"What are you reading, Jinja?" asked Beyal as he looked over the taller girl's shoulder to try and glimpse the title.
Jinja smiled and showed him the front cover of the novel. It had a young girl in a blue dress chasing what looked to be a snow white rabbit. "Oh, hey Beyal. I was just reading 'Alice in Wonderland'. It's a personal fave of mine."
Dax lifted the book from her hands. "Isn't this a little bit childish for you, Princess? I'd expect you to be reading a biography on Mozart or something." The dark skinned teen continued to grin as Jinja took a swat at him and missed.
"You're the childish one, Dax!" she cried out. Beyal just watched with that usual calm, blank expression. Could his tribe ever get along?
Suddenly, Chase came up to the small group. "Dax, Beyal, can you help me go find food? It'll be dark in a couple of hours and I want to make sure we don't starve."
The two boys nodded and got up from Jinja's side. "What about me?" asked the girl.
"You went with me last time, Jin," stated Chase. "You stay here and keep watch. Bren's just on the other side of those bushes so you won't be alone." The leader pointed to a group of bushes indicating where Bren was playing around with the Core Tablet.
Jinja nodded. "Alight, have fun boys."
With that the group left. When the threesome was out of sight Jinja picked up her novel and continued reading. She was getting quite drowsy as the minutes droned on. Her eyes drooped more and more until finally, they closed all the way. Jinja was fast asleep.
Jinja woke with a start. She was supposed to be keeping watch with Bren! She looked to the sky. The sun seemed to be in the same position it was earlier so she must have only been asleep for a few minutes. Hey…something didn't…feel right. She felt…different.
Jinja looked down and gasped. She was wearing a blue dress with a white lacey front. On her legs were black and dark blue striped knee socks. At least her combat boots remained. The girl lifted up the skirt and sure enough she was wearing fluffy bloomers. Someone was going to pay!
"Oh Dax, if this is a joke so help me!" snarled Jinja as she pushed herself onto her feet. The Lowlander had gone too far changing her into different clothes while she slept. Jinja was usually a hard sleeper so it could be possible. Why didn't the others stop him? Maybe Beyal spoke up, but as usual no one had listened to the little monk.
Jinja felt at her waist. Charger was still there, just in a pocket of the dress. Good, the next time she saw Dax he'd have a taste of the Monsuno's horns. She chuckled cruelly as an image of Dax soaring through the air filled her head.
Suddenly, there was a rustling in the bushes. Jinja looked up. "Bren," she called out. The tech nerd must have been done looking at whatever it was on the Core Tablet.
When the boy emerged from the foliage Jinja gasped. Bren wearing a nice dress top with a swallow tailed coat. Black dress pants covered his legs. The outfit wasn't the only thing that got to her though. Large white rabbit ears extended from his head and his feet were little, fluffy white rabbit paws.
"B-Bren…," stammered Jinja. "What's with the get-up?"
Bren paid her no heed. The nerd swiped up a pocket watch with a white gloved hand and flicked it open quickly, almost dropping it in the process. His eyes widened frantically.
"I'm late!" Bren screamed. "I'm late! I'M LATE! I don't want to be late for the Mad Hatter's tea party! He'll tug on my ears for sure!"
Bren ran towards Jinja. No matter how much she called out to him asking what was going on he just ignored her. Just as Bren was about to reach her he gave a mighty leap. The boy scaled over her. Once his feet hit the ground he just kept running, his little bunny tail bouncing up and down as he went.
Ok, now this was just getting weird. Only Beyal had the ability to leap like that last time she checked. Jinja got up quickly. She had to see what Bren was doing. The girl wanted to get to the bottom of this if it was the last thing she ever did. Making sure Charger was safely in her pocket Jinja sped after Bren.
After a few moments of running Jinja realized Bren was much faster now too. Sure, he could high tail it if he was scared, but this was crazy fast. It seemed like he was endlessly ahead of her. They ran for what seemed like forever. Deeper and deeper into the forest they traveled.
"Bren come back!" cried Jinja. "We have to watch the camp! Chase will be mad if he comes back and finds us gone."
Bren still didn't acknowledge her. Man, if she got a hold of him he wouldn't have to worry about the Mad Hatter or whoever pulling on his ears!
"Bren!" she called once more. "Come-," her words were halted for Bren had seemingly disappeared. Where did that little rabbit nerd go?
Jinja just concluded he had gotten farther ahead. So she kept on running. Until, she suddenly didn't feel the ground beneath her feet anymore. She looked down and there was nothing but darkness. Jinja screamed as she began to fall.