Discmaler: Only the plot is mine not the names

"You are going the wrong way" Cheshire called again, as he approached Clarke who was walking along the stream.

"Get away from me!" Clarke growled as she watched the large feline stalk up to her.

"What, don't you like cats," Cheshire purred.

"It does not matter if I like cats or not. I happen to have a problem with being followed by wild animals."

"Wild" He chuckled. "You insult me. I'm not wild. Quite the opposite really, how many wild animals do you know that have a vocabulary as wide as mine."

"You are a Bobcat. Bobcats are undomesticated, which means you are wild... and I'm arguing with a talking Bobcat." She stopped then added with hopelessness "Oh god, Jasper must have added something besides Moonshine to that apple cider."

"You know Jasper?" Cheshire asked his ears pricking up in interest.

"I'm sure we aren't thinking of the same person," Clarke replied glaring at him.

"I don't know Jaspers can be very tricky. I would know I am one."

"Whatever." Clarke turned and started to walk again.

"Fine," The cat sighed. "Is this better?" Cheshire asked, as he stood up on his hind legs the air around him seemed to shimmer, and then in the Bobcat's place stood a boy or perhaps not, Clarke could not decide. But the person was most likely in his teens and bore a striking resemblance to her best friends' boyfriend. He wore a rawhide coat and boots, he also wore a pair of aviation goggles over his shaggy heard of dark hair.

"Of course." She said throwing her hand into the air. "You can talk so why wouldn't you be able to turn into a human."

"Acutely." Cheshire grinned "I am a man who can turn into a bobcat."

"You don't look like that much of a man to me," She shot back. Cheshire chuckled

"A young man," He amended. " Come on now." He said waving for her to come to him. "You are going the wrong way."

"I told you that I wasn't going to be anyone's problem. I'm going to find my own way home."

"You won't find anything but the executioners block looking like that." He said eyeing her up and down.

"And what exactly is wrong with how I look?" she said as she followed his eyes becoming a little self-conscious.

"Well there are twigs and berries all over you for one thing and your clothes are not exactly what is considered normal. You will be spotted and arrested almost as soon as you step into a populated area. If you want to go home come with me. The Hatter will know how to get you back, and get you looking like you belong here until that happens." Cheshire stood there waiting for Clarke to make up her mind. Begrudgingly she took a step towards him, as she did so he smiled his huge grin again.

"You smile too much," she grumbled sourly as they started to walk back up the stream.

"It's why I'm called Cheshire." He commented while hoping on a few rocks that led him across the water.

"You're named Cheshire because you smile?"

"Yep, I smile like a cat from Cheshire." He stopped for a moment a slightly confused look wiping the grin from his face for the briefest of times. "Or maybe it's because I have a Cheshire Grin no that's a Chelsea grin." He shuddered.

"So should I call you Cheshire or Jasper?" Clarke asked. "You said you were a Jasper?"

"That is one of my names. But since Cheshire is not one of the real ones it is safer." Figuring that is was one of the things better explained later Clarke took Cheshire's hand as he helped her across the stream. The pair continued to follow the flowing water. Claiming their way up hills and around bends. Sometimes walking into the forest where the water was out of sight. Time seemed to move a little faster than expected, and soon the high sun started to sink into the trees.

"Should we stop soon, and make camp." Clarke asked. It wasn't until now that she realized that she seemed to have been up for at least a full day. She had grown hungry tired and now was cursing her choice in wearing high heeled shoes. "If only I knew what was going to happen. I could have gone to the party dressed as a camper." Praying that he would say yes she was disappointed with his answer.

"No. Hatter's place is not too far off now. Besides, it is easier to find in the dark."

"Really? Why is that?"

"Well he likes to be hidden. And for the most part he is. it is nearly impossible to find his house, but looking for him gets easier at night. A while ago, Hatter had an affair with a time keeper, and when he broke things off she was so pissed that she stopped the clock. Ever since then it is always tea time at his place so it might be dark where we are but all you have to do is look for some light, because the moment you step onto his property it is as if the sun was still up. To be honest, he was sort of on the run then, and I think he did it on purpose. The light protects really well against the Reapers."

"I find that hard to believe."

"Ha you would. You other siders don't have much regard for the things that magic can do." Chucking her shoes into the surrounding undergrowth Clarke rose to her feet. They continued walking and soon Cheshire turned himself back into a bobcat so that he could guide them both threw the Dark. They didn't see the first glimpses of light until Clarke was about to give up and sleep on the stream bank until morning. "Keep going." Cheshire urged nudging the back of Clarke's leg with his head. Leaving the side of the stream Clarke and Cheshire walked towered the light, with her swearing a few times as she tripped and stumbled on roots and shrubs. As they drew closer, she noticed something peculiar happening to the plant life. The trees became larger and even the grasses and flowers increased in size. When the sky became noticeably bright Clarke saw daffodils with stalks as wide as her body.

"Do the bugs get bigger too?" Clarke asked more to herself than to anyone else.

"No," Cheshire snickered. "But the humming birds do."

"Really?"

"Only a little bit, maybe about the size of your hand." He explained turning into a human again.

"So where are we heading, now that we have found this bright part of the forest?" Clarke asked

"Straight ahead." Cheshire said pointing to an oak tree that could be seen over the tops of the Dandelions. Clarke sighed in relief.

"That doesn't look too much further."

"Don't trust the way things look around here." Cheshire chided. "I didn't look like a man when you first met me."

"Finally." She gasped, as she tried to slow her breathing. It had been another long hike, and it hadn't been until just after they had climbed over one the roots of the enormous tree that she finely saw a little house nestled within it. The house like the tree appeared small at first but as they approached Clarke fell into a state of awe. The tree appered to have been planted in the back of the house. Over the years it had started to envelop parts of the house as it continued to expand. She could see a set of windows, and a planter box poking out of some of the bark. As she started at the interesting house Cheshire walked up to the front porch and knocked firmly on the door. There was no response Cheshire knocked again. He pounded on the door three times with his fist then proceeded to use the brass knocker twice. Cheshire paused before pulling a string on the felt of the door frame that caused a chime to sound. Soon they could hear footsteps approaching, and then the door opened just enough to reveal a sliver of an old man's face, who squinted in the blinding light.

"Who are you and what do you want?" his gravely voice asked.

"I'm Cheshire. The Princess and I are looking for Bell… the Hatter." Clarke looked at the boy beside her.

"I don't know what you are talking about Boy. There be none live'en hear by the name Bell and no hat makers either." The old man went to close the door but Cheshire stuck his foot in the way.

"I am here because of an open invitation for Tea." He said determination in his voice.

"Who gave you this invitation?"

"A barber that I went to in March."

"Is that so. What kind of tea do you think you will be havien?"

"The kind that is made so hot that you have to wait some time before it cools down."

"And what about the girl?"

"She will be having Ginger. She is tired from travel, and needs the energy it will provide."

"Where has she been?" The man asked sounding interested.

"All over the map, this side and the other." The old man's eyes widened.

"Very well." He said opening the door so that they could come in. "Get in here before I change my mind." Cheshire and Clarke followed the man into his house as he shut the door and quickly locked it behind them. The man was short and thin with graying hair on his head, as well as a worn out looking flat cap. He bid them to follow as he moved through the living room and into a kitchen. The Kitchen was a small room, in the middle of the room was a table with seating for 4 people. In its center sat a lazy susan that held an arrangement of finger foods as well as a small pitcher of milk and other things to add to their tea.

"Have a seat while I put the Kettle on." Said the old man, who Clarke assumed was the Hatter. Cheshire took off his coat and hung it up on the back of his chair. It was then that Clarke noticed that he and the old man were dressed very similar. Both wore white button up shirts that were tucked in to dark colored trouser which were being held up by a set of suspenders. The only difference being that the old man also wore a sweater. Unable to keep herself up much longer Clarke collapsed into one of the chairs at the table, and politely waited as the man came back to the table and joined them. "So why did you bring me a half dressed girl from the other side?" He asked Cheshire, his voice far less agitated then it was when they were standing at his front door.

"I'm not..." Clarke started, but Cheshire shushed her by pointing out her missing shoes.

"She can't get herself back, and I figured you might know how." Cheshire answered coolly as he reached for a bite sized sandwich and popped it into his mouth.

"Why is she so dirty, and is all of that blood?" The man said looking her over.

"We've been hiking through the woods all day. That shouldn't be blood unless she got a few scratches on the way here. Most of it is from when she fell from Harper's front door." The man laughed when he heard this.

"Harper's door, ha is that how you got in?" The man looked at her amused.

"I don't know how I got here." Clarke told him.

"You must know. What where you doing before you found your way into Harper's house?" He rested his chin on his folded hands.

"I was at a party."

"And what were you doing?"

"I was going to the bathroom to fix my hair. I walked through a curtain of streamers and the next thing I know I was in Harper's hallway."

"Really! That was it? Can't be if your kind could get hear simply by walking through, whatever you called it there would be far more of your people here than we could deal with." The kettle whistled loudly from the stove top and the man rose to retrieve it. Unable to restrain herself any longer Clarke reached out for a napkin and piled a few bite sized quiches and finger sandwiches on to it. Cheshire smirked as she quickly started eating them.

"I'm Hungry." She said frowning

"I can see that." He said laughing.

"You know I've been wondering, what is this place? You keep saying I'm from the other side. But what exactly am I on the other side of?"

"Hatter. I think you are better at explaining this." The Hatter turned to them with a tea pot and cups neatly set up of a tray. As he did so his form changed. Gone was the old man and in his place was a young man. He was much taller and more taunt than thin. He still wore the same shirt and pinstriped pants, except now they were accompanied by a brightly colored paisley vest. A black bowler sat on top of a head of curly dark hair.

"You can change shape too?" he smiled at her words.

"Several people around here do." He said setting the tea tray on the table. "It comes in very handy when... you want to hide." The Hatter sat himself in his chair and began to pour the light brown liquid into each of the cups. He fixed his cup of tea and waited for everyone to do the same before he began to speak.

"When we say that you are from the other side, it's because you come from the other side of the Veil." After tacking a sip from his cup he continued. "Are you familiar with the idea of alternate dimensions? I'm sure you have heard of some. Hell, Nirvana even." Clarke bobbed her head as she dipped a cookie into her tea, and nibbled at it. "Well you could say that about this place. Right now you are in another realm of existence, however this one is a bit different from some of the others. It's difficult to conceive sometimes, but your world and ours exist within each other. "

"Used to be the same world." Cheshire put in after licking some honey off of his spoon.

"Used to be the same?" Clarke asked skeptically

"Think about it. For thousands of years humans practiced, magic and firmly believed in creatures that only recently were thought to be non-existent." The Hatter explained.

"Every person is capable of doing magic," Cheshire said taking over the conversation for a time. " There are few things in magic that are more powerful then belief. Around a thousand years ago, that started to work aganist us magical folk. When people invested there beliefs in new religions, and sciences, people started to fear us, and denied our existence altogether. There denial was so strong that the Veil came into existence."

"OK. But that doesn't tell me what the Veil is."

"It's like a curtain or wall." Hatter said. "That was made by the magic of people's fervent neede to keep us hidden. For the most part the only thing left of us in your world are words on paper."

"And this magical Veil prevents everything in your world from perceiving ours." Cheshire finished

"Ok, assuming that this is all true and I am not imaging all of this, how was I able to come here."

"I'm still thinking about that one Princess." Hatter told her as he finished his first cup of tea and poured himself another. "It is easier for a person here to cross over to your world, because we are more likely to have the magic training needed to open a door. On your side there are very few people who practice magic well enough to cross over at any time. You're not a book holder are you?" Hatter took a closer look at Clarke to see if she had any possessions with her.

"I already asked her that, she didn't really know what I was talking about." Hatter nodded to Cheshire's answer.

"What's a book holder?" Clarke asked

"The book holders, decided to stay in your world instead of coming to ours when the Veil was created. They pass books of magical knowledge on from generation to generation. Our worlds have grown apart and not entirely compatible any more. They stay on your side to prevent the vial from opening again and protect you from when it occasionally tears. If you are lucky enough to know one, they could have trained you enough in magic so that you could open a passage. However I do not think that is the case." The three sat at the table drinking there tea in silence for a while.

"What was the date?" Cheshire asked suddenly.

"It only happened today, shouldn't you know?" Clarke asked surprised by the sudden question.

"It might not be the same." Hatter said staring at her as he leaned back in his chair. "The Veil does this funny thing with time. I could cross over at 5:00 on a Tuesday morning, and end up minutes, days, possibly years in the future or in the past."

"It was Halloween."

"Now it makes sense!" Cheshire exclaimed. He looked as if he was about to jump up and dance around the room. Hatter was smiling too and answered the question he saw forming on Clarke's face

"There are a few days a year where just because enough people believe it, the Vail becomes so thin and fragile that anyone can walk through it. Just by opening a door, leaning on a mirror,"

"Falling into a hole," Cheshire said smiling into his teacup.

"Or walking through a curtain."

"That's fantastic," Clarke said smiling. "So you guys can get me home soon right?"

"We'll try, but I wouldn't say soon." Cheshire explained.

"Try? You guys said that you could cross over at any time from this side."

"We used to, crossing over has been out lawed for several years now. It takes a lot of magic, and the authorities have a way of detecting that flair up. Anyone found crossing over into your world or ours will be punished by execution. Regardless of how, or why it happened."

"Why?"

"The Red queen is afraid a book holder from your side might come here, and end her rule."

"Really? Is that even possible?"

"Yes!" Cheshire said looking at her like she had said the dumbest thing he had ever heard. "Some Little girl found her way here like ninety years ago. She embarrassed the card queen so much that she abdicated the throne. The same kid did it again when she beat the Chess queens at their schemes by waking the black king from the enchanted sleep they put him in. I think there was a book written about it in your world. My granddad was mentioned in it." He grinned with pride.

"So you can't get me home, and I am going to be killed if anyone finds me here."

"Clarke." Cheshire said trying to be comforting. "It's not that you won't be able to get home. It will just take time for us to get you back without being noticed."

"From what I can think of, we could either stanch one of the law books, and make it legal for you to go home. Or we have to wait about 50 days until the summer solstice."

"Really. It could take that long."

"Don't worry about it right now." Hatter told her as he stood up from the table and walked over to her side. "We will talk about it later. For now you should wash up and get some sleep. I can only imagine what it was like for you to get hear. I believe it would be close to midnight right about now if all my clocks weren't stuck at 2:00 pm." Clarke nodded and got up from the table while Cheshire stayed and started to drink another cup of tea. Hatter led her back into the living room and towards the back parts of the house that had grown into the large tree. Climbing up a staircase that was made of the tree's roots, he brought her to a hallway on the second floor, that was a little too much like the hallway in Harper's house for her liking.

"You can sleep in this room." He said pointing to the second door on the left side of the hallway. "There should be some clean night clothes in there for you to sleep in. And over here is the bath." He said pointing to the door right next to him on the right side of the hallway. "Towels, and soaps are under the sink. Have a good night," He said. The two of them looked at each other for a few seconds before a smile tugged at his lips and he swept his hat off his head bowing slightly before he turned and walked back down the stairs.

Following the Hatter's suggestion Clarke walked into the bathroom. There was a large counter with a sink and Mirror directly to her left. The floors and walls were decorated with beautiful blue and white Iznik tiles. In the middle of the room there was a porcelain bathtub, and a toilet in the corner, on the other side of the counter. As she walked in and caught a glimpse of her reflection in the mirror Clarke shuddered. She looked awful. Her bloned hair was a mess and her body was covered in a grimy mix of sweat, dirt, and crushed berries. Walking over to the tub, she turned on the water and began adjusting the temperature. Once satisfied Clarke opened the cabinet under the sink. Just as Hatter had promised there was a verity of soaps, and a few towels waiting for her. She poured some of the liquid soap into the still filling bathtub, and proceeded to remove her filthy clothes. When there was an adequate level of foam floating over the surface Clarke turned off the taps and eased herself into the steaming water. She laid back against the warm porcelain and sighed as the flower scented water eased the aching soles of her feet and relived the pain in her back. She was sure that a bruise was already forming from when she fell earlier that day.

"There is no way all of this could be real." she thought to herself "I couldn't have accidentally wondered into a world where boys could turn into cats, and people could live in places where the sun never set because of time manipulation." She dunked her head under water and started to wash her hair. "Of course I don't think that I could have imagined all of this on my own. Plus even if this is all some sort of drug induced hallucination shouldn't it have ended by now?" Clarke continued to contemplate all of this as she pulled the plug and allowed the bath water drain.

After wrapping herself in a large towel, she picked up all her clothes and walked across the hall to the room she was told she given for the night. Like the rest of the house seemed to be, the room was decorated in shades of blue. There was a bed that took up most of the space in the mid-sized room, with its elaborate wooden head board pushed up to the wall. There was a dresser that matched the bed and a window that was directly opposite of the door. Closing and locking the door firmly behind her Clarke started to dry off as she searched the dresser for some clean clothes. She was delighted to find a brush and a set of pajamas that fit her. Changing quickly she started to attack the mass on knots that was in her hair. While she was doing this she walked over to the window.

It took a moment for her to notice that she was looking out from one of the widows that she had seen in the tree as she was walking up to the house. The view was generous showing far off into the forest of flowers, and beyond the property lines into some of the dark forest beyond where it was still night time. Seeing the dark was strange, like being on a brightly lit stage and gazing into the shadows at its edge. Closing the blinds to shut out the light she shuffled her way to the bed. "I guess I'll just go with it and see how things turn out," she finely concluded while she turned down the blanket and crawled under the covers. Clarke closed her eyes and smiled. The bed was soft and between having tea and the bath, she had almost forgotten how tired she was. Until moments later when she had already fell into a deep sleep.

AN: I know I said I would update once a week but I was sick today with nothing better to do. The first few chapter or so will be a little slow because there is a lot of explain about how things in this world work.

Let me know what you think.