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</div></div><div style="margin: auto; overflow: auto; max-width: 500px; height: 55px; padding: 2px; background: ffb2d0; background: black; color: #white; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 32px; text-align: center"><i>FALLON</i></div><div style="margin: auto; overflow: auto; max-width: 500px; height: 400px; padding: 35px; background-image:URL(https://i.pinimg.com/564x/17/67/f8/1767f8d8bb96f3d4f3c63f2cb5b8a6df.jpg); color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 12px; text-align: justify"><div style="background: #76A2BE; border: 1px solid #black; outline: 5px solid #black; padding: 5px; font-size: 12px; color: black; text-align: center">༺♥༻</div><div style="background: #76A2BE; border: 1px solid #black; outline: 5px solid #black; padding: 5px; font-size: 12px; color: black; text-align: justify">She could still hear the braying of the hounds, which was strange because she hadn't been there when her father had fallen from his horse in the middle of the forest. His new mare had startled, too green to the concept of the excitable hounds as they ran between her hooves, barking and howling as they tracked the fox her father and his friends had hunted that fateful autumn afternoon. He had fallen over a small precipice, tumbled down a steep, craggy wall. Hit his head. That's what his friends had said, although Fallon barely remembered that frantic conversation. Her vision had turned into a tunnel where only her father's lifeless body waited on the other side, her ears filled with a sharp ringing and the rush of her own blood. <br/>
<br/>
The days that had followed were a blur. Fallon barely remembered any of it until the moment the carriage pulled up to the ornate estate of her mother's cousins. Mina and Eugene were... Well, Fallon had no idea what kind of people they were because she didn't remember them either. They had not visited her parents since she was a young child, before her mother had passed away of the lung ailment that ultimately took her life. Yet in her hour of need, they had swept in, offering to manage her parents' home and land until she was feeling well enough to do so herself. Would she ever? How was she supposed to recover from losing not one, but both of her parents? What would she do with that large manor home that would now seem entirely too empty? She couldn't bear to think about it. <br/>
<br/>
Nor could she bear to spend too much time indoors. Mina was apt to drive her to tears, reminiscing memories of her parents, and Eugene could drive a person to tears for the sake of boredom alone. So Fallon escaped to the outdoors every chance she got, walking among the gardens, traversing the hedge maze until it no longer seemed so labyrinthine. Even on days like today, when the sky overhead frothed with gray clouds indicative of an oncoming rain, Fallon meandered the maze.<br/>
<br/>
Dressed in a black dress void of the embellishments Mina's wardrobe seemed so fond of, the garment's high neck and long sleeves protected Fallon from the chill. The bodice was embroidered with black velvet appliques, the sleeves split up to the elbow so as to attest to some manner of wealth without being overbearing. Her hair was left down, the blonde tresses hanging down to her lower back. She carried with herself a book, some collection of children's stories her father had gifted her after her mother had passed, and then read to her from every night following until she was sixteen. In her other hand, Fallon twirled one of the roses from Mina's garden, the stem meticulously clipped of its thorns. <br/>
<br/>
Her head was slightly bowed, watching her feet as she walked, and Fallon's thoughts were submerged deep in her sorrow when the bolt of white caught her eye. Lifting her head, she thought for a moment she might have imagined whatever she'd noticed in her peripheral, until again something ran past an opening in the hedges. A rabbit, she realized. Its white fur brilliant against the dark green of the garden and its red eyes all the more noticeable for the sake of its fur. Stranger still was simply the fact that it stood on its hind legs and moved around on them with such balance it was uncanny. Almost human-like. Yet the strangest thing of all was the waistcoat and jacket the creature wore, the golden rings in its ears and the spectacles atop its nose.<br/>
<br/>
"Hello there," Fallon said lamely, absolutely baffled. The rabbit twitched its nose and clicked its teeth before it gave a hard thump against the ground with one of its hind legs. It peered at her a moment before making a small chittering sound and hopping away - this time on all fours as a rabbit should. Bewildered and with nothing else to do, Fallon found herself hurrying after the strange rabbit that looked for all the world like it was a child's toy more so than a living beast. It led her through the maze, keeping several yards ahead of her but pausing every now and then to look over its shoulder at her. Fallon swore it was making sure she continued to follow it, which only piqued her curiosity more. So much so, in fact, that she hardly realized where it was leading her. <br/>
<br/>
In the center of the maze stood a tall evergreen bush that rose several feet over Fallon's own head and was manicured into the shape of a rabbit that looked markedly similar to the white rabbit she'd followed. The same of which now led her around to the front of the shrub rabbit and then disappeared altogether. <br/>
<br/>
There was a hole in the ground, Fallon realized. A rather large one, actually. "Mina will not be happy about this," she muttered under her breath as she crouched before it, peering down into the ground and wondering what on earth had caused such a thing. "Hello?" She called without really knowing why, hearing her own voice echo back. Shifting the rose to the same hand that held the book, Fallon braced her now free hand against the ground beside the hole, leaning down to hopefully see farther in. What she did not notice was the root unfurling from the dirt, slithering across to her hand slowly before abruptly wrapping about her wrist and tugging. Fallon barely had the chance to scream before she was falling, plummeting down through a tunnel that opened up around her. Before her eyes, the entrance to the hole grew smaller and smaller and for a moment all she could think about was the day her father had died. Her vision had tunneled then too. She could hear it, that ringing in her ears, the rush of her blood. She was falling, and this time it was for real.<br/>
<br/>
She didn't remember hitting the ground. The world enclosed around her and went black, taking her with it.<br/>
<br/>
When she woke, a soft groan emitted from between her parted lips and a small throbbing pain in the back of her head, it was to not at all what she expected. A wide, round eye peered down a yellow and black beak, blinking curiously. A scream caught in her throat and Fallon sat up, pushing away from what she realized now was a giant bird covered in brilliantly blue feathers. The bird squawked, flapping its wing as it jumped away from her on its tall, spindly legs. With now a few feet of comfortable space between them, Fallon and the bird regarded each other with surprise and no small measure of distrust. The bird - she had no idea what sort of bird the ridiculous creature was - twitched its head back and forth to stare at her from either eye. It shuffled its wings, shifted its weight back and forth on its feet, and released another, quieter squawk.<br/>
<br/>
"What... What are you?" Fallon breathed, slowly pushing herself up to her feet, brushing off the emerald debris from her dress. On the ground near where she had fallen, was her book - the rose nowhere to be seen. Hastily, she picked it up and brushed it off as well. <br/>
<br/>
"That," said a voice from somewhere behind her. "Is the Dodo bird." Startled, Fallon whirled to face the voice and watched as the white rabbit from before emerged from between waxy green leaves. "And you," the rabbit went on while Fallon reeled over the appearance of a talking animal, "must come with me, my dear." <br/>
<br/>
"I'm not particularly inclined to go anywhere with you," Fallon replied, voice quiet, distracted as she slowly scanned her strange surroundings. Trees towered toward the sky, their trunks strange shades of black and blue and green, some of them striped and speckled, covered in orange lichen. Their leaves looked velvety or waxy, and some of them bore red fruit unlike any she had ever seen before - in life or illustration. Fuzzy vines hung over branches, swaying slightly despite there being no breeze. Only then did she hear the faint, lyrical humming emanating from somewhere nearby. "What is that?" She asked softly, looking back to the rabbit. <br/>
<br/>
"The flowers," he said so easily she almost didn't think about how flowers shouldn't make any sound at all. "Now please, Miss Fallon, you must follow me. They'll know you're here and it would be better if you-" <br/>
<br/>
"Who are you?" Fallon asked. "How do you know my name? And how is it possible for a rabbit to talk?"<br/>
<br/>
The rabbit sighed, shoulders slumping while his red eyes flicked frantically from side to side. "I am the White Rabbit, my dear, and I think you'll find a talking rabbit who knows your name to be the least strange thing about Underland."<br/>
<br/>
Fallon squinted slightly. "Underland? What is that?" <br/>
<br/>
"This is that," the White Rabbit answered, gesturing to the forest around them. He was losing patience. "Underland is what surrounds you."<br/>
<br/>
"How did I-?" <br/>
<br/>
"Miss Fallon!" The White Rabbit exclaimed, startling her again. Fallon drew back a step, clutching her book tightly to her chest. "Please," the Rabbit continued, an apologetic gentleness to his tone. "We must go."<br/>
<br/>
"Go where?" She insisted, only to be interrupted by the sound of marching feet. Behind her, the Dodo released a fearful cry and scampered away into the underbrush. "That can't be good..." Fallon muttered under her breath, watching the retreating, awkward bird. <br/>
<br/>
"No, it isn't," the White Rabbit agreed in a mumble. <br/>
<br/>
Breaking forth from a path she hadn't noticed before, was a small convoy of men. Dressed in embroidered, playing card livery and carrying spears and shields, the troop came to a uniform halt in front of Fallon before splitting to form a circle around her. "Intruder!" One of the soldiers called in a deep voice and all the others repeated the word in unison after him. "Come with us, intruder! For your punishment!" The first soldier called. <br/>
<br/>
"Punishment?" Fallon exclaimed, bewildered and wondering if this wasn't some dream. Perhaps she had fallen and hit her head, and this was all the imaginings of her unconscious mind. "What punishment do I deserve for accidentally falling down a hole?" <br/>
<br/>
"Gentlemen, gentlemen!" The White Rabbit called, pushing past their legs to stand beside Fallon. The soldiers immediately lowered their spears, aiming the nefariously sharp points at the two. Fallon gasped, spine rigid and eyes wide. "There is no need for such barbarism!" The Rabbit went on. "Put your weapons away! Miss Fallon will go with you willingly." <br/>
<br/>
 She grimaced. "I will?" Fallon whispered down to the Rabbit, glancing at him furtively from her peripheral. Eyeing the spear aimed directly at her face, she reached up to lightly press her fingertip to the point, directing it slowly away from her. <br/>
<br/>
"If you don't want to be run through," the White Rabbit whispered harshly back. <br/>
<br/>
"If those are my only options, it seems my choice is made then," she grumbled. <br/>
<br/>
The soldiers withdrew their weapons, drawing back into their ramrod posture. "Come with us, intruder," the lead soldier commanded before the circle turned as one and began to march forward. Glancing again at the White Rabbit and left with no other choice than to let herself be herded along with the soldiers, Fallon grit her teeth. She had more questions than answers, her heart racing with fright. If this was a dream, she hoped she woke up soon.<br/>
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