[center][h2]Down The Rabbit-Hole[/h2][/center]

	By the standards of his many practiced and flawlessly executed hurdles from various tree-branches, rooftops, and improperly balanced ladders, the descent down was surprisingly short - in fact it barely gave him time to properly brace up in anxiety before he'd reached the bottom. He landed on his feet with a heavy thud outside a squat, arched cavern entrance, the inviting gleam of some purple aura emanating from within. As he ducked inside, he could immediately make out the rag-tag assortment of [i]"living conveniences"[/i] tucked away along the smoothed dirt walls of the cave - a motley assortment of twig-&-nettle "sofas", burnt plate-chunks of otherwise glossy green metal serving as makeshift tables for various knickknacks, a rather large and jagged shard of a mirror leaned just up adjacent the entryway, several melon-like fruits with what [i]*appeared*[/i] to be Rainbow-esc faces carved into them, a few expertly stacked metal crates and chests, and tying it all together, a luminescent purple lantern of some sort pulsating dead-center in the room. Everything was surprisingly neat and tidy for a cave...

[b]"Woah..."[/b], Caleb gawked.

[i]"Yeah, real luxury - feel free to take a seat when you're finished playing in the dirt though."[/i] At that, Rainbow shot an irritated snap of his fingers over toward a "sofa" nearest his dumbstruck companion, and in an instant it looked like just about the most comfortable pillow he'd ever laid eyes on; Ribbon immediately brushed past him at the door to take dibs on their newfound convenience.

[i]"...Or...stay where you are - anyway, I could give you all the background on the when-what-whys of our current predicament, but chances are it'd probably fly over you at this point. So instead I'll just say this: "[/i]

Rainbow paused for a moment, clearly trying to think of the simplest way to phrase his climactic statement.

[i]"...[b]N o t h i n g[/b]  here is as it first seems."[/i]

...

. . .Ribbon took the opportunity amid the brief interim to scratch a flea; Caleb considered the same, but decided against it - this weird li--er, "Rainbow", was clearly upset.

"...Uh-huh."

Rainbow clapped his hands together for no apparent reason, and shortly continued with: [i]"Great! Now that all the nitty-gritty backstory stuff is out of the way, let's outline what matters here: I've been stuck on this rock for two whole years amid a clan of mouth-breathing idiots with a penchant for zealotry, You just got stuck here with me, and of the two of us, you look like you'd stand more than 5 seconds in a fight - now, how experienced are you with Guerilla Tactics?"[/i]

Caleb attempted to look as composed as he'd ever been before answering: "...-- Glue-what now?"

The rising frustration in the creature's face was visible enough to practically be its own lantern.

[i]"Can. You. Fight. With. That. Thing?"[/i]

He nodded over to the hand-me-down hunk of ir--the noble blade hanging at Caleb's side, prompting the also-increasingly-flustered boy to sputter: "O-oh that - no-yeah I've...practiced with many competent sword-Knights back at home, Heaps: They come through my village all the time."

	Rainbow crossed his puny arms in an otherwise unnerving level of disbelief, putting a finger over his mouth in contemplation. For a moment the room entered another phase of nerve-wracking silence, and Caleb considered easing in aside Ribbon in the hopes of not completely losing his cool. He suddenly had the trailing realization that he looked [i]*nothing*[/i] like the armor-clad heroes he'd idolized (and occasionally perturbed) as they stopped in from longer travels. His arms were too scrawny...well frankly, his Everything was too scrawny. And he had a girl's neck. And his hands were small with five "plushy" ([i]as Mrs. Ardia had once called them - boy was he glad that nickname hadn't stuck longer than a few months[/i]) fingers protruding out of each of them...

...he didn't even own a helmet;  [b]E v e r y[/b] [b]Knight[/b] had a [b]Helmet[/b]...

It was at that moment that he realized the creature was pointing its finger at [i]*him.*[/i]

[b]S N A P![/b] In an instant a wash of purple light enveloped him, toppling the boy over in his yet latest moment of complete unprepared-i-ness, landing him flat on his back, eyes glued to the upside-down mirror behind him.

[i]...What...in...?[/i]