Ominous clouds sprawled over the lands casting dark shadows and dripping with eager anticipation. Thunder began its low rumbling growl like a threatening animal. The air was heavy with what would seem to be condensation, but the inhabitants of Ever After knew the truth. A change was approaching, a change that will transform the current distortion of Ever After for better or for worse. A flash of lightning welcomed the heavy droplets of rain to lay its assault upon the saddened earth beneath their feet, Ever After was paving the way for its newcomer.

Meanwhile...

"Okay, text me when you two get home okay?" The blonde and the brunette simply looked at each other knowingly and then raised a brow at Mackenzie. "Okay okay, well text me when your done with your man-meals and home and safe. I need to know you two weren't hacked up into pieces and discarded in dumpsters around the city."

"Alright, you got it girly, but don't expect texts so soon." The blonde laughed and hugged Mackenzie goodbye. "Come on Anna, lets go show those two who their real daddies are."

"Bye, careful you two." Mackenzie hugged both Anna and Angel before leaving them to their nightly adventures in the club. They were practically sisters to her and had she an inkling of her fate, Mac would have hung onto them until someone or something pride her off. But she didn't know her fate and she carried on with her mundane life.

The streets became more and more desolate as she made her way home, moving further and further from the hustle and bustle of the clubs and restaurants. Thunder grumbled threateningly over head and she quickened her pace. She kept her hand in the pocket of her leather jacket, readying her pepper spray should she need it. And something deep within her told her she would. There was something different, something wrong, a feeling she couldn't fully describe.

Brows furrowed as she began to notice things that were, well...just out of place on her journey home; Beside a set of trash cans, a wooden wheel barrow. Hanging from someone's apartment window, bloomed purple morning glories. And she could have sworn she swatted a firefly from her face. Now, there's nothing obviously abnormal about these items except for the fact; no one uses wheel barrows in the city, much less wooden ones. It's two in the morning, much too late for morning glories to flower, and its in the middle of winter, way out of firefly season.

Could someone have drugged her at the club? Mac always did her best to be careful of such things. Or maybe, she had more to drink than she thought she had. Sometimes she was her own worst enemy, and her girlfriends only encourage such behaviors. Mackenzie stopped dead in her tracks, eyes widened ever so slightly, at the scene before her. Something so innocent encouraged fear yet seemed so tantalizing that Mac found her breath taken. A white rabbit, perfectly contrasted against the dark damp sidewalk crossed before her black high heels. The floppy eared cotton tail hopped its way into a dark alley, an alley from which an eerie yellow glow omitted.

A piece of her wanted to run the other direction, hug her friends and dance this eerie night away, but most of her needed to follow the white rabbit. Needed to know where it was going, pulled to it like a magnet leading metallic pearl. Upon turning the corner Mackenzie could see that the glow was coming from the mass amounts of fireflies in the alley. They stayed close together, huddling around an antique looking mirror. Mac's dark brown eyes caught sight of a reflection in the mirror, one that could be mistaken for hers. The girl staring back at her couldn't be her, with hair disheveled and tired tearing eyes. Yet the reflection mimicked every movement she made, beckoning her to come closer. Was the mirror lying or was it simply seeing deeper into Mackenzie, reflecting the sadness of her soul?

Mackenzie grew nearer, absent mindedly waving a damsel fly from her face. Nothing can obscure her vision of the mirror, it was too important. A lie? The truth? Her fingers stretched towards her reflection, wanting nothing more than to wipe the running mascara from her...its face. Just as she felt the coolness of the mirrors surface, it shattered, as if a mild explosion was set from behind her. The powerful air knocked her backwards, she almost lost her balance, damn heels. Then, as quickly as it exploded, it then imploded sucking the air, the fireflies and even the rabbit, everything until it had what it wanted, Mackenzie.

Mackenzie couldn't fight against the strength of its suction, and she found herself not wanting to. She disappeared within the black abyss of the mirrors frame. And the mirror, having devoured her whole, replaced its pieces and glistened ever so slightly.

The Queen of Hearts

It had started to storm. Dark clouds tinted the sky and lightning stretched it burning fingers towards the waiting ground. Rain burst forth from the heavens above as Mother Nature unleashed her fury upon the inhabitants of the realm. The air hung heavy with something the scent of something new, something different.

Ember took in a deep breath and let loose gleeful laughter as she raised her hands to the sky. By the deity above she loved this weather. It was dark, it was ominous, it was absolutely perfect. Standing there in her bare feet, the mud soaking into the bottom of her blood red dress, laughing like the maniac she was, Ember couldn’t have been more overjoyed. She had decided it this morning, and now the sky was rewarding her with this excellent mood setter.

The Queen of hearts was back.

There would be no more sitting around waiting for things to happen to her. She wasn’t just going to wait for opportunity’s foray. The Queen had a plan and she knew what she wanted. A kingdom, revenge, control over fate, fun, and a man to top it all off. It was time for her to stir the pot. The queen turned, striding gracefully through the mud, back towards the lair she abided in. Behind her, far off in the distance, lightning stuck the ground and flame began to ravage the crops of a local farmer. She smiled, this would be fun.

She stepped into the foyer of the “lair” in which she had found herself to be living. Scowling, the queen looked around. Once she had controlled a kingdom and lived in a castle, which was far greater than the place in which she currently spent her days. Scowling, her hand lashed out, knocking a perfectly positioned vase to its doom on the floor below. It shattered and the pieces danced across the floor. Ember smiled, that always made her fell better.

She walked over the shattered particles, and grabbed another identical vase from the closet. Placing it on the pedestal she grinned, every time she walked into the place she broke that vase. Sometimes she even broke it on the way out.

---

Christopher Robin

Great.

It was raining.

Christopher scowled; he’d been planning on tracking down Roza, or possibly Alice. It didn’t really matter which one. But now this obnoxious rain had started and, well, there was no way he was going outside. If somebody wanted to talk they would just have to walk down to his apartment in the village and knock on the door. He figured Roza’d be the one to do that; Alice had to be more secretive.

If there was anything in the air other than water it was lost on Christopher as he scowled at the outside world.

“Another 10 points to the suckish side of life.” He muttered to himself. He didn’t know when he’d started keeping score, or even what the score was, but Chris would often award points to whatever side of life showed up. However, despite not remembering the details, Chris was pretty sure the suckish side was winning. The positive-people-are-stupid group was probably a pretty close second.

Muttering a few profanities to himself Christopher stalked away from the window and flopped down on his hammock/bed. At least rain made good background noise for sleeping. He could just doze the storm away as he lazed about. But before he could really truly settle in a knock came from his door.

He grinned; perhaps Roza had come to weather out the storm. Moving lethargically he slouched his way to the plain brown door. Opening it, he was disappointed to find that it was not his slightly annoying but still good-looking girlfriend; it was some old dude and two little girls who were presumably his daughters.

“Excuse me sir, do you suppose you could point me in the direction of-“

Christopher slammed the door closed. As a good guy he was obligated to help the man. But as a bad guy, well Christopher had no reason do any such thing.

Roza Huntress was out in the forest when it started to rain, she had her red cloak and her hood was up. In her hands she held her bow as she was planning on hunting down a deer so she would have some food for the week but the rain ruinded her plans "Damnit this is one of the last things I needed" she muttered out loud as she walked through the forest. She kept her eyes open and made sure to listen to every sound that was made, she could never be sure when to wolf would decide to sneak up on her.

She started to make her way back to the village of Feather Brooke Kingdom, she decided to go spend some time with Christopher. She has been worried about him lately because of his fowl mood but she decided to let him be the last couple days hoping his mood has changed. She walked the roads, nodding and saying hello to a few villagers that she has passed. Roza was known around the village for her generosity and help, she often shared what she hunted with the less fortunate villagers and because of that she has made a name for herself, though everyone still called her Red, it was the name that she has been going by since she was a child. Only few called her by Roza.

As she got closer to Christophers place she saw a man and two little girls walking from the door, she took a good look at them and saw the man look at her and asked her for directions to the nearest bread store. She smiled and pointed them in the right direction then continued her way to Christophers place. When she reached the door she knocked three times then stepped back as she waited for Christopher to answer. She was drenched from being in the rain but she didnt really mind, she actually enjoyed the rain but wwhat she didnt like was how dark the clouds looked.

Alice drifted in and out of consciousness. The rolling thunder would jar her awake, but then warm, soft breaths on her hair and steady rise and fall of his chest would lull her back to sleep. Eventually the thunder won out and her bright blue eyes fluttered open.
Her brow furrowed, confused for a moment until she looked up at a sleeping Peter and her memories came flooding back to her in a rush. Her head was against his chest, and one arm was draped over her as he slept. She was war, and comfortable there, reluctant to move although she was sure it had to be past noon.

Alli closed her eyes, tempted to fall back asleep but the growl of thunder fully awakened her. She sighed then carefully moved Peter's arm, and stood up.
She quietly collected her clothes and dressed as the storm progressed.

Alice stood in front of the window, watching the storm somewhat worriedly. The window shuddered, as rain hit the glass harshly and lightening flashed in the distance. They didn't get storms like this often, ad when she was little she was terrified by thunderstorms. She still got jumpy, even now.
Her mind went to Christopher. She avoided thinking about Christopher when she was with Peter, and Peter when she was with Cristopher but each still found their way to her. It was undeniable she had strong feelings for both, but was clueless as to what she should do. Ignoring it seemed like the best option.

With a sigh, she turned back to Peter with a bright smile. She sat on his bed where she had been lying moments before, with her les crossed. "Now this is the fun part. We have to find a way to sneak me out. And it's storming pretty bad out there. And it's pretty late in the day, so everyone is probably awake, and up and about."

Prince Adam staggered up towards a wall in the undercroft near the dungeons. He was groggy, his clothes were all torn and shredded, and he was in a good deal of pain. He had spent the whole night before testing his limits as the Beast. It was exhausting, painful, and downright sickening. He had been transforming more and more throughout the weeks, and he needed to get a handle on it. However, it was difficult to do that, and keep the castle from knowing his secret. He limped his way over to the wall, and pressed the brick that opened the secret passage.

On the other side, Prince Adam found his trusty majordomo, Cogsworth. He reached a hand out to assist, but Adam gave him a look all to familiar to Cogsworth, so he backed off. "Master," he said nervously. "Lumiere has the other servants distracted. We must get you to your room in the west wing before they lose interest." He looked the prince over and added "I must say, we must also get you into different clothes. You look dreadfully out of order, your shirt in rags willy nilly, all over the place." Adam couldn't help but chuckle. Cogsworth; neat and orderly to the last. As they went through the deserted corriders he said "Tell the those in the castle that I am sick, and require a day of bed rest. That much, at least, is true. I hate having to lie to my loyal servants like this." Cogsworth shook his head, and responded, "Well, it's for the best Master. Panic would spread rapidly if the servants found out you were becoming a beast again. Not everyone is so keen to be household objects again, though I'm not sure Lumiere would mind. He did enjoy himself in that state." Cogsworth couldn't help but look over his prince again and say "I understand the uncontrolled transformations being painful, but the controlled ones?" "The controlled ones are painful in there own way." Adam responded. "Instead of the Beast breaking free, I have to force it out."

They finally arrived at his quarters, and Adam slipped in. "I'll tell Lumiere to drop the act." said Cogsworth. "Please get some rest, Master. I'm sure you will feel right as rain tommorrow." With that, Cogsworth left to the halls. "If only it were that simple, Cogsworth." Adam said to himself. He changed back into a new shirt and pants, and slipped in bed to recuperate. He looked out the window, and saw a dark storm outside, echoing the feeling in his heart. The return of the Beast only signified one thing: he was losing Belle. That alone was tearing at Adam tremendously. She was becoming more distant every day, and he didn't know what to do. Adam was too exhausted to persue this train of thought after his night as the Beast, and quickly slipped into the oblivion of sleep.

Chelsey was in the library of the castle, as always. Books were scatterred all over the table, the books of any story in Ever After. Chelsey was so caught up in the stories, trying to figure out a solution to help her mom and the whole realm to all the troubles that has been happenning. The thunder that strike made her jump in her seat and squeals, she looks up at the big window at the dark clouds that gathered. She got up from her seat slowly and walks to the window, watching at the storm with wide eyes.

But it was not the storm that scared this little girl so much, even tho it did scare her a bit. It was what the storm brought with him, something is about to be change. Chelsey was on the verge of tears because she didn't want it to get worse, however she looked again outside and than smiled. Someone is coming, that is the change. She than jumps in joy and ran from the library, passing guards and servents, as she passed them quickly making some servents jumping out of their way as they dropped some clean sheets. Everyone looks at Chelsey surprised that this girl looks so joyful.

Chelsey ignored everyone and bursts into the room where her mother was checking some papers and documents of the kingdom, Snow White jumped in fright when someone bursts into the room and she sighs in relief seeing her daughter. Chelsey jumped into her mother's arms and smiles. Her mother asked her what is wrong, or what happenned. Chelsey looks at her and with a happy grin, "Mom, she is coming....". Snow white looks puzzelled, "Who?".

Chelsey replied, "The chosen one....". She hugs her.

OOC: I NPC Snow White cause no one took her yet, sorry.

Walking home through the rain she hugged herself in her jacket, looking up into the dark thundering sky she just wanted to get home to Peter who was no doubt asleep. Oh Peter... He hung in her mind, Does he make her want to be with him, for ever and ever? Maybe he does, maybe he doesn't. She smiled up into the sky and laughed, "I might see Christopher again soon," She whispered to herself. Getting to their apartment she unlocked the door and stepped in, turning on the hallway light she yelled so Peter could possibly hear her. "Peter, Im home," taking off her wet jacket she stepped into the lounge room and turned the light on. Not here... She walked to the kitchen calmy and turned on the kettle. Must be sleeping...

Captian James Hook

James woke up, grogy eyes looking up to a strange ceiling. When he rolled his head to the right, he saw a girl tucked under his arm. A girl he didn't quite remember from the night before. Carefully and skillfully, he manuvered his way out of the bed stretching and beginning the search for his clothes. He slipped out the front door, still buttoning up his dress shirt from the night before. This often happened, most nights actually, he figured most the girls knew him and how he was so it was rare he felt guilty for all the one night stands he had. The Captian had walked all the way to the Red Queen's little lair when it began raining. He felt the weather didn't fit the mood he was in. He was quite happy actually. It was odd, it wasn't often that he, or any other bad guy for that fact, fell in lov- actually James had a policy on using that word, so instead he just finds himself confused as to his affections towards Ember. Entering her little lair, and hoping the queen was there, he called out, "Ember? I came for a little visit. Possibly plot for a bit of kingdom take over." James noticed the broken vase on the ground and the exact same vase on the table, shrugging as he walked further into the house, a small smirk on his face.

---

---

Mad Hatter

Zac slowly walked on a trail, he'd been walking since early that morning, he found he was restless and couldn't sleep, a short walk to clear his head lead to a long winding walk through the forest, getting lost a few times. He wanted badly to go to Alice's house, to talk to his friend, but each time the thought came up he reasoned with himself that it was a bad idea. Soon it began to rain and he made his way back to a village near the castle. He lifted a hood on his head, wrapping the cloak tighter around him to keep warm. He walked past the castle walls, a flash of a wide smile enought to satisfy the guards he walked past. The great thing about working for both sides is that neither side knew he worked for the other as well. Zac had stumbled upon the little princess reading in the libary. He wandered around the ailses for a while then as he was going to talk to the princess, she had stood and ran out. Curiosity getting the best of him, Zac followed. It was easy for him to sneak about, he had to be good at it after basically stabbing both sides in the back. He stood outside the door she entered, listening in on her conversation with the king. The chosen one? Why this was out of the blue. The last time someone had shown up at random was Alice. His heart ached at the thought. She was his good friend at first, then his feeling grew and now he wished he could just confess to her and get the rejection over with. Lost in thought, Zac sunk to the ground, sitting by the door and staring off into the distance.

Mackenzie Alicia Aisling

She found herself in black emptiness, unable to catch her breath. Her body floated weightless, swaying with a gentle rocking. Is this what death is like, a peaceful dark nothingness? The realization sent a panic through her very bones. If this was death, she wasn't ready, she hadn't even begun to taste the fruits that life had to offer.

A flash of light temporarily blinded her, then another. She swam through the black abyss towards the light and found herself surfacing through breaking waves. After slightly overcoming the disorientation, Mac was able to maneuver herself through violent rain towards the shore. When she grew tired of swimming, the ocean offered its assistance, waves rearing at her back and pushing her forward.

After what seemed like an excruciating amount of time, Mac made her goal. She laid on the pebble beach a moment, allowing the rain the pelt her. She was confused and exhausted, leaving no room for fear. A moment turned into an hour and an hour turned into several. Both emotional and physical strength had left Mackenzie as she laid there, drifting off into an uneasy sleep.

Peter Pan

Comfortable was an understatement, he had the warmth of a beautiful woman to keep him warm and the storm only ushered sweet dreams to Peter. The thunder reminding him of Hook's cannons as they took aim against him and his lost boys, back to more adventurous times. Had he not had the distraction of Alice beside him, he might have picked up on the subtle notes in the air that hinted of more adventures to come.

His restful sleep was disturbed when Alice decided to move, though he made no indication of it. He watched her silently as she collected her things and dressed with a slight smirk on his face, watching her dress was almost as half as fun as watching her undress.

He winked in her direction when she turned and realized he was watching. He sat stretched his rested muscles as Alice sat on the bed. "Now this is the fun part. We have to find a way to sneak me out. And it's storming pretty bad out there. And it's pretty late in the day, so everyone is probably awake, and up and about."

At first, the answer seemed simple. He would just fly her out then, people generally don't seem to notice what's above them. What was a developing smile, faded to a more concerned look. His flight isn't what it used to be, not with the realization of his unhappiness with Wendy. The answer suddenly became more complicated, as he didn't want to share his flaw with Alice.

"Peter, I'm home,"

CRAP! What was stopping him from storming out there, Alice on his arm, and flipping a big F you to Wendy? Well, there was a piece of him that still cared about her, even though he left everything that made him happy for her. And there's been nothing in return, he missed his old life. It wasn't just one thing he left, he left his home, his family, his adventure. And all he has in return is her love and the same day in and day out routine. Nothing really changes, even her stories have gotten boring.

"Alright, I'll have to distract her while you sneak out the front door, only company leaves through the front door. No one will suspect anything." Wendy grew up with the hustle and bustle of London, the city life is where she was more at home. So their two story apartment lies between the center of town and the edge of town, a 50/50 compromise. He threw on his pajama pants and kissed her hard on the lips. "Sorry babe, but you've faced worse things than rain. Now you'll actually have a good excuse for wearing your hood around the neighborhood."

He placed another kiss on her neck before walking down the stairs and into the kitchen, yawning and stretching loudly. "Oh hey honey, I didn't hear you come in. I can't believe you braved this nasty weather." Peter grabbed Wendy playfully by the waist, with no regard for what she was doing. He turned her to pull him into her, moving to lean across the counter. This would of course put her back to the hallway. "Hey, why don't we do something spontaneous today?"

Abel Cheshire

Abel was bored. He'd been consistently bored for well, some time now. Everybody was too concerned with running around, trying to repair their broken relationships and nobody had any time to play with him. Fancy that! People not having time for him... What was the world coming to?

He sat on the rocks, overlooking the pebble beach, slightly mesmerized by the waves as the gently kissed the shore. It was almost trance-like.. It was just that trancing out wasn't really Abel's 'thing'... It was all too slow paced and not nearly chaotic enough. He pulled a cigarette from the pocket of his waist-coat and lit it, inhaling it's calming effects gratefully. It's slow-burning embers made a pretty highlight to the otherwise all-too-dark backdrop.

He found himself in quite the predicament. Not only was it raining, leaving him and his cigarette a soaking mess, but the ground beneath where he sat was drenched by the waves and rain and he didn't want to get down, least he risk becoming damp and dirty. The very thought of all that dirt and sand sticking to him repulsed him. He hugged his knees to his chest, wondering how ever he might get out of this situation.

"Goddammit. Why does this always happen to me?" he whined, adding drama and theatrics to his tone, solely for the purpose of entertaining himself.

"Oh shut up. S'if a little water could muck up your pretty face, anyway. Your beauty is untouchable", he continued, rolling his eyes in response to his previous whining.

"You know, you're absolutely right. I'm simply wonderful. Besides, I'm already saturated", and with that, he leaped down from the rocks, agile as the feline blood which coursed through him and turned to leave the beach behind. He was feeling like tonight was the kind of night to grab his guitar, climb a tree and serenade himself with love songs under the moon... Wait, wait, wait... It was always a night for that.

And then something caught his attention, a crumpled form down by the water. "What the..." he muttered, bracing himself for the waves as he strolled towards the figure, his curiosity piked... His curiosity would surely be the death of him.

He knelt beside the unconscious female form and poked at it, his head cocked in intrigue. "Er... you're kind of getting wet there, you know?" he said. On closer inspection, he noticed that this girl was not native to Ever After. He knew everybody in this damned place, and she was not familiar to him. Well, this certainly was interesting. "Well, now. A new-comer. And how the hell did you get here?" he spoke, kicking the girl lightly to wake her up.


Abraham Lupus

"Checkmate" the servant said, looking into Abraham's eyes with a all-too-confident look. If only she'd known that she really shouldn't have done that. In one ferocious swipe, Abraham swept the chess board off of the table, the pieces scattering to the ground as his eyes glinted silver.

Abraham took a deep breath, trying his best to control the change. He really, really couldn't stand losing... and to a servant of all things. A female servant at that. "Well, Lydia, you've pissed me off now. I hope you're pleased with yourself. And put that cigarette out. How many times do I have to tell you not to smoke inside?"

The smell of smoke made his head hurt. Lydia stood, dropping her head and apologizing meekly as she stubbed out the cigarette on the mahogany table, which elicited a scowl from Abraham. Lydia couldn't hide the faint smirk from her face.

"It really isn't amusing, Lydia. Go make yourself useful for God's sake" Abraham said, standing up and brushing off his coat, looking not at all pleased. How was it even possible for him to be bested by a servant girl? To make matters worse, Lydia was always pushing his buttons and he swore she did it intentionally, like she thought it was hilarious to piss him off or something. She wouldn't think it was funny when the day came that he couldn't control the shift and slashed her to bits, would she? No. He didn't think so.

He marched towards the front door of the lair, anger overly apparent in his stride, the scowl seemingly tattooed upon his features. He knew today would be a bad day for him as soon as he woke up and found his white roses wilted... that was a bad omen.

He strode out, heading towards the forest. He was hungry, on the hunt. He was searching for the one thing he knew would sate his ever-present appetite... Red.

Why was it that ever since he'd stolen the Love Stone, all of Ever After was so completely backwards, and still, Red did not desire him? Yeah, yeah, he killed her grandma... but so what? He didn't mean to, and hell, that was a long time ago. She should be over it by now, the whiny bitch.

Oh well. Eventually, she'd want him. He'd make her.

"Soon, honey ... Soon you will be able to meet your mommy and daddy."

Kathryn, also known as Cinderella, having had changed her name when she had married her Prince Charming, gently stroked her stomach, cooing softly to it. Although it had yet to extend in any way, she still took pleasure in rubbing her stomach and speaking softly to the small being that was slowly growing inside of her.

She moved over to one of her rosebushes, plucked up a white rose, and pressed it to her nose, inhaling slowly. The scent swept around her, engulfing her and only intensifying her serene state-of-mind, and as she broke the stem, she smiled gently. "You can't let daddy know though, not yet," she purred, slipping the white rose into her only-slightly-darker hair.

Thunder tore through the sky, successfully startling her, and she jumped, her hand clutching her chest. "Goodness! That scared ten years from my life," she breathed, rubbing at her forehead. She took in several deep breaths to slow her heartbeat, then tilted her head back to face the darkening sky. Only moments before, it had been sunny outside. The birds had been chirping, a gentle breeze had been blowing, and several animals had been scampering throughout her seemingly-endless yet beautiful garden. Now, however, the sky was quickly turning black and stormy, and thunder crashed, lightning quickly answering it with a reacting flash.

"Oh my ..." she murmured, frowning up at the dark mass above her. One droplet fell to her cheek, where it slowly trickled down and fell off towards the ground. It was followed by another, and another, and another, until the entire sky was crying. The rain poured down upon her, and she quickly pulled the hood of her light blue cloak up and over her head. I should return to the castle before I catch cold ...

With that thought in mind, she hurried back to the castle, ducking inside before it turned into a complete downpour. She was still drenched and chilled, but not tremendously so, and this would be easily fixable with a warm bath and dry clothes.

"Princess Kathryn! My goodness, what on Earth has happened to you?"

Kathryn looked up and tossed the wet hood of her cape, back from her head, her eyes traveling to one of Charming's footmen that had been assigned to protect her until he returned from his trip. She smiled at him, untied her wet cape, and placed it in the laundry bin that sat beside the door.

"I was merely caught in the sudden downpour. There was no harm done in that. However, I would like it very much if you would fetch a maid and ask of her to fill a bath for me," she requested. He snapped his fingers and a maid appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, and she laughed a little. The things this man will do in order to please Charming and myself ...

They spoke briefly, and once the maid was gone, the footman, also known as Gerald, passed a towel to her, which she accepted gratefully. She wrapped it around her body and sighed a little as warmth began to seep through her.

"Have you any idea when my husband is due to return?" she asked, nodding for Gerald to walk with her to the bedchamber she normally shared with Charming.

"We received word that he would be here later on today. The exact time is unknown, however, and seeing as this rain had just appeared out of nowhere, it may slow his return down."

Kathryn felt her lower lip go out in a slight pout. "How depressing," she sighed as they reached her bedchambers. She smiled at him and they said their farewells, and she immediately made her way into her room. She shut the door quietly behind her, and turned back around to see a bath warm and ready beside the fireplace, where a fire was crackling in a welcoming manner. She smiled in joy and quickly made her way to the tub.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Flopping back on the bed, Kathryn sighed, her boredom evident. What to do when it's raining so terribly outside?

She shot up as a thought intruded her mind. "I can finally organize the library!" she exclaimed cheerfully. She shot like a bullet from the bedroom, ever the little kid when it came to books, and made her way down the hallways to the library.

Ever since she had married Charming, he had ordered her not to clean, cook, organize, or, well, do anything really, and it was driving her absolutely insane. She couldn't help the fact that she had grown up as a maid; she actually enjoyed cleaning a lot of the time, and managed to sneak and do so every chance she got.

She made her way into the library and quietly shut the door behind her, then turned back to survey the room. Books were strewn to and fro, with papers mixed into the mess, and many of the books on the large, endless shelves, were out of order.

"Oh, what a mess!" she exclaimed, moving further into the room. She clapped her hands, and several birds swept in through the windows, where they shook off their wet feathers and chirped happily at her. She smiled down at them. "Hello everyone, it's nice to see you all again. Would you mind helping me clean and organize this room?" The chirps that followed were all the answers she needed. She went to work, the birds assisting her in doing so, and she sat down on the floor, her skirts pooling around her legs, books surrounding her in stacks.

Christopher Robin

Christopher went back over to his bed before lying down and letting out a long sigh. He snuggled down into his covers in a most un villain-like fashion and prepared for a long day of nothing. But once a gain before he could settle himself down a knock came from the door. Gah! Christopher swore to himself, if that were the same guy back to ask directions he’d smack him across the face.

Getting up he opened the door to discover it was not the obnoxious lost traveller, but was actually his kinds irksome, but still hot, girlfriend. Christopher smiled (though truth be told it was more like a sneer.) Leaning against the doorframe so that Roza couldn’t get inside he said slowly, “Hey Roza wazzup? Enjoying the weather?”

---

The Queen of hearts
Embers muddy feet created a trail that led from the entranceway to the kitchen. She sat deep in thought as she aggressively stirred her coffee. Sure it was all well and good to say she would get started doing stuff, but first she had to actually plan out what she was going to do.

It was actually a bit of a relief to hear the voice of James call out, "Ember? I came for a little visit. Possibly plot for a bit of kingdom take over." Ember set down her over stirred coffee and rushed out to greet him, grinning like a lunatic.

“Isn’t this the most enchanting maximum of weather you have ever seen?” She laughed, grabbing his hands and twirling in a circle around him. Letting go she flung out her arms and did a few more spins as she reveled in her current joy, “It is an absolute perfect mood setter!”

Turning back to him her mood switched to serious, “I quite agree with you on the need for a bit of kingdom take over. I can’t decide between kidnapping and assassination, which do you think would be supplementary pleasure?”

Roza was shivering at this point, her cloak was no longer dry and now her skin was becoming wet from the downpoar. Her arms were crossed as she tried to keep in any warmth. She was about to turn and leave to head home, not thinking that Christopher was home but that was when the door opened and Christopher was leaning against the door, something was clearly different about him but she couldnt figure out what.

"Hello Christopher, and no I am not enjoying this weather. I am freezing and it ruined my time to hunt" she was getting a bit annoyed and frustrated that Christoher has yet to let her in the house. "Are you going to let me in or do I have to go home because I am clearly not in the mood to deal with this today Christopher. I dont know what is going on with you but I have no patience to deal with it today" her voice had an edge to it as she was clearly getting upset. She was shivering and she was afraid the wolf could come out at any point right now at this thought she looked over her shoulder just in case then looked back to Christopher.

"Peter, I'm home,"
Alice cringed when she heard Wendy. She wasn't heartless- she felt really guilty about Wendy. She loved being with Peter and didn't mean to hurt Wendy, or Roza, but her attraction to Peter and Christopher always ended up winning. She wasn't a terrible person, though. At least she didn't mean to be.

"Alright, I'll have to distract you while you sneak out the front door, only company leave through the front door. No one will suspect anything." He told her, and she nodded once. "You've got it, love." She grinned and gave him a kiss, wanting nothing more than to cuddle back up against him. With a sigh, she stood up and waited a moment as he left.

Alli waited until he heard him loudly speak to quietly slip out of the bedroom. As she very quietly slipped down the hallway, she watched Wendy carefully to make sure she didn't turn around. Wendy's back was to her and Peter was facing her. She winked at him and was headed for the door when she slipped on the slightly wet floor.
Her hand automatically reached out to grab the closest thing to her, which happened to be a windowsill.

Alice's hand slid across the windowsill, and a stray splinter caught her skin. It cut across her palm, and embedded itself in her skin. A light yelp escaped her as she fell on her bum. She quickly covered her mouth with her uninjured hand and glanced at Peter with wide eyes. 'Sorry!' She mouthed as she tried to keep her blood from her cut hand from spilling onto the floor, or on her clothes.
She flinched as she looked at her palm painfully and slowly worked her way back up into a standing position.

Mackenzie Alicia Aisling

The slight nudge made her jerk and gasp as she was jarred awake. For a moment she thought she fell asleep in the shower again, soaked and hung over from the night before, but the pebbles pressing against her cheek told her otherwise.

"Where am I?" She asked groggily as she slowly raised herself off from the ground in baby steps. First she wiped away the sand from her face, spitting up the water she had gulped down in her fight for life. Her body began to shiver to generate the heat her body was hungry for. Once sitting up she decided to make the move to stand. The motion was painstaking, finally on her feet and barely balancing with her black heeled booties, she finally looked upon her...guide?

He was a handsome and well dressed with shaggy hair that strategically straddled the line of just got out of bed and kept. Though at the moment, it was increasingly being weighed down by the flood being reigned down on them from angry skies.

"Please, I...I really can't...I just want to go home." She stuttered through chattering teeth, arms wrapped tightly around her frame.

Captain James Hook

As James walked further into the house, he noticed foot prints, but didn't need to follow them too far before Ember ran out of the kitchen to greet him. His expression would have been perfectly serious if it wasn't for the eyebrow bent in curiosity of the woman's oddly bubbly behavior. The spinning took him a bit by surprise and he had to hold his head until the room stopped spinning. It's like being drunk without the fun... James thought to himself, even his inner voice carrying sarcasm. But it did remind him, it had been quite sometime since he had a drink, practically half a day. He walked towards Ember's kitchen, speaking as he did so. "Well if it's satisfaction you're talking about I'd say both. It's like drinking, you can't go wrong with whatever it is you've chosen, but where's the fun in having only one drink?" James found what he was looking for, a cabinet just for alcohol. Most of it was red wine, which was typical for Ember, but he found what he was looking for, some good old brandy. He paused for a moment, contemplating on getting a glass but just forgot about it, drinking straight from the bottle. James walked back out, sword in hand, "And while we're at it, lets add some torture into the mix. It's always fun to hear pleas for mercy." he slashed the air, as if he slashed at a person. He put his sword back in it's holder, taking another chug from the bottle. He'd always imagined doing the same thing to Peter Pan once he captured him, and damn it he tried to move on and let go of his obsession of capturing the boy, mainly because it made him sound like a pedophile, but as much as he tried, he couldn't get over the frustration of never being able to capture a measly boy. A scowl crossed his face and he took another chug of brandy. James disregarded the thought, turning back to Ember, willing the scowl to leave, replacing it with a smirk.

Christopher Robin
Christopher almost winced from the harshness in Reds voice. She was not in a good mood. But that was okay with him; it was kind of funny to watch her get angry. As he stepped aside to let her enter his house he made sure to do so slowly, that way he could milk her furious expression for as long as possible.

Christopher watched her glance over her shoulder and saw the worry that was in her face after her outburst of rage. He smirked, she was still watching her back waiting for the big bad wolf to come and get her.

“I don’t see why you haven’t killed the guy already.” He said, automatically assuming shed would know whom he was talking about. After all, it was the only person she would conceivably consider offing. Truth be told, Christopher might have gone after the wolf himself were it not for the fact that he was far too lazy to take on such an endeavor.

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The Queen of Hearts

Torture was a good idea, it was always enjoyable to watch their blue blood turn red as it reached air and their previously cocky attitudes melt as the were consumed by tears and screams of pain. Torture was definitely a good idea.

She didn’t bother to ask where James was going as he went further into her home. The guy was an alcoholic if there ever was one, she suspected that were he ever captured the people who did so wouldn’t even need to torture him as he’d been going through too much pain from withdrawal. Perhaps she ought to find a way to cut off his Alcohol intake, it would be fun to watch him unravel. Though chances were he would no longer assist her in any evil plots after such an escapade.

When Ember reached the kitchen, a few seconds after hook had cracked open his brandy, she had decided between kidnapping and assassination. Kidnapping was the obvious choice, and she had just the plot to go with it.

“Perhaps, we should kidnap someone who is a lower level person. Someone who isn’t very well guarded. But, it should be someone who is liked by a lot of people. We tell their loved ones should they ever wish to their precious person again, they must kill the queen.” She said, drawing out the last sentence for dramatic effect.

She could picture it now, the queen dead, and the poor fools hoping their dear one would be returned, finding the dead and mangled body left for them by the queen of hearts. The kingdom would crumble.
If it worked.

Wendy Darling

Wendy filled her cup of tea and was surprised as she heared someone yawn loudly behind her. I must of woke him up "Oh hey honey, I didn't hear you come in. I can't believe you braved this nasty weather," She heard him say, "You know me, always up for an adventure," Wendy smiled at Peter she was grabbed by the waist and turned around as he leaned against the counter, She looked into his eyes, Wendy remembered the days when all she could do was look into his eyes and smile. "Hey, why don't we do something spontaneous today?" She heard Peter ask, "Spontaneous like what? You mean Exploring or Something?" Wendy laughed slightly, then she heard a thump, it was coming from behind her, Wendy turned around to notice Alice standing there holding her hand in pain, Wendy suddenly had a thought that Peter was cheating on her. No, he wouldn't do that to me...Would he? Wendy just made herself think that she was over for a visit or something, "Oh, Hello Alice nice to see you, When did you get here?" Wendy smiled at the hurt Alice in the meantime horrible thoughts flooded into her head.

"He doesn't love you anymore so he is cheating on you with Alice," Her mind taunted her.

"No, Peter wouldn't do that, After all the things we have shared we wouldn't!" Wendy shouted in her Mind.

Wendy Darling

Wendy filled her cup of tea and was surprised as she heared someone yawn loudly behind her. I must of woke him up "Oh hey honey, I didn't hear you come in. I can't believe you braved this nasty weather," She heard him say, "You know me, always up for an adventure," Wendy smiled at Peter she was grabbed by the waist and turned around as he leaned against the counter, She looked into his eyes, Wendy remembered the days when all she could do was look into his eyes and smile. "Hey, why don't we do something spontaneous today?" She heard Peter ask, "Spontaneous like what? You mean Exploring or Something?" Wendy laughed slightly, then she heard a thump, it was coming from behind her, Wendy turned around to notice Alice standing there holding her hand in pain, Wendy suddenly had a thought that Peter was cheating on her. No, he wouldn't do that to me...Would he? Wendy just made herself think that she was over for a visit or something, "Oh, Hello Alice nice to see you, When did you get here?" Wendy smiled at the hurt Alice in the meantime horrible thoughts flooded into her head.

"He doesn't love you anymore so he is cheating on you with Alice," Her mind taunted her.

"No, Peter wouldn't do that, After all the things we have shared we wouldn't!" Wendy shouted in her Mind.

Chelsey giggles and got up from her mother's lap quickly and ran to the door. She turned her head and said, "Come on, mom, we need to find her....." She opened the door and with a rush she didn't notice the Mad Hatter sitting there, staring at the door. She bumped into him and fell on her bottom softly, not to hard. She lifts her head up and smiles, "Oops...I'm sorry....". When she noticed it is the Zach she got up and jumped in joy. "Hey Hatter! can I have another riddle, please? I love the last one!". She jumps around him as she waited for her mother to come to with her.

Peter Pan

"Anything. Remember when it was us against the world?" His question was heartfelt, but split between two women. Half of the emotion was reminiscent of Wendy way back when, when for a brief of time, she was both his damsel in distress and warrior woman. Her weapon of choice was her way of words. The other half was directed towards his present relationship with Alice, whom was passing through Wendy's shadow with a wink.

Suddenly, the worst thing that could have happened, did. He winced slightly as Alice fell, for more than one reason. Wendy turned on her heels, that's it, the gig was up. Decision time has come a knockin' on his door, a decision he didn't want to make. Damnit!

"Oh, Hello Alice nice to see you, When did you get here?" Wendy asked and Peter couldn't believe his ears. Wendy barely flinched! His jaw dropped in disbelief behind Wendy, is he really this lucky?

"Yea, Alice. What brings you here?" His voice was full of astonishment, and he wasn't acting that. He scratched the back of his head nervously, holding himself back from tending to her wound.

Maleficent

The Raven flew through the window of the tallest tower unphased by the downpour. It landed on a golden perch ordained in beautiful jewels and diamonds. The room was barely lit, save for the roaring fireplace casting eerie shadows. The shadows danced provocatively with the flicker of the flame, but one shadow stood out from the rest. Its feminine figure stood from the glorious chair it was sitting in and walked over towards the bird.

"Hello, precious." She stroked its obsidian feathers endearingly. "What news do you have for me." Her tone was low and sultry as her blue eyes stared into Diablo's black eyes. The images the Raven contained reflected in its eyes, and in turn, reflected with in Maleficent's eyes. She watched the scene between Ember and James unfold as the Raven witnessed it.

"Interesting, who knew Hook liked his women bat shit crazy." She chuckled lightly to herself. "Go and find, Gaston, this will need a little bit of tact." A lazy wave of the hand and Diablo was off through the window again.

Maleficent is as powerful as she will ever be, though she will never be as powerful as she once was. And now seemed like the perfect time for sweet delectable revenge against Prince Phillip and the sweet little princess who defied her powers. The only problem was the three little fairy fucks placed a hell of a spell over their kingdom, activated with their lasts breaths. Feather Brooke is now safe from Mel ever having to enter, but not for long. All she needs is for one of them to lift the curse, an invitation, whether formal or informal, will lift the curse. This is where Ember comes in, though she's a few cards shy of a deck, she has an exquisite ability for manipulation.
All she needed was for Gaston to propose the idea to Ember. Maleficent didn't generally play nice with others.

Alice wanted nothing more to be out of there when Wendy turned to her. Awkward was a huge understatement. "Oh, Hello Alice nice to see you, When did you get here?' Wendy asked her politely, but she could see a flicker of mistrust in her eyes. Hurt. This was exactly what she had wanted to avoid- her guilt threatened to swallow her whole. She opened her mouth, then closed it again as she struggled for the right words.

"Yea, Alice. What brings you here?" Alli's eyes flicked to Peter when he spoke. Avoiding Wendy's steady gaze, she squared her shoulders and flicked back her light blonde hair with a light smile. "I was on my way to visit the queen when I heard the storm coming. I've always been somewhat frightened by thunderstorms, so I took shelter in the closest place I could find. Peter let me in, but I'm not surprised that he doesn't remember. He was half asleep."
She offered Wendy a half assuring smile, trying to ease the pain in her eyes and her own guilt. She really wasn't a very good liar but she really hoped she was believable.

"Anyways, do you mind helping a bit? I'm not usually this clumsy." She chuckled, glancing at Peter with a smile as she held up her bleeding hand and suppressing a wince. "Somehow I managed to fall, cut my hand, and get a splinter. Sorry."

Mad Hatter

The Hatter's train of thought had seemed to run completely off the rails as in one moment he thought and pondered on his love for Alice and the next moment he was wondering why the colors were named what they where. But Zac was snapped back into the real world when someone crashed into him. Okay a little too dramatic, someone tripped over him. He looked around panicked, as if he would be attacked at any moment, only to find little Chelsey smiling cheerfully at him. In an instant, Zac was smiling brightly, "Why, hello princess, and good day." Raising his eyebrow a little at her, "A riddle huh? Why I don't tell riddles do I? I suppose it can't be helped, if a rooster is on top of a roof and lays an egg, which way does it roll? Why roosters don't lay eggs, hens do! There is no egg!" Zac paused for a second before his smile dropped, "Oh well, I suppose I should leave you time to answer... Ah, if i recall, you still haven't answered one of my riddles: Why is a raven like a writing desk?" he said tilting his head to the side. Alice hadn't answered that either, no one had really...

---

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Captain James Hook

James could feel himself grow more cheerful and playful from each chug of alcohol he had, grinning as he tossed the now empty bottle and searched for more alcohol, grabbing the first bottle he found. "Isn't well guarded and loved by many... I must say, no one comes to mind." he admitted, "But the plan itself is brilliant, I'm sure it will work out splendidly." the last part was slightly muffled as he tried to open his new bottle with his teeth. After a slight struggle, he finally got the top off and he smiled triumphantly. Then turned his attention back to Ember, "I must admit I'm rather excited for this plan to progress." James took a big gulp from the bottle, giving a wide cheesy smile.

Abel Cheshire

Abel scowled at the bedraggled form which stood before him. Well, she really wasn't much to look at, was she? At least not in this sate, all wet from the sea, looking like a lost kitten. He might have offered her a jacket, had he had one... and if it would have done much good, considering the rain still poured upon the two of them as they stood.

"Tut tut, why is it always me that's left to guiding lost maidens? I don't really think I'm cut out for it", he muttered, his mind drifting to the days of Alice, the girl who fell down a rabbit hole. Speaking of Alice, he hadn't seen much of her as of late... Hmm...

"Well, woman, you're in Ever After, the land of rainbows and butterflies or some shit like that... Well, at least it was until... Never mind that, what the hell am I going to do with you?" he said, folding his arms across his chest as he pondered whether the woman was even capable of standing up on her own. He pulled another cigarette and lit it, using his bowling hat to shield it from the rain, though it wasn't entirely successful... With a look of frustration, he threw the damp cigarette to the ground, watching the wavers overcome it and sweep it away.

"I suppose you'd better come with me, then" he grumbled, not looking entirely happy about having a tag along but it seemed cruel, and even too selfish for him, to leave the confused girl here to drown alone in this crumbling world. He sighed and offered an arm to her, refusing to look her in the eye as he did so. He was he, you see, and it was in his most self-righteous opinion that he had far, far better things to be doing then baby-sitting girls. Like preening, for instance.

"Woman, I don't think you're going to be leaving here all too soon. There isn't exactly a road which will lead you back to your world or anything... Sorry to disappoint. I'll er... Just come with me, out of the rain and stuff" he said, feeling the need to get out of the rain himself. Saturation really wasn't all that becoming of a werecat.

Abraham Lupus

The forest had it's calming effects on the werewolf. He enjoyed being alone. For one, there wasn't anybody else around to annoy him. Also the fact that nobody could upset his ego... well, that kind of helped a lot to. He couldn't stand being mocked, having his delicate ego bruised... Lydia had sure better hope he was in a better mood when he came back or she'd be sorely wishing she was a terrible chess player.

Abraham decided the best way for him to find his prey was by shifting into wolf form. His senses were far better that way, smells becoming overwhelming and the softest sound becoming clear to his ears. Of course, that was easier said than done. The shift was never painless and the search for clothing afterwards could oftentimes be... well, humiliating.

Regardless, if there was one thing that would make him feel satisfied, it was Red, so shift he would... and find her, he would. He let out a horrific groan which would have scared off any creatures in a two mile radius, for sure, as his bones began to dislocate and reset, as a human form became that of a canine. Claws shot from his hand and feet as they molded into paws, his organs shifting and squishing within him (certainly NOT a pleasant experience, perhaps somewhat like corseting only worse, he had wondered), jaw elongating in a feeling so excruciating that the first few times Abraham had shifted, he had passed out. New teeth jutted out of his gums, pointed and dog-like. His tail bone stretched to form a tail, the tension at his neck and skull in this part sheer torture, and his ears grew up wards, sliding up his skull and stretching the skin.

Finally, when all bones and organs had shifted to form a wolf, the dark fur sprouted all across his body as man became wolf. The growing of fur was certainly the easiest part of the metamorphosis. Now, all of this happened in under a minute. The transformation certainly didn't take long and all of that unbelievable agony was felt in such a packed moment of time. It was a fact that the biggest cause of death for werewolves was their first few shifts... Many could not withstand the agony.

Now in the body of a strong, large, black wolf, Abraham's senses were going off like crazy. He could hear the ants carrying food across the bark of trees and he could smell the fish in the streams kilometers away. The whole forest was alive and Abraham could sense every tiny part of it. Being in wolf form was the greatest experience a man could have, or so Abraham firmly believed.

And there it was. Red's scent, her intoxicating scent, the scent which drove him mad. It was fresh, too. She'd walked these paths just recently. He let out a powerful howl as he set on her trail, racing through the woods, moving through the bushes and brambles smoother than he would have had he been in human form.

Eventually, he found himself outside of Feather Brooke Kingdom. His claws sank into the dirt, kneading it as he growled in frustration. He wouldn't step foot in there, in this form or any other. You might say Abraham was not on good terms with the people of this land... for several reasons. He lay down outside of the kingdom, waiting in the bushes, his silver eyes ever watchful. He would wait and she would come... and then she would be his.