A Wonderland All Our Own

A Very Important Date

The next day, Craig slowly rose out of bed, awoken by a knock on his front door. He briefly looked at himself in a mirror on the wall. His black hair, usually rather well-kept, was unkempt and messy: the worst case of bed-head he'd ever seen. He ran his hands through his hair to correct it; though it wasn't perfect, there was some noticeable improvement. The noirette then stepped to the door and swung it open.

It was Kenny, in his princess dress, who greeted him with, "Hail and well met, good commoner! Pray, is Feldspar the rogue here? He has won a day of my time, you see, and I have come to grant him his reward."

"Uhh...yes, Princess Kenny! Feldspar will be right out," he stammered out awkwardly.

Craig shut the door and began to breathe more heavily. What was Kenny doing here so early? He hadn't even had time to prepare! And why did he care so much about this?

Shuddering, he took a deep, controlled breath and found himself feeling calmer.

I should get my costume on.

With that, he walked back to his room and opened his closet, where his rogue outfit was the only thing hung up- the rest was in unorganized piles on the floor. He quickly changed into the cloth costume and walked back downstairs, opening the door again.

"Greetings, Princess Kenny," he said.

"Ah, how wonderful to see you, good Sir Feldspar! Are you prepared? I have a lovely little place I like to go on days like this."

"Of course, princess," Craig curtly responded, giving a rather stilted bow.

"Then, onward! To a land of beauty and magic the likes of which you have never seen!"

Hoisting up his skirt, Kenny skipped off, and Craig began to follow. They walked around for some time, in the direction of Stark's Pond, but it seemed to be quite a long walk, and progress was slow.

Kenny turned toward Craig and called to him, "Feldspar, darling, this seems to be rather slow going. We ought to speed up a little! Come, we shall race there!"

With that, Kenny took off running, giggling happily, and Craig gave chase. As they ran, Kenny seemed to always be just far away enough so that he was still visible, but never close enough that Craig could reasonably pass him. Growling under his breath, Craig muttered an incantation and began to run faster as the shadows lengthened around him, increasing the length of his strides.

"Oh no you don't!" Kenny cried; he reached under his dress and pulled out a small, hollow pink plastic ball, which he threw at Craig.

"Ah! What is that?" Craig asked as it hit him.

"An Anti-Magic Orb, of course! No cheating!" Kenny said teasingly, wagging his finger.

Craig groaned and kept running, now closer to Kenny than he had been. Soon, they were both rushing down a dirt path, then through the forest; it was difficult to see Kenny through the dense foliage, but Craig could hear the boy giggling just ahead of him. Soon, he sprang out of the trees, tackling Kenny to the ground.

"Gotcha!" he said.

"Oh, help, help! I'm being accosted!" Kenny cried out playfully, before worming out of Craig's grip.

The princess laid back elegantly, pulling a twig out of her hair, and sighed dreamily.

"Isn't this place simply the most beautiful thing you've ever seen?"

Craig sat up and immediately gasped as he got a proper look at the area.

They were in a clearing, surrounded on all sides by trees, so that it seemed they were completely isolated from the outside world. The ring was filled with many different kinds of flowers, all beautiful bright colors, and butterflies & other creatures wandered freely, unafraid and unbothered by them. It took Craig's breath away.