Once upon a time...

[timefather]

[ For the residents of Märchenstraße, and all the land surrounding it, the eighth of December was a day to look forward to. Looking at it from an outside perspective, strangers and travelers could easily assume it to be a holiday. At the very least, a day for a festival, if a modest one. A day that shopkeeps spent all morning preparing for, that all manner of creatures spent days traveling to the city to witness. They'd heard the talk that passed around, the rumors from those still left. But would it work? No one knew for sure, no matter how confident the stories seemed to be. But hope was very quickly becoming all they had left.

They had decorated the whole town. Streamers, banners, wreathes and garland made of autumn flowers, plus whatever the Fairy Godmother had cooked up. Oh, she was just giddy. No skepticism could be spoken around her, not if you wanted to escape the wrath of her wand! Rumor had it that she had caught wind of a few piglets squealing about the likelihood that their magic would fail, and that they were subsequently transformed into the band of musicians who could be found performing in the park.

Well, at least the music was festive.

Of course, the decorations weren't for the newcomers alone. Autumn was coming to a close in just a few weeks, and Old Man Winter would take the reigns like he did every year, and their weather would turn cold and harsh. The chill was already there, cool and biting when the wind picked up speed. Lady Autumn was much preferred to the citizens of the city with her gentle nature, even if she failed to show up, finishing her work in the orchards instead. That was what they liked about her.

It was mid-morning when Father Time was found outside of his tower, checking one of the numerous pocket watches he kept on his person. "Unnecessary, but comfortable," he called them, and closed the watch again. It was twelve o'clock in the afternoon, and where empty space had been just seconds before, now they were. Sitting on benches, lying in flower patches, scattered about the city and outside of the gates in peaceful slumber. They would awaken to the bells of the clock tower. Some, to many friendly and relieved faces all around them, some to grateful ones carrying gifts of food and clothing and magic, and some to fearful, cautious faces. Regardless of how the town treated them, they would awaken to a celebration of their arrival, and choices to be made, and the books. Each and every one. ]

Comments

[totallyfairest]

[ At first, Apple thought this was some sick joke. Now she's starting to get worried.

This kingdom doesn't look like it belongs to anyone she knows, and this village seems a long way from Book End - the villagers seem to just want to bow and call her "your majesty" and then get right out of her way, which is very nice of them, of course, but not all that helpful when all she wants to know is where she is. If this is Raven's fault, she's going to be so hexed off at her later.

So she wanders around, clutching the book she hasn't bothered to look at yet to her chest, a sleepy Gala wound around her neck. As she passes by the pathway, though, she hears sad little mewing coming from underneath a pile of random junk, and...well, she isn't Snow White's daughter for nothing. Princess Instincts engage! ]

Ooh, poor thing! [ She pushes the pile aside to let the poor thing pass, and sort of wishes she had Ashlynn's ability to talk to animals. She could use someone to talk to right now. ] You sweet little...blue...kitty! Are you all right?

[righthandcat]

Mew!

[ His face froze. Wait, did he lose the ability to talk coherently while transformed? He tries again, with marginally better results. Kinda made it sound like something was stuck in his throat. ]

Th.... thhhhaaa...

[ Again, it was all a matter of getting the hang of things, but baby steps... it won't even take very long to get the hang of it, but for now he doesn't know that. And his dialogue was more than a little disappointing. His ears dripped back in a bit of embarrassment. Oh well, his lack of speech shouldn't be too big a problem, he supposed. Since he could still do so just fine in his default form. And actions can speak louder than words... So he looks up to his savior with appreciative eyes and a tail raised upward. Any girl who stops to help out what appeared to be a random stray was good in his books. Was she a stranger to this place too? Something about her felt different from the locals he met shortly before. ]

[totallyfairest]

[ Hear that? That's the sound of Apple's heart melting in the face of kitty. Even blue kitty making weird noises. Hearts don't judge when it comes to adorable cats. ]

Aww! You're okay, see? Gosh, who in the world would just dump things on a poor little kitty, that's so - so wicked!

[ She proceeds to try and gather him into her lap, because where she's from, all animals inherently appreciate being gathered by beautiful young maidens. Gala, meanwhile, has slightly better instincts, and has unwound from her neck and is standing off at a polite distance now. Cats do not generally react well to foxes, even in fairytale land. ]

[righthandcat]

[ Well, he would explain himself that those gifts weren't things he could just casually reject after all that enthusiasm, but... all he can respond with is a lowering of his head that looked vaguely like a shrug. When he's picked up he's not entirely sure how to feel about it; after all he's a perfectly capable young adult who only somehow got caught in this small body. But rejecting it seemed unkind to such a nice girl, so he'll bottle away any awkwardness for now. He just hoped inside she wouldn't freak out on him later if he changed back to normal... Not all "frog prince" circumstances are met with enthusiasm, so. Ranulf didn't mind Gala though, what a nice fox. He looked at her a second, then back up at the princess.

He then maintains his upward gaze at her, as if wanting to tell her to say more about herself, hinthint. ]

[totallyfairest]

[ Apple doesn't need much prompting. She did, after all, ace all of her classes in Pouring Out Woes to Small Animal Friends. ]

Oh, kitty, I've had the most awful day! Or night. Or night-and-day. Well, whatever-after, it's just - first someone I thought was my friend totally ruined the most important night of my life and might've made me poof out of existence just because she wanted "a choice" and "a say in how her life turned out" and other crazy things - and then I wake up here and I have no idea where I am and everyone is looking at me like they're afraid I'm going to turn them all into slimy frogs or something - (sorry, frogs are very nice and not at all slimy, excuse me) - but at the same time it's like...like they want me to be here and they're glad I am, they just don't like me! I don't understand it! Everybody likes me!

Do you know what I mean, kitty? I hope everyone's being nicer to you than they are to me, it's not like you did anything wrong. Although I don't think I did anything wrong either. Oh, this whole thing is just...downright disenchanting!

[righthandcat]

[ Woah this was a lot more to take in than he expected. His eyebrows furrow together as he thinks what the situation could mean. In his own case it's not like he was doing anything particularly important, and at least the companion he's become separated from can take care of himself... For now maybe he could look after this girl, it sounds like she's having a rough time and wasn't sure how to deal with all these questions. In an attempt to comfort her, when she finishes talking he rubs his forehead against the back of her palm. It would be alright! Thinking optimistically always helps.

Noticing a familiarly-shaped book on her person, his eyes light up. He abruptly hops off her lap and looks pensively at the item stack he had escaped just a short while earlier. Taking a careful paw, he swipes one of the books at the bottom out of the way, and hops out of the way of the toppling other-things.

He wasn't sure what it meant yet, but maybe there could be a meaning to both of them having these? He pushes with his nose a journal just like Apple's, but the label on his was instead "Puss in Boots"... While notably he himself lacked the said articles of clothing. Ranulf thought it must have been a case of mistaken identity for another cat and that he'd accidentally ended up with it; and now he should find the real owner. The similarity of the volumes was uncanny and interesting though. Could it be a clue on what this place is all about? ]

[totallyfairest]

[ Apple picks up the kitty's book, squinting at the title - oh, hex it, nobody else is really around anyway. She pulls her glasses out of her handbag and sets them on her nose. Much better! ]

'Puss in Boots'? Oh! Are you his... [ a very long pause. Apple is certain it is not polite to check. ] ...son? Or daughter? Or - oh, but then mine would be...

[ She finally looks down at her own book, and sees the words 'Evil Queen'.

...

Very carefully, Apple sets the books back down. ]

Well! If we both have these books, then obviously they have something to do with us, even if they aren't about, well, us. Because they can't be. Ha! Ha ha! [ No, Apple, that is the opposite of convincing laughter. ] Um. Maybe...maybe we need to find these people? Do you know where to find Puss in Boots or an Evil Queen, kitty?

[ Okay, now she really wishes she could talk to animals like Ashlynn. She's pretty sure that cats can not, as a general rule, be pointed in a direction and asked to 'lead'. Although this one does seem particularly friendly, and if he is in some way related to Puss in Boots, all bets on regular cat behavior are off. ]

[righthandcat]

[ Hmm, he's never really thought about it. Did he know a laguz of the feline tribe before that happened to wear boots? Most of them really preferred sandals... But maybe he has this sort of obligation to this "Puss in Boots". He had this slight feeling. But feelings can't do any good without awareness for what purpose!

He hops up to look at her book beside her, and likewise reads: "Evil Queen"? Ranulf tilted his head. Well, she certainly doesn't seem to be the type to be related to someone as ominous sounding as that. Wouldn't that debunk his earlier theory? She doesn't feel like she was a malicious type, or capable of becoming one at the wave of a hand. How mysterious... ]

Nyuu.

[ That was an attempt at a "no" to her question, but it still came out high-pitched. Losing his usual voice was getting old really fast. The girl sounded... much more concerned than she wanted to let on about the title she had just read, and it was understandable. Who would even upright come face to face with a monarch with a bad rep? But they couldn't just ignore what these books meant... So Ranulf sits on his for a moment, and just stares it down for a while. ]