Luna in Wonderland

Pawprints In The Snow

Chapter Two: Enter Wonderland

Luna's Patronus disappeared into the bushes. C, she moved forward, and parted the magic bushes, leaves a vivd green unnatural to this part of the woods. They revealed a rather large chasm, and Luna guessed this is where her father's desprate voice had called from. She also assumed this was where her Patronus had gone.

She backed up slowly, not prepared to take the plunge down into a dark hole in the ground. The rabbit's head poked up just over the rim, beckoning Luna forward. She sighed, seeing no other way around it. Instead of jumping, she went and sat on the edge, and gingerly slid herself down into the hole.

"Ahhhhhh!" She screamed, twirling as she fell down the deep gorge. After so long, she became used to the sensation, and just let herself go. When the ground came into sight is when the panic onc again rose and her heart lept to her throat. She couldn't cry out, so she embraced for impact. I'm going to die before I get the chance to live! She thought. But she never hit the ground.

On the contrary, she landed gently as though she had just stepped off a ledge. "Curious," she muttered to herself. She stood, and began brushing herself off. Mentally, she berated herself for leaving those thin blood stains on her brand new apron.

Attention now leaving her clothes, it turned to her peculiar surroundings. It was a large corridor, much like that of one in Hogwarts, just much bigger. The ceilings were high and the chandelier hung very low, nearly sweeping the ground itself.

And over on the far right, there was a door. Just one door there was in the entire place. "That must be where I need to go," she told herself. Luna did just that, stopping at the door that was much to small for even a dog to fit through. "This needs to be bigger," so she whipped out her wand, saying a charm that enlarged the door to fit her size. She then tried the handle, finding it very much locked.

With a flick of her wand, she recieted the spell to unlock the door. However, the door didn't budge. If anything it became even more locked. "Now that's odd. I bet it's those pesky nargles again."

But without the slightest of clue to get her through that door she couldn't do anything. Luna surveyed the room once more, discovering a table she hadn't seen the first time. "How did that get there?" The answer was obvious to her at once. Magic. "Oh, wait, I remember. I was supposed to eat the cakes that make me grow, then drink the liquid in the vile that makes me shrink, forgetting the key up on the table."

Luna having outsmarted that simply plucked the key from the table. But the vile caught her eye. It was not adorned in a label stating "Drink me." Instead, it had a tag that said, "Do not drink me."

"How odd," Luna said, drinking the substance anyway. She didn't diminish in size, nor did she grow taller. Shrugging it off, she slipped the vile into her apron pocket and unlocked the door.

Once through it, she took in the baffling and dumbfounding sight that was Wonderland. T'was much more gorgeous and magnificent than she could ever have pictured. It was like a large garden world, filled with abnormal bugs and birds with one-too-many sets of wings. "I wonder if they are familiar with nargles here," she went to tell her Patronus, but found that it had vanished into thin air. Not that Luna minded at all. She was used to the loneliness.

Just like before, she hummed as she went about her business. However, she tripped and stumbled more often here. Luna was not accustomed to the uneven terrain of this mystifying world, and it brought her to her knees often. "Curses," she pouted, as she ripped her black and white striped stockings. They were her favourite pair, and now they had holes in the knees, and her knees were bleeding slightly at that.

After what felt like hours of following this path, she perched herself on a rock, inhaling deep breaths. She looked down the path she came and groaned. "It seems as though I've only walked a few meters but I've been walking since I got here!"

Luna heard a chuckling sound from the bushes. She brought her legs up to her chest, pulling down her dress and calling, "Who goes there?" but instead of replying, the bone-chilling laughter grew closer. "I'm warning you... "

"You're hollow threats mean nothing to me," The voice was eerily familiar. It was a male's voice, Luna could just tell. "Now show youself, worker of the Black Queen!" The man charged out of the bushes to her right, and Luna squeaked annd buried her head in her knees.

"You most definitely do not work for the Black Queen. By what means are you here?" Luna turned her head, gazing at thhe man. He brandished a sword, sliver and the handle incrusted with rubies. Clad in deep red armor patterend with hearts he was. He intook breath suddenly, making Luna jump and fall hard off her rock.

"Ouch!" She landed roughly on her side, the dirt and mud staining the blue of her dress. Her left arm was now covered in small scrapes and scratches, blood just starting to bead. "Look at what you did. You should be ashamed," she scolded her attacker, though he never officially assualted her. Luna stood, dusting herself off as best as possible. She rubbed the back of her hand across her face, looking the guard in the face.

He had lifted his facemask, showing a pair of emerald green eyes Luna recognized in an instant. "Harry?" Luna stood closer, trying to peer into the man's-teenager's- face. "Is that you?"

He pushed her away with the flat of his blade. "That's not my name, fair Maiden. I am Sir Harold, Knight of Hearts." Luna nodded.

"Can I call you Harry?"

The Knight looked taken aback. "No one shall ever call a knight anything but his royal name."

Luna gave a low bow of her head. "Alright, Sir Harold." Her hand slid into her apron pocket, finding that the small container missing. Her eyes darted instantly to the ground, where she found it reflecting light from underneath red rose bushes. She plucked it up off the ground, studying the contents. I swear I drank it all. So why is there a small bit at the bottom?

"Woah there, what may that be?" The knight inquired, tucking the sword back into its scabbard.

"I don't know, really. It read 'Do not drink me' instead of 'Drink me' but Alice always drank everything, so even though it had the opposite thing written on it, I drank it."

Harold stuck out his armor-covered arm. "May I see it?"

"But of course," Luna obediently handed Harold the small clear vile. It was topped with a red heart-shaped cork. Harold's eyes only grew wider as he continued to perpetually turn it in his hands.

"You, you drank the entire contents of this?"

Luna nodded in response. "But of course. I said earlier, Alice drank and ate everything-"

"Alice? You speak of Alice?"

Luna gave a curt nod. "Yes. What about her?"

"How do you know of the brave one, Alice?"

Luna shrugged. "I read about her. In a children's book." Harold pulled at imaginary stubble on his chin. He turned, motioning for Luna to follow him. Luna eagerly joined, happy to see a familiar face even if it wasn't a familiar personality.

They toddled along, Harold guiding her in a seemingly random pattern. She couldn't keep track of all the routes. Right, left, left, left, left, wait, that's a circle but we're in a totally different area, left again, right right, left left, right, left, circular pattern was that a right, or did we take another left? I'm so dizzy I can't tell!

"Sir Harold, may I ask where we're going?" He glanced over his shoulder at her, then forward.

"We are heading off to see her Majesty. She will know what to make of you."

"What to make of me?" Luna pointed at herself, knowing Harold couldn't see her do it.

"Exactly," he said, leaving it at that. Luna pondered the cryptic response. What was there to make of her? She was a 16-year-old girl who was on summer break. She was a witch. Nothing much else to consider.

The duo continued on in silence, Luna tailing Harold. Harold moved fast for a man dressed in metal. She was postivie it had to weigh at least 30 pounds but he still kept a good 10 paces ahead of her. More than once she wanted to ask him to slow down, but she bit her tongue and dealt with it.

She began to study her surroundings, now that they were on a pretty straightforward path. Luna was so caught up in the divine shrubbery and exquiste gardening that she didn't notice Harold stop and she ran smack into him.

"Ow!" she hissed, rubbing her left arm, for it had taken most of the impact. "Why did you stop?"

"Shh!" Harold moved ahead slowly, leaving Luna standing by herself. He turned back, egging her to move as well. She did, soflty and even just like the knight, and then found out why they were going at such a slow pace.

"What is that thing?" she whispered, bewildered by the best that lay asleep before them. It was large, his body covered in striped fur. It had a wolfish head and fangs tipping just over his bottom lip. Its hind legs were like a birds while the front legs were more reptilian in feature. Luna crickled her nose at the smell coming from the great brute. It was a cross between some really rotten eggs and a few thousand dungbombs.

"That, my fair maiden, is a Stinkerfilliwet."

"A Stinker Fillywat?"

Harold vigorusly shook his head. "A Stinkerfilliwet. A terrifying creature now, a totally monstrocity when awake."

"Sounds like Stinker Fillywat to me... " she mumbled, then said in a louder decible, "Good thing it's asleep, then."

"Yes indeed. It's a blessing. It's said that if you come across one awake, you'll have bad luck for the rest of your life."

Luna stared right at Harold, who was concentrated on the Stinkerfilliwet. "Have you ever seen one awake?"

Harold let out low laughter, carefully inching forward away from the beasts territory. "Are you kidding, lass? These things are extremely rare to see. This is the first time I've ever encountered one."

"Oh. Okay." Luna continued ahead, moving at a painfully slow rate. It quickened her heart's pace to know that if the Stinkerfilliwet awoke she would be its breakfast.

Once they were safely out of the way of the Stinkerfilliwet, Harold picked his pace up once again. Luna sped up to a quick jog, trying to stay next to the boy in red. "So, how much farther is it till your Majesty's castle?"

Harold checked his left hand as if checking a watch. "Not much farther. Oh, and wacth you're step in this area. The vines like to take casualities."

"What's a casuality?" Luna glanced around really quick. She didn't see any vines, just tall hedges that literally were radiating a cool mist. Luna shudered a tad, the chill settling in her bones.

Harold stopped and began to explain, seeming to be uneffected by the cold. "It means they take people by force. You never see those people again."

"Really?"

"Really, I had a friend who-"

"Harold?"

"Yes, Maiden?"

Luna pointed to his shoulder. "There. On your shoulder. There's a... "

"There's a what? Spit it out."

"A vine."

"Don't be ridiculous." Harold looked down at his right shoulder. "There is no- AHHH!" Luna covered her ears. For such a manly guy he had a really high shriek. "Get it off me!" And then more started to come and try and take him. He tried to pry them off, but the appendages were too strong.

Luna thought for one measely second. Pulled out her wand, and took aim at the savage plants. "Reducto!" She cried, and the vines relinquished their killer grip on Harold. He dropped to his knees, gasping and rubbing his neck where one vine had latched on fast.

"How... Did... You... Do that?" He gasped, inhaling deep breaths.

"Do what?" Luna asked, plopping down next to him and rubbing his back.

"Get them off me... " He wheezed.

"Oh that? With magic."

Harold stared hard at her. "Magic?"

"Yes, why?"

"Interesting... " he said, standing and continuing forward, never answering Luna's question. The two took a few more turns before they finally came upon the entrance to the castle.

"We're here," Harold grinned, arm raised in the direction of the impossibley tall wrought iron gates that contained the fascinating Castle of Hearts.