Helloooo! ^^ Long time, no see! Sorry for taking so long to do an update and a short one at that... I just got really busy over break, and add to that no motivation to write whatsoever... Then I just finished my first week of a new semester of classes, now onto my second, and I finally had an urge to write something! I actually did math to figure out which story to write an update for. So I hope you like it!
I continued towards the campfire, though still cautious. I was at the edge of the campsite when I felt something sharp pointed into my back. I froze.
"Who are you? And what do you want?" A cold voice asked.
"I- I got lost..." I utter, realizing I've made a mistake on approaching the campsite.
"Really?" The voice changes drastically from before and whatever was pointed into my back disappears. "I've been told that happens to me a lot. Though I think of it as more of an adventure."
I turn and look at the face of what must be another Role-holder.
His red eyes widen as he looks at my face. "... Who are you?" He asks, surprised.
"... My name is Daphne... I'm what you call a foreigner..." I tell him.
He raises an eyebrow. "Another foreigner?" He steps closer to me, and my eyes notice the sword sheathed on his hip, causing me to take some steps back.
"W-who are you?" I ask.
"I'm Ace." He smiles, it looks kind, but something feels a little off, causing me to stay on edge.
"What's your Role?" I ask, racking my brain for information of the characters of Wonderland.
"I'm the Knave of Heart Castle... So you've already met some of the other Role-holders, hmm?"
I nod. Knave of Hearts...? "I met Nightmare, Gray, and Boris..." I answer. "I was with Boris, here in the forest, but then we got separated." I explain, praying he's nice.
"Well, Daphne, it's dangerous to stay in the woods alone at night. You can stay with me." He offers again with his smile.
There's something seriously off about this guy... but I don't know where I am, and I have no idea when daylight will appear... Hopefully I can trust him for one night...
I nod. "Thank you, Ace."
He motions for me to go to the campfire ahead of him.
I sit in front of the fire and warm my hands. Ace sits next to me.
"So when did you come to Wonderland, and who brought you?" Ace asks cordially.
"No one brought me... And I've been here for... was it three time periods? I think that's what Nightmare told me." I tell him.
"How do you not know?" Ace asks.
"I was asleep for most of the time. As soon as I got here, I just passed out in the forest, until Boris came across me, but I passed out again after meeting him. He took me to Clover Tower, and that's where I slept until this last time period."
"When did you take the Medicine of Hearts?" Ace asks.
"I haven't."
Ace's eyebrows raise at this information. "Then why haven't you gone home?"
I scoff. "As if I haven't been trying. But I'm still here... Which is why, I'm going to look for my vial and take the medicine, that way once it's full, I can ensure I go home." I inform Ace.
"You mean you didn't have it on you?" He asks.
"If I did, it might have fallen somewhere in the forest... That's why I came here with Boris, to look for it."
"Well, you won't find it at this time of day. It'd be better to get some sleep, then resume your search after the time period changes." Ace says.
I nod. "You're right." I yawn. Even after all the sleeping I'd done, I was still tired.
"You can go ahead and sleep in the tent." Ace offers.
"Thank you, Ace." I stand up and start towards the tent. "You're really nice." I turn and smile at him and see my words have taken him aback.
"...Yeah." Ace gives a small smile and looks away from me quickly.
I get into the tent, and almost immediately start to fall asleep. Just as my conscious is ebbing... Zip … I hear the tent open and some rustling inside. The feeling of something getting closer, makes my heart beat faster, and my eyes fly open.
I'm looking at Ace, who is only a couple feet away from me.
"Ace? What are you doing?" I ask.
"I was just getting ready to go to sleep."
"Why are you so close to me?" I ask with a calmness I wasn't aware I could master, when inside I was in utter turmoil.
"Well... I wanted to hear your heartbeat..."
I immediately sat up and moved as far away from the Knave as I could within the confined space of the tent.
"Why?" I ask, unable to understand his words.
"Oh... So they didn't tell you everything then..." Ace moved closer.
I was cornered, and I already knew he could easily overpower me. I had nowhere to go. "What didn't they tell me, Ace?"
"What makes us different from foreigners." He states.
"What makes us different?" I ask, somewhat truly curious.
"We don't have hearts. In their place are clocks." I furrow my brow in trying to understand what he's saying. "Here." He grabs my head, by placing his hand behind it, and pulls it right to his chest so my ear lay over where his 'heart' is. That's when I heard it. Tick...tick...tock...tick...tick...tock.
"How is that possible?" I whisper in disbelief, and remove my head from his chest.
"See. That's why I wanted to listen to your heartbeat. I haven't heard one since..."
"Alice." I was already starting to understand some things about this weird Wonderland.
He nods, completely serious. "Plus I was wondering if it'd sound any different from hers..."
"Why didn't you ask earlier? Why try to do that when I was trying to sleep?"
"Because Alice always had issues with me doing it. I figured you'd be the same."
Well... I'm not this Alice chick... and he only wants to listen to my heart... it's not like he's trying to molest me...
"Fine."
Ace blinks his eyes. "What?"
"Fine. You can listen to my heartbeat. But that's it. Only your ear to my chest, that's the only contact." I lay out the rules.
He nods happily. "You really are different from Alice, Daphne." He lays his ear over my chest and listens to my heart, which is now beating a bit erratically at having a guy so close.
I wait patiently, letting him hear it as much as he wants, to the point that my heart calms down.
"Huh..." Ace moves beside me. "Your heart did sound different from Alice's."
"In a bad way?" I ask, a little nervous about my heart not measuring up to someone I've never met. What am I thinking?! It doesn't matter if it's in a bad way... Though it's not really my original heart...
He shakes his head. "No. Not a bad way. Or good, really. Just different." He smiles. "Thanks for letting me listen to your heart." Ace goes to his side of the tent, curls up under a blanket, and is soon softly snoring.
I make myself comfortable again, and soon fall asleep too.
DODO
When I wake up...
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" I scream upon finding myself encompassed in Ace's arms and his head on my chest.
Ace immediately releases me and in the small space between us, a branch shoots through the tent.
"What the-?!" Before he can finish, another branch shoots through the tent towards him.
I quickly get out of the tent and immediately begin running. Upon finding myself in Wonderland, I've come to expect some pretty bizarre things, but some things, like clocks for hearts and branches moving on their own accord, still seem too odd. Even for Wonderland.
I continue to run in the afternoon sunlight, knowing that the forest has to end at some point and I can be safe in a place with other people and away from that crazy knave.
As I near what seems to be the forest's edge, I can see a large gate surrounding a mansion. In my excitement of getting out of the forest, I didn't pay attention to my feet, and the large hole. I fell, hitting my head, hard. My surroundings turn to black, as my consciousness ebbs.
DODO
"Brother! Look!" A boy's voice says.
"Oh! A girl!" Another boy says.
"I wonder what happened?"
"Hmmm... Uh-oh."
"What is it, Dum?"
"Look, Dee."
"Uh-oh. Looks like we forgot to fill that hole..."
"Boss'll probably have our pay cut for this."
"H-hey, Brother! Look she's waking up!"
TA: So that's it for this update! Hope you liked it! Please follow/favorite and/or comment to let me know you liked it!
Dodo: Yes! Please comment! So TA will be motivated to continue my story! You may not realize it, but any words from you lovely readers makes both hers and my day! Even if you don't have a question, just let her know you're enjoying it and to keep up the good work! Thanks! Until next time!
Both: Bye! *waves*