[center][i]*~*Collaboration between YoshiSkittlez, Ghost Shadow, Major Ursa, and Tanderbolt*~*[/i][/center]

Launched through the portal, propelled down by the force of gravity, for the few moments he had let go of his hostage. And, quite sudden as their tumble through the portal, it was just as sudden when Knox and the rest of them were being launched out of the hole in the earth.

The shadow man barely caught the flash of green light as him and the rest went aerial. Brown dirt, green grass, dusty tree roots, thick trunks, wide branches, thin leaves, the blue of the sky, the white of the clouds...for a moment, the momentum of their toss up slowed, and the bird song as they flew overhead was almost relaxing. Then, they dropped out of the air.

None of them went higher than tree tops, but the fall would have been hard on the humans, in comparison to Night...right? No, still...Knox felt indescribably human, still. Human...still human...falling wasn't going to be good for him, just had to protect him mortal self. And, heck, though his power over shadows had returned, his powers as the Night were a fraction of what they'd been. On the bright side, his head didn't seem to be scrambled up by his own memories...

Letting himself drop, slamming into the shadow of a tree cast into the dirt and grass, the shadow flowed over him like water...and Knox was launched out and forward through the shadow on the side of another tree. It had been too long since he used just straight shadow trick, but the shadow man easily seemed to grasp it since his return. 

Since he was now standing upright, Knox had the honor of being able to catch sight of the rest of them fall, flinching (just barely) when the woman he previously thought to be his wife hit the dirt floor. Not his problem anymore. In contrast, the shadow man couldn't help it when the round man dropped like a sack of potatoes, his chuckles bubbling up from him quietly...as he approached the downed man. Even now, the round man was trying to get up and run like a rat scampering for the nearest hole to slip into.

As the darkness began to reform over him, Knox narrowed his eyes at the fleeing man, and willed the man's shadow to just stop. Casually just walking after him at a leisurely pace, tendrils of darkness dug into the man's shadow behind him as the shadow man finally stood beside him, "And, where are you going?" Asking this in a quietly pleasant tone, setting a hand lightly on the man's shoulder...a particularly sharp tendril shot through the round man's foot.

The fall hurt even she landed well. Snow was glad that she couldn't feel an injuries afterwards, and saw Knox and the mysterious man a few yards away from her. He was still chasing that man, and Snow looked around. The years in the woods had given her a good knowledge of trees, and this was clearly not a forest in Maine. To her, it looked like her old homeland. If she could survey a bit more, she'd have a good chance at figuring out exactly where they were.

Henry was the last to fall through the portal - or at least his clothes were. Every article he had on his person landed in a small heap on the forest ground, though the young man was nowhere to be found. 

A small heap seemed to rustle underneath Henry's coat and shirt; as if there was something trapped underneath the garments. 

Without warning, the [url=http://fc00.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2011/005/1/1/cheshire_cat_wallpapers_by_ametist_nyako-d36gsrm.jpg]Cheshire Cat's[/url] head popped out of the shirt's collar, his trademark grin quite apparent, though his appearance looked different...in place of the rather mangy black cat was a neater, more healthy-looking feline, his black coat replaced by one of smoky gray, purple-pink stripes ran all the way down his body from the ends of his ears to the tip of his tail. 

Slinking his way out of the shirt and shaking himself for good measure, Cheshire sat back on his haunches, looking around him as if something was lost or missing. "She fell through the portal first....why isn't she here?" He asked to no-one-in-particular, not disclosing who this 'she' was. 

Rising to all four legs, tail stiffened, the Cat began to start disappearing and reappearing in different places at random; each time taking a few moments to sniff about before continuing his nearly-frantic lookaround. 

Finally staying still longer than a few seconds as he realized Alice had [i]not[/i] been brought to the Enchanted Forest with them, the Cat let his nearly-luminescent eyes land on Knox, who seemed to be interrogating the portly man. 

"Of all the miserable, wretched, [i]cowardly[/i] creatures that I've had the misfortune of meeting, you are [i]certainly[/i] the most spineless of them." The Cat spat hatefully as he approached the duo, his head cocked straight at the portly man, fiery anger burning in his eyes as he continued to speak. 

"Where. Is. My. Sister, you cretinous [i]bastard[/i]?" He asked with as much venom as he could muster, his fur standing on end as his usually strange grin now looked malicious and predatory. He paid no mind to Knox or Snow during this time, entire focus on the man he recognized as none other than the White Rabbit of Wonderland. 

Eyes flicking over to the fluffy, colourful cat, Knox blinked a few times before finally realising that it was speaking...with Henry's angry voice. Almost letting go of the man, he instead tighten his hold after hearing the rest of it, fingers digging into the shoulder, "So you [i]are[/i] a thief." It seemed a little bit interesting that, even in his hazy-memory stupor, he had identified correctly.

The larger man winced harshly away from the Cat, though was unable to lift a foot as it had been spiked down onto the ground with his own shadow, courtesy of the towering man standing above him. The tears that had fallen from the inital pain of his own shadow being driven into his foot stained his plump cheeks, but despite the tears; despite the flinching, the man was smiling, his crooked teeth bared in a wide grin, rivaling even that of The Cheshire Cat's.

"Gone." He said simply, his grin never ceasing. "My mistress will be so pleased with me, oh yes, yes she will." The man then started humming to himself, his eyes pulling away from the cat at his feet and instead up into the sky as he watched the clouds roll by.

Eye twitching ever so slightly at 'Gone', though the shadow man was never a friend of Henry's, Knox didn't particularly like what was going on at the moment. Still, this man would be the key to his return, had to be. It would be in his self interest to keep the rotund man within grasp, for now forcing him to spill his secrets would be the most pertinent course of action.

Taking the man's wrist in hand, "How about a way to send us back...?" Knox squeezed hard, before moving his free hand to start plucking out nails from the plump hand, like a young girl does with flowers...

"Back away from him..." The Cat called out in an almost commanding tone as he was surrounded by a cloud of teal-colored smoke, fading away to reveal him once again in human form, having seemingly conjured a new outfit out of thin air to clothe himself. 

Henry slowly looked at Knox now, as if waiting for the man to walk away from the portly man; seemingly unaware to the almost...shadowy aura that seemed to surround the former security guard. 

Snow did not trust Knox or the man he was now threatening. His dark aura was intimidating but it was not enough to prevent her from speaking up. "Let's find out where exactly we are and why before we do anything else. We can't let him get away, and we will find an appropriate punishment for him, but that will take time. I don't quite trust your judgment enough to leave this solely up to you, Knox." she said, adding emphasis to the last word. "Now, Henry, if you have a moment it would very helpful to explain what is going on."

Irritated by two individuals now heckling him to halt, "Tch." Knox let go of the portly man, and even stepped away, before finally crossing his arms and shooting Henry a pointed look, "The woman indeed has a point. How do you know this thief?"

"This...wretch," Henry began, taking a moment to bridle his anger which threatened to boil over before continuing, "is called the White Rabbit. He hails from my homeworld...[i]Wonderland[/i]." Henry finished with a deep sigh, as though it had drained him physically to say the name of his own home. 

"He did [i]nothing[/i] but make life [i]miserable[/i] for [i]all[/i] the inhabitants. God forbid one is five minutes late to pay their taxes, am I right [i]Leveret[/i]?" Henry ranted, practically spitting the White Rabbit's name venomously, eyes narrowed hatefully. It was plain to see that the two of them had their fair share of less-than-harmonious interactions before. 

Snow nodded when she listened to Henry speak. She trusted him to keep a handle on the situation, and figured now would be a good time to scout the area. One could never know what danger lurked in the forest, especially if Regina had left some forces behind. She walked out of sight and into the trees.

"Cheshire Cat is smart, yes he is. Recognized me in this strange new form he did. My Mistress will be most displeased...but-" The White Rabbit paused to giggle. "-but I was not late." He added on with a wider grin yet.

"Late. For. What?" Henry demanded harshly, any semblance of his former cheerfulness gone in the blink of an eye, replaced by steely anger. 

"Does the Queen want my sister? Answer me!" He ordered sharply, wasting no time beating around the bush. 

The White Rabbit tilted his head thougtfully as he brought his attention back down from the sky and let his beady black eyes land back on Henry.

"Sister? Oh! The Cheshire must mean Alice, surely he must." He began to hum again before starting to sing a soft song to himself. "Alice, come out, don't shout, don't make me pout Alice, come out; where are you?" The White Rabbit giggled once again and rocked back and forth on his rather small feet.

"Wonderland she is, and Wonderland she stays. My Mistress will see to that of course, reward good, loyal Leveret handsomely she will. Cheshire Cat is powerless against my Mistress, Cheshire should not have come but he did OOOH he did! And now my Mistress shall have what she wants."

With ever word coming out of this White Rabbit's mouth, the shadow man could feel his temper rising ever so slightly. With his mouth pressed into a firm line, and his eyes narrowed, Knox shot Henry an impatient look, "We're getting nowhere, fast...if you plan to beat the answers out of him, well, get on with it."

Stepping away from the deplorable thief, the shadow man made a sweeping gesture in a rather sarcastic manner to the man still bound, as if presenting a choice cut of meat to Henry, "As you will, time is of the essence."

When Snow got back from scouting, she saw Knox and Henry still staring at the man. She shot Henry a look that said "are you handling this" before she prepared to share what she found. Before they could speak, she said "Be sure to ask if he knows anything about why everything is ruined here. The nearby village has been ransacked, and you can plumes of smoke for miles along the horizon. It's an ugly sight." 

Henry, clearly irritated at Leveret's apparent insanity, turned to look at Snow before speaking again, "Look at him, he's a bumbling wreck...I doubt there's anything we can get out of him...unless..." Henry seemed to stop in mid-thought, his expression turning from exasperation to pensiveness. 

Before Henry was allowed to finish his thought, there was a sudden, deafening roar coming from within the destroyed thicket not twenty feet away from them.

The loud roar was enough to cause Henry to immediately stiffen, shifting his attention to the thicket. "Oh no...oh no, no, no, no, no." He said in rapid succession, frantic thoughts overcoming him as, in a split-second he transformed himself [i]back[/i] into a cat and immediately began sprinting off in the opposite direction, not even caring to look back at Knox or Snow during this time. 

Once he felt himself [i]just[/i] focused enough, he teleported up into a tall tree to wait out the battle, confident in his own safety. 

Hearing a loud roar, Knox stood still, turning his head automatically in the direction of the sound. Not exactly one to wait around for the thing that produced the roar to just up and appear, especially when his darkness of the night being significantly weakened for whatever reason, Knox let out a frustrated breath and let go of control over the man's shadow. The tendril stuck into the foot whipped out and rejoined the rest of the man's produced shade, just as Knox turned on his heel and jogged over to the nearest tree.

The Ogre barreled through the thicket towards the group, drawn towards the noises they had been making. No tree or shrub was spared as the looming, fifteen-foot creature charged at them, roaring again in his anger, loud enough that the ground beneath their feet began to tremble.

The White Rabbit took off immediately after his own shadow released it's hold on his foot. He wasn't quick by any means, but he had watched the transformed cat run at the very first sign of danger, and Leveret wasn't too far behind.

Taking a moment to turn to the direction of where Mary Margaret was standing, "Clear out, unless you actually desire your head being stove-in against the nearest standing tree." With his corner of his mouth twitching up in a most mischevious manner, Knox had a feeling this human woman...would do alright on her own. Offhandedly shooting her a wink, he cupped a hand to the side of his mouth and mouthed the words "good luck" soundlessly, before finally dropping into the very shadow of the tree...

Ogres were bad news, Snow didn't need anyone else to tell her that. This was not a good sign, and she ran away as fast as she could. Henry could teleport, and Knox could hide in the shadows, but she had no resource except her own two legs. Neither of them displayed much bravery or compassion right now. She would talk to Henry about his cowardice, but she hated Knox even more, presumably his shadow powers would have something that let him oppose the ogres. After five years of rest in Storybrooke, it looked like she was on the run again.

The undergrowth of the forest became uprooted with each step the Ogre took, leaving a dead trail of freshly underminded earth behind in it's wake. The cat was too small for his eyes to catch onto, but the round man running towards the tree the cat had climbed up onto was an easy enough target. With another roar, The White Rabbit lost his footing and face planted into the dirt in front of him, just in front of the tree. Whimpering, Leveret rolled over onto his back only to find the Ogre hovering over him; hunched down but still a skyscraper in comparison to The White Rabbit.

Leveret put up his hands in front of his face, as if shielding this way would somehow save his life; his whiney voice muttering incoherencies as he waited for death to overtake him at long last.

"Hey!"

What looked like an armored soldier ran out into the clearing, sword drawn as the figure ran towards Snow but slowed when the figure realized that it wasn't who she was looking for. Still, they needed help and so they picked up the pace again.

"Your friend fell behind and needs our help." Although the figure was covered head to toe in what could be assumed as [i]male[/i] armor, the voice was clearly female though Snow wouldn't have time to think on it as the armored female gestured over a hundred yards or so to Leveret shrinking under the imposing figure of the Ogre. "You good with one of these?" The female then asked and hurriedly shrugged a bow and quiver off of her back and tossed it over to Snow. 

 Snow grabbed the bow and began to pull an arrow out of the quiver. "Plenty good." She needed that Ogre dead as soon as possible, and the rabbit wouldn't be of much help if he was killed. When she had drawn back the bow, she whistled to draw the beast's attention. As soon as it turned its head, she released the arrow. It hit the eye of the Ogre, and the massive creature slumped to the ground while it let out a pained yell. Before going any closer, Snow looked at the person who had handed her the bow.

Once it was clear that the Ogre would not be getting back up, the woman pulled off the armored helmet shielding her face and immediately the woman's long, raven-black hair fell from the top of her head to rest on her shoulders, her brown eyes looking upon Mary Margaret intently, as if studying her.

Rising out of Snow White's shadow, Knox glanced over at the the newcomer. Her appearance reminded him of a certain moon dweller, though definitely not from the same country exactly, past or present. Shrugging off the memory trying to resurface that moment, the shadow man crouched down by the creature, staring at the corpse curiously as he rubbed his chin with the back of his hand. A large bipedal creature...powerfully built, possibly as capable of wielding weapons as it is just generally throwing large projectiles...

"Snow? Snow White?" The woman asked, clearly perplexed and confused as she sheathed her sword and held the helmet fast to her hip.

Many people in the Enchanted Forest recognized her, which could be very troublesome at times. Regina was in Storybroooke now, so that made the world a little safer. Snow wasn't sure, but the woman she talked to looked like a general from a neighboring kingdom that she had heard about, possibly even met before briefly. That made it less likely for her to be working for one of her enemies, but Snow still did not feel relaxed. "That's me. The proper title is more elaborate, but I'll let it slide. Do you know anything about why there's Ogres everywhere?"

The woman immediately bowed to Snow, a strange gesture coming from a woman in this land, though it still held respect.

"We had thought you, along with the rest of the kingdom had perished." She said coming out of her bow. "I still have questions, as I'm sure you do as well, but we can not talk here; it is not safe." The woman said gesturing vaguely oviter to the fallen Ogre, the stench of it's quickly rotting flesh starting to pick up in the light breeze of the evening air.

"There is a refugee camp not far from here, but we must hurry if we are to get there before nightfall."

"Hm...the plot thickens." The Cat's currently disembodied voice commented as he appeared in-between Snow and the manly-woman. 

"Impressive work, my dear - wonderful aim." He complimented to Snow in a nonchalant manner, his grin widening as he appeared almost ignorant to the fact she was nearly killed. 

"Glad to see you're back, Henry. We'll have a lot to talk about on the way back to camp." Snow stated bitterly before turning to the woman who had lent the bow and arrows. "Regina sent the whole kingdom to a strange land, that's where they are. It's a very large world, with many inventions I've never seen before, but people there have some strange notions. They use paper for money, and they even think that commoners should choose the king. I'd also like to hear what has happened in our absence."

Nodding in agreement to Henry's last statement, Knox let out a low whistle as his eyes quickly scanned the damage on the monster before he stood up and turned to Mary Margaret with a smirk. 

"I knew interferance was the incorrect way to go about this, sometimes the balance is maintained in a way I approve..." Slowing towards the end, as if realising what was coming out of his mouth...and absolutely loathing it, his smirk upturned into a deep scowl. It was like his need to maintain the balance that he must, as the Night, was trying to reassert itself.

Feeling restless at this almost immediately, the shadow man crossed his arms and dully stared over at portly man who knelt before the ogre, seemingly in a state of shock. Letting out an impatient sigh, Knox held out a hand and made a grabbing gesture, which was followed by the round man being secured by his own shadow yet again. Wrapping him close like a blanket, cold like chains, Knox cleared his throat loudly and gestured for Henry to make his way over to their prisoner. 

"Sighs are longing vocalised, and I so very [i]long[/i] to return back to Storybrooke...are you going to continue, or could it possibly be that you want me to take it from here?"

"Look, guys..." The armored female said realizing now that there had been more to Snow White's group than her and Leveret, as a talking cat and a shadow man had since made their presence known to her. "We really should get a move on. Ogre's hunt by sound, it's only a matter of time before the others-"

There was a gutteral rumbling in the distance, like thunder, but to the practiced ear of a warrior, or even an adventurer, they would know that sound to be the roar of an Ogre; miles off yes, but still searching. The female gave the group a respected nod before turning into the opposite direction, leading those who followed back into the forest as the sun finally began to kiss the tops of the trees, scattering an unaturally red sunset across what had once been, in all it's glory, The Enchanted Forest.