K. I wrote this a long time ago with intentions of starting a story out of it but now I am not sure. I only got 1,000 of chapter 2 done and I was going to wait until I had about maybe 3 chapters prewritten to post. So I'll post this as a one shot for now and then if it becomes it's own story than so be it. The story was/is going to be called A Friend in Need. Summary below
It was a beautiful day in Clover Country and everyone was doing what they could to enjoy it. Busy faceless went about their day, children played in the streets and the role holders went about their business. Also enjoying the day were Wonderland's two foreigners, Alana Greenburg and Avery Fernandez.
Alana had been the first out of the two to enter Wonderland. Unlike Alice she had been pulled in at random because of Peter's belief that Alice was lonely. Because of this no one was aware of Alana's past and, without having her memories blocked, she acted cold and distant towards everyone. It took some time but with Nightmare's help, and the alteration of her memories, Alana slowly began to open up and reveal her true self to the citizens of Wonderland. That was nearly two-hundred time changes ago.
Avery came sometime after Alice disappeared from the Country of Hearts. Unlike Alana, however, Avery was brought in for reasons only Nightmare knew of. While not being nearly as cold as Alana had been Avery was nervous, had little confidence and would constantly apologize for things she didn't need to. It had gotten better as time went by but the girl was no more used to Wonderland than when she first arrived.
The most unexpected thing about Avery, however, had to be her dogs. A German Shepherd named Jaiden and a Doberman pinscher named Jett had followed her into hole when she was taken. Not even Nightmare was sure how it happened under the circumstances Avery came to Wonderland. Whatever the cause might have been the two dogs still remained in Wonderland and lived with both girls at Clover Tower.
"How do you do it, Alana?" Avery sighed as she watched a faceless couple walk in the opposite direction of them. She held a firm grip on Jaiden's leash as he excitedly tugged forward.
"Do what?" Alana asked, blinking at her friend in confusion. She herself was holding the leash of Jett who was also pulling forwards though not as roughly as Jaiden.
"Cope so well with all this." Avery clarified, motioning around her with her free arm. "I've been here for a while now and I'm still not completely used to Wonderland."
"Heh, don't worry about that; there are still things I'm not completely used to either. The only difference is I've been here longer and I try not to think too hard about the things that don't make sense." The brunette chuckled and flashed her friend a grin. Avery smiled back weakly and slowly nodded.
"I-I suppose so. It's just- it's just I don't even know why I was brought here in the first place. All Nightmare will tell me is it's for my happiness." She explained, her voice cracking slightly. Alana frowned and watched as Jaiden trotted over to Avery and lick her hand.
"I know this might not help but consider yourself lucky; I was brought to Wonderland completely at random. Apparently some of the role holders thought the girl here before me was lonely and needed a friend from our world." The girl admitted in a soft tone. Having not been told that bit of information before, Avery looked at the shorter girl in surprise.
While Avery was unsure why she was in Wonderland at least she knew it was for her best interests. Or at least that is what she was told. So when Alana told her the reason she was brought in Avery couldn't help but feel sorry for the girl. To be brought to a place like Wonderland against one's will was horrible. For it to be for a selfish reason was even more horrible. Avery didn't even get the chance to meet Alice before she disappeared but that didn't matter. What the role holders did to Alana was selfish; she was pulled in for Alice's benefit, not her own.
"I'm sorry." Avery apologized as she lovingly stroked Jaiden's head. The dog happily panted and greeted the petting with more licks.
"Don't be, I'm over that. Besides, it's not like I have much of a life back in our world anyways. My mother's a controlling tyrant and my father did little to stop her; it's why I ran away in the first place. All I have left is my brother but he'd want me to be happy." Alana chuckled with a wave of her free hand. Avery looked as if she wanted to say more but bit her tongue as the two continued their way towards the park.
Since it was such a lovely day Avery decided to let her dogs play in the park for a bit before they'd be trapped back in Clover Tower. As both dogs formerly worked for the police in the real world they didn't get outside nearly as much as Avery thought they should. Jett, being the youngest of the two, was actually more dangerous and as such wore a muzzle when out for walks. Jaiden himself wasn't nearly as dangerous but often got himself in trouble; he was an elderly but very smart and hyperactive dog.
Surprisingly not a lot of people were at the park when the girls arrived. A few kids ran around as their parents watched from benches but otherwise it remained pretty empty. It seemed that, despite being a beautiful day, a lot of the citizens were busy with work. However, that was honestly probably for the best. While it was unlikely either dog would hurt the kids Jett was somewhat testy if too many people were around; especially if he felt they were running away from him.
The second Avery unhooked Jaiden the elderly dog happily trotted towards the playing kids. He often liked to play with them when he came to the park; especially if they rubbed his tummy or gave him treats. As for Jett he normally just sat calmly at Avery's feet, ran after Jaiden or sniffed around the trees. It was pretty ironic that the eldest dog was more hyper than the youngest while the youngest was calmer than the eldest.
With no nearby benches free the girls sat on the ground and watched the dogs play. The grass in Wonderland had a cool softness to it that Alana had always admired. She could easily fall asleep on it which was good since every now and then she'd find herself camping with Ace. Avery also enjoyed the grass but more so for the sake of the dogs than herself.
"By the way, Avery, have you been feeling well lately?" Alana asked after a few minutes of silently pulling that the grass. With a blink of confusion Avery pulled her gaze away from her dogs and looked to her friend curiously.
"Huh? Y- Yeah. Why do you ask?" She asked, surprised by the sudden question. The brunette fidgeted slightly and tried but failed to hide a worried frown.
"I'm asking because you haven't been looking good for some time now." She answered softly, her tone worried. Avery bit her bottom lip and turned to look away from Alana.
"O-oh. I'm sorry." Avery apologized meekly. Realizing that she took her statement the wrong way Alana quickly held up her hands, dropping the grass that was in them, and shook her head.
"No, that's not what I meant!" She said just as quickly and lowered her hands. "I meant you look sick."
It was true too, Avery really did look sick. Her skin, which was normally a tanned olive color, had become so pale that it almost rivalled Nightmare's. Dark circles formed around her eyes and even her hair seemed duller in color. Alana had noticed this a few time changes ago but paid little attention to it. Since Avery didn't look nearly as bad in the beginning Alana believed she was just lacking sleep and not eating well due to Gray's bad cooking. However, now Avery looked nearly as sick as Nightmare and it worried her.
In fact, Alana was somewhat surprised that Gray didn't stop them from leaving the Tower completely. She knew how over reactive that man could get when he thought either one of them was hurt or sick. All role holders insisted that outsiders were much weaker than they were but Gray seemed to take it to a new level. Hell, he once covered the girls in a mountain of blankets because he thought they'd freeze otherwise. Luckily he didn't do that any more but he still had a tendency to over react when one of them even gave off a hint of being sick.
"Oh. W-well, I guess I just haven't been sleeping as much as I should." Avery replied with a small stutter and forced a tired smile. Alana's frown deepened and she sighed deeply when she realized her friend wasn't going to admit anything.
Ever since the two meet back in Heart Country Avery has always been stubborn. She cared more about the health and well-being of others rather than herself. That wasn't exactly a bad thing, though; she just didn't want to make the others worry. She had always been that way, even as a small child. Growing up she had to learn to be dependant as well as help take care of her four older brothers. Although, while she didn't like to be fused over that didn't mean she didn't enjoy being spoiled every now and then.
As the two went back to watching the dogs play Avery tried to hide just how bad she actually felt. She had noticed a few time changes ago that she seemed to be getting sick. However, as it only started out as feeling tired the girl paid little attention to it; she simply thought she only needed more sleep. At least that was until the weakness kicked in. Avery felt herself grow weaker and weaker as each time period passed by. By this point she felt so weak that it actually hurt to walk long distances.
The girls sat in the grass for about an hour before the time change finally switched to evening. The children who had been playing with Jaiden groaned as they were taken home. Soon only the two foreigners and the dogs were left in the park. With no other kids around to play with Jaiden took to tackling a still muzzled Jett, much to the Doberman's annoyance.
"M- maybe we s- should h- head back to t- the T- tower now. I- it's get- getting late." Avery weakly suggested and shakeably pushed herself to her feet. Alana frowned as she noticed this and pushed herself up to her own feet with ease.
"Avery, are you sure you are feeling alright?" she asked, stressing the question in a concerned tone. Avery was stuttering more than usual and she normally only did that when was nervous.
"Y-yeah, I-I'm fi-fine..." She breathed and her eyes rolled to the back of her head. Before Alana could react Avery fell backwards and land on the ground with a hard thud.
"AVERY!"
With Alice sent to Diamond the only foreigners left are Alana and Avery. Avery is still new to Wonderland and struggles to get used to it. Things take a turn for the worst however when she suddenly falls ill and the only way to help her is for Alana to return to the other world. Will Alana be able to save her friend or will both girls fall into darkness?
