Jack knew better than to argue with Hatter at this point. They had been walking for a few hours and it was almost dark. He would suggest that they should find shelter for the night, but the problem was that they were in the middle of what seemed like a desert.
He remembered once studying The Land Beneath Wonderland, and some people did have theories that it was connected to other worlds. He regretted the fact that he had told this to Hatter, but he knew that his best chance of surviving was to stay with her. They may be enemies, but for now they would have to over look that. They didn't have a plan, and seeing if they could walk to the end of this desert seemed like the best solution.
He was surprised that Hatter hadn't tried to kill him, he had thought that someone like her would rather die than have to team up with him. He knew that she blamed him for their predicament, people like her never blamed themselves. After about an hour of the two of them arguing (he didn't even remember what it was about anymore) they both seemed to agree that their energy was much better spent ignoring each other.
Jack hoped that there was a way to get out of this wasteland, but he didn't like the idea of him helping The Mad Hatter return to Wonderland. Although, once there, he doubted that she would last a day before being executed. He had sacrificed himself to get her as far away from Wonderland, and it's residents, as possible.
Still, he didn't think that anyone deserved to spend the rest of their life here. He didn't think that it was possible for anyone, even The Mad Hatter, to be pure evil. She was just as lost as he was here, and he could turn his back on her.
"We've been walking for hours, do you really believe that there's an end to this place?" Hatter asked Jack impatiently.
"If there is, I doubt we'll reach it by tonight." Hatter groaned, and tried to stomp her foot, but only succeed in getting a shoe full of sand. Jack tried not to snicker, but Hatter noticed his amusement.
"Do you want to be stranded here forever?" She asked, angrily.
"No, but we haven't even been here a day. Have you ever heard of a thing called patience?"
"No", she said coldly, walking a little faster.
"Well it's a skill you should learn." Jack replied, meeting her strides. She rolled her eyes, but other wise did her best to ignore him. "Why do you even want to go back? Only death awaits you." Hatter didn't meet his gaze, and he wondered if she was listening at all.
"I didn't say I wanted to go back to Wonderland, I just said I wanted to get out of here."
"Then where do you plan on going?" Jack asked curiously.
"That's my business."
"Considering the fact that we're traveling together, I think it is my business too." Hatter shot Jack a glare that clearly stated she wished he was dead. He returned it with a sarcastic smile that showed that she didn't intimidate him.
"I'm not sure where I want to go", she said with a sigh. "Just someplace where nobody knows me."
"So you can start a new life away from all the terror that you caused? That's cute." Hatter's hands clenched into fists.
"Listen to me, White Knight." She stopped walking and turned to face him. "The only reason that you're alive is because I need you to get out of this place. I could kill you at any second, I'm just choosing not to. So, if I were you, I'd stop aggravating me and focus on getting out of this world!" To Hatter's surprise, Jack chuckled at her fury.
"You can't kill me", he said smoothly. "You just said that you needed me to get out of here. If I were you I would get your facts strait before opening that big mouth."
Hatter's fist flew at Jack's face, catching him off guard. He stumbled backward, but was able to regain his balance instead off falling to the ground. He grabbed Hatter by the arm, so that she wouldn't get away, and raised his hand about to strike her. Then realization caught up to him, he lowered his arm and released his grip on Hatter.
"No", he said. "We shouldn't be fighting. We're supposed to be working together." Hatter's eyes were blazing, but she nodded. She knew that Jack was right, but he wasn't getting an apology, after all, he had started it.
"It's getting dark", Jack said, his tone completely different from the way it was moments before. "Maybe we should make camp." He looked around him as if searching for something that would work as a shelter.
"Make camp with what?" Hatter asked, not rudely but with genuine curiosity.
"Apparently nothing", Jack said, surveying the land around them once more. "The sun's going down, and I can't say it's very hot out here. Hopefully it won't be cold either." Hatter gave him an odd look and he let out a small laugh. "You're not to proud to sleep on the ground, are you?"
"No." Jack had a grin on his face that tempted Hatter to give him another punch.
Hatter shifted her weight and brushed sand off of the side of her face. She looked up at the night sky and was surprised at how beautiful the stars were. If she were still in Wonderland she would have been asleep hours ago, but, now, she couldn't let herself drift off. Every times she felt close her eyes she reminded herself where she was.
At this rate she knew that she wouldn't get any rest. She wondered if Jack was having the same problem, he was lying a few feet away. She didn't risk looking at him, for, if he was awake, she didn't want to catch his eye.
She still didn't want to believe what was happening, part of her hoped that this was all only a nightmare and that she could wake up at any second. But, no matter how hard she tried to will herself out of this nightmare, she knew that she wasn't dreaming. Or, if she was, it was a dream that she would never wake up from.
Jack awoke with a start, then he remembered where he was and what had happened the day before. He let out a loud sigh before pulling himself up and dusting most of the sand off of himself. He wondered what time it was, the sky looked light enough for it to be a good few hours into the day. He wished that he had a watch, although he knew that knowing the exact time didn't really matter.
Jack looked over to where Hatter was lying, he eyes were shut, and he figured that she was still a sleep. For a moment he wondered if he should wait a few hours before waking her up. From where he was standing he could already see that she had dark circles under her eyes. He himself had found it hard to drift off as well, and he hadn't had as hard of a day as she had. She was probably filled with regret, still wondering if she could have done something to prevent how her story had ended.
Hatter wanted to get out of the desert as soon as possible, and Jack knew that he was waisting precious time by not waking her. He knelt down beside her and shook her gently. "Hatter?" Jack made sure that his voice was soft, he didn't want to startle her.
To his surprise Hatter jolted up, her arm hitting him hard in the chest. She was panting as if she had just awoken from a nightmare. It took a moment for her to realize what was going on, but, the second that she did, she features relaxed and her gaze rested on Jack. "Bad dream?" He asked with a raised eyebrow as he rubbed the spot where she had just hit him.
"Oh, um, sorry", she mumbled. "I have...well, lets call it defense instincts."
"You expect to be attacked in your sleep?" Jack asked, taken a back.
"Let's just say that I've made a few enemies on my journey to becoming the second most power figure in Wonderland." Jack nodded, not about to ask her anymore about the life she had just been forced to leave behind.
"We should start walking."
I wrote this a couple months ago, intending for it to be a multi-chapter-story. But, after getting writers block the second day into it, decided to put it aside. I'm not sure if I'll continue this'll continue or not.
The reason that the cover pic has a card on it is because yesterday I was playing cards with Corliss Kat, and I decided that we should bet oneshots instead of money, meaning that the winner had to owe the looser a oneshot. Unfortunately, I lost much more than I won.
If anyone is interested in reading my other oneshots they'll all have cards in the cover pic and say "Card Fic" in the summary. There is one more for Wonderland and one Wonderland and Familiars crossover.
Thanks for reading!