Tzar Kohla's Story

The face of a rare flower caught Dore’s eye, and quickly stepping up next to it, he glanced around with with dark brown eyes for something else to follow. Ah, there! A frog bounded forward a few steps, and Dore caught up to it, taking mincing steps along with the green amphibian. Its slimy back glinted slightly in the sun, disgustingly. Then, out of fear of the approaching human, it dived into a hole, and with a grimace, Dore stood in place.

There was nowhere else to go.

Around him, there were a few trees and other plants, but nothing really important, or sentient that he could actually follow. Another pause later, and he took a halting step forward, foot trembling before planting on the ground. Dore took a deep breath, before another shaking pace continued his forward momentum. All he needed was someone to appear, and with enough work, he would one day find Dee’s sanity. And then, everything will turn back into the way that it should have been. Dore’s grasp on his multicolored rattle, his one tool, shifted as his palm became wet with sweat.

There was a boy, about the same age that he was, sitting by a green bush. Maybe 14? 16? Something in between? His dark hair and almost-blue-hued eyes caught Dore’s attention, and with slightly faster footfalls, he trekked closer. He leaned against a tree’s bark, out of sight, before taking a more closer look at the brat. He was obviously observing his surroundings in a detached manner, but did not seem to be exactly paying the most care to the more dangerous members of Underland.

Which he was not a member of.

And what he had to rescue Dee from.

Quietly, with almost apathetic boredom, he addressed the boy, still leaning on the far side of the tree. “You’re lucky that it’s me that found you and not anyone else.” He twisted out of the shadow, to stand almost in front of the brat. “If you value your life, you’d best be getting out of such an obvious position.” Then a pause. “Just don’t expect me to help you, unless you have something of use. Count yourself warned - not everyone’s as nice as I am.”

… Although he really hoped that the boy would be going somewhere interesting. Being the only moveable object in this entire wilderness, Dore really didn’t have a choice but to follow him. … Almost like a sidekick. “D-” There was no really point in asking him for permission to follow him. so with his brain moving at fast speed, he quickly changed what he was going to say. “Dum. I’m Tweedle Dum.” Spreading his arms away from him, he gave a slight smirk. “Remember that name. If you prove useful, I’ll keep you alive.”

The boy jumped in fear, and Dore almost gave a laugh. He, personally, was harmless compared to the rest of the denizens of Underland, as they have fallen under the sway of the all-too tempting words of the Red Queen. He would have given himself to that long ago, had not... the insanity dissuaded him a little too well. “D-Dangerous… value my life… w-what’s so dangerous in this place?” If Dore had possessed some of the sadistic tendencies that he saw so often, he would have gotten a thrill from the stuttering, halting words. As it was so, all he felt was a slight tinge of pity - he needed someone who would go into the deepest depths of life itself in order to rescue Edward.

Bringing his attention back to the present, the dark-haired child moved - fiddling with his clothing and belongings, before staring at everything with a wondrous, and maybe still frightened look. He continued to speak, although his voice had not become more calm in the brief pause.“Twe-Tweedle Dum? T-That’s a nice name… I’m… I’m Tzar.” Out of a reflex action, the brown-haired Tweedle Dum, nearly finished the sentence for him - with an extremely familiar name: Edward. Realizing his mistake with the utmost embarrassment, he attempted to hide his actions by shifting slightly on his feet. He was no longer there, and he - there was no point in falling back into his old habits. “Nice to meet you.” So now he had a handle to call the boy, hmm, interesting.

The boy, Tzar, he corrected himself, seemed to be on the edge of breaking down mentally, if he could say anything about that. “Ah, Tzar, is it?” he said with a semblance of a smile, waving his empty hand - with its remaining three fingers - in the semblance of a salute. Dore had already gotten used to the strange disability, and without a pause, dropped his hand back to his side. “It’s good to meet someone, and I dreadfully hope that I will be seeing you again in the future.” Another brief period of silence, while he looked around at the surroundings. Nothing else moved other than the boy, so he supposed that he had no choice.

“Danger? Underland wears a pretty mask to calm down little naive people like you, but underneath, well… I don’t want to scare you too much, now, do I?” His voice was sour and dour, but inwardly, he gave a small laugh. Maybe it wasn’t the nicest thing to do, but the boy’s jumpiness was really amusing. Backing away to continue leaning against the tree with a semblance of nonchalance, he continued with his speech, although his dark brown eyes scoured that Tzar's face closely for a reaction. “Although, if you want a grand tour of this place, you might want to stand just a little bit closer. About a meter away from my feet.”

”I… I guess a tour would be nice… T-thanks…” came a nervous answer from Tzar, nodding as he spoke. As he waited for the boy to take that extremely helpful step in his direction, Dore observed his motions. The boy scanned his surroundings warily, before scratching his head. Then, feeling a little too visible in the sunlight, Tweedle Dum stepped backwards into the shade of the tree, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

Maybe he was slightly nervous. It had been ever so long, after all, before he had met someone that was slightly more sane than usual… Not since Edward had lost it somewhere. This was a blessing, yes, but Dore did not quite know if this was the way that people acted any more. Being one of the few sane members of Underland - who at the very least, had a little bit less of that all-driving need to kill. Plus, the boy wasn’t all that talkative, so following him around did not mean having to deal with inundation of noises. The boy continued to speak, to Dore’s amusement. “Y-you said this place h-hid it’s true nature… How… How do I know you’re not just tricking me…?”

…

Well, it was nice that he was thinking about the dangers for once. But - he had made up his mind, and going back on that wasn’t the smartest idea. Plus, what kind of murderer walked around with a rattle?

… Well, he had killed with it before…

However, before he could answer, an older woman approached them, arms crossed. “I am Lucia Malvure. I’m an officer on the trail of a suspected kidnapping ring. You two match the photos of two missing people, so I must ask… What are your names?” What was most surprising was that she was holding a saber out of all possible things - was it really so commonplace? But other than that, Dore could not help but notice that her eyes were stoic, almost emotional.

He almost ignored her - he wasn’t the type to deal with more than one person at a same time. ‘Tweedle Dee and’ was what Edward would have started with, and with almost an unpleased frown, Dore could do little more than to imagine exactly how it would sound. That brief pause later, he finally spoke. “Tweedle Dum,” he muttered, leaning back against the rough bark of the tree. “You’re looking for the wrong person and in the wrong place.” Forgetting his previous unhappiness, his lips curled up into a taunting smile, as he ran his fingers through his dark hair.

Raising his three-fingered left hand, he tapped an imaginary object in the air. “So, kid, scared of me now?” Dore asked, still mockingly. “But think. If I really wanted to claim that head of yours for a trophy, would I be engaging in this banter?” He clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth. “There are many that would take such an insult as an excuse to kill. You’d best be careful.”