Imaginary Dragons

She was being tossed in the brig, heard the bars close when she tried to rip the bag off her head. She flew around and just saw the men taking their leave.

"Hey! How dare you, you barbarians?! Let me out of here!"

They didn't listen. And only moments later, she found herself alone under deck. The bars were properly locked and no rattling and screaming would get her out of here. In frustration, she sat down on the cold, wet wooden floor. Carol... God, she hoped the little bug was alright! What could have possibly happened? She was rather sure – no matter how crazy it sounded, for some reason she... she knew she was not in her world anymore. Yeah, completely crazy, she was well aware of that. But she was quite sure she had somehow stumbled into an entirely different world.

What she thought remarkable was the fact that it didn't scare her at all. She expected panic or fear to overwhelm her after stumbling into a different world. But nothing like that was the case. Quite contrary, she felt strangely familiar to this world. Almost like she had been here before...

She heard the crew outside, ridiculously amused by her belongings in the suitcase. And suddenly she remembered. It was idiotic, she knew that but she had to try. She pulled her phone from her pocket.

No connection.

She should have known. She sighed in frustration. But when she heard a soft chuckling, she looked up.

"Who's there?!"

"No one in particular."

Alice got to her feet. The cell was rather dark but she could most certainly say that there was no one in here with her. She walked to the bars, trying to see beyond them and-

And stumbled back with a soft shriek when out of thin air, a head popped up before her. Not just any head, but a cat's head. Green and blue was its fur and its eyes a gloomy green. Shimmering smoke was surrounding it and all of a sudden, the cat head grinned widely at her. "Hello Alice."

"How the actual... how do you know my name?!" she snapped alarmed. Ah, there it was. Panic. After all. But who wouldn't panic in the face of a talking cat head floating mid air in front of them?

"I know many things." The cat head replied in a smooth tenor voice and its head turned upside down, still grinning. "Your name is Alice Liddel. You are looking for your sister Carol. And this very world you so carelessly stumbled into once again... is Wonderland."

"Once again?" – those were the words in the cats statement that struck her the most. Once again? Had she... been here before? Was this strange familiar feeling she had not just... a feeling?

"Yes, once again. Have some unfinished business here, don't we?" the cat head asked. Alice reluctantly came closer to the bars.

"You say you know many things... then how do I get back to my sister?"

"It's all up to you."

"Me."

"You are the Portal Jumper. You have the gift. Time and Space and Realm, none of it matters to you. You are just like me. You can be everywhere, everywhen. All you have to do... is jump..."

The cat turned to mist and its head popped up again, right in front of her, not even caring for the bars. She stumbled back, not so much because she was scared, but because she was surprised by the sudden proximity. "Find the Caterpillar. He can teach you."

And it was gone. Alice gasped.

"Wait! Don't leave me here, you got to let me out!" she protested and slammed against the bars. And the gate flung open. Her mouth stood agape for a brief moment, then she did indeed run. She didn't even think twice. She left the cell, peeked on deck for any crewmembers watching and when she was sure no one noticed, she rushed over to the rail, grabbed a rope and down she was. Back on the moist forest ground and away from the ship as fast as she could. It wasn't easy getting through, but she'd make her way. Anything was better than staying on board that ship where she'd just be locked up anyways. And she had someplace to be. Find the Caterpillar.


They had left the Jolly Roger behind. The forest surrounding the ship was dark and strange, the creatures dwelling here were of the most unusual kind. Looking like tiny rocking horses but flying like... well, horse flies. Giant flowers in colours that they did not even have words for, that had faces and seemed to watch them. Ruins overgrowing with whispering vines. There were no roads, all Killian could do to find their path through this unusual jungle was cut through branches and hedges with his swords.

"This will take all night." He finally sighed exhausted.

"What do you think brought her here? A girl, on her own, with a suitcase... you think she ran away from her family?"

He froze and looked back over his shoulder. Milah was lost in thoughts, he could tell. It was odd how well he knew her. How long had she been on board the Jolly Roger now? Roughly a year? And how often did she stand on deck, look over the sea with that exact same look on her face? He knew she was conflicted about it all. Running away, leaving her home behind. Not the man, no. And by the Gods he couldn't blame her. That Rumpelstilzkin... a coward right from the book. But the boy... the boy was not at fault. He remembered that evening in the tavern where they had first met. She was radiant, how could he not have noticed her? A woman who had no reservations to enjoy the moment. By now he knew that she had enjoyed her time in that tavern so much because at her home, she had very little she enjoyed, very little to look forward to. Her family had not even arisen in their first conversation. She had mentioned her husband, briefly, described him as 'a little man of no meaning'. And he had been sure that woman would not return home with her husband that night. But then a new variable appeared in the equation.

The boy. Baelfire, her son. And a child's plea for his mother had changed her mind. When she showed up at the pier the next day, he was surprised. He had not expected to be seen off by anyone. But she had note come there to wish him fair winds on his journey. She had come to join them. Like this girl – bags packed, ready to leave everything behind. And he believed that was the very issue that bothered her right now. That this girl reminded her so very much of who she had been not a year ago.

"She said she was looking for her sister. Maybe they are orphans."

"You mean maybe their parents abandoned them, too?" she replied bitterly.

He flinched. He knew no matter what he said, in her ears everything would sound like 'You are a terrible mother and should be ashamed of yourself'. How often had these thoughts crossed her mind? He knew it wasn't true. Milah was far from a terrible mother – she had been unhappy and what good is an unhappy mother to any child? She had surely done the child a favour – everything was better than growing up with people who didn't love each other or were fighting over every little thing, he believed that. But he could of course understand her conflict of leaving her child. No matter how she looked at it, she felt that she had abandoned her son and it hurt her.

"That's not what orphaned means, love. Her parents might have died. You didn't abandon your son, you left him in his father's care. He has a parent who loves him, and you love him. Don't feel guilty for doing something that makes you happy. There is only one person in the world you owe happiness and that is yourself." He insisted as he placed a hand on her cheek, his fingers in her dark curls. She looked up and smirked.

"You have no child." She replied. That was true, he knew he couldn't possibly understand what it meant to leave behind a child. But he liked to imagine that it was the most difficult decision one could ever make, a decision that would haunt someone for the rest of their life, a humbling decision. And, in some cases, a decision that was best for the child. Wasn't growing up with only one parent better than growing up with two parents who hated each other, or one parent that was so unhappy they couldn't even express their love for their child properly anymore.

"You know... we could go back for him." He suggested. It was something he had been considering for a while now. Because for some reason, seeing Milah so unhappy about the choice she had made, troubled him. He had offered her to stay on his ship because he thought it would make her happy. But it hadn't.

She looked up with a smile.

"Killian Jones, you never seize to surprise me."

"I'm serious, we could go and get him. Always room for a little cabin boy."

She laughed. And that was worth the possible trouble that would arise with realising such an idea. He couldn't hold back a smile, and then forced himself to stay stern. "However, before we make any such plans, we need to figure out a way out of this realm. And in order to do that, we need to figure out where we are, hopefully without getting completely lost in this jungle."

And as if the fates themselves listened in, he stumbled out from the trees and onto a wide, open plain. Intuitively he held Milah back, had his sword raised. This place provided little to no possibility to seek cover from a possible attack and he was not comfortable with it. Not at all. Before them lay a wide, open land that was not in fact natural rock, but tiles. White ones and deep, bloody red ones, the colour dark and unkind in the moonlight. There was no sound to be heard, no birds or funny creatures were out here, as if they avoided the dark plain for some mysterious reason. In the distance he could make out a ruin of what could once have been a castle with a collection of statues in front of it that looked remarkably like...

"Is this... a chess board?" Milah suddenly asked, a deep frown on her forehead. Killian took a step back.

"Oh... oh I think I know where we are, love. And it is not a good place to be... not at all..."

"Why? What is this place?" Milah asked worried. Killian stepped back, pushing her back towards the border to the jungle with his arm.

"I have read stories of this world. This is Wonderland. And we just stumbled onto the Dragon's chess board."

"The dragon? What dragon?!"

Before Killian could think of a reply, a horrible screeching noise ripped through the silence around them. It had come from the ruins and the two intruders were frozen to the spot for a moment. Then they saw it. A large pair of wings appearing on the highest tower of the ruin. Then a massive body, stretching into the moonlight.

"Run." whispered Killian. Milah looked from the ruin to the Captain and back when the creature on the tower was in the air with one smooth stride. And on its way towards them. "Run!" he repeated, louder this time and she obeyed. They both flew around and ran for their lives. The dragon was approaching with horrible screams of fury, its shadow rushed over them and suddenly, Killian pushed her out of the way before rolling off the other way himself. A gush of flames burst between them, the heat so intense he had trouble breathing for a moment. The chessboard was lit on fire. He had his sword drawn when the dragon landed, surrounded by flames.

It was the ugliest creature he had seen in quite a while. Its teeth to large for its face, its red eyes almost like those of a bug, the scales a strange shimmering black and a stroppy mane on its head and back. It was a scrawny creature, probably there was not enough meat around here to feed something so large and vicious. Which meant it was starved and they looked probably like a walking midnight snack, conveniently placed on the silver platter that this chess board was.

Killian tried to get to his feet, but the dragon's tail slammed him down. He had his sword ready, fighting back the claws of the creature, its jaws when it tried to snatch him. But what was even worse than the sight and sound coming from that creature was the smell. It's breath of rotting meat and sulphur mixed with something swampy and disturbingly disgusting. While his sword in the one hand, he covered his nose and mouth with the other arm, in hopes of not exposing himself to that smell nay more than necessary but it was everywhere.

It was Milah who pulled him to his feet eventually, her own sword raised against the dragon that was screaming at them. She was not yet a particularly proficient swordfighter, but she could stand her ground – and they were two. Both blades raised they walked backwards towards the woods. The creature didn't follow. Why, they couldn't tell. It had its grim gaze fixed on something but they didn't dare turn away from it until they reached the border of the forest. They could see the dragon spread its wing and fly back to its castle in the distance. Only then did Killian dare breathe. The air was still full of its stink but began to clear. He turned around. And there, utterly shocked between the trees, stood the girl that was actually supposed to be in the brig on board Jolly Roger.

He raised a brow in disbelief.

"Why does no one on my ship do what I tell them to do?" he sighed.

"What the hell was that?!" the girl asked loudly, chasing up a number of birds – ironically the raging dragon didn't bother them, but a loud speaking girl did.

"That... was a Jabberwock." The Captain replied and put away his blade before turning to Milah. "Thanks."

"Any day, Captain. Wouldn't want anything to happen to that pretty face of yours." she teased. He grinned, then turned back towards the girl, pointing at her nose.

"You should be in the brig."

"I am not your prisoner!" she protested.

"Actually, you were in there so nothing would happen to you. You are quite precious cargo, you know?" the Captain declared, placed a hand firmly in her neck to direct her back through the woods, to their ship.

"Because I am a Portal Jumper?"

"Aye, that you are. And you will get us out of this realm. I will not stay in Wonderland a minute longer than I have to."

"Well sorry to break it to you, but I have no idea how to... portal jump, or whatever you call that. So I can't get you anywhere."

"If that's true." The Captain began and leaned closer, his bright blue eyes piercing right through every defence she had. "Then you better figure it out, or we're all dead meat out here."