*~*~*Collaboration between YoshiSkittlez, Ghost Shadow, and I*~*~*

The Cat started to slink away after his conversation with Snow, deciding, now that he was in a stable location (for the time being) to get answers out of The White Rabbit...

Teleporting in a small [i]poof[/i] of wispy smoke once again, the Cat appeared in front of Leveret at the fire, looking up at him with his leery grin. "Hello, Rabbit." He greeted in a voice that was cheery enough, but laced with venom. 

"It's a shame that Ogre didn't disembowel you, but I suppose you still have your uses...tell me - why does the Queen want Alice? And don't leave out a single detail...or I'll break your mind even worse than it is now." The Cat threatened, his grin turning into a sneer for a brief moment as he intended to go through fully on his threat. It wasn't difficult to shatter one's sanity with illusions, even if the person in question already *was* quite insane. 

Leveret looked up from his bowl of watery stew with a rather annoyed expression of having been interrupted at mealtime but he set the bowl aside and placed his hands back into his lap, drawing out a long, high-toned sigh.

"My Mistress doesn't confide such things with me I'm afraid." He said, sounding almost upset by that small fact. "She pushed me out of the barrier, said to follow you. Gave me a magic bean she did, and said to return home with the girl." He began to rock back and forth, like an amused child as his tone became lighter. "Leveret did as he was told, he did, and my Mistress will be most pleased, she will." Ending with a giggle, Leverett's dark, beady eyes shot to a small ring placed on his pinky finger, and though his smile faultered, he went back to eating as if the fluffy pink and purple cat had never bothered him.

"Quite right...if that's so, I suppose you wouldn't mind 'confiding' to me what that is on your finger, there?" The Cat asked in a sickly sweet tone as he began to close the space between the two of them. 

Leveret paused, wooden spoon stuffed deep inside his mouth as once again, his eyes shot back to the ring on his finger. He swallowed hard and pulled the spoon from his mouth to look back at The Cat. His once, somber expression slowly began to twist into a crooked smile as he put a sausage-like finger to his lips, shushing the air around them before saying, in a rather squeaky, eager voice,

"Magic."

"Tell. Me. More." The Cat ordered, his voice seeming to lower octaves in pitch, becoming huskier, more guttural as his fur changed color, becoming black as ebony, matted in places; his eyes turning from a luminescent blue to as red as blood, his teeth becoming sharp, crooked, yellow. A simple illusion, really, one that only the White Rabbit could see in front of him. 

Leveret found himself shrinking back at The Cat's sudden change of appearance; although he had lived most of his life in Wonderland and found such illusions to be on the norm, living in Storybrooke for five years had seemed to take a toll on his sensitivity to such things.

"M-my Mistress..." Leveret stammered, now deciding to fidget with the dirt underneath his fingernails; anything to keep from looking at The Cat before him. "...ties me to her it does, a bond that I can not break nor would I want to. No, no separation. I can [i]feel[/i] my Mistress when she allows it I can; pull from her powers I can...when she allows it..."

"A leech, hm? Interesting..." The Cat replied thoughtfully, his appearance slowly but surely turning back to normal, as though a veil was being lifted. 

"The question is why she would send a [i]bumbling[/i] idiot such as yourself instead of someone more...capable. But I suppose I can ask her soon enough, because I'm getting to Wonderland, and [i]you're[/i] going to help me. Am I clear?" The Cat hissed coldly, eyes narrowed dangerously at the White Rabbit. 

Leveret seemed to ease up a bit now that The Cat was his usual, fluffy-self and let his eyes do a bit of wandering; no where in particular, just something for him to do.

"Oh dear, my Mistress won't like that at all; not one bit! No, Leveret will find himself in much trouble if he helps The Cheshire any more than he already has."

"Well, then, let's look at your options, my dear fellow. You can either wait for your 'Mistress' (a word he spat with as much venom and condescension as possible) to punish you [i]later[/i] *or* I can let my friend over there deal with you now." The Cat threatened, turning his head towards Knox for a moment. He had no idea how violent or agressive the security guard shadow-man-thing would be, but he had high hopes...

Leveret's eyes darted over to where the Shadow Man was standing and felt a dry lump forming in his throat, however before he had time to think on The Cat's offer, the ring on Leveret's finger began to grow warm. His beady eyes looked back to his hands, more specifically to the ring on his pinky and gave The Cat a quick, crooked-toothed grin.

"I'm afraid I can't make our tea date, Cheshire..." Leveret said standing up, suddenly sounding refined and a whole hell of a lot more dignified in his speech than he had ever lent onto before. "...for you see-" His speech was cut off by a giggle worthy of Rumpelstiltskin himself before finishing, "-I'm late."

A small cloud of violet smoke began to accumulate at his ankles, slowly snaking up and around Leveret until he was completely encased by the fog and then, with the blow of the wind, he was gone.

The Cat could only stare at the empty space in front of him with utter disbelief. He [i]had[/i] him, he [i]had[/i] the White Rabbit in his grasp - only for the slippery bastard to slip out of his grasp, and probably waltz and hop his way back to the Queen. 

The Cat, at first, showed little reaction; no visible anger, or rage, or irritation - he simply sat there staring, mouth twitching as he struggled to cope with the sudden loss of an asset. 

"Irritating bugger, isn't he?" 

A cool and calm, yet very cheeky, voice spoke up behind The Cat. A devilishly handsome man who wore simple blacksmith's attire, was leaning against a tree, and looked at The Cat with a knowing look, as though he had been listening in on the whole conversation. He stood up from the tree and started walking towards the cat as he continued "The fat man's probably gone back to [i]her[/i],"

The Cat slowly looked behind him as a voice, sleek and confident, spoke up. Tilting his head to the side slightly, The Cat took his sweet time replying, instead studying the 'blacksmith' carefully, trying to read him, noting him to be the very same man who had followed Lancelot out from his tent earlier.

"You're quite curious for a blacksmith...haven't you got swords to sharpen?" The Cat asked rudely as he turned around to face the man fully, all the while meeting him with a piercing look. 

The Blacksmith raised an eyebrow at The Cat's response, and he answered, "I suppose I do. Plus, talking with cats is quite an absurd activity to partake in anyways," 

He looked as though he was ready to leave, but he paused and he added, "However...I couldn't help but overhear that this...Alice girl, is with [i]her[/i]...someone special to you I'd assume, judging from your initial reaction of the fat one's departure..."

"....And I may know how to get to her, but you don't seem to be particularly interested,"

He shrugged as he turned his back on The Cat, and he stated as he started walking away "Oh well. C'est la vie,"

"Wait." The Cat's voice called out, piercing the palpable tension as he silently bid the blacksmith's return. 

The Blacksmith stopped and he turned to look at The Cat, with a raised eyebrow.

"Tell me more..." He commanded, obviously interested by the temptation of information. 

The Blacksmith wryly smiled at The Cat's command, and teased lightly "Now who's the curious one, eh?"

He chuckled before he continued seriously, "I've heard rumor of a portal that will take one to a world called Wonderland, and it lies within the ruins of Snow White's castle," 

"Funny business, portals....more trouble than they're worth." The Cat added nonchalantly, veiling his own excitement, and fear, of returning to Wonderland - returning [i]home[/i]. 

"How would one...[i]find[/i] this portal, then?" The Cat asked curiously, swishing hs tail from side to side as he continued to stare at the blacksmith with those piercing eyes. 

The Blacksmith answered, adding a slight joke about The Cat's appearance into his answer, "It shouldn't be too hard, unless you don't know what a mirror is," 

"For the sake of your dignity, Sir, I'll neglect to reveal my [i]true[/i] form to you." The Cat returned dryly, confident that his own attractiveness surpassed that of the blacksmith's. 

"Now, funny you should mention a mirror..." The Cat began, switching the subject completely, unsure as to if the blacksmith knew more than he was letting on, or if he simply made a coincidental comparison. 

"There are, of course, Looking Glasses, mirrors, that lead into Wonderland. I've only seen a handful before, and I'm not sure if many could survive this....chaos." The Cat finished with a narrowing of the eyes. Why could nothing ever go his way anymore? 

The Blacksmith answered "Apparently, according to the rumors, there is one Looking Glass that is well hidden in the ruins. Where exactly, I do not know. That you would have to find out for yourself, mate," 

He then added "Besides, Her Highness seemed eager to go to those ruins from what I've noticed. That may be your best chance, mate," 

"Hm...most useful. I suppose you're going to tell me the price of information, now, yes?" The Cat asked in a somewhat fatigued tone, not even bothering to thank the blacksmith for information. His dealings with people of the sort left a sort of prejudice in his mind - money was the universal deal-pleaser. 

The Blacksmith seemed to raise an eyebrow at the Cat's statement, and he asked in a genuinely friendly tone, "Price? Seriously, mate?"

He shook his head and he continued in the same benevolent tone, "You already lost The Fat One. I should think that would count as enough of a price don't you think? Besides, as far as I can tell, you have nothing I want," 

"Hm...quite." The Cat answered, thoughtfully, his tone hinting there was much more on his mind beyond a simple 'quite'. 

"You've been most useful to me. You have my deepest thanks." The Cat said in what one could 'call' a gracious manner, though an air of condescension remained prevalent, as though he looked down on the blacksmith like he did everyone else. 

The Blacksmith retorted in a sarcastic, yet still good-natured joke, "How humbling, mate," He then turned around and started walking away, and he waved as he walked away, heading back to the camp. He said to The Cat, intentionally nicknaming him with a girlish name, "Best of luck to you...Kitty," 

"Oh, I don't need luck, my friend. My wits have sufficed." The Cat replied under his breath, though made no other attempt to hide his words. He watched the blacksmith walk away keenly, keeping a careful eye until growing bored. 

Deciding he would take a few moments to learn the camp's schematics before going to bed, The Cat disappeared in a cloud of smoke, for all intents and purposes, gone from the world.