A/N: Because of how I set this up on my computer, from here on out there will be NO chapters and NO pagebreaks until further notice. END A/N
Alfred sighed. He hated working for the Red Queen. She was a bitch in every sense of the word and never stopped ordering people. Especially him. She hated him for no apparent reason. Then again, he was a spy, so that actually somewhat made sense.
His only saving grace in this hell was a few fleeting moments.
“Mm? Is my bunny feeling lonely?” Out of the shadows stepped a thin young man, with unusual cat ears and tail twitching playfully and his slit green eyes sparkling. “What, were you going to die of loneliness without me~?”
“Arthur~!” Wrapping the elder in a tight hug, Alfred nuzzled his face. “I missed you~!”
“GET OFF ME, YOU GIT!” Back to his normal, non-condescending self, Arthur forcefully shoved the young spy away. “I didn’t come here to be smothered in your affection!”
Pouting slightly, Alfred let go and crossed his arms, unhappy that he actually had to let go. “Then why are you here?”
“To give you some information.”
“When aren’t you?” Sky-blue eyes rolled and he crossed his arms, pouting slightly. He hated how the only thing his adorable kitty did with him was pass on information.
“The Queen of Hearts was just visited by the Blue Caterpillar.”
Now THAT was bad news. The Blue Caterpillar only came around when something really big was happening. Other than that, he stayed in a hermit-like lifestyle in the forest, accompanied only by his bodyguards (the Gryphon or in some cases, the Mock Turtle) and doing whatever he did. Him publically appearing was huge, and even more huge when it was him appearing in front of the Queen of Hearts.
“That’s not good…” The younger stated, even though it was obvious.
“Tell me about it. And you better watch your back. The Red Queen has been acting brasher as of late. She may have believed to have found a trump card.”
“What trump card?”
The cat turned his back on the rabbit, fading into the shadows of the forest from whence he came. “Who knows?”
~*~
Ivan strode through the halls of the brilliantly white castle, making his way to the throne room with ease. No one stood in his path, not wanting to test the brute strength of the man with the bloodied iron pipe in his hands. His walk of terror ended when he reached the throne room of White Castle, where the stern king was waiting for him.
“White King.”
“Jabberwok.”
They stared each other down, neither of them backing off, until finally the monster spoke.
“I brought you what you wanted.” A pink, ruffled caplet was thrown to the feet of the king. “That’s all that’s left of him.”
The tall man bent over, picking the piece of clothing up and inspecting it. There were small bloodstains on it, barely noticeable with the coloration of the fabric. The cloth wasn’t torn all that much and it almost looked like it was given to him as a gift – save for the small rips in it, most likely from tree branches and thorns.
“Y’ do a good job.” Folding the cloth up, the king placed it to his right.
A childish sparkle glinted in Ivan’s purple eyes and he rocked back and forth on his heels, like a child expecting candy for a job well done. “And my payment, sir?”
With a wave of his hand, Berwald summoned a large crate, so large that two men were needed to carry it. “Enough alcohol to last you until next month.”
“More like until tomorrow.” Ivan joked, two of his minions – a small trembling boy and a taller blonde man – coming out of the shadows to lift the crate of drinks. With the wooden box secured, he took his leave, waving slightly. “Pleasure doing business with you again~”
~*~
Sisia woke up in the middle of the night. Not from a nightmare, but from an unusual sound.
The sound of sobbing.
She peered out her window (she had a fantastic view of the back gardens) and saw a dark ball of shadows only visible with grace of moonlight curled up in the corner of the walls. Her eyes couldn’t see well in the darkness, but from what she could tell, it was someone she hadn’t seen before.
Timidly, she snuck out of her room, trying not to get lost in the wide hallways and made her way outside, following the muffled cries.
Eventually, she reached the man (as she found out when she got there) and it was indeed a stranger. His brown hair was mottled and dirty and he looked like he hadn’t eaten in weeks. His clothes were torn along the sleeves and pant legs and were barely being held together by woven feathers. There was a dark patch of something on his stomach, but it was partially covered by one of his arms.
“Um… Sir?” She gently placed a hand on his shoulder, causing him to jolt upright and back away. “Are you alright?”
The man, once seeing her, calmed down a bit and brushed her hand off of him. “I’m fine… just a bit stressed out.” He leaned back against the stone of the castle walls, using his other arm to cover his blue eyes.
Sisia nodded, wanting to help this poor stranger in any way possible. “I’m sorry… but may I ask what happened?”
He looked her up and down, making sure that she at least looked like she wasn’t going to tell anyone. “My best friend Feliks just passed away.”
Her heart reached out to him as did her hand as she placed it on his shoulder again. “My condolences…”
“Thank you.” He half-smiled, but it didn’t reach his dulling eyes. “I needed that.”
“Oh, and my name is Sisia.” She smiled softly, curtseying slightly (as she just remembered her manners). “What’s yours?”
He paused for a moment before accepting that she wasn’t a complete threat. “Toris.” He nodded his head (as he couldn’t bow in his sitting position). “Do you live in the castle?”
“No.” Sisia shook her head. “I’m just a guest.”
Toris seemed relived at that and sighed, leaning back again. “Good. I was worried for a second. People at the castle aren’t too happy with me.”
“What did you do?”
“I existed.”
~*~
News spread quickly about the Jabberwok’s latest kills: two young men by the names of Feliks and Toris. Feliks had been a young shop owner and tailor, running his business in the middle of the village surrounding the front of Heart Castle. He had been an unusual fellow, dressing up like a girl on occasion, but most lived with it since he knew what he was doing when he fixed (and sometimes made) clothes. Toris was his partner, handling the finances of maintaining a store and was almost lucky; he had made it back to Heart Castle after being chased through the forest and severely wounded late the previous night. However, something unusual happened and he was murdered by an unknown persons while he rested by the guest rooms. No one knows exactly who this person was, but a purple ribbon was found by the body, suggesting it may have been a young woman.
~*~
In the months passing the events with the Jabberwok, Vash threw himself into his training. He needed something to take his mind off his sister, Roderich and the fact he was supposed to be dead. It was the only thing that would actually work for him. He had tried reading, walking, picking up a new hobby like shooting, but nothing worked for him. Granted, he did enjoy shooting but it didn’t take his mind off of the problem. So when King Berwald suggested that he join the White Army, Vash jumped on that immediately. Normally he wouldn’t even THINK of betraying his beloved King Roderich, but this was different.
Roderich betrayed him instead.
And to Vash, it’s payback time.
That was his motto, but he began wondering if push came to shove, if he could actually hurt the king. He was now the enemy of his kingdom AND his personal enemy, but he had doubts about if he was able to do it. There was nothing more that he wanted than to be able to live with the King in peace and without having to worry about position or gender or what have you. And even though that bastard wanted to get him killed, he couldn’t bring himself to hate him.
Or could he? This was a matter of life and death. If he met Roderich out on the field, what would he do? Injure him? Kill him? He didn’t know and still had no idea what to do. And even if he couldn’t hate him, the least he could do was give him a good slap in the face.
In fact, he was in the middle of training one day, wondering about all of these questions and doubts, when a strange event happened. He was had finally gotten the perfect aim with his gun – a rifle, he believed it to be called – and was just about to shoot the bulls-eye target when the ground beneath his feet trembled and shook, like a giant was taking steps around the training ground. It violently rocketed back and forth and wouldn’t stop; the frequency of the tremors becoming so powerful that the usually limber duke was thrown to the ground, his arms instinctually flying up to his head in case of falling debris.
Seconds turned into minutes, minutes into almost an hour until finally the shaking of the earth stopped. When he felt it safe, he shifted to his knees, then his was up on his feet again, still confused as to what happened. He had never experienced something like that before, and quite frankly, didn’t want to experience it again.
“Mr. Zwingli!” Tino’s worried voice shouted. For once, the queen wasn’t wearing a dress; today he was wearing a white tunic and pale blue pants but as usual, was wearing his silver circlet. “Are you alright?”
He nodded, shaking some dust out of his hair. “I’m fine. Are you alright, Your Highness?”
“I’m fine. That was a terrible earthquake, wasn’t it?” He shuddered, rubbing his arms and looking around.
Vash assumed that was what just happened, which made sense to him. “Why did it happen?” He dusted off his gun and slung it on his shoulder, following the queen out of the training room.
“I’m not sure. Berwald thinks that it has something to do with a strange message from the Blue Caterpillar, but we can’t say for sure.”
Vash vaguely remembered the message (Alfred passed it on once he got word) and it wasn’t good at all. Something about the world being destroyed, but no one knew what exactly that meant since it wasn’t exactly raining fire or anything.
“We had sent scouts to the edge of the border, and they haven’t returned.” Tino ran a hand through his short blonde hair. “They were due to be back weeks ago, and they still haven’t come back… I’ve been wondering what had happened to them.”
“Perhaps they found something and have been investigating.” Vash suggested, trying to keep pace with the younger noble.
“Perhaps.” He dryly repeated, shaking his head. “But I’m not so sure. They would send out reports every few days, but we haven’t heard anything at all in the past three weeks. I normally wouldn’t be worried, but the Jabberwok has been making too many kills this past year. I’m concerned he may have killed them.”
~*~
If there was one thing that Ivan hated other than a lack of alcohol, it was being credited with something he didn’t do. On most occasions, being blamed for a death or two he liked – it gave him more to add to his reputation – but people were starting to wander into his woods to find him, something he’d rather not have happen. He liked his privacy and secrecy; it made him more formidable to others. Apparently though, he was losing his touch as more and more people started coming after him.
The fuming monster prowled his woods, dragging his pipe along the ground and occasionally hitting it against an ancient tree. They took him from him. They took his Toris. No one took his Toris.
The man was his favorite subordinate and some might call his only friend. Raivis and Eduard were his other two subordinates, but they didn’t care at all about his well-being. Toris did. He would take care of him when he was sick or injured regardless of how he was treated. As a matter of fact, Ivan liked him so much that he let him make his own way in the world and only bothered him if it was life-threatening.
So to hear that he was murdered by some woman pissed him off immensely.
That woman... He seethed, knocking down a large branch. She won’t live to see another day once I find her.
The only problem was actually finding her. The only thing he knew about her was that she wore a purple ribbon-
Just like the girl that wandered through his woods many months ago.
He had forgotten about her, seeing as how she was simply an innocent girl and clearly not from around here, so he left her alone. Plus, she looked like she was related to that Duke, so he didn’t bother touching her since that guy was kind of scary (even to him).
Now he wished he killed her when he first saw her, instead of having to hunt her down.
But the chase, he reminded himself, is half the fun.
