The mirror world was an exact reflection of the real one, except the mirror world had some significant lacking points. For one thing, the trees were smooth, the curves and bumps 'painted' onto the surface, and the leaves were all exactly the same.

When Red and the Wolf reached the town, they were surprised to find that the houses were not even houses, but just hastily carved blocks of wood, not even colored.

Tapping at the side of a 'house', the Wolf sniffed, "Wonder if your house is in the same place."

Red glared miserably down the empty, dark street, "How are we going to get out?"

"Don't know." The Wolf pushed a claw into a crack, peeled off a small sliver of wood, and then flicked it away. "And the book won't tell me. So… I guess we're just going to have find out ourselves…" He glanced back before sighing, "And I'm hungry. Do you think there're any normal rabbits around here?"

"Probably not." Grumbled Red, sitting down in the snow.

The Wolf grunted, sat down, and pulled her to him, "I know it's not cold, but the snow is making me cold."

"…It's not cold."

"I know, but… I'm used to seeing snow when I'm cold, so I'm cold…"

"Well, that's… really helpful…" Red said sarcastically.

The Wolf groaned, shivered, and then pushed her away, "I feel useless. I need to do something. Let's… walk or something."

"Walk?"

"Explore? What do you want to do? I need to do something."

"Well… We can go see if my house is still there, if you want…" Red shrugged uncertainly.

"That's what we'll do then." The Wolf stood, helped her up, and, without another word, started down the street.


They were halfway across the town when Red saw the little shadow following them for the first time. Stopping, she stared back before whispering, "Wolf?"

"Hmm…?" The Wolf was caressing his belly, trying to ease the soft pain of hunger that had settled into his stomach.

"There's something following us."

"Oh…" The Wolf glanced back, sighed, "Well… it's not attacking us, so let's not instigate a battle. Just keep walking." He pushed her forward gently, ears swiveling around towards the shadow.

Staying in the shadows, the dark form hissed softly before scrambling under the raised base of a house and disappearing. Red paused before gulping, continuing.

The appearance of the little shadow was just the start. Within the next five minutes, she saw more than five shadows crawling over the roofs of the house, crouching and ducking out of sight whenever Red and the Wolf glanced up to see them. Small whispers made their way to Red's ears.

"…They're originals…"

"What are they doing here?"

"I have no idea… Who's do you think they are?"

"… I have no idea… But they're fair game till their reflections come…" The voice suddenly grew harsh with hunger and lust.

Red shivered, but the Wolf instantly stood behind her, his warm body bumping up against her back as he whispered, "Pay no attention to them."

"Pay us all attention…" came a muttering reply. "Then we'll have more fun when we eat…"

The Wolf put soft paws over Red's ears, "Don't listen to them."

"Listen… We want to see your eyes when we come down to feast…"

With a growl, the Wolf latched eyes on the nearest roof, where a shadow had just ducked down a moment before, and hissed, "Will you shut up?"

There came only silence.

The Wolf grumbled, pushed her forward hurriedly, "We shouldn't wait around. Those shadow-things are hungry."

"…I… kind of… saw…"

"Yes, so keep going forward." Snuffling, the Wolf stopped before turning her by the shoulders, directing her down a narrow alleyway."You sure we're going the right way?"

"…Not really, but we're going away from those things."

"Why?" came a catcall.

The Wolf stopped, glanced behind his shoulder, and shuddered, "Can they hear everything?"

"Well, not everything." Lilted a quiet voice from further down the alley.

Jerking his head back forward, the Wolf hissed softly when he saw a tall but stooped man leaning against the wall, dragging his finger through the snow. Turning dull black eyes towards the two, he smiled sharply, bright white teeth standing out in his dark face, "The locusts bothering you?"

"Who're you?" snarled the Wolf, pulling Red so that his body blocked the man's view of her.

"Nobody in particular, but a friend of her reflection." The man smirked as he motioned at Red, "And she is busy at the minute, so she sent me here to fetch her, but I didn't know that there was to be another with her."

The Wolf's ears twitched back against his skull as he heard the soft voices of the shadows, "...Leave the furry one here…"

With a grin, the man straightened, pulled the wrinkles out of his dirty, long black coat, and motioned, "If you want to be rid of the pests, I would come this way. They stay here most of the time, so they won't follow us… And, besides, if they do follow us," Putting a hand to his mouth, he shouted, "I can catch one for my dinner!"

The shadows' frightened murmurs came, and the Wolf and Red saw a shadow bound away from across the street.

Chuckling, the man saluted, "Well, will you come with me or not? I want this to be peaceful, and I think that my friend will not appreciate it if her original's broken in any way."

Red stared at the man before, after a hesitant gulp, asking, "…How can we trust you…? And… are you a… monster too?"

"Well, seeing that I'm not trying to devour you at the moment, I would trust me. Also, what would define a monster as?"

"…Well… do you eat… people?"

"I won't answer that, but I will say that I could, if I wanted to." Replied the man in a friendly tone.

The Wolf gazed at him, mulling this man over, and then nodded, "We'll come with you…"

"Good!" The man clapped his hands before pausing, blinking, and then coming closer to peer at Red, "Tell me: off the top of yer head, what do you think your reflection is like?"

"…Uh… Nice…?" Red stared back at him.

"Oh ho!" Snickering, the man extended a hand, "Well, I would say she's anything but nice, but enough of that. My name is… Well, you can call me Irit."

"Irit?"

"Best name I could come up at the moment… So, we're going?" Irit motioned at Red, ushering her down the alley.

The Wolf hurried after them, grimacing. He really did not want to be left behind with locusts that were fond of devouring strangers that passed into their town…


"Where are we going?"

"You'll see."

"Why won't you tell us?"

With a snort, Irit glared back at Red and grumbled, "You just won't shut up now, will you? I said 'You'll see'!"

"But why won't you tell us?" sniffed Red, trudging sullenly behind him. After an hour of walking, she was tired and wanted nothing more than to sit down to rest.

"Because then I'll have to tell you about your reflection, and you'll have your hopes all high, and… You'll be very, very disappointed when she chews you out."

"…So my reflection is-"

"Scary? Nah… Goat's can never be scary… She's more… stubborn."

Red froze before stumbling as the Wolf bumped into her back. Blinking, she asked incredulously, "My reflection's a goat?"

"Or a deer. Something like that, with hooves, but stubborn, stubborn, stubborn! I am not kidding! She could out-argue anyone!"

The Wolf pursed his lips before muttering, "She should have been Hansel's reflection then… He's way more stubborn than her!"

"It doesn't matter. It's randomly selected."

"…Do you know who mine is then?" asked the Wolf softly, fur raising on end.

Biting a dark lip, Irit glowered at the Wolf before shaking his head, "I'd rather not tell you, but, by the way he seems to figure things out, he'll be coming for you soon, and we need to keep you away from him, that's all I'll say. He'll be able to feel you now that you're in here… So that's why we need to lay low."

"So my reflection is dangerous?"

With a soft moan, Irit grabbed his head, cradled it, and whispered, "I've already said too much… No talking about reflections anymore, please… Let's talk about something else, like the weather!" He turned, threw his arms into the air, and cheerfully said, "Is it snowing up there in the real world? If it is, is it really cold?"

"Yes, actually, and I was going to ask you about that… Why isn't it cold here?"

"It's just a reflection. No feeling is transferred. That's why reflections don't act like their originals." Licking his lips, Irit stopped, turned, bent over to peer into Red's face, and grinned, "Especially yours. Compared to her, you could be a snowflake." He straightened, glared at the Wolf, "And you are an angel compared to-"

Red shrieked as not-Hansel plowed into Irit's side. Yelping, Irit fell to the ground as not-Hansel's black cobra tongue weaved out of his mouth, mouth open, fangs bared, and eyes glazed with rage.

As suddenly as it had started, the movement ceased, and Red stared at the frozen forms of not-Hansel and Irit. Not-Hansel's tongue's fangs were pressed against Irit's jugular. However, a nasty-looking yellowish tail curled up from under Irit's disgusting black coat, its sharp stinger pressed against not-Hansel's head.

"You bite, I sting, and we both die." Hissed Irit, his stinger twitching at the blonde hair that covered not-Hansel's head.

With a small snort, not-Hansel grunted, "And I let you kill them both? I don't think so!"

"I'm taking them to the girl's reflection."

"How do I know that's true?"

Opening his mouth, Irit let two yellow-brown mandibles poke out as he snarled harshly, "You think I would have kept them alive so far? You know me, snake… You know my species… I would have eaten them if I had nothing to do with them." The stinger twitched, and not-Hansel flinched as the sharp tip scratched against his scalp.

Gulping, not-Hansel whispered, "Promise you're telling the truth?"

"Willing to die for no particular reason? Of course I'm telling the truth!" Irit brought his hands up, pushed gruffly against not-Hansel's shoulders.

Slowly, not-Hansel retracted his tongue, waited for Irit to withdraw his tail. With a small grin, Irit let his tail withdraw back to its hiding place before whispering, "Now you let me up."

Not-Hansel scrambled up quickly, backed away as Irit pulled himself up, the two mandibles pulling back into his mouth. Shuddering, Red asked, "…So…. You're a-"

"Scorpion, yes." Irit straightened his coat, hiccupped, and then latched an angry eye upon not-Hansel, "They're coming with me."

"…Well… After she sees her reflection, you have to let me take them to my home, because I need to show my original she's okay…"

"I'm willing to do whatever you want as long as I get her," Irit pointed at Red, "to her reflection. After that, I have no more care what happens to them."

"…Oh… What's important about her reflection?"

Suddenly, Irit was blushing furiously, trying to hide the red-pink tinge that covered his cheeks. "It's nothing…"

The Wolf bent, muttered into Red's ear, "He likes your reflection. You can tell that, can't you?"

Red nodded, whispered back, "Yes."

"What are you talking about?" asked Irit in a forced voice, his hands trying to cover his blush.

"Nothing." Said the Wolf quickly.

"Fine then!" Snapping about, Irit stormed forward, "And we should have been there by now! I swear, I should just eat the extras and take the girl there myself! All too slow!"

Not-Hansel started to follow him, about to argue, but squeaked as the Wolf leapt forward, latched his paws onto the man's shoulder, and dragged him back. Turning, not-Hansel stared into the Wolf's furious eyes as he snarled, "And what about us? I thought I said to send yourself back through the mirror and bring the real Hansel back, not land us all here in this backwards world!"

In a weak voice, not-Hansel whimpered, "But there was a problem!"


For the next hour, Irit led the way through the trees, grumbling to himself, angrily cursing not-Hansel under his breath. The Wolf had also become angry at the mirror man because of the incoherent, twisting explanation not-Hansel had given for the reason he had to bring them all in. For this, he had to suffer random cuffs over the head, generously and harshly laid out by the Wolf.

When they finally reached the small grove of trees that Irit had been looking for, the scorpion flew into a rage when he found no one there.

"She said she would wait for me here!" he howled, clawing at his head as his tantrum erupted. Behind him, not-Hansel, the Wolf, and Red stayed back, a safe distance away. Staggering forward, he bumped into a tree, fell against it, and hit at it angrily, screeching his anger.

As Red openly stared, the Wolf leaned to not-Hansel, his anger momentarily forgotten, and asked, "… You seem to know him… Is he usually like this?"

"…Well… He's usually trying to eat me… But I've seen him get all angry like this after he figures out he can't catch me or he can't break down my door…."

"So I guess Red's reflection is his weak spot?"

"'Red's reflection' is a deer, and a hyperactive, very… bipolar one at that…. Let's just say that I'd be surprised if she stayed in one place for more than two minutes. Makes it really hard to track her down…" Not-Hansel glanced down, itched at his stomach, and sniffed softly.

Rolling his eyes, the Wolf whispered, "You tried to catch it, didn't you?"

"…She won't fight… And she would be a good meal…Bigger than the rabbits at least…" grumbled not-Hansel, petting his belly as he grimaced.

The Wolf groaned, "I hate this world. Everybody is 'I want to eat my neighbor'."

Not-Hansel glowered at him, "I wouldn't make fun of the reason that I have to hunt to survive."

"But you're always talking about it."

Enraged, not-Hansel snapped, "No, I'm-"

Whirling towards them, Irit snarled, "Shut up! Shut up, shut up, shut up! For goodness sakes! Snake, take them away! Her reflection isn't here to collect, so they're no use to me, and… ah… I feel… betrayed…" Slumping, he sobbed dryly.

Not-Hansel grabbed Red by the shoulders, hissed, "We're going! We're going!" Glaring at the Wolf, he added hastily, "You don't want to be here when he realizes he has no more use for the three of us and decides he wants his dinner."

The Wolf nodded, deciding to listen to not-Hansel. After all, this was the man's home territory, and he seemed to know the dos-and-don'ts of this horrible world.


Not-Hansel hurried them away from the angry Irit and led them through the forest, backtracking several times whenever he scented another mirror creature. After an hour and a half of walking and sneaking about, not-Hansel finally stopped, blinked, and bounded forward to a large mound nestled between two trees. While Red and the Wolf watched, a bit confused, a bit exhausted, the mirror man dug into the snow, revealing a heavy wooden door. Grinning, he motioned to Red and the Wolf, whispered, "This is my house." With a small chuckle, he gagged, spat a black key into his head, and then pushed it into the lock. He turned it, yanked the door open.

Instantly, his eyes grew round with surprise when he saw the barrel of a dueling pistol held level with his eyes. Teeth bared in a snarl, the real Hansel snarled, "I should blow your brains out, you traitor! How dare you lock me in there with your little br-"

"Papa!" A little boy ran past Hansel's legs, crashed into not-Hansel's legs, and hugged him happily, "You home!"

With an annoyed snarl, Hansel grabbed not-Hansel's collar, pressed the pistol's end against his reflection's forehead, "And he's bloody teething!"

Not-Hansel bent to pick up his little son. Bouncing him in his arms, he smiled, "But he's cute, isn't he?"

"Papa!" squeaked the boy, beaming.

About to retort, Hansel caught sight of Red, shoved his reflection out of the way, and pounced upon her, embracing her as he cooed, "Gretel… You're safe…" He paused, glared back at his reflection, and muttered, "Maybe he isn't a complete idiot after all."

"You said I had to rescue her, or something like that," Murmured not-Hansel, his nose buried into the curly reddish hair of his son, "and so I did. Now I just have to send you all back… And find that beasty before he discovers that he merge with anything he sees here. Send him back too. They're never supposed to come back into the mirror, you know."

"Merge?" sniffed the Wolf.

"You read the book, didn't you?" sighed not-Hansel. "You should read it again. Ask it."

As the Wolf scavenged for the battered white book, not-Hansel motioned to Red, "Well, come in…"

Hansel grabbed her, stopping her from entering, "Watch out for the little brat. He bites… hard."

Red smiled at him, a small twitch of relief invading her heart, "Well, as long as he doesn't poison us."

"…No, but…" Hansel bared his teeth before leaning in and whispering, "It eats mice… There's a whole basket of mice in there… And I had to eat one…" He gagged at the memory, the expression on his face causing Red to giggle.


The instant he had locked the door, not-Hansel settled down on a make-shift, partially broken chair and fell asleep nearly immediately, his son dozing on his chest. This brought about the Wolf's agitation, for he had completely forgotten about Peter in his agitation about being stuck in the mirror world. Now that they were in a relatively safe place, the thought had crept into his mind.

"…Hansel thing…" He whimpered, shaking not-Hansel's shoulder, "Did Peter come through…?"

"Mm…. Stop it…" Not-Hansel licked his lips before snapping his jaws at the air.

With a sigh, Hansel grunted, "There's a way to doing it…. Look." He took hold of his reflection's shoulders, squeezed them tightly, and then hissed softly into not-Hansel's ears.

Instantly, not-Hansel puffed up, face growing red, and sat up with an answering hiss, "Who's that?"

The Wolf stared at not-Hansel before glancing at the original, "…How did you know that?"

"I have a week to practice with the little brat. Infuriates them if they think there's another, not-related snake somewhere close."

Not-Hansel slowly calmed before glaring back at Hansel, "That was a dirty trick."

"The Wolf needs to ask you something?"

"Hmm? Oh? What?" Not-Hansel turned his refracting eyes towards the Wolf.

"…Did Peter come through too?"

"Of course he did." Snorted not-Hansel, "And I put him in a very safe place, let me assure you. I'll take you there to see him tomorrow, if you want, but, if you do, I have to go make arrangements."

"Arrangements?" Bewildered, the Wolf stared at Hansel's reflection before glancing at the original Hansel and whispering, "Why do both of you have to be crazy?"

"We're not!" snarled Hansel and not-Hansel together before freezing, glowering at each other.

"You are going back tonight, if I forgot to mention." Muttered not-Hansel sourly.

"And why not us?" protested Red.

Not-Hansel's face puckered, "He's my original; he can go back through my mirror. However, you have to go back through a general mirror, which is also in the hands of the person who has Peter. You can go back tomorrow. He goes back tonight." He pointed at Hansel, who was reddening with rage by the second.

"I am not!"

"You are!"

"Make me!"

Without a warning, not-Hansel lunged up and out of his chair, his son squeaking as he fell to the ground. Grabbing the startled Hansel, the reflection buried his fangs deep into his original's shoulders, kept the man still, and then smirked as Hansel fell limp. He dropped Hansel, lilted, "You're going back tonight."

"No fair…" whispered Hansel weakly, struggling to stay awake. "You used poison…"

"I'm a snake. Deal with it." Bending, not-Hansel took Hansel's hands, dragged him to the corner, and, grabbing his little mirror from it hanger on the wall, began to whisper darkly into it.


After sending Hansel back through the mirror, which just involved touching the mirror to Hansel's head and muttering a few words, not-Hansel let himself out, locked the house from outside, and went hunting. As they waited, Red explored, the Wolf read from the little white book, and not-Hansel's son began to chew on some scraps of fur that were laying in the corner.

"Wolf, do you know what this… used to be?" asked Red, holding up some sort of skull so the Wolf could see.

"…Rabbit, I think." the Wolf replied, a bit distracted by the book.

Grimacing, Red was about comment on how disgusting the rabbit they had seen had been when she felt a small pressure press against her legs. She glanced down, saw not-Hansel's son standing there, a small fold of her skirt in his mouth, his large brown eyes staring up at her.

"…Food…?" he asked quietly, chewing at the cloth.

Red groaned. Hansel had said something about mice, hadn't he? She really didn't want to go anywhere near mice, especially if they might be carnivorous, oversized mice. "…Uh… Wolf?"

"Hmm?" The Wolf turned the page of the book, peered at a small map of the mirror world.

"…The little boy is hungry."

"Feed him."

"What?" asked Red incredulously.

"I smell mice… I guess I would just open up a basket or something and you just set him loose on them."

"That's disgusting!"

The little boy spat out the cloth of her skirt, grabbed her hands, and began to nibble at the tip of her index fingers. "Food."

"No, my hands are not food."

"But… Food?"

"…Fine…" grumbled Red before glaring at the Wolf, "Where are the mice?"

"Somewhere in that corner." Said the Wolf, pointing to the corner behind Red. "It's where the smell is coming from."

"Oh. Okay… Show me where your food is, okay?" Red jerked her fingers from the boy's mouth, took his hand, and led him towards the corner.

The boy put a thumb into his mouth, sucked at it, and then giggled gleefully as he pulled her over to a wicker basket that was weighted down with books and unused eating utensils, "Food box!"

"…Oh. Uh…" Red stared at the box apprehensively, noticing that it was jiggling from side to side a bit. "…Wolf?"

"What?" Irate, the Wolf set the book down, glared at her.

"… Can you get a mouse out for him…?"

"Why can't you do it?"

"I don't want to touch a mouse!" said Red indignantly.

"Just open it and let him get his own."

Red gulped, nodded, and then forced herself to lift some of the books up off of the basket's lid. Instantly, the lid bobbed up, and a small gray head poked out as the mouse sensed an opportunity to escape. Before Red could react, it pulled itself out, dropped to the floor, and scampered towards the opposite wall.

She shrieked, dropped the books before another mouse could escaped, and watched in horror as the little boy ran after it, giggling, "Food! Food!"

The Wolf stared at the boy as he caught up to the little mouse, pounced on it, and then held it up victoriously in his dirty, small hands. Without a second thought, the boy crammed it into his mouth, choked it down as his body shivered in pleasure, and then sat down as it cleared his airway. Happily, he clapped, "Food!"

The Wolf gulped at the horrid display, turned to see how Red was faring, and saw her faint upon the floor.