Alice

She was glowing

Literally

Much like the eye, this girl seemed to emit light, allowing him to see her, unlike the rest of his dark world as her light revealed her features.

She had hair that was a light gray, brighter than the gray emitted by the eye yet not as overpowering, her skin was a pale white, although he was unaware if that was due to her showing malnutrition or was just her natural complexion. Through her rags he could easily see the lines of her bones, detailing her skeleton-like some form of macabre instrument however despite this she could definitely be regarded as pretty or cute in the eyes of others

Not him, however, as he had little to go off in ways of comparison

"Please don't bite me" she muttered under her breath once more, as she slowly placed her hand, and the food she held through the bars of his cage, or at least he assumed she did as it merely seemed as if she were reaching out to him from a dark abyss to his eyes

He attempted to soothe her, so as to avoid any delay or difficulty surrounding her dinner and while he tried to say a slow "it's okay" it merely came out in a light squawk. However, unexpectedly her reaction was neither to flinch nor to calm down upon hearing his voice but instead to freeze entirely, her face displaying shock

"You can understand me!" she let out a hushed whisper, excitement flooding her previously tired and weary eyes

"Squuuuawk! (you can understand me!)" he responded, equally shocked and answering her question with a question of his own.

Momentarily stunned the two of them simply peered into each other's eyes, her red reflecting upon his featureless white gaze, showing an emotion he knew of but had yet to see in his short life

Joy

Quickly chucking his food towards him, a foul-smelling piece of meat that he was able to catch mid-air through scent alone, the girl quickly snuggled against his cage, he heard the tarp shift as she moved and adjusted herself quietly until she believed herself hidden not that he could see the tarp, cage or anything really as she did so

Eventually, she appeared to have settled and turned back to him, her joy had calmed a little and he could see the hesitation in her eyes as she asked

"D-do you know where we're going?" she asked, he could nearly taste the fear and worry in her voice as she spoke, her voice trembling slightly, although he couldn't tell if it were due to fear or the now sweeping cold

Instead of answering her question, he decided to test her, in his present situation he was in desperate need of any form of ally and this girl was probably his only real chance at getting any information, however, if he were to place any form of trust in this small weak girl he needed to see if she at the very least had some courage.

"Step into my cage, and I will tell you all I know," he said, his voice neither pleading nor demanding. Speaking simply as if this were some form of business and not a talk between two hungry and cold prisoners "i won't harm you"

His cage from what he could see, had a latch, resembling a puzzle of sorts was made so that it was inaccessible to anything that wasn't human, his clawed hands were unable to move the mechanism properly, even had he been outside but this girl could likely easily get in and out of his cage, adding further value to her, outside of any information she may have

For a few minutes, she just stared at him, unsure if he was telling the truth or not and looking at him as he sat on his haunches staring right back, his eyes like a white abyss and his head tilted slightly. She looked back and seemed to listen to the men outside the wagon, they were laughing and he could smell the alcohol they were drinking. Having locked their captured merchandise up for the night, it appeared the two men had decided to celebrate their evening by getting stone cold drunk

"You promise?" the girl asked, her hands shaking as she reached for the mechanism to open his cage, not enough for him to escape sadly, as the wings he had found were bound tightly to the cage itself, woven more complexly than he had expected possibly by the two baffoons outside but enough for her small skeletal frame to fit through

He nodded, it wasn't like the girl had much meat on her anyway and he doubted his captors would treat him too kindly if he ate their product

Taking a breath the girl seemed to steel herself before she began to fiddle with the small lock of his cage and after a few seconds it gave a gentle click, causing her to flinch before she lowered herself to open the hatch of the steel prison and slipped gently inside, however she did immediately check the lock from the inside before closing it to ensure she could leave later

"Well then," he said, nodding as she stepped closer to him, laying down slowly, and shifting onto his side, indicating towards the girl to join him, and after a few seconds she did, either more trusting or more afraid of him now, she listened to him, laying down next to him, allowing for some sharing of body heat between them to ensure the cold didn't freeze either of them before their talk ended

"So tell me…" he asked nodding

"Alice" she finished for him

"Tell me, Alice," he said, testing the foreign word on his tongue, although to another it probably just sounded like an assortment of chirps and caws

"What are you?"