The Lost One in Alices' Garden
ARC 02 Clover Forest
Chapter 17 Wu Ming Means Nameless
He picked up a dried, thin wooden stick from the ground and kept it on his right arm, together with the other thin, dried sticks he had gathered earlier. His steps halted as his blue eyes gazed at the beautiful dark sky, illuminated by small, bright stars and grey, green, and blue moons; he was mesmerized by their beauty and wondered how they could be so beautiful despite their world being so mad. Lowering his head, his gaze landed on a certain girl.
"Let's go back, Hatter." A smirk played on his face after a moment of silence. What she was carrying were leaves freshly fallen from the trees, along with some dried leaves.
"I just hope those leaves are enough to shut up that waste of space."
"If these are still not enough, then he can just get some himself."
He huffed, excited to see whether he'd complain, as recently that cat man had been behaving around Wu Ming for a reason unknown.
Arriving at the chosen spot for their camp, they saw only Green Rabbit sitting quietly, as they had asked.
"I hope White won't return crying," she said, dumping the leaves next to the female rabbit.
"We'll see," Hatter replied, also dumping the branches in the center of the area. "He is with an insufferable bastard, after all," he said, crouching down and arranging the branches.
"Shall you hunt for food next time with Cheshire?"
"I don't mind."
She paused, a thought invading her head. "Never mind, you might bring Cheshire as food instead."
"I won't do that. That would be disgusting. However, Cheshire might not come back anymore."
"Another bad end."
"Not really right," she said. She couldn't agree more.
The Alice didn't know if she should be thankful that White didn't return in tears like the last time, or if she should be worried that White looked more depressed and distant from the cat.
"What's up this time?" Literally, the girl human could have just dropped White's issue; she was already exhausted from the long walk and little adventure for today. Besides, knowing Cheshire, he definitely said something that depressed the lad.
"I don't know how to start..." That very sentence confirms Hatter's and the Alice's suspicions.
"Cheshire, not everyone can keep up with your head."
Dropping different types of ingredients, such as frog heads with fish tails, human-faced birds, and misshapen fruits, Cheshire huffs, "It wasn't my fault that they are mentally weak."
Hatter frowns, "You're just too dark, stupid cat."
"And you are as dumb as them!"
"Hah! You bastard! We really shouldn't have picked you up!"
He scoffs, "Hah! Too bad, Shortie! Unlike you, we can survive without you; I'm too relevant!"
The Alice holds her forehead, "I actually regret picking him up."
Cheshire gasps, presses his chest, and mouths agape, "Oh my gosh!" His eyes are wide open, but no one pays him any mind anymore, nor does he pay attention to himself, as he, White, and Green Rabbit clean the ingredients; Hatter begins to light a fire, and the Alice is laying out the leaves to act as their bed later.
"Wu Ming…" everyone turns their heads to the man who speaks it out loud, confusion written on their faces.
"Finally snapped, Little Fairy?" Cheshire butts in, frowning.
"Like hell I would, bastard!" Hatter snaps for real this time. He turns back to the nameless girl, "From now on, I'll call you Wu Ming!"
"Lame!" Cheshire retorts.
"Why Wu Ming?" White asks in curiosity, trying his best to ignore the complaining cat, all to make sure nothing will lead to another quarrel. "What does it mean?"
"Wu Ming means Nameless." The 11th Alice stares at Hatter blankly. "Since you don't like being called 'Alice' and having a name could lead you to becoming part of our world completely, I just thought Wu Ming is better." Cheshire sighs in disappointment, making Hatter frown. "What now, stupid cat?"
"Where the heck do you even get that, Hatrack?" Cheshire questions. "What kind of language did it come from?"
The 11th Alice narrows her eyes, staring at the cat. "Language?"
Cheshire hums as he turns to the girl he calls Kitten. "What about it?" He raises his eyebrow in question, but instead of waiting for additional words from her, he brushes aside the topic he started himself with. "Anyways, that's so lame! I should have expected it from a Hatrack!"
"You bastard! You really don't know anything but complain!"
"And you have a limited vocabulary, always starting your words with a restricted choice of words."
"I believe it is only on you," the 11th Alice speaks to Cheshire.
"Setting Hatter's little brain aside~"
"Stupid cat!"
"I'll still call you Kitten."
"Just what are you making her into? Your child? Stop calling her that!"
"There's nothing wrong with becoming my kitten! It'll be way worse if she becomes your child! Just imagine yourself wearing those super lame, ugly hats every single time!"
"My hats aren't lame or ugly! You're the one who is ugly!"
"Ahhh! They started it again!" White almost cried, nearly losing his grip on the stick of his chimera frog.
"Hey, White, Green Rabbit," the two youngsters turn to 11th Alice, "is what Hatter said true?"
"What do you mean?"
"About having a name here."
The tiger and the rabbit look at each other; their expressions tell that they have no idea about it, and they are as confused as she is. The 11th Alice sighs, aware that she won't get any answers from them.
"Don't ask them! Don't ask them! I'm the broker here; believe only me!" Cheshire changes his course of attention.
"Huh?! You are the most untrustworthy creature here!"
"Calm down, Hatter. Cheshire, please stop provoking him for now."
'Why only "for now"?' all the inhabitants of that world question her wording internally.
"But you know…" White takes their attention in the hope that they will stop, "I think 'Wu Ming' is better than calling her names like 'Kitten.'"
"Besides, it's not Cheshire who will use that name; it is her," Green Rabbit finally joins in their conversation.
"That's right!" Hatter shows his agreement with the two. "So how is it?" he asked the girl in question, turning to her with a proud smile.
The 11th Alice simply shrugs; she literally doesn't mind any names as long as it's not Alice.
"I will still call you Kitten," Cheshire pouted.
"Why are you so persistent...?"
Finishing that conversation before Hatter and Cheshire could start another fight, Wu Ming heaved a deep breath.
The four creatures, along with the only humans, continued their journey the next day. Now with the name girl, Wu Ming halted in her steps, scanning the area and making the others stop as well.
"What's up, Wu Ming?" White asks in concern.
"This place…"
"You realized?" Cheshire speaks up. "We're going to meet Caterpillar again."
"Caterpillar?" White sounds confused.
"Why is that?" Wu Ming questions.
"Caterpillar's place is located in the center of this forest; that's why no matter where you came from, you'll eventually meet him."
Wu Ming hums in understanding, while White is being filled in by Hatter as they continue.
They haven't even gone far from where they stopped when something caught Wu Ming's attention, halting them again.
At the base of one of the trees, a sleeping teenage girl with brown curly hair and side bangs is sitting. Atop her head, a pair of black rabbit ears can be clearly seen. She is wearing a red sleeveless collared shirt, a black skirt, red knee socks, and black T-strap heels.
Wu Ming walks over to the sleeping rabbit girl and crouches down to get a better view, allowing her to see the rabbit's red lips and pale skin.
"Who?" Wu Ming mumbles. A nostalgic longing begins to sprout inside her, accompanied by pain, which she finds strange. "Does anyone know her?" she asks curiously of her companions, but for the first time, none can tell.
While deciding what to do, the rabbit finally wakes up. Her blue eyes widen, and her jaw drops as shock and disbelief paint her face. The black rabbit mutters a silent word of disbelief, but her sapphire-colored eyes slowly become teary, revealing her longing, although none could see it.
"Ah! She woke up!" White pointed out, which made the others turn to the black rabbit lady. To their shock, the lady latched onto the only human in their group and happily rubbed her cheek against the other.
"I've been wanting to see you!"
"Woah! An Alice fanatic!" Cheshire exclaimed.
"Good luck not pissing Wu Ming off," Hatter spoke up.
"Anno… shouldn't we…" White was cut off by Cheshire.
"No need. She doesn't look like she will do harm to Kitten."
"Are you still really going to call her that?" That comment from White made Cheshire feel proud of himself; the lad only sighed at his eccentric behavior. "It's useless…"
"You are only wasting your breath and energy," Hatter said.
"You're really one to talk." Oh! How badly White wanted to cry because of these two.
Wu Ming lightly pushed the rabbit, who immediately created a small distance between them, confusion written on her face.
"Who are you?" If no one could give her an answer, then she would seek it herself.
"Hmm? What do you mean?" The rabbit tilted her head. "Oh right!" she said as realization struck her hard. "I'm sorry, let me introduce myself. I'm—" the stranger paused, "as you can see, I'm a black rabbit, and so everyone is calling me Black Rabbit!"
"Black Rabbit? Never heard of you," Cheshire claimed as he and the rest approached the two girls.
"Hmm? And you are?" Black Rabbit asked with a playful smile.
"Cheshire, broker."
Still smiling, Black Rabbit's eyes narrowed as she kept staring at the broker cat with a coy smile. "My~ nice to meet you, Cheshire! You're quite famous, you know~"
"I know, right!" Cheshire felt high-spirited after hearing that.
"And you guys…"
"Oi! Don't leave me hanging!" Cheshire almost yelled in complaint.
"Hatter."
"Hatter? Ah, so you are Hatter! Quite handsome, aren't you?"
Hatter sighed, trying to contain his excitement at the compliment so he wouldn't turn like the cat. "Thanks… I guess," he replied.
"Aww! Hatter is trying to act cool, but you are still lame as ever!" Another quarrel between the hat rack and the cat began. Wu Ming, White, and Green Rabbit watched the scene; they just could not believe how these two always went for each other's throats over the smallest things.
"You are?" The other rabbit maiden looked at the black one, feeling her eyes on her.
"Green Rabbit..." Black Rabbit nodded, turning to White this time.
"And you...?"
White hesitated. So far, whenever his name was mentioned, everyone would start throwing hurtful words at him. "White..." He didn't even lock gazes, making the new rabbit narrow her eyes and hum.
Finally feeling her legs going numb in their current position, Wu Ming stood up, which Black Rabbit copied.
"Hey, I want to join you guys!"
"So sudden... why?"
"Because you guys seem like an interesting bunch!"
"Are you even aware of what we are?"
"I suppose what you actually wanted to ask is: What 'you' are... yes?" Wu Ming glanced at her with suspicion. "Oh please, spare me that scary look! Do you know what you are after?" Black Rabbit tilted her head, wearing a mysterious yet playful smile. "All I can say is that everything about me is driven by curiosity. You're curious, so I want to know. That's all." She doesn't seem to have ill intentions—at the very least, that is what Wu Ming could see in her. "Is it unacceptable?" she sighs.
"I don't mind as long as you don't call me Alice."
"Hmm? Why?" Black Rabbit doesn't sound disappointed; rather, she sounds curious.
"Just don't..."
"Then I won't!" Black Rabbit's smile doesn't fade; rather, it widens. "But what should I call you?"
"Wu Ming..."
"Wait! What?!" Cheshire reacted rather harshly, obviously disagreeing. "You're really going to use that lame name that Hatter came up with?!"
"You are the lame one here, stupid cat!"
"That name is lame! Just like the one who came up with it!"
"You bastard! Do you really have a death wish?!"
Cheshire crosses his arms and huffs, "Hah! You've been using those lame words ever since!"
Black Rabbit tilts her head, "How long have they been like that? Aren't they getting tired of it?"
"I'm also curious..." Wu Ming silently answers, but a fond smile appears on her face, which doesn't go unnoticed by Black Rabbit, who secretly smiles in fondness towards her.
"You seem to really enjoy watching those two, though."
Wu Ming glances at her for a moment before nodding her head.
They are taking too much leisure in watching Hatter and Cheshire's nonstop quarrel, along with White's attempts to persuade them to stop, and Green Rabbit's uncertainty. Wu Ming is aware of this, so she turns her back on them and starts walking. Without question, Black Rabbit jogs next to her, and Green Rabbit does too. When White notices them, he tries to ask where they are going, only to receive an apathetic reply from Wu Ming: "Continuing."
"Ehh?! Wait, what about these two?" White turns to the pair. "Hey, you guys, stop now!" His voice falls on deaf ears.
"Leave them. Stay with them. Your choice."
"Ehh?!" Yet quickly, White makes a choice and jogs towards Wu Ming and the other girls.
As they walk, their eyes catch sight of a familiar huge mushroom, standing tall not far from where they are, and no one could miss the lines of smoke coming from the top.
"What's that?" White questions.
"Oh my~" Black Rabbit chimes, "Is this your first time going to meet Caterpillar?" White nodded, still having his jaw dropped.
"Everyone knows him," Green Rabbit said in disbelief, yet with his usual low energy.
"Be kind to White; he's too afraid of new things," Cheshire butts in from behind them. White purses his lips and narrows his eyes, trying to ignore what Cheshire has said. Who knows if it's true?
"Well... we met him for the first time just recently," Hatter clarifies. "Only this bastard waste of space was the only one who knew him for too long."
"You actually knew him too," Wu Ming whispers to Black Rabbit.
The new rabbit girl smiles at Wu Ming. "Like Green Rabbit said, everyone knows him: the ever-so-well-known Caterpillar, who lives atop the biggest mushroom in Clover Forest."
"Heh!" Hatter's voice interrupts. "Bad news: he is not all-knowing at all."
"Kind of disappointing, but it's the truth... Ahhahhh!!" Cheshire whines while knitting his eyebrows. "This is so disgusting, being on the same page as Little Fairy!"
"Mutual feeling, stupid cat!"
"These two..."
"Hai~" Black Rabbit sings, getting their attention greedily. "We're not in the right place, the right time, nor in the right mood to watch you guys flirting with each other!"
"WE'RE NOT!!!"
"THE FUCK THAT'S MUCH MORE DISGUSTING THAN BEING ON THE SAME PAGE AS THIS LAME HATRACK!!!"
Wu Ming smiles while her gaze falls on the newly added member. Black Rabbit seems to be a good addition to them.
"By the way, what kind of person is the Red Queen?" Wu Ming suddenly questions everyone, which makes them confused.
"Hm? What's with the sudden curiosity?" Black Rabbit voices out everyone's confusion.
"Nothing much... Just wondering... With everything that has happened so far..."
Cheshire: "Brutal Queen."
Green Rabbit: "Scariest."
White: "Most dangerous."
Hatter, "(Off with their heads) is her common speech."
"They're all bad ones." Wu Ming has a sweat drop on her hair after hearing all of these really bad things about the queen; yet, strangely, she feels a weird difference regarding these comments.
"She's undoubtedly cute." Black Rabbit's different comment throws them off, since she's the only one who says something good about the person in question.
Wu Ming couldn't help but smile.