Wonderland: Rise of the Jack (IC)

[Chainsaw Hobbit]

"Am I the only one with static in my ears?"

[C'nor]

"Static in your ears? Not me... Eyes on my back, maybe," Anrielle replied, some of the madness that had been in her tone since they left the normal world having faded. Though whether that was because of some sort of ebb in the flows of insanity that had been bombarding her or simply an exercise of will was hard to tell. "Feels like I'm being watched."

[Iethloc]

Corwin's spirits sank a little as they walked outside. This was not an improvement over the ruined casino. "I've been out on the plains in the summer. This isn't much worse, so there's no need to panic," he said to the group in as comforting a tone he could manage. He wasn't all too familiar with the city in the first place, though, so he had little idea of where to go next.

"I suppose some of you guys might want to see your houses, so we should think of a meeting place. Everyone knows the library, right? I'll go make sure it's safe there," he said. Corwin pulled his sling out of his pocket, picked up the nearest stone he could find and set out for the library, with or without company. He had faced wolves and trespassers before, but he had a bad feeling that there wasn't anything that mundane here.

[Zigwat]

"Jabbawaki inside this a-maze!" A voice sang in a melodic, easy going tune. Then it began to hum a bit before singing again. "All is flam-ing in the world today, gray and gloom in the gaze."

It wasn't long before the singing voice took shape. Little by little, starting with a wide, grinning set of teeth, the form started with two cat ears, and then two eyes that gazed down toward Corwin.

"Good evening, friends! I see you caught us on a good day today!" His grin never left his face. His purple stripes were wide, and his eyes yellow as they continued to gaze into their very souls. "Why, you seem distressed. Whatever could be troubling you on such a fine day such as this. The fire in the buildings aren't so hot, the sky is a brighter shade of red, and you don't even notice the rotting flesh of all the dead bodies from the 1300's. What brings you to Wonderland? Oh, where are my manners? I'm a cat..." His eyes switched from round and round between each of them. "The Cheshire Cat."

[Chainsaw Hobbit]

At this point, Catherine has become utterly numb to the strangeness and horror of everything. She has decided that is she is going mad, then she may as well enjoy it.

"And I," she says to the cat, "Am Catherine Robinson. A lady. Tell me: how would one escape this dreadful place and get somewhere sunnier?"

[Iethloc]

First there was strange singing, and then an even stranger...cat. Corwin stared at it for a few moments, almost convinced he was hallucinating. But with all that's happened so far, he thought it was much more likely that the whole world had gone crazy. ”I am Corwin Bramson, and this hasn't been a very wondrous land for me. We're looking for a way out of here,” he explained.

[Zigwat]

"Sunnier? Not Wondrous? How very... lucrative..." A very sly grin went across the cat's face and the light around him began to dim for a moment, until it returned back to normal. "Well, there are a number of ways for one to go if they do not find this wonderful, froofroo, magical, mystical, great, benevolent, dazzling, beautiful, magnificent, surreal, awesome, fantastic world of ours to their liking. You can talk to the DJ, go on a hunting trip, eat a meal with some ale... or you can try the short cut... right over there." The Cheshire Cat pointed toward the doctor's office to the right of him. It was a little less like rubble, and much more whole, but that did not make it much less gloomy and downright horrid. In fact, if you looked closely at the window in the door, you could see that it was not ash and dust that covered the glass, it could very well have been dried up blood.

"But, I leave that entirely up to your very capable hands. Just remember my warnings about the dark crevasses." He then began humming the song he sang earlier, and once he slid over onto the sign post, his body swung down and he was no more, only a wooden sign with no words appeared. There was, however, the same long, fanged grin of the Cheshire Cat.