One Direction In Wonderland

Poor Hatter

"So is everyone as totally insane as you are?" Liam frowned as Louis spoke to Emma. 

"Louis! That isn't very nice!" He protested.

"Oh it's alright. I hadn't taken him to be a very nice person at all. It should only be considered rude if he was a generally good person who was bad but as your friend here seems to be a generally bad person I believe it's quite alright" Emma said cheerfully as she led them through the forest again. 

Behind them, Zayn and Niall snorted with laughter at the disbelief on Louis's face. The older lad hadn't quite taken with their new companion the way Harry had. In fact Harry seemed to almost fancy the girl by the way he was chatting on about whatever she was telling him. The two of them were getting on excitingly well and a part of Liam was grateful that should they really be stuck Harry would have made a friend. He couldn't say the same for Louis; though as much as he showed his loathing for Emma she showed as much content with her current party. 

"Well who would you like to see next?" Emma asked as they reached a large fork in the road. Four paths split off in different directions. 

"Um...who were the choices?" Niall asked as he scanned down each road. 

"There's Cora and Breena and Devia and The Hatter"Emma said, shifting her weight from one foot to the other. "Any one of them will do perfectly but we must be there before  dark." 

"Breena is a nice name. Let's go meet Breena" Niall said decisively. 

Emma nodded and set out on the first of the four paths. Liam glanced at the sign as they walked by. It was in a foreign language he didn't recognize and was followed by an intimidating circled X. 

"Why is it so important to be in by dark?" It was the first time Zayn had spoken to Emma. She didn't look back as she led the way up the path. 

"Because the Queen lets her pets out at dark." She said simply. "And her pets don't take well to companions" 

Liam gulped and looked at his friends. Zayn and Niall were wearing worried grimaces while Louis's face was twisted into a look of disbelief. Liam half expected the older lad to make some witty remark about  how he wondered what sort of dog breeds the queen was keeping and if the people of this place tasted so well that they had to be fed to said pets.". Strangely the boy was quiet and placid. 

"Are you okay, Lou?" Niall asked, taking Liam's incentive to look after the others. 

"Peachy" He muttered. "Just damn peachy" 

Liam failed to ask further as the woods they were traveling through faded away into a simple countryside. The grass, if you could call it grass, was a bright pink. Several trees dotted the landscape; spread out in orderly rows of  blue and green stripped bark and tufts of white fluff on their tops. 

"What are they?" Harry asked as he touched the smooth bark of one of the trees. 

"Dandelion trees, of course" Emma said as she cut through the grass. "Haven't you heard of them? They're usually yellow for a longer time but they got their white tops early."

Liam noticed the house first. It was camouflaged into it's surroundings; partly buried  in the side of a sloping hill. It was a small cottage; set between two of the large dandelion trees and could have been considered charming if not for the various items strewn around the house. As they were led toward it Liam took note of a fading purple cart with square wheels, a pastel yellow doll house that was taller than Liam, and a sickeningly mess of baked clay that resembled an elephant and was painted a dull brown with magenta colored spots.  

"So Breena lives here?" Niall asked as a small creature covered in grey spines, which had previously posed as a rock, skittered underneath his feet and dove beneath the purple cart. 

"This is her cottage if that's what you mean" Emma said. Louis glared at her. 

"Bit.....eccentric tastes huh?" Zayn noted as he stepped over a lump of soggy fur that had once been a stuffed dog. The mock canine's button eye was now dangling from a fraying thread and the ears had long since fallen off. A light dusting of dirtied stuffing littered the ground around it. 

"Breena collects things" Emma said as they reached the cottage's door. 

As she knocked on the door Liam caught sight of what it was that was hanging from the faded magenta wood. A beaded fedora covered in large green sparkles. 

"Care to explain?" Louis asked as he reached toward the hat. 

Just as his fingers were about to reach the first black bead of the gaudy green hat the door swung open. The girl behind it was strange even in comparison to Emma and Kiran. The dress she wore was patterned with black and white diamonds and clashed with the brown leather trench coat she wore. In the fading sunlight Liam caught sight of the skirt of her dressed, defined clearly with black and red stripes. Her feet were protected by bright orange working boots. Various colors and textures of fabrics hung off her jacket while a belt made up of multiple spools of thread in every color imaginable hung at her waist. Her copper colored curls were almost completely covered by the various ribbons she had pinned to a cork board head band. 

"Emylya! How nice to see you!" The girl chirped. "And you brought company!" 

"It's Emma actually. Or at least that's what I've come to the conclusion of today." Emma smiled at her friend. "May I ask why you have the Hatter's first hat ever made tacked to your door?" 

"Of course! But it's getting dark! Come in, you must stay here tonight. You wouldn't make it back to Emma's. Despite that she's had to build a new shelter outside the flower fields because of those awful creatures. I'm Breena Astair by the way. And if Emma hadn't told you already her name is Emi, Emma, Em, or Emylya Goodly." Breena stepped back and ushered them all inside. 

After she had shut and bolted the door Breena turned toward them. "Emma darling, I thought you'd heard! I have to take over the Hatter's work!" 

"But why? I was hoping he'd make me a hat soon. It's so tedious wearing this silly ribbon. I don't particularly like it when I'm Emma. But Emi and Emylya simply adore it. We all love hats though" Emma said regretfully; Liam caught the stony look Louis shot at Harry. 

"It was a tragic thing really.....no one expected it. In fact it was Cora who was on their way to his home when she heard the awful screams." Breena shook her head sadly. "Tea anyone?" She filled a brass kettle painted with strange symbols with water and placed it on the wood stove in the corner. 

"What do you mean?" Emma had grown pale. 

Breena turned and regarded her friend carefully. "Emma, dear..." She took a deep breath. "The Hatter is dead"