"Oof!" The blonde fell onto a rather comfy patch of grass. The raven-hair twisted nimbly and landed on her feet beside her. She gazed down at her friend, amusement dancing in her eyes.

"Don't just stand there, Faye!" the blonde hissed. "Help me up!" Her voice was high and bright, like the happy tinkling of silver bells. Faye bowed to the girl.

"As you wish, Alice-hime," she murmured and stretched out her hand. Faye's voice was… different. It was deep, for a girl, and husky. It reminded one of rich chocolate and the sound of large pipes.

Alice grasped Faye's hand and stood up. They both dusted off their clothes, helping the other as well as themselves.

Alice wore a soft yellow shirt with a flower design on it along with a pair of jeans and baby blue Converses. Faye wore a black shirt that had red and silver dragons on it with a pair of black skinny jeans and skull-pattern Vans.

"I don't think we're in Kansas anymore, Toto," Faye mused as she took in their surroundings.

"Why would we be in Kansas?" Alice asked crossly. "And who in the world is Toto!?" Faye calmly cast her gaze around them, ignoring Alice's remarks.

"Alice, where are we?" she asked. Alice blinked and twisted her head around.

"…I don't know," she replied. Faye laughed lightly. Typical Alice.

Alice reached out to gently touch a nearby tree. Faye whipped around as she heard Alice gasp.

The tree had shifted, bending away from the girl's touch. Faye leapt forward and pulled Alice back, carefully watching the fearful tree.

"The tree!" Alice gasped. "It moved!"

"Of course it moved!" a voice called out. Faye snapped her head to look at the intruder while pushing Alice behind her.

"Don't let go of my hand," she murmured. Alice grimly nodded, lacing her fingers through her friend's hand. Up in the tree was a boy about their age.

He had purple hair and shiny purple eyes. He wore a tank-top and pants with a black-and-purple striped design. He grinned mischievously at them. He lay on the branch with on hand supporting his head and one leg dangling down.

He swung that leg back and forth, almost hypnotically. Alice found herself staring at it. As she did, she also noticed something else that was dangling.

"You have a tail!" she shrieked, pointing at the said appendage. The boy quirked an eyebrow, his smile never left his face. The tail lifted up, and he ran his hand over it. It, like his clothes, had black and purple stripes on it.

"He also has cat ears," noticed Faye. Indeed, the little fuzziness on top of his head twitched in excitement. For a few silent, uncomfortable moments, the three of them simply stared at each other. The whole time, the boy had that ridiculously wide smile on his face.

Finally, Alice asked, "Who are you?" The boy smiled even wider. He sat up and leapt down from the tree. He walked a few steps closer to the pair before Faye threw out her hand. Instantly, the boy froze. He nodded, respectfully, to Faye and took a step back.

"The question is," he answered, "who are you?"

"I'm Alice!" she replied. She gestured to her companion. "And this is Faye." The boy nodded.

"Well, you can call me Chez."

"Is that, by any chance, short for Cheshire? As in Cheshire Cat?" Chez blinked and nodded.

"How would you know that?" he asked, cocking his head to the side.

"Yeah!" Alice agreed. "How do you know that?" Faye shrugged, her eyes never leaving Chez's figure.

"I take it none of you have ever read 'Alice in Wonderland' before." Chez grinned all the more.

"Oh, no!" he explained. "I've never read or met Alice-in-Wonderland before. My father was the one who saw her, not I." Faye blinked in surprise but chose to say nothing.

Chez chose this time to begin to walk around them. He kept the same distance from them, but he paced around them, tail flicking in excitement.

"I must say, though, you're not exactly what I expected," he informed them. He caught Alice's gaze and took a bold step forward. Before Faye could stop him, Chez kneeled in front of Alice, took her hand in his, and kissed it. That action cost him dearly.

Instantly, Chez was on the ground. His arm was twisted behind him and Faye sat on his back, a grim expression on her face.

"Faye!" Alice shrieked. "He didn't do anything! Leave him alone!" Faye sat there for a moment more before backing off.

"As you wish, Alice-hime," she murmured. Chez sat there, smiling and massaging his shoulder.

"Hime? What is a 'hime'?" he asked. Alice rushed forward and gently touched his arm.

"Are you okay Chez? I'm sorry for Faye's behavior. She can be a bit overprotective…" Chez waved her off, his gaze now trained on the dark beauty before him.

"Hime," he repeated. "What does that mean?"

Faye finally replied, "It means 'princess' in Japanese." Chez nodded.

"That is very appropriate!" he agreed. "Princess Alice. Alice-hime. It makes sense." He stood up, batting the dust from his clothes.

"Umm, Chez?" Alice shyly quipped.

"Hmm?"

"Do you know a boy with white hair, red eyes, and a pair of bunny ears?"

"Hmm." A thoughtful look came over Chez's face as he tapped a finger against his chin.

"Does he dress really proper?" he inquired. Faye and Alice both nodded.

"Yes! I do believe that I know one like that!" he declared, snapping his fingers in delight. Alice leaned forward, her eyes betraying her eagerness.

"Do you think you could take us to him?" Chez shrugged.

"I don't see why not."

"Yay!!" Alice surged forward, catching Chez in a brief hug, before being pulled back by Faye. Alice looked up at the taller girl, a pout settled firmly on her lips.

"What did you do that for?" she demanded. Faye shrugged.

"Reflexes." Chez simply smiled, as he was prone to do. Faye turned to Chez and nodded solemnly.

"Lead the way."