Echo
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Keeper of the Multiversal Peace
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Posts: 8,659
Characters: Lexi Elendil, Sergeant Valerie Reyes, Katara Shadowdancer, Emilie Golding, Meghan Squire, Dayana "DG" Grace Williams, Jessica Rose, Chiyo, Aniani and Mirati, Xani, Robyn Luxli
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Post by Echo on Jul 29, 2013 18:18:23 GMT
Jessica followed Duchess back through the bead curtain. "Darlings," he/she pronounced it 'daahh-lings' "I'm afraid I must leave you." Melodramatic. Pointless. And yet... All the people seemed to be genuinely upset that Duchess was leaving them. There were many 'awww's around the room. "I'm afraid I must, my dears" Duchess continued once the fuss had died down. "For you see, my pets, this is Alice." All eyes turned to Jessica. Jessica gave a tiny wave back. "She needs me, my little caterpillars. Only she can stop the Queen of Hearts." There were murmurs and shocked gasps around the room. Jessica didn't know what to make of this madness. "What happened to the White Knight?" She asked eventually. "Was he a friend of yours?" Duchess asked. "He made sure I got to you safely" Jessica explained. There was a loud cry from one of the back rooms. Jessica decided not to consider the possibilities. "Sounds like he's having fun" Duchess chuckled to her before turning back to address the room. "Dearies, the White Knight is our guest. Whatever he wants, he shall have, and you will not take a penny from him, do you understand?" The room in general nodded their heads and mumbled their agreements. Duchess nodded and led Jessica out onto the street again. The White Knight's horse was tethered to a post outside the brothel.
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Post by Sierra on Jul 29, 2013 18:36:47 GMT
Nickel was carried like that for what seemed like an age. The Knights never stopped and never spoke back, no matter how much she protested, until she stopped protesting at all. She looked towards Humpty and saw him being carried on a stretcher, held between two horses. He looked bad, his head bleeding out onto the stretcher. "How much further?" she asked, but unsurprisingly, no one replied to her. With a sigh, Nickel waited. She longed to stretch her shoulders, she was far too uncomfortable.
((OOC: leaving it there, cos otherwise I'm going to time-jump a fair few hours))
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Echo
Administrator
Keeper of the Multiversal Peace
PM me if you've got any questions!
Posts: 8,659
Characters: Lexi Elendil, Sergeant Valerie Reyes, Katara Shadowdancer, Emilie Golding, Meghan Squire, Dayana "DG" Grace Williams, Jessica Rose, Chiyo, Aniani and Mirati, Xani, Robyn Luxli
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Post by Echo on Jul 29, 2013 22:54:14 GMT
((ooc: I'll put it at a point where time-jumping's good then lol))
Jessica followed Duchess for what seemed like an age. The topic of conversation seemed to be morals. Constantly. Jessica wondered a little at this. She might have asked, but every time she said something, Duchess would follow it with 'and the moral of that is...' and then say something like 'the more there is of mine, the less there is of yours', which often made very little sense. So Jessica kept quiet most of the time.
They were quite a distance from the castle now, and had left the Diamond Quarter entirely. They'd left the chessboard road and followed an unmarked trail Duchess knew about. No wonder Hatter hadn't simply given her directions here in the first place. She'd never have found it!
Eventually they came upon two old men sitting around a bubbling pot on a campfire beside a huge rock. One was stirring the liquid in the pot, taking very little notice of anything. Jessica guessed it was probably soup or stew of some kind. The other stood to greet them. "Duchess, how charming to see you again." Duchess beamed and kissed the man on each cheek. "Is this...? No, it can't be, surely!" "It is!" Duchess said with a wide grin. "My dear Alice, my how you've grown!" Jessica didn't know what to say to this. She simply smiled. Awkwardly. "Mockers!" The man called to the one stirring the... The... The whatever it was. "You remember Alice, don't you?" "Of course I remember Alice!" Mockers called back. "I'm not that old!" So that one was Mockers? Then the man who'd greeted them was Gryph. "Well, I shall leave you here, dearest." Duchess said, giving Jessica a quick kiss on both cheeks. "Goodbye, Duchess" she smiled "take care of the White Knight for me, won't you?" "Of course, my love, of course. He shall have only the finest of special treatments." Duchess beamed, walking away.
Once Duchess was out of sight, Gryph and Jessica both sneezed in unison. "I thought she'd never leave!" Gryph cried through his sneezes. "I've been trying so desperately not to sneeze the entire time I've been with her!" Jessica said, sneezing again. "And you wonder why I don't greet her..." Mockers muttered from the fire. "Too much pepper! Stupid..." He muttered to himself about it for some time. A thought struck Jessica then. 'Her'. They'd all said 'her'. "So, is Duchess female then?" She asked "I really couldn't tell..." "Oh, it's all her fancy, that. Nobody knows!" Gryph said with a smile. There was laughter in his old eyes. "But she does insist on wearing that dreadful bikini, and you can't exactly call her an 'it' now, can you." "I suppose not" Jessica agreed. "I could." Mockers grumbled. "Besides, if she's not female, she clearly wants to be, so why not simply indulge her once in a while?" Jessica nodded. A little uncertain. "Turtle soup?" Mockers asked Jessica, indicating the pot. "It's all his fancy, that. There's no turtle in it." Gryph whispered quietly in her ear. "It's mostly calf. You know, brain and liver and feet and such..." Mock turtle soup. Of course. What else would it be? It occurred to Jessica that she hadn't eaten for some time. Still... "Alright, just a little though, thank you" She smiled. Gryph ushered her towards the fire. Sat her down beside Mockers. He sat on her other side. "So, big important plans, or just here for a visit?" Gryph asked. Mockers handed her a bowl of somewhat lumpy soup. "Oh, stopping the Queen of Hearts, saving Wonderland, you know, the usual." Jessica smiled. She put a spoonful of the soup into her mouth. It actually wasn't bad. Both the men looked warily about them, as if watching for spies. "Then you'll be wanting help from the Tweedles." Mockers guessed. Jessica nodded. "Do you have the Vorpal Blade yet?" Gryph asked in a low tone. "Does it look like I do?" Jessica asked with a raised eyebrow. Vorpal Blade? Hatter didn't say anything about that... "A fair point," Gryph agreed "but things aren't always as they seem..." "The Tweedles will help you find it. Now, finish your soup and we'll get you to the train." Mockers said with a kind smile. "Thank you." Jessica replied, duly finishing her meal as Mockers hummed a lovely calming tune that made her quite contented.
The train was small. Only one carriage. Inside, only one passenger. Jessica. Mockers and Gryph waved her off as the train sped away from the clearing. The ticket inspector came through. At least, he was dressed like a ticket inspector. "This train only has one stop, you know." Jessica nodded. "It's the Forest of Spades." He said, almost eerily. "I know." Jessica said with a smile "It'll take a while. You'd best get some rest. We'll be there by morning." With that, he left. Jessica was quite glad she had nothing valuable on her. She did not feel entirely safe. Though, now that he'd said it, she did feel a little sleepy. She was stretched out across the seats and fast asleep in under ten minutes. The ticket inspector looked in at the window and smiled.
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Post by Sierra on Aug 4, 2013 13:20:37 GMT
Nickel jolted awake as they carried her over a bump in the road. She hadn't realised that she'd fallen asleep. When she looked to the sky, she was shocked to see that the sun was rising, they had been walking all through the night and into the next day, without stopping. "How are you people not tired?" she called, though still no one spoke to her. She looked over to where Humpty was laying on his stretcher, and although he was asleep, Nickel was relieved to see that he was still breathing. Her shoulders ached badly from the way they were carrying her and she longed to stand up and stretch out her muscles.
After another hour or so, the troop stopped outside a large grey gate. Nickel lifted her head and saw that the gate was the only entrance into what seemed to be a large compound of some kind. A 200ft grey stone wall spanned out into the distance on both sides, so far that it was all that Nickel could see. "Where are we?" Nickel called out, though somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew they had brought her to the one place that she had wanted to go.
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Echo
Administrator
Keeper of the Multiversal Peace
PM me if you've got any questions!
Posts: 8,659
Characters: Lexi Elendil, Sergeant Valerie Reyes, Katara Shadowdancer, Emilie Golding, Meghan Squire, Dayana "DG" Grace Williams, Jessica Rose, Chiyo, Aniani and Mirati, Xani, Robyn Luxli
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Post by Echo on Aug 4, 2013 18:40:36 GMT
When Jessica awoke she found she had been dumped unceremoniously under a tree in a vast forest. Two round men in their early twenties were stood over her. Watching. "I told you she wasn't dead, nohow." Remarked one. "Contrariwise, brother, it was I who told you." Retorted the other. Jessica sat upright instantly. Backed away. Came up against the trunk of the tree. The men were identical in every way. Almost. One had 'Dee' embroidered on his collar. The other had 'Dum'. "I know what you're thinking, about" said the one marked 'Dum', standing up straight "but it isn't so, nohow." "Contrariwise," added the one marked 'Dee', also standing straight "if it was so, it might be; and if it were so, it would be; but as it isn't, it ain't. That's logic." Jessica hardly knew where to begin. "Are... Um... Are you the Tweedles?" "How d'ye do?" The pair said in unison, both offering Jessica a hand. She took them both. She had thought they would help her up. They did. In a sense. Rather than pulling her to her feet or shaking her hands, the pair swung her around in a circle, her feet barely touching the ground. When they set her down again she wobbled and fell into them again. The pair hugged her tightly. "I've missed you, Alice. It isn't the same here without you, nohow." "Contrariwise, I've missed you more!"
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Post by Sierra on Sept 6, 2013 8:33:04 GMT
The soldiers dropped Nickel unceremoniously on her bottom at the entrance to what looked to be a large tent. She stood slowly and worked some of the ache out of her arms as two guards took her by her wrists and dragged her inside. "Hey! What about Humpty?" she called. One of the guards looked down at her with a somewhat nice smile, "He's being taken to the Infirmary, he'll be patched up, don't you worry." The other gave her the meanest look she'd ever seen, "You, however, are being taken before the King for your crimes!" Nickel looked up at him, "Crimes? What crimes?" The first guard smiled at her sweetly, "Why, you pushed Humpty off the wall of course." The second grinned menacingly, "A very severe crime if you ask me. The punishment might even be... death!" Nickel struggled against the two, to no avail. There was nothing she could do to get away from what might happen.
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Echo
Administrator
Keeper of the Multiversal Peace
PM me if you've got any questions!
Posts: 8,659
Characters: Lexi Elendil, Sergeant Valerie Reyes, Katara Shadowdancer, Emilie Golding, Meghan Squire, Dayana "DG" Grace Williams, Jessica Rose, Chiyo, Aniani and Mirati, Xani, Robyn Luxli
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Post by Echo on Sept 10, 2013 18:48:56 GMT
'Alright, Jessica, you remember the story. Now's as good a time as any to get into character.' Jessica thought to herself. "I've missed you too" she lied. The Tweedles hugged her tighter for that. "Choking, not breathing..." She managed. Eventually. They let go. "Sorry" they both mumbled in unison. "Caterpillar says you're on a quest!" Dum said, a little excited. "He says you're not to be harmed, nohow." "Contrariwise," Dee put in "he says if someone wants to harm you, we're to defend you with our lives." "Oh, I do hope it won't come to that!" Jessica exclaimed.
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Post by Sierra on Mar 6, 2014 11:14:30 GMT
The guards dragged her into the back section of the tent. It reminded her of the pictures she had seen of old war rooms from WW2. There was a giant table with a large map on it. Tiny figurines dotted the map in various sections, sometimes disappearing, only to reappear somewhere else. Several men and women ran around the room with headsets on, chattering into them, giving orders or passing on information.
Nickel was pushed to her knees in front of a man at the back of the room. He was dressed in a full soldiers uniform, gun slung across his back. He looked up at the guards. "What is this? I don't have time for you right now." Nickel looked up at him, "You're the King of Clubs?" The soldier/king looked down at her. "What did she do?" he addressed her guards. "She pushed Humpty off of the wall." Nickel struggled, "I did't. We were just talking!" One of the guards slapped her across the face. "You will hush when you are in the presence of the king!"
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Echo
Administrator
Keeper of the Multiversal Peace
PM me if you've got any questions!
Posts: 8,659
Characters: Lexi Elendil, Sergeant Valerie Reyes, Katara Shadowdancer, Emilie Golding, Meghan Squire, Dayana "DG" Grace Williams, Jessica Rose, Chiyo, Aniani and Mirati, Xani, Robyn Luxli
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Post by Echo on Mar 6, 2014 17:36:59 GMT
"I must confess" Jessica started "that I am unsure of exactly what it is I am supposed to do. Though, I believe the Vorpal Blade is involved, and I was told that you two would help me find it." "Of course!" Both Tweedles exclaimed with clear excitement in their identical voices. With that, each one took hold of one of Jessica's hands and lead her away, deeper into the Forest of Spades.
A long way back on the checkered road Ace rounded a corner and came upon the three girls Nickel had asked for directions. Rose and Daisy hid behind Lily as they saw him approach, and she turned to him defiantly. "What do you want?" Lily glared. "Alice." Was Ace's simple answer. "And what makes you think we know anything about her?" Rose asked, her voice wavering slightly. "You assisted a woman in search of her." Ace stated "The Queen would have me follow to ensure she does as instructed." "We're not telling you anything!" Daisy declared stubbornly. "Oh, I think you will." Ace sneered. "Oh yeah? You'll have to kill us first!" Rose shouted angrily. "That can be arranged." Ace's voice was soft, quiet, unnerving. In an instant his hand flicked and Lily heard a horrible thud on her left. She turned her head and saw, horrified, blood blossoming around a knife stuck deep in Rose's chest, staining her beautiful white dress and dripping onto her broach. "The Queen has always preferred her roses red." Ace said menacingly. Lily and Daisy trembled as he advanced.
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