She stared at him, blue eyes opened wide. "Oh, no," she groaned. "You believe all this?" She began to pace, one hand over her mouth. "I mean, I'll admit, this does seem uncannily like it, but.... But it was only a story!" She spun around and faced him, looking lost and a little scared. Like a child. She desperately wanted to believe it, but what if it was just another dream, or a cruel joke? She couldn't let herself believe it; she wanted to hold on to reality.

I know, I know. I don't want to believe it either. But, really, Luka... what else is there to believe? His words echoed. The sun set slowly. They needed to find cover.

Luka sighed, chewing on her lip until she thought she tasted blood. "I... I don't know," she said. She glanced up- the sky was nearly black. "What I do know is that we need to find somewhere to go for the night..." she glanced at him, blue eyes questioning. It must have been something on both of their minds, as well as the follow-up question- where did they go?

Rin nodded calmly. Which way... north, south, east or west? He asked , gesturing in the four directions. If this was Wonderland... then creatures came out at night.

She bit her lip, looking around. "Might as well go west," she said after a moment. "Follow the sun and whatnot." She nodded to herself and began to walk, glancing over her shoulder at him without breaking stride. "Well, are you coming?"

Hatter walked carefully through the forest. He had sensed something but he didn't know what. he turned the corner and gasped at what he saw. two kids were heading west, staright towards the queen's palace. he didn't know who they were but didn't want any deaths on his hands so he yelled out to them"hey where do you think you're idoits are going?!!!"

Luka almost groaned as she stopped, turning around. "Oh goodness, who is it now," she muttered, going back to where Rin was. "We're trying to find shelter, thank you," she said, peering at him. "It's starting to get dark and I don't think this place is safe when it's dark, now is it?"

"well "hatter yelled back I don't think you want to go that way unless you have a death wish." He said as he stepped out of the darkness.

Green hat, crazy hair, long cloak... You must be the hatter, Rin remarked with a subtle smirk. Well then, where do you suggest we go? he asked, taking a step towards the taller man.

"Yes I am."He thought about the problem of shealter for a moment and then replied "Wonderland city I guess. Hey I know! I guess you guys can bunk at my house. For a while, at least until I aleart the underground."

Rin raised a green eyebrow. The underground? What do you mean? he asked in an inquisitive tone, rubbing his arms. He was only wearing a tee shirt and it was pretty cold outside. Small goose bumps began to form on his arms, muscular from drumming.

Luka hung back this time, letting Rin do all the talking and consenting with listening, watching the man suspiciously with large eyes. She glanced up at Rin every now and then- man, this kid was really getting into it. Hey, you never know, he may be older then you, she thought. She shivered a little as she glanced at him again and knew it wasn't only her- it was getting cold out.

Hatter sighed, people could take things so literally sometimes." By the underground I don't really mean under the ground, I mean a secreat network of people and creatures that are fighting agianst the evil queen Alice, not the old one but this new one."

"Wait, new Queen Alice? What happened to the old one," she asked, finally finding her voice.

hatter sighed, he did not like telling this story. "as you know the first queen Alice came to Wonderland and fought the evil queen of harts. what you proablay don't know is that she stayed in Wonderland fir a few years until something happned, a new queen came, a bad one. she brought with her dark and evil versions of the creatures of Wonderland and became the new queen, yelling of with their heads." He have a sinking felling that that the two kids were the new Alices.

"Ok, so where do we come into this," she asked, crossing her arms in an attempt to ward off the cold. She was only wearing a thin, navy-blue sweater with a white collared shirt underneath and a black skirt- her schools uniform. "And if you guys are so unhappy with the current queen, why don't you just overthrow her?"

"Well" hatter shifted uncomftroably "most of us think getting our heads chopped off is a bad idea. Addressing where you guys come in. I have my supsicons but really I don't know. That's I gonna take you guys to my house and where I can contact the underground and figure out what the hell is happing here."

Woah woah woah woah woah. Wait just a second while I say WHAT THE FUCK?! I didn't sign up fro this. We can't overthrow a flippin Queen! Rin, who was usually calm and level-headed, was on the berge of a mental breakdown.

"He's right," she said slowly. Then, she turned to Rin, a small smirk on her face. "But you did insist this was real. Rin, what if it is us?" her face became very serious. It seemed the roles had reversed. "We can't leave these people to that... to that wicked witch! We have to stop them, and we can't do it alone." She looked up at him with determined blue eyes. "Real or not, this isn't right."

"yeah, we're pretty screwed here." admited Hatter. "but you don't have to help unless you really are what I think you are, and the only way to figure that out is to contact the underground. THe only safe place to do that I know off is my house.

She took a deep breathe, then nodded, exhaling slowly. She forced herself to let go of whatever shred of reality she had been hanging on to- she had commited, there was no turning back. She began to walk towards the man, motioning for Rin to follow, when suddenly something jumped out of her messenger bag. Something white.
"Dia," she said, surprised as a small white kitten wove around her ankles. She bent down to pick up the cat- and it took off. Luka forgot everything- how dangerous it was to be out, Chess, Rin and the Hatter- and dashed off after it, crying for her to come back. In seconds she was out of sight, her long legs carrying her into the woods faster then anyone could stop her.

A dark figure wove through the trees, stepping into the path a few yards ahead of the running girl. Teal eyes belayed the grin as malice, not compassion., though his childish face seemed harmless. His bare feet padded lightly as he hopped in place a bit, the tiny white kitten perched on his shoulder. "Es Gato, Las Gata? The snow is fur and the eyes are glass, a puppet hovering shoulder-high as the little ones pass!" He spouted with glee, his eyes glittering with a strange light.

Luka came to a sudden stop, almost face-planting into the dirt. "U-um... what?" She was caught off guard by this strange man. Purple hair? Teal eyes? He couldn't be normal. A fine tremor ran up her spine- something was wrong here. "If I may ask... who are you?"

"Who am I?" He said, tilting his head to the side, the kitten doing the same. "Who dost thou be, my pretty little tea cup? A bitter grey tea of earl? Mayhaps a stray flock from the black sheep." He stepped forward, his feet barely touching the ground as he spun and circled about her. "A pretty princess escaped from her tower, the mother is dearly worried!" He cackled a bit with his back turned, then spun about abruptly, the kitten in his outstretched hands. "Is this kitten your, little girl? I found him lost in the big, dark woods all alone!" He said, his face drooping with sadness, the strange light still in his eyes.

"I'm Luka," she said, a little unsurely. He was making her dizzy, and he made no sense at all. "And yes, its my kitten. But I was behind her the whole time; she wasn't lost at all." She reached out to take the kitten into her hands, suddenly anxious to feel the warm little body in her arms again.