Chapter 8: Riku in Wonderland

Riku stepped out into a very green world. The grass was green, as were the hedges that surrounded him. On the other side of one hedge wall, it seemed as if there was some type of trial taking place.

"Looking for someone?" someone asked. Riku turned, shocked, ready to pull out his blade. But he stopped. It was just a cat. It was a very odd pink and purple striped (not to mention talking) cat that juggled its head around and balanced on its tail. But it was a cat nevertheless.

"How did you know that?" Riku asked.

"Know what?" the cat asked. Riku stared at it.

"That I was looking for someone," Riku clarified.

"Oh, you are!" the cat seemed positively excited. Riku continued to stare. "Who are you looking for?" the cat asked. Apparently he didn't answer quick enough, for the cat started talking again. "Perhaps, who you're looking for is right over there." The cat flicked its tail in the direction of the trial. Riku looked in that particular direction and noticed a girl with blonde hair. But, it was not who he was looking for.

"No, that's not her," Riku said, turning back to the cat. But the cat was gone. He took a second to wonder where the cat had gone, only to decide it didn't matter. The cat was NOT who he was looking for. And neither was the girl on trial.

Very quietly, Riku tiptoed around the edge of the trial, managing to go unnoticed. Most of the people there seemed to be playing cards, and weren't very bright. Everyone else was too occupied.

"Oh dear!" someone cried, grabbing his attention. He froze, hoping he hadn't been spotted. That didn't seem to be the problem though.

"Where's Alice!"

It seemed the girl on trial had simply disappeared.

"FIND HER!" a booming voice shouted. All the cards snapped to attention and chimed in chorus:

"YES YOUR MAGESTY!"

And then everyone started scrambling about.

Riku quickly edged his way to an opening in the hedge wall and ducked through it, glad to get away from the chaos.

He stepped into a forest, which actually seemed to be nothing more than an oversized garden. Not really to his surprise, the cat appeared over on a nearby rock.

"So Alice was NOT who you were looking for?" the cat asked.

"No," Riku replied tersely.

The cat laughed. "Hmm, well then who are you looking for?"

"My friends."

"What about them?"

Riku grunted. "I'm looking for my friends," he said slowly.

"Oh really?" the cat asked. "Well why didn't you say so?"

Riku scowled at the cat. "Do you know where they are?" he asked politely, but didn't stop glaring.

"Where who are?"

Riku bit his tongue to keep himself from shouting. "Do you know where my friends are?"

The cat scratched his head (which, at the moment, was by his feet). "You know, I'm not quite certain. But you might want to check over thataway." The cat flicked his tail over in one direction.

"I have half a mind not to believe you…" Riku muttered.

"Oh, half a mind indeed!" the cat laughed. "Can you stand on your head?" he asked, while proceeding to do so, literally.

"What?" Riku asked at the pure absurdity. "Wait. No. I'm leaving."

"So soon?"

"Yes!" Riku snapped, storming off.

xxx

"Over thataway" turned out to be through a good portion of the forest. But, Riku did eventually arrive at what he assumed the cat had told him to go. It seemed to be some sort of tea party. Well, it was a tea party, but it seemed quite hectic. Quite sure he would not be able to handle any more madness, he almost moved on.

"Riku!"

He looked, wondering who would call his name. That he knew of, no one here even knew it. But sitting at the table, smiling at him, was Namine.

He broke out into a grin. "Namine!" he called. He headed over to her. "You're okay!"

She nodded.

Riku sighed. "That's a relief. I was worried."

"Why don't you sit down?" Namine said. Riku shrugged and pulled up a chair.

The other two people at this tea party, a man with a large hat and a hare, rushed over, shouting: "No room! No room!"

"But-" Riku began.

"It's very rude to sit down without being invited!" the Hare said.

"I'll say it's rude," the Mad Hatter echoed. "Very rude indeed."

"It's alright," Namine said quickly. "I invited him."

"Oh really!" the Mad Hatter asked, sounding quite excited.

"Well in that case," the Hare said, and the two burst into song.

"Who are these guys?" Riku asked Namine quietly. She shrugged.

"I'm not quite sure," she replied. "But they do seem to be the nicest people around here… A bit mad, perhaps," She added slowly. "I think they're alright though."

Riku didn't say anything for a moment. Then he asked: "So you've been here he whole time?"

"Yeah," Namine said. "What about you? Where'd you end up?"

"Some place called Traverse Town" Riku replied.

"Was anyone else there?"

Riku shook his head sadly. "I have no idea where Sora and Kairi are."

"Oh," Namine muttered. "I'm worried about them…"

"We'll find them soon," Riku assured her. "It didn't take me long to find you."

Namine giggled. "That's true."

Riku smiled softly to himself. "We can leave now if you want, we'll find them sooner that way."

"Leave!" the Mad Hatter gasped, deciding it would be a good time to take notice of Riku. "But you haven't had any tea!"

Riku rubbed his head. The insanity of this world made his head hurt. Nevertheless, he took the cup of tea he was passed. A couple of shouts made him look up, and to his disdain a bunch of Card Soldiers had shown up in search of Alice. He stared at them for a second before slowly reaching behind him and opening up a portal.

"We're leaving" he told Namine.

"Good idea" she replied.

Quickly, and unnoticed, the two of them left the scene.

xxx

Sora sat quietly, running his hands over his Keyblade. Ever since leaving Destiny Islands and ending up in Hollow Bastion (which was the name of the world) he had been able to summon it at will. Maleficent, who was the owner of the castle and had offered him a place to stay, said that there were plenty of Heartless around, and that he was free to practice fighting them whenever he felt like it.

His thoughts were interrupted, when someone suddenly appeared in front of him. Though he didn't know it, this someone was the Alice that had mysteriously disappeared from Wonderland not long ago.

"What-" Sora gasped, letting go of his Keyblade, which disappeared instantly.

He was even more surprised when a bunch of Heartless jumped out and attacked the girl.

"What the!" he shouted, quite confused.

"Ignore her."

Sora looked up, finding Maleficent standing next to him. "B-but-" he stuttered.

Maleficent ignored his outburst. "Come," she said, "I have something to show you."

"Okay…" Sora said skeptically, getting to his feet.