forum A Wonderland of Sorts (1/5, OPEN)

Started August 09, 2019 by @MusicElle-is-here

tune

"Makes sense," Locke said nodding. "Less of a chance of death and less violent tendencies."

“Exactly,” Alexander agreed. “We can meet the Queen once we know how to defend ourselves and what to expect.” It dawned on him then that the March Hare would probably hate him the most out of the group, but Alexander figured his chances of dying because of it were low. His chain of thought was that since the Rabbit technically worked for the Queen, the Hare would dislike him.

”Yay!!! I love tea parties!” Maddie cheered, clicking her heels, skipping along with the group but never going ahead of them.

Alexander got increasingly nervous as they went deeper into the forest. The noises of birdsong began to change into foreign animal noises. The darkness and strangeness of the woods put Alexander on edge, and his gaze darted around anxiously. He had always been a nervous person but lately it seemed worse. Had the dreams affected him somehow?

At last they could hear voices. One was high and childlike, while the other was a bit lower (but still fairly high) and sounded older. Were they near to the Hare already? Alexander hung near the back of the group, annoyed that he was intimidated by a hare and a dormouse, of all things.

As they stepped into a clearing, everyone noticed a long dining room table with mismatched chairs surrounding it. On the table were several steaming hot (though some were not hot at all) tea kettles and many, many teacups. The decorations were haphazard and random, seeming to have been done by someone both colorblind and drunk.

At one end of the table sat a rather large hare, almost as big as a small child. He wore a hat similar to Maddie’s but different colored and not quite as big. A tiny dormouse sat on the table near him. They appeared to be having a conversation of some sort. Then the March Hare sniffed the air and looked in their direction.

“Hello, Hatter! Good to see you!” he exclaimed, literally hopping out of his seat. Seeing the looks he was receiving, he frowned before changing into a teenage boy! “Would you all find this preferable? It’s a simple Wonderlandian trick! Why don’t you all take a seat?”

”Marchie!!! It’s good to see you.” Maddie exclaimed, walking over confidently. ”How have you been? Still having tea, I see. Hope we're not too late.”

Anna waved slightly. "Hello, sir." She said politely, smiling.

The March Hare grinned at Maddie before glancing at the rest of them. “Hello all!” he chirped. “And Mads, it’s always tea time here!” He cackled like a madman. Which, Alexander supposed, he was.

“Hi,” Alexander added awkwardly.

“Well don’t just stand there, you four! Sit down!” the March Hare commanded. He shot a look at Maddie before turning to the rest of them. “And please, call me Marchie.”

Locke strode over to the table and took a seat, looking calm as ever. He didn't have the same emotionless expression he used too. Now he had a calm expression. "Hello, March," He said calmly

Anna walked over to the table, taking a seat. "Thank you, March."

“Of course, Alice!” the March Hare said. “Or do you go by another name?” He studied Locke for a moment. “You’re the Caterpillar, correct?”

Alexander took a seat at the end of the table, looking at the cups and saucers in front of him. The March Hare noticed him looking and winked.
“Go ahead and drink some tea, everyone!”

“It’s good, but it’s better with jam,” added the Dormouse in his tiny voice. Alexander had almost forgotten he was there.

"Anna, if you please." She said, gently taking the cup.

“Anna,” repeated the Hare. “I like it!”

Alexander took a small sip of tea before deciding to take a larger one. It was amazing. It was more flavor in tea than he had tasted before, but somehow not in a bad way. It wasn’t necessarily more flavors, but it just tasted like more than any drink he’d had in Earth. It was strange. And it was a completely new flavor to him as well.

”Hello to you too, my little friend.” Maddie smiled at the Doormouse. She placed her backpack next to an over-exaggeratedly big armchair and plopped herself into it, immediately pouring a cup for herself.

“I was waiting for you to come around,” replied the Dormouse. “It’s been such a long time.”

"Correct," Locke said as he grabbed a cup of tea. He took a sip and instantly got more relaxed. Wonderland must of been rubbing off on him.

Anna took a tentative sip, smiling softly.

Maddie tilted her head to the side. ”I didn't realize… Time must have been acting different for me lately.” She hummed thoughtfully for a moment, before blinking. ”If that's a simple trick here, can Bunny and Blue do that too?”

“I would assume so, though it takes some practice to do correctly,” responded the March Hare. “But yes, them and the Chesire Cat could all take animal forms if they so chose to.”

Alexander shuddered. He did not want to become a rabbit. He himself fine the way he was.

Kai hummed quietly as he sipped his tea and listened, right now he was gathering information before he did something about anything.

Locke hummed as he sipped his tea. "I wouldn't mind going into the form." He mused.

Maddie let out a loud laugh. ”I bet you three would be so cute like that.” She smiled taking a sip of her drink, loving the flavor. It was almost like a lavender, mint and chamomile blend. ”That’s very good tea.”

“I can help you figure it out now if you would like,” the March Hare said. “It’s actually quite simple, at least after the first few attempts.”

Alexander wasn’t sure how he felt about Maddie’s comment, so he shrugged. “Maybe.”

"I would appreciate that," Locke said as he set his teacup down on the saucer. "If you would be willing to help me."

“Of course!” the Hare said. “If the Cat and Rabbit want to learn as well, it would greatly benefit all of you! The Queen will expect to see you in your animal forms.” It was clear he didn’t like the Queen, but also was a bit afraid of her.

(gtg)

Locke nodded. "It would make sense. That's how she would expect us to be, especially Alexander." He explained.

Maddie got a sharp but unusually short headache. ”OW!!” She took a couple panting breaths before speaking. ”March is right. If she sees any of you three as you are now… She’ll kill you.” She said seriously. ”We’ll probably need to see if we can also get those… special treats as well at some point.”

"That sounds good. I don't think any of us would enjoy getting our heads lopped off." Locke said, straightening his coat.

Alexander sighed in agreement. “Yes, I’d prefer my head attached to my body,” he said.

The March Hare clapped. “Fantastic! Well, as soon as we’ve all had a cup of tea, we can get started!”

“Don’t forget about the Jabberwocky,” warned the tiny Dormouse from his position on the table. The mood seemed to somber a bit from the statement, and the Hare shot the Dormouse a look.

Locke finished up his cup of tea and politely waited until everyone was done. He felt so much more comfortable here than he had been in there world.

Alexander considered drinking his tea as slowly as possible to delay the inevitable, but he wasn’t a dick, so he drank it at a normal pace. He finished slightly after Locke, slightly less objectionable than he had been a few minutes ago.