Once upon a time in Ventralli

Follow the Rabbit

Once upon a time there was a very curious girl named Alissa , who had a great imagination. She loved to snoop around the kingdom, seeking new adventures and treasures to discover.

One day, her mother took her to the outside of Rintiero. They stayed on a green field, admiring the colors in the distance.

Her mother took her brushes and painting and then she placed an easel to begin painting. She loved to capture the landscapes of all Primoria.

Meanwhile, Alissa leaned against a tree, a book in her lap. But she couldn't concentrate on reading, her mind was everywhere. She wanted to go exploring, and she should admit that she was really bored.

Suddenly she saw movement out of the corner of her eye. When she turned she found a boy wearing a white mask with a pair of long pointed ears. A rabbit. He was several feet away from her, so Alissa got up immediately to ask who he was. But when she just stepped forward, the boy fled.

"Wait!" Alissa yelled. She looked at her mother, but she was completely focused on her painting, so she ran after the boy.

The only reason she hadn't lost him was because she could see his white ears.

Suddenly, Alissa stumbled and started to fall down the hill. She tried to stop, but couldn't do anything. She grasped roots and branches, but still ended up falling over the edge, plunging into the Langstone River.

She came to the surface kicking hard, looking desperately around to find the shore. Then a boat came to her and the people on board helped her out of the water. They had beautiful colored masks, all forms of different types of fish. There was a shaped octopus mask, another of a swordfish. And a shaped crab mask.

She was taken across the river, and when touched the ground, Alissa realized that she was in a very different place from where she had come.

The sky seemed to be made of brushstrokes of paint, while the floor beneath her feet was covered with stained glass. The girl was glad to be wearing a delicate shoes that prevent cut her feet and at the same time to not break the glass.

Shee started walking away from the boat that was already returning to the river. She entered a forest, full of tall trees.

Alissa found immense flowers, twice her height and was amazed watching its colors. They looked like blobs of paint had splashed its petals in a shower of tones. One by one, they were opening to let the path freeto the girl. She came to a clearing where met a beautiful woman. Her hair was colorful and she had a mask shaped like a butterfly.

"You shouldn't be here," the woman warned her.

Alissa told her that she was only looking for the boy with rabbit ears, and resigned to see the stubbornness of the girl, she indicated the right path. The girl didn't seem to want to hear her warnings and advice about returning home. She just wanted to find the boy she was looking for, while exploring the most magical world she had ever seen.

She plunged into a dark forest, and walked for a while, until she met a young man wearing a cat mask. He even had mustache. And his huge smile was a little creepy. He indicated several paths, but only ended up confusing more to Alissa, so she decided not to pay attention to him and follow the path that she was already heading. Probably the young man just wanted to mislead her to make fun of her.

She left the forest behind and down a hill she came to a meadow with a huge table. Sitting in it was a man with a big hat and a mask with nuts and bolts. It looked like something mechanical. She had only seen something like that in Yakim.

There were other guests with animal masks and Alissa decided to sit with them to drink the tea. But she didn't want to waste more time and she left, continuing her pursuit of the white-eared boy.

She arrived at the gates of a huge palace that wasn't anything like the one of Ventralli. She walked down a narrow hallway, its walls surrounded by beautiful tapestries. In each one, a different kingdom of Primoria was represented and Alissa absorbed every detail of them.

Finally, she came to a garden and quickly saw the boy she was looking for. She ran to him, who seemed to be painting a glass rose.

"You shouldn't be here," the boy said, repeating the words of the woman in the forest.

Alissa wanted to answer, but suddenly a huge shadow covered her from head to toe. She looked up to find a woman dressed in red, wearing a hearts-shaped mask and a crown on her head.

She had seen the queen of Ventralli and this woman didn't look like her at all. Actually, she wasn't like any queen of all Primoria.

Her frown marked her features as she ordered Alissa take the place of the white-eared boy.

The girl took a brush and began painting white roses glass with a red tone, under the strict supervision of the unknownqueen.

She worked for a while, but soon got bored and careless, so suddenly she broke one of the flowers. The queen became so enraged that her whole face appeared to be red and started screaming that someone should cut the head of the girl.

Alissa ran, being chased by a lot of guards, trying to escape from her impending death. But the guards were quick and her little legs didn't let her get too far ahead.

Her heart pounding, she was about to be caught when a strong impulse made her stand up, realizing she had just awakened from a terrible nightmare. She looked at her surroundings disorientated. Her mother continued to paint as if nothing had happened. Because it didn't, nothing was real. But still Alissa decided to be more cautious since that moment, turning her gaze to the book that was still on her lap, sometimes checking around for a boy with white bunny ears.

Note: I'll probably continue writing this story later because I loved creating it.

I write in Spanish. I made my best to translated it but it's not going to be perfect. It's so easy to read another language, but to write... not so much. You can ask anyone lol. But if you want to read the original in Spanish, it's on my profile. Thanks for being awesome and reading my story!