Gingerbread

Cuu was confused; not an odd thing to be sure, as it seemed to be a bit of a recurring theme with his time in Antiquity. He was confused, still, as to how this "shower" magic worked. He was confused as to why someone would choose gingerbread scent for soap; how were you supposed to sneak on prey with this heavy aroma giving you away? Most of all, however, he was confused as to why Doctor Oswald had stormed off without drying herself properly. Surely she didn't want mold on her floorboards, or wet bedsheets.

He carried this confused look out of the shower, pulling up his pants as a snicker caught his ear. "You're thick as a brick, aren't you; Doggy?"

"Gaah!" Cuu nearly swung his fist directly at the source of the voice; only half remembering that the Cat was a guest... for now. "What are you doing down here, Cat?"

With a cheeky smile, Pearl materialized from thin air; twirling a finger through her bob of hair. "What are you not doing down here? Certainly not Doc; she's positively steamed at you... or is that just the shower?"

Cuu furrows his brow as the Cat peers into the shower curiously. "I wasn't doing lots of things; first-most amongst them, missing your snide remarks."

"Tsk tsk tsk." Pearl closes the shower's door. "Not a hint of sex in that room. You're really missing the ball, Doggy. Most Dogs chase balls, but you... not so much."

The Wolf throws his shirt on, staring daggers at The Smiling Cat; simmering in his anger. "What, do you think she wants me to bed her? Who on Page would want something like me!?"

"Ah... It's not that you can't see it-" Pearl smiles with a devious glee; vanishing. "-you just don't want too."

Cuu hears the air move as the Cat leaps unseen over his head, landing silently on the stairs; her footprints appearing on the wet stones of the stairway. He glares angrily at the unseen feline, absorbing her words carefully as he waits for her to leave. He throws away the feline freak's comments; she'd understand if she knew his Tale. While his Father may have been the one exception...

None could love The Wolf.

...

Dorothy was in sound-enough mind not to slam shut her bedroom door; she was angry, she was horny, and she was damn well truly sick of men. The first man her age she had ever met cheats on her with some faceless harlot, and the second is too blind to even see his own nose! Hell, the third one, down in her guest room, was some greasy thief; even if his accent was a bit charming. Her face was burning up thinking about it all, until a small memory flickered in her mind.

Now she thought about it... she had seen a cat's tail when she visited Bellodor...

Oh Author damn it; she had the harlot in her guestroom too!

"Why!? Why can't I just find someone worth a damn!" She picks up the nearest object; her Index, and throws it against a wall.

She falls to her knees, the silken touch of The Hood wrapping around her neck barely being noticed as tears begin forming in her eyes. "Am I the problem? Is this why Pops and Ma left me here. Still just the afterthought compared to... her..."

"Who?" The Hood's wispy tone startled Dorothy; then made her ball her fists.

She huffed, and puffed. "Like you don't know; damned mind-reading piece of cloth! Like Tatty!"

The Hood ruffled gently. "I do not read your mind; Dotty. I am merely several thousand years wiser than you. Who is this Tatty?"

Dorothy tried to calm herself, wiping her face, and taking up her Index. She opens the drawer next to her bed, and pulls a key from within; decorated with a small sliver of ever-cold emerald ice. She leaves her room, walking to the door closest to her own, and unlocking it. The door opens with a creak; so long had it been since it's closing, that the hinges had gotten still. It was a bedroom, one with a small bookshelf, a toybox with a familiar bubble-wand on the lid, a wonderful view of the starry night-sky...

and a pair of matching, small beds.

"I see." Says The Hood.

Dorothy sits on her old bed, picking up the bubble wand as she passes. "Tatty is my Twin... she went with Pops when he returned to Roundtable for his duty; last I heard, she's his Squire now."

"Which Tale is she, Dotty?" The Hood asks, gently waving in the faint draft that came from the window.

Dorothy looks down to The Index, too tired to peer into its pages. "The Good Witch, of course; she was always the one Pops looked after. Because The Author just loves his twists, his turns, his tragedies... and his side-characters..."

The Hood's voice changes; from its androgynous monotone, to that of a reminiscing young woman, with a wispy, quiet voice.

"Oh, I know that all too well."

...

Cuu laid back onto the couch, grumbling as he tried to get a bit of sleep. His dreams were never the best; actually, scratch that. His dreams were naught but night-terrors that had haunted him every single time he slept; something he had lived with since he was a babe. But, at the very least, they didn't have an annoying cat in them... yet.

There was a loud bang of something being thrown upstairs, which shot Cuu's eyes wide open.

"What now..." He whispered.

The Wolf walked silently up the stairs, when halfway towards the top, there was the click of a lock, and the creak of an old door. He heard Doctor Oswald's footsteps as she entered one of those other rooms on the second floor; odd, he had never seen her use one of them before. Curious, but cautious, stayed where he was.

Just out of sight.

"Tatty is my Twin..." Said Doctor Oswald; talking to seemingly no-one... meaning, she was talking to The Hood. "-she went with Pops when he returned to Roundtable for his duty; last I heard, she's his Squire now."

Cuu's heart skipped a beat... only seven people, in all of Roundtable, had someone called a Squire.

He couldn't hear anything else that was said as he slowly backed away from the staircase; whatever sleep he had needed now long since cast into the furthest reaches of his concerns. He had heard Doctor Oswald correctly. From skipping a beat, to pounding in his chest; his heart was filled with an ungodly rage, the likes of which he hadn't felt since his last transformation.

"She... she has to have sent for Roundtable." He thought. "Her Father... He's..."

He could remember it clear as day; the spike of emerald ice that had pierced his father's already wounded leg. The wound that had slowed him enough for a finishing blow...

Cuu ran for the front door, not caring if he was heard, grabbing Bobo off the couch as he went. He nearly ripped the front door from it's hinges as he swung it open, and began running up the yellow brick road in the direction of that ruined tower. He heard voices call out, one of which was Doctor Oswald's. He couldn't hear her words, as the only sound he could make out was the pounding of his heart.

All while a single eye watched from the shadows...

...

Dorothy heard a loud crashing of footsteps from the stairway as she sat on her childhood bed, startling her greatly. She had just been speaking to The Hood of what to do when it, for the first time, raised it's voice in her mind.

"Cuu! He heard you!"

Dorothy's stomach sank; so much for keeping her father's position a secret. She rushed down the stairs, just barely catching a glimpse of his tail as he ran out the door; hurriedly throwing on some ruby-red slippers to keep her feet from bruising on the road. A half-naked Baldur popped out of the Guest Room to see what was happening, although Pearl was nowhere to be seen.

"Mister Cuu!" Dorothy shouted as she chased out the door. "Wait! Come back!"

The Hood commanded her forward. "Go! Go! Go!"

"Oh would you shut up! I'm going as fast as I can!" Dorothy chased The Wolf down the yellow brick road as best as she could. "Cuu, please! Let me explain!"

Only, she was nowhere near as swift as the super-human Tale she was after; he quickly crested the hill that lead up to the fields. Dorothy tripped over her own feet trying to keep up, bracing herself for a landing... that never came.

"Come on then, Doc." Said Pearl, smiling as she appeared from thin air; getting Dorothy to her feet. "Let's get your Doggy."

"Hold the fuck up!" Shouted that foul-mouthed Baldur as he hopped out the front door; doing so on one leg, as he got his pants back on in a panic. "I'm not staying in that house alone in the middle of the night!"

The three gave chase, not seeing the other trio that followed behind them...