Rewrite (Raven x Apple)

~Chapter Twenty-Nine~

"Go get firewood. YOU go get firewood you lazy little-" Apple tripped over a rather large tree branch before she could finish her rant to herself about Baba Yaga. She didn't know how far she was into the woods, but she wasn't too worried about it. A feeling of anger at Baba Yaga's actions arose in her while she was searching for the wood, as she thought about the past few days.

As she fell, another sharp tree branch cut the sleeve of the shirt she was wearing, scraping her skin.

She groaned and just sat there on the leaf-covered floor of the forest, looking up and through the roof of leaves that were shielding her from the hot sun. "Raven's gonna kill me."

Apple composed herself and stood up, looking down at the branch. She picked it up, realizing it could be of some use to her.

"That works."

She looked around, figuring that she should find Maddie before both of them got too lost. "MADDIE! Maaaaadieeeeee!"

She glanced at the woods around her, wondering how far it could go on.

Apple continued calling out for her. "Maddiieeeeee! Madeline Hatter!"

No response. Apple looked up to the sky, seeing the sun begin to drift down.

"Maddie! We don't have time for this!"

Still nothing. The silence in the woods was deafening.

She groaned loudly, throwing the branch on the ground and sitting against a tree.

"Maybe I'm the one going mad."

"You're Not the only one."

Apple's head shot up, seeing Kitty Cheshire sitting on a tree branch, her huge, perfect smile taunting Apple as she glared down at her.

"Kitty?" Apple asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It was pretty entertaining watching you trying to navigate your way through the woods, I must admit." Kitty laughed.

Apple rolled her eyes at Kitty's joking, getting straight to the point. "Do you know where Maddie is?"

"Yes."

"Where?"

Kitty just smiled down at Apple, refusing to give her an answer. "I think I would rather keep watching you running around the woods like a lost child. It's a lot funnier."

Apple's eyes flashed with anger. Kitty refusing to give her an answer right now was the last thing that she needed. Apple was exhausted from the constant work, sleep deprivation, and barely eating anything, she felt like her body could barely function properly anymore.

"Kitty, please. I know that Maddie will not be able to make it out of the woods on her own." Apple pinched the bridge of her nose in annoyance, tightly shutting her eyes.

"She won't be on her own. I can help her. If I want to."

"But I know that you don't want to." She looked up angrily at Kitty, whose pearl-white smile staying plastered onto her face. "You just want to sit in your stupid trees, watching us helplessly trying to make our way through the woods."

Kitty chuckled before she faded out to just her smile. Purple sparkles followed her as she mysteriously left, leaving Apple dumbfounded.

She just needed to know Maddie's whereabouts, and get both of them back to the camp. Apple grabbed onto a tree branch and hauled herself off of the ground, barely having any strength left. She looked around, calling out for Maddie again as she started wandering.

"Maddie! Maddie!" Twigs snapped under her feet as she walked. She was quietly begging for any sort of response, sign, anything. She continued strolling, occasionally stumbling from her fatigue.

Apple was almost ready to completely give up...until... "Apple! I'm over here!"

That sounded like Maddie's voice. whoever it was, at least it was someone. She disregarded her tiredness as she began sprinting through the woods in the direction of the voice. She felt herself getting even further from the camp as she ran, but she pushed all of that aside during her search.

Apple finally reached where she heard the voice, yet Maddie was nowhere to be seen.

"Maddie?" She wearily asked, looking around.

That same teasing smile appeared from a tree, as Kitty began laughing hysterically at the scene she had just witnessed.

The shock from her sprinting finally caught up to Apple, as her breath quickly became heavy. "Kitty! Tha...that was you!?"

Kitty just kept snickering, enjoying how angry Apple was getting.

"This isn't a joke, Kitty. Please show me, or at the very least tell me where Maddie is..." Apple breathed.

"Well, I'll give you a hint. She is pretty far away from where we are." Kitty declared, still manically grinning at Apple.

Apple's eyes widened, realizing that she probably wouldn't be able to find Maddie anytime soon.

"What? What do you mean?"

"I already gave you your hint, White. It's your turn to figure out the riddle." Kitty chuckled, fading into a smile.

Apple looked around wearily, trying to keep herself from fainting. She just ignored her exhaustion again, and started running, going even deeper into the woods. In between her heavy breaths, she kept calling out Maddie's name. She looked around, before her body forced her to stop.

She stood in place for a moment, taking in everything that was happening, and then it hit her. Apple's vision began distorting and going blurry, as she dropped to her knees.

She looked around her, but nobody was around. Nobody was there to help. Was she about to die?

Her mind immediately went into a panic, and of course, this did not help the exhaustion. She tried to stand up again, but her body didn't let her. She didn't know if she was near the camp or not, if anyone could hear her if she cried out for help.

Apple tried to stand again, but immediately collapsed again. She had been battling the extreme feeling of tiredness and fatigue for so long, it felt unreal. Apple felt as if she were fighting for her life.

She grabbed onto a tree branch, preparing to drag herself up

"Come on Apple..."

She couldn't let herself black out now, the camp could be miles away for all she knew. She could die here if she didn't keep herself conscious.

Apple begged herself to not fall over again before pulling herself to her feet.

Her eyes narrowed as she called out into the seemingly endless woods, trying to see if anyone could hear her. "Maddie? Kitty? Anyone..."

Tears began falling from her eyes, realizing that the inevitable was there. Apple felt her consciousness slipping away from her, as her body fell to the floor.

Apple said a silent prayer to herself, before it all went black.

Word count: 1100