The Dream Isn't Done

[Glyph]

"But I don't want to go among mad people," Alice remarked.
"Oh, you can't help that," said the Cat: "we're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad."
"How do you know I'm mad?" said Alice.
"You must be," said the Cat, "or you wouldn't have come here."
— Lewis Carroll

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"Mmm."

It wasn't an approving noise, or an appreciative one, or even an interested one that broke the foggy silence between the pair carefully plodding across the meadow; it was more of a "Mmm, oh look, it's so-and-so," the sort of casual noise one made when catching the eye of someone they hadn't particularly cared for in their grade school years later on the street.

Just as casually, Tabor reached down and snagged on of the little sundials sprouting from the checked lawn; this one was just small enough to twirl between his forefinger and thumb as he looked it over, and made a sort of a squishy burbling noise when he held it too tight. Something close to satisfied, he let it drop.

"Seems the wabe is fairing nicely to-day."

Hope stopped in the middle of her moping and tromping and fiddling with her poor, ruined dress just long enough look up with a deadpan stare. "What?"

"To-day. Present tense. Not tomorrow or the day bef--"

She shot him a vicious glare. "A wabe. What on God's Green Earth is a wabe?"

"Ah," he gave her a little grin and made a sweeping bow, as if to bundle everything from her mucky shoes to the lopsided horizon under both arms and spread it out before her like a selection of tarts, "Take your pick."

She blinkblinked back at him, confounded, but his smile only grew with each second she left silent, so eventually she asked warily, "What are my choices?"

Tab's face fell, until the corners of his lips hung heavy with exasperation. Really, she could be so dreadfully dense sometimes. It almost didn't make it worth the effort. Almost.

"Something, anything, nothing... But more specifically, this thing." The wild-haired boy jabbed an impatient finger toward the enormous sundial mushrooming out of the ground next to them. "A wabe is the grassy-green area 'round a sundial, of course."

Hope looked it over skeptically from top to bottom, then trained the same unimpressed stare back on the Snark. "Really."

"Yes, really." Tab shot back, and grinned nastily when he pointed toward a round hole in the ground, not two paces from where they were standing. "And if you're not careful, you'll lose your foot to the toves."

If looks could kill... Pause.

"... Wait, what?"

But he was already on his way again.

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Yeah... No idea what I'm doing.

[Meryck]

The cat by her feet chuckled mischievously as his blue eyes turned up at the girl, twinkling. "You are a horrible young lady, Alice." The albino beamed back down at him, red eyes glistening, stolen hat properly jaunted on her head.

"And you are a mad White King, Ches."

"True." The cat's grin did not waver. "Xavier's not going to be happy when he catches up."

"Anything else new?" The smirk widened as the Cheshire sashayed forward, red mist swirling. Within a blink a tall, blonde, white-clad, and above all else, handsome man replaced the cat, grin still in place.

"Again, true." Alice noted the scruffiness currently holding over her dear friend's human form.

"You've gone quite mangy, cat....but, you're grin is still a comfort." Again, the grin just widened.

"And you've picked up a bit of an attitude. Still curious and willing to learn, I hope. " The albino sighed and gripped the hilt of her Vorpal Sword.

"Ready as I'll ever be."

[Glyph]

The here-and-there checks in the lawn seemed to speed past Tab's old button-ups, and a contented smile appeared beneath the crazy mop of orange and brown hair.

"Tabor!"

It was only a brisk walk, but the length of the stocky Snark's legs was, coincidently, still just long enough to put distance between the protesting female and himself.

"Tabor!"

Or maybe it was just meant to aggravate her further: Either way, it was working.

Hope snarled and bundled past her tattered dress, lowering her head like a bull on a rampage. "Oh, you wretched thing! Just wait 'til I get my hands on--OOF!"

A rampage that was cut suddenly short by the lump of Snark that had apparently decided to practice his best imitation of a brick wall, precisely where she'd intended upon walking.

Tabor stood stock still, ignoring the curse and whirlwind of motion when Hope stampeded blindly around him after she'd recovered from landing on her rear in the mud. She was in too big of a huff to notice the two figures on the not-too-far horizon, or hear the sounds of their conversation drifting over the sundials; and by the time she had recovered her senses to take notice and freeze in her tracks, it was too late to matter.

Cheeks coloring as she scowled, the girl glared at the spot where Tab had stood just moments ago; he'd all but Vanished, in the way only a Snark could.

Her hands trembled for the want of a pitchfork. "You're so dead.

[Meryck]

Alice took no notice of these goings ons in the distance. Ches, however, raised an eyebrow looking in their direction. The albino blinked. "What's wrong?"

"...nothing." The grin returned. "We should hurry if we don't want to deal with that mad young Hatter's ranting."

"As if running will do us any good." The White King merely chuckled as they began walking again.

[Glyph]

Tabor generally liked to avoid physical blows. He, like many Snarks, would rather be left to his own devices than be dragged into a squabble. (That was the whole point of the Boojum, after all--who wanted to go at it with a Snark when you had no way to tell if it might be the one who could wipe you from existence? Most Underlanders knew better.)

So when Hope radiated hellfire 'til the grass threatened to catch alight, Tab decided that this was a very good moment to make good that practice. Quiet as a mouse, he ghosted his Vanished form over to one of the larger sundials, content to let her growl and grumble at nothing at all.

To his surprise, she seemed to take notice of his absence, and merely fumed away a few long moments while staring at nothing with her arms crossed. With her hair askew and her shoulders hunched like that, she looked rather like a peeved librarian--or a disgruntled sparrow. That image was rather amusing. He watched her jaw work in circles for a few more seconds with a smile; then she turned and trounced away, leaving him the idiot staring at nothing.

Oh dear, he bit back a grin and made after her, I am going to get it later, aren't I?

"Excuse me?" Pride had absolutely no place in this moment for Hope; she was exhausted and irritable, and stuck with an idiot for a guideslashstalker--it wasn't hard to let a long expression of exasperation knock her fury out of the way when she'd bundled herself within speaking distance of the pair. "Sorry, but would either of you know which way I should head for the closest town? Or an inn? Or an only-slightly disagreeable troll who'd be willing to spare a rock that I could collapse under?"

"Hey now," Tab's quiet voice floated past the girl's left ear, making her shudder, "Don't be dramatic. It's not like we're lost--"

Hope glared at nothing, perfectly aware that she looked like a complete fool talking to the empty air. "Do you know where we are?"

"I know all the places we're not." He went on happily, "We're not in the Tulgey Wood, or the Ocean, or the--"

"Shut up!"

[Meryck]

The two both blinked at the newcomer, briefly startled, then relaxed upon realizing she had nothing to do with the Red Queen. Ches grinned wider at the sound of the Snark but decided not to ask.

"Well", the albino girl began, looking to the east, narrowing her eyes, and glad that the stolen hat on her head was blocking the sun, "I do believe there's an inn that way. There's an awful lot of pepper in the food- and air- but the beds are good at least. I think." Alice turned to her companion. "Duchess is still there, isn't she?"

"Oh, yes", the White King responded, waving a hand as if the question were a bothersome fly, "Not even the Red Queen could scare that tart." The girl smiled, re-adjusting the Hatter's stolen hat to it's proper jaunt again.

"I didn't think so." She turned to look at Hope. "You should find a good-night's sleep there. Just mind the ladybugs, alright? Some of them are rather belligerent now-a-days."

[Glyph]

"Thank you so much." For a brief moment, the fierce gleam in her eyes and the determined wrinkle around her brows faded, and Hope's face softened into something truly grateful. Tabor was just beginning to think that the kinder look suited her when the hardness returned to glint from the corners of her eyes, chasing away the sadness; her curtsy was brisk, but polite.

"I'm Hope Baker--" (and Tab didn't fail to notice the tightness that tugged at the edges of her surname, either) "--and pepper, I think, would be very welcome right now, even in excess." She managed a smile for Alice, and the force of it nearly knocked Tabor back into the visible spectrum, "I've been at sea for several months, you see--spices of any sort were in short supply, and I've yet to have a decent meal."

Ladybugs shouldn't bother her either, she supposed with a sudden frown, but what was all this about the Red Queen? She hadn't been inland for very long, but from what she'd heard and seen from the other Underlanders, she sounded more like a dictator than a proper monarch...

"Belligerent ladybugs, eh?" Tabor appeared in all his wild-haired glory, one elbow propped against Hope's narrow shoulder and palm resting on his chin. The Snark cast her a side-long glance, eying her deathglare with a smirk, "Reminds me of someone."

[Meryck]

Alice let out a chuckle, apparently not upset by the sudden appearance of the Snark- one of her best friends was the master at Vanishing, after all. She flashed Hope a smile. "Yes, yes, I understand the feeling. Well, I've been away from poor Underland for four years...it's become a bit of a mess in that time, I'm afraid, but I've been pleased to find SOME things of home haven't changed. Oh, I'm Alice Elision." She motioned to the tall blonde beside her. "And this is Cheshire. Nice to meet you...." She flashed another smile at Tabor. "The BOTH of you." Ches smiled, bowing his head courteously.

"Indeed. "

[Glyph]

"Pardon me--the name's Tabor." He grinned back at Alice, inclined his head to the pair in general, and was promptly shoved off balance by Hope, who'd grown annoyed of being used as an armrest; the Snark blinked, then crossed his arms behind his head and peered up at the trio from the grass. "Just Tab to my friends."

"And Idiot to everyone else." Hope spat sourly, refusing to look at him. Instead she trained her gaze on Alice; her eyes softened a bit again, and she managed a tight smile. "Cheshire and Alice. It's a pleasure."

"Don't lie to them, sparrow, it's unbecoming of a lady." Tab curled a blade of grass around his little finger, smiling merrily.

"Ignore him." Hope glared at the Snark, and her hands twitched again; if only he hadn't stolen her pitchfork! "He's been following me around and making a nuisance of himself since I landed. He's been absolutely no help at all--" She nudged him with the toe of her boot, and he growled cheerfully back, but in a way that reminded her he was very much not human.

Biting her lip, she glanced back at the pale girl and the man, "And, er, I hate to ask, but I'd like to know what I'm getting myself into by following this nimrod around, since I'm not from around here (and since he hasn't given me a straight answer to anything I've asked yet); from what I've gathered, these "changes" to Underland have not been good?"

[Meryck]

Ches's expression went from cheerful to dark within a second. "Far from it, my dear, unless you think a rise in executions by beheading is good."

"Easy, Ches...." Alice put a gentle hand on his shoulder, blinking out from under the stolen hat, smiling gently. The human-form Cheshire Cat heaved a sigh. A pause. And then flashed a terrific, bright grin.

"Of course, if your looking to avoid any fighting, I'd- WE'D- be happy to escort you, miss Hope."

[Glyph]

If anything, Hope only appeared more weary. "I see. So it really is as bad as what I've heard." She sighed, and Tabor rolled into a sitting position, peering up at the sky to avoid catching her eye. Of course he'd known.

The girl squared her shoulders and blew her dark auburn bangs from her equally dark eyes, sorry she'd asked, and tried to smile back at Cheshire. "That's very kind of you to offer, but I wouldn't want to bother you--"

"Too late."

Hope's face twitched rather dangerously; Tab went on smiling.

"--anymore than I'm sure I already have been."

[Meryck]

Cheshire's smile just widened. "No trouble, dear. No more trouble than keeping an eye on Alice can be, I'm sure." Alice jokingly punched him in the arm. He ignored her. "In any case, rest comes first. Let's get you to the Duchess...."

"Wait a moment, Cat." Blue eyes blinked down at the albino's worried face. "What about Xavier?"

"....Ah. Point taken." Ches scratched the side of his nose, thoughtfully. "Hrm. How about you escort Hope and her Snark, Alice dear, and I'll fetch our slow Mr. Tanner."

"Are you sure?" A grin.

"Of course. You've grown, as you've said, and I've seen you with that sword. Not to mention one of the Red Queen's cards wouldn't come near all the pepper around the Duchess's house."

"Well....alright. Hurry back." The White King grinned again, bowed, took up the girls hand, and kissed it.

Within a blink, he was gone. Alice, not impressed as usual, merely re-adjusted her stolen hat again and turned back to Hope. "Shall we?"

[Glyph]

"Er, t-thank you!" Hope blinked, appearing just the slightest bit flustered when she nodded to Alice, "Right."

Rising to his feet to follow the girls, Tabor grinned and sent a sly look Hope's way.

"Hear that, sparrow? 'Hope and her Snark.'" He elbowed her teasingly, mood brightening with each shade her face turned, "There might be a future for us yet, eh, sparrow? Though I think I'd prefer, 'Tab and his Human' better--"

He paused. Squinted through the sunlight to catch a glimpse of the expression on her face.

Death. Tabor could see his death beckoning in Hope's eyes.

He paused again, then smiled cheerfully over at Alice.

"Alice dear, would you do me a favor? Do keep a close eye on that sword of yours for me, will you?" The Snark smiled, absentmindedly plucking a feather from his hair and twirling it between his fingers, "I like having all my limbs attached."

Pretending that she wasn't plotting just the opposite, Hope looked over at the pale girl as innocently as she could, and smiled tightly, "... So." Her brown eyes shifted as she searched for something to say that didn't involve first degree murder. "... I hope I'm not taking you too far out of your way?"

[Meryck]

"Oh no. Really, we have no way. The Red Queen took them all." The albino shrugged as she walked. "So, going to the Duchess's is no trouble at all. I've been meaning to see what's happened to her, anyway." She hopped over a rock, lightly. "Almost forgot how troublesome these woods could be." She turned, lacing her fingers behind her, walking backwards, allowing a smile on her two new companions to beam from under the stolen hat. "Oh, by the way, my apologies for Ches running out so quick- we usually have three in our number, and usually the swiping of his hat would have him tailing us, raging, but...." Alice sighed. "It seems we lost our dear Hatter while walking. That, or he lost us. Either way, I'm sure he's unhappy about it."

[Glyph]

Hope sent a tilted look Alice's way, perplexed, "... So all the ways are Her Ways?"

"And I say good riddance." Tabor snorted, hopping over the same stone and nearly losing his balance as he landed; he didn't seem to mind. "Who needs Her Way if I can just take the Highway?"

"Her Way... Or the Highway...?"

"Exactly."

Hope stared at the Snark for a moment, lips twitching in the barest hint of a smile; of course, Tab took notice and appeared extremely pleased with himself... which only made the girl's face darken into a scowl.

She turned back around so quickly that all the Snark saw was a flash of auburn hair in the dappled sunlight. He shrugged and went on, hands behind his back, appearing as serious as he could, as if strolling through the woods was very serious business indeed.

"It's perfectly fine," Hope went on slowly, pretending that she didn't notice the faces he started making in her direction the moment her attention was drawn elsewhere. "I do hope he'll be alright?" Then she squinted, apparently trying to figure out if that fly darting past really did look like a miniature rocking horse, or if her eyes were just playing tricks on her. Maybe she'd been hanging around Tabor for too long...