Goodnight, Travel Well.

Sterling rolled his eyes at her, then hesitantly knocked on the door. There was no response, which ultimately didn't worry him at first. Charlie was, after all, getting on his age, and didn't have the quickest reactions in the world. But quiet fear started in on him when he couldn't hear Charlie's "Hey, nonni nonni's" from within. He put his arm out behind him to protect Karma (he needed her, after all), his cane materializing in his hand again. Raising it, he was about to kick the door in, when someone else was behind him.

"Fitten's ghost, boy!" Came the old man's voice, from behind them. "Put that thing away."

The two of them turned, and Sterling breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of the White Knight. His cane disappeared again, and his grin returned to his face. "Terribly sorry, Charlie," he chuckled a bit. "Thought you were in your room, so you gave me a bit of a fright."

Charlie laughed and pulled him into a bear hug, seemingly ignoring (or not hearing) the younger man's cries of protest. It wasn't until Karma started laughing at the two that he released Sterling from his unassuming grasp. "Ahh, you're the young girl I came across yesterday!" He moved towards her, and she held her hands up in front of her.

"Sorry, Granddad. I typically don't hug people who shove sharp objects at me."

He looked genuinely hurt by that, "I'll have you know, missy, that I do not go shoving sharp objects at people just on a whim. I have my orders, and I follow my orders." He crossed his arms over his shiney armor, nodding once. She almost giggled again when his beard bounced, but kept her face straight.

"Speaking of that, where exactly did you find her?" Sterling gently took the old man by the arm and moved him into his room, Karma following behind. There was a large map painted onto one of the stone walls, along with a mural that took up the other three walls. While Charlie tried to pinpoint Karma's previous location, the Cheshire leaned close to her ear. "The hero of Wonderland.," he explained, chuckling when she jumped. "Rather, de heroes."

"Who?" She looked from him to the mural.

"That's Alice of legend, the blonde one there," he pointed to a little girl, she couldn't have been more than twelve. "I'm sure you know her story."

Karma shrugged, "More or less." She looked back at the mural, squinting slightly at it. She looked slightly perplexed by the rest of the people depicted.

"Then there's Alice, the Champion of Wonderland and her companion, Hatter." He gestured to two more figures further down the wall; a brunette in a blue dress and a man in a porkpie hat. "An Oyster, like yourself, who brought down the Queen of Hearts, for good. It's been about 50 years since then, so we're all fairly certain she's not coming back."

Looking down at her, she seemed about to say something, but Charlie suddenly yelped. "Here! She was about 20 miles from the entrance to the Kingdom of the Knights when I found her."

Sterling shook himself, and nodded. "So Jackie boy was right; the Tulgey Wood." Sighing, he cracked his knuckles and looked at Charlie. "We're gonna need to borrow Gwen and Blanche."

"You're joking!" The Knight exclaimed, his eyes going wide, "You're not considering taking this young girl through that dreadful forest! Not in the state it's in now!"

"What choice do I have?" Sterling snapped. "I've gotta get her out there so we can find that bleedin' Hole, and get some idea of why she's here."

"She fell through a Rabbit Hole?"

With an exasperated groan, Karma went and sat on the edge of Charlie's bed. "Is it just a thing around here? To talk about someone like they aren't in the fuckin' room?" Both men turned to her, Charlie with a look of horror on his face (undoubtedly due to her language).

Despite this, Charlie apologized quickly for the both of them. "Forgive me, Lady...?"

"Karma," she and Sterling answered at once, and she glared at him a bit before laying back on the bed.

"Lady Karma," he smiled, "I apologize for excluding you from a conversation that more or less decides your fate. However," he turned to Sterling again, "you're not taking her out there. It's far too dangerous for a girl!"

"Trust me on this one, Charlie, she isn't your typical Damsel in Distress." Sterling smirked a bit, "To be frank, she's more like a man."

"I go from being a weak little bitch that apparently can't take care of herself to a manly chick. Wonderful. Not sure which is more insulting," Karma snorted, crossing her arms and staring at the ceiling.

Sterling sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose while Charlie collected himself. "I say, she has quite a mouth, doesn't she?" He managed out finally, while Sterling merely nodded.

She covered her face with her hands and groaned while the two of them bickered for a few more minutes. "Look," she said, growing tired of listening to their back and forth, "I just want to figure out why the hell I'm here and get the fuck out. So, if that means going to that forest or whatever, I'm doing it, with or without you guys." Before either man could react she was on her feet and walking out of the room. Sterling turned and looked at Charlie.

"We'll need the horses, Charlie," his voice had taken an anxious turn, and the old man finally relented.

"They're in the stable." Sterling turned quickly and was nearly out the door when he felt the Knight's hand on his shoulder. "Goodnight, travel well, and for Charles's sake, be careful boy."

He nodded once, his cane forming in his hand once more as he chased the headstrong Oyster down the hall. "Karma!"

She stopped, slowly turning around with a slight smirk on her face. "I figured that'd get one of you to move." She crossed her arms. "He's letting us have the horses, I take it?"

Sterling nodded, a bit shocked by the sudden change in her mood. "You've cheered up."

A shrug, "Well, I've never ridden a horse before, and I'm eager to add that to my list of things I've done." She turned around and started walking again, leaving a confused Cheshire in her wake. Bloody women.

She was already in the stable when he got there, being instructed on some of the basics of riding a horse by one of the stable Clubs. "Now, you must be careful, Miss Karma, and remember what I told you, because Blanche doesn't really like anyone but Sir Charles, and might try to throw you."

"Well, never know, ehh?" She flashed him a dazzling grin, and spurred the horse's sides. Sterling had to use his more feline reflexes to get out of the way in time, and he vaguely heard Karma scream in surprise as she passed. He ran into the stable and grabbed the boy.

"You let her have Blanche? You dolt!" He shook him, then released his grip to hop on the remaining horse, a chestnut mare named Guinevere. Of all the dumb mistakes the dopey Club could've made! Sterling shook his head and took off after her, praying that his horse could keep up to the wild white mare. The last thing he wanted was for her to find her way into the Tulgey Wood at night without him.

To his surprise, he found the Oyster and the horse on a small hill, Karma laughing freely and laying on her back while Blanche snacked on the grass. "That was such a rush!" She giggled when Sterling slid off his horse to help her up.

"You're alright?" He didn't believe she'd taken a ride like that and not come out injured somehow.

Karma nodded, that exhilarated grin still plastered on her face. "She never tried to throw me. We just ran."

She's mad. He nodded, still unsure of her mental stability (Must've hit her head somehow), "Right. Well, going into the Tulgey Wood at night isn't a good idea these days. I say we go back to the castle for the night, gather what supplies we'll need, and head out in the morning. That way you can get a bit more practice on Blanche. Just cause she didn't try to throw you this time doesn't mean she won't ever.

"You kidding?" She laughed, climbing back up on Blanche. "I know how to read a map; if we keep going all night, we'll reach the Tulgey Wood by dawn." And with that, she was off again, she and the horse a mere blur of white, black and pink.

"I need to ask Jack if all Oyster women're this stubborn," he mumbled as he clambered back onto Gwen and followed after her.