Breathing hard and slow, I pressed my back farther into the stone wall of the cave I was hiding in. The wolf thing was a little ways away, growling and sniffing the air in search of my scent. It turned in my direction and I closed my eyes and held my breath, putting a hand over my mouth to remain as silent as possible. To my relief, I heard it growl once more before it stomped away into the trees. I sighed deeply and slumped into the wall. When I peeked out, I saw nothing and I stumbled into the fresh air gratefully. Then I heard a noise from the bushes to my left and I hurried back into the relative safety of the cave.

I wanted to start looking for Cheshire's house, but I didn't want to run into the wolf again or something worse. Besides, I didn't even know where I was. I sat down and rested my head against the wall. I was sweating and covered in water from slipping and falling into a stream. The only reason the wolf hadn't found me was because the water washed my sent away. 

It was getting darker outside the cave and I could see the sun going down behind the trees. I was of two minds. If it was dark, whatever was in the woods might not see me. Then again, there might be more creatures out when it gets dark, and so far, none of the ones I'd seen had been friendly. I thought about my two options for a long time before standing up. I looked out of the cave and glanced around. The area was empty from what I could see. Cautiously, I stepped out and started walking towards anywhere. I was going to try and find my way home.

*******

Cheshire tapped his leg with his fingers anxiously. It was almost dark out and Alice still hadn't returned. He had been hopeful, but as the sun sank further and further, his hope dimmed with the dying light. The darker it got, the more dangerous the woods became as scarier creatures would begin their midnight lurking through the trees. Cheshire checked his wrong-clock and debated if he should head out early. The sooner he found Alice, the better.

After much deliberation, Chesh nodded and stood up. He grabbed a coat, then flung the door open and raced into the night. He hoped he wasn't too late.

*******

After an hour of walking through the pitch blackness and finding no sigh of civilization, I groaned. Everything looked the same to me, I had no clue where I was. When I turned a corner and came to yet another clump of bushes to push through, I sighed. "Maybe I should just sleep outside tonight and try again tomorrow," I said aloud in the slight hope someone would hear me and come to my rescue. No one did.

After that, I found a nice tree and climbed it to the top; after making sure there was nothing in it, of course. Then I sat with a leg on either side of the largest branch and put my back to the rough bark. My clothes snagged on twigs and it wasn't comfortable at all, but I felt safer with something at my back, and I sslowly began to drift off. 

I didn't sleep for long. There had been a noise. A noise woke me up with a start. Blinking sleep from my eyes, I leaned over the edge of the branch and peered down into the black abyss below me. I couldn't see anything, but I knew something had awakened me.

I was still searching the darkness when something suddenly landed on the back of my neck, knocking me off my branch and causing me to fall forward. Gasping in surprise, I tried to grab another branch, but my momentum was too great and I couldn't keep my fingers from slipping.

Tumbling over myself in the air, I landed on my back with a painful crash of twigs snapping off of the bush I had fallen on. "Ouch," I hissed as I sat up. I cradled my right arm to my chest for a moment before I realized I was on the ground. As quickly and painlessly as I could, I jumped up and looked around. There was a snickering from above me and I looked up to see a monkey with six eyes swinging and giggling from the branch I had been sleeping on. I glared at it as I walked away. I'd just find another tree to sleep in.

As I walked, looking for a shorter tree, it started to rain a light sprinkle. I let the water calm me down from my anxiety, washing my nerves away like a cold shower. It was quiet outside, save for the chirping of crickets, and I relaxed to the sound of the rain hitting the leaves and the music of the crickets.

Just then, there was a rustling from the nearby bushes and I froze, my fear returning. I stared at them for a minute, wondering what the bushes contained. Then they rustled again and I bolting away. I was exhausted from running so much earlier, and sore all over, but I forced my feet to go faster. There was no way I was taking the chance of letting something catch me off guard again.

I pumped my arms as I ran through the dark trees. Whatever had been in the bush had taken off after me and was running behind me. I didn't know what it was, but I wasn't about to turn around and look. Suddenly, something tackled me to the ground from behind and I shouted. I shut my eyes tightly as I kicked and scratched at it, my hand brushing something furry.

Realizing that, I opened my eyes and stuttered. "Ch-Cheshire...?"

The cat sat on top of me, more human than cat, with an undeniable look of worry on his face. "Alice! Where in the world have you been?" he asked.

I was silent as I stared at him, so shocked and relieved I didn't even have words. Then I sat up and wrapped my arms around his waist. "You don't know how happy I am to see you!" I gasped through hiccups of tears.

Cheshire seemed surprised, but he slowly put his arms around me and rubbed my back soothingly. "Calm down. I'm here now," he said.

I buried my face in his chest as I cried, forgetting that I was supposed to be brave, that I was supposed to fight a queen, forgetting that my life depended on my being strong enough no matter what happened around me. I had just been so scared. Cheshire picked me up carefully and walked towards what I assumed was home. When we got there, he put me in bed and brought me some tea. I had stopped crying by then, but I was still slightly out of it.

For a while, Cheshire just watched me as I drank my tea. When I was done, I put the cup on the bedside table without a word. Cheshire cleared his throat. "What were you doing out there?" he asked.

I looked at my hands that were folded in my lap. "I... was bored and you still hadn't come back, so I decided to look around," I said.

He furrowed his brow. "But you got lost?"

I nodded, still not looking at him. "Sorry..." I said.

He sighed, but miraculously, didn't seem angry. "You have no idea how worried I was," he said. "If you want to leave the house, please tell me or at least stay within sight of it."

"Okay," I said quietly. 

The air in the room was extremely thick as we sat in silence. I wanted to say something to break the tension, but I didn't know what to say. I was about to ask how Cheshire had found me when Chehsire smirked. "I didn't know you could be such a crybaby," he said, back to his usual cocky self.

I rolled my eyes. "Jerk," I said.

His smirk lessened into a real smile when I swore at him. "Now that's more like it," he said.

I didn't understand at first, but then I smiled too and we both started laughing. Our laughter got louder until we were so loud we had to lay on our backs to breathe. I squeezed a pillow to my chest, huffing breaths of air to blow my bangs out of my face. I smiled at the ceiling. "Were you really worried about me?" I asked.

Cheshire turned his head to look at me. "More than you will ever know," he said.

*******

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