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[noble_rook]

Enter a white rook, armed and wearing an Alyssian badge. While normally cheerful enough, he's currently wary, as he seems to have wandered far from his intended path.

"I say! What is this place?"

It doesn't look much like Wonderland, after all.

The White Rook, from Frank Beddor's The Looking Glass Wars.

Comments

[h_shapedvein]

Here! Have a Halfer-Alyssian who is sure to know him. "Hey there!"

[noble_rook]

He grins. "Hello, Molly!"

[h_shapedvein]

"Good to see a more cheery Alyssian about. Renegade Anders is about somewhere too." She beams, brightly. "Don't even ask about this place, but the Alyssians who've stumbled on it are grateful. Chance to rest up and get a decent meal."

[noble_rook]

"To be fair, Dodge hasn't got much reason to be cheerful." He looks thoughtful. "Rest is all well and good, but I hope there's a way back to Wonderland from here--?"

[transferoflight]

Alyss is still simply a Princess, not yet returned to Wonderland to reclaim her throne, but she recognizes the White Rook, the one who saved her Dodge from the Cat's clutches.

"I remember you." A dazzling smile, lit up by the Imaginative glow that follows her.

[noble_rook]

"Do you?" He raises his eyebrows, surprised. She looks familiar -- it's been years, and the face hers calls to mind is a much more childish one, but it's a rather striking coincidence that she's just the right age. Still, he's fully aware it's a ridiculous notion, and pushes it aside, smiling politely and making a short bow. "I'm afraid you have me at a disadvantage, then. I could swear I've never had the pleasure."

[transferoflight]

"I do." A pause. "You saved my...best friend from the Cat during Redd's coup."

[noble_rook]

The pieces are starting to fit together, and while the picture they're forming is vague and more than a little uncertain, his memory is not.

So he bows low. It may go against all reason, but he knows exactly who it is he's speaking to now. It couldn't be anyone else. "Then I am honoured to have been of service."

[youthfulbravado]

It seemed like ages since Dodge had last seen his companion, the one person... chessman, rather, who he had considered a friend since Redd had taken over.

He leans against a wall casually-enough and speaks. "They call it the Mansion. It was a nice break from things in Wonderland, but the Cat is here now..."

[noble_rook]

"I've heard. Any trouble yet?"

[youthfulbravado]

"Yes. I swear, if I get my hands on him..."

[delighteddad]

This is a blink, and then a slight smile. "It's not Wonderland, and that's about all I can tell you at this point."

[noble_rook]

"I figured as much." He makes a bow, to conceal his surprise as much as to show respect. "I am . . . glad to see you well, your majesty."