When one's wisdom teeth come in, does it hurt?
My mouuuuuuuuth. ;;
-Lovely Catastrophe
-
-
-
Chapter Six: The Caterpillar
.
.
.
"What a… peculiar place."
"Yes… I agree."
"Card people running about like idiots. With a Queen unfit for rule."
"Or, a Queen too fat to rule. Look at her… she's a whale. Ghastly…"
"Quiet. Helios has informed me that one of the Princesses dwells within this land. We must carry out our plans with caution."
"You're talking to that mutt again?"
"He makes for more pleasant conversation than YOU do, brother dear. Now let's go."
……………………
"Everything's plushy-squishy-feeling here. It's kinda creepy." Rikku stated as they reached the borders of Wonderland. Things here looked a bit off, and out of place. But Kairi figured they were probably meant to be that way… There was a forest in front of them, and above the treetops she could see a… castle made of cards? (eh… uhm… I don't remember much about Wonderland. Crap. I need to watch that oh-so-lovely movie again.)
They entered the forest, everyone gazing about at the gargantuan mushrooms and trees that surrounded them. Except for Auron, of course. Nothing really amazed him. Or maybe it did, he just didn't care.
The group pressed on, Paine having to stop every so often in order to pull Rikku off a mushroom (she wanted to bounce on them), and after a little while they began to hear a bit of enchanting music drifting their way.
Kairi paused, looking in the direction of the sound. The other females stopped as well, but Auron grunted, trying to get them to start moving again.
"Come on. We've no time to waste here."
Rikku blew a raspberry at him.
"Hush, you. You probably don't even know where you're going."
Auron looked as though he was about to say something mean, before Kairi interrupted the exchange of words with some of her own.
"Let's just check it out, Auron. Maybe it's the Imagi."
With that, the Princess followed the musical sounds, the rest of the group trailing behind her. The music was coming from a strange instrument being played by a caterpillar. An ENORMOUS caterpillar.
It's gotta be like… ten feet long… dang. Kairi mused to herself as she watched him play. And he kept on playing… and playing… Doesn't even realize we're here… She cleared her throat.
"Excuse me, sir?"
Pause… Music.
"Sir?"
Pause… Nothing. Music again.
"Sir!"
Pause.
"What is it, young miss? Are you lost?"
Finally.
"Well… sort of… You see-"
The caterpillar interrupted her. "What do you mean 'sort of'? Either you're lost or you aren't. There isn't an in-between. You can't be lost and found at the same time."
"Oh… you have a point."
"So which is it?"
"Um… I'm lost."
"Well… I can't help you."
"You mean, you don't know the way around?"
"Well that depends."
"Depends on what?"
"Depends on what you want to get around."
Kairi was beginning to get a bit frustrated here…
"Well… I can't rightly know that seeing as I'm lost and I don't know where I'm going, now can I?"
"No. I don't guess you can."
Okay… NOW I'm losing my patience…"So… then… Maybe you could tell me where the people of this land live?"
"In the castle, of course."
"Okay, so can you tell me how to get to the castle?"
"Of course."
"Good."
There was a pause, and then the caterpillar began to play his instrument again. What… the… crap?
"I thought you were going to tell me how to get to the castle!" Kairi exclaimed, a bit peeved that it had taken so long to get any ounce of information out of the creature.
"No… you asked me if I COULD tell you. And I CAN. But that doesn't mean I will."
"OH FORGET THIS!" Kairi threw up her hands, frustrated to no end. "I'm done talking to you, we'll find another way to the castle."
"You should try using the mushrooms."
"The mushrooms." She echoed, still annoyed. "And what good would they do me?"
"One side makes you smaller, and the other side makes you taller. Figure out which is which." And with that, he resumed his playing once again.
Kairi shook her head, turning to the others.
"I think he's most definitely smoking something."
Auron smirked. "Everyone in this place will seem that way. They're all perfectly intelligent; they just have a different way of displaying it. Read between the lines whenever you can, for there are usually hidden motives."
"What was he saying about mushrooms?" Yuna inquired, walking over to one of the enormous plants. She pulled off two large chunks of it, one from the topside of the mushroom, and the other from the underside. "Shall we give it a try?"
"They could be poisonous." Paine mused quietly. "But we're not going to get anywhere wandering through this forest… So who wants to eat a piece first?"
"I will." Auron replied. Of course, he was fully aware that the mushrooms were indeed NOT toxic. He also knew which side was which. Auron knew a lot of things. He had been in the Underworld a LONG time.
After he had downed a piece of the mushroom, the swordsman shot up in size, until the girls could only see his humongous boots.
"Well? Hurry up." His usually quiet voice boomed down at them.
The girls began to take pieces of the mushroom from Yuna's hand, and Kairi felt her fingers accidentally brush against the young Summoner's palm. A pink tinge laced her cheeks, and she could have sworn she saw the same thing happen to Yuna, but thankfully neither Rikku nor Paine noticed.
She stuffed the mushroom into her mouth, trying to shake off the embarrassment. Soon after, she felt her body pulse and throb, and she began to grow, and grow, and grow, until she too shot up through the forest as Auron had done, the other girls following suite.
Kairi looked around herself, blinking. The forest they had been in now looked like a little garden patch, and before them were rows of hedges lined up like a maze. But the forest had seemed so big before…
Before Auron even got the chance to tell them to keep moving, Kairi began to walk towards the maze, passing through the entrance when she got to it. But once they were inside, the path split in three directions…
"Which direction should we go in now, Princess?" The swordsman inquired, looking down at her.
"Well…"
……………………
Muah. cliffhanger.
I so could have continued it here.
I so could have.
But I decided not to.
Cuz the next chapter will probably be long.
Dunno if I feel like writing the next one tonight, tho.
Don't hear anyone whining at my butt to make me do so. :3 'Might just go off and write some random fluff instead.