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

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?

[stolenface]

Yeah. I'm one of the guides. That's the rules, Alice. So I'll guide you, just don't expect me to do much but the bare minimum!

[bakegarasu]

Where are you guiding us to?

['Alice'. Whatever. Doesn't matter.]

[stolenface]

Good question! I already did my part. Brought you here, didn't I? And stole something from every one of you.

[ His eyes narrow as he talks, making his smile seem all the more malicious. ]

[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?

[stolenface]

[ That earns a really long, really hard laugh. ]

I'm the Cheshire Cat, and me and the Rabbit... Well... We hate each other.

[ It's truthful. He's so amused you thought they were friends, though. ]

That's why I do things like this. 'Cause it annoys him. Mweehee!

[zinit]

I... See. [So it's like that.] So you're the 'he' he spoke of, are you? My...

[name is not fucking Alice that's for sure oh, whatever, this ridiculous chacha would probably just call him Alice anyway.]

Aah, well. [Moving on:] Did you bring us here, or the Rabbit, or someone else?

[stolenface]

You're right. Alice is Alice is Alice to me. Because I don't really care what your names are.

[ Yes, Qilby, he did just blatantly read your mind. ]

As for who brought you here, well... You followed me. So if anyone brought you here, wouldn't it be you?

[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?

[stolenface]

Maybe I am, maybe I'm not. But for you... You need a name, right? Not something worthless like ▒▒▒▒▒. How about, mrrrrreow...

[ He trails off, as if thinking. But his face is borderline predatory the entire time. ]

Hey, I know! Lorina's a nice, useful name! Not like anyone's using it, right?

[heartgatherer]

[.....................................]

Sorry. Don't you know-- that name doesn't suit me at all.

[stolenface]

Suited or not, it's not like you have anything else to go by. Unless you really wanna be Clock. Mweehee!

[ Oh, he sees that face. Don't give him that look. You're Special, so he's going to treat you Special. ]

[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.]

[stolenface]

Don't care what your name is. And yeah, I'm not in a costume. Even got real ears under here.

[ More blatant mind-reading! Don't worry, he's more amused than insulted by that first thought. ]

[frozentear]

Do they move?

[He said the first thing he thought of, and immediately regretted it... oh well, too late to take it back now. How'd the cat boy know he was thinking about the costume, anyway? Did he overhear it earlier?]

[stolenface]

[ The big ears on his hood just flick in response. So clearly what's under them can move. ]

[dolosa]

Were you the one that stole my "heart"?

[ Completely flat as she says that. ]

[stolenface]

Very smart, Alice! That's my job--steal somethin' so you guys play a game. Something important to each of you, whether you remember how important it is or not! Mweeheehee!

[ He likes this one. She doesn't beat around the bush. ]

[dolosa]

I already know how important it is.

[ ... ] Is there a reason why you stole that object in the first place? Or chose me? Or was this all random?

[stolenface]

...Good question, and one I'm not allowed to answer. So sorry, Alice. As for the why... Well. You'll just have to get it back to find out, won't you?

[ There's something entirely too amused in how he holds himself right now. This Alice is interesting. ]

[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.

[stolenface]

Don't care. Everyone here's Alice, 'cause I say so. Well, everyone except that one girl.

[ You're Alice not, C-ta. ]

[mearry]

[ He would say something back, but the unsettlingly wide grin on the cat boy's lips is enough to get him to think otherwise. It's a shame. Part of him just wants to wipe it right off his face. ]

You're the one that stole those keys, right? Is it your fault we're here?

[stolenface]

You're the one who followed me, so I'd think it's more your fault. Curiosity killed the cat, after all.

[ Isn't he just so clever? ]