding behind a particularly thick oak, she warily glanced around. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary around her campsite, and the setting sun bathed the pile of stone in a warm glow. The rocks themselves had a small opening at the very top, and once you squeezed inside and down a small tunnel of sorts, there was a nicely sized cave. A person was easily able to kneel down there and crawl around. The young woman had discovered that only when hunched over the top of her head would scrape the rocky roof. Besides the fact that she had discovered strange—brokenandbloody—clocks hidden in the corner of her shelter, which she had quickly disposed of, the place was good sized and easily stored the random weapons and articles of clothing she had found in the forest, like her trench coat and shotgun.

Closing her eyes, the girl listened hard for any sounds of movement. After a few moments, she bolted from her hiding spot and hopped up the rock face, throwing her sack of food down the hole before scrambling down herself. There were a few excruciatingly tense seconds of squirming before she finally popped into the cave. The young woman exhaled and blinked rapidly, trying to adjust her vision to the strange lighting of her temporary home. The place would have been pitch black if not for the slivers of light that came through cracks near the entrance and the left wall of the cave. She was thankful it hadn't rained yet, or the place would probably be flooded.

Crawling over to the right where a small pile of wood was located, she fumbled about before grasping a small lighter and flicking on the flame. Lighting her camp fire, she rolled her shoulders and stretched, trying to force herself to relax. She didn't need to worry about smoke since the campfire was small, and the little amount of smoke it created seeped out the cracks in the rock.

Reaching over to her bag of deer meat, she unwrapped it before piercing the first piece with one of the six daggers that lied in her 'miscellaneous weapons' corner. Propping the makeshift kebab up on the campfire, she began to cook her supper.

It didn't take long for her to become a little sleepy, and what with the meat not even remotely close to being classified as "rare", she let her eyes slowly drift shut.

SCRRRICK SCRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRIIICK

THUNK

Her eyes shot open. Scanning the cave, she registered no difference in her environment except for a rather long shadow on the other side of her shelter. This wouldn't normally be a problem except for one thing.

The shadow screamed.

"EEEEEEEEEEK~!" The girl jolted backwards at the noise, slamming her head onto the rock wall and choking out a gasp of pain.

Her vision swam, disorienting her completely as the shadow across from her made pleading noises and shuffled away from her before suddenly going dead silent. Blinking away the delirium, she focused her eyes and saw a person sitting across from her, completely still.

She had a moment of panic—Ohmygodit'sanotheronetheyfoundme—before realizing something.

The boy had eyes.

He wasn't like those other people—those things weren't people, people have faces and emotions and don'tkillkillkillMURDERINCOLDBLOOD—the ones she had ran from all that time ago.

Other than the unfortunate fact that he had somehow discovered her hiding place, the young man seemed perfectly harmless. He hadn't immediately shot at her like the others. He was also much, much more flamboyantly dressed than any of the others that had come through the forest. From what she could see, what he wore was more of a costume than anything else; a suit the same shade of green as the leaves outside, complete with formal slacks, a weird yellow dress-shirt-and-tunic-combo, and an odd hat tilting to one side. The strangest thing about the outfit had to be his realistic 'mouse ears' and 'tail', because why on earth would you wear something like that in public?

The young woman sucked in a steadying breath shifted her position, trying inch a little closer to the exit just in case. It was always a good idea to be at least a little cautious, since apparently everyone who traveled through this place carried handguns strapped to their legs and knives stowed up their sleeves. Assuming the man was armed seemed like a logical conclusion to make.

They stared at each other for a few more moments, her with suspicion, him with a weird sort of awe, before a genuine smile spread across the young man's face. He offered his hand happily, the first kind gesture she had seen in this hellish place.

"My name is Pierce, chu~! It's nice to finally meet you, Miss Foreigner!"

And there you have it! I wanted to try my hand at a little bit of drama by having an OC whose introduction to Wonderland wasn't the most pleasant. And after much deliberation, Il Muto was born...

Let me know if you're interested in any more chapters, this is just a little plot bunny that's been bugging the heck out of me, and I had to get it out there.

-Ace