Beyond the Rabbit Hole (IC)

"If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is, because everything would be what it isn't. And contrary wise, what is, it wouldn't be. And what it wouldn't be, it would. You see?"

Some thought the words of Alice Liddle were nonsense; the way she carried on still about this fantastic world that seemed to exist only in her mind, a fantastic place that seemed the stuff of children's dreams and partial nightmares. She refused to stop speaking of them, these people and places that she doted on so dearly. Perhaps that was why she loved to retell them to her own child; her little Allison. The tales told were wondrous to the young girl, leaving her mind filled with the same awe that inhabited her mother's mind.

The dreams of that world became a regular part of Allie's life, pretending to play with the people she had heard so much about while running in the fields, imagining places in her home were those her mother claimed to have seen. Life in these places seemed far, far more interesting... Far, far more enjoyable than reality. They became her escape, from both the people around her and the terrible way they treated each other.

But as she grew, so did the expectations of those people around her. As much as her mother wished to let her continue to enjoy her life in fantasy, her father was firm on her need to become a member of the real world. She was enrolled in college, though insisted that she be allowed to take whatever classes she wished. Her studies of choice? Creative writing. Her father was infuriated.

Still, life has a way of trying to make even the most childlike of people conform in some way to its expectations in some way. She soon found herself as an object of interest for a young man named Jason; a young man who became smitten with her after only a few times spent with her. During her Sophomore year, he invited her to come to his father's estate for a summer party, with promises of wonderful surprises. Allie agreed, overjoyed on the thought of what her own mind took his words to mean. What she found, however, was not at all what she hoped...

His friends gave away the secret upon their arrival at the estate; Jason's plans to propose to Allie. The idea of marriage left her nearly ill... She wasn't ready for such a thing! She had seen what marriage could be like, heard what those who were wed sounded like with their fighting and such- No, no, that wasn't what she wanted at all!

She had to think, to hide and clear her mind... To find a way to get away from this whole thing. She didn't want to hurt Jason, but she didn't want to be forced to give an answer she didn't want to give. Allie ran into the orchards that lined the estate's massive back yard, her mind a blur as she tried to make sense of the thousands of thoughts.

A smile finally returned to her face when a tiny white rabbit ran through the apple trees before her, standing up on its hind legs and looking to her with eyes that seemed curious as to why she cried. She wanted to tell it everything, to ask its advice... But it ran once again, stopping to taunt her once more next to a split tree. Allie took after it, finding comfort in the rabbit's little game-

Somehow, she tripped.

Somehow, she fell.

Somehow, she lost all the thousands of thoughts as a blank bleak black filled her mind.

When she awoke, she found her head throbbing and a place unfamiliar surrounding her. She tried to get to her feet, finding her knees a wobbly mess to attempt to stand upon. Her fingers rested against the tree beside her, though she soon came to realize it was not the same old split and knotty thing she had been in front of previously.

"Jason...? Jason, where are you? Where- where am I?," she called softly, a sudden fear overcoming her. This didn't look like the same place at all... Yet, for some reason, it seemed somewhat familiar.

There was a sound rather nearby as the girl became silent. Hearing more closely, one could distinguish the sounds of one would describe as.. ticking sounds.

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.

A shiny semi-spherical object lied on the ground a few metre away; the surface of the object glinted as if luring anybody who had caught eye on it to come forth to pick the object up. Before the young female could take a step towards the object to satisfy her curiosity, there was a rustle within the bushes a distance away from the object.

"... Urgh, I should practise more on my landing.." It was unmistakably a female's voice, though sounded in slight pain as the source of the voice remain behind or perhaps within the bushes. Another rustle from the bushes, the leaves shudder from the movement and then a loud gasp sounded.

"Ohh, where is it? Where is it?! Did I drop it? I have to find it!" The female voice exclaimed and then another rustle within the bushes sounded, and the rustle was getting louder and louder until finally a pair of hands parted the branches of the bushes away to allow a female form to exit out of the small exit.

Pair of red eyes caught sight on the round object, her eyes widened slightly with sudden glee before the female rushed over to pick the item up. "Ohh, I found you! If the Queen finds out I lost you, she would-" She stopped mid-word as she lifted her head up to stare at another female before her.

The female before Allie was around the same height as her; with long purple hair and a pair of red eyes, though she was dressed in a rather peculiar set of wardrobe. She was dressed in some sort of tight white leotard, with a matching collar, along with black panty-hose. Though there were something more peculiar about this female, especially that this particular female has a pair of white rabbit ears on the top of her head and the left ear was twitching slightly. Oddly, she even have a fluffy white rabbit tail as well.

Suddenly the female gave a loud shriek as she took several steps back from Allie, her red eyes wide as she stared at her. Her expression had already changed from surprised look into a look of recognition as she continued to stare at her. "Why are you here?! You didn't follow me again here, did you?! No, no, no! She will be so upset!" She started to ramble to herself as she clutched the object in her hand.

"Oh dear, oh dear.. The time, the time.. I have to go! Oh. Oh!" She suddenly exclaimed as she looked at the object in her hand. It was a golden pocket watch with a long golden chain, though oddly.. The face of the pocketwatch had other faces, with the hands of the watch for each faces pointing to different time.

"I.. have to go! Oh no, no no! You!" She quickly pointed at Allie, "Return to.. where you came from! And don't you dare follow me! I don't have the time to deal with you!" She loudly exclaimed to her, before she turned around and then with a rather fast speed, she then rushed towards one direction which was actually a curving road to somewhere.

But to where?

Allison could hear the voice as it approached, glancing around as she heard the other woman speak of a lost object. Perhaps she could help- If she were to help, perhaps the woman would be willing to help her as well. She had found out quite a long time ago that people were far more sociable when you tried to help them first.

Or they'd hit you and accuse you of stealing it to begin with.

Either way, it would be someone she could try to speak with; find out where she was. All she needed was to find whatever it was that the woman was looking for. Peering around, she paused as the bushes rustled, looking over to them and seeing the hands that brushed them aside. Ahhh, the lady must have been coming over...

She stopped still. This woman wasn't exactly a woman at all. Well, she was; she obviously had the same body similarities to herself, but there was something else to her that didn't quite fit right. Those ears. Her manner of clothes didn't exactly seem the best for travelling either...

The object in question was found by the bunny-lady quickly, a little watch that Allie had barely even noticed. Ahhh. That did look rather expensive. She could understand being worried about it. Allie was about to comment on it when the woman took notice of her- and screamed.

The sudden shout spooked Allie, who jumped back as well with widened eyes. "I didn't take it!," she exclaimed hastily, pointing to the watch. "I was trying to help find it!"

But the words that left the bunny-lady didn't make sense, even with as confused as Allison already was. Follow her... again? She had followed a rabbit through the orchard, sure; but it didn't look a thing like this woman. That was tiny and fuzzy... This lady was- well, half naked. "I-I didn't-," she started hesitantly, only to look at the woman with far more confusion as she spoke of needing to be off. Allie certainly had no intentions of stopping her.

"If you could just maybe tell me where-"

The rabbit woman suddenly yelled at her, a finger shoved at her adamantly and telling her to go away. "I would gladly go home if I knew how...," She replied flatly in a soft voice, frowning as the rabbit woman took off up the road.

Allison frowned, watching the figure of the rabbit woman leave her sight. She had told her not to follow, but if she was headed to somewhere with other people, maybe they could at least be of some help to her. It wasn't like she intended to follow Rabbit-lady to her final destination... Just a little helpful lead in the right direction. Allison would just be sure to stay a good distance behind her, and just follow this road. "It's not following if I can't see her," she decided aloud, nodding slightly as she started up the road as well.

Morning in the Afternoon

It was well past morning time already and the sun was casting long rays of burning light down through the gaps in the leaves. Pillo closed his eyes tightly and tried to fold one of the seven points from the nearest leaf to cover his eyes. The sun, however, was not going to be shut out, shining so bright and hot that the bright yellow light even managed to pass through the verdant leaf. The Caterpillar groaned and sat up, pushing aside the leaf of the plant that he slept in to look up plaintively at the bright sun, beaming down from a cloudless sky.

“Me know ye give me plant friends power,
But can’t me sleep anoder hour?”

The sun just shined down on the Caterpillar’s face, refusing to relent it’s bold shining and even taunting him. The Caterpillar reluctantly got up to face the day, being sure to remember the limitations of his new form. Using a slow moving human hand to grasp the stem of the leaf on which he slept, Pillo swung down to the next leaf, continuing his way down until his bare feet touched dirt and his toes curled into the warm, fertile soil. The dirt felt warm between Pillo’s toes and conformed to the arches of his one pair of long angular feet.

Part of The Caterpillar missed his old form, it moved a little bit slower, but Pillo never did see the value of moving so fast. If he’d desired, he could have eaten a few mushrooms and grown much larger, to be the size of the Royals and other human types who wandered Wonderland, generally ignorant to his presence, but staying small suited The Caterpillar much better. Anonymity kept those pesky Royals out of his crops and out of his business.

Packing himself a small bowl of dried flowers into his trusty water pipe, Pillo set flame to the bowl and inhaled deeply through the long ornate hose and mouthpiece. He let the smoke out with a long sigh, the heavy plumes of thick smoke forming into a miniature version of himself. The Mini-Caterpillar yawned and stretched for a moment before nodding to his sire and floating off to grab the watering cans and begin the daily chores of cultivating the fields. After another long inhale, Pillo blew out another Mini-Caterpillar who slowly rose up around the stem of the main plant, searching in his own, slow and deliberate way for dead leaves that needed pruning.

Pillo sat there, at the base of his tall seven-leaf plant, smoking and creating clones of himself to handle all the work that needed to be done. The sun and him had seemingly resolved their differences, as the long yellow rays of light felt soothing and warm against his skin.

Just as he was in the process of taking in another long drag of smoke, the pipe making its low rolling bubbling sound, a high heeled shoe came down in the midst of his precious plants, even crushing one of the young green sprouts into the dirt. It was that damn white rabbit, rushing off from somewhere to somewhere else, always in such a blasted hurry. The poor little young plant never even got a chance to sprout buds! Pillo coughed loud and long over the smoke in his chest, sending off massive letters made of smoke that rose to hang over the crops.

The sign read: “Stay off de plants!” in large hanging letters made of smoke.

http://fc04.deviantart.net/fs47/f/2009/199/6/5/Green_Fairy_by_MarloMarquise.jpg

There was a time where she was fixed in one place, where she’d been made of wood and hung on hinges and needed a key. Then Time committed a mass genocide on all that was, leaving quite a mess of the supporting walls and far more freedom than she’d ever had before. Which, more than likely, infuriated some to no end as she rarely stayed in one place for long, or at least not any longer than she liked. It was great fun. Some we’re probably still looking for her so they could get into Wonderland proper. For now, she was behaving herself and teetering back and forth on her toes like a giddy schoolgirl.

What once was an orchard faded off into a dust road. What once was a dusty road grew into a forest. What once were trees wove themselves together until they were so tangled you weren’t sure they hadn’t always been that way. At the end of that was a round bar, lined with stools, made of polished mahogany, and topped with the unmistakable surface of a mirror. Behind the countertop was someone or something more or less a woman which was, at this moment, herself. Leaning forward, black-tipped nails tapped rhythmically on the glass of the mirror, a classic if unwarranted sign of impatience. Eyes, black as iron, stared into the trees, waiting as she mumbled under her breath.

“Come on, come on. You’ll never get dry like that.”

White had come rushing through her moments ago, mumbling in her way that she was back. The White Rabbit never paid any mind to her, probably wasn't even aware she'd let anything slip. It was only when the door decided not to behave that it seemed she got any respect as an animate object. More importantly, someone was coming that had that rabbit in a tizzy and she couldn't bear the wait. Patience was for those who were stable after all. With that in mind, she leapt over the mirrored counter and ran off into the forest. Heedless of direction, she went whichever way she chose, sometimes in circles. It didn't really matter which way she went. She was bound to come across someone, if she only kept at it long enough. Which, eventually, she did. In fact, she ran right past her for a few feet before realizing what she'd done. Stopping in mid-stride, she quickly back-tracked and grabbed the blond woman's hands.

"Hullo! Come on! You're awfully late and we have far too much time left."

She should have known who White was talking about. Really, how silly of her to forget, but she knew the instant she caught sight of the human and there wasn't a moment to lose. The Queen would be wanting to see this one and the chop off her head. The door didn't much care about politics. They were completely beyond her in every aspect, but oh how exciting this all was. She wanted to have fun now! Laughing giddily, she dragged the woman along, willingly or not, through the trees as she ran back to her little bar in the woods. Once it was in sight, she threw the blond towards one of the stools and jumped back over the counter, narrowly avoiding landing into the shelves as she landed neatly on her toe. Turning slowly around, she bounced a little as she went with her eyes wide open. In fact, it was entirely possible that she never blinked.

"Welcome to Drink Me Bar and Grill. No, forget that! There is no grill. EVER!! Do you hear me?! Hmm, how about a bit of Cherry Ripe? Mock Turtle Tears? Golden Afternoon? Duchess' Pepper? Caucus Race? Mimsy Borogove? Vorpal Blade?"

With each suggestion, a glass was pulled out of the air and placed upon the top of mirror. Every single glass held a softly glowing liquid, not unlike neon. Red as polished as any apple. Blue as any tropical water. The softest yellow of sunshine. Even the black of pepper had a luminescent sheen to it. The bright eyed door just kept listing drinks one right after the other until the whole counter was covered with vibrant liquids. It was interesting to note that the mirror reflected none of them. Finally, after some minutes, the long list of beverages stopped and the dark-haired door tilted her head to the side and gazed, unblinking, at the all too familiar human. A feral grin spread across her lips at the apparent confusion on the young woman’s face. Taking an unnecessary breath, her tone was sweet and inviting when she next spoke/

“I’m just A’dor, sweetie. We’ve met and you went right through me. Let’s do it again.”

Lifting her hand up, she held it out to the woman, palm up, as a crystal shot glass appeared in it. Inside was a liquid as pink and sweet as a rose's first blush.

"This will be just the thing for you, dear. A bit of classic Small to get you set up right."

The Rabbit was far, far too fast for Allison to even think of keeping pace with. Perhaps that was for the best; she had, afterall, been warned to stay away from the rushed woman... Even though all she had wanted was simply some directions, or even a gesture to indicate where she could find someone willing to help her. Instead, she took to wandering on her own, following the road before her and taking guesses to the next direction at each fork in the road. If only she could see what was in the distance... It was easy to see behind her, but to know where she had been gave her no indication of where she was going.

Another woman suddenly rushed past her, at first making Allie think that it may have Bunny-lady once again... but no, this woman was dressed differently, and much darker hues. Allison started to turn back to follow this new arrival, only to find the woman in question standing before her instead, grabbing onto Allie's hand and leaving the girl bewildered as she spoke. That didn't make any sense... Maybe- Yes, maybe Allie had misunderstood her...

"I don't think I'm late for anything- Well, maybe the party, but I really didn't want ot go to that anyway, but- HWOOP!" The sudden tug on her arm interrupted Allison in her thoughts, her feet scrambling to keep up with the rest of her body as the woman hauled her along. "Slow down, slow down! I can't run that fast-!"

She cringed as she spotted the odd set up of stools and wood ahead, yelping out as she was plunked down at one of the seats. Her fingers curled about the bottom of the stool, watching the odd woman with both curiosity and fear. Sure, now Allie had someone to ask for help, but she wasn't quite sure on the mental state of her new 'friend'.

With the offer of drinks, Allie started to speak, her fingers raising hesitantly but unable to fit in a word edgewise. Goodness, this woman could talk fast... She stared at the glasses that appeared before her, the raised fingers now starting to reach for them cautiously. Like the woman talking, something about them didn't seem quite right, but she was getting terribly thirsty. Maybe just- one quick sip of something. Just to help get her back on the right track with the proper frame of mind.

Of course, if it was the same stuff she had been drinking, Allie wasn't sure what kind of state of mind it may leave her in.

When the woman introduced herself, Allie stared at her blankly, the name not ringing any bells. Adore? Never heard of her. But her description of their 'previous encounter' was even more confusing. Went right through her? If she had met this woman, she was certain that she wouldn't have ignored her... She was rather hard to miss. "I-I don't really think that I'm who-"

Ohhh, but a drink was offered. This time Adore(?) seemed certain it was something that Allie would like, presenting it to her with its strange pink hue. It certainly looked like it would taste nice. Taking the offered glass, she returned a warm smile ot the woman, sipping it. Oh, that was good! Her eyes lit up at the sweet taste that met her tongue, tipping the little glass back quickly and finishing the drink, letting the taste linger on her tongue for a moment. "Thank you... That was- quite good! I was getting thirsty, too. An odd taste to it, though. Not a bad one, I wouldn't mind drinking it again, but it leaves a strange flavor in the back of my throat. Not quite sure what I'd call that..."

She paused, glancing at the woman. Funny. She seemed taller now.
Huh. Perhaps it was just Allison's eyes.

"But- I really do think you have me confused with someone else. I've never been here before... At least, I don't think I have. It's a bit familiar, but I don't remember ever seeing any of these places, meeting any of you... but you're the second person so far to act as if they know me!"

She wriggled about on the stool for a moment, finding that her feet no longer let with the rungs. Had she shifted about that much?

"I really would like to just go home, like the Rabbit-lady told me to. I just- don't know where home is. Do you happen to know anyone that could help me find out how to do that?"

Time had been picking on her lately, and she did not like it one bit; especially now that it seemed that she had lured her again into the strange land that was Wonderland. She couldn't even bear the thought of what Her Majesty would do to her if she knew that she had once again brought the same human yet again into her realm. Panic grew inside of her and gave her enough adrenaline to just keep on going forward without any direction in mind.

In Wonderland, there were no definite directions to a certain destination in mind. But she knew she had to go through a certain door to get to her destination. Well, not just any door, but A'Dor specifically. She turned her head, her light purple hair swaying behind her as she looked behind.

Good. No sign of that human, but she couldn't help the uneasy feeling that she could be following behind her despite what she had said earlier to her. Even when she took quite some turns to confuse the poor blond girl. But she only care for herself at the moment. Her Highness wasn't one with patience; and she, the White Rabbit had always emphasized on punctuality.

When she managed to reach to the 'Drink Me' bar, she could only feel relief. Thank goodness that the door was behaving for the time being, and so it was easier for her to go through her. She couldn't help but ramble to herself, especially now that she was panic-striken that the human was back. Soft mumbling passed through her lips as she went through A'Dor and she didn't even noticed that she was. Perhaps A'Dor could distract her while she went on her way, that was what she thought as she continued on the same fast pace. Always on the hurry, always going to one place to another; that was her job after all as a herald for Her Majesty.

After going through, she kept at her fast pace as she dash through the field. She wasn't certain where she was at this point but then again, she wasn't actually paying attention on where she was dashing either. But that changed when she noticed smoke coming from somewhere beneath her, the smoke forming large letters as she read.

Oh dear, she mused to herself after she stopped in her tracks to glance down at the small being and she looked apologetic. "I apologize, Pillo! I didn't mean to.. I'm in a rush at the moment." She stepped her high heel away as she then squat down at the moment to glance at the poor small plant.

The poor thing.. She felt slightly guilty for it but if she had more time, which she actually didn't. The guilt was then brushed aside as she took out her golden pocketwatch. Her red eyes wide as she looked at the time, she then quickly got back to her feet.

"I have to go, I have to go! I'm late, I'm late! Pillo, I'll make it up to you somewhat!" She exclaimed as she was once again on her hurried pace. But she then stopped once more, as then quickly turned to exchange some words.

"Pillo, if you see the blond girl, do not tell where I'm heading!" She was then off once again.

Soon enough, White's red eyes managed to see the glimpse of the large golden gate to the castle. Relief mixed with anxiety was inside of her as she was then allowed into the castle's premise. She was relieved that she made it in time, but she was feeling awfully nervous especially when she was ushered to the throne room where she knew her royal Majesty would be.

Once inside the room, she quickly went forward and then went onto her knees, humbling herself in front of her Highness. "... Your.. Majesty.." She started, her voice wavering as she sounded nervous and very afraid. "... The White Rabbit.. at your service.. I came.. just like you asked.. me to." After she spoke, she timidly glanced up, her red eyes laid their gaze upon the figure before her.

Am I the only one wondering how they get through the other way?

“Confused? No. Yes. Maybe. Possibly. Definitely. But I’d know you anywhere. There aren’t that many to compare to.”

That feral grin was back as her unwavering gaze remained on the blond woman. She never had caught her name the first time. The girl, while given to fits of talking to herself, never did let her name slip before. Even if she had been able to speak then, the door doubted she would’ve bothered to ask that particular question. No, it would’ve been far more prudent for her to have asked the girl to stop crying on her. Such a mess of salt water and so uncomfortable was the swelling as it had soaked into her wood. Thank goodness she’d once been part of a tree before that or else she never would’ve coped with it. Just thinking about it had her paranoid one of those bothersome cakes would come running by any moment.

"I really would like to just go home, like the Rabbit-lady told me to. I just- don't know where home is. Do you happen to know anyone that could help me find out how to do that?"

For the first time, she blinked. It was a rather slow, luxurious blink as if she had little better to do. Which at that exact moment, she rather felt she hadn’t. The blond wasn’t nearly as amusing as she had been last time. Perhaps if she stood really still and tried to be inanimate again, something interesting would happen. Several moments passed like this as A’dor tried in vain to become just a door again. It failed miserably and ended with her heaving a rather large sigh, taking up a martini glass full of a pitch dark liquid and swigging it down. It burned rather like the sharp rays of a summer sun, but she showed no signs of it bothering her and little smoke trailed from her lips as she spoke. It had seemed apparent that with an animate being around, the human was expecting some answers.

“Heart is where the home is, they say, and you’re already on your way to the Hearts. Lucky girl.”

With a curious sound, A’dor tilted her head to the side until it rested at an impossible angle. It seemed that she had just now noticed the change in her customer and was quite surprised by it herself, despite being the one to have done it. The human had shrunk and was shrinking even farther yet. The smile crept back into place. Glasses clinked melodiously against each other as she pushed them out of the way for her to climb onto the mirrored top. Reaching out a hand, she licked her lips as she plucked the girl from the stool by her collar. To be sure, the woman struggled in her grasp, but that didn’t bother the door one little bit. Tilting her head back, she opened her mouth wide and held the blond over it.

“Ready to do it again? No? Oh well. Bottoms up!”

As she was lowering the woman into her mouth, her tongue stretched out to meet the little legs. This was her favorite part. They tasted so sweet after Small, or perhaps they all tasted sweet and she just couldn’t compare. Next time she was going to taste one before they shrunk, she told herself, then she’d see. For now, she’d make due. Her agile tongue crept over the tiny woman’s skin, clothes, hair, exploring, tasting. Then she went for the parts she had missed, like the sweet little breasts hiding in that top with little pinpricks of nipples that tickled her tongue.

Damp panties awaited her as she went lower, a soft chuckle resonated from her open throat. They were always sweetest at their core and this one was so freshly shrunk, the cloth didn’t provide much of any barrier at all. A’dor could taste the blond’s pungent nectar just fine, despite it. Prodding insistently at the woman’s legs, her tongue eventually wriggled its’ way between them so she could lap up the juices properly.

The door was not a patient creature. She couldn’t simply sit and enjoy her meal, at least not for very long. No matter how delectable the flavor, she soon grew tired of playing with the blond and withdrew her tongue in order to open her mouth quite impossibly larger. In the inky blackness of her gullet, one could barely see a light glimmering at the end. Indeed, there was no stomach to catch the falling woman as A’dor released her grip. She was only a door after all. What use was she if there was no way to go through her? With a smug and satisfied grin, she looked up at the sun-dappled canopy above her. Then, all of a sudden, her fists came flying down on the mirrored counter, which was conspicuously absent of both glasses and drinks, and she screamed with rage.

“DAMMIT!! Now my entertainment is gone!”

The woods around her twisted her angry words until they resembled nothing like what she had said and were scattered among the forest floor like so many fallen leaves. The menacing scowl gave way to a small sigh, before it was replaced altogether by a cunning glint in her eyes. Cupping her hands around her mouth, her voice was sweetly cajoling as she called out.

“Hullo! Hullo! Anybody want to come and pppllllaaayyy?”

Her voice echoed and warped as it went through the trees and out into the woods, but she got no answer beyond a distant jabberwock. Still, she waited patiently for some wandering fool to take her up on her offer. Or sort of patiently, as her nails were continuously tapping upon the glass all the while. Weren’t they all looking for her after all? She was the prize here. She needed to be sought! Yet, nothing and no one tried to edge towards the bar. Heaving yet another sigh, A’dor slumped down and stretched herself out over the curving surface.

“Annoying.”

The Queen looked up from her plush, red canopy, her ruby red lips curling into a smile. Watching the rabbit huff and puff, straightening herself was a comical treat. The thing that most Wonderlandian's would feel sorry for.

" My dearest, White." She began, picking up a lush, red apple from the bowl of red fruits beside her. " My mind was beginning to think that you had ran off on me again. We couldn't have that you know. However......" She smirked, watching the timid rabbit shiver in fear, staring up at her with an uncertain awe. The beautiful Queen slipped off the canopy, her feet touching the cool, red-marbled floor. Standing up, brushing herself off; she began to walk down the similar-coloured staircase, her ivory breasts bouncing softly, in rhythm with the large, bouncy curls of her reddish hair.

Her breath was sickening sweet, like an overload of cinnamon hearts mixed with Swedish berries, her hands grabbing a few strands of the white rabbit's lilac-coloured hair. " You're hiding something from me, Rabbit. Spill it out." The Queen sneered, yanking the girl down by the hair, making her fall on all fours. " Do you take me for a fool? Where is the girl?" The Queen yelled, yanking the poor girl's head once more.

" As punishment for not telling.. Twelve hours of pleasuring myself and everyone who needs your services. NOW GO! Before I decide to eat your heart." Watching the rabbit run off in a hurry, the Queen turned her back, staring out a red-stained window.

" So it has begun." She whispered, clenching her fist.

This lady liked her drinks. Allison simply watched with wide eyes as the black liquid was downed so easily, amazed at how easily she drank such a foul-looking concoction. The smell of it even from the other side of the bar made her nose burn. And this Adore had managed to gulp it down in mere seconds? Jason would like this lady, she thought with a frown. She can certainly drink. I barely make it through a bottle or two before my head is a mess...

More confusing words. "Hearts? Is that- is that the name of the city?," Allie asked, trying to make sense of it. Hmm. Maybe the way this woman drank could be an indication on the odd way she spoke. It added up well in Allie's mind; alcohol could make people say some rather odd things. Even she had let slip some curious words the few times Jason had convinced her to pass her limit of simply two drinks. He had laughed at her. It really hurt her feelings.

Wait, where had that lady gone off to? And what was with this wall? It seemed so incredibly high, and Allison was certain that she hadn't gotten off the stool. How on earth had-

A hand, a giant set of fingers, reached over the big wall suddenly. Miss Adore sat upon the wall's top- The bar! It was the bar!- and was reaching for Allie in her now tiny state. A yelp left Allie as the fingers pinched the back of her dress, plucking her up from the now giant stool and lifting her into the air. She was going to drop her! Allie screamed at this thought, kicking her legs out as she was moved higher still. "What are you doing?! Put me down! Too high, too high, far too high!"

Allie shrieked again as Adore dangled her over her open mouth, asking her about doing something again. What? Before Allison could even reply, Adore decided for her- and dropped her past her opened lips to her waiting extended tongue.

That brought about a louder scream than ever before. Dark and frightening, curious sensations all about her- what was this? This insane giantess was trying to- to- eat her! Something wet slid against her skin, over her dress, and between the flailing legs that quickly decided to stop. A furious blush hit her cheeks as the 'wet something' found a favorite place, Allie trying to hit it with balled fists. "Shoo! Stop that, stop that! No, don't start doing thaaaat!" Her hits stopped momentarily as the intruding thing found a new way around, Allie gasping weakly at the feel of it.

The thing stopped. It moved.
And Allison fell once again. This was it, wasn't it? Miss Adore had eaten her, she was going to end up in the belly of this crazy lady, nothing more than a nibble at her insane bar and forgotten by-

"Yeeeowch!" Allie yelped and cringed as she spilled onto the ground, her head connecting with it before the rest of her. Upside down and a quarter of her usual size, she looked blankly at the world around her, even more confused at the fact it seemed so topsy-turvy.

Oh wait. It was.
She rolled over, fully aware of the dirt this added to her dress as she looked about. Dirt was a simple thing to fix. Finding home was the harder thing, and was going to be harder still if she was stuck like this thanks to Adore. Getting to her feet, she let out a hard huff, trying to figure out where exactly she should be heading. "This is crazy. First she gives me some weird drug, then she tried to eat me, and now she's left me alone in the middle of nowhere!" Perhaps not entirely true. She had given a name, hadn't she? Allie was sure she'd said the city was called Hearts. How far away this Hearts was, she wasn't quite certain, but at least this time she had a name. It was far easier to ask directions with a name.

Now she just needed someone to ask.
She started walking once again, though was rather upset at the fact her steps would be taking far longer than her usual pace. Things seemed so different at this size...

" My dearest, White."

When she started to speak, her figure stiffened as fear started to crawl inside of her; fear that her Majesty was indeed late, or even worse. She must not utter a single word of the female human who managed to get her way to Wonderland. She mustn't!

The thought of punishment from her Highness was most frightening, and she knew she wouldn't like it one bit. Though she was more fearful. The punishment could be even severe and she would have poor White to have her head off. The mere thought crept into her sane head and her form started to shiver out of fear.

After her Majesty spoke of that one time she tried to run away, she shook her head in protest,"N-No.. Of.. course not, Your Majesty. W-Why would I ever do that? My.. place is.. with you.. Your Highness.." She responded, her voice trembling and she noticed that.

The timid Rabbit felt like a prey on a verge of being clawed down by the predator and it's unfortunate that it has to be the Queen herself. Her fear doubled as her Highness slid off the canopy and she feared the worse as she descended down the stairs to her direction.

No, no, no! She screamed inside her head and she closed her eyes shut in great fear, with her head bowed down while the Queen neared her kneeling form. She was so near until she could smell the Queen's familiar yet sweet breath and this caused her body to shiver and tremble more

Just as she feared, the Queen was indeed upset with her. Especially when she felt the painful yanking onto her lilac hair. As the Queen yanked her long hair, she could only usher a painful grunt as she was afraid if she yell out too loud, it would make the Queen even much angrier. She fell onto her hands and knees, her head throbbing with discomfort and pain though as she tried to give a response.

"Your- your majesty. Please.. Please.. Mercy! I.. did want to.. tell you!" White tried to defend herself though it was in vain as she the Queen yanked her hair once again, making her expel a soft cry. Her eyes stung with held back tears but she maintained herself as she allowed the Queen to speak once again.

At the mention of her punishment, she looked up at the Queen but didn't utter another word. Though she hurried away, especially when the Queen threatened to eat her heart and she quickly got off to her feet and fled from the room as fast as possible.

She didn't had any direction in mind but she found herself at the gardens of the Queen's castle. Her head continued to ache from the discomfort as she let herself settled onto a garden bench. She rubbed the sore spot over her head, wincing gently. Her poor hair and poor head, she muttered to herself.

Twelve hours of service for the Queen and anybody else.. She was not looking forward to it, especially when she knew that her service was wanted by some people. And she knew about the Queen's insatiable lust. Every session with her Queen would leave White all exhausted and sore. After letting herself rest for a short while, she decided she better start entertaining the Queen before she makes her furious again.

A long feral smile split through the space behind the blond girl who had not visited the world of Wonderland before this point. Somewhere just above the smile a pair of eyes appeared as if the scenery was painted there, painted on the face that otherwise remained hidden. In truth the eyes and smile had been many places today, in fact had been moving around and being many places just in the past few minutes. Of course, he needed to be, after all, what he ended up bartering with most of the time was information. The only problem was that these days the Queen tended not to need his services specifically, and she found herself wanting to deal with him even less now that he had been forced to barter information with some less than savory characters. Getting information was easy for him though, he could go anywhere at pretty much any time and always managed to stay hidden when he needed to.

The eyes watched the blond girl for a few more long moments, listening to the things that she was saying, the long smile spreading a bit further on those invisible lips. Finally the haze of invisibility rolled backwards, his face appearing, his hair appearing next, then his neck, the collar of his shirt, the rest of his body appeared in the similar way, all the way down a long slim and fuzzy tail that curled up along behind him. He was crouched down so that the top of his fluffy cat ears were about level with the head of the blond girl, his hands and knees brushing against the ground. He had remained eerily silent so far, letting the girl continue to believe that she was completely alone, just like she had stated. It seemed fair for the moment at least.

"I'm sure that is what you've found, since no one else seems to be around, you're in a place where nightmares are dreams, and nothing is quite what it seems." The rhyming riddle speak that was such a part of Wonderland that he almost had to stay with it. He knew that it would make the atmosphere a bit more bearable, or at least knew that it used to, but he also knew that he probably couldn't keep it up for very long. His smile remained ridiculously large as he looked down at her, his blue hair falling in front of his eyes a little bit, his cat ears twitching again.

Of course his instincts and habits to remain hidden kicked in rather quickly, and before he even realized it, he had vanished like a puff of smoke and suddenly he had appeared again in a much similar way as the original appearance, sitting on a tree branch, letting his legs dangle down towards the ground, "Is Alice headed to the palace? I wouldn't suggest that." His lips were still curled into the long smirk. He of course didn't mind the idea of heading towards the palace. With White having accidentally brought Alice back, and having headed off to see the queen like that, he had taken a quick peek in on their discussion, and he didn't mind the idea of playing with the little bunny...of course, hanging around the castle for too long was probably not the wisest idea unless he had something to exchange for his safety...that being said, knowing where the girl that everyone would soon be looking for seemed like the perfect thing to trade.

Then again, Alice had her own charms, and perhaps working for her and keeping her safe wasn't such a bad idea either. Information wasn't the sort of thing that you could sit on for too long, or it tended to get out and dance around in other people's ears, but when it came to where someone was, well, with the information he was always privy to, something like that could be kept up almost indefinitely if someone didn't want to be found...and when it came to Alice and the Queen, he was quite sure that she would want to remain unfound.

He considered the fact that she had drank some of the door's potion. He knew that she wouldn't find that particularly helpful in her situation, but it did help him quite a bit in his task to keep her hidden until he was ready for her to be found. He smiled as he looked down at her from his tree branch, considering how he could get her to hang around with him instead of heading where ever she was going. This girl definitely was an interesting one. In a few moments of being here she had already caused so many interesting things to start rolling along. The rabbit getting into a bit of trouble, the door calling out to everyone in the forest, Pilo getting his garden stomped...hmmm...Pilo...that was the perfect place to leave Alice for a little while, especially since both of them were so little...at least for the moment. They'd probably get along. Pilo didn't want anything to do with the royals, and right now he didn't want the royals to have anything to do with Alice. He was sure he could sell her on that.

He slipped from his branch and landed crouched on the earth again before the blond girl. His long smile had slipped down into a gentle smirk as he looked down at the shrunk girl, "So, as I'm sure you're curious, and I wouldn't want you to get furious, I'll introduce myself to you, since I know it's what you want me to do, and now that I've said all of that, I'm at your service, the Cheshire Cat." It seemed he still had a rhyme or two left inside of him after all.

Pillo examined the broken husk of his poor fallen plant, looking up only briefly at the rabbit when she called back to him, promising to make it up to him somehow. Pillo just scoffed at that, the royals and even the hench-royals (as Pillo viewed the rabbit) had developed funny ideas lately about what constituted punishments and rewards. He wasn’t sure he wanted to know what the rabbit had in mind for “making it up to him”, but then again… maybe he did.

There was nothing that could make things right with the fallen plant, however, despite Pillo’s considerable horticultural expertise. The stem had been broken, the roots could no longer support the leaves with nutrients or water and the leaves could no longer filter the carbon dioxide and energy from the sun back to the roots. Pillo lifted one of the damaged leaves and frowned as it shriveled and fell back to the ground.

“Ye were from de ground untimely ripped, now ye buds must be early clipped.” Pillo muttered in place of a prayer since he didn’t know any.

Taking his time, being careful not to crush any parts of the plant that weren’t already smashed, Pillo clipped away any flowers that looked like they might have had potential and set about hanging them upside down to dry out. Another advantage of being so small was his ability to make even tiny, immature buds like these and make them go a long way.

When he’d finally strung up the last of his reclaimed treasures, Pillo heard a loud thud followed by an anguished yowl of pain. Immediately his mind flashed with memories of only a few moments ago when that rabbit stomped on one of his babies!

Quickly utilizing his human limbs, Pillo scampered up the stem of the nearest standing plant to get a better view. He saw very little that would justify the sound until he heard voices and followed them to yet another unwelcome sight.

It was a girl! A girl in a blue dress no less, who looked very much like that one who had raised all that trouble the last time. The Cheshire Cat had already cornered her and seemed to be playing with her in her diminutive form.

“Dis be some bom’bad events. I will stay out of it, and hope dat prevents…” Pillo trailed off as his slid down the plant like a fireman’s pole.

When his bare feet hit dirt once more, Pillo dashed toward the refuge of his underground mushroom cave. He made sure to grab his water pipe and his bag of flowers first, to make his hiding out go more swiftly.

The sudden voice caused Allison to jump, turning about quickly to try to find the source of the rhyming tone. She barely caught the tuft of blue in the air before losing sight of- whatever it was that spoke to her. Well, at least she wasn't alone now. What or who ever it was spoke in a rather strange manner... and the more she thought on his words, the more it worried her. Nightmares and dreams?

She peered around one of the large leaves in her way, trying to find him again, only to hear his voice now above her. She looked up instead, seeing the man lounging in the tree above her. Shielding her eyes slightly, she frowned at the name he called her, shaking her head. "Oh, my name is Allison, not Al-"

A sudden thought hit her hard with that. Alice? Did he possibly mean her mother? It made some partial sense, which with the stories her mother had told, was probably all the sense it would ever make. They were simply stories though, weren't they? Nothing but her mother's imagination...

That man certainly seemed real enough.
Adore certainly seemed real enough, too. (As frightening as she may have been.)

He had said not to go to the Palace. If that was what waited for her in the city of Hearts, then she certainly didn't want to go there! She tried to recall the full details of the stories her mother had told, realizing now that they may be of some help. Maybe- Maybe she had fallen in the back gardens. Yes, that was it. She had fallen down, and bumped her head, and now her mind was playing tricks with all the memories in her head.

Then why did all these other falls and such hurt so much? It didn't make any sense at all!

The catman was on the move once again, coming to rest now right before her and crouching to grin at her, a smirk that seemed far too big for his face as he peered down. His stare upon her made her a bit uncomfortable, a weak smile coming to her face as she hesitantly glanced up at him. That smile of his was just- so strange. It didn't seem right at all!

He began to introduce himself, another curious rhyme coming from him to do so. Her eyes widened a bit at recognition of this name. It was one she remembered; one she knew from mother's stories! The fact that he knew mother's name only added to the curious feeling that ran through her. If the Chesire Cat was real, and knew of Alice, then-

"Oh. Ohh... Oh my." Allie felt lightheaded now, taking a few steps back from the large feline man before looking back up at him. "She talked about you. She- told me about you. I'm not her, though... I'm not- I'm not Alice. Everyone seems to think I'm Alice. Alice Liddle is my mother. I'm Allison... Ohhh, that's why everyone so far has talked to me so strangely, why they keep talking like I should know them.. I thought they were all just going crazy or something, but now- Everyone thought my mother was crazy at home, too. They'll probably think I'm crazy. I do feel like I'm going to end up that way from all this-"

She paused, realizing that she was carrying on far too much. "Maybe... maybe you could help me? You said the castle wasn't a good idea. Where should I be going to, then? This place is just so confusing..."

His ears had twitched at her denying being Alice and mentioning that her name was Allison. Was it possible that she had been robbed of all of her memories of this place when she had left to return to her 'real world' and the personality of the Alice that everyone knew had been replaced by this 'Allison', a pale figment of what she had once been when she had shown up and set so many different balls rolling in so many previously unimagined directions? It was clear to look at her that if this was not the girl who had stumbled into their world and brought with her such wild commotion, that she was certainly some form of specter or wraith meant to haunt them all with memories and visions of times long past. Regardless, it was another very important piece of information, and seemed to be rather valuable to his very well trained ears. He did his best not to let the valuable things slip by them...it also confused his plans quite a bit. Pillo would certainly recognize her as the Alice of past, but then again, with the herbs that he smoked and the other plants that he ingested it was possible that he'd simply accept her as imaginary (not that there was much a difference between imaginary and real in a place like this). It was also a very true case that Pillo was not particularly likely to be talking to the Royals about her, and would stay especially quiet if the mention of what they might do to his garden if they knew where it was came up.

Still, all of these plans upon plans did vex the cat. Nothing except for the level of information that he had now had changed, well, and the level of information that the vision of Alice before him had perhaps. If all her memories had been wiped clean, she hadn't probably been given too much information. Perhaps he could start bartering with her as well. He had already acquired all of the information that he would need for quite some time for free, and he had been given a wonderful little nugget that would allow him to play a beautiful little guessing game with the red queen later should he feel like tormenting her a little bit. That was always a dangerous game to play, but it was said that cats did have nine lives, and what was the point in them if he wasn't going to have some fun?

The explanation of just who it was that she was had been a wonderful treat for his ears. Not the Alice that they all knew but her progeny, an Alice version 2.0 if you would. That was something that he was certain that the door had not been able to pry from her lips, even with all of those potions of hers, without knowing that there was a gem to be found it was difficult to attempt to polish away the rough...such a wonderful piece of information like that...it was one that he most certainly wanted to keep to himself until he found the appropriate buyer, but he'd have to think of a good way to keep it hidden until the time was right.

At the mention of all of this craziness his lips, which had shrunk considerably as he considered all of the information that he had so far and what he could do with it, widened back into a smile, "You're worried you've lost your marbles, is that what's the matter? I'm told that to keep your wits about you here, you must be mad as a hatter." Still keeping with the wonderful rhymes as the provided a tone of the mysterious to everything that he said and he had found the he often got quite a lot of information from loose tongues just by using clever words.

It wasn't right to stay where they were for very long. The information that Alice was back in town (erroneous as it was) would be spreading like wildfire, information always did, and as a result people would be looking for her, most likely the wrong kind of people. Still he didn't want to let such a treasured truth as her actual identity slip from his fingers, "That info about you being Alice's kid...it might be best kept under your lid." He tapped the top of his head, letting her know what he meant, "If the Royals find you, they won't give you a chance, but there might be a space for you with Pillo's plants. Now touching his herbs, that is forbidden, but if you tell him you're Alice, he might keep you hidden." When he said that he seemed to be talking more to himself than to her, tapping his finger against his lips, his eyes looking up as if trying to find an answer somewhere above him. All of a sudden his eyes rolled forward to be focused on the blond girl who had a drink of shrink earlier in the day, "I can take you there if you'd like, I'll even carry you so it's less of a hike."

The Catman seemed a little surprised at what she had to say, which in turn was rather surprising to Allison. To have managed to make anything shocking to such a strange person must have been quite a feat. As he looked to be lost in his own little world, she gave a hesitant glance around, wondering if perhaps she might be better off on her own. If he had such a bad habit of letting his thoughts take off with him-

He suddenly gave that frighteningly too-big grin, looking back down at her. Allie wondered quickly if he planned to eat her or something. She'd seen her own cat far too many times chase after tiny creatures simply because he was bigger than them, toy with them for a time, then chomp them down.

But he was talking to her. Unless this was his way of playing with his food, she was most likely safe from any hungry kitty nibblings. "Yes.. Yes, I do believe I must be going crazy. For any of this to make sense, I must be truly mad..." she paused as he mentioned being as mad as a hatter, smirking slightly herself at her mother's recallings of the man that shared the same name. Was he truly a part of this place as well?

She looked up at him curiously as he told her to keep quiet on her lineage, shielding her eyes from the sun that lumbered over his shoulder. The Royals? Oh, the castle, in Hearts. "Won't... give me a chance? They- they have something against me? Or, my mother? I- I don't understand, I thought that everyone liked my mother from the way she talked about this place..."

She trailed off, the hand over her eyes slowly slipping down. Mom had never talked about Royals. A brief mention of a Red Queen, but it was so quickly passed over that Allison really couldn't remember that much on what she had said; simply that she didn't much like that subject. Mother hated to talk about upsetting things, or frightening things. If it was as bad as Cheshire made it seem with that little warning, then maybe there was a reason behind it.

"With Pillo's pants?! Where are you planning to send me?!," she squeaked out suddenly, his words having been jumbled slightly in her thoughts. "I chased the rabbit to get away from a man and his pants, I certainly don't want to end up in another one's!"

Wait, no, that wasn't what he had said, was it? He was talking about herbs and gardens now, and- Ohhh.

"Plants. You said- Plants. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I misheard you, and.... Yes, please. A ride would make things so much easier. I doubt I could even make it around that bush over there by nightfall at my current size. Who is this Pillo? A gardner of some sort?"

The Cheshire Cat grinned at the confusion between plants and pants. It seemed that their new little Alice had a tad bit of a gutter mind. That was alright. It seemed that recently it had become an affliction that a great deal of Wonderland was sharing. If she kept her mind on the scary idea that everyone here wanted to get down and dirty with her, she'd probably be more cautious, and cautious was exactly what he wanted her to be. He didn't want her volunteering any of the information that he had gotten from him, information that he planned to sell when the time was right. You tended to tell people less intimate secrets about yourself when you were worried that what they were really interested in was secrets that only your flesh could tell them. It was good to give her a little fear...this place could be dangerous if it wasn't given the respect it deserved. Of course the question of if Pillo was some kind of gardener really did deserve some kind of fun response, "Some kind, yes."

He leaned down slowly and plucked the girl from the earth. There was a lot of talking that was going to need to be done, he supposed, and it was better that they headed in the right direction for him to do that talking. He also knew that the conversation had taken a rather serious turn, and there wasn't really a way to continue to rhyme it, and if he did, he doubted that she'd take it all that seriously. His eyes stared forward, his smile seeming to have vanished in an instant, and he opened his mouth to speak, his voice taking a much more serious tone than any that he had expressed as of yet in their conversation, "Not everyone." It was a simple answer, the kind of answer that he'd give to someone to hook them on information so he could make a profit. This time he knew he wasn't going to make a profit though, so he didn't stall long enough for her to ask to hear more, "The Royals like things to stay orderly, and when someone like you is here, it alters the order of things. Exciting things happen and people start to talk and get together...and when people get together and talk..." He trailed off but continue to walk, "It's part of the reason I'm taking you to see Pillo. He does much, much better when the Royals aren't involved with him."

Still, he knew that the situation could get hairy. Just because Pillo didn't like having to deal with the Royals, or people stomping around in his garden didn't mean that things were going to be all peachy in the garden. Pillo didn't care much for anyone really, at least not that Chess had seen. He was pretty sure that he had once heard the now ex-caterpillar cursing out the sun for being too bright. Of course, with things the way that they were, it wasn't all that much of a surprise that any time he was around, Pillo tended to be a bit more on edge than usual. People who liked their privacy, and liked to keep themselves secret from other people tended to get a bit antsy when someone who made a living out of gathering and selling information were around. Convincing Pillo that taking the new Alice under his care truly was in his best interest was going to be a difficult task, but it was probably one that he could leave to the new Alice herself. He was sure that even as withdrawn as the caterpillar was, he was still subject to feminine whiles.

The cat also had other puzzles to work his mind over. What was he going to do once he had dropped this girl over. The first thought had been to try and gather information from the door...but she had a way of speaking in even deeper riddles than the ones he could come up with when he was feeling like being cryptic. He doubted that talking to her would get him much information at all, and even if it did...she could be opened and closed like a book, so it wasn't like the information that he got from her would be all that useful to him on its own anyway. That really left him with the information that he had, and very little that he could do from there. He had considered visiting the hatter, but that would no doubt start chatter, and no one needed that. That really only left a handful of options on what he could do after that...and the first one that had come to mind after all of this new thought had seemed the most truly enjoyable, while also being the most useful.

It had taken much less time to make it to Pillo's gardens than it would have had the small woman been walking. He looked at the sign made out of smoke that suggested that it would be appreciated if the reader kept their toes off of the plants. He smiled at a much more human level than usual, and slowly crouched down again, letting the small woman down onto the fertile earth below her feet. He looked down at her for a moment and then spoke softly, "Pillo's probably hiding somewhere, he's got things he doesn't like to share. I'm sure that he can be found, if you just look around. I on the other hand am going to roam, I'll see if a certain bunny knows how to get you home." He smiled widely at her again, knowing that she'd probably be able to figure out everything that he had said within the rhymes without too much trouble. He also knew that there was next to no way that Pillo would ever come out while he was still around, so this was by far the best option. And slowly, he faded into the scenery, the last thing to vanish, the big toothy grin.



The long smile split through the scenery of the garden and was quickly followed by the rest of the grinning cat man who was now sitting in midair and looking down at the white rabbit. This was by far the best place that he could have started for both gathering information that he could use, and for being his usual self. He brought his hand up and rubbed his nose for a moment, "Oh, poor rabbit, why so sad? Did the queen punish you for being bad?" All at once he seemed to vanish again, just to reappear on the bench beside her, looking forward over the garden, his lips still forming a bright smile, "I'm sure she'd put your punishment to a halt, if she knew it wasn't your fault." He rolled his head slowly, his smile still on his lips as he looked at her, "There's just something that I need to know..." His lips were still in a smile, "...how many hours of service do you owe?"

The Queen would be more furious if she called for her so that the Rabbit would go through with the twisted punishment sentenced by her Queen. She thought she could at least get a bit of some peace and privacy, but it seemed someone had a different idea. She was far too relaxed and oblivious before her rabbit ears twitched with the slightest motion as she heard someone speaking to her. From.. above?

She quickly lifted her head up, her eyes shot up and almost dreaded the appearance of her newly arrived company. Out of all Wonderlians.. She mused in her head as she tried to give a stare at him but instead, her timidness overpowered her and she just lowered her head down; her rabbit ears drooping over her head. "... It.. seems so. But that is not of your business, Chess.. You should not be here as well." She mumbled her reply, keeping her head low as she did.

Though when he vanish to reappear beside her, her form almost jumped off from the bench at the sudden surprise but she tried to calm herself down though she scooted herself a bit further from his form. After hearing his words, she lifted her head to glance at him, her rabbit ears still drooping down. "... It.. really wasn't.. my fault at all.. Just like the first time too.." She whispered before she dropped her gaze down onto her lap. She continued, "Even if I tell her, she would still punish me.. It had always been like so.."

Keeping her head down, she only lifted it up especially when grinning fellow asked his question, she then shot an angry glare at him, "Ah! That is why you are here?" She tried to fight back with words but she knew with this man, it would be a futile effort. Her shoulders slumped down, she lowered her gaze down as she replied in a soft volume, ".. Twelve hours, Sir.. Is that all you would like to ask or do you want something else?"

Pillo gently touched the fungus growing nearest to the entrance to his cave, causing the mushroom to glow with a startling blue light which illuminated the cavern. He could still faintly hear the Tattling Tabby talking to the blue dress blond, though from this distance the words were little more than muffled deep sounds. Perching himself up on a rock near the mouth of the cave, he peeked out to see what was happening. He settled in to smoke his water pipe as he observed what was going on outside.

It seemed that the cat was coming this way, carrying the miniature girl along with him. Pillo blew smoke out of his nose in frustration, the smoke undulating and folding in upon itself until it resembled beaded curtains obscuring the mouth of the cave.

Using his antennae which now seemed to more closely resemble dreadlocks, Pillo listened in on their conversation, using the natural resonance of the rock that surrounded him. Wonderlandians scarcely realized how miraculous their surroundings truly were, that the plants and trees and even dirt itself carried a resonance which could be harnessed and utilized by one who is clever enough.

They seemed to be talking about him, that was most unfortunate. Pillo wished that everyone could just forget about this little place here and go on about their own business. If word ever got back to the queen it could be a disaster, if she knew that there were enough mushrooms growing here to make her eighty-five feet tall Pillo doubted he would ever get privacy again.

Thankfully, Chess did his disappearing act soon after he finished talking, leaving the girl alone and looking utterly bewildered. Pillo felt sorry for her, she reminded him of someone he thought he knew but his memory wasn’t great. He stuck his head out from behind the smoke-screen cautiously, worried that the cat might still be around.

“You.” Pillo called out, sending a smoke representation of the letter “U” out at the girl until it slowly floated around her neck and spun around a few times before settling onto her shoulders and dissipating into the air. “Who be you?”

This time the “O” flew over to Allie first, hovering around her head like a halo until the “B” arrived on the scene. The “B” lazily laid on its back and came forward to frame and gently squeeze Allies breasts before dissipating into smoke. Lastly, another “U” floated over and bowed low for a moment before tipping back and lifting up the front of Allie’s dress for a moment.

Pillo stepped out of the cave, still smoking his pipe as he leaned against the mouth of the cave, awaiting answers expectantly.

lol I suddenly realized... I should write something for this

Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick

The heels of her boots clicked along the sunlight dappled marble hall, each step exact and measured. There was no other way. There had been once, but now everything, so exact, so controlled, so boring. The simulacrum blinked at that thought, the only outward sign she allowed herself to show. It was far too dangerous to do otherwise. If she landed on the Queen's bad side this time, she would endure a lot worse than simply having her head removed from the rest of her body. This Queen of Hearts was not like the one she had known in life and, in her time of mechanical servitude, she had come to realize there were far worse things than the death she no longer feared.

Coming to a corner, she turned on her heel, an exact ninety degrees to the right. A blur of violet hair and white ears ran streaking past towards the garden with tears in her eyes. The Knave of Hearts paused, a foot hung in the air in mid-step, and tilted her head so that she could look over her shoulder at the disappearing form of the rabbit. She angered her majesty somehow. At least, she has her head. Wonder what the punishment was this time? Her spun back to its' proper position, her left foot connected with the floor, and forward momentum was regained once more. She wanted to know. Inside she was positively itching with curiosity. It had been a lifetime ago since she had talked privately with White on something beyond the Queen's business.

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What she wanted and what she could do were two very different things. There was no delaying her mistress' summons. Every step exact. Every movement precise. There was no Time to be late. There was no room for error or folly, or fun. What a pity. The ornate doors to the throne room stood before her, flanked by two Cards that barely gave her half a glance as they made way for her. They would've given her more than a few glances once. Cards could be so much fun to play with. That wide grin she felt did not reach her lips or eyes. Instead, she sunk into a deep curtsy as soon as she was within five feet of the staircase that led to the throne, despite having already observed that the Queen was not on it and was in fact some distance to her right, gazing out of a window.

"Your Majesty."

Her voice, like so much else about her, was precise and exact. Each syllable was pronounced as it should be and there was no inflection of her tone to give away such unnecessary things as emotions. That was good. It was safer this way. Emotions would only get her in trouble again.

"What is your wish? Command it of me and it shall be done."

Allie frowned as Chesire explained without the rhyme; something that she was partially happy that he did, but without the melodic tone, the words that left him certainly hit harder than she would have liked. Her mother had simply told her the 'better' parts of her story, but things were far less than the beautiful picture that she had given. The Royals weren't happy with Mom being here then, and from the sounds of it, were going to be far less happy when they found out she was here... Especially with everyone seeming to think she was her mother!

"I can see why I should avoid them, then," she agreed slowly, a slightly depressed tone in her voice. "But.. but what if this Mister Pillo doesn't want to help? I mean, if he hates the Royals as much as you say, then to have me anywhere near him might just... make things worse." She frowned with that thought, settling into a better position on Chess' palm. "I don't want to cause trouble for anyone. The last thing I want is to have these Royals hurting someone because of me..."

Still, Chess seemed pretty sure of himself on Pillo's possible help in hiding her- at least for a time. All she had to be cautious on was his plants... and at her current size, she highly doubted she could do any real damage to the things. She gave a nod as he began to set her down, sliding off his fingertips and readjusting her dress a bit. "I'll look for him. Thank you, Cat..." She paused as she looked back up, finding him to already have vanished. Odd creature, that one.

She started to walk through the rather large garden, looking up in awe for a moment at the giant leaves sprawled overhead. It reminded her slightly of the garden at home, but those were fruit trees... Not simply plants! A sudden voice behind her caught her attention, Allie quickly turning around with a spooked look on her face.

The smoke letters were an unexpected thing, tickling her nose slightly as they puffed about her with his words. She giggled softly as the first passed about her neck, reaching up to try and touch it before it vanished. The rest of the letters, however, brought about a shy attempt to push them away, finding them a little too 'friendly'.

She smiled slightly as he stepped fully from his hiding spot, starting toward him carefully as she tried to avoid stepping on anything. "I'm... I'm Allie. You must be Pillo? The Cat said to find you. That you might be able to help me... I'm not quite sure what I've done, but he said that the Royals are quite upset with me..."

He had to smile softly at the warning that he shouldn't be here. It was almost like she was worried about what might happen to him here if he were to be caught. Well, it was true that awful and horrible things would probably happen to him if he did get caught. These weren't the good old days where trouble meant 'off with your head'. The queen was inventive, and he was in the possession of valuable information. He could easily imagine being tortured for the things he knew, but it had never really seemed all that likely that he'd be caught, at least not in his eyes. Still, it was terribly cute that she seemed to be worried for him, even if it was more likely that she was worried about what punishment the queen would have in store for her if she found out that they were socializing.

The Cheshire cat let a soft sigh escape his lips. Twelve hours? That seemed at once to be so long that it was horribly cruel, and yet not long enough for him to enjoy his game as much as he'd like. He stared forward for a moment, trying to decide if he should proceed with more rhyming, or if it was no longer appropriate. He knew that the rabbit woman wanted him to get straight to the point so that he'd leave and she could go back to sulking in the garden alone, and that would normally be encouragement enough to just continue with the riddles to waste some extra time, but he also knew that with only 12 hours of service it wasn't going to take the queen all that long to send someone in their direction, and that was likely to cause more trouble than he was going to be able to barter his way out of.

"Things are finally interesting again. Thanks to you we're breaking the mundane chain. The queen might not like it, but I certainly do, and to think it wouldn't have happened without you..." He turned his head towards her, his eyes watching her for a long moment. His lips formed a soft smile. It had just occurred to him now that he had information that the rabbit might actually be interested in that wasn't so expensive. Perhaps he could negotiate some form of deal with her. This situation was turning out to be interesting after all.

He brought his hand up and rubbed at his chin for a moment, "I just remembered something you might want to hear, if you have an interest in lending me your ear." He seemed to be thinking about it very seriously, "It's plain to see that I make you nervous, but this nugget of info might get you out of service." He gently tapped his fingers against his lips, still seeming to be thinking about this very seriously. In actuality he was thinking about what the rabbit might be able to offer him in exchange for this information, as he was sure he could get the information that the new Alice wanted for free when he offered the information that he had. He continued to smile as he watched her, "What would you give your good friend the Cat, for ultra secret special information like that?"

He imagined her answer would be 'anything that you want', but in all honesty, lately he had been feeling very uncreative when it came to the things he wanted. He always wanted information, but half of the game was finding out how to get that for free. He supposed he could ask her to steal something for him, but something like that would just land her in more trouble which would put her in this exact same situation, so it probably wasn't all that wise for him to suggest, and even less wise for her to accept. If she stole anything for him and the queen found out he'd get hunted down anyway, and then with the torture and all of that...hmmm...

The cat snapped his fingers, seeming to have finally arrived at a solution, "Ah ha! In exchange for my information that might get you out of this situation, what I'd like to ask for is that one day you'll be my salvation." He smiled as he looked at her, "It isn't rare that I get someone pissed, and when I do I want to be able to count on you for an assist." He brought up his hand offering it to her, "If you can agree to save the cat you've so adored, then I'll give you my info, do we have an accord?"

She knew warning the male feline would be effortless, especially she knowing his character rather well. She had only tolerate his presence because she indeed could call Cheshire her friend. Well, a twisted form of the word to be quite frank. And the other reason was he tend to hold rather important information which she knew that if she pass them to Her Majesty, then the Queen would be happy with her. She just wanted to be on good terms with the Queen, and now that she accidentally brought the blond hair girl into Wonderland. That aspect of event had placed her in a really tight spot.

As the feline started to speak again, she only lifted her head up slightly to look at him and then suddenly, she had straightened her back, her red eyes wide before she started to state back at him, "But.. but.. I did not want this to happen! You may like it, but I certainly don't! It's not as if you are being punished while I am.. It wasn't any of my intention to bring her here again.. Nor was the previous times too." Her shoulders them slumped down once again, her white rabbit ears drooping over her head as she was feeling rather down in the slums.

All that effort to be on the good side of the Queen had gone to waste, and she almost dread the ideas on what Her Highness had been thinking to punish the poor White Rabbit. The punishments she had experienced was never pleasant and she really did not want to recall any of those memories into her poor sane head. Her form shivered slightly at those thoughts though.

When the feline mentioned about some little information which seemed to have of great importance, especially when he was wanting to offer to her. Her rabbit ears then perked up slightly, her shoulders straightening again as she stared at Cheshire. Though she very well knew that to get the information out of him, she had to pay some sort of payment in return of him passing the little information to her. But what kind of payment she could offer, she allowed him to decide.

She had nothing much to give, other than her 'services'. She knew the Cheshire doesn't really fancy all those riches much, and prefer to have mere fun with playing with people's minds. That was Cheshire for them all. She did not need to say any answer as he already knew what she would say when he asked what she could offer in return. She only hoped that the feline would not bring her into more trouble than she was, though conversing with her within the castle grounds was already an invitation for trouble to lead her way.

When he did finally gave his option of her repaying him for the exchange of information, her eyes widened slightly. Oh, no, no, no! That was the first thing that came into her head as she stared at Chess. She did not want to be in more trouble! She could only imagine the problematic situation the feline would get himself into, and she was no fighter whatsoever. Her persuasion was one of the tactics she had done in order to get herself away.

Her crimson gaze settled down onto the extended hand by Chess, she gave a cautious glance up at his face and she then expelled a sigh from her parted lips, "... Very well, Chess... I just only hope that you won't get yourself into deep trouble.. Even I would not be able to save my own tail at times." She then pouted at him before extending her own hand to take his, giving a small handshake of agreement.

After the handshake, her crimson eyes now intent onto the feline's face, she was staring gently and her timidness was ebbing away. At times the creature can be stern if she wanted to be, "Now.. The little information you want to share with me. Please do tell, Chess.."

Pillo looked at the blond girl critically, listening intently to her words and allowing them time to sink in one by one. It seemed she wanted help, but Pillo didn’t know how he could help her deal with the royals. Pillo had managed to avoid the royals for the most part and was glad that they hadn’t taken much interest in him to this point. The key was staying small, remaining insignificant in their eyes, so that they had no reason to take undue interest in him.

Despite her diminutive size at the moment, this Allie-girl was a very big distraction just by her presence. He nodded sagely as she mentioned being in trouble with the royals despite not knowing what she had done to offend them. Pillo knew it was her very presence that had worked up the royals, not necessarily anything in her actions.

“Me don’ know how much help I-and-I can be. De royals live by dey own rules an’ never listen to me. I-and-I jus’ a small ting and avoid straying far. Me think dey dislike not what you do, but rather who you are.” Pillo mumbled, his heavy accent making the words run together slightly even as smoke trickled from his nose and mouth as he spoke. “If ye lookin’ for advice I say stay small as you are, but don’ trust dat cat ye might want to go far. Rest assured that what he knows, he be willin’ to share. He’d sell us both out for a nickel an’ not even care.”

Pillo paused his advice to take another long bubbling hit from his water pipe. He leaned forward and extended his muscular arm to peel back the curtain of smoke, inviting Allie into his inner sanctum. If she desired to grow tall once more, the mushrooms within that cave would help. If she wanted to stay hidden, the cave itself would serve that purpose.

While Pillo held the curtain open, long trails of smoke wandered and waved out from his nostrils to wrap slowly and delicately around Allie’s waist, urging her closer to the mouth of the cave.

“If ye want leverage wit de royals, dat be a whole different matter. One I know who has de queen’s ear be called de Mad Hatter. He be havin’ big parties, tho I don’ recommend de tea. Course if ye want to stay safe, den stay here, smoking’ wit me.” Pillo grinned faintly, unsure of his own plan there. If the cat knew about her presence and brought her here, it wouldn’t be long until he found someone who would be willing to pay for the girl’s whereabouts. “On second thought they might all be looking for you. So perhaps staying put isn’t what you should do. All roads lead to the castle, so be watchin’ your step. But if they come looking for you here, dat may be even worse yet.”

Meanwhile....

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