The Mischievous Devil Meets The Black Rabbit

It was a nice day out for those who wished to sit out and just watch the skies or, simply put, relax. It was a day nearly no one would expect the darkness to be nearby, watching. Yet it was, and in a fairly unexpected shape.

Alice walked among strangers, a group of vacationers. However, it was very obvious she didn't belong. Her wear certainly stood out, consisting of a long coat and short skirt. The large bow would almost look silly on any other person, yet it suited her well. Long, dark hair fell behind her, violet eyes staring forward. She held one of her two braids in a gloved hand, twirling the metal tip as she walked, white boots hitting the ground in rhythm with those around her. An out-of-place, powder blue purse was slung over her shoulder, the smirk on her face able to tell the story of it to nearly any criminal around.

Well, that smirk combined with the older lady speeding around the corner. She scanned the sidewalk, spotting her purse easily against the side of mismatching colors. She pointed at the girl, screaming something along the lines of “Get back here, thief!” By that point, Alice had glanced behind her and noticed the lady. She booked it, pushing past those in front of her in attempts to escape the woman’s view. A laugh escaped, adrenaline coursing through her veins. She had her reasons for theft - part of her mind seeing it as a backup plan and another part of it as a simple game. Plus, it was a good quality purse.

She took a corner, running into the nearest populated area - an area of metal tables. She sat at the farthest table, hoping that the lady would overlook her should she look around. She stuffed the purse under her seat, blocking it from immediate vision with her legs.

‘Act natural, Alice.You’re a normal person, just like everyone here… probably.’

As Oda would have neared the peak of boredom and slowly start to drift away within his sleep something would echo through his mind, but could it truly be? No he would have though there was no way something would have truly transpired that quickly to catch his attention thus he would once again let it be chalked up to his mind playing tricks upon him… However, not moments later after hearing the start of the commotion it would have seem to have begun to draw closer to his location when he would hear the faithful words that would draw a grand smirk from ear to ear upon his face as a slight chuckle would have rang out from his mouth, “Get back here, thief!”

However, as he would have looked up hit chair seemingly headed down a path of pure destruction for his head he would see a glimpse of someone that truly looked like they wanted to have fun and simply get into little mischievous antics, thus as the braids would swing by him as if in perfect rhythmic sync with the women’s legs that would have based his gaze his chuckle would have escalated into that of full blow laughter however, he would have also caught the glimpse of the crazed old lady that would have been chasing after the girl for what most would assume be the off put blue bag slowly sliding down her shoulder as she would run, therefore, he would spring into action like a hero for those of villainous nature seemingly tumbling out of his chair he would have landed with his right foot about three feet spread from his left in a running position for those about to start a 100m dash, and as the old lady would pass him he would dart keeping as low to the ground as possible trying to sneak through the crowd and as he would see the little mischievous girl have a hastily taken seat he would follow suit grabbing her hand quickly and start to ramble on about some none sense that truly had nothing to do with the situation and would let out a quick smirk and wink to signal her to play along…

As he would sit there chatting away through the dialogue that would have come out of his mouth simply one question would have been the one to catch notice to,

“So stealing little old ladies’ handbags what brings a person like yourself to commit such mischievous acts?”

With every letter that flew out of the man’s mouth more and more sarcasm would have escaped as well not truly being able to at all hold a serious tone within his voice he wouldn’t help but to lose it seemingly just carrying on laughing without continuing his little chatter with the women in front of him, if she were to respond in any manner he would attempt to calm himself to hear her but truly this was just to excellent for as soon as he wished for something exciting it was like the mischievous god loki himself would have placed something right in his lap it was nearly to perfect yet nothing truly good be as good as it seemed thus the man would carry on laughing waiting for the old lady to see if she would catch the little thief or if truly this was going to be the first adventure of what he began to hope would be a very mischief filled evening…

Okay. So maybe everyone else here wasn't normal.

Well, change the "maybe" to an "evidently" as some dude with pinkish hair, two-colored eyes and... Was that face paint beneath them? What was he, some clown? Straightening out what was happening, Alice took a second to go over the situation, a smile now tugging at her lips at his odd appearance. She sat down at the table, attempting to escape some old hag, and stuffed the purse under her chair. Then this guy came up out of nowhere and took her hand and began going on and on about who-knows-what. Yet as she processed his wink, she snapped out of her thoughts. For some reason this person was trying to help cover for her. There was no way she'd deny that help.

So, she began conversation, weaving her way into replying to all of the conversation topics in one way or another - through gestures or words. Alice had to admit, stealing that lady's purse seemed to be leading to an interesting story here. She was making a friend so it seemed through the meaningless chatter they exchanged. Well, it seemed that way until - after all that time - he asked a single question.

“So stealing little old ladies’ handbags, what brings a person like yourself to commit such mischievous acts?”

Well, finally the topic came up. Alice didn't panic. No, it would draw attention. Instead, her head raged an internal war. She giggled a bit to fill the time until her response, though her own small laughter was covered up by the stranger's. For whatever reason, he seemed very amused.

'Lie, Alice. You don't know this person well enough to trust him with anything.'
'Huh? He seems alright though. He's covering for me, or trying to at least.'
'He doesn't know you're the guild master of a Dark Guild, you idiot.'
'Hey! Don't call me an idiot! I'll have you know I'm very smart!'
'If you're smart, lie. Easy as that, just don't tell him your real reasoning.'

Alice wanted to roll her eyes at her other mentality, but resisted. She didn't want to seem insane in front of the stranger, for the sake of proving the others' wrong on her intellect. Yet, she was hesitant to speak. The man was still on his howling laughter, and it was starting to creep part of her mind out. She almost felt like joining in, and she even took a breath to prepare to, but she stopped. Instead, she let out a cough.

"Well, aside from it funding a personal matter, it was simply fun. I kinda like a burst of adrenaline every now and then, you know?" she giggled a bit, drawing back her hand to spin a braid between her fingers. She could hear the voice in her head sigh, disappointed probably in her excuse. "So why exactly are you talking to a teenage thief, huh? I mean, I might have just stole your wallet in this brief conversation."

She knew the lady was getting closer, but she didn't get up to keep moving. All she could do was pray that she didn't get noticed. Though, the hyena at the table didn't seem to be helping in that factor. She could've swore she saw a few hateful glances from people at the other tables. As she waited for a response from him, she relaxed her shoulders. She slumped down a bit, leaning her head on her hand, propped up on her elbow. Whether he would actually check to make sure his money was still on him - if he even had any - Alice wanted to see. That and his response to her question, but mostly whether he'd believe she had or not. She smirked and raised a brow, holding back a small chuckle as she waited.

Speaking honestly, the girl almost didn't register his change. In fact, at the voice of the lady, she tensed slightly and almost told him to pipe down. Yet as she began to, she realized it. He fell silent, more serious. He even listened to her questions. She was impressed he could hear through his cackling, but thankful. She grew even more curious.

“Well to answer your first question I can see how it was at least amusing and a nice burst of adrenaline is always nice but why such a petty crime to fund your “personal mater” instead of going big or go home?”

Alice brushed off this first bit. She was going after something bigger - a little risky to tackle solo despite her power but bigger nonetheless. This was just... Insurance for that mission. Though, she wouldn't say that. She just shrugged, leading into his analysis of how she hadn't stolen a thing. He was observant. Clever man, this stranger was. She giggled a bit, mumbling softly beneath her breath, "But what if I used magic?"

"...however, I admire your courage for what if I was a crazed killer and simply slight your throat from the mere mention of that?”

She didn't want to say it any louder than a mumble. Instead, she listened to his proposition of him being a killer. Heh. If only he knew who he was sitting with. She lifted her head a bit. It seemed to laugh in the back of her mind, finding his thought of slitting Alice's throat fairly humorous. Maybe it wanted him to attempt it? An effort to unleash the beast? Nonetheless, the seemingly innocent girl was more than met the eye. He didn't seem to pick up on that much, however, as he continued with a card trick. The girl fell entranced, curious as he began to spin the card. Its face, a Joker for some reason, began to change. She was confused, even after it stopped. She stared blankly at the card, her head moved from its spot on her palm, reading the letters on the card. 'O-D-A. Oda? What's an Oda?'

A sigh emanated from her mind, 'Perhaps it's his name? Oda?'

Realization flickered in her eyes. She seriously had an issue there. She smiled, laughing a bit as she now understood his card trick, and without guidance from the others in her head spoke openly to him, "Oda's your name, yeah? I guess I should tell you mine, then. Well, I'm Alice! Nice to meet you, Mister!"

The voice sighed, practically shaking its figurative head in disappointment. Alice just stole a purse. Even if he seems trustworthy, why should she share her name with anyone? He could very well pin up posters searching for her to return the hag's bag. On the other side of that debate, so what if she seemed a bit insecure, letting her name be known to the clown man. Though if push came to shove, she could very well defend herself. She knew very well of the voices, though it would take a second to switch... Ah, well. Her mind now completely - well, one-third completely to be technical - free of concern about the lady who grew closer, she relaxed. She crossed her legs, still making sure to cover the purse, and leaned back on her left hand. The fact he still held her right one slightly concerned her, but nonetheless she dismissed it. As of then, she was only curious where he would go with the conversation after her introduction.

Hmmm alice? Where would the man have heard that name, well as of the moment it didn’t truly matter if anything he could always go looking for an answer later but for now this had turned into a rather interesting turn of events, as these thoughts would have passed through the man’s head he would have let a slight chuckle escape him but as he did so he would notice the women she had stolen from pass by giving a sense of accomplishment for that little nuisance was out the way so something perhaps a little more interesting could transpire.

“well it would seem that your little problem would have went away.”

With this he would have pointed the card at the women as she would be walking away confused and angry that she was completely out done and as of the moment truly nothing could have been done about it, however, now would begin the hardship of truly finding something to do with this woman for he had no clue as to who or what she was minus the fact that she truly did giggle a lot and seemed to put more effort in certain comments while others seemed to just truly flow from her mouth with ease. Thus it was decided within his mind that he would attempt to get her to go on an adventure all of their own.

“So seeing as you need to fund your own little project and I am rather bored why don’t we compromised and find something to do that will amuse me and help you gain a little more funding for your project?”

As he said this his eyebrow would raise and he would once again slightly lean back in his chair however this time keeping his feet on the ground using them to push himself up and down, with this he would be able to see the woman in action and truly figure out if he wanted to continue with this little in devour or move on trying to find someone much more amusing and wondrous to play with…

Still holding the card it would twirl between his fingers as the name would slowly once again begin to fade and the smile he once held so long upon his face slowly fading away as he could get more and more bored and seemingly grow more and more agitated with the slight conversation that was going on and the lack of interesting expressions and emotions being displayed, though he could easily tell that this woman thought highly of her abilities for her face didn’t seem to warp after the mention of his being able to cut open her throat, but truly it didn’t matter he would simply await a reply from the woman and if things went well enough he would have an answer that truly amused him otherwise who knew what truly would transpire while these two would be having their little meeting for the first time around, though at the end of the day when all was said and done and the dust settled the man would either have a new friend or a new foe that was for certain…

((Sorry about the wait. Had a bit of a block there for some reason, so my apologies if it's not my best quality either >.<))

Her eyes flickered over to where the elder had gone off to after Oda had spoke, informing her of the victory at hand. And what do you know? She had given up on her hunt for the powder purse and was moving away from the area. It could be expected that there'd be some kind of police report or something said about the petty theft, maybe a complaint to a legal guild somewhere. No matter. If they sent anyone, Alice would probably be long gone, or they'd be simple enemies. Perhaps rookies in the realm of magic, if anyone, for such a crime. Oh well, such events didn't bother the girl too much. Currently, the lady was gone. That was good. She felt accomplished in a sense, knowing she had managed to avoid further confrontation with the granny. As the lady left, Alice would start to stand, reaching for the bag beneath her before her new acquaintance said something that sent excitement flowing through her veins.

“So seeing as you need to fund your own little project and I am rather bored why don’t we compromise and find something to do that will amuse me and help you gain a little more funding for your project?”

Part of her was skeptical as to why he wanted to assist her.
The other part senselessly wanted to just start dragging him to the nearest bank and rob the place.
The last one just wanted to turn him into a pawn, see if he'll kill a few people in the surrounding area.

And yet, the reasonable one wasn't in control.

The girl's eyes lit up, responding almost immediately, "Sure! Whatcha wanna do? Maybe if there's a bank nearby, we can go make a withdraw... Or perhaps pay a visit to a few wealthy folk? Maybe..." Her voice trailed off, a small headache beginning to form. She winced a bit, but it seemed to pass fairly quickly. If it meant what she though it meant, then it was a warning. Probably from other Alice who doesn't want her to grow too trusting of the stranger. But he didn't rat her out and he seemed to be looking for a bit of fun. She simply pushed it to the back of her mind - well, not entirely back as it still lingered but far enough back where it wasn't front and center there. "So yeah, what did you have in mind, huh?"

What would become of that day, Alice didn't know. Whether she'd end up being betrayed by Oda here or if he'd become a regular off-island buddy, the many different outcomes could only play through her head - how it even had room to with all of the different things floating with it, she didn't know. But her thoughts were there. She imagined the different situations, even one where he ended up being a mage of the Magic Council only deceiving the child to be able to turn her in for her alignment and petty theft on top of past crimes. Okay, that one concerned the other two more than herself. She didn't really see it as a big deal - she'd escaped tough mages before, surely she could do it again if she needed to.