Sorry everyone! *bow bow* It was the mix of laziness, writer's block, and a bunch of family things that delayed this chapter. But i digress...Merry Christmas! Hope you like this chapter! I don't own anything except the girls.
Chapter 10 Alice Found the Girls! But What Else did she Find?
The two dashed all around the pink forest, their eyes peering in every direction for the missing girls.
Natsuki spread some green branches to look inside them, when she let the shrub go back to original position, she turned her head and asked "Onee-chan, where did everybody go?"
The maiden started, her eyes staring at the ground at a sideways glance, "Well…"
Alice glanced around the entrance of the rose hedges, she let out a sigh of dismay, "Where is Natsuki? I told her that we would be leaving after breakfast."
Yumeko piped, "She said something about seeing Peter-nii-san. She promised to meet us here."
"Well, let's hope she comes soon," the maiden gyrated, hoping to catch too find a pair of white ears and ruby eyes beneath them, but instead tap on her shoulder, cause the maiden to jump and find two rose red eyes but they were under a mop of fawn brown.
"Hey there! What are you guys doing?" The youth asked.
"We are waiting on Suki-chan to come back from talking with Peter-ani," Mamoru explained.
"Is that so? You know what; I bet you kids haven't been to the Amusement Park! How 'bout we go see it?" Ace suggested, and all the children's eyes seemed to double in size.
"Really? Can we go, Ane?" pleaded Mamoru.
"Please, please, please?" Yumeko and Tama asked, pulling at Alice's skirt.
"Can we?" the last one spoke softly, her voice full of anticipation and hope.
"Not with Ace, we are not! Knowing we'll end up lost, in a whole different territory or even find ourselves falling off a cliff!" the maiden screamed, then shuddered at the memories of when she was foolish enough to let herself get lost with the knight.
"That hurts Alice! Stab me through the heart, it would sting less!" Ace mocked gasped and clutched his chest for effect.
"The truth hurts, doesn't it?" Alice said smugly, her arms across her chest.
"Aw come on, Ane? Can we please go?" pleaded Mamoru.
"Not without me, you guys won't!" Alice scolded, "If you guys leave without me, timeouts for all of you!"
"Even me?" Ace asked.
"You act like a child so you should get some kind of punishment!" Alice fussed.
Ace lowered his lips towards her ear, "I really hope you give it to me…"
*SMACK*
The red handprint stung both his face and Alice's hand.
"Never say anything like that again to me, especially in front of the kids!" Alice's finger pointed at the three children, each of them looking up in confusion at the older couple.
"How about we just play hide-and-seek? Would that be okay Alice?"
"Can we please?"
"All right."
"Really?"
"Now you guys don't wonder of too far!"
"Okay see you! Bye!" The four girls called and
The three ran off with the knight as Alice began to converse with the rabbits she had spotted, a devious smile formed on Ace's face. As the kids' hands changed from fist to be laying flat to having only two fingers out, he patted Mamoru's shoulder and pulled her over to his side. The knight whispered in her ear and an identical smile beamed on the brunette girls face.
"Okay who wants to go to the Amusement Park?" The man asked, rubbing his hands together.
"Me!" Mamoru hand shot up in the air.
"Huh?" The three other girls turned themselves from their game.
"I thought Nee-san told us not to go anywhere without her."
"Don't worry; the Amusement Park is only a hop skip and a jump from here. What could possibly happen?"
"Besides Ace-ani is a knight, if anything happens to us, he can protect us!" the brunette used her hand, pointing it at the youth to draw attention to him.
He took a few steps, and knelt before Yumeko and he took a few delicate fingers, letting them laying them against his ash-grey gloves "Allow me to escort you, Ojou-sama*" and he gently lifted her hand to his lips. A rose red flush bloomed on the small girl's face.
"Well…I guess it would be okay…" the grey haired girl stuttered.
"It doesn't sound too bad…"pondered the ravenette.
The third one said nothing only turned her head, her azure eyes stared at the castle.
"So come on let's go!" Ace cheered and dashed off. Mamoru followed pursuit.
"Hey you guys wait up!" Tama cried out and soon she and Yumeko chased after them.
Meanwhile, Aoi was as still as a statue, her fist close to lips, her thoughts debating the dilemma. As she turned her head, she spoke, "Um…You guys? I don't Onee-chama will be happy if she finds us gone..." she stopped when she noticed the lack of audience and spotted them, specs to her eyes.
"Hey! Wait up!" she hollered and ran after them, leaving Alice alone with the rabbits.
"I should've never listened to him!" Alice roared, as she thrashed a bush harder than she needed. She scanned the area. The missing group could not be found in pink forest around the castle, so they had moved on to the closest territory. The amber and golden leaves and lower temperature told them where they were, and who to probably to expect to meet.
"OH GOD! I am never ever turning my back on Ace ever again!"
"That what Dad says all the time about my siblings and me, Mom just it would be easier to glue our feet to the floor."
Both the girls squeaked at the new voice that joined them. The rabbit jumped into the maiden's arms, in turn, she held the child tightly. The bushes rustled and shook, the girls held onto each other tighter. As something popped put the two shrieked.
"EEEK!"
"You guys! Calm down! It's just me!"
The two shivered for a moment, but with curiosity eating at her, Alice peeked one eye opened to find…
"Mamoru! There you are!"
Indeed the small brunette was smiling happily at them, as if nothing was wrong, although a few leaves had found themselves caught in her chestnut locks.
"Where have you been, I was worried about you!" exasperated the foreigner.
"Now you sound like my mom," commented Mamoru, shaking a few bits of foliage from her curls.
"Seriously, where have you been? Where is everyone else, for that matter!"
"Yeah, we were worried, Onee-chan and I! How can you leave without saying goodbye?" implored the small rabbit.
"Well…you see… we started to go to the Amusement Park but Ace-ani kind of got distracted…" the child started when a sudden noise broke her off.
*BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!*
On instinct, the girls ducked below the shrubs, Alice opened an eye, "I think I know what he is dealing with."
"Damn it! Can't you follow a straight path, you stupid knight?" Cursed a man, with bright orange hair and two long ears on top of his head.
"Well, I was heading to the amusement Park, but one of my friends as seem to have runoff," Ace beamed at the carrot topped man but that's only fueled the hare's rage even more.
"Enough your crap, just hold still so I can shoot you!" The brown-eared man exclaimed.
As the sound of shots blasted through the autumn woods, the Knight dodged them easily as if playing a game.
"That's it! I can't take this anymore! Just drop dead!" The man screamed.
"That's it! Elliot! Ace! Stop it the both of you!" Hollered the maiden.
Both men turned their heads look at the source of the scream, spotting the foreigner standing in the bushes, along with the two other girls she was with. Across the path, three more heads popped out.
"There you guys are! I was so worried!" she dashed towards the children and the kids ran to Alice, who squeezed when they met in the path.
"We're sorry, Onee-sama! We were just going to play, but Ace-onii-sama got lost, then Elliot-onii-sama found him and got mad and…."
"I can guess the rest, not worry I'm not I'm not mad at you," soothed Alice she turned her head her eyes glaring at Elliott, "I'm mad at you!"
"Well... I... you see... I'm sorry..." the man uttered his ears pressed against his head, a look of shame on his face.
"Ha-Ha! Elliot got scolded!" Ace sang in a singsong voice.
"Shut up!" the hare's face turned beet red, when a look of realization hit him.
"Hey Alice, why don't you bring those kids over for a tea party! As an apology?" Elliot asked with a hopeful voice.
"Really? Please can we go Onee-chan?" pleaded the rabbit, and soon enough Alice was swarming in a sea of "Pleases" and "Can wes" and several little hands tugging at her sky blue skirt.
"Alright, Alright! We'll go to the party, okay?" Alice grinned.
"Yahoo! Yeah!" The girls cheered and practically started pulling her in the direction of the mansion.
"Hey, can I come too?" the knight asked, a finger pointing to childish, innocent look on his face.
"Hey! I invited Alice and her friends, not you stupid knight!" Elliot growled.
"Hey come on!" Ace whined jokingly.
As the argument continued, Alice turned to Mamoru and asked, "Even in your times, do they act like this?"
She responded, "No, sometimes they fight."
*RUSTLE RUSTLE*
The sound caused Alice to turn her head, and spot something that caused her marine orbs to widen.
"Hey, Natsuki can you watch the kids?" She requested and the rabbit child and the small girl looked up.
"Okay, but what about them?" Natsuki pointed to the two men still quarrelling.
"That's what I said, watch the kids," she said flatly. Both the men turned their heads.
"Alice!" the both moaned, one full of humor the other full of shock.
"If you act like children, then you are children, "Alice retorted and she strolls away, in hopes of finding the peculiar object again.
"Where is she going?" the hare thought aloud.
"Hey, Elliot-onii-chan can we please go get some tea? You don't know how happy we will be," Natsuki asked.
"Alright, let's get going," he gasped and started to walk away to his home.
"Can I come too?" Ace asked one more.
"NO WAY!"
Alice wandered through the leaves of flame and gold, her irises scanning the woods for the object, although what the object was remained a mystery.
"If the way things have been going on, I think that maybe…"
*TWANG TWANG*
"OW! YOU LITTLE BRATS!" an angry child's voice bellowed.
"We're sowry…" two small voices simultaneously stated.
Alice turned her head to the voices, and found them behind a bushel of leaves. She shifted through the foliage, and what she say made her eyes grow twice in size and her throat without a voice.
How did you like that? It's just a filler chapter i know but at least its something. I promise i will give a way better chapter next time!
*Ojou-sama means my lady
See y'all later!