Cinnamon and Sugary

"I'm telling you Hunney, if you were eighteen for the rest of your life you'd be happy as a bug in a tissue box."

"Bugs are nice for sore noses."

The spectral cat floated on his back by the girl as she walked backwards, arms swinging easily by her sides. The two often strolled through the forest like this, and it was always the perfect chance for Cheshire to try and get the girl to accept his offer. No matter how he disliked Prima's interactions with this world, they seemed to make her as happy as he himself did. Just the thought of it made the Cat's fur start bristling. Idly he licked his tail back to its normal bushy self. Sometimes, just once in a very long while, it was inconvenient to have long fur, he thought. And still he could fell some resistance from his partner's mind. She wasn't ready to change just yet. She felt as though things were perfect the way they were.

And that's exactly what was going through Prima's mind. Things were perfect, even with Cheshire's near constant nagging. At the moment the world was bright golden and green and the faeries were flitting through the trees. They giggled as they left a trail of fairy dist in their wake, winking at each other and at the girl with the ghostly cat beside her. Prima giggled herself and rushed after them, trying to catch the little creatures, ignoring the fact that her arms weren't long enough. Cheshire raced after her, flying up into the branches of the trees where the faeries played, attempting to herd them toward his partner.

The trail widened into a clearing littered with the delicate purple flowers of a nearby tree. A mass of butterflies were startled from their resting places as the girl trampled many of their comrades, flitting upwards to join those that had created the illusion for the girl and the cat, causing them to give chase. Prima's hands clutched at the mass of moving, iridescent wings, knocking the delicate creatures to the ground and crushing many more beneath her feet. All throughout the carnage she giggled and laughed, seeing nothing but faeries at first before her and then disappeared, most probably teleported to their mushroom circle. As she fell to the ground, exhausted, her feline friend floated delicately to her side.

"Have fun hunting the faeries?" Cheshire asked, the limp body of a butterfly, one wing half torn off, delicate body crushed and oozing some type of fluid, hidden beneath the spectral image he took. No real body, not at the moment.

"Why yes, but they're..." Prima replied, stopping abruptly in the middle of her sentence. Cheshire knew that if he asked what the faeries were, he would only get a confused look. A sentence unfinished never was meant to be complete, after all. Instead he simply enjoyed the silence, curling up next to his panting friend. Only his swiveling ears showed that he was constantly alert, making sure no one tried a surprise attack them.

Cheshire's ghostly form jumped up onto his paws as the boy walked into the clearing and introduced himself. The name was of little interest to him, it was his character that the cat was worried about. To tell the truth, Urufu looked a hot mess. Bloody, hair full of bits of the forest, and he reeked of moose. Yet he seemed a little reluctant. That was good, but Cheshire didn't let it cloud his mind. He'd let Prima handle this situation, remaining in the shadows for backup in case she needed him.

The girl, on the other hand, was quite pleased to see someone. And what a curious person it was, too. In her overly bright world she could hardly see any potential danger. In fact, she thought she just might recognize the boy from somewhere. It was something about the clothes, or else the face. Maybe it was the hair? Well, never mind, if she knew him from somewhere he wouldn't mind her giving him a new title. Jackknifing up from her laying position she held out a hand, stepped one foot forward, and made an extravagant bow, hat falling off her head in the process. From the shadows came a giggle from Cheshire, who was nothing but a wide grin and a pair of blood red eyes in a branch.

"Good may to you Mister Redwood. Are you being purple fifty yesterday?"

The girl grabbed her hat as she straightened up and pulled it down sideways over her head again. The ears sewn onto it, instead of being above her own, were now over top of her forehead and the back of her noggin. Patting it down on top of her head, Prima felt a delicate material that was definitely not her hat, and plucked a butterfly wing off the top of her hat. She examined it, completely fascinated, seeming to forget about the blood-covered boy in front of her.

Cheshire's grin got a little less wide as the boy Urufu circled the his Prima in what seemed to him a rather threatening manner. Except the boy didn't pounce. He didn't respond, either. It was clear to the Cat what Prima had said. She may not have called him by the correct name, but Redwood was fitting in their eyes. Redwood, bloodstained twigs, perfect sense. And then she'd asked how their companion was in quite simple words. Nothing fancy about them, simply a how d'you do. Then again, Cheshire had noticed that what sounded like plain cat to him was somewhere near unintelligible to other humans.

What unnerved the cat was that Urufu seemed to be able to sense he was there. Most others -- though they could perhaps tell that there was something a little different about the air -- were never able to figure out that it anything different from a storm off in the distance. The cat didn't like this boy, not one bit. His smile faded to a scowl, as big as his grin but much more unnerving.

Prima didn't notice anything, however. When the movement of Urufu's bow caught her attention she emulated Cheshire's grin, though it was a much warmer one than her companion's. She listened politely to the Redwood, beaming at him all the while. She stayed that way for about a minute before Prima realized that her friend had asked her a question. What had it been, again? Aah, right. The girl held up the crumpled butterfly wing between two fingers.

"We were walking the road and the wind was red, so we chased the faeries to the..."

Prima looked up at the sky a few minutes before the wing beats were obvious. It sounded like a jabberwocky at first, scaring the bejezzus out of both the girl and the cat. A small black form rocketed out of the sky and landed next to Urufu. Once it stilled Prima realized that it was not a jabberwocky, but rather a dragon. Talk about a relief, the girl actually let out a sigh. She cautiously walked toward the dragon and Urufu. Cheshire did the same, his scowl moving through the trees to a spot closer to the dragon. It may not be a jabberwock, but the cat still didn't trust it. And what do you know, the thing began purring. Purring! Dragons didn't purr, cats did. Cheshire had half a mind to do something about these intruders, but Prima's giggles as she stroked the scales of the black beast changed his mind. He couldn't disappoint her.

"He's very bright... I mean beautiful."

Since Cheshire wasn't influencing her, Prima was able to make a little more sense than before. Neither herself or the cat realized the effects he had on her speech.

Cheshire actually growled at Urufu. The cat could never be friends with anyone who tried to take his Alice away, and that was exactly what this boy seemed to be doing. Prima may not be able to see it, but Cheshire could. The boy was charming her, trying to lure her away, probably to some cave where he could have his way with her. And Prima wouldn't even know what was happening, poor girl. Cheshire could see the truth. All any human ever wanted here pandered to their animistic nature. Physical pleasure, that was all.

Prima thoroughly enjoyed petting the dragon. It was an interesting creature. And it wasn't slimy at all! In fact, she could have sworn that she had met it somewhere. He wasn't a jabberwock, that couldn't be it. What was it? The girl racked her jumbled brain while idly scratching at the dragon's scales. Even though she tried hard to keep her thoughts straight Prima's mind got sidetracked and she started thinking of her Rubix Cube at home. She had even figured out a formula to solve it when she realized why the dragon was familiar. So caught up in her thoughts was the girl that she hadn't realized her friend Mister Redwood had asked a question until after she had blurted out her revelation.

"Ishkadill, ruler of the middle underworld! Wait, did you say something?"

Cheshire literally jumped at his opportunity to tear Prima away from the dangerous Urufu. From his position behind the boy Cheshire jumped past Urufu's head, at the same time changing back into visibility. It looked almost as though the cat were jumping through a waterfall of paint, the way color seemed to splash onto him from head to bushy tail. The gray and blue tabby stopped by Prima, spectral body hanging in the air around eye level for the girl. His blood red eyes were cold and calculating. When Prima had first visited the middle underworld and met Ishkadill, she had been terrified by the beast. This simple dragon wasn't him, but Cheshire had to admit that Gabriel did resemble that fiery beast, sans chains, crown, and other effects of a dark and terrible ruler chained to his kingdom.

"The good man asked if you would like to take a ride on the back of the King, Hunney."

Cheshire's grin had returned, revealing just how happy he was at the prospect of getting his Alice back to himself. Perhaps he shouldn't be surprised, Prima wasn't known for consistency, but still, the cat thought that her fears might have been the same. Cheshire was dissappointed, however. Prima took a good look at the dragon Gsbriel and then broke out in a huge grin. She didn't see any reason not to take up the offer, Ishkadil wasn't trying to eat her this time.

"I'd love to rake a tide... I mean take a ride."

Prima skipped to the side of the black dragon, wide grin splitting her face. She had a little trouble getting up onto Ishkadill's back, but she eventually got up by backing up a few paces, drawing the three of Spades from the box at her hip that held her cards, throwing it a little above the black dragon, and running to catch up with it so she could grab on to it. The three of Spades, you see, was given an elemental ability of wind by Cheshire. The cat, still irked and in a very unhappy mood, half hoped that the razor sharp card of reiatsu would cut the dragon, but quickly dismissed the idea. If that happened, the beast might very well turn on his Alice and hurt her.

Prima let go of the card as it flew by Ishkadill's spine, grabbing on and kicking her feet to try and climb up. Finally she was settled behind her friend Mister Redwood, but she hadn't been very careful when she grabbed the card. Its edges, as sharp as the edge of a zanpakutou, had cut her hand on the heel of her thumb and the base of her fingers. Prima was oblivious to it, however. The air already smelled like blood, more made little difference. Cheshire floated over to his Alice, concern in his eyes.

"Hunney, your hand is bleeding."

Prima looked at her hand curiously, as though she had never seen it bleed before. She had, about every time she ever used her cards, but it never made that curious look of wonder leave her face.

"So it is," she stated, bringing her hand to her face so she could lick the blood away. Her saliva also served to clean the dirt off her hand; she had been playing in the woods all day and hadn't had time or any place to wash up. Idly sucking at her wounds, Prima looked expectantly at Mister Redwood, waiting for her ride on Ishkadiil.