Chapter One

The White Rabbit

"Raven!"

She woke with a start. Her cheek brushed against dirt and broken grass stalks, and she pushed herself off the ground.

Oh.

Her head pounded, and the movement made the world spin wildly. Raven clutched her hand to her forehead, groaning.

What happened?

Her mind drew a blank. The only thing she remembered was a name. Her name. Raven. But where was she?

Her gaze scanned her surroundings. Tall grasses that came up to her chin waved lazily in the breeze. The horizon was empty, devoid of any land formations. Raven stood wobbly on her feet.

How did she get here?

Once again, no knowledge surfaced. She was in an unfamiliar land, alone, with no recollection of how she'd gotten there in the first place.

Wonderful.

A scowl etched onto her face. Now what? Should she just, start walking and hope for the best?

"You're late."

Raven whirled around. Sitting in a chair was a boy. He looked vaguely familiar, though Raven wasn't sure why. He was dressed in a suit and tie ensemble, a top had sliding lazily to the side on his head. He toyed lazily with a stopwatch, watching it swing from side to side on its long golden chain. The defining feature was a mask settled on his face.

"Who are you?" she asked. He stood, striding over to her. His gloved hand snatched her own, and he gently placed the stopwatch into it.

"Don't be late," he said. The boy turned and sprang away, loping off into the field. Raven watched him go, puzzled. She glanced back down to the watch in her hand, and jerked her gaze back up to the boy.

"Wait!" she cried, taking off after him. He stopped suddenly, and reached down. To Raven's utter amazement and confusion, he pulled up what appeared to be an empty picture frame, and stepped through it, disappearing.

She halted, gaping at the frame.

"What the...?"

That wasn't possible, that much Raven knew. But alas, it had happened and she'd seen it happen with her own eyes. Raven stepped forward cautiously. It was an elegant frame, shining golden in the ample sunlight. She reached forward tentatively. Her fingers grazed what felt like a permeable membrane, and she gasped.

This was definitely odd.

With a sudden rush of bravery, Raven reached her hand forward again and pushed it through the membrane. To her utter amazement her hand disappeared. It didn't poke through the other side, it was gone.

She yanked her arm back out of the frame.

As unusual as this was, she was fascinated by it. Taking a breath, she stepped into the frame.

Sun blinded her as she entered the other side. She leaned forward, taking a step.

That was a mistake. Her foot didn't connect with anything solid, and a scream tore from her throat as she plunged downward. The forest below rushed up to meet her and soon enough branches were whipping at her face and arms as she plummeted.

Her body smacked the forest floor with a painful thump, and everything went black.


Something rough and wet scraped across her cheek.

Raven awoke with a groan. She blinked, trying to focus her blurry vision. Something tickled at her face, and Raven's gaze was met by a pair of forest green eyes. She jolted back with a start.

There, sitting in front of her, was a cat.

A green cat to be precise.

His head was cocked to the side as he watched her intently, as if asking her if she was hurt. Raven wasn't sure how she knew this, but the fact remained that the cat was concerned for her. She tentatively reached her hand out, allowing him to sniff it.

The cat pushed his head into her palm, letting her rub behind his ears. He let out a loud purr, causing a small smile to spread across her face.

"Well hello there," she murmured. The cat meowed, trotting to the side. Raven heard a jingle as he moved, and noticed the golden gleam of a collar around the feline's neck. He disappeared into a bush momentarily, before trotting back to her with something in his mouth.

The stopwatch.

She probably had dropped it when she fell.

The cat dropped the golden trinket on the ground before her, and she plucked it up off the grass, cradling it in her palm. On closer inspection, Raven noticed the watch was covered in intricate engravings, most notably the letter 'T' carved into the back.

After discovering she had no pockets, Raven decided the wrap it onto the belt that hung lazily around her waist.

A meow caught her attention. Raven glanced down to see the cat scratching agitatedly at the golden collar fit snugly around his neck. Oddly enough, she could feel his discomfort, almost as if it was her own. The ruby red bell jangled noisily as the cat scratched, his agitation rising as the bell rang.

"You don't like that collar, do you?" she asked. The cat stopped and looked at her. His whiskers twitched, as though he was agreeing with her, and he padded up to where she knelt as pushed his head under her hand. Raven felt the smooth metal of the collar under her fingers, and she rubbed against the golden surface.

It was attached rather tightly to the feline's neck, almost digging into his green skin. Her thumb grazed over indents in the collar, and Raven realized that it too, was engraved. There were symbols carefully carved into the metal, ones she didn't understand by any means. She did however, get the sense that it was magical in nature.

A phrase surfaced in her mind, and it slipped past her lips almost reflexively.

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!"

A rush of energy flowed from her body and the collar glowed black. With a click, it came undone, falling uselessly into her hands. Raven dropped it with a gasp.

Did she just do that?

Her thoughts were dashed by a white glow, and Raven glanced up to see the green cat awash in the white light. She shielded her eyes, stars dancing in her vision from the brightness.

The glow stopped as quickly as it started, and Raven cautiously glanced up. Her mouth dropped open in shock.

Sitting in front of her, was a boy. A very green, feline looking boy.