Aliss:Aliss had been traveling for a long time away from what was left of her home. She didn't want to think about what had happened, she just wanted to keep going, move on, and find... What? What did she want to find? Another place to live, that would be nice. Something to get her mind off of everything else, that would be good too.
She didn't expect her random wanderings to bring her back to a place she knew.
She didn't expect to find herself in an area she had been in when she was younger. It had been an... interesting experience. Lots of weird things there, she wasn't even sure if any of it was real or if it was just a dream. It was crazy enough to be a dream, that was for sure.
Either way, the lush jungle with the sound of the waves not too far away, it was all too familiar that she sat down and looked around, curious over what she would find here again.
Reginault / Hatter:
Times had gone, and Reggie had done little in terms of changing things with his life. Truth was, he was quite happy where he was. He was happily humming, sitting on a stump and swaying to music only he could hear. The male, normally called Hatter, was an oddball. He was off, and something about him was completely wrong.
He remembered long ago. For Reggie was far from stupid. He had a photographic memory with most things. He grinned a little, stepping from his tree stump and stretching out his muscles so that his claws extended from their sheathes.
Aliss:
Her surroundings surveyed and her mind through reminiscing, Aliss stood again and started moving. It didn't take long for her to come across one of the individuals that inhabited this area and she stopped with a groan when she recognized the male. He had grown up since she last saw him, though he had seemed grown up then, too.
Though he far from acted it.
"Not you," she said with a rather disappointed sigh. He had been the most impossible creature she had run into on her little adventure, why on earth did the gods think it was a good idea to put him in her path once more?
Reginault Hatter:
The male looked up, noting the blonde maned lioness that stepped forward. SHe sounded disgruntled, as if his presence wasn't something she was particularly ready for. Not that he really remembered her well..
Okay, so he did. Aliss had been someone he had rather liked, even if she did get on his nerves. From the way she told it though, he was a terribly hard person to know.
"I expect you were looking for someone else?" He asked, arching an eyebrow.
Aliss:
"I wasn't looking for anyone in particular, but running into you was the last thing I expected," Aliss replied with a shake of her head and a sigh. Well, at least he wasn't throwing things... yet. She obviously hadn't dreamed her adventure as a youth because he certainly seemed to recognize her as she did him. Of course, she remembered him being a lot bigger than she was... now he was just... bigger.
"You don't seem to have changed, Mr. Hatter," she added with a raised eyebrow. She wondered if she would see the cat again.
Reginault Hatter:
He gave a shrug, standing from his seated position and stretching out his legs. He was a thinner guy, built with a healthy frame. But he had never been the most muscled. Not that he really paid himself much mind.
The green fabric fashioned into a hat he had wrapped around his head fell to one side and he took a moment to reposition it.
"Ah. Is that so? Well.. I'm afraid I'm at a loss for what all I was supposed to have changed." He said, and looked at her with an arched eyebrow. He certainly wasn;t good at dropping subjects and starting fresh conversation. He hadn't been back then either.
Aliss:
Aliss waved a paw idly.
"Well, I think I've changed a bit since then.," she replied a little off-handedly. Of course, maybe he had changed, he wasn't being quite so crazy, after all. She moved away then, looking around at the trees and the flowers. Thankfully none of them yelled at her.
"Of course, I do recall you being rather insufferable when I was little, so maybe you have changed." Her tongue was a little barbed at times, but this instance was just her being honest
Reginault Hatter:
He rolled his eyes and grumbled. Certainly didn't seem like she had changed much from when he had last met her. She was still the arrogant child she had been back in the day. Though he had always admired her honesty. At least in his sane moments. He had them sometimes, and she had happened to catch him in one of them. Though that could easily change.
"Did you have much to do in the area? I suppose the poppy's are calling you home." He said, waving his own paw and looking irritable. He huffed, but then began drawing with his paw in the dirt.
Aliss:
Aliss' expression turned a little pinched, guarded at his question.
"No... It was just the... No, I just happened to come this way," she replied with a shake of her head. "And the flowers aren't talking to me."
Thank the gods for that one. It seemed that she wasn't seeing the strange cat, either. She wasn't sure if she was pleased about that development or not. Had she just imagined it the last time she was here? She could allow that when a cub is lost in a strange place, she might make up a friendly face to ease the fright on her mind...
Her head tilted to one side in thought. He was certainly a good deal more... petulant than before. Had she caught him in a mood? He had been very wishy-washy from what she remembered.
Reginault Hatter:
When she spoke, he found that he hadn't been listening too intently. His gaze out at nothing having taken all of his focus. He cleared his throat and looked at her again.
"Hmm? Oh. Flowers. The flowers speak to me. Such a shame they don't you." He began humming, standing from his sitting position.
Though the Goddess of Insanity had lifted her curse, Hatter still felt it all. Though he had others questioning if it was the curse, or his true mind, that caused him to be the way he was.
He saw her head tilt, and he turned to stand in front of her. Peering deep into her eyes as if he was going to say something. But then he tilted his own head.
"Did you not catch me in the right view?" He asked curiously.
Aliss:
Her eyes widened when he breeched her personal space and locked his gaze with hers. Didn't catch him in the right view? What on earth did he mean by that?
"Didn't..." Aliss' mind snapped like a thin branch in a storm and she shook her head.
"I'm grateful the flowers don't yell at me anymore. Gods, they were such belligerent things," she replied without another thought. And they had been! They'd insulted her and called her a weed and all manner of horrid things. She hadn't even done anything to antagonize them but listen to them singing and try to participate. She wasn't a flower, but that didn't make her a weed, did it? Of course not, she wasn't a weed, she was a proud lioness and she needed to stop letting those awful things' words bother her every time she thought on them at any length. There was nothing wrong with her.
Reginault Hatter:
He frowned and backed away. With another huff, he looked away from her. "Well you could have just said that. Now couldn't you?" He asked. It seemed his sane moment had slipped away.
He remembered her complaining about the flowers talking to her back then too. He didnt know why she took what they said to heart. Clearly they were jealous of her, as she could move and walk away, while they waited to be eaten by the occasional prey animal. But he knew that she didn't see it that way.
"Even if I knew what you just said, I don't know that I'd agree." He said, and grinned.
Aliss:
Aliss let out a sigh.
"They were rude and hateful." Her voice had taken on the quality of one instructing a younger individual on the meaning of something they didn't understand. And there was the old Hatter she remembered. Lovely. Then again, she wasn't sure which side of him she preferred, the unpredictable sod or the dour male she had just been witnessing. Then again, she wasn't sure if she really preferred the company of either. In honesty, she figured the only reason she hadn't moved on by now was that she knew this place, and when it all came down to it, she knew him. And she really wanted something familiar.
"I'm really very tired from my journey. I should probably find somewhere safe to rest." She sighed as she tried to remember this place. Was it a pride? She thought she remembered a royal court, but they had been scary. Had that just been part of the dream? It was much too confusing, and she didn't like that.
Reginault Hatter:
When she spoke of somewhere to rest, his eyebrow shot up and he just sort of gazed at her. He held a look of confusion, but then after a few moments a light in his eye sparked, and with it grew a grin.
"Somewhere safe? Is anywhere safe these days? Of course prides are safe, and so I'd say it's a very good thing you are in one now, isn't it?" He added, with a chuckle. He spoke rather quickly, and his tone was quite.. odd indeed. He had grown up in this wonderland of sorts, and he loved it. It was remarkably amusing to see others not understand it.
Aliss:
On one paw, she probably shouldn't have said anything. He was starting to give her a headache with his lyrical, roundabout way of speaking. And yet, on the other, he had just given her part of the information she needed. So this was a pride after all. Now she had to sort out what she remembered was true and what wasn't.
"So... this is a pride. What are the... rulers like?" True, Aliss wasn't sure she would get a proper, or even truthful answer from him, but at least she would get something... maybe. And if not everyone here was like Mr. Hatter, then maybe she might stay here. If she found a place for herself, of course.
Reginault Hatter:
Truth was, he hadn't met his new rulers. He had heard stories that they had changed, and usually he was in the know how of his world. But these guys, he really knew nothing about them.
"People have changed." His face fell. "It's odd to see another like me, it is!" He said, and then grinned again. He still knew of a few that were as insane as he was. Still a few. Sometimes they got together for a meal.
"No one likes rulers anyway." He added, but he was the type to cause trouble in those kind of ways. He pushed people, sometimes to do the wrong thing, just to see the consequences. But he tried to remain on the good side. He wasn't a bad guy after all. He was just a very curious one.
Aliss:
So it wasn't the same rulers... Wait, to see another like him? Did that mean... they weren't all mad anymore? That sounded wonderful! She just needed to learn more about this place. Maybe if she found someone a bit more in the knowledge than Mr. Hatter was, she could figure out if this was some place where she would fit in. A place where she'd be safe. A new home.
Of course, she'd have to share it with him, but she was sure there was plenty of room to put space between her and the fairly mad male.
He seemed sad that not many were like him anymore. Aliss couldn't help but wonder if he felt like she had when she was little, wandering through the pride and being what seemed like the only sane individual. Now that he was one of the few insane, by his words, was he as bothered by it?
Probably not, she finally decided. He seemed to march so well to the beat of his own drum that someone getting him down seemed unlikely.
"Well, perhaps I should meet them and see if I fit into this place. That's only proper, isn't it?" Why was she asking him??
Reginault Hatter:
"Proper schmopper. No one gets anywhere by being a toad. Do you want to be a toad? Because I hear it is not the least bit fun." He nodded, his face taking on a serious look though his voice remained in the same tone that he always had.
"I have better things to do. Kissing toads. Is that all you think of? I don't know what your fascination with toads is, Aliss but we should get that checked."
Aliss:
Normally a very guarded young lady, Aliss' jaw dropped open at his nonchalant response. A toad?
"A TOAD?!" she cried, outrage lacing her voice like a potent venom. She couldn't get her head around what he had just said. Had he just called her a toad? No, no he hadn't, he said being proper would make her a toad- What did toads have to do with being proper?!
"I most certainly do not go about kissing toads you, you, confounded, absurd...!" She was sputtering by the time she got halfway trough the minor tirade, her words trailing off when her mind failed to come up with a word that best described her feelings towards him.
She should leave. She should. Just. Leave. But she had to get herself under control first. Wouldn't bode well to rant at another pride member if she happened across one after this unfortunate meeting.
Reginault Hatter:
He snorted and rolled his eyes in a childlike fashion. "Then maybe you should quit bringing up toads. Seriously, we need to get you checked." He said, but then he busted out in laughter and it took a few moments before it quelled.
He liked having company, as much as he wouldn't admit it in front of Aliss. She managed to get on his nerves but it usually was the other way around. Aliss was quite easy to irritate, or..rather.. overwhelm, and he found it easy to prey on such a trait should he feel inclined.
Aliss:
Aliss gave him her absolute best glare before turning away.
"You're a toad," she mumbled under her breath. Oh, it was a petulant tone of voice to be sure, now who was acting the child? She shouldn't give in to his antics, she was above that. Really, she was. Come on, she was!
But it seemed like no matter how controlled she tried to keep herself, it looked like this male was destined to bring out the worst in her. And she didn't like it, not one bit. What if the new rulers were like her family? All proper and dusty? Sure, they might keep the crazy ones around out of pity, but a raving shrew would certainly not do. And that was exactly what Mr. Hatter was going to do if she stayed around him for too long. No, she had to leave before he did any permanent damage to her psyche.
"I have decided, Mr. Hatter, that you have not changed even the tiniest bit since the last time I was here," she snapped at him before standing and pointing herself towards the sound of waves crashing on the shore.
