Alaina woke up looking into Boy's concerned face. "Oh!" she groaned. Her head hurt something fierce. "What in the world happened?" she asked "You don't remember?" He said looking concerned, and maybe a little relieved, "No, wait," she was starting to remember what had knocked her out, "did you, um, kiss me?" Boy blushed and didn't say anything as he helped her up. She looked around her, and saw, nothing. At all. There was just a large expanse of endless white. "Where are we Boy?" She said turning to him. "I-I have no idea." he answered her with a look of fear. She started to wander around, looking for something, she had no idea what. After what seemed for eternity she came upon a figure sitting on the ground in the distance. "Boy! Do you see him too?" she said excited "Yes!" he said. Alaina ran forward, and as she grew near to her goal she began to recognize him.
Alaina stopped abruptly. "No, no, no, no." she murmured under her breath. "It can't be possible!" Boy stopped along side her "Alaina, are you all right?" he asked her. When boy said her name the figure stiffened and turned around. Her suspicions were confirmed as she saw the face of her father once more. "Alaina?" his voice came out hoarse "It can't be, I must be hallucinating again" he turned away. Alaina broke from Boy with a cry and ran to her father. "Daddy! Daddy! Its me!" she screamed as she threw herself into his arms. He hugged her and spun her around and around "I never thought I would see you again!" He said crying into her shoulder. "Oh Daddy! What happened? Where are we? Why did you never come home?" she said, and realized that she was crying now too. Her father put her down and said "How did you get here?" he asked, and then laughed "It seems as though we have a lot of catching up to do!"
When Alaina had introduced her father to Boy, they all sat down in a circle to hear her father's tale. "To answer your first question, we are in my mind. Yes, my mind, also the mind of the one called the Burglar King. You see, we are one and the same in a way, he is in my body and I am a fugitive in my own head!" He stopped seeing the completely lost looks on Alaina and Boy's faces. "Goodness, I am no good at telling stories, I guess I should start at the beginning."
"As you know I was away at war. My commanding officer needed a scout to go ahead of the bulk of the army and chart the best way through the forest that we would need to go through. I volunteered. I was given a horse and provisions and set out that night around midnight, but it was a new moon. I'm sure you know what that means Boy" her father said looking pointedly at him. Alaina sat confused, Boy seeing her look explained. "You can only enter or exit my realm, the realm of the Forest, at midnight on a new moon, or on a solstice. Many a traveler has wandered into the realm, and the realm is connected to all great forests of the earth so we acquire many different people. Your father must be one of them!"
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