First off, thank you for replying to my desperate plea. To my guest reviewer, I was being sarcastic when I said you could shout at me in Japanese. It was a creative way to say sorry for not mentioning you and feel free to yell at me. You weren't actually typing in Japanese. On the other hand if you were being sarcastic in your review then I apologize for my explanation above.

Second off, thank you for the ideas. I like them and will dedicated the story to you. lydiathetigeropean I give you dedication rights. Sorry if Hatter came on a bit harsh, but in his defense, he doesn't want to get caught with someone Chess just met, he is very cautious.

And… I would like to introduce a new reviewer...-Drum roll please- and the new reviewer is…. Sallyway. Thank you for reviewing. Whenever I eat asparagus I will remember you.

And not to be forgotten, I have somebody who alerted my story. Beckerina thank you so much and when you write a fanfic I promise I will read it. Many thanks to all yall.

Anyone seen the movie Mulan? I love it. I forgot about it and then recently discovered it again.

Guess what? Today is Australia day. On Saturday. January 26. My dad just told me. Since I have never been to Australia, any Australians please forgive my lack of knowledge. I believe it has something to do with a port somewhere off of Sydney.

So I'll stop rambling and on with what you came for, the story.

Anna/Raven

Allison and Hadley went over to talk with Chess, so I decided to give them some privacy. I knew from there facial expressions that Hadley and maybe Allison didn't like me very much, especially Hadley.

I like the Allison girl well enough. She had short red hair and a young personality. It reminded me of myself at that age.

I glanced over to the trio. From what I could tell they were arguing. From the glances they were throwing at me, it seemed it was about me. Bummer.

I fidgeted around the make shift camp, picking up our few possessions and putting them back down again. Then I heard the arguing stop and turned to face them.

Hadley looked a little disgruntled, Chess was obviously worried, but Allison was calm. She looked the most sure of herself.

"Uh Anna, could you come here for a moment?" Hadley asked me.

I complied and walked over to where he was standing. He indicated that I should sit, and I did so.

Hadley pulled his fingers through his hair, "Okay, where do I begin?" He said tiredly.

What? What were they going to explain? "How about at the beginning." I stated.

Chess let out a nervous laugh, I took that as a sign that things were going well.

"There are people after us, people who would kill us." Hadley paused for effect.

I studied them closely, they didn't look like criminals. "Are you criminals?" I asked. As soon as I said it I mentally cursed. You can't ask if a criminal is a criminal, they would just say no.

"Sorta." Chess told me. That was surprising. Then I thought of something Rick always used to say. 'Ah the plot thickens'.

"You see- he began again- we are on the run for something we didn't do."

I just stared. "So… you're innocent?" I said skeptically.

"Yes." Allison said eagerly.

"Isn't that what all criminals say?"

Hadley spoke, "Well yes, but we're really innocent."

Were they serious? I really didn't want to think badly of Chess, he seemed so nice.

"So let me get this straight… - I looked at Chess, he nodded at me to continue—you are wanted dead, police are searching for you, and on top of all that you're innocent?" Sarcasm was practically dripping from my voice.

They all looked put out, "Well, when you put it that way." Allison said begrudgingly. I couldn't help but think there was something odd about her. Something familiar.

I pushed that thought away, not wanting to revisit bad memories.

"Guys, no offense but I think I need a bit more information if I can believe you." Did they really want me to believe them with no evidence?

Allison frowned, "Okay, here are the facts. We are on the run from people who will kill us. The cards?" She said looking at Hadley.

"The cards." He agreed.

She began again. "Okay, so the cards are after us and want us dead. We haven't done anything, and we need to get to the Red Queens palace. If you want to come with us, you can. If you don't then scram."

Chess looked surprised, "That was actually pretty well put together." He praised her.

She huffed annoyed, "Don't sound so surprised."

I paused, "Are you victims of bad press?"

"You could say that." Allison replied mysteriously.

Another thought struck me, how come I haven't heard of them? Were those even their names?

I sighed, "How come I haven't heard of you?"

"The government doesn't want to alarm the people and I am almost certain that you have heard of us." Chess answered with a grim smile.

Great, that made it easier.

I weighed my options. On one hand, I had no home to go to, and they were willing to take me along. I even liked Chess. On the other hand they were possibly liars and criminals. But then why would they want to take me along?

"Have you reached a decision yet?" Hadley whined.

I ignored him and directed my question at Chess, "If I decline your offer and stay here, will the people after you hurt me?"

He hesitated, "In the best case scenario, if you play clueless you have a pretty good chance that you can escape without harm."

"What is the worst case scenario?" I demanded.

There was a loud pause.

"Death." He finally said.

That put a damper on things.

"But it's really likely that it won't happen." Hadley said.

"I don't think I have much of a choice then. I want to come with you." I said confidently.

"Anna please remember," Allison urged me. "If we are caught then the penalty is automatically death.

"I still want to come with you."

"Well, then we best get going then." Chess sighed.

There wasn't much to pack up, so we tried our best to get rid of the evidence of the camp. We threw pine straw over the fire and Chess tried his best to erase our foot prints.

In less than ten minutes we were trekking through the forest. I tried to start a conversation.

"So, are your names your real names?" I asked Allison.

"What?" She asked me.

"Is Hadley's name really Hadley? Is your name really Allison? Is Chester's name really Chester?"

"Nope." She said cheerily, while stepping over a fallen log.

"Alright, are you going to tell me what your real names are?" I tried again.

"Nope." She repeated with a grin.

I gave her a dirty look and turned to Hadley. "Where are we going?"

Without skipping a beat he answered, "The center of Wonderland."

"You do know that if you say 'Wonderland' you could be jailed?" I told him.

He frowned, "Why?"

"The queen doesn't want people to dwell on what our land used to be. She wants it to have a fresh start."

He snorted decisively "Okay, what do you call it now?"

"Umm…. We don't really call it anything."

He stopped walking and looked at me, "Seriously?"

I nodded and he resumed walking, "We just refer to the quadrants or if worse comes to worse, the queen's kingdom."

We lapsed into silence until we got to a stream. We refilled our water skins and took a breather.

"What are you going to do once we get to the queens palace?" I asked.

"Uh, dunno. Chess?" Allison asked Chester. He shrugged and took another swig. "Hadley?" I asked alarmed. If they had no plan, then what was I going to do? Hang out with a bunch of outlaws?

He laughed at me, "You know, I actually didn't think we would make it this far."

I groaned and put my head in my hands. I felt Chess put an arm around me. I felt very warm all of a sudden.

"We have a rough idea, but it would probably be best if you didn't know." He said reassuringly.

He then moved away and I felt the warmth leave me. We continued walking without speech for the rest of the day.

We made camp in the middle of another clearing and Hadley made a fire. Me and Allison collected pine straw to sleep on. Chess went to refill our water supply and find food.

We ate some meager berries for dinner. They were sour and not in season. The one good thing that came with the berries was a reminder to dye my hair. I probably didn't need it yet but it was good to be cautious.

I rose early, before the sun was up. I looked around the area for some fresh peanut butter berries. It took me awhile but I found some. I mushed them and needed them into my locks.

As I was about to go back, I heard a crack. "CRACK!"

It was fairly close, I didn't dare move. The birds weren't out yet so the woods were deathly still and quiet. What had made that sound?

After taking deep breaths and convincing myself there probably wasn't a jabberwocky behind me, I turned around. Nothing.

That somehow scared me more than if there was something there.

I headed back to camp extra alert.

Chess P.O.V

If it weren't for my good hearing I wouldn't have heard anyone get up. But since I did have good hearing I did hear someone move.

It was Anna. Why was she up so early? She was walking cautiously out of the clearing. Where was she going?

I followed her being quiet as a cat.

She seemed to be looking for something. I watched her find a berry bush half hidden against another bush. She took berries and dripped the juice into her hair. What the heck?

She was really beautiful. The sun was just rising and glinting off of her hair in shimmery waves. She was nice to talk to and had a beautiful voice. She even liked to fish. I sighed happily.

Wait a second, she seemed to be done. She would turn around and see me. I hurriedly turned around and was about to run, when I stepped on a stick. "CRACK!" It echoed eerily throughout the woods.

I waited for her to see me, but she didn't see anything. I turned around. She was stalk still, not moving an inch.

Ah man, I scared her. Hatter would be laughing at me if he were here. I thanked my lucky stars and ran, this time cautiously, back to camp.

I pretended to go back to sleep. Ten minutes later, I heard her come back. Good. But what was she doing? Did she have something to hide? Or was she crazy?

Was I crazy? Maybe, but I would have to find out more information before I questioned her.

I sighed and got up. It would be a long day, and we had to get moving. Bugger.

First off, thank you for replying to my desperate plea. To my guest reviewer, I was being sarcastic when I said you could shout at me in Japanese. It was a creative way to say sorry for not mentioning you and feel free to yell at me. You weren't actually typing in Japanese. On the other hand if you were being sarcastic in your review then I apologize for my explanation above.

Second off, thank you for the ideas. I like them and will dedicated the story to you. lydiathetigeropean I give you dedication rights. Sorry if Hatter came on a bit harsh, but in his defense, he doesn't want to get caught with someone Chess just met, he is very cautious.

And… I would like to introduce a new reviewer...-Drum roll please- and the new reviewer is…. Sallyway. Thank you for reviewing. Whenever I eat asparagus I will remember you.

And not to be forgotten, I have somebody who alerted my story. Beckerina thank you so much and when you write a fanfic I promise I will read it. Many thanks to all yall.

Anyone seen the movie Mulan? I love it. I forgot about it and then recently discovered it again.

Guess what? Yesterday was Australia day. On Saturday. January 26. My dad just told me. Since I have never been to Australia, any Australians please forgive my lack of knowledge. I believe it has something to do with a port somewhere off of Sydney.

I copied this message to the bottom of the story, so you guys would read it. I find that when I read a fanfic, I don't like to read what's at the top. But when there is nothing else, I read the bottom. So sorry to those who have already read my authors note.