Sorry if my story seems to be going slow. I'm actually just trying to keep a steady pace you know I'm not trying to rush things and I want things to be consentient, but don't worry I have the whole plot already in my head, just gotta get it on screen :3 Anyways less talk more read! :D
"Who are you?" Alice asked with a confused air.
"St. Nicholas North, at your service." He boomed proudly. "But you may call me North."
"St. Nicholas...? You mean like Santa Claus?" She suddenly noticed the the huge room she was in and her question ended with her gaping like a fish.
"I have gone by many a name." He said heartily as Alice gawked at the room around her. He turned his attention to the bunny thumping impatiently behind them.
"Aster! To what to I owe this pleasure?" North inquired with his hands spread out in a welcoming gesture.
"An explanation..." The bunny grumbled. "How did she get'er hands on a buzzer?"
"A buzzer?" North asked with a touch of curiosity as he turned to Alice and stroked his beard. "Aha! You must be Alice then!" He suddenly shouted as if he had solved some great puzzle. Alice jumped and momentarily took her eyes off of the scenery to question him.
"Uh yea...How do you know who I am?" Alice thought the question sounded a bit dumb, given that if he really was Santa Claus he would know everyone's name...if that was even possible.
"Jack came to with quite a story." He chuckled. Alice went silent for a moment as she remembered the white haired boy and his cool headed personality.
"Where am I?"
"Oh come on everyone knows where Santa's workshop is." The bunny said sarcastically.
"The North pole...?" Alice's question slowly faded and turned into a silent look of shock. She felt her legs suddenly go weak as she realized how far she was from home.
'I rode almost halfway across the world on the back of a bunny that can make holes appear underground. Ash is gonna be ticked...'
"But we do introductions later, first things first." He said quickly. "Why don't you sit down, this must be a little...different for you." He offered, and gestured towards a chair. "Medic!"
"Believe me, I'm getting used to it." She muttered.
A few moments later a yeti with dark brown fur came bounding in from the huge doorway to their right. Alice's eyes widened in surprise.
"What. Is that." Alice stuttered as the Yeti stopped in front of them with a small white medic box that looked comically small in his large furry hands. The yeti's expression went from curious to unamused.
""That" is actually a he." North corrected as he pushed her towards the yeti. "Alice, meet our medic, Ogden."
"Ok then. What is "he." Alice whispered behind her shoulder rather loudly.
"Why, he is a yeti." North replied as if it where some common knowledge that everyone knew but her.
"You mean like Bigfoot?" The yeti's eyes narrowed even further to her response.
"Ha, Ha! You are very funny." North said with a hearty laugh as he walked her away from the yeti and over to a small chair and table. Alice sat down reluctantly and watched the yeti warily as he set down the kit and began to rummage through it, his unamused expression unwavering. He suspiciously raised a rather large syringe and glanced at her from the corner of her eye before setting it back down and choosing a small towel instead.
"Yup that'll do it." Alice said to herself and quickly closed kit and swiped it away from the yeti before he could react. Her actions resulted in a rather girly shout from him as she quickly scooted away with his precious box. "Aaactually, I would rather take care of it myself..." Alice started with a nervous laugh. "Is there a bathroom around here somewhere?"
"Are you sure? Is really no problem." North offered and the yeti promptly grunted something in agreement and crossed his massive arms.
"Absolutely." She replied and put on a fake smile as she scooted towards the huge doorway without turning her back on the three.
"Aw come on girly, he don't bite." The bunny said humorously as he hopped over to the yeti and nudged him.
"I'm sure he doesn't." She muttered in a tone that said "your not helping."
"Very well. lavatory is to nearest right. Come Bunnymund, let us talk."
"Thanks!" Alice shouted quickly as she disappeared behind the huge doors, desperate to get away from their studying eyes.
"Take care not to get lost!" North yelled to her as she departed and a now faraway groan from the yeti made her chuckle in triumph as she walked off with his precious box of supplies.
"I won't!" She shouted back with an almost playful smile when she saw the full extent of the place she was in. Another warning about elves went over her head as his voice faded behind her.
"Whoa..." She breathed as she walked next to the red velvet wall and lightly slid her free hand along it. The whole place was alive. An array of sounds and smells buzzed in the air as Alice walked over to the rail. She was in what looked to be a hallway except for the lack of wall on the left side where there was instead a beautiful chestnut colored wooden rail with swirled rods of green metal that twirled downward as a barrier. The floor she was on, or balcony whichever it was, stretched around in a complete circle and Alice noticed a huge circular space in the middle where a feather was gently falling down before it disappeared as it passed her floor. As she approached the rail Alice looked up to see floors exactly the same as the one she was on that traveled all the way up to the ceiling which looked miles away. The whole building was like a giant cylinder, if it could even be called a building. She put her foot up on one the the rail and leaned over to get a better look at the floor bellow her. Her breath caught in her lungs and she instinctively gripped the rail tighter and backed up slightly when she saw the distance from the ground up.
"That's a long fall..." Alice muttered.
Directly bellow her more floors stretched down to the floor, but these floors she could actually see. More yetis ran about busily below her. A flash a white passed in front of her face and Alice noticed two white feathers fall within inches of her face and slowly descend. Upon looking up she saw a few more fall over the edge of the floor above her. As another feather passed in front of her she blew a puff of air in its direction and smiled slightly as it whirled and spun in the air before falling back into a slow graceful descent. The way the light softly reflected of its white feature almost seemed like a picture from a movie.
She felt the strange sense of being watched and turned her attention back to the floor directly across and below her and noticed a yeti had stopped in mid stride and studied at her with a strange look. His fur was much lighter than Ogden's and he was carrying a tall stack of boxes that looked if they might fall if he moved to quickly. Their eyes met and Alice froze and wondered if he should step off the rail and back away. Instead she raised a hand and gave him a small wave and an awkward smile. The yeti slowly raised a confused hand in another awkward exchange and the sudden movement caused the boxes on top to wobble and tumble down. The yeti quickly reached out to catch it in a desperate attempt to save the doomed boxes but the attempt only furthered his downfall.
Alice watched the cringe-worthy event with anticipation until every box but one had fallen. Various objects and tinker toys rolled out onto the ground as a few of the boxes burst open and spilled their contents. Alice leaned over as far as she could
"Sorry!" She yelled as apologetically as she could in hopes the yeti would here her She heard a distant groan as the yeti began to pick up the mess. With a sigh Alice stepped away from the balcony and continued down her floor.
'I don't seem to be getting off to a very good start.'
She arrived at a hallway to her right and quickly turned the corner before stopping suspiciously. The dark hallway in front of her seemed to stretch on for hundreds of feet and the only light she could see was a distant square of white at the end.
'Nearest right...' she thought sourly and reluctantly began to walk down the hall. The light began to recede quickly and Alice noticed something strangely brush against her shoulder. She glanced down to see the black sliver of sand had returned.
"Oh. I forgot about you." Alice said in a low voice without slowing her pace. It didn't seem to respond so Alice turned her attention ahead of her again, throwing a few glances at it as they continued down the hall. She noticed a dim light ahead as she approached the midway point and two signs on the opposite walls eventually came into view. As she grew closer she noticed the light source was a dim lamp hanging from the ceiling that emitted a yellowish glow. The signs on either side said "MEN" and "WOMAN" and Alice stopped in front of the bathroom door. She hadn't noticed it until now, but the hall was eerily quiet, and the low lighting wasn't helping her already weary nerves. The sliver of sand shuffled impatiently on her shoulder.
"Why are you here?" Alice asked softly without taking her eyes of the dim light. Nothing.
"I thought you would say that." She said with an almost sad smile before pushing the door open. A bright white light flooded the hall and Alice almost felt the need to shield her eyes from the sudden change. She shuddered as the sand quickly retread into her jacket and brushed by back of her shoulder before she could no longer feel it. Alice wasn't sure if she should protest against its hiding spot, but she didn't much care for the moment. She walked into the white tiled room and admired the cleanness before spotting the long sink that stretched across the wall with an equally long mirror above it. After setting the medical kit down on the sink she finally forced herself to gaze at her reflection. Her hair was a bit messy but overall she didn't look as crappy as she felt. The damp spots on her legs and elbows had already dried and her tan jacket and black jeans seemed mostly clean and free of dirt. A few seconds of studying herself passed before she sighed again and turned on the sink. As the water warmed Alice rummaged through the kit and found a bandage along with some antibiotics and a small white towel. She slowly wet her hand and wiped away the dried blood, and finally was able to see the actual wound itself. It wasn't the three long slices on the back of her hand that made her stomach twist, nor was it the obvious purple discoloration around the scratches. But buried in the slits on her hand she could see little grains of black sand. Alice bitterly pulled a pair of tweezers for the kit, leaned over, and steadied herself with a sigh before hovering over the wound with the small silver tweezers.
After a short pause she gently lowered it over a single speck of sand and tried to pick it up with the best pin point accuracy she could manage. As soon as the cold metal made contact with the small particle a ripping pain seared through each one of her cuts and made her drop the tweezers with a hiss of pain. Her fingers twitched and stiffened as the sensation of millions of ice cold needles were stabbing into the gashes of her hand and ripping them open again. With a another short gasp Alice clutched her wrist tightly and slightness pleaded for the nerves in her hand to calm as she doubled over and squeezed her eyes shut. After what seemed like minutes the sharp pain slowly calmed into an intense burning and then into a warm throbbing. With a shaky breathe Alice propped herself up slowly on her elbow and silently cursed herself before carefully wrapping the bandage firmly around her hand.
'There is no way I'm doing that again. Looks like I'm gonna have to get it looked at after all...' She thought bitterly before closing up the kit and exiting into the dark hallway. The thought of the creepy medic yeti standing over her threatenly with a giant needle made her chuckle as she slowly closed the door behind her. She looked to her right and then her left and contemplated what was on the other side of the hall. With another curious smile Alice took off jogging down the hall in an attempt to brighten her mood, but mostly out of curiosity. The hall quickly grew brighter as she reached the end and emerged on the other side.
"Exactly the same..." She muttered as she walked up to the rail of the balcony. The room was exactly the same as the one on the other side. Alice briefly scanned the busy floors bellow and beneath her before looking directly across her to see another hallway that stretched into another part of the building which she assumed looked similar to the one here and before. In fact now that she took a good look around she could see the circular floor she was on had three of these hallways.
'Just how many of these building are there?' She wondered in as she started back down the hallway she had come from, not content on getting lost.
Unbeknownst to her a small elf clutched tightly onto the back of her boot with a rather large cookie clutched between its teeth.
Finally rewrote the chapter. It doesn't feel as solid as the last but its here and its not to shabby if I do say so mysef. Sorry about the long wait, school is absolutely killing me. Seriously I hate getting up when its still dark out and the homework is crazy. Anyways I promise not to make a habit of these pauses :\
If you haven't notice Alice is quite a curious character. She actually reminds me a lot of a good friend of mine :)
Anywho...review review! I love those things they fill me with joy. x3