Ch. 1

"Tarrant, we should go try to find that witch doctor again."

Tarrant shook his head, automatically regretting it as he felt dizzy again. "Not a chance."

"But... something's wrong. Come on, you can just apologize, and maybe he'll reverse whatever spell he put on you," Alice suggested, thinking back to what'd happened.

The previous evening, they'd taken a stroll through Underland. They'd ended up in the forest, following a moonlit path deeper and deeper into the woods. It was all very romantic, really, the way the beams of moonlight hit upon the plants. The air itself smelled sweet.

Then they'd seen something in the distance. It looked like a purple blaze, with light blue smoke coming off of it.

"What's going on there?" Alice asked. She'd never seen a purple fire, or sky blue smoke before.

"I'm not sure," Tarrant said, honestly, "But we ought to find out."

Tarrant started to walk forward, but Alice grabbed his wrist. "Are you sure? Perhaps we best leave it alone."

"The fire could burn down the forest, Alice! Even here we're not immune to such problems!"

Alice sighed. "Alright, then. Maybe if it's small enough we can put it out."

00

It only took a few minutes for the couple to arrive at the clearing. It wasn't a small fire that they found, though. Instead, they'd come upon several people, all wearing strange masks and not much else, dancing around the purple fire. They were chanting, singing and shaking very enthusiastically. Neither Tarrant nor Alice recognized the language they were speaking, and they watched in awe as one of the people – apparently, the leader of the group – ascended a small platform and caused the movement to stop. Everyone cast their attention towards him.

The man, who was wearing a huge, scary looking mask with four eyes and two mouths, began to speak in his language. Then, suddenly, he stopped.

"We have intruders," he said, glaring at Alice and Tarrant.

Everyone turned to face them.

"We're sorry!" Alice quickly started, "We just saw a fire and thought that maybe something was wrong. We'll be leaving now, right?!" she took Tarrant's hand.

Of course, things just couldn't end there. Instead of following along with Alice, Tarrant stepped forward, getting closer to the man in the mask.

"What type of mask is that? Looks like it's made of straw perhaps? Straw and wood."

The man took a deep breath, but allowed Tarrant to continue.

"It's cheaply made, obviously," he said, getting closer and even touching the man's mask.

"Tarrant, let's go. It looks fine. It's a beautiful mask, in fact," Alice said, trying to grab him again.

Tarrant shrugged her off. "I'm not trying to be rude, dear, I'm just stating that it is a cheaply made mask. I'd be happy to work on a new one for you, if you'd like," he offered, "Besides making hats I've dabbled in mask production."

The man in the mask nodded. "You are quite forward. Do you not know the power of keeping one's mouth shut?"

With that, the man removed his mask, revealing his painted face. He had a shaved head, and a large, gold nose ring pierced through his septum. It had two small skulls carved onto each end.

Tarrant didn't seem to take the hint, though.

"I could also work on some costumes for you, you know. Maybe a hat, too."

The man rolled his eyes, then reached out and pushed Tarrant's lips together, forcing his mouth shut. "Quiet, now. You are very annoying." He turned back to his group of followers, "What should we do with someone so frustrating?"

He looked around at everyone, waiting for an answer.

"Gravidanza?" someone asked.

Everyone else began laughing at the suggestion.

"Really?" the lead witch doctor asked, "That's the best you all could come up with? Well... I suppose, it would make him rather uncomfortable... Alright, then."

The man shoved Tarrant away, pushing him closer to the fire. Before Tarrant could even try to run off, the man grabbed Tarrant's arm, closed his eyes, and said a few words in a different language.

As he spoke, a few purple sparks came out of the fire, swirled around Tarrant, and seemingly hit him in the stomach. He flinched as he saw them come at him, but surprisingly felt nothing.

As quickly as the ceremony had started, it'd then stopped. The witch doctor let go of his arm.

"You may go, now."

Fast as she could, Alice raced over and grabbed Tarrant's hand, dragging him away. As they walked off, they could hear the group once again laughing.