(I don't own ANYTHING!)

(by the way, it would be nice to get some reviews  as u can see I'm really short on reviews for this story and yeah TT)

Chapter 2: Wonderland

Rikku stood there at the foot of a huge white castle that looked a little tilted and crooked at some parts. She saw that the huge gates were open and started to walk in to explore the area but a huge card with a head, arms and legs (that happened to be a four of diamonds) stopped her.

"Stop right there, trespasser, or I'll have to report you to the king!" The silly-looking card-man spoke harshly, stopping her with its big red spear.

Rikku stood there, speechless and dumbfounded. 'Did that card really just talk…?'

"Hey! Did you hear me!? I'll report you to the king, and he'll have you beheaded if you don't leave immediately!" The card yelled at Rikku, snapping her out of her daze.

"I, uh . . . the king?" Rikku was then distracted by a noise that couldn't have been coming from far away. She had heard laughing from that little boy from before. She turned around quickly just in time to see him run into a forest filled with monstrously huge trees that never seemed to end, every possible shade of green mixed in among the enormous leaves. Without really thinking, Rikku ran off in the direction of the child who had landed her in this mess.

When she got into the forest, the boy was nowhere to be found. Rikku looked around and saw herself surrounded by trees, endless numbers of evergreens, pines, oaks, maples, and any other tree one can try to name. She heard the little boy laugh yet again, but as she searched wildly, there were no children to be found. The petite Al Bhed girl went running in the direction she thought she heard the laugh come from, but when she stopped to catch her breath, the laughing was coming from a completely different direction. This cat-and-mouse game went on until Rikku was truly exhausted, and stood with her hands on her knees, gasping for breath.

Rikku looked straight ahead and saw a huge mushroom with an odd creature lying lazily on the plant with smoke coming out of its mouth. The blonde girl cautiously approached, until she could easily see what kind of thing it was. She almost fell over when she realized that it was a caterpillar smoking something disgustingly scented. The oversized insect glanced at the flabbergasted teenager and frowned.

"Who are you?" It blew the letters r and u right in her face, a skill of a creature that smoked so much.

The Al Bhed girl coughed some and waved her hand around in front of her face, trying to get the smoke away from her. She looked up at the huge caterpillar in astonishment.

"I… I…. Err, my name is Rikku."

'Is that caterpillar smoking . . . a hookah?' Rikku looked up at the oddly colored caterpillar, observing every little detail of it.

"R-I-K-K-U." The insect blew out the letters as it said her name. "What an odd name for a creature," It said rudely as it looked her up and down, taking another drag out of its hookah.

"Hey! I'm not a creature! I'm a girl!" The Al Bhed stomped her foot childishly and crossed her arms. "And Rikku happens to be a great name! What's yours, huh?" She glowered at the now extremely tall caterpillar.

"That, my dear, is none of your business." It replied in a calm manner.

(Editor's Note: I'm naming the caterpillar Wubba.)

"Well . . . fine then! I'm out of here!" Rikku stormed off through the forest, attempting to return to where she'd come from, although she went completely the wrong way.

Half an hour later, the blonde girl found herself hopelessly lost. She looked around, hoping to see something that would help her. All she ended up gazing at were the same types of trees, bushes, and rocks scattered around.

While Rikku was looking around, she failed to notice a huge grin appear hovering over a tree's branch and then a purple cat with light stripes show up around the smile. It looked at her intently and then finally spoke. "Lost?"

Rikku whirled around to see where the voice came from, but found no one.

"W-who's there?"

"Up here." The cat looked down at her with it's abnormally huge grin, it's eyes dancing.

The Al Bhed looked up to see that creepy smile on the cat's face. "Y-you? But you're a cat! How can you…?" Rikku started to pose a question, but stopped herself and sighed, defeated. "Ah, nothing really surprises me anymore in whatever this place is. Anyways, can you tell me which way to go to get out of this Yevon-forsaken forest?" She looked up at the cat with her swirly green eyes.

"Hmm, depends on where you want to go. If you go that way—" The cat pointed in a direction. "You'll end up at a very odd tea party. If you go that way—" He pointed in another direction with his other hand "you'll run into two very annoying people indeed."

"More annoying then you?" Rikku crossed her arms, smirking.

"Very funny, I'll pretend that you didn't say that. Now if you go that way---" Another cat arm appeared on the cat's body pointing in another direction "-you'll arrive at a big castle where you're sure to be beheaded and if you got that way—" The cat started talking so fast that the poor girl couldn't keep up. So many arms were appearing on his body as he kept talking and talking.

"So it all depends on where you want to go," The cat finished, looking at Rikku who looked back dumbfounded.

"Well, you were no help at all!" Rikku stomped her foot, stuck out her tongue, and marched off, leaving the cat there to slowly disappear the same way appeared, until only its eyes were left, shining and watching her walk away until she was out of sight, and the cat's eyes disappeared as well.

As Rikku kept walking, she was unaware of another pair of eyes watching and following her every move.

"Stupid good for nothing caterpillars and cats," Rikku mumbled to herself as she kicked a rock, not really paying attention to where she was going.

"Stop." An arm suddenly reached out in front of Rikku, holding her back, therefore stopping her from moving. Rikku looked to the side to see who this arm belonged to and found a girl with dirty blonde hair, with cat ears the same color as her hair and a tail to match.

"Look down," The girl said calmly.

Rikku looked down to see one of her feet hanging over the side of a cliff. Her eyes widened as she looked down at the seemingly endless fall she could have taken if this girl hadn't stopped her. The blonde girl quickly jumped back and looked out at the horizon. She temporarily forgot about her near death experience as she looked around at the waterfalls and the vibrant colors coming off in every direction. It looked kind of like paradise.

"What is this place?" Rikku asked, looking around in awe. The grass was never this green in Spira, not even in the Calm Lands, and the water was never that clear, not even in Kilika or Bevelle.

The girl to the right of Rikku laughed a little and looked out at the view as well. "This is Wonderland."

Rikku snapped out of her daze as she looked at the girl to the right of her. "I forgot to thank you for saving me, so… thank you. What's your name?" Rikku smiled at her new friend.

"Sara. What's yours?" One of Sara's ears twitched as she looked at the blonde girl in front of her.

"I'm Rikku!" She smiled and put her thumb to her chest. She put her hand down as she leaned forward and started observing Sara's ears.

"You can touch them if you'd like." Sara laughed, clearly amused. She suddenly heard a sharp whistle and she pulled away before Rikku got the chance to touch her soft looking feline ears.

"I-I'm sorry, I… I must go! Run Rikku and get to somewhere safe. Hide there until the darkness passes. It's unsafe to be out when it is dark. We will meet again, Rikku." And with that, Sara jumped into a tree and was gone before Rikku could say anything more to the cat-girl.

Rikku looked back out at the view and the sky started getting dark, the sun setting much faster than it ever did in Spira. She looked at the once-clear waterfalls and saw that they were now pouring what looked more like blood than water.

Her swirly green eyes widened as she looked around and red vines started to appear from the ground and creep towards the trees. The vines seemed to wrap themselves around the trees and grow even more. It became dark and all Rikku could see were the faint outline of the trees. That's when she started running.