Round 1 Introduction Hub Log

[worldkeys]

Who: The Alices and the White Rabbit.
What: What: Everybody wakes up on the first day of the first round inside the World's Hub, greeted by the White Rabbit, who seems largely unimpressed.
Where: The World's Hub.
Warnings: Rabbit is gloomy and has a bad temper and tends to complain a lot. Otherwise, not much.

You entered a closet. You knew that much. You woke up from... somewhere, and you entered a cupboard or a closet and you followed a strange cat with golden eyes. You blink. You feel assailed by the feeling of your body falling somewhere, the sound of heavy machinery--

And then darkness, before... a wooden pathway, and another cupboard, and a boy in a hood. A cat-boy, with golden eyes, much like the one you followed. He cackles gleefully at everyone before disappearing with a meow. The cupboard behind him is locked. Past this area, you find yourself in a strange room of ruined, cracked cobblestone and oddly-shaped lamps. Dead trees line the path. There are old tombstones scattered about. A gloomy boy with black twigs for hair and strange eyes, dressed in fancy, Victorian-looking garb stands in the middle of the room. There are others like you about, you notice. Not TOO many more, but a fair few.

Something about the boy's eyes carry a dreadful feeling. They're red on black. No whites to them at all. He has two white rabbit ears on his head, but one is distinctly torn off, like something had just taken a bite out of it. He looks at those assembled, cocks his head to the side, as if... curious for a moment, before shaking it and then sighing.

"... Ah. Welcome, Alice." There's a pause, as if he's assessing what he's doing. He particularly stares deeply at Clock. "... Oh? No, not at all... well, you're still ▒▒▒▒▒ to me."

A nod to himself, as if to confirm it.

"More pressing... I have a task for all of you. If you could help me with it, that would be most appreciated."

[ OOC: Feel free to respond in either prose or bracketspam. Also, Cheshire will probably have a thread later you can reply to as well. For now, this is the opening log to badger the NPC with questions. ]

Comments

[dolosa]

And what exactly is that so called task?

[ She doesn't really care about the idea of falling -- it's not the first time that something like this has happened. Her voice is just completely dry, almost uncaring as she folds her arms over her chest. ]

[apatheticguide]

[ His unaffected, untorn ear twitches as he observes her. ]

Simple, really. You need to retrieve my Keys for me. You would do that, wouldn't you, Alice?

[dolosa]

[ ... ]

Is it really that simple? [ She's used to it not being that simple, and it shows in her uninterested voice. ] What are these keys for, anyway?

[bakegarasu]

Otoha looks around at the group, watching them carefully. A bunch of them... hmph. But a mission... he can handle that. Maybe. The appearance of the boy doesn't disturb him. A yokai? Maybe. He's not sure. It doesn't matter.

"What task? Where are we? How do we get home?" Just the simple questions, the fast questions. He has to get back to Shinjuku. This... this is not Shinjuku.

[apatheticguide]

"Impatient, aren't you, Alice? So many questions. This is the World, and the World is not your world."

It doesn't bother the White Rabbit as much as you'd think, though. On the contrary, he just tilts his head, and sighs.

"Well, that will hardly help unless you find my Keys. They are missing, you know. He stole them. He thinks he's funny, but really, he's vile."

[bakegarasu]

"He? ... Never mind. It doesn't matter." It's simple enough for him, and he shrugs. He has no idea where he is, but they need the keys. They have to get back. It's not his place to ask questions.

"Where do we start?"

[zinit]

[When one finds a closet in one's entirely white hell-prison, the prison one's known for ten thousand years, one's first instinct is usually to look into it. At least, in Qilby's case, his instinct is absolutely to look into it. If there's something to break up the monotony, of course he's going to walk into the wardrobe and... Fall.]

[Instinct tells him to spring up a portal under himself to break his fall, but it doesn't come. Damn it, this is child's play -- why won't it work?]

[He tries a few more times to make a portal, or to sense the wakfu in the area, or anything while he stands there; people around him might notice his right hand twitching. (They might also notice that it's his only hand; his other sleeve hangs empty at his side. Lucky you, your party member's an old amputee. Honestly, he doesn't think the six others look too respectable either.)]

[Who is this kid? What's with the wabbit ears? His eyes... The way the sclera are flooded black reminds him of something. Part of him is chilled by it, the red and black he associates with the end of the world, but part of him finds it... Interesting. Terribly interesting.]

[Nothing else to do but go forward with it, is there? Better than that prison, better than being all alone in a monotonous hell.]

I'd appreciate if you'd tell me what that task is. [The look he pulls forth is impassive, almost bored; it's easy to fake an unimpressed look when you're used to being bored out of your skull.]

[apatheticguide]

[ This one... this one might be interesting, maybe. But he's not usually curious about others, and the White Rabbit's equally apathetic, gloomy gaze could probably match the other's bored one. ]

Glad to see that you're so eager, then. It's my Keys. They've been stolen from me. Only... no, no, something's not quite right. Where did he put them? Back there? Probably... well, you'll just have to go and get them, Alice. ... Alices. All of you. Go get them.

[zinit]

It's Qilby. [His name, that is. Qilby doesn't seem too bothered at the wrong name, though; is it a title of sorts? 'Alice.' What a strange name. Either way, it's a polite correction.]

[The rest of it, though, makes him have to try really really hard to suppress an eye-roll. Does this kid think he's cute, being cryptic and giving him word puzzles to solve? Moreover, where did he get the energy to make a portal into the Blank Dimension? He doesn't look the type.]

[But appearances can be deceiving.]

Is there any reason you can't get them yourself? And, if I may ask [a matter of politeness, of appearing acceptable; he feels he's perfectly entitled to ask whatever he wants], what are you unlocking?

[heartgatherer]

[This sequence feels somehow oddly familiar and yet at the same time like it shouldn't be happening. She doesn't chase animals - she knows what little good can come of it. But then... you don't always need to chase them, do you? Yet here she is, with all the memories that said for some reason... she did it.

And there's something very dreadful about the place she's standing now. Very different from the place she'd come from.

...a rabbit?

No. No... she's quite done with rabbits.]

Why us?

[WHY HER...]

[apatheticguide]

[ ... Ah. This one... deceptive, isn't she? His non-torn ear twitches just slightly, he tilts his head, and... as if analyzing her even further than before. ]

Why not? You're here now. Though I HARDLY want you here. So get my Keys for me... girl. ... I can't seem to... your name is... odd, but... I digress.

[ He sighs gloomily. ]

So that's it. You're... well, then, Clock. You will get my Keys. I need them. Don't you want to go back to wherever you were? I want you out of here as soon as possible so I can go back to what I was doing.

[frozentear]

[He's not entirely sure this is real, but kicking a tombstone lightly sure feels real. The ambiance of the area is interesting, though not as much as the rabbit... person.]

A costume? [It's quiet, under his breath.]

[apatheticguide]

[ ... He taps his foot on the ground, obviously irritated. ]

I heard that. It's not a costume. This is my actual face, you know.

[ And if you were to look behind him, you'd even find a rabbit's tail sprouting out of his pants. ]

[mearry]

[ Everything is strange, as if a dream. C-ta's doubtful, untrusting of everything that is around him-- it's hard to play it cool when everything is strange and off. He wants to go home, more than anything in the world, but he's not too sure why. ]

A strange costume you have there. [ it's supposed to come out as a joke, but really, C-ta's nervousness seeps through his words. ] Shouldn't you explain why we're here before asking favors from us?

[apatheticguide]

It's not a costume, and I'll thank you for listening to me when I mention that I am the White Rabbit. This is my face. These are my ears.

[ He's even got a tail! It flicks on occasions when he's upset. Like right now. Just a bit. The ears are twitching, including his broken one that looks rather like something took a bite out of it long ago. ]

It hardly matters why you're here. ... More importantly, it matters what you think. If you think it's a dream, it probably is.

A cat has appeared...

[stolenface]

[ In the room to the north, where all the doors are, standing before a signpost is a familiar sight. The cat boy. And he's grinning even wider than he was back when they first saw this form--like the cat that ate the canary. ]

Hey, Alice and... Alice... And ▒▒▒▒▒! ...Oh, but that doesn't work, does it? Mweehee!

[bakegarasu]

[He pauses, staring at him. Cats. His yurine is a cat, sometimes. All of them are.]

Mm. Are you from this place, too?

[zinit]

[A wabbit and a chacha. Okay. This is his life now.]

[Qilby looks once, twice, then finally decides to walk over. He's wearing a polite smile, all gentleness and crinkles at the corners of his eyes, but really, he's thinking about the best angle to approach.]

So you are the chacha from earlier. [Maybe this one will be more forthcoming? Easier to ply, or more impulsive? hahaaaaa nope] You're the wabbit's friend, then?

[heartgatherer]

[Ah-- that looks like a... yep. Cat. So that's the feline who got them all involved. She places her hands on her hips and narrows her eyes at the cat.]

You're the one who's responsible for this mess, aren't you?

[frozentear]

[Here, kitty?... That'd be weird, when the cat is a person. Also "not" a costume, presumably. And also,]

Sebastian.

[They were both going to keep getting his name wrong, weren't they.]

[dolosa]

Were you the one that stole my "heart"?

[ Completely flat as she says that. ]

[mearry]

Oh. [ C-ta stares at the hooded cat, a sense of unease and anger bubbling in his heart again; this situation is quickly wasting his patience. C-ta's never been a cat person and boy he sure ain't now. ]

It's not Alice, you know. [ besides, how do they differentiate between all of them? ] I have a name.

[notsogreedy]

Ankh is not sure where he is, how he got here, or where he even was before he got here. He didn't recognise the place where he woke up, and he doesn't know how he woke up, since his medal broke and he's pretty sure shouldn't even have a consciousness right now, much less a body. And that... well, anything surrounding that is hazier than he'd like. Memory loss on top of everything else. This is a great day.

And now there's someone who wants him to do something, because of course a stranger is going to ask for favors. Maybe that's why he's alive (if "alive" is the word; last he checked, it wasn't). Maybe this person, or someone related, is responsible for keeping him around when he should have been destroyed. He really has nothing but questions here.

"...My name is Ankh."

But clearly that was the important part.

[apatheticguide]

"No, it's not. Everyone is Alice here. Except for that girl."

He says it so matter-of-fact that it's simple, and then moves on, clearly unbothered by his inner turmoil.

"Will you do what I asked or not? I'm sure you want to live, don't you? You seem disoriented."

[bakegarasu]

He's just passing by on his way towards the door, but -

"They don't care what your name is. You should probably get used to it."