Raven

[Fey]

@redletalis

​

Out of all the ridiculous things Tara Arley has done in her twenty-something years, this without a doubt tops the list.


“Damn bird! Give it up already!” The girl shouted up at the tree above her as she hurled yet another stone through it’s branches. A small black raven sat perched atop one of them, looking entirely unruffled as the small rock went flying straight past it for the tenth time now. Tara huffed in frustration, glaring at the delicate silver chain glittering between the creature’s beak. A necklace. It was a gift from her late grandmother, a priceless and precious memento that Tara held very dear. One moment she had been on her way to her job at the bookstore, minding her own business when the darned thing swooped down and snapped it right off her neck! Before she knew it, she was pushing through crowds and past busy streets in chase of the bird, the only thought in her mind being that she had to get it back no matter what.


Surprisingly enough, she somehow actually managed to follow the bird all the way here despite how fast it was. In fact, if she didn’t know better she’d even say it was taunting her with the way it kept hopping higher up on the tree and flapping its black wings at her, almost as if daring the girl to come after it.


Tara sighed and turned her attentions away from the raven for a moment, deciding to take a look at her surroundings instead. She ended up at the small park on the north side of the city, utterly barren aside from a few benches and a couple of measly trees. The only notable thing about it was the old oak which stood before her, honestly. She was quite relieved that there was nobody around right then, as she already felt ridiculous enough as it is standing there shouting at a tree without anyone giving her weird looks for it. It was already midday though, and she was getting nowhere with this. Tara turned around and shook her head tiredly. Perhaps it was time to accept her losses and go home? It wasn’t as if she could outfly a bird afterall.


Without warning, a loud “CAW!” behind her broke her out of her thoughts and she whipped back in surprise. The girl's eyes widened, watching as the necklace slipped out of the raven’s beak and caught on the branches below. Then with a flutter of wings the bird was suddenly gone, leaving Tara alone with the silver chain dangling dangerously high above her head.


“Oh, are you kidding me…? How in the world would I ever get up there?” Tara muttered under her breath, eyeing the huge tree looming over her. There was only one choice, and she knew it wasn’t a very wise one. But she already came this far and she wasn’t leaving empty-handed.


She circled around the trunk, stepping over what appeared to be an old abandoned rabbit burrow at the base as she surveyed the best place to begin her climb. Gripping the first low-lying branch in sight, she pulled herself up with a grunt and started slowly making her way to the top. After a while the palms of her hands began stinging from the rough texture of the bark and she was certain she was going to have blisters after this, and each time her foot slipped her heart might’ve just skipped a beat or two. But Tara just kept her eyes on the necklace and continued on.


Some time and a few close calls later, there it was - the gleaming pendant was hanging just an arm's length away. One more step, and she’d finally have it back in her grasp. Chest fluttering with a mixture of excitement and relief, the girl eagerly reached forward for the necklace and lifted her foot onto the underlying branch for support. The moment her fingers curled around the thin chain, something snapped sharply beneath her and before Tara could even realize what was happening, she was plunging down through the air.

~~~

​

Down, down, down. Would the fall never come to an end?


Tara knew that tree was pretty tall, but it wasn’t this tall. She couldn’t really tell from all the broken clocks floating around her, but it felt like she’d been flying down into the dark for what felt like hours now. After a while she got used to the odd sensation and although she was still very much confused, Tara didn’t mind it as much anymore. She managed to avoid colliding with any of the furniture and random appliances tumbling about, and had even found an (unfortunately empty) can of orange soda lying in a fridge somewhere. Just another one of those weird dreams, she thought.


But then, things started to get… a little disturbing.


Everything rotted, fell into pieces as if torn apart by some invisible force. Old cracked tea cups, deformed chess pieces, clocks spinning backwards and giant playing cards torn and stained red with something she dared not to acknowledge whirled around her. The non-stop chiming of a grandfather clock pierced the silence and an off-key music box played eerily somewhere in the distance, the unsettling sounds setting her teeth on edge and sending shivers up her spine. Louder and louder. The endless darkness around her suddenly became suffocating, she couldn’t breath, the black was closing in on her —

~~~​

When Tara opened her eyes again, her head was throbbing and she was feeling like she had just tumbled down a flight of stairs. A really, really long flight of stairs. Pulling herself up on her elbows, she blinked a few times and waited until the world stopped spinning so she could figure out where she was. She could feel cool grass between her fingers and there was a small breeze blowing her hair into her eyes, so she knew she had to be outside somewhere. The girl sat up and pushed her blonde locks out of the way, seeming to snap out of her daze a little as her eyes landed on the sky. It was... purple. Not the natural hints of color one might occasionally catch during a sunset, but a kaleidoscope of swirling shades of violet, magenta and lavender all blended together. Tara found herself struck speechless at the sight. She tore her gaze away and carefully stood up, her bewilderment clear on her face as she took in the rest of her surroundings. All around her were what appeared scattered pieces of what must have once been a very nice checkerboard floor, and remnants of an old run-down house. “Oh my, I must’ve hit my head pretty bad to dream something like this up...” She mused.


While trying to decided on what to do next, something shiny on the ground caught her attention from the corner of her eye. She stepped over and picked it up, looking down to find the tiny key-shaped pendant in her palm. “All this trouble for one little necklace…” Tara sighed, even though the sight of the familiar charm did make her feel a little better. She quickly slipped the broken chain into her pocket.


Tara frowned as she moved her gaze across the clearing, meeting the treeline of the forest surrounding her. She couldn’t quite put her finger on it, but something about this place felt… off. Despite being in the middle of a forest, it was completely, utterly, silent. Not even the singing of birds or the rustle of the leaves and grass. Everything was still, too still.


The girl shook it off as a weird quirk of her imagination and stepped forward towards the trees. She had no idea where she was going, but wasn’t going to get anywhere just standing around all day.

 

[redletalis]

He stumbled over her by sheer happenstance. Raven had been on his way from Here to There, taking the long route around through Tulgey Woods, when he had come across the remnants of the chessboard once used by the Red Royals and the White Royals for settling disputes. It was barely visible anymore through the tall, thick, razor-sharp blades of grass. The human, however, was painfully obvious.


It had been a long time since there had been humans in Wonderland. A very long time. A large number of the denizens of this place had almost started to think the humans a legend, or extinct or just magically cut off from the Wonderland, but here was the proof that they had been wrong. Because Raven was staring at a human. A girl. Perhaps a woman. He wasn't quite certain exactly what the differences were in the human mind, but she was definitely a female.


A female human.


This could be either really good or really bad.


Or just really annoying and not go Anywhere. Then again, here certainly wasn't a good place to stay either. There were enemies all around, and everyone would love to get their hands on a human. Raven looked around at the cold, pale trees, and the fog sneaking through the grass. It was so cold that his breath showed, and it was deadly silent. There was a familiar, coppery scent slowly sneaking through the air, getting stronger. Raven knew that scent, and he turned back to the human at once. She was stumbling along, making all the noise in the world, and with no idea what was approaching.


They both needed to move. Now. Before they were caught by the hunting beasts of the Autumn King or worse, the king himself. Raven would hardly wish that fate on his worst enemy, let alone a valuable female human.


"Female. This way. We need to leave this place." He called to her, keeping his voice at a whisper and as calm as he could despite the worry he was starting to feel. "Hey. Do you even hear me?"

 

[Fey]

Tara pulled her navy blue jacket closer around herself and sneezed, shivering against the cold seeping through the thin fabric. She didn’t notice it as much before, being far too focused on her bizarre surroundings, but it was actually quite chilly out here and her fingertips were already beginning to turn a bit numb. Was it even possible to feel cold in a dream? She had no idea.


The girl squinted past the ashy trees, trying to see if there was anything else besides an endless forest laying beyond the clearing. Getting out of here and finding a nice cozy place to take shelter in seemed like a great idea right about then, but the ground was too misty to make out any paths. Wandering around aimlessly in the wilderness, on the other hand, didn't seem very appealing at all. Still, Tara knew she only had two options at this point: either stay here and freeze, or keep going.


Just as she was about to enter the woods, something made her pause. It was too quiet to make out but sounded suspiciously like a voice coming from somewhere nearby.


“...Hello? Who's there?” Tara called out uncertainly.

 

[redletalis]

Oh, great. Marvelous! She was not only human but she was also heading in the Wrong Direction. As he flitted like a shadow through the trees and tall grass, Raven privately wondered if all human were like this. The only human Raven had ever heard tale of was that Alice girl and by all accounts she had been very weird indeed!


Raven appeared out of the shadows along the treeline to the right of the human female, and gestured to get her attention and then to make her come closer. He looked around worriedly as the coppery tang in the air got stronger, and he froze up for a second when he thought he heard baying. Imagined barking and baying or not, the Autumn King was getting closer. The trees of the wood were starting to groan in a non-existent breeze, protesting the hunting party's passing.


"Quickly! This way!" Raven hissed and gestured for the female to hurry up. "Come quick! They will soon be upon us! We need to get away!"

 

[Fey]

Upon catching sight of the man to her side, Tara jolted in surprise. Just a second ago she’d been certain that there was nobody there. Was the fog playing tricks on her? There was only a wisp of it clinging to the forest floor, yet it was the only reasonable explanation she could think of. Surely she would have heard someone approaching in the dead silence otherwise. He motioned her over, throwing wary glances around them as if searching for some hidden danger lurking through the woods and Tara hesitated, curiously following his gaze.


When the trees themselves began to hum with unrest and the very air around them suddenly became heavy with something foul, a chill she knew wasn't just from the cold this time crawled anew up her back. Something was out there. And it was moving here fast. Too fast to be any normal wild animal she knew of.


Whatever it was, Tara had a feeling she didn’t want to stick around long enough to find out.


At the man’s words, the girl gave a short nod and sprung into action, swiftly moving up to follow behind him. There were about a thousand different questions buzzing through her mind, such as who "they" were, but she decided it'd be best to keep them to herself for now and focus on moving forward as quickly and quietly possible instead.

 

[redletalis]

He stepped out far enough from the shadows of the trees to grab her wrist, and then he started to pull her along. "Come, it is not safe to stay here. Bloodhounds are hunting in the woods today. We need to get away to There or to Morrow. Your questions will have to wait."


The ground amongst the trees was covered with dead foliage and branches, edges razor sharp and cutting, but brittle as well. There was no way to avoid leaving an obvious trail behind them and the scent of coppery blood was getting stronger in the air. Raven thought that at one point he heard the bloodhounds barking, and set up a faster pace. Ignoring the grasping branches Raven forced their way into the dead wood. It was even colder between their trunks, and dark. Far darker than should be possible. Not to forget the eerie, growing silence as what little life there was in the forest was settling down in fear.


A rare snapdragonfly fluttered in up in front of him, squeaked and then sped off towards the safety of the upper branches of a tree. A second later the tree's branches lashed out, grabbed the snapdragonfly and brought it to the single hole in the tree where it was consumed.


Well. The trees were mostly dead.


Raven wisely turned left and away from that one.


He pulled her along, stepping over poisonous mushrooms, giant fallen trunks covered with black, corrosive lichen and moss, and avoiding thorny vines hanging from trees. Even the trees themselves, dead as they seemed to be, appeared to reach for them with spiky, knobly bare branches. Behind them came howling and vicious barking as the bloodhounds finally caught on to the scent of fleeing prey.


"We need to hurry." He muttered and hurried on, pulling her into as much of a run as he could in between the trees. "We will have to hide, we cannot outrun the bloodhounds now, they are too close. There is an old cottage not too far from here, it belonged to the Mad Hatter and the March Hare. We can hide there. Hurry!"

 

[Fey]

Tara didn’t really understand what it was that the man was trying to tell her about tomorrow, but she brushed it off and concentrated on the more urgent matter of getting out of there and hopefully not getting mauled by whatever beasts out there were chasing them. She did her best to keep up, never once allowing herself to slow them down. Unfortunately, being unused to such rough terrain in the city meant the girl was nowhere near as graceful as her guide. Shrubs and thorns snagged at her feet and clothes constantly, and she was certain she would've been rolling in the leaves already if it weren't for the hand pulling her forward.


At the sounds of their pursuers now alarmingly close behind them, the forest quickly became a blur around her as the man broke a run. Tara’s gaze flitted around the darkness, unable to discern any one turn from another as they maneuvered through the dense wood. She didn’t dare glance back, the fear of finding something much more claw and tooth than just the trees at her heels keeping her eyes fixed on the path ahead.


“Oh, that's good, because I, uh - really don’t think I can keep this up for much longer anyway.” Tara replied breathlessly, forcing herself to go faster at the promise of somewhere safe. If she looked hard enough, she was certain she could spot a hint of a thatched roof somewhere between the twisting branches...

 

[redletalis]

They could barely hear the rustling behind them as the bloodhounds came crashing through and, behind the hounds, there was the roar of a hunting horn. The sound was sharp and high, cold and long. It went into the bones and stayed there, spreading a coldness from inside to match the cold outside.


"The Autumn King is hunting. Hurry!" he pulled harder and forced her into a full out sprint when the breeched through the trees. The clearing was cold and a thin mist covered the overgrown grounds. Like at the pool the colours were grey and muted, the grass was knee high and razor sharp. Several burnt out skeletons of old houses were rising eerily into the air. In the middle of the clearing stood a crooked, thatched cottage that was almost completely intact. It had two floors, the whitewashed walls were more grey and chipped, the windows were broken and the thatch badly needed replacing. There had once been a chimney but it was long gone now, and the various tables and mismatched chairs lay abandoned on the grounds in front of the cottage. Teacups and teapots of various shapes and sizes were thrown around, smashed and littering the grounds like snow, crunching underfoot.


Raven ran up to the door, dragging the human female with him, only to crash to a halt when it refused to open. The door was locked from the inside and no matter how much Raven pushed it refused to open. The smell of coppery blood was stronger than ever, and the barks were almost at the edge of the clearing.


"Stay right here." Raven said to the female and then forced himself against the door agian as if he was trying to push it open. Instead he started shimmering and sliding through it. Like a ghost.

 

[Fey]

“Uh... I don’t think that’s going to --” Tara began, letting out a shocked gasp as the man phased through the door right before her eyes. How…? She blinked and cautiously touched the door with her palm. Nope. Solid wood. The girl frowned. This dream really wasn’t working out in her favor.


And in case she wasn’t yet completely convinced of that, the sudden growl coming from behind her left no doubts.


Tara froze. Slowly, she turned her head to the source of the sound and her eyes widened when she saw the beast standing at the edge of the clearing. It was nearly twice her size and she knew it was only the first of many that would soon be upon them. The animal resembled a wolf, but at the same time it was unlike any wolf she’d ever seen. Instead of fur it’s body was covered in leaves. A stunning array of reds, oranges and yellows - the colors of autumn, she realized. It’s paws were dark bark, spurting sharp claws that nearly rivaled the vicious gleam of it's teeth currently bared in a snarl.


The animal began to move in, and Tara quickly found her back pressed against the door as she tried to put as much distance between them as possible. “H-Hey - not to rush you in there or anything, but if you could open the door like, right now, that’d be great!” Tara called back frantically, her tone fighting off a bit of a panicked edge at the end.


An unexpected yelp tore from the hound several steps in, and she watched in confusion as it suddenly began pull back into the woods again. It circled the clearing and growled low at the ground, clearly wary of something. Tara’s gaze flickered down, and she immediately understood what it was upon spotting the shattered tableware hiding between the blades of grass. Sharp bits and edges pointed up threateningly, promising a painful time to anyone who dared wander in unaware. The pair of golden eyes bore into her patiently from the shade of the trees as others began soon appearing alongside it, seeming to surround the sad little cottage that stood in the center. A low string of growls resonated through the clearing, and one could almost feel the heavy stench of what she now realized was blood blanketing the space.

 

[redletalis]

It took a moment before he had completely phased through the wooden door. He took a few seconds to become solid again and check that everything was there and that he hadn't left anything of himself behind, or gotten a part of himself stuck inside the door which was almost worse. That was always embarrassing. And awkward. And surprisingly painful.


Grabbing the first plank barred across the door, Gabriel pulled it off. He repeated the same process with the other two planks, opened the door with a jerk that broke the rusted lock, and reached out. He latched onto the female's arm and yanked her inside and then went about locking and replacing the planks, hammering the nails in with a stone that had once shattered one of the windows. Once done Gabriel turned around and pushed the human towards the rickety stairs leading up.


"We need to get high. Bloodhounds cannot deal with heights. Quick. Get as high up as you can." He said and crouched down. A few brushes of his hands pushed away the dust and dirt enough to reveal the faint outline of a secret hatch. Gabriel lifted it just enough to disturb the dirt and dust and then followed the human female upwards.


The entire cottage shook as a bloodhound threw itself at the door.