Across A Town Line

Chapter 15: Bander-what?

"Can you snore any louder?" I ask Pan groggily.
"Shut up," he hisses and points to his right. My eyes followed his finger to see a gigantic, dog-like beast crouching in front of us. Its smelly, slobbery mouth held many razor sharp teeth; it had lazy gray eyes and its dark gray fur swayed with his every move. Its pink nose rose in our direction as if checking that its prey was still there.
I looked at Pan with questioning eyes; what is this?
Bandersnatch, he mouthed. We hadn't moved from our positions, since the beast hadn't made a move towards us. Suddenly, I heard Pan's yell as he jumped in the bandersnatch's back.
"Ana, use your powers!"
"How?!"
"Imagine a damned sword!" He yelled derogatorily. I rolled my eyes, and started panicking. Pan was still riding the animal's back and was working some weird magic thing on it.
"HURRY."
I closed my eyes, remembering Jefferson's instructions. "Imagine how it feels, looks, sounds, tastes and even smells..." I concentrated as much as I could, considering the jumbled noise Pan and the Bandersnatch were making. I opened my eyes to reveal nothing but thin air in between my hands. Frustrated, I closed my eyes and tried again. Don't think, just imagine. Let go...
I open my eyes once more to see a medium sized dagger in my palm. I scrambled over to the beast and impaled what I hoped was its heart, getting a scratch to my arm in the process. Its growl reverberated through the woods, making me cringe. Pan took the opportunity and used some strange spell to make the gray furred animal wriggle painfully on the ground until it breathed its last gasp of air.
"Not half bad," Pan said, a bit of appraisal in his voice. I felt my insides flutter, but quickly made myself dismiss the feeling.
"You're welcome for saving your ass by the way," I said with a new found confidence.
"Whatever, we both know I did the ass saving here," I snorted with incredulous laughter and turned to go back on the trail. "You're hurt," I heard him say softly.

"Its just a scratch," I said, even though it stung more than anything. Pan moved closer to me and conjured some sort of cloth. He began wrapping it around the wound, his gentle touch barely stirring up the pain, but bringing goosebumps to my skin. "Thank you," I said.

"Don't mention it."

...
Pan's POV:
"What are you doing?" Ana eyed me warily, noticing the pipe in my hands. We had stopped for the night, our last stop before we reached the White Castle, which was now visible in the horizon. It's glowing, pearlescent facade illuminated the blue-purple starry sky. All around us, the forest was quiet, except for the crackling of the fire and the occasional chirp of an owl. It was a calm and entrancing sight, but I was more interested in the girl sitting in front of me. She had done things to me no one was able to do before, and in such little time. A mention of her name, and I jumped; and accidental graze and my skin prickled all over; a disappointed expression on her round face and my stomach dropped. What have you done to me, Ana? What have you done?

In reality, I knew exactly what was happening; what she had done to me. But I refused to let myself admit it to anyone; to myself. I had to suppress everything, not one of my thoughts could penetrate the surface. That was not an option, not now, not ever.

"Haven't you seen a pipe before?" I ask after realizing that I still hadn't answered her question. She raised her eyebrows and went back to concentrating on the bright patch of flowers in front of her. She had been in that same position for a while now, trying to make them sing. I kept looking at her, twirling the pipe in between my hands. I knew she was powerful, I knew she would get them to sing eventually, I knew that her powers wouldn't stop there; this was only the beginning.

Bringing up the pipe to my lips, I blew on it, expecting the oh so familiar melody to fill my ears. However, it wasn't the sound of the instrument that I heard, but the soft humming of the flowers. Just as I feared, I thought.

"I did it Pan! I did it!" Ana's shouts of joy reached my ears. Slowly, I heard the soft humming increase in volume, bringing the forest to life. She hadn't just made that particular patch sing, but all of the ones in Wonderland. Her power was even greater than I suspected; hell, greater than Zelena suspected. And she was learning fast. If only she knew. Despite the tangled mess inside of me, I managed to laugh softly and exhale a response.

"It appears so."

A/N: I mean, the chapter speaks for itself. At least I think... Anyways, hope you enjoy! Don't forget to vote. Love you!