Capitolo Uno: Introduzioni

-o0o-

Time Since Arrival: 4 Months, 28 days, 2 hours

Natalie bit her tongue hard until she tasted blood. The salty taste sent a jolt of clarity to her sleep deprived brain, forcing her to stay alert and take another scan of the forest.

Pierce had been gone too long.

Natalie clicked her tongue on the roof of her mouth to relieve the sting of the bite. It was probably really early in the morning, even if the sun was shining cheerfully through the treetops. Slowly sliding off the branch she had nestled herself in, the foreigner climbed down the tree while attempting to make as little noise as possible.

SCRRRIIIICH

Wince.

SCHRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIICH

Wince.

THUNK SCRIIIIIIICH THUNK

Wince.

A frown marred her features as she reached the base of the tree. Apparently silently climbing trees was more of a Pierce thing. Reaching into her coat, she grabbed her canteen and took a quick swig before scanning the area again, wondering if she would even be able to hear her companion coming. Natalie couldn't even call him 'quiet as a mouse', since the saying wasn't even close to doing the boy justice. When he wanted to be quiet, Pierce was in a class of his own, darting around with a speed that was frankly amazing to watch and maneuvering so delicately that the leaves wouldn't even crunch underneath his feet. In all honesty, Natalie was supremely jealous of him. The small bubble of pride she's carried with her since Madam Lucille's about being 'graceful in movement' had burst immediately after watching Pierce for about three minutes. She felt like a very drunk buffalo in comparison.

Pulling out a revolver, Natalie loaded the weapon's barrel absentmindedly, not even needing to glance at the task to know what went where—bulletspinclickagainbulletspinclickagain—and leaned back against the tree.

Pierce…was different. Not just physically—Mouse ears? Really? How?—but his personality was different from anyone she had ever encountered. First, there was the constant need to be alert, and the fear of falling asleep. Pierce drank an unhealthy amount of coffee just to stay awake. Not that Natalie ever knew where he got the stuff, but without fail in every safe house she had visited there was an enormous stash of the bitter drink. The mouse-boy was jittery enough already, but after his third cup of the caffeinated drink he was practically vibrating with energy. He would almost always take first watch between the two of them, displaying a paranoia that mirrored her own and a stiff determination to stay awake no matter what. The one time that Natalie had asked him about it, she was met with rapid, terrified mumblings about being hunted by 'the cat'. Natalie left the subject alone after that. Whatever this cat was, if it scared Pierce to that extent, it was clearly dangerous, and she would avoid it to the best of her ability.

Then, of course, there was the near constant physical contact. He was very touchy feely, hugging and kissing her easily whenever he found her to be cute. Of course, that in itself really wasn't that big of a deal. Her family—MomDadDantedoyouevenmissmeI'vebeengoneforsolong—was a family of huggers, and they would consistently peck each other on the cheeks as a show of affection. It was the culture, and relatively normal for Natalie, so Pierce's hugs really weren't that surprising or off putting. It was the kissing that unsettled Natalie. Only a week or so after they met, Pierce had revealed his habit of jump-tackling her then kissing her on the lips. Natalie had immediately attempted to correct the problem by having him kiss her on the cheeks instead—thefeelingwassososoachinglyfamiliar—and it had been mostly effective.

Mostly.

Every once in a while Pierce would still try to kiss her on the lips, but it wasn't often enough that Natalie was super concerned by it. And if she wasn't able to dodge in time, and Pierce actually succeeded in tackling her to the ground and planting a kiss on her lips…It was just a peck, nothing meaningful.

But for all his quirks, Pierce was a good—notafreindIcan'thavethoseanymorenonono—companion. He was just about as nervous as she was, (in a good way, because she'd learned that being nervous was how you stayed safe in This Place) and knew how to defend himself. And even though he couldn't sign, Pierce tried his best to understand what Natalie attempted to communicate through basic gestures. He was getting better at it too; it was rare now for Natalie to stoop to the humiliating process of writing messages in the dirt to get her point across.

There was one thing that Natalie never really did understand. Pierce literally had infinite safe houses in This Place, and wasn't afraid to leave the safety of the woods to go out and face those others all by himself to get supplies. He was able to scavenge through the forest, knowing which plants were edible and which were poisonous. In short, Pierce was entirely self-sufficient. Why did he help her out?

People weren't that nice to her. Where she came from, unless you were family, it was very rare that someone out of the goodness of their heart would do something nice for anyone else. Yet Pierce…

Natalie shook herself out of her thoughts and frowned.

Questioning reasons while just standing here in the open was a dangerous waste of time. She could only allow herself to reminisce in the security of the safe houses.

Besides, she needed to find Pierce.

Rolling her shoulders and forcing herself to focus, Natalie switched her grip on the gun to the 'ready' position that Pierce had shown her. Exhaling quietly, the silent foreigner narrowed her eyes and headed South towards where she knew the mouse-boy was conducting his 'business'.

Whatever that was.

—o0o—

Pierce sliced the tendon on his victim's ankle absentmindedly, ignoring the screams that followed. He still had three more clocks to hide before going back and checking on his foreigner.

Pierce chuckled happily, his smile widening. Yes, yes, his foreigner.

Natalie.

She was beautiful in a different way than Alice (and wasn't it amazing that he could think of Alice now, without that painful ache in his clock?). Alice, the open book, who was all light and bright and golden, somehow didn't even come close to Natalie.

Natalie, with her olive skin and dark brown ringlets that bounced with every step.

Natalie, with her cautious little movements and delicate features.

Natalie, with those deep, intelligent green eyes that said almost everything her mouth would never be able to express.

Alice smiled easily for everyone, the same welcoming smile that somehow made all of the role holders trip over themselves. Natalie's smiles were something like little accomplishments. She did not smile at the simplest little things, like Alice did. You earned a smile from his Natalie. And it was never the same smile either; they came in different styles and strengths. Natalie smiled for a reason. Once, a few weeks after they had met, he even got a little flush with one of her smiles. It was probably the most adorable thing he'd ever seen in his life, and he'd promptly kissed her for it. She'd reacted in a similar way to Alice and had pushed him off, but had been really more confused than upset.

"It's because you were so cute, chu!" He'd explained sheepishly with a small blush of his own and fully expecting a smack across the face. Natalie blinked a few times, before her lips parted in a silent 'oh'. She'd then nodded hesitantly, in an accepting sort of way, before reaching out with both of her hands and cupping his face, tugging him closer. She'd then pressed his lips to both of her cheeks slowly, one after the other, before gently pushing him away. Natalie had stared straight into his eyes after that, still holding his face steady, and waited expectantly to see if the message had been successfully received.

"Y-you want me to kiss you like that?" He'd guessed, but it came out slightly odd because the way she held his face kind of smushed his cheeks together. Natalie gave an amused sort of smile that made his clock tick faster and nodded. Then she quickly pecked him on each cheek like she had just made him do to her.

Pierce was practically floating on air for the rest of the day.

She was scared of him at first, and she still didn't trust him completely. From what he understood of her abrupt arrival to Wonderland, it was understandable (and, he thought darkly while slowly carving his blade through his squirming victim's chest, it made him want to kill every faceless in sight.) But, ever so slowly, the walls she had built were coming down. She didn't jump when he tried to speak with her anymore or try to avoid eye-contact with him, and she accepted hugs more easily now. It was rare that he was actually able to coax her into full-on cuddling with him, but every once in a while, when the nights were especially cold and Natalie especially tired (which was a treat to see, her sleepy expression was just so adorable!), Pierce would be able to persuade Natalie into crawling into bed with him to keep warm.

He'd spent two months with his careful little princess. Two months, and he was more in love than he had ever been with Alice. He never really even had a chance with Alice, that golden girl who refused to choose because she was too scared to offend. Pierce could see that now. Alice loved too much, and cared about too many. But Natalie…

Natalie hadn't met any of the role holders yet, other than him.

She didn't even want to.

Natalie stayed in the forest, away from the faceless and away from anyone that would hurt her.

She didn't love him yet, but that was okay. Natalie didn't hate him either. Besides, Pierce was patient. These things took time with foreigners, and his Natalie was well worth the wait.

Pulling the clock from the still warm carcass, Pierce stretched and tilted his head, surveying the damage with vague disinterest.

"How annoying, chu." He murmured to himself. Now he had another clock to hide.

And that's chapter one!

Please let me know if Pierce is in any way out of character, or if his section got too graphic or violent for anybody. I tried to tone it down a little, but I don't know if it worked all that well...

And yes, the chapter titles will be in Italian. If anybody actually knows Italian and notices my grave errors concerning the translations, tell me. I'm using an online translating software that starts with G and ends with oogle translate, so I'm probably gonna have some issues along the way. :)

Anyways, reviews are always appreciated! Thanks a million,

-Ace