Chapter 1:

The Wasteland

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Nightmare, that's all Raven could think about. That this was some horrid nightmare caused by that blast of magic reflected back at her. When the pain had subsided, Raven slowly opened her eyes and was relieved to see her hands, arms, chest and the rest of her body still attached. But happiness soon turned to horror when she saw where she was, or more correctly where she wasn't.

She wasn't in Ever After High, heck, she wasn't even sure if she was near the school. Instead, she was in the middle of a dusty, dirt road in a drought-like landscape complete with the cracked ground, bare trees and dry grass. Raven slowly pulled herself off the ground, letting out only a few moans of pain from her sore body. Her nightgown was a mess: the entire thing was covered in red dust and dirt, the edges were torn and her right sleeve was barely hanging on.

Raven brushed off some of the dirt from her clothes and rubbed her arms; it was daytime wherever she was, the sun beating down but she felt so cold, like she was inside of a freezer. There seemed to be no life around for yards, maybe even miles. In the back of her mind, she wonder if she had transported herself to one of those places her mother had conquered because she had seen similar landscapes in pictures her mother showed her about the lands she destroyed and the lives she squashed. All dead and empty, just like what was in front of her.

"Hello," called out Raven, "Is anyone out there?!"

Nothing replied back. Typical. But honestly what was Raven expecting? She began walking down the road, hoping to find something or someone to tell her where she was. Thankfully the dirt was pretty smooth, no rocks or sharp sticks to poke at her bare feet as she walked. Everything was dead silent, no birds, no wind, not even the steps the young sorceress took made a noise.

'Okay, let's see...' thought Raven, 'I got hit by a reflected blast, brilliant idea to shoot at a mirror~' she scold at herself, her glaze traveling down to her hands, 'No permanent scars or side-effects hopefully. So now I'm in some unknown place and since Magicology hasn't even covered transportation spells, I have no idea how to get back. Can this day get any worse?'

Raven spend the next hour walking and racking her brain for any spells that could help her get home, at least the ones that won't backfire on her. Unfortunately, nothing came to mind; she had never fully explored her powers ever since they started going bad on her. She was so afraid of hurting someone that she kept her power usage to a minimum, only using them for carrying her bags or curling her hair, but even doing those simple things tend to go sour.

As she walked, the landscape started to slowly shift from the dry, desert-like landscape to a slightly less dead terrain. There were patches of grass growing here and there, some of the trees were sprouting new leaves on their branches and the soil was looking healthier as well. Blades of meadow grass that reached up to Raven's waist popped near the road in bunches. The sight made Raven feel a bit happier knowing she was heading towards something that was at least alive and growing.

After what seem like forever-after, which was about two hours, Raven could spot something in the distant. Squinting her eyes, she believed it was a small bump at the right side of the road; was it a house or maybe a hut? Could it be a sign of shelter in this fairy godmother-forsaken place. With a burst of hope, Raven started jogging towards the 'shelter' she saw.

Only to find it a total fairy-fail.

Her 'house' was actually a bunch of grave plots. The markers were gray, cracked and covered in thin vines and mold, surrounded by newly grown strips of grass. Upset but curious, Raven started walking towards the plots; the grass was nice and soft on her dusty feet as she neared the site. Some of the markers didn't have names, other did have some carvings on them but were either covered in vines or too damage to read.

The one that stood out the most was the center cross grave marker. Across the patibulum was the name "J. Lacroix" in bold, uppercase letters with vines crawling up towards the center. Whoever this was, he must have been important, or at least well-loved to have such a large headstone, Raven was about the turn around until she heard a very faint whimpering sound. Looking down, she saw that a rope was tied around at the base of the cross grave and moving. Trailing down with her eyes, she spotted what the other end of the rope was connected to and gasped.

Hiding behind another grave was the smallest and thinnest puppy that Raven had ever seen, a boy by the look of it. Patchy fur, ribs poking through his skin, and his tiny legs could barely hold up his upper body. The rope was wrapped around the creature's bony neck, not too tight that it would choke him, but not to loose that he could get free. Someone had tied this puppy to this grave for days without food or water, probably left him there to die

"You poor thing," cooed Raven as she kneeled down, "Your starving and dying of thirst! How can someone be so cruel...," she pulled the makeshift rope collar off the puppy's neck.

Once freed, the puppy started slowly walking away from the grave, happy to be given his freedom back, but soon collapsed afterward. Raven quickly scooped up the puppy and cradled him in her arms. She could hear the poor creature whimper; his bones poking at her arms, his mouth quivering and dry. Just looking at the puppy's state killed Raven, her heart just breaks and she can't help but tear up.

Hugging the animal to her chest, she starts a light jog back down the path and up the road. Against the odds, Raven decided that she had to find something to feed the dog before he dies. If there was patches of green grass around then surely their should be some source of water or food nearby as well. She prayed to every fairy godmother and mythical deities that she could think of to help her find water and let this poor puppy live.

Luckly for her, the puppy seemed content in her arms and snuggled deeply in her chest, trying to gain some warmth from the teenage girl. He didn't fuss or fight or jump out of her arms which helped her greatly as she carried him down the road. Raven smiled down at him, cooing at him and scratching him on his head. She had to find water. No excuses, no breaks, no stops.

As if her wish was granted, after a half an hour of searching, Raven spotted a group of deep puddles in the ground, the remains of what use to be a lake bed. Most of them were pretty murky but she manage to find one that was the cleanest of them. She brushed off a few rocks and twigs gather at the edges of the puddle with her foot before kneeling down.

Raven slowly place the quivering dog on the ground, "There," she said softly, "Drink up, sweetie."

On cue, the puppy's dunk his mouth into the water and start lapping up the liquid as quickly as he can. Often his head would dip a little too low and Raven have to pull him up so that his head wouldn't go under. After he finally got control of his balance, Raven let go and started to look around for some source of food or at the very least, edible leaves or roots they can much on. She was starting to get hungry as well.

Nearby was a small tree with some small bramble bushes next to it. Getting closer, Raven spotted a fallen unripe apple at the base of the tree and some berries growing in the bush. Using the front of her gown as a makeshift basket, she snatched the apple off the ground, slightly bruised, and tossed it in. Next were the berries, the thorns and thickets clawed at her hands and arm but she kept grabbing berries until she had a few handfuls in her skirt.

With a skirt full of fruit and a bleeding arm, Raven walked towards the puppy who just finished drinking and is obediently sitting near the edge. Although dogs weren't that well known for eating berries or fruits, it will have to do, it was all there was available anyway. The puppy looked up to her as she took a seat next to him and scooped up some berries.

"Here you go," said Raven putting her berry-filled hand underneath the dog's mouth. Immediately, the puppy began eating the fruits, sometimes accidentally biting Raven's hand. A few scoops of berries and apple chunks she ripped with her teeth were fed to him until the dog was finally satisfied and fell asleep

After wiping her hands on her gown, it was ruined anyway, Raven started eating her 'breakfast' which was what was left of the apple and the leftover berries. Normally she would never eat apples or berries, she preferred sweeter things like salted caramel and chocolate, but hey, beggars can't be choosers. Once finished, Raven got up and started scoping her surroundings.

Not a single house or hut nearby, not even the remains of what could have been some shelter either. Wherever she was, she was some miles away from civilization. Getting up, Rave cupped her hands around her eyes to protect her from the sun as she continued looking around. Then she saw it, what looked like a wooden signboard, a few yards away. Looking down at the sleeping puppy, she place the remaining berries next to his head, bid him a silent goodbye and started walking away.

Raven's feet started to ache, hours of walking will do that to you, but she had to keep on going. She had to find civilization somewhere because she did NOT what to be in the middle of nowhere when it got dark. When she finally reached the sign, it was covered with moss and dirt. Ripping off her hanging sleeve, the sorceress used it to wipe off the moss to see the faded writings on the wood. Some of the letters were faded, others completely gone; all she could make out was the following:

Wel om Trav ers

You Are N Ent ing The Kingd of loren

"'Kingdom of loren?' Is this where I am?" questioned Raven, stepping away from the sign and glanced down the road. She could see some dots on the horizon, was that the kingdom?

Before she could take another step, three sharp barks cracked the silence in the air. Turning around, the young sorceress spotted the tiny puppy trotting down the path to get to her. A slight limp in his step, either from the malnourishment or it was injured somehow, but it still made his way towards the black-and-maroon haired girl. Raven took a few steps in front of her and, surprisingly enough, the puppy followed. Another step to the front, again it followed.

Step. Follow. Step. Follow.

Raven smiled as she kneel down and petted the small dog, "Guess you don't want to be alone, huh? Well I've always wanted a puppy and I could use a traveling companion."

He barked and leaned into her hand, rubbing his tiny, balding head on her palm. Raven scratches the underside of his neck and picked him up, cradling him in her arms. Decided that needed a name, she couldn't keep calling him 'puppy' or 'dog', Raven tried to think of a suitable name for him. She thought back to where she found him, tied to that cross grave marker...

"Lacroix," spoke Raven, gently poking at the puppy's snout, "That will be your name, 'kay little buddy?"

Lacroix gave a short bark and licked his nose, wagging his stump of a tail. Raven smiled and decided to carry him until they get to the kingdom mention on the sign where someone will hopefully look at that limp. Despite the bad luck she had gotten by transporting herself to this empty, wasteland, Raven felt like finding Lacroix made it all the worth her while.

It was just like the day she had met Maddie, her best friend forever after. Maddie never judge her or feared her because of who her mother was, nor hated her after the poisoning of Wonderland. Animals were the same as well, they never seem to fear Raven, heck, many times they would come near her like she was one of the royal princesses. But because of her mother and her threats, she could never bring one home for fear they would be transformed into something frightful.

But now she was far away from her mother and the Royals and everyone else who would criticize her for being good. If and when she finds a way back to Ever After, Lacroix will be coming back with her, no one was going to tell her otherwise. Lacroix was going to be her beloved pet and friend. And now the two were heading towards this unknown kingdom together, maybe she'll even find something to help her write her own happily ever after.

"Huh, maybe this isn't such a bad day after all."

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Kinda a short and somewhat plain first chapter but I promise the next chapter will be more exciting and will move the story along. Anyway, I've just started reading The Storybook of Legends and before I started reading, I was just flipping pages through the book and found the chapter on how Raven brought a puppy home and her mother turn it into a rat. So Lacroix is sort of like the pet she's always wanted and now she doesn't have to worry about her mother transforming it.

Anyway, I wish everyone a Happy New Years and hope everyone will stick to their New Years resolution (cause I know I only completely one or two of my 2013 resolution XP). The next chapter will hopefully be up by this week or next week because my new school semester starts next week so I might get busy by then.

Later guys!