When Alice woke up, the first thing she noticed was how comfortable she felt. The second was that there was a slight pressure building up in her skull like something was lightly pushing out from the inside. Alice rubbed her temples, and it dissipated a little.

Alice sat up, noting the sheet that fell off her upper body as she did so. Still a little drowsy, Alice studied her surroundings.

The trees and wildlife were replaced with log walls and a stone fireplace, a crackling fire burning within, spouting both sparks and a fragrant scent of burnt wood. A quaint rocking chair was nearby, along with several brooms hastily pushed up against a corner.

Alice looked down. The bed she was on was much better than the one back home in all aspects, more akin to one a rich commoner would possess. Alice got out of the bed and started when she touched the creaky floor without the slightest bit of pain. Rewinding her memories, Alice was confident she’d gotten severely injured from the last attack. In fact, she should be dead. So why wasn’t she?

The only person who could answer that was the person who saved her. Alice tip-toed out of the room, lightly closing the door behind her. She was in a short hallway, two other doors lining the walls. Faint sounds were echoing from outside the hallway, and Alice followed the noise into what seemed to be a living room of sorts.

The ground was covered with a carpet, and Alice stifled a gasp as she realized it was the skinned flesh of a bear. There was another fireplace in this room, although it was inert and cold. Above the fireplace, a sword hung on a set of hooks. Nearby, there was a small altar with candles and flowers on top of a miniature desk, a picture frame in the center of it all, the person inside being too far away for Alice to discern their features. As Alice’s eyes scanned the room, taking in everything with awe, they finally landed on a figure sitting down on the carpet.

He was stout; even while he sat down, Alice could tell he’d only reach her shoulders if he stood. A gruff beard tangled with beads and threads covered the lower half of his face, but his electric eyes locked onto her. He had broad shoulders and wore a plain gray shirt and pants, held up by a shiny belt. One of the fingers on his left hand was missing, severed by the looks of it, with scar tissue running over its length. He had long, flowing hair as well, more beautiful than any woman Alice had seen in her village.

”Whatcha you standing there for?” he asked, his voice hoarse and gravelly. Alice flinched, not expecting him to talk so soon. Her thoughts were too sluggish, dulled by the weirdly insistent pressure in her head.

”Um, I-!” Alice stammered. The man raised an immaculate eyebrow and Alice's heart stuttered to a stop. What was she doing?! “Thank you!” she blurted.

He sighed. “That’s right, you should thank me. I take you in, heal you, give you a bed. . .by the way, I expect you to clean that bed before you leave. I want it spotless, is that understood?”

Alice started, taken aback by the rebukes. She had been expecting something a little more…heroic? Alice flushed as she realized how unrealistic that was. Of course, he would get angry at taking in a dirty girl and her ruining his bed. But then why did he even help her in the first place? As she thought about this, the man coughed, drawing her attention back to him.

”Oh, right! Of course, sir!” Alice exclaimed, expecting him to reply one way or another.

Instead, the man got up and sat at an entirely different desk, pulling a banana out of nowhere and munching on it. Alice chuckled awkwardly; he’d really left her hanging!

Alice forced herself to breathe and relax. He probably just assumed the conversation was over. That was fine, understandable, even. Alice simply had a few more questions to ask.

”So…” Alice sidled nearer to him. Just as she’d suspected, he didn’t bother looking up from his banana. A spark of indignation burst into life inside her chest. What was so interesting about a stupid fruit?! She quickly stamped it out though. He still saved her from bleeding out in the forest. “You said you saved me?”

He grunted. “Course I did. What, you think you willed yourself back to life and dragged yourself here? Dream on, kid!”

Alice flinched at the loud volume. She hadn’t said anything of the sort, he was putting words into her mouth! Alice exhaled sharply. She believed she was starting to understand what type of person this man was, and it did not appeal to her at all.

”How did you discover me?” Alice asked. The question had been nagging at the edge of her consciousness ever since she’d realized she’d been rescued. She had been deep in the forest when she fell victim to the second boar.

The man sighed, waving his hand flippantly as if that would brush away her questions as well. “I was minding my own business when I heard a ruckus in my forest. I went out to see who the hell was disturbing the peace, and what do I find? A disgruntled little girl, who couldn’t survive in the forest if her life was on the stake. It was interesting watching you struggle against the board and I could have left your lifeless body lying on the ground but…let’s just say I didn’t want your decomposing body to attract unwanted attention.”

Alice flushed, her emotions broiling underneath the surface. Talk about being callous! Alice narrowed her eyes when she realized something off with his statement.

”So why didn’t you help me during the boar attack?” Alice asked.

If he had said something along the lines of, “I was scared,” or “I didn’t want to risk my life for a stranger,” Alice would have thought it to be completely fair. They had no connection to one another, nothing that would make him want to fight a monster for her sake.

Instead, he said this: “Because, I didn’t want to interact with a bratty child such as yourself unless it was absolutely necessary.”

Silence permeated the air of the room as Alice stared at the man with mild disbelief. He stood up, pushed in his chair, and went back to the carpet to kneel on the fur. A fire ignited in Alice’s eyes, and a storm of righteous anger rippled through her mind.

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”What kind of response is that?!” Alice asked. She fumed, arms locked in place and fists clenched tightly at the side. The man looked up and when Alice saw him looking more bored than everything, she was ready to fling the table at his infuriating face.

”A response. That is what you wanted, was it not? You asked a question, I supplied a response, I think we’re both happy. Well, maybe you’re not, but I don’t care what you feel,” he said.

Arm shaking, Alice nursed her migraine. How could somebody be so insufferable?! Alice closed her eyes, whispering prayers to the gods for strength. She was going to need it all to converse with this dunderhead.

“You’re saying that you left me to die just because you didn’t want to talk with me?” Alice said, wishing to confirm it. The man groaned, pointing a finger at her.

”That’s what I said. Don’t make me repeat myself twice, understood?” he asked.

Alice struggled against her desire to smack him over the head. As much as she hated to admit it, she’d be in the wrong for attacking him after he saved her regardless. She’d just leave as soon as she was done cleaning the bed sheets. No need to stick around in somebody’s house, especially not his!

Alice was about to do just that but then something occurred to her. She’d gotten taken out of commission less than 24 hours after going into the forest. Alice had planned on learning the ways of survival as she went, but the way things were going, the odds of her living long enough to adapt wasn’t in her favor. Not to mention, she had no idea where to go. If she went out right now, what was to say she wouldn’t simply find herself in the same situation?

Her mind shot into overdrive trying to figure out a solution to this, but there was really only one that was available to her at the moment. Alice bit her tongue, eying the man. He had closed his eyes and was gently humming under his breath, occasionally breathing in and then exhaling loudly.

Alice sighed. She didn’t want to but she had come to her senses. There was no chance she would survive in the forest on her own so...”Please help me get to my sister!”

The man stopped humming and cracked open an eye. “What? You want me to help you? As if! Go wash my sheets.” He closed his eyes and continued humming.

It rankled at Alice’s pride,, but Alice was willing to swallow it down for the sake of surviving. “I can’t survive on my own! The only chance I have of getting to the capital...the only chance I have of completing my dreams and seeing my sister…it’s through you!”

“The capital, huh? Now, what could the sister of a commoner girl be doing at the capital? Strange. Are you sure you’re related? Or was she taken for a noble?” the man asked noncommittally, clearly not expecting an answer.

”Neither!” Alice said, her voice raising. “She went to the capital with the Church, because she—“ Alice cut herself off mid sentence with a strangled choke. The man looked at her weirdly but Alice ignored him in favor of berating herself.

Don’t tell him that! What do you want to do, paint a target on Charlotte’s back?! As much as Alice despised the nobility, the Church was a semi-neutral faction and the best suited to protect Charlotte. Going around telling people a commoner possessed magic was idiocy of the highest manner. But how else was she supposed to convince him to help?

”I’ve decided,” he said. Alice jumped in the air, not expecting him to talk. He was staring at her carefully, his eyes raking up and down her face like he was studying her. Alice squirmed at the attention but pushed on, not willing to give up this chance.

”Decided what?” Alice asked.

”I will help you. But! On one condition. When we reach the capital, you will owe me one favor. Any favor,” he said.

Alice recoiled. Every cell in her body, every ounce of common sense she possessed was yelling at her to not agree. What he wanted was too dangerous and too vague. Who knew what he would have her do?

”Not any favor. I’ll decide whether or not I’ll do the favor. If I say no, then you can choose a different favor to ask until I agree to it.” Alice said, her voice stern and leaving no room for compromise.

The man dragged a hand across his silky hair, strands wrapped around his fingers when he pulled away. “Very well then. You may not be as foolish as you first appeared. I agree to your terms. I will aid you in surviving through the entirety of your journey to reach the capital, and at the end, you will owe me one favor, which you can deny and tell me to choose another. Is that understood?”

Alice ran through his statements several times through her head, picking apart and examining the individual words to discern any attempts of trickery or deceit hidden among them. Alice eyed the man, who was smirking arrogantly. The sense that she was putting herself in danger remained, but Alice wouldn’t survive the forest without him. Best chance scenario, she could form a bond with him so he wouldn’t choose a bad favor. Worst case scenario, she could try ditching him when she learned how to survive.

”Fine. It’s a deal. What should I call you?” she asked as the thought occurred to her that referring to him as ‘the man’ may be counterproductive to her plan in creating a positive relationship with him.

”Hm, I’m not going to give my real name out to a brat like you. Honestly, it’d be easier to have you call me ‘Dwarf’ or something similar,” he said.

”You’re a dwarf?” Alice blurted, forgetting that it could be considered rude. She nervously scanned his face but he remained as nonchalant as ever.

”Yes, I’m a dwarf. What, haven’t you seen—no, that’s right. You probably wouldn’t have, seeing you’re a commoner peasant,” he said.

His words flew in one ear and out the other, as Alice occupied herself by studying the man in greater detail, focusing on finding any dwarves features she knew of. Nobody in the south quarter of her village had seen a dwarf firsthand, and so the only reference she had was from second, sometimes third hand stories from merchants. This man also didn’t have any of the common characteristics of dwarves from those tales. He was tall, for one.

”Call me Blanche, if you must insist,” he said. Alice startled, whirling through her memories to figure out what he was talking about.

”Oh, your name! My name is—!” Alice started to say.

Blanche raised a finger, halting her sentence. “No, no, I don’t need any names. You’re merely a mission, a quest. Do you understand? I am not doing this out of the goodness of my heart, nor because I wish to spend months on the road listening to a chattering animal.”

Alice grimaced, but she didn’t press it. Didn’t this aid her anyway? Him not knowing her name might prove beneficial later on. Alice focused on the name he had given her instead. ‘Blanche.” That was…an interesting name. Definitely not something she’d hear in her village.

”Go do the sheets, and then we’ll see about getting on the road.” Blanchee ordered. He snuggled in deeper to the coarse fur, letting out a content noise.

Alice didn’t waste a second, nearly running back into the hallway. The moment she was out of sight and hearshot of Blanche, her body sagged as the tension seeped away.

That was nerve wracking. Blanche had been nearly as intense as the Devil, although in an entirely different way. Alice clenched her hands into fists.

A sickening sense that something was off formed in Alice’s chest and began spreading outward. She needed to be careful not to reveal anything about her connection with the Devil, but the longer she was on the road with Blanche, the more likely it would become.

And Blanche may begin caring.