Bloody Red ~ Avengers/Alice In Wonderland ~

1.4

Chapter Four:

"Rise and shine!" Hatter's loud voice said in Emblym's room. Emblem groaned, annoyed by the old man. "Yes, I was talking to you, Emblym," Hatter continued.

"Go away," Emblem grumbled, it was far too early for him to be in her room, and although she didn't sleep, she was still exhausted and perpetually tired because of it. The voices never let her sleep peacefully, not for four years. Sometimes, she would get the chance to rest some, but to actually sleep well? That was never possible.

Emblem felt Hatter yank on the end of the blanket and before she even had the chance to react, he had yanked her, and her covers, out of the bed.

Emblem landed in an angry heap on the floor. Hatter, oblivious to her obvious annoyance, continued to talk, "I want you downstairs in ten minutes! Get yourself dressed and ready! If you're not out of the bathroom by then, you'll be washing outside!" With that, Hatter left, leaving Emblym in a steaming rage on the ground, doing everything in her power to not get up and drive her knife in his back.

•♠️♣️♥️♦️•

As Hatter instructed, Emblym was out of the shower and dressed in ten minutes. To most, it'd be quite the feat, but Emblym was used to quick, cold showers back at the Asylum, so this wasn't too different. What she didn't expect, however, was when Hatter led Emblym to a foul-scented cow stables. The ground littered with manure and flies.

Emblym had to keep herself from gagging, and instead focused her attention on Hatter, glaring. The cow turned, it's beady black eyes starting at her, unyielding. "Why did you bring me here?" Emblym demanded, annoyance evident in her tone.

"Your first chore is to milk Damsel," Hatter instructed calmly. Emblym let out a sarcastic scoff, roiling her dark brown eyes.

"Like hell I'm milking your dirty, stinky cow," Emblym sneered. "I came here to train, not do your field work."

"Then later," Hatter continued, as if Emblym hadn't just completely declined his previous order. "You'll feed the horses, and watch the sheep. Make sure to move them to a better, greener place to eat. I think there's some on the other side of the field. After that, collect three eggs from the henhouse, rotate the sheep again, and we should be good."

"I don't think you understand me," Emblym growled. "I'm not milking your stupid cow, and I'm not moving your sheep and feeding your horses and whatever else you asked me to do! I came here to train too kill a Queen, not play farmer girl."

"If you need help milking Damsel, just call, and---" Anger flared in Emblym's eyes as she summoned her knife, ready to kill the cow. Hatter moved faster than she could see, snapping a red bracelet on her wrist. Immediately, her knife disappeared, leaving Emblym disarmed.

The voices began to laugh at her, some demanded blood to be shed when the band was placed on her. Emblym glared at Hatter, trying to take it off, but it didn't budge. "What the fuck did you just do?!" Emblym growled, trying to summon her knife, but the action only left her wrist burning in pain.

Fury welled inside Emblym, "Take this off!" She hissed, "Now!"

"I will," Hatter responsed calmly, almost enjoying her struggles. "Once you have finished your chores." Hatter kicked a stool, landing it next to the cow, who let out a grunt, swishing it's tail. "Milk the cow, feed the horses, move the sheep collect the eggs, bring the sheep back. That's it." Hatter gave Emblym a lopsided smile, "I'll leave you to your chores then."