Catfight

Slowly, painstakingly, Naminé lifted her head off the ground. Her hand fluttered to her forehead, and she pinched her eyes shut, drawing in a deep breath. The fall had taken a lot out of her. She pushed herself gently up to a sitting position, her legs crossed Indian-style. She breathed a sigh and let her eyes flicker open.

Immediately, her gaze was met by close - too close - jade green, catlike eyes.

She found herself immobile for a second as those eyes blinked playfully at her, then started to withdraw. Her breath caught as the owner of those eyes backed up, standing upright, and leaned against a rather gnarled tree. She recognized those eyes…and that face…and definitely the markings high on his cheekbones…

"Axel?" she questioned, feeling similar surprise as when she had seen what she believed to be Demyx earlier.

The redhead winked. "You got it, babe."

Oh yes. He was definitely Axel. But he looked different… Naminé studied him a bit more, frowning lightly. He was dressed in the same sort of interesting manner Demyx had been - almost like…a cartoon character. She could see, through the vivid red spikes of his hair, little velvety-purple triangles poking out - cat ears. He was wearing a sleeveless, clean white shirt with a high collar and the first few buttons unbuttoned. Fingerless, elbow-length, pink-and-purple striped gloves were fitted to his arms. Skinny, black pants replaced normal baggy black pants of the Organization wear, and on his feet were loose, violet boots. A fluffy, rich purple tail was visible just behind him. "Why…you're a cat," she exclaimed decisively.

He grinned, exposing sharpened incisors. "A Cheshire cat."

Her eyes widened at the infliction and glanced around herself. She appeared to be in some sort of hollow, or cave; the walls were smooth and dark, and curved upwards in a twisted fashion. Yet, grass was growing, as she was sitting on. There were even flowers, and gnarled trees like the one Axel had taken his place by. She reached out and tentatively stroked the petal of a rose, as if to see that it were real. It was unexpectedly sharp, and she winced, pulling back her finger to inspect it. There was a tiny drop of crimson blood.

"Where…where am I?" she asked, a bit dazedly.

"That depends…where do you think you are?"

Naminé's eyes flickered up to his, which met hers in a seemingly innocent way. She frowned, glancing at her finger once more…and suddenly noticed what she was wearing. A blue dress. It was about the same color as her eyes, a very light and pretty blue. The sleeves were puffed, and exposed her shoulders. Tied around her waist - and the bow was very big and elegant on her back - was a very plain and white apron. Sleek black Mary-Jane's found themselves on her delicate feet. White stockings contrasted with the stark black of the shoes.

She raised herself to her feet, noting that Axel's eyes never left her. She reached up and put a hand to her hair, and felt a black ribbon tied there, substituting as a headband. Her eyes took in her surroundings once more, the twisted scenery, the strange costumes…

Confusion was written on the girl's face as she turned her gaze back to Axel. "Are we…in Wonderland?"

"A Wonderland of a sort," he corrected with a chuckle. "Not the Wonderland you'd know from Sora's memory… No, this is an entirely new Wonderland, with new actors to play the parts."

It was all very confusing, to be sure, but Naminé was starting to get a grasp of where she was. She averted her eyes once more to the ground, and she saw - curiously enough - something…seemingly white glowing from underneath the grass. A white ground? How odd…how very odd indeed.

Naminé started to play with the edge of her apron, suddenly experiencing a very sharp feeling of foreboding. There was something very off about this place, and she felt she ought to know what it was. It was enough that Axel was here, as he was supposed to have vanished into Nothing, as well as Demyx was supposed to have done, who was apparently alive and kicking. Perhaps this had something to do with the Organization? That seemed a likely answer. Maybe it connected with the other mysteries surrounding her, too.

It was strange enough, however, to frighten her away; she wasn't sure how much longer she wanted to be here. It would be nice to, of course, solve the various mysteries, but getting out was a very tempting thought…

Timidly, Naminé looked up to meet Axel's gaze. He was the Cheshire Cat, after all, and as she as Alice, wasn't she supposed to ask him for help? That sounded like a good enough idea to her.

Preparing herself for very vague advice, she asked quietly, "Where should I be going?"

"Hmm…" He raised his hand to inspect his fingernails (which Naminé noticed were longer and sharper than normal fingernails). "That also depends."

"On…?"

"If you can handle this place."

Before her eyes, fire sparked in the palms of his hands, popping and crackling in a hot storm. His chakrams materialized in his lazy hands, and he directed a playful yet slightly evil Cheshire Cat grin at Naminé. "Do you think you can?" he prompted.

Naminé swallowed, taking a step back.

Axel laughed, lazily chucking one of his chakrams at her head. Her eyes widened and she immediately ducked, her hands covering the top of her hand.

"Come on," he said easily, his voice coming closer. "Put up a fight, Nami. There's gotta be some kinda spitfire behind that quiet personality of yours."

She looked up, seeing Axel's other chakram poised to ram her through. She rolled out of the way on her back just in time, causing it to sink deeply into the ground.

Quickly, before he could pull it back out again, Naminé stumbled to her feet and started to dart down the tunnel, away from the rabbit hole she'd recently fallen down. She started to pant, feeling the adrenaline coursing through her veins, coupled with something akin to fear. She raced as quickly as she could through the tunnel, desperately hoping for there to be a light at the end, dodging trees and deadly flowers on her way through the twisted maze. All the while, she heard Axel's voice behind her, coaxing her maliciously to come and play with the Cat.

A stitch started to form in her side, and she tried to ignore it. Her feet slapped the ground hard with every stride, echoing unnaturally in the cavern. She held her side, gasping for breath, unable to keep her balance for much longer…

She tripped and tumbled, landing in a heap behind a particularly large and crooked tree. She let out another gasp of pain, grasping her side, sucking in large gulps of air. She used the tree to hoist herself back to her feet, trying not to scrape the black roses that were growing oddly on it.

Suddenly, a streak of fire blinded her vision, and she froze as a baseball-sized sphere of flame spun just in front of her face and landed on the wall and sizzled out of existence, leaving behind a vicious burn mark. She smelled smoke; the tips of her hair were singed.

Naminé was frozen in place. She couldn't move, not even when a chakram had suddenly lashed out and lodged itself in the tree just above her head. And then those eyes were inches away from her, those startlingly green eyes, along with that catty smirk. Sharp claw-like fingernails rested on her throat.

"Do you give up?" he purred, his eyes flashing. There was a moment of silence.

"Well, if that's the case…" He started to raise his other chakram when he let out a yelp of pain and dropped it, clutching his own side. He stared in shock at his hand, which was sticky with his own blood.

In a moment of quick thinking, Naminé had gathered up enough courage to pluck a rose from the tree and shove it into his side while he was occupied with summoning up energy for his final attack. The blood on her own hands was proof of her deed. Her fingers were still bleeding.

Axel stared at her for a moment. She stared back; not challengingly, but merely because she knew not what else to do with herself. She was still quite frightened, and in shock herself for what she had done. Her spirit was not a fighting one. She doubted it really caused a lot of damage, but believed he was as surprised as she was.

"Well," he mustered out finally, and Naminé was surprised when he smirked. "You do have what it takes to survive here. For now." He sucked in a breath, still clutching his side, and grimaced, shaking his head. "Never woulda guessed it from lookin' at ya, Nami…

"Here." He fished into his pockets and pulled out something flat, something almost paper-like. He held it between two of his fingers and stuck it out for her to take. "Take this and move forward."

Hesitantly, her hand shaking, she plucked it from his grasp and peered at it. It was a card. (How characteristic of the Organization…) The Two of Hearts, to be precise. She fingered it for a moment, frowning lightly, but still very shaky and trembling.

She glanced up to meet his gaze again…and found only his Cheshire Cat grin left, before that vanished entirely too. He was gone.

Naminé stood there for a moment, speechless and still in quite a bit of shock, before delicately placing the card into a pocket in her apron. It was best to do what he said. Take this and move forward.

She wiped her sticky, bloody hands on her apron, wincing as they caused a bright red stain. She pushed herself away from the tree and started to walk forward, running everything through her head. This was far too strange for her to want to be a part of…but the longer she was here, the less she believed she had an actual choice in the matter.

The tunnel was apparently almost at its end, as a dim light could be seen farther on. She quickened her pace, stepping lightly on the spongy grass. Almost there, she thought. I'm almost there…

She turned a corner and found herself staring at a pair of bright white doors. So that was the glow… She tentatively walked forward. There was something very familiar about these doors, all right…they looked a lot like the door sets found in Castle Oblivion.

Naminé looked closely and found a place underneath one of the fine white handles where a key would go; except this hole was not shaped like a keyhole, but perhaps a place to put something slim and flat…like a card, for example. Examining the door more, she realized that there was a design above it; an elegant looking heart with a scripted "2" inside of it. Two of Hearts.

Naminé took a deep breath. "Well, here goes," she mumbled, pulling the card out of her pocket and sticking it into the hole. She shielded her eyes from the blazing glare of light that suddenly appeared as the doors swung open.