Oops. I should have made Gil cry, I figured that'd be dorky but I didn't really think about it like that and it just seemed that he wouldn't actually cry if I was being honest. But cheese whiz. XD I have it all planned out…ish. Gil'll meet Cheshire. Oz'll meet the Caterpillar. Alice…uh…we'll see. They'll all meet the tea-party folk…and then I know Alice/the Queen. Everything else I'm sort of piecing together as I go XD Whee And by the by, this is semi a cross between versions of AIW, and my own interpretation/ideas. I don't want to write a copy of all the others or anything, but I still want to hold onto the original genius. There'll be original-story charries, and a few charries of my own devising XD ~
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It was a garden, but like none they had ever seen.
For starters, it quite dwarfed them. Spirals of vines clung to the walls behind them and large bushes of exotic plants surrounded them, towering trees and huge hanging flowers.
"Ahh, it's so pretty…" Oz seemed enchanted, Alice fascinated, and Gilbert just looked wary. Oz seemed to notice Gilbert's displeasure and he poked his servant in the side. "What's wrong, Gil? You like gardens." he pointed out with a faint pout. He had a pretty good idea that it had to do with the whole 'falling down the rabbit hole' thing, but he was concerned that Gilbert might still be upset and furthermore…Oz still felt rather upset himself, not that he would show it or admit it…
Oz didn't expect Gilbert to care for him as much as he cared for Gilbert, but…he thought he meant more to the other than as a mere master. Surely Gilbert's unwavering devotion, the ten years he'd spent trying to rescue Oz, surely that proved that there was more to it…Oz didn't want to be liked by Gilbert just for being there, he wanted to mean something to the other as well…
"Well, yeah…but we have no idea where we are, and this is…a strange garden.." Gilbert said with a frown.
"Well I like it!" Alice announced as she grabbed Oz's wrist. "C'mon! I wanna explore it!"
"A-Alice," Oz was surprised but he allowed himself to be dragged off by the other, and he shot Gilbert a grin when his servant looked annoyed but followed anyway.
"We should be trying to find a way out of here, stupid rabbit, not going further in." Gilbert grumbled as he kept close to Oz's side.
"Tch. That's what we're doing too, isn't it? We can't go back the way we came, and I don't want to get squished again just because you ate something stupid." Alice said haughtily and Gilbert flushed.
"Don't be mean, Alice, Gil only did it to keep me from eating it. Right, Gil?" Oz flashed him a bright smile.
Gilbert's flush darkened. "You don't have to sound so happy about it, you could try to be more careful…" he mumbled. Isn't that what Oz had said that he would do, and yet, there he was…perfectly ready to have drunk something possibly poisonous.
"Gil's no fun." Oz drawled and Alice scoffed.
"I coulda told you that, Oz. Hey, look." she drew up short and released Oz's wrist to point. "There's someone there."
By now, they'd reached a clearing of large flowers and amongst them with a watering can was a man with a bright orange braid that trailed down his back, and curious, bright green clothes. "Maybe this garden is his…? Hey, there!" Oz called and the man didn't look up. "Huh…hey! Are you-"
"Shh!" the man suddenly whirled around to shush them. In a few quick strides he stood before them and though he hadn't seemed it at first, he was a fair bit taller than they were, even Gilbert by at least a foot.
"These flowers are napping." he snapped. "How very rude, to come at such a time. And for young ladies no less to be trampling about…"
"Young ladies?" Alice and Oz repeated in unison.
The man huffed. "Well the pair of you, obviously. As for you," he turned a glare onto Gilbert. "Shouldn't you be taking better care of your charges? How incompetent. You're a failure as a caretaker. Oh yes, quite utterly."
Alice, Oz, and Gilbert all stared at the man. But what Oz came back to was-
"I am not a lady!"
"Well obviously not, a lady wouldn't be so crass." the man sniffed indignantly.
"No, I mean that I'm a boy!" Oz protested.
The man suddenly seemed inclined to pity. "Come now." he patted Oz's head. "You're crass, but you needn't insult yourself so, you're a lovely young lady and pink is such a marvelous color on you, you simply need to learn manners is all. Give it time." he said sagely and Oz looked aghast. "Yes, you're really a lily, aren't you? Shy and lovely, but full of life underneath. Give it time, my dear, and you will bloom quite nicely." the man nodded.
Oz just stared at the man in silent horror. "But…I'm not a girl! Gil, Alice, say something!"
Alice stared before she snorted in laughter, and Gilbert wore a similar look crossed between sympathy and reluctant amusement. "It's cause you're wearing a dress, Oz." she snickered.
"It's a ceremonial robe." Oz muttered with a pout.
"Looks like a dress to me." Alice said as she eyed Oz, who only seemed further embarrassed.
"Be quiet, stupid rabbit. It's not Oz's fault that he has to wear a dr-ceremonial robe." Gilbert corrected sheepishly as Oz shot him a glare.
"Yes, well, either way, gender-issues aside…it is nap-time, so if you would kindly leave…"
"Oh! That's what we wanted to ask, you see, we fell down a rabbit hole and ended up here-"
"A rabbit hole?" the man eyed Oz then and his eyes widened. "You must be Alice! The same blonde hair, after all, and such a curious dress…Alice has returned to Wonderland!""Alice…Wonderland?"
"My name is Alice!" Alice protested. "That's Oz! He's not a girl, stupid."
"And a girl pretending to be Oz, and Alice pretending to be a boy, and you, are you supposed to be Alice's lover, hmm?"
Gilbert flushed several shades of red. "E-Excuse me? That's not…Oz and I…Oz is my young master!"
"I am not a girl!"
The man didn't seem to notice their protests. "Oh, this is grave news, grave news indeed…I simply must warn her majesty, oh good Heavens, it'll be my head for sure if I don't…Oh dear…" he turned to eye them. "This won't do. Oh, not at all. You must leave at once, you must leave…what to do? Ohh, I know." he picked up his watering can as he faced them all. "I'll just wash you away."
He lifted his can and splashed them all, but rather than sprinkles, a torrent of water came rushing down on them.
"O-Oz!" Gilbert spluttered.
"Gil! Alice!" Oz reached his hand for Gilbert's.
"Oz!" Alice made to grab for him.
All three were pulled under the rushing waters and when it finally stopped, each rose to regard their surroundings.
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"Oz! Seaweed head!" Alice looked around in confusion. Rather than the garden, she was before an oddly rounded house, and surrounded by rather normal-sized surroundings.
"Mary Ann! Mary Ann, hurry up, you slow girl!" a white rabbit in a waist coat raced by. "I'll be late for sure! Hurry now!"
"You!" That had to be the white rabbit that Oz mentioned. "Hey, you! Come back here!" she shouted as she raced after him.
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"Ugh…" Gilbert shook his head out to clear it of the water in his ears. He was surrounded by dense forest and strangely colored trees with the oddest birds he'd ever seen. They were exotic colors and had abnormally round eyes.
"Admiring the birds?" there was a chuckle and Gilbert whirled around but saw no one. The voice seemed to come from all around him and echo faintly.
"Who are you?" Gilbert had already pulled out his gun and he held it at the ready.
"Mmm. I am an admirer of birds myself…eating them that is. You look especially tasty, little raven. But don't worry, I won't bite you." the voice chuckled and Gilbert watched in stunned horror as before him appeared a…cat.
"C-C-Cat.." Gilbert stammered.
"Very good!" the cat spun from it's place in midair to 'clap' it's paws. "What a smart little raven I've caught in my claws~" the cat chimed happily.
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Oz coughed and spluttered as he expelled all the water he'd swallowed from his system and lifted his gaze upwards to look around. "Gil…? Alice…?" He appeared to be alone in a field of giant mushrooms…what was going on?
"You look rather lost…" a voice drawled from behind him and Oz whirled around to see a giant caterpillar atop one of the aforementioned mushrooms, he had a large hookah pipe and blew a ring of purple smoke. "Well, boy, can't you speak?"
"You know that I'm a boy!"
The caterpillar gave him a dry look. "That was not an answer to my question. But yes, it's perfectly obvious to me that you are a boy-despite your odd habit of dressing. What isn't obvious, however, is who you are."
"Who I am?"
A ring of green smoke flew towards him. "Yes. Who are you?"
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And now we're set for go! XD I tried not to make the intro too dorky. Caterpillar and Cheshire will be smart enough to realize Oz's gender but expect the running gag to ensure that no one else does. Maybe. Probably. We'll see. XD ~