Chapter 2

Marik opened his eyes slowly, groaning at his throbbing head and sore tail. His vision was blurry, and from the looks of the leaves above him he'd fallen out of the tree he'd perched on. It wasn't a first, but he'd never knocked himself out before. He forced himself to sit up gently in case he's hurt anything vital or broken any bones. When he didn't feel any excruciating pain he sat up quicker, wincing when he felt areas that he knew would bruise later on.

Upon looking around, Marik realised with shock that he wasn't in the compound of the circus anymore. Hell, he didn't even think he was anywhere near the city either. The forest he was in seemed to go on for miles, and it was a lot creepier and darker than the woods around the place he called home. Standing up gingerly, the blonde lion scanned the area for any sign of life and found nothing what-so-ever. Panic took over for a second or two before he growled and told himself to suck it up and start trying to find a way back.

He'd taken two steps before he realised he'd forgotton something. Looking around by his feet and on the ground nearby he discovered he couldn't find the Ringleader's hat. He'd had it when he fell, Marik was sure of it. He bit his lip in worry. He'd definatly get a harsh whipping from Akefia if he'd lost the thing. Deciding to try and not worry until he'd at least some idea where he was, the blonde began walking in a direction he hoped would lead him somewhere useful.

Marik was soon able to locate a narrow dirt path, which of course meant he was at least going in a direction that someone had planned out. The more he walked, the wider the path grew until he reached a fork in the road and couldn't decide which way to turn. He let out a low grumble of annoyance and plonked himself down in the dirt, stubbornly refusing to walk any further until he had some indication where he was. The fork didn't even have a sign saying which way was which.

Sighing heavily, the tanned male wondered where on earth he was, if he was even on earth at all. He knew the forest around the circus wasn't this big or deep from many experiences running and chasing the other members of the circus (a few civillians as well), so Marik was completely clueless as to where exactly he was. The ground felt unfamiliar, he didn't recognise any of the scents and smells of the greenery and flowers around him, and to top it all off his feet were already hurting from the amount of walking he'd done. He hoped sitting in the middle of the path like he was that someone would come along and give him directions.

The lion's thoughts began to drift slightly. He pondered a few ideas that this all might have something to do with Akefia's hat. The shimmer he'd seen didn't look like glitter now that he thought about it. Could it have possibly been something else? A portal? A doorway maybe? He wouldn't deny that something completely out of the ordinary happened, then again his life at the circus was anything but ordinary. A normal day for him included scaring visitors, chasing people, getting whipped by the Ringleader, teasing the other members of the circus and just generally terrorising anyone he came near.

His ears suddenly twitched as they detected movement behind him. Marik turned to look down the pathway, seeing nothing until what appeared to be a young man came into sight, running a quite a pace. The blonde lion stood up quickly as the other boy approached, but he didn't seem like he'd be stopping any time soon. Choosing to be a bit devious, Marik stuck out a leg as the boy charged past him, causing him to trip over with an undignified yelp of pain. The lion watched with his head cocked to the side curiously before crouching down next to the other.

"Gah!" The boy screamed when Marik suddenly appeared in front of his face. He scrambled back quickly in fear.

"That wasn't very nice." Marik almost pouted, a little amused at the boy's antics. While he tried to catch his breath and calm himself down, Marik got a good look at the other male. The pale skin, white hair, big brown eyes and soft features reminded him of one of his friends who worked as a clown in the circus. Ryou was his name. In fact, Ryou looked almost exactly like the boy now cowering in front of him, except for the long sleek rabbit eats protruding from the top of his head.

"Uh, c-can I help you, Mister?" The rabbit-boy stuttured politely.

"Where am I?" Marik growled, unintentionally but he was getting frustrated with not knowing.

"You're in Spades Forest, s-sir." The rabbit told him, "The largest forest in Wonderland."

"Wonderland?" Marik cocked his head again. He tended to do that when something peaked his interest. "Where's Wonderland?"

The other boy clearly didn't know how to answer him, and he shook in panic about replying. "W-Wonderland is just... h-here. I-I don't know w-what you mean, M-Mister Lion."

Marik grumbled low in his throat and stood up again. "Just my luck to get stuck in some place that doesn't make sense." He snarled to himself, looking around at the dark and dense forest around him. His gaze went back to the pale rabbit-boy in front of him, who once again cowered under his gaze. "Relax, I'm not going to eat you. I don't like rabbit."

"Th-Thank you, sir!" The rabbit was obviously over-joyed and got to his feet immediately. He pulled a bronze pocket watch out of his waistcoat and suddenly shrieked. "Oh my goodness! I'm late! I'm late!" He whimpered. "His Highness is going to kill me."

Marik raised an eyebrow in wonder. "His Highness?" He mused out loud, staring at the rabbit while he flustered about. "Well, go on then, if you're going to be late." He told him. He wanted to be alone now anyway. The rabbit-boy's cuteness was annoying him.

"Thank you, thank you!" The white-haired boy bowed low before him, which amused Marik greatly. "My name is the White Rabbit should you ever call upon me, kind sir." And with that, the rabbit darted off down the left fork of the path and dissappeared into the darkness.

"That wasn't weird at all." Marik mumbled under his breath, beginning to walk down the right path, not wanting to bump into that rabbit again.