Dazed and in pain, Jasper could feel the bump continuing its slow, outward growth on her forehead. Rubbing at her legs, which were feeling quite sensitive at the moment, she stopped as red liquid smeared over her knees. She had forgotten that she had a paper cut. Swiveling her head side to side in a frantic act to look for an object to clean the injury, a wave of relief washed over her as she found a white handkerchief just within her arms reach. 'Man. What luck! Who would've thought that I would find a handkerchief out here?' Wiping at her pointer finger, she began to wrap the cloth around the damaged fingers to restrict oncoming blood flow and to prevent further infection from bacteria. Sudden commotions were breaking out at every area in the cave. Haruken was zooming circles around Leila's captor, Harper and the female leader of the attackers were exiting the water, and the humans that were formerly enclosed in the net were now free.

Unsure if she would be able to physically handle the act of standing up on her freshly bruised legs, Jasper observed helplessly as fights broke out and the opposition had taken possession over the Living List, the most essential thing they owned in order to escape, yet they had lost it in mere seconds. Guilt dawned on her and she felt like beating herself up for not being able to retrieve it. Now it was in the thieves grasp and it was all her fault for not sobering up. Clenching her bleeding hands until her knuckles whitened, the blood flow tightened to an effective stop. First, she slid one foot forward and used her bent leg as support to get herself off the rocky flooring. Second, Jasper stumbled towards the forming group of her own fellow humans and the robbing impostors.

"No, but perhaps you'd like to join us for cakes and tea in the future?"

"Luke, Gary, Sacha...let's go."

"Well, catch you next time, I guess? Gargar, let's just go."



Still a bit drunken in posture and movement, Jasper was not letting them walk away with their list that easy. Did they really think they could just take it like that and get away with a casual farewell? How idiotic and ignorant a thought! The ticket home, the god damn list that so many had lost their lives for, and now they would be forever trapped without it. There was no way in hell she would be letting them do that and neither were her battered friends. Rage. Anger. Frustration. Desperation. Confusion. The perfect concoction for the will power she needed to stumble straight for ???. Grabbing the dripping female's wrist, with a grip that would surely cut off all blood circulation, knowing that if she squeezed hard enough, the joints and muscles in the girl's fingers would naturally loosen on there own, but that wasn't her primal objection.

"Who the f*ck do you think you are, huh? Walking in here with your black cloaks and nonchalant invitations! We don't know what the hell you want with 'OUR' list, but," Jasper's chokehold on ???'s wrist gave her the chance to take the Living List from the female and that's exactly what she did, "This," she held up the list which was securely enclosed in her palm now, "Is ours. Not yours!" Jasper let go off the unnamed woman and rejoined her group. "This might be tea parties and desserts to you Nobodies, but to us humans... Well, this is key to our survival."

She was shaking. The white handkerchief, now dripping heavy with red, fell to the ground soaked in blood.

So much was going on after Ace took the net off the group. First, Jasper fell flat on her face and then Harper managed to come back from his drowning spell. Ace had half a mind to go help the both of them, but she was a little busy with the girly who was blocking their pathway. Instead of going to rescue them, or helping get the list, she called out to the two. "Good job Harper, you didn't die on us!" Ace laughed a little and then looked over at Jasper. The poor girl was drunk, Ace wasn't sure what to say to her besides that maybe she should sit off to the side and recover from the bad head injury.

Turning her attention back to Gary, the red head sighed. "So you may have hard feelings. It's okay, I'd be upset too if I wasn't able to guard a group of people when I was told. But you should use this frustration on something else- besides me." Seeing more weapons out of her peripheral, Ace glanced over, though she wasn't expecting it to be one of their own. 'That's Mado right? "She's dangerous. Anyway," Ace turned her attention back go Gary. But, apparently the girl had her own plans in mind. Ace gave a frown as she ran off, mumbling random crap. "Man...you coward." She noticed Haku in attack mode with one of the hooded people. Ace smirked a little. "I didn't think you could fight." With a small huff due to not being able to have her fun, Ace went over to help Jasper. She probably needed it the most at the moment.

But then again, Ace could've been wrong. She watched the jittery clean freak turn into a small albino rage in the matter of moments. "Heh, way to go Jasper!" She cheered her on, especially when she snatched the list. Now all she needed to do was hurry back to them and they could hurry out. She went over to help Harper, still keeping an eye on Jasper. "So, is this new for all of us, or just new for me? I think she hit her head kinda hard there. But she has the list so good for her." Watching Jasper return, Ace laughed. "You got it back. Good job. Now," Ace pointed to the entrance Harper, Jasper, and she came from. "I think we should all be on our way and go about out business... Not here."

She couldn't bombard everyone out like she had done countless times with Harper and Jasper, so she decided to wait just in case someone wanted to voice their opinion about the attackers- or if the fight should continue. Even Ace thought they should go while they still had the advantage...but she wouldn't have too much minded a fight either. "Hey Jasper, do you think we should hold on to that list? You know, just in case you come off that adrenaline high too soon?" Just in case Jasper went back to her timid ways, it might've been safe to give the list to someone who was eager to defend, or faster at getting away.

Collaboration between Crescendo and Fox of Spades

"Who the f*ck do you think you are, huh? Walking in here with your black cloaks and nonchalant invitations! We don't know what the hell you want with 'OUR' list, but,"

The shouty girl pulled the list out of her hands and ??? gave her a blank stare. "Who are we?" Her expression darkened and for a few moments she looked genuinely puzzled. "That's Sacha." She said as she nodded in the tall boy's direction. "Luke and Gary," she added in as she pointed in her friend's directions. "I don't know who I am...who are you?" She narrowed her eyes at Jasper before staring intently at the list that was no longer in her hands. "If you take it, bad things will happen and this isn't a tea party, it's a horrible game." She reached out for the list but before she could hold on to it Jasper returned to the other humans.

"That list isn't yours...it's hers." Her eyebrows furrowed in irritation at the last word. They needed that list.

Harper watched as the fight unfolded. Hakuren and Leon dashed towards one of the cloaked figures but he shoved Leila at them and made a run for it. The cloaked man pressed his back against the wall and continued conversing with Hakuren and Leon in a cheery tone. His other friend, the girl with the pole came to help him and things went downhill when the girl who had punched him grabbed onto the list. "No..." however, things went right when Jasper just flipped. The usually timid girl went berserk and grabbed the list from their attacker. Harper stared with wide eyes before letting out a relieved sigh. They needed that list to go home after all, and they weren't just going to give it up.

"Crap, Gargar. We lost the list." Luke seemed disappointed, but he had a gleam of amusement in his eyes. His friend asked for a piggyback ride and he hoisted her onto his back almost effortlessly. "Today we charge into battle!" Today? What was today? Was today a Thursday...a Frimon a Thursmorn?

The red haired girl who had yanked off the net began encouraging the white haired girl and it was only then when ??? realized the gravity of the situation. "Luke, Gary, Sasha, no one leaves, not until we have the list." Her grip on her pipe tightened and she turned to look at Sacha. "Let's get that list."

"You heard her orders! Lesss go Gargar." With his friend on his back Luke bounded towards the entrance. "Ey, you can pretend we're jousting." He added in with a grin.

Sacha nodded in response to their leader's words, a determined and rather confused look on his face. Didn't the humans understand how important the list was? If they did they certainly wouldn't be resisting. He drew himself up to his full intimidating hight, moving over so that anybody who tried to escape would be forced to go past him- not an easy feat, as any of his group would know.

He blinked as Luke bounded over beside him with a happy Gary sitting on the other boy's shoulders, pole ready in hand. The resulting combination of the two was even taller than him and he looked back at the other humans. He hoped they would hand over the list peacefully- no matter how psychotic they were (he looked sadly at the blood stained handkerchief the raging white haired girl had dropped so rudely on the floor. That had been the last one he was carrying!) some of them looked quite frail, especially the small boy and the dark haired girl. If he ended up having to hit them he was rather afraid they'd und up crumbling like a sandcastle.

All four cloaked figures blocked the exit and each of them were armed. Running away didn't seem like an option.

The Guides

Songbird, Brandy, Martini, and Serenade

"Where are they?" The black rabbit didn't look happy. "They were supposed to meet us here before the nightly sparrow dance." Serenade tapped her foot impatiently. "Songbird, Brandy, Martini, I think it'd be best if we went to look for them now. It isn't safe to be out a night...especially not when the siren is around. Shall we go look?"

Martini burbled in thought, lips pouted as she laid backwards on her bubble. "We can go look, but where do we start looking? Do we even have a lamp? It's getting dark!"

"There's a couple in the cupboard. I found it while cleaning out the kitchen yesterday."

"That's handy! Thanks Brandy! Oooh, that rhymed!" The mermaid flipped over with a small flick of her tail, tittering happily. "Well that's sorted. So where do we start looking?"

"Lets head to the caves." Serenade frowned, she was starting to get worried. "I can send Dissonance and Cello to the lake. I'll go give them a call." With that said the present nobodies left for the caves.

This way. That way. To the left. To the right.

Hakuren was running, in circles and at a rather high speed, around the scene of mossy, slippery, and very potentially unstable rocks. She had no idea why he was doing that, while being slightly amazed by the fact that he was able to do that. She knew also that it was making her quite disoriented, with Luke trying to continue holding her while spinning along all the while.

The turn of events came rather quickly. The other members of their group of humans arrived at the caves as well, the cloaked people demanded the list, and - Leila wouldn’t have said “the next thing she knew”, for she was fully aware of the chain of events - The not-so-much-of-a-negotiation, Harper being hit, the lunge and the sound of two individuals splashing into the glowing lake; the calls for actions to be taken, the division of unspoken plans of offense and defense, complete or incomplete, comprehended as different future courses of actions by different parties...all of that, piled and mashed together with some cries and grunts and the sound of swinging weapons, became the mess that was currently undergoing in front of her eyes, perceived through that ever annoying curtain of messy hair dangling in between. There was also Haku, who flashed in and out of her range of sight as he continue his little, apparently calculated dance around the pair of captive and captor.

And then she felt the shove - the hooded figure behind her had, perhaps to get rid of the distraction that was the effort to maintain a captive, or for that he had otherwise decided that she was no longer needed, let go of the cuffed girl, and - intentionally or not - sent her staggering towards the incoming attacker.

With nothing to aid her with her balance or to divert the direction of her motion, and, in footwear and clothing that was absolutely not fit for maneuvering across uneven terrain, there was not much Leila - as she struggled to maintain balance - could do, besides from only realizing that her wobbly footsteps were on a course that led to an unavoidable collision.

Flop.

Translation to and from a non-inertial frame of reference was always an annoying thing to have to do.

With her hands still held together behind her, Leila let out a series of huffs and grunts as she rolled downwards on the slightly sloped surface of rocks. She stopped, some five or six revolutions later on the damp ground aside a puddle of water.

”...uuuuugh.”

every part of her body protesting in disapproval - bruises, joints that feel like they aren’t fit together properly anymore (the old injuries from the Star Fisher was still there...), and certain pieces of skin that throbbed in a light, stinging pain that, together with nearly unnoticeable smears of red on the terrain around her, indicated that even the not-overly-severe rigours of her roll down the slope was too much to bear for the protection provided only by her clothing and her skin. Gravity, pointing roughly downwards sloppily, provided a guideline as to the directions of up and down, yet the other directions were almost impossible to tell apart. Angry cries (the voice was...Jasper?) and the sound of collisions in the distance implied an ongoing fight. The lack of a mystic, vaguely philosophical rant implied that Haku was nowhere near her - where was he? That probably wasn’t the most important thing now, he’s probably fine - past observations of him being fine suggest that he was likely still fine.

The first two attempts of Leila trying to get back up ended in failure, with her just flopping over onto the ground into another direction, her not yet adjusting properly to the lack of freedom to use her arms. She then spent about half a second pondering the viability of the decision that she just stay there on the ground - it seemed rather tempting to her as she was already rather tired from the initial hike to the caves. Then she decided against that and gave it a third try - directing her legs downhill first, she managed to push herself upright, ignoring the discomfort from the friction of the rocks that supported her back, and stayed standing after a couple of staggery steps. To her amazement, her hands were free when she instinctively shoved them out to correct a balancing act. A ring of cracked solid substance coated in red and white stripes still wrapped itself around her left hand, with its mirrored counterpart - half of it missing, shattered somewhere on the ground, dangled from a chain that connected the two segments.

”Rock candy.” She mumbled as she looked at the cracked pair of handcuffs. She tried to pull the other half off as well, yet it seemed that it wasn’t damaged enough to break. Soon she gave up and decided she might as well have it hang there for another while - who knew when they’d suddenly need food. She also remembered to brush the strands of her hair back into a relatively orderly state - in fact, she did that in a fashion that made it look like she had been waiting for a million years to pull the fuzzy dark lines out of her range of sight.

Returning her attention to the fight nearby, which seemed to have come to a brief halt, Leila looked around the scene as she found a place to stand beside the humans (facing the right direction!).

"Today we charge into battle! No-one leaves, not until we have the list."

The cloaked attackers announced. Leila stared blankly, partly in amusement and partly in confusion.

Was piggyback riding even a valid fighting style?

Dazed as he was, Leon wasn’t going down. The four newcomers had proved to be quite the adversary and he wasn’t entirely happy about it. Even as Hakuren had managed to daze one of the dudes by somewhat circling around him, Leon had fallen prey to his own confusion and had been delayed. It hadn’t gone entirely to plan – he’d followed after Hakuren and then broken off, heading off in a different direction in order to get to the dude by surprise. Also, he had to find a rock. Yes, a rock, he mumbled to himself as he leapt from boulder to boulder, all of them too big to carry and drop on a human skull.

It seemed he was too late, however, because by the time he came prancing back with a rock in his arms – not too heavy yet not too light, perfect for brain damage – the guy was already far off and Leila was free. Was there any point in dropping a 15-kilogram stone on his head now? Probably not, Leon decided, and turned to return the rock back to the miniature pool he had pulled it out from. It seemed that he was the one with the brain damage, however, as he felt his foot slip on some pink moss. Losing his balance, he flailed for a minute before regaining his posture. All that flailing did require two free arms, however, and the pain on his foot finally registered after two good seconds of confusion. The rock had landed squarely on his foot, eliciting a rather girly squeak from Leon as he inwardly cried and lamented his plight.

By the time he made it back to the group, limping, most of them were close by and Harper was thankfully out of the water. Leon had arrived just in time to watch a very drunk Jasper cuss out the other humans and he smirked, nodding along. Naturally – he couldn’t expect any less, really – the other humans had taken it literally, and one of the girls had introduced the rest. So Luke had been the guy who had evaded a head-bashing from Leon’s rock. He narrowed his eyes at the guy and the nameless girl who was holding the Living List, much to his horror. Over time, he had sensed his companions’ attachment to the list and while it wasn’t entirely important to him – truthfully, nothing really was – he knew it meant a lot to the others, therefore his indignation at the statement.

Even as Jasper snatched the list back and the four humans blocked the door, Leon found himself sighing. This really was more work than it was worth, yet he didn’t fancy being stuck in this cave for any longer. “Pfft. Let’s see you say that again when we kick your ass.” Make them eat their words, Leon nodded to himself, itching to get out of the cave. He briefly wondered whether to charge on ahead like an angry bull but he knew brute strength wasn’t really his forte. So he stood where he was, a rather fierce and irritated expression on his face and his foot still throbbing. They were going down.

"Who are we? That's Sacha. Luke and Gary. I don't know who I am...who are you? If you take it, bad things will happen and this isn't a tea party, it's a horrible game."

Jasper clutched the list tightly in her hand, the wild look in her eyes still aflame. She couldn't believe the utter stupidity of this woman. Was she actually this dumb or was she acting? As the girl introduced her partners in crime, Jasper's attention had long gone from the useless blabbering and naming. Honestly, how air-headed could this crook actually be to forget her own name?! There was only one thing Jasper could agree on with this seemingly psychopathic woman and that was the fact that this was not at all a tea party, yet they had been the one inviting them to one.

"That list isn't yours...it's hers."

Again, another dull statement coming from none other than ???. Well, you could say it was once the Queen's, but now it had been turned over to them, her group, so they could go back home, to earth. Unless Queen Delirium sent these bandits to come and retrieve her Living List for whatever reason, then it was definitely theirs for all everyone in the human batch understood.

"Luke, Gary, Sasha, no one leaves, not until we have the list. Let's get that list."

Leila's former imprisoner was now gathering at the exit with a pink haired female on his back. They didn't look intimidating at all. Playful actually, but Jasper knew they were out to do some damage. Another male, grey-eyed, with a somewhat somber look joined the forming line intending to block the cave's entrance. And of course, their leader who currently had a pipe in her grasp. Out of the four, Jasper felt most threatened by her and it wasn't because of the weapon she wielded. There was something about the lady that was... off. Whether it be psychologically or maybe she had some sort of mental disorder like Mado, but worse. Bipolar even. Dark wisps snaked around her aura and Jasper could see it clearly.

It was a stereotypical battle scene, one side versus another. Humans versus Nobodies. And all for a List. What did they want with it anyway? If only she knew. If only their attackers could explain why they wanted it or what their intent was, then maybe, just maybe, they could share the list, but as of now, the opposing group only barged in as a threat. Period. Jasper could feel the tension rise in the air as both packs lined up ready to fight. She couldn't be more afraid. Her high had died down. The anger was still there, but extremely toned down from just a couple minutes ago. Feelings widdled down to two things only. Confusion and uneasiness.

“Pfft. Let’s see you say that again when we kick your ass.” It was Leon. The newbie. His attire no longer spotless as she had last remembered them, but there they were, his feather earrings. Pristine as could be, dangling beautifully from his lobes. She could tell he clearly was not enjoying himself, especially on their first day joining the group. He contrasted with Ace, who had been jumping up down cheering for her when returning back to the group with the list.

Haruken had trails of blood, both dried and new, streaming from his head and he looked pretty bad. Eyes trailing down to her legs and clothes, she knew her current appearance probably looked just as bad as anyone else.

They had to keep this list no matter what. They had no choice, unless they were ok with staying in Nowhere, but that just wasn't an option for her. Seeing mini puddles of that goop that she had fallen into not too long ago, a ding presented itself in her mind. The gunk had some sort of drunken affect on whoever who inhaled it from a close range.
Jasper's eyes followed Sacha's who had his gaze turned to the reddened handkerchief on the ground. She had used it to wipe and bandage her cut, but it must've fallen when she stomped towards ???. His expression saddened and that's all she needed to understand that he must have been the one to put it there. How nice of him, but he was on the 'bad guys' side. He looked less harmless than the rest as well and he wasn't much taller than her either. Not a surprise, since Jasper basically shared the height of a typical manikin, but with added 3-inch heels (she's not wearing heels though...)

'He's kinda handsome... too bad I'm about the ruin it' She scooped up a handful of the slime, trying her best not to make a face and not to breathe in any of the unknown slush. Approaching the handkerchief calmly, her muck filled hand was tucked behind her back as she continued towards Sacha with the possession now in hand, mimicking his gloomy expression. "Sorry about your handkerchief... how about I give you this instead?" A handful of 'beer' goop now revealed from its hiding spot, her hand went straight for his nose and mouth area at which she generously smeared a cup full of the stuff all over his face.

Jasper’s so-called albino rage trickled to a stop a few moments ago, but her recent actions brought about a new round of fury from the opposite pack. Gary, previously as happy as a baby bird on its safe and comfortable perch (literally, sorry Luke), suddenly went from a mood which could be aptly described as “YOLO” to something akin to murderous. The emotional (and physical, I must say) metamorphosis happened in the span of let’s say, 5 seconds? Probably longer than that because she was busy giggling at Jasper thinking that said albino had a crush on her best friend and was about to go kissy-kissy you cute little baby except something about Sacha ending up with somebody felt wrong? Not to her, but to somebody else, but she felt the wrongness in their place. Merp. The girl tried to remember just who it was who was supposed to be all jelly with Sacchin getting all them ladies, but she couldn’t bring up a thing. The slightest resonance of emotion, the delicate ripple of laughter in the air, the most miniature of colors flying by almost as if a part of a film… All ceased to exist as soon as she tried to put her finger on something. How very confusing. Everything was confusing but… This.

“You heart eating, snail climbing, toffee grinding wreEEENCH!” Yep, Gary just used a mechanic’s tool as a curse.

She aggressively pushed herself away from Luke, giving him all sorts of bruises as she scrambled down (haphazardly) from her perch, and the pole was handed over to Sacha despite the fact that she would have given a king’s ransom earlier for him not to have it. Gary fell badly on one foot, since her other one got snagged on Luke’s cloak, but the pain she attained from placing all her weight on one foot which was placed over unsteady terrain was forgotten. In a pink flash she ran over in front of her friend and, tiny as the pink-haired girl was, pushed Jasper away.

Yep, she pushed someone who was a few good inches taller away, which would have resulted in something funny but in this case the force Gary exerted was enough for the bigger party to step back, or even stumble on a rock (‘AND HIT HER WHITE MEAN HEAD ON SOMETHING!’ Gary thought). The intensity of color flowing down from Gary’s head was matched by the vivid blush spread all over her face, and her cheeks started puffing out.
What an adorable little blowfish Pinky was turning out to be, eh?

“AuuuughhhhhhHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAuueeeaGH!!!” Gary yelled, jumping up and down in a flash of color. She took more steps forward and pushed Jasper away again. “Go away, you living wreck of jelly and sour pus! I hate you I hate you I hate you! I hope you and Philosophy Pants stick together forever and die A HORRID GUMMY DEATH YEAH YOU HEARD ME I HOPE YOU TURN INTO A PIECE OF GUM AND THAT SOME WEIRD DRAGON GOBBLES YOU UP I SURE AS HECKSLING WON’T SHED A TEAR!!!” She hollered before stomping her foot down. A few pebbles scattered as soon as her shoes fell down against the cavern floor. “WIPE THAT OFF SACCHIN’S FACE! I don’t care if you use your skin! Or your CONGEALED BLOOD in the shape of a towel! I DON’T CARE BECAUSE I HATE YOU! NOBODY TOUCHES MY SACCHIN, YOU GOT THAT!? YEAH YOU SURE WILL ONCE I’M DONE WITH YOU! I’m goNNA STICK MY POLE THROUGH YOUR HEAD AND-”
… Aforementioned statement reclaimed.
Gary was about to resume her rant, but chattering- or at least, the sounds of bickering- caught her ears and she spun around, instantly alert.

“I don’t see how they’re going to die spontaneously within a cave. Last time I checked, there were no slime ogres in this town. The lot of them moved out to Fetor last last last something, and they’re very friendly. Sing a lot too,” Songbird’s voice resonated within the cavern as footsteps grew nearer to both groups. In time, the silhouettes of the approaching group crumbled away to reveal the very guides themselves, all wearing different expressions on their faces soon as they saw the state of the humans (particularly the bleeding Hakuren who might have some pity from the guides with whom he was popular with).

Songbird, of course, was used to seeing all kinds of things go down. Heck, he saw a giant chicken give birth to a snake. Still, he wasn’t really happy to find the humans trussed up like so, especially a certain girl who was being manhandled by another girl half her size. “Oi cotton candy head, get off,” He snapped and strode forward, long legs easily closing the distance between their group and Jasper, whom he helped regain her balance. He gave her a glance from head to toe, winced, did an all-over inspection again, sighed, then ultimately faced the aggressors. Thugbird was ready to release some violence-

“Wait a minute. I know you!” His eyes narrowed as he took in the sight of the yet furious Gary, who glared back at him defensively.

“Yeah, I know you too!” She shot back loudly. The expression on her face dared him to lay a finger on her only to have it cracked in a gazillion pieces and used for piranha chum.

After a few seconds of tense silence, Gary’s features relaxed and she regaled Songbird with curiosity instead of her previous animosity (which was initially directed to Jasper, of course). “Wait… Who are you?” She asked brightly.

“Welp, no matter, lez go guise!” Gary chirped and bounded back to her team before the item hunter was able to give his reply to her query. “They’re so troublesome to deal with! Here Sacchin, have some tissue. Or whatever this is,” She declared before sticking a wad of a paper-like substance on the male’s goopy face.

It stuck.

"Stop," The cloaked figure demanded. Things were getting out of hand, even she could see that. Sacha was covered in goop, and stood on wobbly legs. Luke was cradling his now bruised sides, and Gary...she was screaming the most odd of phrases, profanities, and were those even threats? She watched blankly as her friend shoved Jasper to the ground and strode towards the scene, pipe still held tightly in her hand. "Gary," she placed a hand on her friend's head, almost as if she were petting a crying sheep or skittish puppy. "Stop it," she reached for her friend's hood and gave it a soft tug.

??? sighed then gave the humans a worried glance. Didn't they understand? Didn't they realize the urgency. They needed the list. She couldn't remember why at the moment but it had been for something very important . She focused her eyes on Jasper before glancing at each of the humans. Eventually, her gaze landed on Harper and the boy froze, his hands clenching into fists. "Tell me, when were you born?" Her voice had a certain confidence to it and it scared Harper, confused him, and made butterflies flutter inside his stomach.

"What?" Harper snapped. He had battled a chaotic star, had shot strawberry tarts down its throat, and had nearly drowned! This wasn't funny at all. They wanted out of Nowhere and to do that they needed the living list. It was the only way out, the only thing that would get them home. "Is this some kind of joke to you?" He brought a hand to his cheek and winced when he felt a slight sting. The girl had punched him hard...he was sure to get a nasty bruise later, but it was Hakuren that concerned him the most. The boy's head was bleeding and he was still smiling! How much blood had he lost, and would he be alright? "Listen, this might be some sick game to you...but to us it isn't." He was trembling with rage. "We have family and friends waiting for us, but we can't see them, not till we complete this list."

"When we're you born?" The girl repeated, and this time Harper noticed the sympathy in her voice.

He let out an exhausted sounding laugh. "I was born on the--" he didn't remember. "W-What?" The boy's eyes furrowed in confusion as a wave of panic shot throughout him. He tried to remember but all he could come up with was a blank. His head began to throb, "I-I don't know! I really don't."

She frowned then looked to the others. "When we're you born?" Not a single one of them could remember. "That's right, none of you can answer."

Luke frowned, he actually looked sympathetic. "In Nowhere, time is the first to go." He paused to let out a low whistle, "there's really no rush."

"No rush?" Harper exploded. "We need to finish that list soon. We're running out of time!"

"No," she sounded almost sad when she responded. "We have all the time in the world."

Who were these people, and why did they look so human? They scared him more than the chaotic star ever could and more than the siren's eerie song. He was so angry, yet for some reason, a part of him felt sorry for them too. "Really, who are you?"

"I do not know." Came a soft reply.

Harper turned to look at the others. What were they supposed to do now? Attack? They had the list, but the four cloaked figures were blocking the entrance. Well, until Songbird strode past them without so much as a struggle. The fluffy nobody made his way towards Jasper and helped the girl to her feet. Not long after, all the other guides came waltzing in, putting an end to the cloaked figure's reign of terror.

"You're all here," Serenade let out a relieved sigh. She glanced at the humans and noticed that they were all worse for wear, but they were alive and that was what mattered the most. "Why didn't you return to the meeting place--" The black rabbit froze when she noticed them. Cycles could fly by, but she wouldn't forget. "You..." Those four were somewhat a ghost story in Nowhere. They appeared in the most random of places, havoc trailing in their wake. The queen's guards could never find them, but here they were, face to face with the wanted criminals.

“Welp, no matter, lez go guise!”

"Yes, it'd be best if we left." Before the guides could react, ??? walked out, just like that. Gary followed after her, assisting a wobbly and goop covered Sacha and Luke he stayed behind for a little while and even had the audacity to smile. "Long time no see, Serenade. Songbird, you're looking just as grouchy and...who are you again?" He let out a hearty laugh as he gave them all an energetic wave. He heard his friends yelling at him to hurry up and after a few more seconds jogged out the door with the silliest smile stuck to his face.

The cave went quiet, the enemies walked out the door and the guides made their way in.

"Haaaaakuren~!" The bleeding boy was tackled into a hug. "Oh, golly! You're bleeding! Is Haku okay?" The white rabbit circled around him, looking him up and down. She'd make sure to coddle him later. "Who were they? Do you want me to go after them!" The white rabbit pulled down on both her ears and let out a loud sigh. How could they hurt such a pretty face?

Cello noticed how Leon and Ace weren't much better, but neither looked hurt. "Hey...good to see you guys are okay? I guess we came just in time huh?" The nobody walked towards the fallen Leila and offered her both a smile and a helping hand.

Serenade however remained fixated on the cave's entrance. "It really was them...Songbird, I recognized them too. This isn't good." She shook her head before looking at the humans. "I'm glad you're all here and I'm sorry we couldn't have come earlier. Those people are bad news, I didn't know they'd be here...it's been so long since any of them made an appearance. Really, I apologize." She walked towards the humans. "Let's go--" the guide's eyes went wide, and a sad humming filled the room.

She had been waiting in the pond all along, waiting for them to find her.

The siren sang



It was a different song, an invasion of the senses that rendered them unable to move or utter a single word. It brought them to their knees and even the guides couldn't do a darned thing about it. Flashes of Serena's past came to life before them and the singing painted pictures of that dreaded day.











The singing ceased and Harper regained the ability to think straight. He was curled up on the ground, hands over his ears and eyes shut tight. He couldn't understand what had happened and he didn't really want to. He remained on the ground until Serenade yanked him up. The stern guide looked horribly pale, in fact, the song had affected everyone in the room. "We need to leave, now."

"W-What about them? What about the siren?" His gaze fell onto the list, the second item, the siren's song, it was gone.

The siren's song was her life.

Luke said "Ouch, you've got quick feet but I really don't want to hit you again. So why don't you let us leave and we'll invite you guys to a dinner with Death next time?"

'These people seriously didn't get the metaphor.' Hakuren thought 'Then again, meeting Death would be interesting. I wonder if he plays tarot.'
He had been circling his opponent for awhile, striking every time he saw an opening, much like a viper, and only once had his attack succeed, being a kick at that. His hands had never been useful in such situations, yet, fortunately, they came in handy in other, delicate predicaments.
On a side note, the hooded black-haired man did appear sincere in his proposal for a truce. He had made no clear signs of wishing to counter, nor had he moved much for that matter. However, the youngster in the midnight green coat didn't buy it. Sweet-talking was what he ate and served, thus it was far too easy to distinguish.

Luke said "Really, we're friends."

"I see. So you like making your friends pipe down?" the lad laughed as he sprang forward for another opportunity.
Just as they had finished exchanging those words, the stranger released Leila and, rather than humbly assist her with taking the handcuffs off like a true gentleman would, he shoved her straight at her incoming comrade. The 'hero' managed to dodge by a hair, which left the damsel in distress tumbling down to the lake like a log. His instinctive reaction was to look behind him, in order to make sure she was ok, but he stopped midway and turned his attention back to Luke, who had taken advantage of this diversion to promptly escape. Letting out a "tsk" sound with his mouth, the human's two green-blue eyes followed their target as he reached a safer distance, away from the sight of the fight.

Luke said "Well, catch you next time, I guess?"

"Sure" he smirked "Hope we meet again, even though we had a rocky start of a relationship."

By the time Leon limped over to his side, Hakuren was not feeling in good condition. Once the young man had finally held to a stop, he felt the weight of his exhausted muscles. It was both surprising and not illogical to begin with. They had walked through Yonder, hiked up and down a trail to the caves and had to fight off these thugs. Albeit he was not out of shape, the wounds on his head contributed to the disturbance in his bodily order, as fibrin, that magical protein, tried to cease the bloodloss, whilst mitochondria strained themselves in attempt to produce enough energy for excessive movement and healing. It was as if he was a drum at a rock concert, with the drummer being overly passionate about his instrument. Pressing his right hand against his forehead, the sensation of touching liquid and something sticky innervated his receptors. Soon enough, he began to feel lightheaded. The student could keep himself on his feet, but he couldn't help but lose the sense of his surroundings little by little. Only the more important events were registered in his brain. Like how Bear suddenly went out of character and barked at their attackers, snatching back the list. Or when Leon countered their comment with a daring statement. It made him smirk. He would have loved to join in the mocking, but nature had other plans. The throbbing did not cease, nor did the sense of dizziness. It was similar to that time he had gotten drunk, only it hurt far more and he wasn't crying. In fact, he was smiling, something so bizarre it was creepy.
The goddess of luck smiled upon them as the Living List was retrieved. The Bear had saved the day, despite being a klutz. Only escape now remained and before them stood a fearsome obstacle. The hooded quatro apparently did not intend to walk out of the cave without the list. Both sides were preparing for a second round, yet Hakuren knew he wouldn't last long in his current state. He was on the brink of falling unconscious. There was barely enough energy for him to move. Tightening his grip on his hair just a little bit, the lad murmured under his breath:
"And miss out on the fun? No way."

With the arrival of their guides the ending scene began. The curtain was about to fall on this little spectacle. A familiar loud yell woke him up from his hazy daze just in time for him to embrace the incoming Dissonance, who tackled him into a hug. Her overly concerned self was adorable and he couldn't help himself from petting her between her fluffy white ears.
"Don't worry too much." he smiled happily "I'm fine."

Serenade said "I'm glad you're all here and I'm sorry we couldn't have come earlier. Those people are bad news, I didn't know they'd be here...it's been so long since any of them made an appearance. Really, I apologize."

The stern, but kind black rabbit told them all. Apparently, the quartet, who had nonchalantly left, were familiar with the Nobodies or at least it was the other way around. The youngster noted in his mind to ask about this later, if he could even remember what had happened after he had his much needed rest.

Serenade said "Let's go--"

The dark hare could not finish her sentence, for a light humming song of sadness waltzed in slowly, twirling gracefully through the air, like a snowflake in the first snowfall of the year. It was the siren's song.

Silently watching the fleeting memories of a life gone past, the only thought that could occur in Hakuren's mind was:
'Where's the Pause button when you need it?'
So much useful information came and went. He was at the right place, at the right time, only his mind was in no condition to record. What he managed to make out of the flashbacks were the figures of those hooded people, the mayor, some woman and bits and pieces of dialog. From what could be seen, this was the witch, who had been drowned in the lake. How convenient. It could serve as a vital clue for the closure of the case. Unfortunate it was that he couldn't catch everything. There was one scene which grasped his on-the-brink consciousness, though. It was the third tape, where a conversation between the witch and two of her mysterious companions occurred. One of them was the young man's sparring partner, who was shaking with cowardice, whilst the other closely resembled that unnamed person, who had been the first to deliver a blow to his head. The witch addressed her as Caitlyn, yet when she had introduced herself in the cave, she had stated she knew not her own name. How peculiar.

By the time the film ended, Hakuren was resting atop the rocky uneven ground, not moving a muscle, other than the ones required for breathing. His wounds had almost stopped bleeding, yet he had lost enough to feel completely out of it. His body protested against getting up and he listened to it. Not that he really had a choice in the matter. It was far too troublesome to stand. However, thinking about it for a moment, he considered it would be more comfortable to lazy about somewhere warm, on soft white covers and maybe one or two girls around. The realist in him confirmed that the last element wouldn't be present, not now at least, but there was no true reason to give up all hope either. Everything was possible in Nowhere.
To push himself to a sitting position was a painful task, thus he took a moment to look around before attempting to move once more. Everyone else, apart from Harper, were still on the ground. When the glasses boy got to take a look at the Living List, Hakuren was close enough to notice that "A Siren's Song" had vanished. They had completed their mission.
"Two down, eight more to go." he laughed. Despite feeling pain all over his body, this weirdo still had it in him to smile.

"So they're not going to let us out, without the list in their hand. Guess everyone loves to be complicated huh?" Ace stepped toward the exit but stopped as Jasper walked forward. With arms crossed and a playful pout, Ace spoke. "Hmph. Jasper you're just taking all the fun." Ace spoke with a laugh, but watched the sudden bravery as she smashed that familiar green slime into one of the Nobodies' faces. She couldn't recollect their names, only hearing them once or twice. And they were bad guys, even if they looked like regular humans that were mildly attractive. That's probably how they got to people. Lure them with those innocent faces only to be bashed over the head with a pole.

In the midst of her thoughts, Pinky was wailing about the one with green goop on his face. Her face had turned pink too. Why was she blushing? "Is that your boyfriend or something? I think Pinky is the jealous typer Jasper..." And all of a sudden, the girl was perfectly calm. "She's almost as weird as Mado." She commented before crossing her arms under her chest. The one without a name calmed the raging pink girl and then spoke to Harper, or at least the group. "You can't remember your own birthday Harper? I think that's something everyone should remember." Although Ace didn't know her exact birthday, she did adopt a day to celebrate it. That day was. . . That day was...!? She couldn't remember! It was one thing she kept dear and she couldn't remember.

'No need to panic. It's not even my actual birthday. I could always... Always adopt another day.'

There was no use dwelling over small things, so she continued with the now. That now being the evasion of a fight once more. It made her frown, but the damage done was enough. A bleeding head, a drunken girl, a- Ace winced when she put her hand at her side. The adrenaline rush was wearing off and the pain from some of those hits kicked in. She probably had red or purple bruises dotted along her skin. "I want payback..." But with the guides entering, it didn't seem like that would happen. Despite being a little annoyed that she was hurt, she gave a bright smile to Cello. "Long time no see kitty! And, we're still living~ so we may have been fine."

'Those bunny girls... I know their names... As Ace was contemplating their names, a song began playing. Instead of trying to find the source, or passing out, Ace stood still and listened. Flashes of memories played quick and Ace failed to keep up, though she did try. Hopefully she wasn't the only one with the weird dreams because interpreting them would have been a real pain.

When it was over, Ace was on the ground. How she ended up there was a story for some other time. She got up, ignoring the random bouts of pain from different areas on her body. "That was kind of trippy." Ace said, running her fingers through her hair.

"So... What's next?" Despite the injuries, one task finally completed, and the weird song, Ace was ready to get going. There was no reason to slow down now! After all, didn't they say we didn't have much time? With the guides around, everything should've been a lot easier too. So, Ace expected everyone to gather themselves and to keep moving. It was what her life consisted of.

“You heart eating, snail climbing, toffee grinding wreEEENCH!” The voice roared through the echoes of the cave at a screeching pitch filled with rage and hate. Eyes quickly darting towards the unsettled observer, Jasper suddenly felt a pang of panic and fear. Like a rabid monkey of sorts, the "creature" scrambled off of one of the cloaked figures from where she was initially perched, like he was nothing more than a lowly object for her to rest atop on. Prying one leg free, the pink-haired banshee shoved her entirety on the said foot as she finally hit ground level, the other unsurprisingly mangled within the folds of the cloaks fabric. Almost frozen into place, much like a steadfast statue, Jasper could only stare dumbstruck, as a little girl barreled towards her like a horned bull ramming for a red flag.

As soon as hand and might went into contact with her flimsy, exposed figure, the albino was sent toppling over a good couple of measures to the side. But for some unaccounted miracle, she managed to skid to a balanced stop on two legs only to be shoved a secondary time into an awaiting bed of rocks thrice more.

“AuuuughhhhhhHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAuueeeaGH!!! Go away, you living wreck of jelly and sour pus! I hate you I hate you I hate you! I hope you and Philosophy Pants stick together forever and die A HORRID GUMMY DEATH YEAH YOU HEARD ME I HOPE YOU TURN INTO A PIECE OF GUM AND THAT SOME WEIRD DRAGON GOBBLES YOU UP I SURE AS HECKSLING WON’T SHED A TEAR!!!”

"Is that your boyfriend or something? I think Pinky is the jealous type Jasper...", Ace commented off to the side as Gary continued on in her unstoppable, outspoken anger.

“WIPE THAT OFF SACCHIN’S FACE! I don’t care if you use your skin! Or yourCONGEALED BLOOD in the shape of a towel! I DON’T CARE BECAUSE I HATE YOU! NOBODY TOUCHES MY SACCHIN, YOU GOT THAT!? YEAH YOU SURE WILL ONCE I’M DONE WITH YOU!I’m goNNA STICK MY POLE THROUGH YOUR HEAD AND-” The petite female's yammering was cut off by a familiar voice. Flicking her terrified, yet entertained attention towards the arriving guides, a sigh of relief escaped her and all worries seemed to flood out in an invisible bubble headed skywards.

“Oi cotton candy head, get off,” and he bent down, supportive hands wrapping around her bruised arms and shoulders in order to get her back up to a mobile position. A slight insecurity crept into her when he worriedly scanned over her figure in search for any major injuries. She still had both hands planted on his arms for much needed support. The childish offender and her current rescuer exchanged a brief recognition before the "bouncy-haired one" skipped back to her group in a satisfied manner, tending her "beloved" with a kleenex of sorts.

"You're all here," Serenade let out a relieved sigh. She glanced at the humans and noticed that they were all worse for wear, but they were alive and that was what mattered the most. "Why didn't you return to the meeting place--"

"Long time no see, Serenade. Songbird, you're looking just as grouchy and...who are you again?"

Now she was beyond confused. Their guides knew the attackers and the attackers knew the guides. Exhaustion and physical protests of anguish rejected questions that were trying to flood into her head with a force that was willing Jasper to collapse into a long, deep sleep.

"I'm glad you're all here and I'm sorry we couldn't have come earlier. Those people are bad news, I didn't know they'd be here...it's been so long since any of them made an appearance. Really, I apologize. Let's go--"

And that's when it a started. A soft, haunting hum at first, but it grew stronger by the millisecond. Its affects were not needed upon Jasper, for she dare not move, nor breath. She was utterly and completely unmoving, a palm still clutched to Song's sleeve. Hazy flashbacks of one's life displayed across her wide open pupils, the entire story tying itself together with every flitting scene made known to the humans. Then suddenly it ended. full control of her senses were returned as she felt them come surging back in an exhilarating flush of awakening shock.

Eyeballs the only thing she dared move, by the looks of the others, they had all witnessed the exact same thing as the next.

"We need to leave, now." Serenade announced in a hushed panic.

Jasper couldn't agree more.

"Two down, eight more to go." And his laughter filled the room. It would only be on person in the group to still expel a chuckle after all that had taken place this day and that person is Haruken.

"That was kind of trippy. So... What's next?" Ace followed, her voice brim full of innocence and eager.

Unclasping her grasp from the white-haired guide, she wobbled for the exit. The only thing her mind was willing to hash out to her, was a comforting image of a white, germ free bed.

Collaboration between Orpheus, Crescendo, and Fox



"What's next?" Serenade stared at the dazed humans and at the unconscious Hakuren. "Well, we have we came for, so let's head back. You all deserve a good rest and we need a little break too, don't we?" She raised an eyebrow at her fellow guides. After the Shakespearean and their run in with the Siren, they needed some time off. Hopefully the next item on the list would be something easier to obtain. Something like a donut from the ice cream mountains? Now, that would be a trip she wouldn't mind taking.

Harper reached out to pick up the list. There were only eight items left, but the next item, getting it would definitely be a challenge.


Well. They didn't look so bad. At least nobody was missing an arm; considering the reputation of the renegades the humans had faced, you'd expect that the guides would've found them piled on top of each other in a mangled heap. Ha. Songbird rolled his eyes. Maybe he was overreacting. This certain batch did look like wimps, though. Honestly.

His gaze raked the entirety of the scattered group and although he was duty bound to help the human who was most in need (Duty. Pfft.), he let that certain prerequisite slide in order to keep an eye on the slightly wobbly Jasper. He was not carrying Hakuren. Who knew when the little snapper would wake up and regale him with theories and the like? As if that wasn't reason enough, bringing Hakuren with him would ensure that Dissonance would stay by his side to pore over the human whom she thought looked cute (or whatever. Bunnies have weird tastes.) and Songbird wasn't ready for that... And he never will be.

"You all look like..." He started to expound on the fact that the humans appeared as if a gore worm ate them then spat them out, but realized Serenade might chew his face off if he made so much as a snarky comment. "Ugh. Item get. Great. Let's get you all out of here. A certain someone obviously wants to do said action," The item hunter tilted his head towards Jasper and then headed after her to the entrance of the cave. He really didn't care about the other humans as of yet. Yeah yeah, grill him for the lack of commitment, but it's not like anybody paid him any attention (asides from the occasional odd look) and a nobody's affection can't be bought, yo.

"What does it say?" Serenade approached Harper and noticed how the boy looked a little worried. "Is the next item something bad?"

He was exhausted, and after all they had been through, how could this be any worse. "That depends, are dragons in Nowhere bad news?"

"Dragons!" Dissonance hopped up with a grin. "Are we going to meet their riders too? Sis, sis, it's been so long."

The white rabbit's sudden exclamation attracted his attention and Songbird spun around, his eyes wide at the mention of the very word. "Dragons? Are you kidding me? They're ador- I mean. They're very friendly," He muttered, scratching his ear and blushing. Apparently someone had a crush on said creatures.

Serenade chuckled at Songbird's reaction. "The dragons here are like giant puppies. Harmless, really. You can ask Songbird all about it, he's been places."

"Oh, I see. I guess this is alright then." Harper let out a relieved sigh before Serenade motioned for him to get going.

"Martini would you mind helping with Haku?" Serenade assisted a fallen Leila and watched as the other guides helped out with the humans. The mermaid brought to life one of her bouncy bubbles and soon enough Haku was floating on a giant bubble. Dissonance followed after him and the two left the gave.

"C'mon Ace, Leon." Cello looked a little shaken but he gave them a grin, grabbed them by the wrists then dashed past Songbird and out the cave. Brandy lingered behind and made sure that none of the humans tripped on their way out. They were a little wobbly after all and he had to make sure that no one would get left behind. The queen would be rather upset if they lost even more humans. They had lost a handful back at the Shakesperean already, but this time they were lucky.

"Good job, everyone." Serenade stared at the docks in the distance and nodded her head. "Now let's go home, you all deserve some rest."

Home, this wasn't it. Maybe to the nobodies, but the humans, they had a long way to go.

Songbird grumbled something unintelligible and looked to the distance. Maybe he'll ask the Queen to let him go once they arrive back in the castle. These activities sure aren't helping him any with his usual job.

"It's marvelous, having you all back at the castle. Queen Delirium and I were getting rather lonely."

Schizophrenia had been talking for what felt like forever, but none of the words made any sense, and they were nothing but a dull buzz in Harper's ears. He felt empty, afraid, mad. He didn't quite understand, but it felt like he was sinking and staying afloat was terribly hard. He was drowning in the craziness of Nowhere and wanted to cling to whatever made sense. Sadly, in Nowhere, one plus one was a yellow humming bird and red and blue combined created rainbows. That was the problem, nothing made sense and it terrified him more than it probably should have.

However, that wasn't the problem at the moment. The problem was that they were forgetting more and more.

First, it was their birthdays and yesterday it was the color of his bike. The way little details were starting to flit away, the way names were becoming harder to recall, it all terrified him, rendered him unable to sleep. Nowhere was destroying them slowly, from the inside. If the chaotic stars and dragons didn't get them, then the insanity would. They had to complete that list and they had to do it soon. Why weren't the others as worried as him? Or maybe they were just better at hiding it? He didn't really know, though Harper wished he could be as brave as Hakuren or as calm as Mado.

He looked at all the pastries in front of him. He couldn't name half of it if he tried, but oddly, he wasn't hungry.

"Don't be shy, my lovelies. Eat, eat, after that little adventure you must all be famished." The Queen was seated on the other side of the long table, a teacup in hand and a generous smile on her face. After they returned from the town of Yonder, they were told to rest, but this mornight they had been invited for a cup of tea. Harper decided to go and the others did too though it wasn't mandatory and he noticed that a few of his fellow "Lost Souls" were nowhere in sight.

Harper decided to reach for a cinnamon bun. Everything smelled great, but it didn't feel right, feasting when people like Emily and Numair had fallen to their deaths from the Shakespearean. It could have been him, Leila or even Haku, but they had lived for some reason. They had been lucky. "Thank you very much, we appreciate all the help." He noticed Leila seated across from him and gave her a small, encouraging smile. "I have to ask though, what happened to them?"

The Queen frowned. "They failed, and there was nothing anyone could do. I'm sorry you had to run into them, dearies, but don't worry. We'll do everything in our power to help you. The guides will be with you every step of the way and I'll support you all the best I can." She looked genuinely upset.

Harper wondered why she was so nice. They hadn't done anything to deserve it. The citizens of Nowhere were lucky to have her. "It's appreciated, a lot. Thank you." He couldn't bring himself to say more so he took a sip of lemon rocky road tea while the Queen and Skitz chattered on and on about curtains and fancy dresses. By the looks of it, the Queen was planning another fancy ball to keep everyone happy and entertained. He stopped listening and turned to look at Leila. Harper decided to be friendlier than usual, they were in this together after all and their journey was far from over. "That mission was really interesting, huh?" Interesting...yeah, they had almost died. "I mean, how are you doing? How's Haku?" The two seemed closer than most and he believed Leila and Hakuren were friends. "How do you like, erm, Nowhere so far?" He couldn't remember ever speaking to Leila, so the process was just a tad awkward, but he persisted anyway.

Despite the lovely music in the background and the food scattered generously around the table, the atmosphere was heavy.

The New Hummons - The Cake Shop

The Cakesmith


"Oh me, oh my! I wasn't expecting guests. I'm terribly sorry for the mess...if I had known, I would have cleaned up a little." The Cakesmith was a chubby grizzly bear who towered over his guests, but he was very polite and gentlemanly in demeanor and on top of his head rested a top hat that was few sizes too small. "Do make yourselves comfortable as you wait. Stephen, I mean, Froggy will be here in a bit to pick you all up and bring you to the castle. It's not too far from here, but we don't want you getting lost. I mean you've been away from the rest of your batch for quite a bit now."

Mr. Cuddles ran the best bakeshop in Nowhere and was known for artistically designing his cakes. He was a master at what he did and the nobodies loved him for it, even the queen couldn't get enough of his cakes, tarts and muffins. His shop wasn't large, but he had a counter, and a few ovens here and there.

"Don't worry about it, Mr. Cuddles, am I right?" Riley gave the bear a toothy grin. He was an interesting character and he was very fluffy. It was a shame that they couldn't stay any longer, she would have loved to interview him. "Everything here looks great!"

"My, my, don't flatter me." He pulled back a chair and motioned for the girl to sit.

"Such a gentleman and adorable too." The girl sat down happily and watched as Mr. Cuddles offered both Vinny and Lesley a seat. D'aww he was so nice.

Mr. Cuddles tipped his hat to the trio then looked at the oven in the kitchen. "Inadi," he called out nicely. "Would you mind getting the cookies out of the oven before they burn? I don't want them the gingerbread men to start crying." The Cakesmith let out a hearty chuckle. Unlike, the trio that had arrived not too long ago, Inadi had been staying with him ever since the last train arrived. The poor boy was lost in the station so the Cakesmith took him in. He would have brought him to the queen, but he had been so busy. Thankfully, Stephen would be coming to pick the humans up soon. "Oh, and Inadi when you're done come say hello the guests." He turned to look at Lesley, Vince, and Riley. "He's such a sweet boy, he's been helping me around the bakeshop. Things have been so much easier, it's a shame you all have to go."

The giant grizzly bear waddled towards the kitchen and came back with a giant chocolate cake. He placed it on the table and gave his three guests a broad smile. "Let me cut the cake. Oh, and Idani, come get a slice, don't work yourself to death, lad." It was clear that Mr. Cuddles was the type who fussed over his friends. He disappeared inside the kitchen for a moment and came back with a very large and deadly looking axe.

Riley laughed. "Wow, that is some cake cutter, Mr. Cuddles. Vinvin, Lesley, whatcha guys think of Mr. Cuddles' knife?"

"Oh thank you, it's my favorite." The bear raised it high above his head and brought it down on the cake again and again and again. Icing flew all over the place, into his fur and onto his guest's faces. When he was through "cutting" the cake it looked more like a pile of mush. "Would any of you like to cut the pie?"

Riley scooped some of the frosting with her finger then stuffed it into her mouth. Despite the cake's bad appearance it actually tasted great! "Guys, mind if I cut the pie?" No one gave an immediate answer so she happily took the axe from Mr. Cuddles and gave them all a mischievous looking grin.

"Pie's in the kitchen." The bear stated before he called out to Inadi again. What was taking his assistant so long?

The Cake Shop

The man leaned back on the wooden chair, rocking it precariously on its hind legs as his own rested atop the table. The long, blonde haired man had been vacantly staring at the wooden ceiling above, and the fan that lazily spun around and around. His cheeks slowly moved up and down, up and down, chewing on a bright pink wad of gum that expanded into a balloon before popping and being sucked back into his mouth to be chewed upon again.

He was surrounded by what was close enough to be called heaven. The intoxicating smells of freshly prepared cakes, their frosting and icing, the delectable aroma of chocolate graced his senses, and the companionship of two women as beautiful as the ones he was with certainly helped to relax Vincent just right. But even then, he was gripped with apathy and boredom. Being in a cakeshop was all well and good, but he wanted something a bit more exciting to do, and waiting to be blessed by Mr. Cuddles’ latest creation was taking a little bit of time. Vincent had originally reached out to try and grab some of the confections lying behind the counter and help himself to an early treat, but was reprimanded by Mr. Cuddles and told to sternly wait, the bear’s face pushed right up against Vincent’s own and his eyes chillingly staring into his. Considering what Vincent had done when he first arrived at Nowhere, he decided to play it safe and wait. Arguing with a bear… well, he wasn’t scared, but it sounded like a great deal of effort he could do without. He could wait a little bit longer for some cake, if needed.

His body almost collapsed to the ground, the back of his head smacking the wooden floor as he kicked his legs off. The cake had been served, but that was not all. Mr. Cuddles’ axe hacked through the chocolatey goodness served them, and if he was a second later, perhaps Vincent’s feet as well. But fortunately, in the nick of time, his legs had been spared, even if his pride hadn’t. Although Vincent seemed less then bother, instead reaching forward and grabbing a fistful of cake. He had been forced to sit around waiting for this the whole time. It had better be worth it.

Luckily for the bear, it was.

"Guys, mind if I cut the pie?" Riley asked, flashing the axe carefreely. Vince shrugged his shoulders.

“If you want, babe.” He pulled out his gum, marvelling at how well it matched Lesley’s flowing locks, before discreetly squishing it to the underside of his chair. “Me, I think I’m gonna stick with the cake. This is… good, Mr. Cuddles.” Vincent stuffed his face. “Ith realth goodth.”

In the kitchen the smell of baked sweets and delicious sugar filled deserts filled the room. There was no way for the smell to travel out of the room, but the movement of Inadi Sihma was causing enough of a gust at times to seem like three fans were moving around in the room. The boy had seemingly become the right hand man of Mr. Cuddles at the bakeshop since he arrived at Nowhere, a place he still had to get some used to considering that he was working for what he could only describe as a real life version of that giant bear Kuma from the Tekken series. Thinking about it as Inadi fanned out the oven to pull out the cookies Mr. Cuddles had told him to get, the boy let out a happy sigh that at least there was no panda his boss was chasing after.

Once the smoke cleared from the oven Inadi quickly grabbed the tray in his mitt-covered hand and set it down on the top of the oven. Closing the oven door he began taking off his mitts while looking over the kitchen as a whole. While he would have loved to go out and enjoy some of what he had made with the help of Mr. Cuddles, there was still so much to be done. He leaned his head closer to the doorway where he knew everyone was enjoying themselves and let out a call to his boss. "I'd love to join boss but I'm afraid there are still some orders we have to take care of. I have to check to see how the angel loaf is doing in oven number two and after that I still have to prepare the dough for those tarts. The customer is supposed to be coming in for them in about..." Inadi decided to stare up at a clock in the kitchen and began to have a sudden realization.

There was a way to tell time in Nowhere itself, but what about his home? What about what he felt should be called "Somewhere"? How long had it been since he was back home? Was time the same here as it was there? What about his family and friends? Were they looking for him and worried where he had gone? The whole concept made him realize that he was totally left in the dark about the other world. Worse yet was the fact he hadn't thought about it in what felt like forever. He just accepted that this was him home now for the moment. He gave a pity chuckle to himself as he rubbed the back of his neck. He didn't even try to fight against fate it seems.

Slowly coming back to the moment he turned to face the doorway again. He realized he had yet to finish his thought all the way out. "The customer will be here for those tarts in about two hours," he said with a chuckle. He began walking over to the dough and began covering it with flour. "If we hurry we should be able to get them out at the last second if we hurry here." Smiling again as he heard the group outside enjoying the many fine pastries of Mr. Cuddles. Inadi always thought it was a shame that they were crushed and turned into a sloppy mess due to his boss' 'knife'. The amount of things that could go wrong with that thing. It made the boy shutter as he starting rolling out the dough for the tarts.

Ace had never been in the castle. It was a whole new wonder for her. "Hey Leon this place is amazing isn't it?!" There were a few times she wandered off, getting lost even, but soon enough she was escorted by a few guards back to where everyone was congregated. That would go on a few times before she actually decided to sit still. It was pretty complicated though because everything interested her. When she had first arrived, her wounds were treated but before she got the approval to leave, she was off exploring.

Ace had met Queen Delirium. She was a little less than formal... Okay so not very formal at all. But it wasn't her fault she never learned things like that! Anyway, this time in her exploration of the castle she found Harper, Leila, and the Queen all gathered at a table. "Oh, food." Ace said, walking inside. Before she said a greeting, she reached over to grab one of the tasty looking brownies on the table, but just as she reached over she paused. There was a childlike pout on her face as she mentally scolded herself. The girl removed her hands and place them behind her back. "Um. Good day to you guys. I hope you're...um, well rested. And...yeah."

She waited for a few seconds. There was obvious contemplation on her face. 'Has it been long enough? I think I can get a brownie...now.' That is when she reached over, on Harper's side for a brownie. Instead of running off with the sweets, Ace took a seat. She had been wandering around since she got there, much to the nurses' discontent. It couldn't have hurt to sit down for a few minutes. "These are delicious!" Ace exclaimed, tasting a few more sweets. Ace never had such nice food before, once again it was a new experience. Her attention caught on to a lit candle, and she stared at it in a mesmerized way. Along with the other wild oddities of the red head...she also had an affinity for fire. ....What could go wrong with that?

Again, one of her common courtesy 'lessons' kicked in and she didn't try to grab the candle. "So... Um... Hi." Not being able to move around or mess with things made her a little fidgety and trying to accomplish being calm was awkward for Ace.
'I wonder if everyone else will be joining soon.'

"Oh by the way Miss Queen, your castle looks nice by the way."

The mouth watering smells of sweets and desserts hit his nose before they had even reached the entrance to bakery. Tongue beginning to salivate in anticipation, Lesley was already commencing into giddy skipping and hardly suppressed fits of giggles as the three of them made their way towards the origin of the ambrosial aroma. Locks of bouncy pink curls 'boinged' up and down in excitement as Riley took hold of the door handle, bracing himself for the certain exhale of delicacy filled perfume about to collide with his senses the moment the bakery entrance gave way. Lids gripped tight, his long, skeletal fingers curled up into a white-knuckled fist of excitement, the waft of diet-destroying breeze finally embraced his nostrils in a much awaited nuzzle. But the man was greedy, he didn't bother waiting for the scent to creep into his nose. Oh no, no, no. The impatient "snorted" the air in the room like it had been doused in cocaine and he was the drug addict. His schnoz flared to its utmost extent, he breathed in the atmosphere of the pastry parlor in a delight brimful of greed.

Mr.Cuddles: "Oh me, oh my! I wasn't expecting guests. I'm terribly sorry for the mess...if I had known, I would have cleaned up a little. Do make yourselves comfortable as you wait. Stephen, I mean, Froggy will be here in a bit to pick you all up and bring you to the castle. It's not too far from here, but we don't want you getting lost. I mean you've been away from the rest of your batch for quite a bit now."

They were greeted by a plump, pudgy brown bear who appeared wholly welcoming. The shop owner's face held an overemphasized grin matched with dull, animalistic teeth. Lesley heard nothing of what the giant teddy just said, the only thing that presented itself in is puny little brain was an image of man tackling this 'uber' cuddly looking furry mammal.





Yet, Lesley was still unsure of Mr.Cuddle's true nature, therefore the following scenario that played across his imagination made him think twice about his first impulsive urge.

Because of Lesley's ADD-ish tendencies, his mind was quickly whisked away from the adorable Cakesmith, to the actual pastries within the display counter of the shop. Literally gluing his eyeballs to the glass barriers that lay between him and the sugary edible goods, he constantly swallowed mouthfuls of slobber as he held his tongue within it's cage(mouth) as it tried to slip out and lick the glass itself. "GAAAHHHHH!!!", he yanked at his strawberry hued hair in grueling frustration,

Marveling at the untouchable yummies sitting mockingly within its illuminated stage, he pried himself off the display case like a starfish detaching from a rock the moment he heard these words uttered,

Mr.Cuddles:"Let me cut the cake. Oh, and Idani, come get a slice, don't work yourself to death, lad."



Scampering towards the arrangement at which the others were seated, he plopped his bony bottom on one of the wooden chairs and scooched in noisily until his bottom half was beneath the surface of the table. Playing with his cheeks whilst waiting for tubby teddy to return, the male was momentarily distracted, gaze constantly flitting about the bakery as he stared hungrily at other cakes and sweets on stands.

Riley:"Wow, that is some cake cutter, Mr. Cuddles. Vinvin, Lesley, whatcha guys think of Mr. Cuddles' knife?"

The cake slaughtering cutting seconds that followed were composed of Lesley's gaping jaw jumping about the dining exterior while his glare remained transfixed to the horrifying acts unfolding with each hammering blow to the delicate loaf, mixtures of both bread and icing splattering across his face whilst the act continued. But his initial terror and hint of fear were completely wiped out for some chunks of gateau miraculously flew its way into his mouth and the blast of long expected flavor jaded his feelings, leaving him content and longing for more!

Mr.Cuddles:"Would any of you like to cut the pie?"

The look on Riley's face glimered with mischievous intent and it could only mean bad news.

Queen Delirium's castle was the place Two-Thirds was second-most familiar with, if we exclude his tea garden or lump it in the same ranking with his tea house. The queen is lovely. No only because she was a fan of his tea, she was generally a very nice queen who was a fan of his tea. Not only does Two-Thirds often makes exclusive services to the queen's castle to freshly blend tea for her, her wishes accounts for his trips down the tree a high percentage of 3.75 blue rainbows of the trips.

Today was no exception. Two-Thirds stood by the small table behind and slightly to the right of the queen with a pleasant smile set into his features. The table was lined with two rows of small tin containers, with each container engraved with a different design on its surface and its respective lids beside each container. Inside each container is dried coloured leaves, flowers, spices, and fruits and a small spoon. Although Two-Thirds can pinch the amounts he wants more accurately with his nails than using the spoon, he dared not to perform such a disrespectful act to the Queen's tea. Instead, he demonstrated surprising dexterity in manoeuvring the small spoon with his long nails.

Two-Thirds layered the materials into a special gradient and then filled boiled water into the tea pot. He handed the pot to Schizophrenia.

"Spring," he introduced with the same smile.

He was glad that there's still plenty of humans left from the last adventure. It would certainly be a shame if there are less humans to taste his tea, wouldn't it? Speaking of humans, he wondered how the other group was doing. The nobody heard that they went to the cake shop. Hearing that, he wasn't too worried. Mr. Cuddles makes spectacular cakes. Not only does Two-Thirds sometimes order a little of his (cut) goods for his shop, he also enjoys the occasional cake (that he cut himself, because oh, who doesn't enjoy cutting cakes?).

 

Zombie-like, she stumbled clumsily towards the docks, her vision flitting in and out of consciousness. Hearing footsteps approaching from behind, she knew the group had begun to follow her lead onto their grand leave to rest and regeneration. Yet, she could clearly make out the scrambled mumbles about the next quest, it had something to do with dragons. Her head was spinning in a slow motion tornado and the entire boat ride could only be pictured as a Jasper sitting upright, eyes half closed, body completely limp, back hunched and an excruciatingly exhausted mannerism to her. All she did was stare out into the foggy unknown of Siren Lake as they left the same way they had entered just a few days ago. Was it just a couple of days? Again this quest had felt like months and time seemed to stretch out into eternity here in Nowhere.

---

"And dis how you do it hunny" the elderly said with a warm smile as she tilted the cream filled pitcher back onto its bottom. What steamed in front of them was no longer just a cup of coffee, it was art. The leaves of the dairy fern swirled through the roasted brown color of the caffeine, a warming mist permeating from it. Picking up her own pot of heavy milk, she stared contemplatively at the blank canvas of the dark coffee, thinking hard about what image she would pour into the undisturbed liquid. Grinning as she finally settled on her choice, Jasper began to carefully tip the spout, allowing regulated amounts of cream leave the narrowed opening. She moved her hands in a steady motion without any sharp turns or edges, the picture forming delicately into her desired outcome. Returning the container back to its balanced stature, the senile Asian senior patted her back proudly. "It's beautiful Jasper."
A white rose contrasted well with black coffee.
~
A form stirring beneath the thick duvet covers, Jasper let out a soft murmur as she woke from the pleasant dream. It had been a treasured memory, a learning session from... what was her name? How could she forget her own manager's name or better yet, her long lost grandmother of no actual relations name! Rubbing her eyes frantically whilst pushing a hand against the mattress to get her into a sitting position, she racked her brain to remember the old lady's name.
~10 minutes later~
'I can't believe it! I have no clue. Just an O... that's all I know. It started with the letter O!' She threw her hands up in frustration as she paced back and forth around the room.
Another thing she didn't know was that she had slept through two whole days in the castle. Maids would knock on her locked door every couple of time periods, yet gave up when no response was given.

Stepping towards the vanity, she seated herself on an expensive looking chair and faced the mirror. Studying her face, she wondered how she had gotten so clean after getting off the boat. In fact, she couldn't recall exiting the water craft at all. Gaze trailing down to her apparel, she noticed she was currently in a white night gown that paired well with her pale skin tone and pallid hair. Grabbing the seemingly unused brush which sat atop the vanity surface, she ran its teeth through her knots till all her strands lay flat and presentable. A floral dress sat patiently at the foot of the bed as well and she didn't bother throwing a tantrum over it since she had worn something much worse than that upon her arrival to the Queen's abode. Slipping her head through the hole above, she wiggled a bit until its hem fell in soft waves just above her knees. Much to her surprise, the article of clothing was rather comfortable and airy.

Pushing the large door open just a crack, a kind mouse outfitted in a blue dress and a white apron greeted her with a smile. "The Queen is waiting, please follow me."
Jasper trailed her footsteps silently until she was lead into a room with the others and the entrance was shut behind her. Skitz and Delirium were preoccupied with their conversation to notice her soundless entrance as the two did not cease their babbling. Already she felt insecure about her bruise covered legs and arms, which had actually reduced in hue over her healing time, as she took a seat at the dessert spotted table. Nothing was out of the ordinary of course. Plates upon plates of sweets were disseminated throughout the dining surface, Ace digging in gleefully. Jasper flashed back to when she had reacted the same way on her first day attending Queen Delirium's welcome party.

Though she hadn't eaten for a couple of days now, knowledge she had been made aware of by the mouse maid who was apparently assigned to care for her during her stay in the castle, her appetite was on the down low at the moment. All she did was stare at the spread of food laid out before them, yet she felt no urge to take her pick, simply sitting there. Straightening out the fabric of the dress on her lap, she folded her hands together neatly and focused her blank attention on the enormous vase of candy flowers sitting smack dab at the center of the table.

The Cake shop


“Me, I think I’m gonna stick with the cake. This is… good, Mr. Cuddles. Ith realth goodth.”

The bear let out a hearty laugh before he puffed out his chest in pride. "I'll assure you, I'm the best cakesmith Nowhere's square has ever seen." He beamed at Vincent. Mr. Cuddles always felt giddy with joy whenever people enjoyed his desserts, and whenever he saw them eating happily, he felt like he was on cloud nine. "If you like Vincent I could send you off with a batch of my best tarts, maybe a few of my chocolate rolls. I make more than enough, so what's a few treats to help the four of you on your quest. What do you say, would the three of you not mind some extra luggage?"

"Mr. Cuddles...you have to be kidding. Your desserts are to die for, I wouldn't mind carrying a cart-full of your cake." Riley walked out of the kitchen with the pie in one hand and the axe in the other. "Thanks Inadi," oddly, Mr. Cuddles' axe was really light, but eh, Nowhere was a strange a place.

The bear blushed. "Ho ho, you humans love to flatter, don't you? And ugh, the boy is still working?"

Riley nodded as she placed the pie in front of Lesley and grinned rather deviously. "Watch your hands, boys." The girl brought the axe down, cutting not just the pie, but the pie tray and a part of the table. "Oh...oops" she left the Axe in front of Lesley and scrambled to sit on the couch, both hands folded on her lap. The girl was rather good at feigning innocence. Poor, poor Lesley.

"I'd love to join boss but I'm afraid there are still some orders we have to take care of. I have to check to see how the angel loaf is doing in oven number two and after that I still have to prepare the dough for those tarts. The customer is supposed to be coming in for them in about..."

Mr. Cuddles let out a sigh and marched towards the kitchen. The bear was almost eight feet tall so lifting Inadi off the ground by his shoulders was quite an easy task. "You listen here, Inadi." His voice was now stern. "A family that stays together eats together so goshdarnit, you are eating cake with the rest of us." He marched out of the kitchen with Inadi in hand and plopped him down on the free chair between Vince and Lesley. "I don't want you working yourself to death, boy, and you're leaving today so at least relax." He dusted some of the flour off of Inadi's shirt before he started to get emotional.

"You okay, Mr. Cuddles?" The girl asked from her spot on the couch.

The giant grizzly let sniffled. "Oh...I'm going to miss you dearly." He pulled Inadi into a very tight hug before giving the lad a pat on the head. "I appreciate everything you've done, but you must be with your own kind now!" He placed an arm over Vince's and Lesley's shoulders before pulling them into a fluffy embrace. "Promise me you'll watch over my little assistant, he's not the bravest person out there and oh...I feel worried." The unfolding drama was a little bit awkward but Riley was spared from the hugs and snickered at her fellow human's discomfort and at Mr. Cuddle's crushing display of affection.

Riley reached for the bowl of chocolates as Mr. Cuddles pulled the three boys into a hug.

"Don't worry about me though, I won't be alone! In no time Mrs. Panda will find me irresistible." And after that he began telling them all about the Panda bear who ran an ice cream parlor in the south side of Nowhere. He launched into a tale of how pretty she was and how he was trying to win her heart with his pastries.

Just outside the window, a cloaked figure stared, took one last, long look then walked away.

Riley waved then returned to the hilarious soap opera that was unfolding in front of her.