The black nose of the dog poked its way through the crack, sniffing around and trying to get to the small girl.
"Back off, back off!" Luffy yelled. She grabbed a stick from the ground before swinging it at the dog's face. She went to sit at the far side of the vase. She found another stick, a bigger one. She grabbed it and ran out the vase, throwing it for the dog to follow, which it did. Luffy smiled and ran the other way, far away from that stupid dog.
Luffy ran until she came to a large garden, like one Nami wanted, only with flowers instead of tangerines. Luffy looked around at them. The flowers were all weirdly shaped and strangely colored.
"Hello there!" a high-pitched voice called. Luffy turned.
"Hello?" she said to the voice.
"Oh! I'm terribly sorry! Up, up! Look up, child!" the voice said. Luffy looked up and gasped at what she saw. A flower. It had a smiling face and was looking down at her with interest. She looked around; all the flowers had faces and they were staring at her cautiously.
"What kind of flower are you?" One flower leaned down to face Luffy.
"She has very strange petals. Maybe she's a wild flower!" Another flower used a leaf to lift her dress. Luffy turned.
"I'm not a flower," she said.
"Then what are you called?" Yet another flower joined the conversation.
"I'm Luffy!" Luffy called. A flower, not one of the ones previously, looked down in disgust.
"Who's ever heard of a Luffy," it muttered.
"Maybe she's a weed!" one flower yelled.
"A WEED!?" all the other flowers yelled.
"We don't want weeds here!" a group of flowers said at the same time.
Next thing Luffy knew, she was being pushed and jostled out the garden. Choruses of "get out!" and "ah! a weed!" flew past her ears as she tumbled out the garden. She scowled.
"If only I was bigger." She kicked at the ground, kicking up some dirt. Along with the dirt, a small seed came out. She picked it up. It was big for her hands so she had to hold it with two. She cracked it open to reveal the edible part inside. "Most things I eat make me smaller. Some things make me bigger. A seed grows, so maybe I'll grow." Luffy shrugged. Stranger things have happened. She bit into the seed and felt herself growing. The seed seemed to shrink in her hand as it fell to the ground.
Luffy looked around. She followed a path and looked up at the sign she came to. It didn't say much. Only "This way to the Hare's house" or "That way to the Mad Hatters place." "This way" and "that way?"
"Even Zoro couldn't follow these directions." Luffy sighed. They were so vague. She didn't know what to do. "I guess I'll go this way." She followed the sign to where the Hare was supposed to be. After a long walk down an annoyingly dark forest, Luffy came to a gate. A locked gate, to be specific. She pushed and pulled.
"Uh, hello? Can someone let me in?" She inquired, talking extremely loud. A small movement took place a little ways off before a man with brown rabbit ears and messy orange hair peeked out the bushes. His eyes went wide.
"A maiden at my gate? This is a very strange day indeed," he muttered, walking forward. Luffy tapped her foot.
"Can I come in?" she asked. The man shrugged.
"I would hope so. It'd be inconvenient if you couldn't enter places." He smirked.
"Can you open the door for me?"
"I can."
"Well?"
"Well what?"
"Open the gate!"
"Oh, I don't want to do that."
"But you just said -"
"I said I could open the door, not that I would."
She stared blankly for a moment. Luffy then angrily punched the door. Her hand hurt. It seemed like her power was drained. Is this how Nami felt? She cursed at her lack in strength and looked back at the rabbit man, who was watching her in amusement.
"That was quite a show. I guess I could open the door for you." The man pulled the gate open and motioned for Luffy to come inside.
The man, Luffy had learned, was named Hare. He led her to a large table inhabited by two other people, a man with an incredibly big top hat and a boy who was asleep on the table. Hare introduced Luffy to them.
"I have a maiden here who would like to join us!" he announced. Luffy shook her head and looked around for the way out.
"Actually, I -" she tried to say.
"There's no room, Hare!" the man with the large hat yelled.
"Honestly Hatter, why do you always -" Again, Hatter interrupted.
"Dormy! Wake up!" he yelled at the sleeping boy. The boy sputtered and grumbled before falling back asleep. Luffy was annoyed by now. She looked out at the large table with "no room" and saw an abundance of chairs and plates. And food. Luffy smiled.
"Wow! That all looks delicious!" Luffy sat down at the table and started helping herself. She was about to grab a drink when Hatter pulled the cup away. "That was rude," she said, grabbing at another cup.
"So was sitting down without asking," Hatter muttered, pouring himself a cup of tea. Luffy rolled her eyes.
Luffy bit into yet another piece of meat.
"This stuff is good! Not as good as Sanji's food, but still!" She smiled. Now the two men were intrigued.
"What on earth is a 'Sanji'?" Hare asked.
"Not a what, he's a who. Sanji's my chef!" She smiled.
"You must be pretty wealthy to have a chef," Hatter said.
"I'm not rich or anything. I'm a pirate captain! Sanji cooks food for me and my crew!" She smiled wider.
"Oh! A pirate? How incredibly interesting!" Hare clapped his hands together. The whole table's attention was on her.
"Tell us a story!" Hatter pushed.
"Well, there was that time we went to Sky Island!" Luffy smiled.
"An island in the sky?" Hare asked. Luffy nodded excitedly.
"I remember. Time has been there once. My dear, it seems you've had a great deal of adventures!" Hatter nodded.
"Oh, yes indeed! She should come to the big event later and share her stories with all of Wonderland!" Hare suggested.
"Would the Kings approve?" Hatter wondered aloud. "I mean, last time I tried to sing they nearly cut my head off!" He flailed his arms.
"Wow, that must have been-" Luffy tried, but Hatter changed the subject.
"Miss! You're a pirate?" Hatter asked.
"Yes," she answered.
"Have you been to amazing places? Have you met interesting people? How does a boat stay afloat?" He attacked her with questions.
"Yes. Yes. And I'm not sure." Luffy shrugged at the last question.
"You don't know?" Hare asked.
"Um, well, let me see... how does a boat stay above water..." Luffy pondered.
"We don't know! That's why we asked you!" Hatter crossed his arms.
"No, I wasn't asking you. I was just saying the question to myself," Luffy explained. Hare gave her a weird look.
"What a strange thing to do. Why repeat it if you already know the question?" Hare asked. Luffy shrugged.
Hatter looked at the time. He screamed as his watch spun out of control.
"Oh wow! Look at the time! It's the end of the party! I have to run! So much to do! I have to get ready for the big event!" Hatter exclaimed as he scurried down the path and out the gated property. Hare looked over at Luffy.
"Oh! Miss, you should be on your way as well! Don't want to be late!" He left her sitting at the table as he entered his own home. Luffy stood, glancing at the boy who was still asleep at the table.
"Uh, hey, kid. Don't you wanna get ready for the big-event-thing?" She poked his head. The boy shot up.
"The big event! I don't... don't wanna be..." He was asleep again. Luffy laughed and walked off in the opposite direction Hatter had ran. She hopped over the smaller gate and continued into the dark forest.
Zoro and Sanji
At the same time in a different place, Zoro and Sanji had ventured past the talking door and swam across the small ocean to a beach where they encountered two boys who looked very much alike.
"I'm Tweedle D.!" The first boy bowed.
"I'm Tweedle D. Dum!" The other bowed, too. Zoro and Sanji looked at each other before looking back at the boys.
"Have you seen a girl about -" Zoro was interrupted.
"Brown hair, brown eyes?" Tweedle D. said.
"About this tall?" Tweedle D. Dum asked, showing them Luffy's exact height.
"With a scar under her right eye?" Tweedle D. asked.
"That's her." Sanji smirked. The boys looked at each other, wrapping an arm around each other shoulders they held up their free arm in an unknowing manner and smiled.
"Haven't seen her!" they said in unison.
Zoro and Sanji tried to continue past the lying boys when they stopped them again. They each held up a sign that said stop. They were wearing police uniforms now.
"You shall not pass!" they yelled.
"Move it brats!" Sanji growled.
"You can't go past this point!" the boys yelled again.
"I'll slice you both to pieces!" Zoro glared.
"So says the Kings!" the boys said again before Sanji kicked them both on the head. The boys screamed and cried for a bit. "But I guess you can pass," they sniffled, letting Zoro and Sanji continue. Tweedle D. looked at his brother.
"Ryuu and Zyuu will have our heads for this!" he yelled.
"No kidding!" Tweedle D. Dum whined as they watched the chef and the swordsman continue on.
Meanwhile, Luffy was walking through the forest and was stopped by her old friend.
"Chess!" She smiled.
"Don't 'Chess' me! Where have you been?! Eat this and follow me!" Cheshire yelled as he shoved a piece of a cookie into Luffy's mouth. He ate his own and they shrunk. Cheshire grabbed Luffy's hand and led her to their original destination.