A/N: Thanks to everyone who favorited and followed! I really appreciate it and you are the people who keep me writing!

To Angelique: Thank you so much for the reviews. I actually came up with the idea for this fanfic while watching my cousin play Alice Madness Returns. As for your interesting idea...sshhh!

As always, I'll try to post the next chapter ASAP, and please leave a review! Bye!

I woke up late the next morning, feeling good for the first time in ages. I was lying on top of an ocean of furs and bedsheets. The smell of spring grass and flowers greeted my nostrils, just like it had on the hill outside the Manor. I pursed my lips, my mind travelling back to my strange dream. Why would I dream about shooting an arrow when archery had never peaked my interest before? I shrugged, choosing to forget the strange experience. I pushed myself up to a sitting position, my blankets falling from my body, and I inspected my arm. Only a large, ugly bruise remained as evidence of my broken arm.

My stomach rumbled, and I was suddenly aware of how long it had been since my last meal. I remembered the several untouched pies and cake bars that had been strewn across the tea table the previous day. I got up eagerly and hurried to take one of the wooden benches that lined the table. Funny how fresh they all looked. I could smell honey and butter; I could see rich crème oozing out of the crisp, flaky skin of the different tarts and Danishes. Ripe, plump fruit was stacked in the middle of the table and strewn overtop glazes. Sweet blueberries inside different puff pastries. I was about to grab a fistful of pistachio mini-pies before I heard Hatter's voice behind me, "I wouldn't touch that if I were you."

I turned to see him walking leisurely in my direction. He had changed out of his clothes from yesterday; he had abandoned the waistcoat and switched out the black shirt for one that had swirling patterns of crimson and gold, and his speckled bowtie was now deep mahogany. His earth brown velvet coat was pulled over his shoulders, and I could see his leather belt that held both a holster for his pistol and the scabbard for his cutlass.

"Why not? I haven't eaten in over a day!" I growled. The Hatter only raised an amused eyebrow, picked up one of the pies, and chucked it at a nearby tree. It splattered against the bark, and immediately green ooze dripped down from the sweet crust. Bark and wood sizzled and burned as the acidic goop traveled slowly down the trunk. My eyes widened and I gaped at Hatter, who simply looked at me with his head cocked to one side.

"In case we're ever visited by cards or other predators, we can just hide away while they eat themselves to death," he explained. I just looked down at the feast before me dejectedly, my stomach growling. "Here," he said, handing me a piece of rough jerky. I accepted half-heartedly and bit into the tough meat, struggling to tear off a piece. Hatter talked as I ate the dried strip, "Living on the run hardly ever gives us the chance to enjoy fancy foods."

I smiled, my mouth full of jerky. I swallowed the meat and said, "Around this time, I'd be enjoying some bacon and fried tomato."

"Bacon," the Hatter said wistfully. "It's been so long since I last had bacon."

I paused thoughtfully before taking my next bite of jerky and looked up at Hatter. "Why are you running, Hatter?" I asked. "What happened?"

Immediately, Hatter sobered. He looked to the other side of the camp, where Hare and Doormouse were packing up the tents. "It wasn't always like this," he said after a while. "We worked together in a clothing shop outside of the High King's Province." His voice turned wistful, his gaze distant. "Hare was my assistant, and Mousie… well, she was a seamstress believe it or not.

"The White King ruled Wonderland back. Life was simpler. It was just how many hats we sold that week." He chuckled softly. "But the King… Suffice to say he wasn't loved by all of his subjects. There was a coup, the King was murdered, and everything changed. Nobody assumed the thrown, so the military just…took over, I suppose. They arrested random people on the streets, and killed others with no provocation." Then, Hatter looked back at me. "It didn't take long for us to figure we weren't safe in the city anymore. So we ran, and we've been running ever since."

I had been listening quietly, slowly chewing the strip of jerky. After hearing his story, I better understood why he and Doormouse were together. After going through so much with a person, they must have grown close. I suddenly felt guilty. They were running for their lives, and suddenly they had to take care of me? A petty, clueless little girl? These people were only a few years older than me, and they had experienced hardships that I hadn't even dreamed about.

I tried to imagine what my life would be like without a home, without Madge, or my parents, or my bed and my servants. Then I realized that I didn't have to imagine it. I was living it.

"I'm sorry," I said quietly, not knowing what else to say.

In response, Hatter sighed and glanced back at his companions. "I just wish that I could help them," he said. "I've always looked out for my friends, but just in the last year, I've let them down more times than I can count." He looked at me, and for the first time, I truly saw how young he was. He was barely older than me, and he was facing challenges that I never thought I would have to experience.

"You can't take care of everybody, Hatter," I said. "It's not your job."

He shook his head in frustration. "You don't understand, Alice. You can never understand. It is my job. If I lose my friends, then it will be my fault, because I'm the one who forced them to run away with me."

I objected, "They didn't have a choice. They would have died otherwise."

"You don't know that," he said.

"I know that nothing good would have come out of staying," I responded. "I know that you did the right thing."

He just stared at me with his mismatched eyes and said, "How can you know that, Alice? You're just a child." Then, he stood up and walked away.

It was a few hours before we finished packing the camp. I tried my best to help, but my mind was elsewhere. At one point, Doormouse seemed ready to murder me when I spilled some tea while trying to move it into a canteen for the road. I just apologized dumbly and went to fold up my bedsheet tent.

What was I even doing here? I lived in Oxford, in a house with my family and my cat Dinah. My life was simple, uncomplicated. What had I done wrong to deserve this? Where could I even go? This land was in ruins, and every minute I spent here put my new friends in more danger. I was a burden. How could I just throw myself at these strangers and expect them to keep me safe?

I knew that I could never get the answers to these questions going on the way I was. It was obvious that Hatter, Hare and Doormouse were just as confused as I was. They had no answers for me. I would have to get them myself.

We eventually finished packing up camp and started into the woods. I quickened my pace so that I was walking beside Hatter while Hare and Doormouse walked farther ahead. "Where are we going?" I asked.

Hatter took a drink from a silver flask. I could tell from the odor that it was another alcoholic mixture. "We're just moving farther into the forest," he replied mildly. "We can't stay in one place for long. It increases our chances of being discovered."

I nodded in understanding. I stayed silent for a moment before finally asking the question that had been plaguing my thoughts since I arrived at the camp. "What do you plan to do with me?" I asked him.

"Pardon?" said the hatter, confused.

I looked at him thoughtfully. "You know I can't stay here, Hatter," I said. "I don't belong in Wonderland. I need to get back to my home."

To this, Hatter sighed. "Yes, this 'Aberdale Wood'? I've heard of no such place in Wonderland. How exactly did you get here?" he asked.

"I told you, I fell down a rabbit hole," I replied impatiently.

He blinked. "You mean you were serious about that? I thought you were just drunk."

"Hatter!" I exclaimed in disdain.

He shrugged defensively. "I have never heard of a person coming to Wonderland through a rabbit hole," he said.

"But how did you come here, then?" I asked. "You said that most everyone had a home somewhere else before Wonderland. Perhaps you entered like I did, down a rabbit hole."

Hatter snorted and said, "I think I would remember if I followed rabbit into a different universe, thank you very much."

"How else could you have come here?" I asked.

"Through the Looking Glass," he responded instantly.

I looked at him with doubt. "A looking glass?"

"Not a looking glass. The Looking Glass. The proper one. There's only one in all of Wonderland. Legend has it that it can transport people to other worlds," he said.

I paused for a moment. "Do you suppose it could take me back to my world?" I suggested.

"Perhaps," said Hatter. "It's our best option. The only problem is that nobody knows where it is, or what it looks like."

"I imagine it would look like a looking glass," I said.

He gave me a condescending look. "I wouldn't be too sure of that, doll. This isn't just any regular mirror. Portals to different dimensions… there has to be something special about those. Nobody's ever seen one in real life."

"Then how can you know that's how you came to Wonderland?" I asked.

"I don't. That's just the thing. There is no truth in Wonderland – no absolute. Everything is always changing and shifting, and eventually stories are the only things that you can rely on," he said.

"Like the Looking Glass?"

"Like the Looking Glass," he confirmed.

I nodded. "Hatter… Will you take me to the Looking Glass?" I asked slowly as he took another swig from his flask.

He stopped in his tracks and sputtered, alcohol dribbling from his lips in a cough. "Everything alright back there, Hatter?" called Doormouse from a few meters ahead.

Hatter coughed some more and rasped, "Yes, yes I'm fine." He then glanced at me and continued walking.

"Hatter?" I asked. He did not respond. "Are you going to help me, Hatter?" I pressed.

He gave me a pained expression and said, "How can you ask this of me, Alice? I can't even leave this forest without risking my neck, and you want me to abandon my friends and help you chase down a legend?"

"You just said it was my best chance!" I objected.

"But that doesn't mean –" The Hatter broke off and sighed in frustration. "Alice, please. I like you, I really do, but this is something that I can't do for you."

I looked at him solemnly. "I don't belong here, Hatter. Please, I just want to get home," I said.

The look that Hatter gave me then was full of pity. I didn't want pity. I wanted help. "You have to understand, Alice," he said slowly. "Nobody belongs here at first. Everybody in Wonderland came from somewhere, but we all wound up here. You'll adjust, Alice, I promise. You'll forget all about your life before."

He probably meant to sound comforting, but his words only enraged me. "Is that what you think I want? To stay here and forget about my friends, my family, my entire life? I need to get home, Hatter. I can't stay here. I can't be like…like…" I struggled for words, and finally finished with, "like you."

Immediately, Hatter's face morphed. His expression hardened and turned stony and cold. "No," he said quietly. "No, I suppose you wouldn't want to be like me at all." He then turned away from me, and did not speak to me again.

I remember waking up in the middle of the night to hear the clash of thunder outside. "Madge," I had whispered, but my sister was fast asleep in her bed on the other side of the room. Lightning flashed outside, lighting up my bedroom with an instant of blinding brightness. But just as quickly it was gone, and I was encased in the black of night once more. A low, deep rumble followed shortly after, like a giant bass drum being struck in the heavens.

"Madge," I whispered again. "Madge, wake up." My sister remained unresponsive, and I threw my blankets off and lowered my bare feet to the wooden floor. It was cold and hard. I tip-toed to Madge's bed and gently shook her shoulder. "Madge, it's storming out." I said in a hushed voice.

She had groaned, "Alice?"

"Come watch the lightning with me," I said eagerly.

She just shook her head. "Go back to bed," my sister ordered groggily. And then she turned her head away from me.

"Madge." I was annoyed when she did not answer. I looked around the room, squinting through the darkness, then walked softly to the door and exited the room.

The hallway was bathed in the dark blue of night. I crept down the corridor as silently as I could. Rain poured forcefully behind the walls, with a sound like an army of tiny rocks bombarding the house, occasionally interrupted by another grumble of thunder. I felt a draft, raising goosebumps on my skin. The cold soaked through the thin, soft fabric of my nightdress. I turned and caught sight of a pair of double doors ahead of me. One was cracked open slightly, allowing the chill wind to flow into the hallway.

I had wondered into the room, and recognized it as Father's study. One window had been left open. Rain tumbled in through the opening, soaking the carpet beneath it. The wind made the drapes flap around like the wings of a bird. I started forward and closed the window, ignoring the sopping, frigid carpet beneath my bare feet. I turned and looked around. The quiet in the study was eerie, yet serene. I decided to take this opportunity.

I had rummaged through the drawers of Father's desk until finally finding the little cardboard box of matches. I struck one and lit the tall, wax candles settled on the desk. Eagerly, I searched through the shelves of the study, until I finally came across the right book.

I pulled out Frankenstein, my favorite classic. I had read it at least a half dozen times before, each time more enticing and bone-chilling than the last. I had just begun the 5th chapter when my father entered the study.

I remember very clearly how I had just read the description of the monster's features, just envisioned the wrinkled yellow skin, milky white eyes, and thin black lips when I heard the slow creak of the wooden door. I had jumped out of my seat, terrified by the sudden noise when I saw my father stagger groggily into the room, garbed in his thick mahogany robe.

"Alice?" he had said. "What are you doing here?"

"The rain woke me," I replied.

He rubbed his eyes with his knuckles and peered at the book I was hugging to my chest. "What have we got here?" he inquired, gently taking the book away from me and reading the title. He tsked. "You should not be reading such morbid novels, Alice. It won't help you sleep at all."

"If I had wanted to sleep, Father, I would have stayed in bed," I said. This made him smile. He held out his hand, and I took it.

"Come on, Alice," he said. "I'll walk you to your room." He did so, and when I was tucked under the covers, he sat down on the bedside and began to stroke my hair back.

"Will you tell me a story?" I asked.

"You were just reading one," he replied.

"I want another one."

He glanced back at Madge, who was fast asleep in her bed. "It will wake your sister."

"Then tell it quietly," I countered.

He gave an exaggerated sigh. "Which one would you like to hear?" he asked.

I paused only for a moment before I answered, "Tell me of Robin Hood."

I had never been a deep sleeper, so when the terrified shriek of a deer sounded in the woods, my eyes snapped open. My hand automatically travelled to the hunting knife tucked in my sash and I stayed as still as a statue. When I was sure that the danger was not nearby, I relaxed my grip on my knife and sat up. By that time, I had realized that the noise was terrified, defenseless, not by some predator. I picked up my bow and slung the quiver over my shoulder. Then, I made my way to the direction of the noise.

It wasn't long before I found myself crouched behind a collection of bushes, seeing a large doe entrapped in a net. I narrowed my eyes. Whoever set this trap could be here any moment. I considered just leaving and avoiding any contact with the hunter, but instead hurried towards the net. I paused about two meters from the trap, where the deer was kicking in panic. Eventually, it stopped and simply hung limply in the tangle of rope.

I took a few more steps closer and peered at the creature. It wasn't too long ago that I would have cut the creature down without a moment's hesitation.

I shrugged, grabbed my dagger, and shoved it into the doe's neck. It kicked and emitted an agonized cry, but I pulled out the knife and plunged it into its skull. It squeaked once more, and then was silent.

I had just started sawing at the ropes when I heard the snap of a twig. Immediately, I tucked away the knife and whipped out my bow and notched an arrow. "Who's there?" I shouted. There was no response. "Reveal yourself!" I demanded. There was a rustle, and two boys stepped out from the brush. I blinked, wondering if I was seeing double, but then realized that they must have been twins. They looked completely identical.

They weren't very tall, maybe one and a half meters, but their strength was clear from the ropes of muscle that bulged beneath their dirty skin. They were a handsome pair, with broad shoulders and fair features. Dull orange hair grew in a tangled mess that fell to their shoulders. They stepped into the clearing slowly, with their hands in the air. "Let's calm here," said one of the twins, "before you do something you might regret."

"Oh, I don't think I'll regret this," I replied coolly.

He gulped and said, "Let's try this again. What's your name?"

I took a threatening step forward. "I don't really think you're in the position to be asking questions right now. Do you?" I said.

I saw a bead of sweat trickle down his face. Suddenly, the other one spoke. "Listen, we don't want any trouble here," he said. "We just want our deer."

"I do believe it's my deer now," I said.

"It's our catch," he objected.

"Finders, keepers. Sorry."

He made frustrated sigh and opened his mouth to object, but his twin spoke first. "Alright, then. Enjoy your deer. We'll just be off, then," he said reluctantly, taking a small step backwards. I fired an arrow. It landed just to the right of his foot, stopping him in his tracks.

"Before you go," I said, "why don't you hand over whatever food or weapons you might have on you?" I finished the sentence by taking out another arrow and notching it. One of the boys looked ready to explode, but the other one took out a dirk and held it out to me. "You, too." I nodded to the other boy, but he just turned red in the face.

"I'll be damned if I give up my club to a girl," he spat.

"Just do it, Dum," hissed his brother.

He snorted angrily, but brought out a large, wooden club. "Throw it on the ground," I commanded. They obeyed. "Now step away." As they did so, I lowered my bow and walked towards the surrendered weapons. But as I neared, one of the twins lunged towards me.

I was ready, however. I dodged his first punch and jabbed him in the throat with stiff fingers. His eyes bulged and he choked, momentarily stunned. I took the opportunity to grasp him firmly by the shoulders and knee him in the groin. Another strangle cry was forced out of his throat, and he fell to his knees.

His brother had taken the moment to seize his dirk and point it at me, but by that time I had already brought out my knife and had it pressed against the former's throat.

The alarm was clear in his brother's face. "Don't hurt him," he pleaded.

"I might not have, if he had just done what I asked," I snarled.

"Listen," he insisted, "We need that deer."

"I'm hungry, too," I said.

He continued, "It's not for us. We come from a village not too far from here. Ever since the king fell, soldiers have been occupying the streets, destroying farms, and arresting folks for no reason. There's no food anymore. We're their only hope." He paused, but I said nothing. I only stared at him coldly. "Please," he said. "He's my brother. He's the only family I've got left."

I was silent for I time, but eventually I lowered my knife and pushed my captive away. He staggered to his feet and walked up beside his brother. "I lost my family, too," I murmured.

"I'm sorry," said the boy.

"I'm Alice," I said. "Who are you?"

"Tweedle-dee," he replied, "and this is –"

"I can speak for myself, Dee," rasped his brother, rubbing his throat with irritation. He looked at me. "Tweedle-dum," he said.

I nodded in response. "So this village of yours… How bad are the soldiers there?" I asked.

Dum narrowed his eyes in suspicion. "What's it to you?"

"Dum, stop," muttered his brother before answering, "The people there are oppressed and defenseless. Dum and I hunt for the villagers, but we can only do so much."

"And I assume that the soldiers have lots of food," I said.

"Yes, obviously." Dee gave me a questioning look. "Why do you ask?"

I sighed. "I'm not from here," I explained. "I'm trying to find a way out. If I help you, will you help me?"

"And how could you possibly help us, girl?" Dum asked, his tone hostile.

"I'm saying I could be Robin Hood. And you two could be my Merry Men."