Fantasy The Tale of Wonderland {Temp. closed}

[AEONmeteorite]

Dottie - NPC​

The door of the house flung open as Dottie came stomping out. At first the tiny girl didn't notice Hatter standing there, but once she did, she blew up. "Hatter! Who in the world did you pick up on your travels! He is not remotely ready to be a rebel. Sure, he's a flower, and all flowers have a certain distaste for the Red Queen, but he couldn't even open the door to Madam Rose's room without becoming frantic! We have decided to let him rest in one of the room, he is awfully tired, but bring someone right next time."

Dottie scrunched her nose at the rabbit standing near the Mad Hatter. "Oh? She's awake? And why in the world are you bringing her to this home, hm? I know you've always decided to take part in your own reckless adventures and sometimes you disappear for lengthy amounts of time, but I cannot handle a rabbit of all things coming near Madam Rose! There are things that need to stay secret."

She lifted her hand to guard the house and glared at March. What anger grew in her. Dottie never imagined a Rabbit being invited to the camp, Alice was probably turning in her grave. Her very best friend even had some trust that the Brown Rabbit may be good, but March turned on her. The Brown Rabbit did that to everyone! How else would she safely bring messages to and from the castle?

"Since she can stand and her wounds have stopped bleeding, let me fight her. I'll win. She'll die. And we can move on from your mistake, Hatter."

Svisttt (So you know where Foster is located when you return)
Beckspace

 

[Beckspace]

Dean (and not Dale)- NPC​

Dean was overjoyed to be sitting on the horse. He laughed and stroked the horse's mane.
He turned and smiled back at the Queen. "It's no problem. I believe everyone."

Dean turned back again and continued to stroke the horse. If only Dane were here. He would have loved to ride a horse, Dean just knew it. Then again, maybe not. His brother didn't like much. Dean turned his thoughts back to possible Kings.

"Let's see. you want a King that follows the rules. I'll admit I don't know too many people who follow the rules. Maybe the Chesire Cat? I think he follows the rules, but then again I don't see much of what he does. No one does, really. But hey, you said you wanted a challenge, and he sure is challenging. He's a nice guy though," Dean rambled.

"Then again, maybe true love can change a not-rule-follower into a rule-follower. My brother says true love doesn't exist, that it's not a choice at all, but I don't believe him. I mean, look at you, just putting your heart out there for all of Wonderland to see for the sake of finding love. Many people I bet are afraid to do that, afraid their heart will get hurt... Well, you are the Queen of Hearts, I suppose your used to putting yourself out there."

Radio_Rat66.6

 

[Beckspace]

The Hatter frowned at Dottie. Honestly, she makes everything so difficult.

"Dottie, we did not save this rabbit so we can kill her," He said, then added defensively, "And I don't make mistakes. Mistakes make me" He wasn't sure if that made much sense, but the Hatter wasn't one for making much sense.

"I am taking her to Madam Rose. All rebels need to be initiated. She is a rebel, so she needs to be initiated. Go release your anger somewhere else, perhaps on the broken teacups I left in the kitchen."

He moved to go passed Dottie, but she was still blocking the door. He sighed, exasperated, and turned to the rabbit.

"Go on, tell her your a rebel. She can't deny a rebel in the rebel camp, the rebel would rebel," Hatter said.

 

[Radio_Rat66.6]

Narissa smiled and set Croweth into a slow pace. She hummed softly, thinking over the boy's words.
"Perhaps I will visit the Cheshire Cat sometime. The only thing is he is a great deal younger than me. It would almost be if I made you my king. I can't very well have a king who thinks too young. He wouldn't make proper decisions."
She nodded to herself and headed back to the palace.
"Every decision I make is for Wonderland. I must be unmoving, but it is always best to show one's heart once in a while. And they are calling me the Queen of Hearts now? I have always been called the Red Queen for my love of the color red. And those who oppose my rule call me the Blood Queen, but I have never heard the Queen of Hearts."

Beckspace ​

 

[AEONmeteorite]

"I-I'm," March stuttered. Was she a rebel now? Sure, she left the Queen behind, but she still hadn't told the entire truth to the rebels. From what she had seen, the rebels had an uncanny amount of teamwork. They worked with each other. Trusted one another.

Though, it wasn't that she was lying. She was just restraining the truth. And, would she ever return to the Queen, did she feel that she needed to?

... Never.

"Yes. I've decided to turn away from the Queen. She killed him little Dormouse. The Queen killed my only friend. I know that won't ever right what I've done, but I'll spend the rest of my days helping the rebels."

Dottie tapped her fingers along her arm. "Would you be willing to kill her," Dottie asked. "Would you be willing to take her life?"

The Brown Rabbit quaked again. What a question from a tiny, little thing.

"No," March breathed. "Not as I am now. I'm not right to kill her, maybe... maybe in the future."

Dottie looked beneath the Hatter and the Rabbit a few times, sighed and stomped away without another word.

Beckspace

 

[Coriander]

"My my, such an aggressive response, why so tense?" Cheshire though it better to be somewhere with a bit more cover, shifting over to the trunk of the tree, but still staying a ways up. "Its almost as if something were to attack you, little bunnies." He kept his speech slow, not wanting to cause startle and a possible arrow to fly to him. Even if he wanted to go down to ground level, Cheshire knew the dangers that would follow with such actions.

"Theres been quite a lot of commotion in my neck of the woods, and I cant say that I hate it. What I really want to know though, is why so many rabbits insist on venturing so deep into these brambles?" Not one, not even two, but four whole rabbits decided to visit. Any sane person would never step into the misty sea, and those that were crazy enough to enter usually never left. There were a few that stuck around, surpassing that of an insane mind, but even then Cheshire hated it.

Little_Willow Katsuya Danidify (Rabbits)
Beckspace AEONmeteorite Svisttt (Forest Dwellers)​

 

[Beckspace]

Dean (and not Dale)- NPC​

Dean was surprised that the Queen didn't know she was often called the Queen of Hearts.

"Oh, Hatter came up with that nickname. I guess it's because he's a fan of playing cards. I don't know why he chose Hearts though and not, say, diamonds. Diamond cards are red, and rich people have diamonds and you are a rich person," He explained.

"Dane thinks he calls you that because you took someone he once loved away. I don't think he knows what he's talking about, though. None of us really know his past, I don't think even he does. He keeps changing it," Dean added thoughtfully. There was a moment of silence before Dean spoke again.

"Oh! I know! Maybe Mr. Caterpillar would want to be King. I don't know his age but he certainly seems old enough."

Radio_Rat66.6

 

[Beckspace]

The Hatter frowned at Dottie as she stomped off, then turned and smiled at March.

"I think she likes you," He said, though it didn't seem like that in the slightest. "At any rate, the path is clear and we should be on our way."

Hatter placed his hand on the rabbit's back and led her inside the building. Once inside the building, an overbearing scent of pine, nuts, and rose me their noses. It was a pretty extravagant layout for a building in the middle of the woods, slicked wooden floors and walls decorated I floral patterns. Anyone who knew a flower would be able to detect their handiwork, which is unlike any other creature in wonderland. Hatter paid no mind to this, however, and led the way down a corridor.

"Now. Weapons are on the first few floors, if you're into that sort of thing. That vault over there holds powerful magic, or at least that's what they tell me. Ah! Here's an important room, the kitchens! Here's where I stock some of my best teas and teacups, only for special occasions like unbirthdays and the like." The Hatter continued to point out rooms as they walked the large spiral staircase, the focal point of the building. They passed the medical floor, the extremely medical floor, and finally, at the peek of the staircase, one final door.

"And our last stop, Madame Rose. I just know she will be delighted to meet you. I don't think she's ever cared for a rabbit before. How exciting, indeed!" The Hatter reached out and knocked on the door. Normally, it would be custom to wait until there is a reply on the other side of the door before coming into the room, but the Hatter didn't wait before opening the door wide open and pushing the rabbit inside.

"A beauty is what
This usually adorns
Be careful though
As it might have thorns"

The Hatter chanted in greeting, slamming the door shut behind him.

AEONmeteorite

 

[AEONmeteorite]

NPC- Madam Rose & March​

Madam Rose spread her toes as her door was opened and in came, a rabbit.

"Hatter," she called, "stay nearby dear friend." Then, with a slanted smirk, she sucked on her pipe and blew out plumes of smoke. "My, my, my, I surely would have never been prepared for a rabbit to enter my quarters. I thought I'd meet death if such happened, but you seem quite, terrified, my child." Madam Rose stretched along her mushrooms before pointing her toes and stepping down onto her floor.

With a graceful glide, she made way to March whose face was twisted with confusion and fear. "So you are the Brown Rabbit. Of all Rabbits, you're the second to least that I imagined would betray the Queen." Madam Rose lifted her pipe and used it to lift March's chin to get a better look of the critter. "I mean, you're the reason my kind was nearly wiped out, right? I'm the one you personally sought to misguide. I trusted you dearly, but you betrayed me first."

The flower narrowed her eyes. "I've seen many emotions break from you, and I've never seen none such as this. Speak! Why are you here?"

March's bottom lip quivered. With everything that had happened the past two days, being face-to-face with the Madam Rose herself quaked the Brown Rabbit's entire foundation. What would she say here? The Orange Rabbit was killed, slaughtered for no reason other than spilling tea? Madam Rose wouldn't buy that. March had her entire kind decimated because they were in the way of the Queen's idea of having a rose garden. Given, March though that Madam Rose would join her, it was rose garden after all, but a rose flower person had no want to be apart of it.

"I, uh, how should I say this," March's ears fell as her shoulders rose. "If it could be done, I would prefer to hunker in a corner and never waste another's life again. I'm a bit broken right now, I--"

Madam Rose lifted her pipe. "Broken," she asked interrupting the Rabbit. "Who are you kidding. You've gone mad."

"Mad?" March scoffed and shook her head. "Hatter, Cheshire and you may be mad, and of course, in different degrees. But I am not mad."

"Oh-hoh?" Madam Rose leaned forward so the twos' eyes met. "Indeed you have my dear. It may be small, it's far less grand than that of Hatter there. But, you, Brown Rabbit, the March Hare, are going mad," she paused waiting for March to respond, but none came. "That means I'll be willing to accept you as a rebel, that is, if you show me one last thing." Madam Rose used her pipe to gesture at March's satchel. "What are you hiding, Rabbit?"

March inhaled sharply as her fur stood on end and her spine shivered. Of all people the Brown Rabbit met, Madam Rose shouldn't have known. The Brown Rabbit hadn't intentionally tried to defend it yet or grabbed at it. "No," March hissed. "That isn't right. How could you know?" March backed up, felt the knob of the door and swung it open.

She pivoted on her heels and stepped forward to leave, but Madam Rose called, "Hatter! Don't let her leave, if you would."

Beckspace

 

[Beckspace]

The Hatter didn't need Madame Rose to tell him to stop the rabbit. There was no way he was letting her leave this room, not without what needed to be done was done. He grabbed the rabbit's arm with one hand pulled her back. With his other hand he closed the door again. He bore his eyes into the rabbit now. A smile once again was on his face, but this time there was obviously no kindness in it.

"I expect that what your feeling now is what your victims felt when you betrayed them," he said, his voice quiet but all the more clearer. "Perhaps you patched up their wounds, gave them tea, gained their trust while you walked them into the lion's den. Oh it must have been awful when they realized who you really were. Perhaps they tried to flea after, but of course it was much too late for them." His grip tightened on the rabbit.

"Just as it's too late for you. There's no turning back from this now, my little hare. This is the tunnel you must take you are to make it to the other side." He turned the rabbit back around to face Madame Rose one again.

AEONmeteorite

 

[AEONmeteorite]

March tightened her lips as she listened to Hatter speak. The more words, the more letters and sounds that escaped his lips, the less metaphorical her foundation became, and her entire being shook.

A Lions Den? Well, there was no better way to describe it. If the Gryphon and Alice had been standing beside her as well, trapped in a room filled with an assortment of mushrooms, then she'd probably die right there without any of them moving an inch.

The Brown Rabbit swallowed. She could fight back. The flowers knew exactly who she was, but they didn't know just who she was. She did offer the pacifist way, if they had all migrated away, then none of it would happen. In fact, the Queen was happy to let the Roses live and dine in the castle.

It still wasn't right though.

"Why?" March asked as she scanned Hatter's resolve to be sure what she was about to say wouldn't kill her, and then faced Madam Rose as he had wanted her to. "Why didn't the flowers move, why didn't you move in with the Queen? We did first try to be gentle. I feel as if, I'm missing something far more grand."

Madam Rose snorted and sucked in a bit more of the smoke before blowing it out. "You know, we were still deciding whether or not to leave. We were sorely disappointed. The flowers had been near the Queen for ages because, even generations before her, royalty protected the flowers by keeping them near the castle's vicinity. We, the flowers, would offer our help in many ways. From protecting the castle, to helping maids sleep better at night with our fragrances. Nonetheless, we were willing to move."

March knitted her brow as confusion settled in. Madam Rose grabbed a piece of a mushroom and stuck it in the chamber of her pipe before continuing. "She attacked that same night before we even had a chance to answer or leave. The Queen must have said something else to you, because part way in the night, you joined the battle."

Well, that was surely true. The Queen had said that the flowers were adamant about not leaving, and would slowly fill the air with miasma. What a terrible woman...

And then, out of nowhere, Madam Rose pushed down on the side of her pipe. From the side nearest to her face, a long, fine blade emerged. She whipped her hand upward and March felt the satchel around her waist clatter to the ground. It was a heavy sound, that echoed throughout the room.

"Careful!" March belted as she reached down for the satchel.

"Don't you dare touch it!" Madame Rose lifted her sword to the Rabbit's neck. All she could do was keep her chin up as to not be sliced. "What is in there?"

"It's," the Brown Rabbit began to say and took a step back, but she simply ran into the Hatter. She peered at the Hatter by craning her head further back. He still had that fake smile. He wouldn't let her through. There was one dingy window in the corner, she could grab the satchel and jump out of there. It wasn't that she didn't trust that they were good people, but how could she give the contents to mad people? What if they killed her right after.

Madam Rose sighed and curled her toes. "Hatter, toss it to me and remove her glove. The gem will not only show her who we are, but I'll also be able to keep track of this Rabbit with it there." Madam Rose turned her talk back to the Rabbit. "And once we see what is inside, you are to tell us of the contents. Do you understand?"

The March Hare did nothing other than nod her head. She wasn't sure if that was her answer, but that's all that she could do.

Beckspace

 

[Beckspace]

The Hatter did as he was told, like a good little rabbit soldier. He pulled off the rabbit's glove and stuffed it in his pocket. Then he picked up the satchel, but did not toss it right away. Was he thinking of not giving it to Madame Rose? No, that would be treason. He could lose his head for that. Besides, he has always filled her faithfully. She could do no wrong.

"Be careful with it, Madam. I got the Hare to speak to me. I believe that whatever it is, it comes from or nearly from The Outskirts," He explained, remember her sudden inquiries about whether he knew the outskirts, clutching her satchel all the while. Hatter tossed the satchel to Madam Rose and grabbed onto the rabbit's shaking de-gloved hand. He held it out for Madam Rose to do what needed to be done.

AEONmeteorite

 

[Radio_Rat66.6]

[]The room looked kinda like this.[]
Narissa smiled at the boy's ramblings.
"Perhaps I am the Queen of Hearts because hearts are so often depicted as red. Whereas diamonds are clear."
She lead Croweth all the way back to the palace and climbed down. She helped him off as well and sent one of her servants to put her mare up. She gently guided the boy inside.
"I am terribly sorry, but I can't seem to remember your name."
She looked over at him as she walked him through the halls. She stopped at a set of double doors and pushed them open for him. Beyond was a large bedroom with a fireplace and plush couch. Attached was a bathing room and a closet. Everything was bathed in red, white, and black.
"This will be where you are staying."

Beckspace​

 

[AEONmeteorite]

Got the Hare to speak to me? March questioned and gazed at the Hatter's hand around her wrist. He fiddled, he played, he flared her emotions and got her to speak? Is that what he meant.

Not only that, but there was no way for her to get away now. Hatter literally had his hand on her, jumping out the window had no chance. And, somehow, she didn't have any energy to attempt to get out of his grip. Not just because of when he had caught her by the arm, and his finger tightening fear into her, but also, she felt right out weak.

Madam Rose unhinged the satchel and opened it. The Rabbit held her breath as she did so, as she used every ounce of her being to determine what she should say. The first thing that came from the satchel though, were bunches of those mushrooms Cheshire had. "Why in the world would you have these?" Madam Rose asked as she flicked her sword, and it returned to the pipe. She sucked in the smoke and let it fill the air. "These should not be eaten by just anyone. They make you go blind."

"I know," March sighed as her neck was free from the sword, but her circumstances still stayed. "Cheshire gave them to me. I went blind for a good amount of time. That's all they did."

"You best not be eating more of these," she said and dropped them to the ground. "Someone born of the mist can chow on them all they want, someone like Cheshire. Normal beings like you and I suffer every time we partake. It could cost you you're life."

March winced. Cheshire had no side, but she knew that she shouldn't trust him. It made trusting these two far tougher as well. That didn't help. "That's all that is in there," she exclaimed.

"Nonsense," Madam Rose returned. "There is a large rolled up paper in here." She reached inside and unrolled the paper. Her jaw slowly fell as the realization settled more and more for the flower. "Hatter," she breathed and showed the man the paper. "You've mapped part of Outskirts!? When? How?"

The Brown Rabbit's heart raced as she thought back of what happened a month prior. "It was by accident. I was heading to Card Island, but got caught by a wave, I ended up on Outskirts." She bit her tongue. She promised the people there that she would only tell this information to people that'd protect it, though, she wasn't even sure what it was. Then again, March had been planning to tell the Queen, the one person she was instructed not to tell.

Would it be so bad to tell some mad people?

"You know the Gryphon, how he boasted about being the last of his kind? I'm sure he really thought so, but it isn't true. This island is guarded and maintained by a flurry of his kind. They took me in and taught me for a month before I headed home. In the middle of the night, I ventured and mapped. I never made it to the center. That," she pointed with her chin towards the map. "Is just the edge of Outskirts."

"Ah," Madam Rose cooed and wiggled her toes. "You will tell us more of the map later. And this," she pulled out a heart shaped jewel the size of her palm. "What is this?"

"Don't touch that!" March tugged on Hatter's grip, but he didn't let loose. "They entrusted that item to me!"

"I will let go of it if you tell me what it is child."

With a heaved sigh, March gave in. There wasn't much she could do at this point. Even her knees were buckling beneath her. "Those who touch it, or touch the person who holds it, can enter Outskirts. They said something there can change the war, and that I was the one who'd hold the key to getting back onto the island."

"Ah," she said again, "here dear friend." She held it out to Hatter. "I believe you are most suited to hold onto this."

Beckspace
Madam Rose's color hex - f363a0 (For anyone who needs it.)

 

[girl_on_fire]

The twins sat on a limb of a tree in the forest, Diana Tweedle filing her nails with the sharp end of an arrow, Durmstrung Deedle picking up sugar encrusted ants from the bough and eating them, still wriggling.

"Oh, brother," muttered Diana. "Why do you do that? You realize that tomorrow you're going to wake up with sugar-ant bites all over, right?"

"Do you suppose we'll ever see Alice again?" he replied, ignoring her questions completely, picking up more sugar-ants and popping them in his mouth.

Diana snorted. "How am I supposed to know?" she retorted. "You're the one with foresight. Why don't you use it?" She finished with one hand, stretching her arm to admire her fine filing job.

Durmstrung sighed dramatically. "You know it doesn't work like that, Dee. I can only see so far without things getting blurry and muddled. And from what I've seen, the answer is no." He lounged with his back against the trunk, simultaneously popping the poor, helpless crystal-covered critters into his mouth and flipping one of his many throwing knives in the other hand.

"Well, there you go, then," huffed Diana. "Why did you even ask if you already know the answer?"

"I know, I know. But they're addicting. They taste so good," said Durmstrung, a tinge of melancholy coating his voice. "The sugar-coated ants will get their revenge, Dee. Don't worry. I can see it."

Diana smirked, knowing her brother had chosen to ignore her latest question in favor of answering her first. "Do you 'see' anybody coming here anytime soon?" she inquired, not really caring, just bored. It had been so long since they'd had any visitors in their little habitat. "At least anybody besides the Raven."

"Dee, if I knew, I would tell you."

"Fine, Dum. Whatever. Just let me know if--"

"I see somebody!" shouted Durmstrung, sitting upright and letting several crushed sugar-ants fall from his hand to the forest floor below. His eyes narrowed in concentration. "Somebody's gonna come here, I just can't tell who..."

 

[Radio_Rat66.6]

Juri fixed her chains as she walked along. Her bare feet crunched leaves fallen from the trees. She looped them around one of her arms and tied the edges. It wouldn't hold too well if she moved too fast, but it was strong enough. She looked up at all the trees. She was so small compared to the trees. Her nose twitched and scrunched at the thought. Silly. Everything was bigger than her.
Her ears twitched at the sound of voices. She slipped her dagger into her hand and carefully approached, trying to remain as quiet as possible. She crept up behind a tree and saw two people. A boy and a girl. She jumped from behind the tree and held out her knife.
"Who are you two!?"
She demanded with a scrunched up nose.
girl_on_fire​

 

[girl_on_fire]

Instead of jumping in shock or reacting with surprise, the two siblings simply looked down from their position in the tree's branches.

"Well, well, well," said Durmstrung, looking at Diana with victory in his icy blue eyes. "Looks like I was right! Again!"

Diana rolled her eyes at her brother before turning her colder, pale blue eyes on Juri. "Since when is your sight ever wrong, brother?" she asked sarcastically. "Nonetheless, we should probably go down and greet the little rodent before it has an apoplectic fit of confusion over our identities."

But Durmstrung was already hopping down the tree, landing smoothly on his feet in front of the female. "Why hello there," he said kindly, merry eyes dancing with delight. "I am the wonderful Durmstrung Tweedle, and that up there is my equally wonderful twin sister, Diana Tweedle." He bowed to Juri, smiling at her. "And who might you be?"

Diana jumped from her bough as well, landing with a soft fwoosh on the forest floor. She crossed her arms and strode up beside Durmstrung, narrowing her eyes at Juri. "Answer the question, little mouse."

Radio_Rat66.6

 

[Radio_Rat66.6]

Juri took a step back as the twins jumped down. She kept her blade up at them. The....Tweedles? She knew she had heard that before but she couldn't remember where.
"I'm a nobody. Just a little mouse all alone."
She tried to seem really brave, but she had never actually faced someone or something much larger than her. And these twins were at least two or three times her size. She was silently afraid of what would happen should these twins decide to attack her. She shook her head and gripped her dagger tighter.
"Juri. The mice called me Juri."

girl_on_fire​

 

[girl_on_fire]

"What a beautiful name, Juri," murmured Durmstrung, her name sounding like a caress coming from his lips. "Why do you shy away from us? Fear not, we will not harm you, beautiful one."

Diana snorted. "She's scared, brother. Your seductive qualities aren't making things better. She thinks we're going to attack her. Stop flirting with the mouse, Dum. Have a little dignity."

"Oh?" said Durmstrung, rising to face his sister with one eyebrow raised. "And the mouse is not deserving of dignity?"

Diana turned red. "You know what I meant, Durmstrung Tweedle. Don't play dumb."

Durmstrung chuckled warmly. "But isn't that my pet name, dear sister Dee?"

Diana huffed but shut her mouth.

Durmstrung turned to Juri and crouched so that he was closer to her. "Well, little beautiful nobody Juri, I promise that neither my sister nor myself will cause you any harm. What brings you here to the forest?"

Radio_Rat66.6

 

[Radio_Rat66.6]

Juri watched the twins bicker. Her ears twitched at the sounds. He was...flirting....with her. What in the heck was flirting? She tilted her head in curiosity and put away her dagger. She walked up and poked....Durmstrung? Was that right? She poked his hip to get his attention.
"What's flirting?"
She looked over at the girl and then back to find Durmstrung crouched in front of her. She jumped back slightly, her nose scrunching up again.
"Shelter. I seek shelter."

girl_on_fire​

 

[girl_on_fire]

Diana laughed at Juri's confused face, already knowing what she was going to say before she said it. Her thoughts were practically being shouted.

"What's flirting?"

Durmstrung's face momentarily became that of a stunned speechless person, before he recovered in time to hear Juri's next words.

"Shelter. I seek shelter."

The twins shared a look.
"Shelter?" they asked simultaneously. "From what?"

Radio_Rat66.6

 

[Radio_Rat66.6]

"From Wonderland of course."
Juri gestured to her attire, made from pieces she had found and put together. It was made to help her get around easier. Then there were her chains and dagger. No one should be caught in Wonderland without a weapon.
"You both are much bigger and stronger than me, but Wonderland is a very dangerous place for someone so small. I never had a home except with the mice, but now I'm much too old and much too big to stay. I fight each day and I'll keep fighting."
Her nose scrunched up again.
"And you didn't answer my question! What's flirting?"

girl_on_fire​

 

[girl_on_fire]

Diana's scathing tone answered first. "Flirting, little mouse, is when somebody behaves in a manner as if they are attracted to you or wish for you to be attracted to them. My brother is a prime example."

Durmstrung laughed softly. "My sister flatters me. I'm no flirt. Merely a god with a poetic soul, aching to meet the one who completes it."

Diana pursed her lips and arched a brow wryly. "Indeed." Her tone was dry and sarcastic. She looked back down at Juri. Wonderland is dangerous, yes, but we can't protect you from it. Nobody can truly be protected from Wonderland. But sometimes it is better to be small. Things tend not to notice you as much. If you're a good size small, that is."

Durmstrung sighed, eyes far in the past. "Ah, sister. Remember that time with the mushrooms...?"

Diana chuckled. "You mean the time I ended up carrying you around on my shoulder because you ingested too much and ended up stuck that size?"

"Yes, that time."

The two native Wonderlanders turned to Juri, returning to the present. They studied her a bit, sharing glances between them and communicating in that secret language twins seem to have.

"What exactly is it about Wonderland that scares you, little mouse? Who's out to get you? Besides the Red Queen?" asked Durmstrung gently.

 

[Radio_Rat66.6]

Juri listened to the explanation of the word. She nodded softly.
"So....Your brother likes me?"
She tilted her head still slightly confused. She fidgeted nervously as they watched her without speaking.
"The Red Queen is after me? I didn't know she was after me. I've just been minding my own business. And Wonderland doesn't scare me. I don't get scared. I used to get scared, but then I grew up. And I learned to fight and copy. No one's out to get me, unless you count the creatures of Wonderland larger than me."

girl_on_fire​

 

[girl_on_fire]

The twins shared a look.
"Ah."

"As it happens, I do like you. However, what my sister calls flirting, I call being a gentleman." Durmstrung mock-glared at his sister, who rolled her eyes in response.

"Same difference," she muttered under her breath. Her brother heard and laughed softly.

"The Red Queen is after me? I didn't know she was after me. I've just been minding my own business. And Wonderland doesn't scare me. I don't get scared. I used to get scared, but then I grew up. And I learned to fight and copy. No one's out to get me unless you count the creatures of Wonderland larger than me."

The twins looked at each other, nodding. They glanced at Juri and back at each other. Durmstrung stood so that he was once again tall, a mite taller than his sister, and Diana pursed her lips.

"Do you know who Alice is?" asked Diana. "Is she still in Wonderland? Last I heard, she was raising a resistance of some sort, or something, and it was against the Red Queen."

Their faces darkened at the mention of the hated Queen of Hearts. They did not approve at all of her tyrannical and maniacal ways.