but as I told you... I didn't chase the white rabbit!

[heartgatherer]

Who: The Alices and Clock
What: Open the first door and see what you find. Hopefully it's a key... maybe it's something more.
Where: World One - The Country of Clover
Warnings: General violence and disregard for life.

 '▒▒▒▒▒, you fool... it was all just a dream'...

If she could have thought that to herself, then she might have believed it. Here were the high vaulted ceilings of Clover Tower that she'd grown so used to since the shift to the Country of Clover. And yet her name was still lost to her. She could not think it... could not say it... It was as though someone had stolen it entirely, as odd of a thing as that sounded. That was all she needed to know to prove she wasn't dreaming. Then that meant it was as the rabbit and cat said-- in order to retrieve the rabbit's keys, they needed to enter the doors and the door took them straight into peoples' hearts.

This one no doubt was supposed to be her own. How else could this place be replicated so accurately? None of the others should know a thing about Wonderland. After all... this was her dream. Her messed-up, embarrassing, dangerous... oh no.

Outside the window the forest, the castle and the Hatter Mansion were all as they should be. But what had happened to the others? If they had been split up, there was no telling what manner of characters they might have met. While they should be safe as Outsiders, Clover has never seen any other Outsiders. Like this, there's no way to be sure they're safe.

Whatever's happened - this is no time to be sleeping. She needs to verify what's going on in this world and the whereabouts of the people that entered with her. If this was a true and accurate reflection of the world that she knew, then she needed to warn them of a great many things.

Down the tower stairs she goes... to investigate the fate of herself and those who had gone with her.

Comments

[frozentear]

The realization of what the keys to the door are still playing in his head, Sebastian wandered away from the tower. He went a different direction, into what looked like a fairly well-kept garden. The scent of the flowers was strong and unappealing, and he found himself getting tired of the scenery quickly.

He ceased paying much attention to his surroundings, trying to find a way through the gardens. While on his way through he began to approach Otoha without realizing it, though there were still some bushes nearly as tall as he was in between.

[dolosa]

Sometimes there's no other choice.

[ This isn't her first rodeo, she implies as her smile drops. While she also isn't bothered by the whole thing -- as long as she can get out, it'll be fine. ]

Again means again. Or are you deaf? I don't really care about explaining it -- really, it's boring.

[dolosa]

Mm... well, I doubt he'd find out about this, but I wanted to apologize to him anyway. I just felt like it, really.

[ Rei's voice, on the other hand, remains completely calm. ]

[bakegarasu]

In the garden, it was night. Wasn't it just day? Maybe it was, but it didn't matter. It was night now. Otoha crept along, watching this intruder - this mouse. Silent as a cat, he padded along, waiting for him to pass by...

... before striking. He leaped out from behind a bush, sword drawn and ready to stab the mouse through the chest.

[frozentear]

It suddenly got dark. Very, very dark. What was going on? He started to look at the sky to see what had happened when something - someone - jumped out from behind a bush at him. Without thinking, he threw something at it to scare it away.

Wait, wasn't that his gun?

Fuck.

He tried to back away as quickly as possible, but, well, backing up is never very fast.

[bakegarasu]

He grinned and sliced through the air, knocking the gun away and coming back to stab Sebastian through the stomach in a single quick motion. He crouched, and then pushed up, letting the sword do the work as he cut upwards towards the other's breastbone.

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. He could feel it down the sword, in his own chest. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.

Time to die.

[frozentear]

That hurt. That hurt a lot, so much that it was hard to think. As he began to fall, still partly suspended by the sword, he saw his blood spilling out of him and knew he was dying. He had never wanted to die, no matter how much he was tired of life... but for some reason, it didn't bother him right now.

If anything, this made him wish he still had the gun in his hands to inflict the same amount of pain on the man in front of him. But it was lying over there, in the grass. He started to reach out, as if he could grab it, but his arm became weak and fell to his side.

[bakegarasu]

He watched the other's eyes, watched him realize what was going on... but this didn't matter, did it?

No. Not really.

He pulled out the sword and kicked out, trying to get Sebastian to fall to the grass. The garden could use some more watering, so why not use his blood? It would work, surely.

"One point." It was all a game, after all.

[frozentear]

Sebastian fell easily, blood splattering across the bushes and grass. Everything hurt, but the hurt was beginning to fade out with his vision.

Something flew across the grass, hitting the man's leg on the way over before stopping in front of Sebastian. Oh... his gun came back. Weakly, he wrapped his fingers around it, and although he could barely lift his hand - fired it at an upturning angle, trying to hit the one who had sliced him open.

[bakegarasu]

He hissed as the pain worked its way up his leg. How did people deal with this? He stepped back, the bullet hitting him in the side, and fell to his knees as he tried to deal with it.

"Dammit..." Why did pain have to exist? Why did he have to feel it? He never had before... why now?

[frozentear]

There was just enough time to see the other man fall to his knees, just enough time to feel satisfaction at hitting him through the pain. Sebastian's vision went grey, and finally drained of energy he closed his eyes.

And his breathing stopped.

CLOVER TOWER (for those who have died)

[worldkeys]

[ Those who die will find themselves reawakening inside Clover Tower, the Neutral zone of the areas, on the ground floor, their body simply lying on the floor as though they had fallen asleep there. ]

[notsogreedy]

[That gets an amused little huff in reply.]

I'm not sure I've ever heard a human say that killing someone was boring.

NOTEBOOK SCRAP 1

[worldkeys]

While Otoha is busy entertaining himself with his pain and other problems, several strange, shadowy figures made of inky, sticky blackness will appear around Sebastian's body. They move unnaturally, like odd creatures. They cannot be touched or interacted with, nor harmed.

One of the smaller figures digs into Sebastian's flesh, removing the Clock within, that has ceased its ticking. The others, of varying sizes, pick up his body.

They will spare a hollow stare at Otoha for just a moment before the figures, and Sebastian's corpse, disappear into the murky shadow of the ground. They take his clock with them.

A short while later, Sebastian will reawaken inside Clover Tower. When he does, he will find a scrap of paper next to him. The handwriting is completely foreign, no one recognizable. It reads:

"The ant told me
that the frog is bad."

The Notebook Scrap will remain inside Clover Tower, unable to be gotten rid of or disposed of, nor harmed by any outside forces.

[bakegarasu]

He huffs in annoyance at the pain and watches the figures. Fine. They'll take it away? That's fine with him. Less mess. He stands, a bit wobbly, and goes on his way.

Time to keep moving.

[frozentear]

[Sebastian wakes up, and in his first moment of awareness he expects to be in pain. But there's... nothing. He feels fine. Did he dream that he died?

No, the clock in his chest is still ticking. And something is... weird. He moves his head to the side, trying to get a good view out of the corner of his eye. His hair is... blonde? And there's a note next to him.

...What does it mean that the frog is bad anyway? What frog?]

[zinit]

"And maybe it shouldn't be, with how you're behaving with it," he says... But ultimately, Otoha does get to the sword first. Qilby, still being standing (and Otoha still being on the ground), aims a kick to Otoha's wrist for good measure.

Kill him. It doesn't matter, nothing matters, the consequences don't matter, this world is a dead end anyway. What matters is getting off of it, and this fool is getting in the way.

Qilby quells the urge - though he gets the feeling he won't be able to for long; his finger is still poised over the trigger - and speaks again: "Now, are you going to be good and work with me, or do I have to waste another bullet?"

[zinit]

[Qilby has his own attachments, sure, but he can't help the amusement that rises in him hearing someone else's. Ah, mortals: their fleeting connections; their simple, yet strangely complicated loves. He'd have found it interesting, were this a different time and place.]

[Still, he approaches with the same gentle, ??wise?? smile he always wears. (It's an easy act to slip into, though he doesn't remember a time when he was... Shit, that's concerning, but less concerning than the ticking in his chest. It will hit him like a train later.) Gently, he starts:]

Someone from home? [He seems almost wistful when he says:] It's easy to miss special people in a place like this, isn't it.

[dolosa]

No, he's not someone from home.

[ Fingers run through her hair as she matches his smile with one of her own. It's so easy to pretend that she has any sort of emotion when she's dead inside. ]

And I can't say I miss him, either.

[dolosa]

There's a first time for everything, or so they would say.

[frozentear]

If anything, the first noticeable thing might be that there's little desire for violence compared to most of the others. A little bit for revenge, but it's mostly been satisfied so far - he got a good shot in right before dying. What little there remains for violence is just for throwing things that shouldn't be thrown, and not much for hurting people.

The forest is comfortable. It's like home - mostly in that he knows his way around so well. He exits a door within range of the stranger, and turns to look in his general direction, or what he thinks might be that direction, even though he's not totally sure where the other is at right now. Despite being killed before, he doesn't seem terribly suspicious.

[bakegarasu]

He hisses, ignoring the question for a moment as he pulls his hand towards him, dragging the sword along. The feeling radiates up his arm and he cradles it, gasping for air. Air, in a body that's not working as it should. He shouldn't be feeling this. This is impossible. "Why... would I want... to work with you?"

He shouldn't be taking orders from this person. This person doesn't matter. This psrson needs to die. They all need to die - other than his Queen and the girl.

[mearry]

[ Get the clocks, right? Fine. Fine! No big deal at all. The clock ticks away in his chest, louder and louder as he makes distance from the tower.

C-ta didn't know how to feel, much less what to do. His instincts wanted something, anything to release himself from the strange emptiness in his heart. His lonesome heart wished for violence and blood to cover the land-- and he wanted to be the one to cause it.

The thought of it alone is enough to bring a small smile on C-ta's lips, hand tightening around the hilt of the axe. Rip a heart out? Easy. If it brings him one step closer to what he's missing, he'll do anything. ]

This place just gets stranger and stranger, huh? [ Causal conversation, in order to rope the stranger in. After all, a victim is necessary for this, no? ]

if this isn't cool, lmk!

[zinit]

Oh, please, Qilby thinks.

Nobody's going to miss this kid. (Even though the 'kid' looks in his mid-twenties, he's still a child. Everyone here is.) If he won't get out of the way of progress, if he'll just keep swinging that sword like a brute, what use is it? What could the cat or the rabbit do to him as 'punishment' that's worse than what he's already suffered?

"Ahh, so you've chosen to be irritating. If you'll excuse the pun," he says with a sniff, as though a bloody end is an inconvenience to him (and really, it is), "your time's run out." Moving his foot to Otoha's stomach and his gun in front of him, he fires again.

(Hey, at least it's easier to aim at such close range.)

[zinit]

[A two-faced old man and a two-faced teenage girl walk into a garden... How's that joke supposed to end?]

Ah, so it's like that. [Someone she feels loyal to, perhaps, though not out of any sense of caring? How gross. What's more interesting is the implication...] You've had the fortune to visit another world before this, then?