"ALYSS!" Cheshire woke with a yowl. A sense of desperation flooded through him. They were getting away and he needed to stop them. Scanning his surroundings quickly he realized he was alone. Who was it he needed to stop? His head was pounding and his short term memory was a little muddled.
"She's not here, stranger." An unfamiliar voice of a woman startled him. Instinctively he flipped onto all fours on the couch he had woke on with one forearm raised to defend himself, his tail flicking anxiously behind him. He frowned at her. A woman stood in an entry way to another room with a bowl in hand. Her free hand rested on her hip, something like a rope was under her fingers without gripping it. He narrowed his gaze on the item he wasn't familiar with. Familiar or no, he was weary of it.
The woman had long hair the color of fire pinned at the back with the front left to hang over her shoulders. She wore a dark blue sleeveless shirt bound in the front with string and a short skirt. He met her pale green gaze. She stared at him as though he was a misbehaving toddler and seemed to be waiting to correct him.
A tense silence reigned between them for a moment longer before she set the bowl down on the table near the couch. She pushed it gently toward him. Cheshire watched her intently as she drew slightly closer before backing off. His shoulders relaxed a little and he put his forearm down to look into the bowl. The tantalizing scent reached his nose before he saw the creamy white liquid. Absently he licked his lips, it smelled so good. His ears twitched, ready to alert him of any movement from the strange woman.
"Alyss. Is that the name of your contractor?" The woman's voice filled the silence and brought his eye back to hers. Her tone was oddly casual. "I've been waiting all night for you to wake up. A bit ago you were making sounds in your sleep so I heated up some milk for you. I don't know if you're thirsty but you look a lot like a cat so I figured you might enjoy some." She gestured to the bowl with her palm up and open to him as an invitation.
"No, what is this strange place? Why is Cheshire here?" He asked in bewilderment. This had never happened to him before and his lack of memory was unsettling. Cheshire looked around the room again. It was small and the furniture included a couch, table, and a chair across from where he sat. Behind the chair dark curtains covered a window behind the chair and a lamp was on a stand in the corner. Then his gaze drifted back to the milk. It was dangerously distracting.
"This is my house. I found you unconscious in a park not far from here so I was hoping you could tell me. You were pretty banged up when I found you and you wouldn't wake up. What happened to you?" She spoke in a relaxed tone and she almost sounded detached from the conversation.
"Cheshire doesn't understand. Cheshire shouldn't be here. Cheshire needs to...to..." He let the sentence drift. Where did he need to be? He wasn't sure. He didn't remember returning to this world. Maybe he should return to Alyss for now until he could remember. Though he gazed at Sienna now, his mind wandered to the point that he no longer really saw her. What he saw was his Alyss, spinning gleefully in her room surrounded by shelves of a variety of dolls. He had never tried leaving her side and likewise had never particularly wanted to. With her he felt loved and in some way, safe there. No sadistic children with scissors intending to inflict harm on him and his master. He trusted her like none other aside from his former master.
"If you relax a little it might come to you. Do you not want your drink?" The woman tilted her head to one side as she asked another question. It could be the woman wanted something from him. Why else would a human help a Chain? The thought repulsed him greatly and he regarded her with suspicion as he looked between her and the bowl. He would never betray the Intention.
"You have my word that nothing bad will happen to you while you are here unless you bring it onto yourself. I know what you are, but I have no problem with your presence until you give me reason to think otherwise." Now her voice was matter-of-fact. She walked over to the chair across from him and sat down.
Cheshire didn't feel particularly threatened here so he somewhat believed her. "Who are you?" He asked as he looked her over one more time. She was human, but she knew what he was which wasn't common knowledge of the public as far as he knew. Confident that even with her knowledge he could overtake her easily enough he relaxed into a sitting position on the couch. He reached forward and picked up the bowl between his hands.
"Sienna. Just your near-average human. I just do what I need to survive and that's included finding out about the Abyss in the past. Fortunately for you anyway." She gave a halfhearted smile as she spoke. "I brought you here because you looked like you needed some help. You looked to be in some pretty bad shape so I cleaned the scratches on your face and some bandages to your shoulders. Seems that you're recovering quickly enough though." Sienna shrugged.
Cheshire tilted the bowl back and drank back most of the bowls contents while she spoke. When she finished he lowered it to look at her again. Injuries? His body was sore, but he didn't think too much of it. He looked at each shoulder to inspect himself and each was bandaged firmly. Now he was really confused, why would she tend to him when he was so vulnerable? Apprehension filled him. "Sienna. Cheshire hasn't seen you before. Cheshire is...confused...Cheshire shouldn't be here." He tilted his head to the side inquisitively.
"I doubt you really had a choice given your condition. Where are you supposed to be if you have no contractor? If a member of Pandora had found you they wouldn't have left you there. In fact they probably would have killed you." She asked.
Cheshire stilled in mid-motion while he was bringing the bowl to his lips again. He tensed at the mention of Pandora. He hated those people. They were always bothering the Intention and they probably would rather interrogate him than kill him right away. "Cheshire would die before they got him." He said sharply. It was infuriating to think about.
The woman's expression shifted to surprise. "So you at least know the organization? Most of the time they'd sooner kill wild Chains than anything else. Most people can't even defend against your kind." Cheshire felt a sense of resentment from Sienna. It was minor, but still enough for him to catch it.
"Your kind despises us. You send humans into the Abyss without a care, simply as punishment and you expect even Chains to prefer living there?" Cheshire growled a little at her before tossing back the rest of the milk to put the bowl down. He never understood humans, but from his experience the Abyss was a cold and lonely place. No matter how he might try, the Intention was always lonely. It was much the same in his first life, but he would give anything to make her happy. That is why he didn't belong here. The Intention could be lonely right now and he's unable to comfort her where he from here.
He stood up abruptly and Sienna did the same. He was only aware of her getting to her feet because the world seemed to spin uncontrollably around him and made him stagger. It was like the floor was going to slip from under his feet. He held his head in an attempt to steady himself when something warm touched his arm and kept him from falling.
Sienna said something under her breath he didn't catch. "You aren't going anywhere until I'm convinced you can handle yourself and not end up hurting anyone. I didn't say all Chains prefer it, I don't even have one of my own to know the difference between the Abyss and our world so cool it. I don't appreciate your stereotyping me and my "kind" either." Her voice was in close proximity of him and it was a sharp tone.
Still a little dazed he slumped back down on the couch despite himself. Her hand stayed pressed to his arm. He looked at it uneasily and noticed her forearm was also bandaged. "Yes that's from you when I was trying to get you out of the bush. Cut through my nice jacket too. In all fairness you were unconscious, but I won't forgive you if you break anything in my house." She warned and removed her hand from him.
"You cannot keep Cheshire from leaving, but thank you for helping Cheshire. You have nothing to gain from it." Cheshire blinked a few times to clear his vision. His depth perception was always a little off, but right now his handicap seemed intensified. This stranger was kind enough to care for him when most would have taken advantage of his vulnerability and is persistent on ensuring he is healthy before letting him go. The situation had a certain charm to it.
"Your welcome. Don't expect it too often though. I work as a nurse so I think of it as my job to look after people that are otherwise defenceless. Besides, you're also pretty cute, cat boy. You talk a little strangely too, but at least I didn't have to ask for your name." Sienna's smile was warmer this time.
"You like cats then? I don't see anyone around." Cheshire's ears perked up. He would like to have one of his own around. Cats never plotted against you and enjoyed simple pleasures—just as he does. The freedom to talk about anything without fear of the consequences was a relief he found rarely elsewhere.
"I do, I'm just not home often enough to keep one around. I'd feel bad if he got lonely while I'm away." She sighed a little and lifted her hands palms up in a "what can you do" gesture. Cheshire tilted his head at her again.
"Yes...loneliness is a worse fate than death." he agreed. His gaze trailed away from her and he stared at the wooden table by his legs. Alyss was always so lonely, but at least she had her dolls and Cheshire around to ease her a little. It never seemed to be enough though.
"I can understand that. I've always had my family around, but being alone most of the time now is lonely enough. Things can always be worse right?" Sienna stood from her chair and clapped her hands. "I'm going to open the window, I'm tired from staying up with you and I need a little more like to stay awake." She turned to the window and pulled open the dark curtains to reveal a balcony bathed in daylight. It was sunny but the grass outside looked wet and puddles littered the street. She had mentioned a storm had been coming.
No wonder she was kind. She was very fortunate to have a caring family. "It's been...a long time since Cheshire has been in sunlight." He responded wistfully. His world had been in absolute darkness for so long until Alyss had gifted him with his left eye. Even with it however, any form of light in Alyss's dimension and within the Abyss was something artificial. Not quite like the real thing.
Cheshire moved off the couch and angled his body toward the woman. He refused to offer his back to her just yet. He felt vulnerable enough as it was and he was still a little weary about trusting the strangers word. As though she understood she moved to allow him past her so he could approach the window. He began to stagger a bit to one side again as he moved . He resented the hampering of his feline elegance, but he was without another option currently.
The wind. He wanted to feel it as much as he wanted the sunlight to warm his aching body. He reached for the handle to open it when her hand sneaked under his and caught the door first. She was now between him and the door with her body turned to him.
"Uh—uh. I was serious about if you hurt my house there'd be consequences. That includes scratching up my door." Sienna pulled it open as Cheshire stared at her. She moved out of his way and he lifted his hands to look at them. He'd never paid much attention to any damage he might have done to his house with his claws. They were simply part of him and sometimes it was harder to do certain things, but at least with them he was capable unlike in his first life.
Walking onto the balcony he heard her following behind him. Still unsteady on his feet he listed to one side and her hand assisted his balance until he reached the railing. "Thanks." Cheshire nodded to her and stared out at the scenery around him. The smells were that of a small town and the streets only had the odd person walking by. Probably due to the weather. He breathed the scents in on a deep intake of air.
Being outside in the sunlight was refreshing and helped clear his head. Absently he reached up to his throat to touch his precious bell as he tried to remember what had happened to him only to find it missing. The ribbon collar he had worn around his neck for so long which held his original masters' last few memories before her death was gone. He glanced down in surprise. He never took it off, it was too precious for that. Panic quickly overwhelmed him and he turned to Sienna abruptly.
"Cheshire's bell, where is it?! It's gone! Did you take it?" He gave Sienna an accusing glare before looking back inside to the couch he had been on earlier. The familiar red ribbon with the large gold bell was no where in sight.
"What? What are you talking about?" Sienna's eyes widened as she moved away from him and faced him straight on.
Barely hearing her he tried to recall where he may have lost it. Blinking rapidly his panic drifted back to a feeling of intense loss. Gripping the bars of the railing he slid to his knees and knocked his forehead against the cold metal. A face came to mind. One he resented greatly. A man called Break, the one from whom Alyss had taken the eye Cheshire now possessed. Now he remembered. He had tried to capture Alice, his original master, in her new form and to do so he had brought them into her realm of memories. A dimension made from the bell that he had lost. It hadn't gone as planned and he was defeated by that man with his Mad Hatter Chain. Despicable thing that Chain was. It existed only to destroy its own kind and anything related to the Abyss.
Squeezing his eye shut he yowled his loss to the wind. He had failed Alyss. Perhaps that was why he wasn't inside the Abyss—a punishment for his indiscretion. Wrapping his arms around himself he felt the need to be as small as he felt. He should have died then. How had he survived? It was bizarre that he even had the same body he had had at the time of the battle. He had thrown it away in desperation to take down the man that ruined everything.
Pain seared through his head as he banged it against the railing bars repeatedly. He had failed—severely failed. All he wanted was to protect Alice from herself. Seeking the very memories that had destroyed her once and she had cast out upon her own will. He just wanted to protect her from the agony and he had paid for it. Tears tracked down the left side of his face for he had no eye to shed such things from in the empty socket that scarred his face on the right.
Suddenly he became aware of a gentle pressure on his back moving is small circles. A hand belonging to the strange woman who had found him moved up between his shoulder blades and around his back. The caress was soothing and he lost himself in the comfort she offered. Cheshire lowered his head between his paws to hide his face, muffling his sobs the best he was able. Would the Intention forgive him? Did she even want him to return? Thinking about it just made him want to further curl into himself. He wanted to disappear from this world. He had been given a second chance at life beyond that of a simple house pet and until now his level of appreciation could not be measured. Now he was at a complete loss. He was much stronger and more dangerous than he was in his first life, but even still it hadn't been enough to protect his master.
"Shhh, it's alright...it'll be alright..." Sienna cooed in a soft whisper as he trembled under her touch uncontrollably. The despair he was feeling was overwhelming.
They remained like that for a long time. The woman made no move to leave his side and persisted with her soothing noises and caress. At first he had been greatly suspicious of the woman beside him even though she had brought him into her home in his time of vulnerability; dressing his wounds and watching over him while he had slept. It was bizarre. The only people he had ever needed was Alyss and Alice and he never imagined there could be another. Never fathomed the need for someone else. Those two girls made up his world and now he had lost them both—for the second time over the past century. His self-loathing spiked like it never had before. If he couldn't protect his beloved master and the Intention that had given him his second life, he was useless.
Author's Note:
I decided to post the second chapter to this because, well, what's the point of a Cheshire fanfic without enough Cheshire?
*Constructive criticism is very welcome here and I would really appreciate it.
Please comment and let me know what you think.
Pandora Hearts © Jun Mochizuki
Writing & Original Characters © Fukisako
