Waking up from a long sleep really sucked. Even when you're satisfied and ready for the next day there was always the feeling that if you just turned over in your sheets and closed your eyes you could get just a little bit more.

Twisting herself to her side Reikarth nestled deeper into her spot on the ground, kicking her feet out as if in rejection of consciousness. Distantly she felt a throbbing pain in her side, but that was probably just her dumb body being dumb. Her eyes screwed up as light fluttered over her lids and she pushed her face further into her bed. Deep within her something ached about this, she missed it so much. Slow mornings where she slept in until noon were the highest points of her life. Memories of waking up to her family watching TV were precious to her, a small smile gracing her lips.

Eventually the pain became intolerable and Reikarth finally drudged herself out of sleep. Her body hurt too much to stretch, she curled in on herself violently as her chest wound made itself known. For a moment she was astounded, when had she hurt herself that bad? She didn't remember when she did anything that could rip up her chest. The memories came back to her, slowly trickling in. Her breathing sped up, the fight with Leon, to the brief freedom of her Glider, to her encounter in space. Falling back she leaned on her arms as she actually took in her injuries.

Her chest cut was worn, reddened, and felt about as raw as it looked. Thankfully, compared to the assessment she had made after taking the hit it hadn't actually broken too much skin. Her clothes still held up surprisingly, Reikarth narrowed her eyes as some of the blood still staining her top faded, convenient but she didn't like that she didn't know what other enchantments she was wearing. Her leg wound had mostly recovered from her fight with the Heartless, the only thing showing that she had taken a hit was a dark mark, poking it causing tingles to run up and down her leg. Finally, the tear in her side.

The wound was still oozing blood, similar to her leg wound from the Heartless it was both cold and burning. The edges of the wound were a darkened colour and Reikarth deliberately kept her eyes from where her insides were exposed. The large claw had lacerated her side, her skin frayed and ripped by something… ridged.

Stumbling up onto her feet Reikarth grimaced as her injuries flared up. When she was running away from everything on Traverse Town they hadn't hurt that much, but now they felt as though they were on fire. Taking deep breaths she tried to focus on her surroundings, she had blacked out in space and there was no way to tell where she had landed, she didn't have time to panic.

She was surrounded by trees, the branches above overlapping so tightly that it blocked out the sky. The suffocating atmosphere made her feel tiny, although that might have been just how big the trees were, each one looking like it would take five of herself linking hands to wrap around the trunk. Large glowing mushrooms just a little bit taller than herself were spotted around the area, illuminating the forest around her with soft light. In front of her was a path going to her left and right, both ending in a dark tunnel through some underbrush.

Reikarth swallowed softly, she couldn't think of any worlds other than Wonderland that looked remotely like this, although that might have been her brain being slightly fried from the pain. She didn't want to make too many assumptions, but the idea that she was still in a world from Kingdom Hearts 1 was reassuring. Taking a few cautious steps forward Reikarth found that she could still walk without aggravating her injuries. Now she just had to make a choice of which way to go.

If this was Wonderland then chances were that this choice wouldn't matter. Now that she was moving Reikarth figured that she should keep going as long as possible, that was the best option yeah? She had already wasted too much time resting as it was, she needed to get somewhere safe. Closing her eyes she walked in a circle a few times before coming to a stop, best to make this as random as possible. Opening her eyes she confronted what fate had dealt.

"Oh"

She was facing the tree she had been napping on, both paths on either side of her. Her cheeks flushed, and quickly she turned herself to the path on the right and began walking down it, why did she think that was a good idea? The only thing to appreciate from that was that no one else was there to see her embarrass herself.

The bushes encircling the path blocked out what little light she had from the mushrooms, the tangled branches brushing against her arms. The walls got tighter the further she went in, and a hard feeling began growing in her chest. Trying to distract herself Reikarth wondered if this was representative of a loading zone door to a different area or if Wonderland was just like this. That brought up more questions, nothing about anything she had gone through in the past… day? Felt like a game, and yet small things like magic points and health bubbles still remained.

After being in the bush tunnel for an uncomfortably long amount of time Reikarth was beginning to get a little more anxious. She hated dark hallways with a passion and the longer she remained in the tunnel the more it felt like one.

"Help!" The yell was faint but immediately struck Reikarth with panic. In the back of her head the familiar buzzing began to start up, as she began struggling with the branches. Pushing her way harder through the branches she caught glimpses of purple light, zeroing in on it she heard the voice call again, closer this time. Disregarding the ache in her wounds she leapt forward and burst through the bushes, summoning Cosmic Guide to her hands. Landing in a dark clearing, which was lit only by a purple light seemingly filtered in through the thick tree cover. Reikarth stumbled as her wounds flared up.

"Please help!"

Reikarth snapped to attention to see a girl in a blue and white dress running towards her, chased by four Shadows. Acting on impulse she reached out and grabbed the girl's hand pulling her back behind her, brandishing Cosmic Guide towards the shadows. Reikarth stepped forward confidently, after the fight with the horde in Traverse Town she knew the keyblade cut through these Shadows like butter. Lunging forward she swung the keyblade like a baseball bat, sending the first of the Shadows flying. Spinning with the momentum of the keyblade she took a second swing at the next, pounding it into the dirt. As the third and fourth backed off Reikarth smirked, she was getting the hang of this whole 'fighting the heartless' thing. Not wanting to risk a headache, Reikarth settled with trying to take out the two left with one swing instead of magic.

The two shadows shook off their fear, jumping up at the same time in an attempt to go for her head. Keeping her feet fixed to the ground despite her instinct to dodge Reikarth took up as much of a stance as she was able, come on come on. As they fell upon her she leapt to join them and swung the blade as hard as she could, cutting through the two before landing heavily on her fight. Pivoting on her good leg she turned to the girl, any quick quips she had prepared dying on her lips as she saw the fright in her eyes.

"Are you all right?" Reikarth hoped she was, she didn't know any healing magic or had any potions on her. Taking a step closer she suppressed her glee at the fact she was just a bit taller than the girl, for once she was getting a chance to look down rather than up at someone.

"I-I'm fine, I must thank you for your help! Although umm…" The girl looked a little wary as she asked "you wouldn't happen to be mad as well would you?"

Reikarth jolted -of course, this was Alice! How did she manage to not notice that? "I'm not mad" she said holding out her hand "I'm a little angry at this forest though, my names Reikarth"

"I'm pleased to meet you, my name is Alice" Alice delicately took her hand and Reikarth could feel the honesty in her formal greeting. "It's nice to meet someone else who talks sense in this strange place"

"I'm glad to meet you too! Especially before the heartless got the chance to introduce themselves" Reikarth could feel her body relax as she fell into an easy rhythm, talking to another person who wasn't about to kill her was doing wonders for her stress.

"Is that what those things are called? Heartless?" Alice stepped around her to cautiously stare at the glimmering light the heartless bodies were turning into. Reikarth eyeing the Munny and healing orbs that were left behind. "They certainly weren't very friendly"

"They tend not to be, I'm fully prepared to take them out however! So if you stick with me everything should be fine" The invitation slipped out before she could stop it, the thought that Alice was going to be captured at some point had been nagging at her since she realized who she had rescued, but the desire to stay close to someone so friendly overpowered it. Only now did she really understand what she was committing to do.

Was she really ready to start interfering? Reikarth hadn't actually considered what it was she was going to do until now. All throughout Traverse Town she had only been concerned with surviving, still shaking off the realization of what had happened. Now though she was faced with a crossroad, a decision that she had to make. If she protected Alice, got involved, and helped save the world's, she would have to fight. Or she could run, find some secluded spot far away from any of the future events she knew would rock the world, and maybe focus on finding a way home.

"Oh! You'll protect me?" Alice shook Reikarth from her thoughts, her smiling face and bright eyes almost too much for her to bear. "It's so nice to meet a friend after all this place has put me through" friend? She considered her a…?

Within moments Reikarth had made up her mind, regardless of what came next she couldn't just run and abandon the first friend she had made here. and besides…. I don't really need to make a decision right now. With a flourish of her hand Reikarth dispelled Cosmic Guide and clasped Alice's hands with her own.

"I promise I'll protect you" She forced a smile, ignoring how unnatural it felt "it's what a wielder of the Keyblade does!" Alice giggled.

"Then it is settled" She said in a grand tone "for now you shall be a knight protector, and I your princess!"