The woods were dark and shrouded in mist, the trees taller than any Jack had ever seen, with twisted branches and leaves that rattled in the chilly autumn wind. They were so thick in some places he couldn't see more than a few feet ahead on the narrow, winding path. Creepy was the best word for it, and Jack felt more daunted than he'd ever had in his life.

He felt apprehension twist in his gut. This forest was completely unfamiliar. Jack, and his younger sister Emma who was currently plodding along at his side, knew the woods at home inside and out. They were lost here, and it was usually impossible for them to get lost anywhere. Second, the last he had checked, it was supposed to be midwinter right about now, not late autumn. The snow that had covered the ground was mysteriously missing, and while the air was fairly cold, it was nothing compared to the biting frigidity that had gripped the countryside the past few months.

The strangest thing was, Jack and Emma had no idea how they had come to be there.

They'd come to on the side of a pond, not unlike the one they had near their house back home. Both had been lying on the shore, apparently having blacked out at the edge. This was odd enough, but it had taken them only a few moments to realize anything else was wrong. The siblings came to the realization they had no recollection of where they were and no memories of how they'd arrived. It was Jack who suggested following the path, figuring maybe they could find a way out of the dark forest, or at least someone to help them.

He glanced down at Emma. Though confused, she'd acted very maturely throughout this whole thing, but he could tell she was more worried than she let on. Jack frowned to himself. He never wanted her to be scared about anything. She was only eight years old, and as the older sibling he felt it should be only his job to worry. It probably couldn't be helped, though. Their mother always said Emma was born with an adult mind.

Jack sighed and broke the silence by asking, "You doing alright?"

Emma looked up at him and blinked, coming out of her silent contemplation. "Ah...I'm fine. My feet hurt a little, though."

"Mine too," Jack admitted. For whatever reason, neither of them were wearing shoes. Those were strange items to leave the house without. "Do you want to take a break for a bit?"

She nodded. The two of them stepped off the path and sat side-by-side on a fallen log, staring at their surroundings in silence.

"So."

Emma's feet, not entirely touching the ground, swung back and forth. "Sooo. Where are we?"

Jack shrugged. "I mean, I can only imagine we're where we should be. People can't just appear outdoors, can they? We have to have left our house and gone to the pond..."

"This place is so strange though. The pond we woke up by doesn't look like our pond, and there's no snow... It's January, Jack, and just last week we had to help dig our neighbor's stoop out from under a snowdrift, remember? There's no snow anywhere here!"

A cold wind blew through the trees, and Emma shivered. "I don't like it. This whole thing is weird. I hate that we can't remember anything, I hate that we don't know where we are, and..." She cast an uneasy look around. "I can't explain it, but I feel like we're being watched."

Her brother cast an uneasy look around. The hairs on his arms raised up. He could feel what Emma felt, that somehow they weren't entirely alone. The shadows loomed, and Jack was suddenly acutely aware that, aside from the rustling of leaves in the wind, there was no audible sound whatsoever. No animal noises, running creeks, twigs cracking. Just an eerie silence with no discernible cause. It was a sensation Jack recognized from the forest back home, distinctly reminding him of calm before a storm, so subtle that one only realized something was off when they stopped to pay attention.

"Em," he said in a low voice. "What, in your opinion, should we do?"

The little girl drew her knees up to her chest and answered, "I don't know. Jack, I'm scared."

"Don't be scared," Jack said immediately, reflexively. If he could do anything, it was make sure that his sister wouldn't be afraid.

It was often said to children that the best thing to do when lost was to sit and wait in one place and wait for someone to find you. Moving around only made it harder for you to be located. However, in this case, Jack reasoned, that wasn't going to do much at all. He and Emma should keep moving, and try to find a way out of the woods. Surely they couldn't be endless, and even so, there had to be at least one person in the vast expanse that would be able to help them. They might even find their way home on their own!

Jack stood abruptly and brushed off his hands. "Alright! Little lady, don't worry about a thing. We're just going to keep on moving. The trees won't last forever, and I'm willing to bet anything that we're not the only two people in them."

Emma blinked up at him. "You think we'll be able to find help?"

"I'm sure of it. Here, you don't even have to walk."

Jack bent down turned his back to her. After a moment's hesitation, Emma climbed on. He hoisted her up and started down the path again.

As the chapter title suggests, this is just a prologue. The real beginning of the story, the start of the actual action, begins...whenever I get around to the next chapter.

This AU was inspired by meltesh28, on tumblr. The link to their original post is on my profile.