Wonder

BADASS SNOW WHITE

"Allison, when you said you needed to stop for an errand before we went shopping, a five mile hike in the woods was not what I was expecting." Lydia snapped, letting out a ladylike curse as the stiletto of her heel sunk into the ground.

"Lydia, when you said it would be fun and I just had to come," Ariel paused to glare at the red head. "This was not what I was expecting." Her eyes were still raw from a sleepless night of tears and the bright light seeping through the forest canopy was not helping her throbbing headache. Lydia had called her a mere 30 minutes ago, informing Ariel that they were going shopping.

Ariel told her to go to hell.

Of course, refusing Lydia Martin was easier said than done. The girl had promptly broken into well rehearsed sniffles, relaying to Ariel the catastrophic breakup that had occurred between her and Jackson the day prior. Normally Ariel wouldn't be swayed by crocodile tears, especially when she had her own slightly more important breakup to deal with, but the genuine hurt in Lydias voice swayed her.

So here she was, trailing angrily through the woods behind Lydia Martin and Allison Argent.

The latter had been surprised to see Ariel joining them, but didn't comment. Instead she smiled awkwardly and tried to ignore that her ex boyfriends sister who she'd never really talked to was mere steps behind her.

When Scott had heard that Ariel would be spending the day with his object of affection, he was overjoyed. After making sure Ariel wasn't about to go on a mental break, protecting Allison from Peter was his main priority. Hopefully, with Ariel by her side, the alpha wouldn't go after Allison.

"Before I forget, I wanted to ask you if you're okay with something." Allison ignored Lydias whining and turned around, a false smile on her face. "Jackson asked me to the winter formal." Her eyes carefully measured Lydias response, a smirk growing as her friend froze.

"Did he?" Lydia tried to act like she was unaffected by the mention of her ex. Even if Ariel couldn't smell her nervous and angry chemosignals, the slight twitch in Lydias left eye gave her up.

Although she had become inexplicably protective of Lydia recently, Ariel had to hide a grin. It appeared that Allison had more to her than she had previously thought. Her subtle revenge for Lydia kissing Scott, how she found out about that Ariel had no idea, was perfectly planned and undoubtedly ingenious.

"Uh huh." Allison tried to act as if it wasn't a big deal, yet her eyes gleamed with satisfaction at Lydias response. "Just as friends. But I wanted to make sure you're okay with it first."

"Sure." Lydia swallowed her anger and smiled as fake as can be. "As long as it just friends."

"Well yeah I mean-" Allison stared Lydia dead in the eye. "It's not like I would take him to coachs office during lacrosse practice and make out with him or anything." She turned away, continuing her stride through the woods. Lydia froze.

Ariel on the other hand, let out a loud guffaw. She fell into a fit of uncontrollable giggles, ignoring Lydias hard look towards her. It was official. She liked Allison much, much more.

Lydia caught up with Allison, running daintily through the soggy leaves. Ariel left them to make amends, trailing after them. The chilly winter air ruffled the leaves branches, sending shivers down her spine. She lifted her nose, catching the familiar scent of her brother. Of course he don't trust her to keep watch on Allison, Ariel thought bitterly. She was extremely upset with herself, or rather her lack of power. She had barely gotten a swipe in when she attacked Peter, and it took him seconds to catch her.

She couldn't protect anyone.

"What does that do?" Lydia interrupted Ariels inner pity party, her voice doubtful as she looked towards the arrow clutched in Allison's hand. She almost choked on her own spit- she hadn't noticed Allison pull out the deathly device.

"We're about to find out." Allison's voice was calm and measured but Ariel could sense her nervous excitement. She raised her dangerous black bow, slotting a bulbous looking arrow in. With the aura of a confident hunter, she raised her arms, pulling the string back until it brushed against her lips. Once again, Ariel was reminded that the Argent wasn't just some weak love interest in a movie. She could hold her own.

With a twang, Allison let the arrow fly. It rocketed straight towards a thin oak tree, hitting it right on mark. The bulbous tip exploded in a shower of white sparks and Ariel had to look away. Her vision went dark for a few long moments and she realized that this was one of the blinding arrows Derek had told her about.

"What the HELL was that?" Lydias voice was shrill, quivering in fear. Ariel had to agree with her- she had suddenly become extremely wary of the innocent appearing brunette.

"I don't know." Allison breathed, still staring at the charred bark where the arrow had make contact with the tree.

"I know what it was." Lydia and Allison looked over towards Ariel in surprise. "It was fucking horrifying!" The girl cried out, grasping at her heart. "I think I almost went into cardiac arrest."

"Well that was fun." Lydia smiled sarcastically. "Any more lethal weapons you wanna try out?" Allison ignored her, her head tilted to the side. She had picked up on the cracking of twigs that Ariel had long been aware of. Her brother, while many things, was not stealthy.

"Hold this." Allison thrust her bow into Lydias hands.

"What? Why?" The strawberry blonde was distressed, her eyes wide in fear. Ariel reached forward, easing the girl's hands away from the tip of a particularly sharp arrow.

"Because I thought I heard something."

"I heard it too." Ariel nodded, quickly pouncing upon the idea of Scott being able to see Allison again. "You should check, alone. We can't all be badass Snow White." Allison nodded distractedly.

"So what if we heard something?!" Lydia was near hysterics, holding the bow as far away from her as possible.

"So- I want to find out what that something is." Allison shrugged, her eyes steely. She looked ready for an adventure.

"Don't worry." Ariel reassured Lydia. "It's probably just a murderer." She snickered as Lydia almost dropped the deadly weapon in terror. "Just kidding! Most likely a squirrel. Or... a fugitive."

"Oh my god." Lydia squeaked. "What do I do if it's dangerous?"

"Shoot it." With that, Allison pulled out a scary looking taser gun and disappeared into the woods.

Lydia sent Ariel an anxious glance.

"Don't look at me, I'll be running screaming."