HOME | DD

DoktorOstego — The 'Other' Planes pt 1 by-nc-nd
Published: 2011-10-31 06:17:46 +0000 UTC; Views: 324; Favourites: 5; Downloads: 6
Redirect to original
Description           It's been quite the while since you've come for a tale of the "Hatters". However, much as a Hatter always returns for another dose of time, you come for another dose of insanity at it's finest. Today's tale, however, will not be of any mere day within the outer boarders of the Clockwork Cities. Rather, today's tale will not only be on a Holiday; it will also be a marking point, of which reveals another clue to Bi-trixial's still mysterious nature. Most would say what you see is what you get, when you socialize with the time-obsessed wolf; I, however, know much different.
          Bi-trixial will tell you directly what he represents in human nature; Insanity and Karma. He claims his lack of being stable is a mimicry of how humans appear to him, while he helps deal Karma out to those who are....deserving. This tells little to nothing, however; where Batten and Grim seem reasonable in nature with their personalities and tasks, he is not. He's considerably the hardest to read, and the hardest to understand. That is, until I stumbled upon a journal entry, written by a young Lillian, oh whom is, or was, well-known for being connected to the Hatter Batten. Her entry is far too long; so, I will take the liberties to shorten her tale down enough, for you to enjoy without spending too much to figure out her constant misspellings, confusing comments, and her obsession to Batten.

          This was the second official Halloween week for the Hatters Grim and Batten. This time a year ago, the youthful Lillian had brought the glory of what she knows Halloween to be, to the small community. The Hatters have had little to no knowledge of most Holidays; being on such a busy schedule until as of late, they had never had the pleasures of having days off. With society finding ways of dealing with their own problems of Death and work-related Stress, the Hatters have been able to kick back a bit and listen in more to the silly views of Lillian.
          Lillian, if you don't know of her, is a beautiful ..."whatchyamacallit". That's the best way to phrase her; her appearance appears to be of a mixed breed. While most of her fur is either amaranth pink or umber brown, the other areas are lime green. These areas are along her legs, the end of her tail, and the core hair upon the top of her head. While once a fit and lean fur, her love for delightful snacks (and for teasing her mate) has led her into a slightly chubbier form, which fits nicely, considering her short form. Her long hair cascades past her shoulders, while keeping to the sides of her head, constantly revealing her short muzzle and shimmery green eyes.
          Her hyper-active nature makes her quick to think and quick to be cheerful; with Halloween coming up, her long, slender tail had already begun to sway away. She's spent the past two weeks decorating her share of the home with many decorations, from plastic Skeletons, wool spider webs, and pin ups of Candy Corn, to carved Pumpkins (all in the shape of Batten, oddly enough.) While Bi-trixial offered some "real" Skeletons, Lillian figured it was best to use these; she wasn't sure if he was jesting or not, and decided it was best not to take chances.
          Despite the easy to recognize decorations, Batten only watched with confusion; she was putting more effort into the Holiday, than the previous year. Last year, the small community was only aware of the Halloween day itself; the day, where you dress up as "spooky" beings, and go to stranger's houses, begging to be treated or to be tricked, just to get sweets, of which could be poisoned, for all he knew. Despite his unease, he wouldn't dare forbid such a holiday, in fear of invoking the wrath of a furious "whatchyamacallit".
          He, however, disliked the dressing up idea the most. He was content with his usual wardrobe: A fancy 3 piece suit, of which matches the shade of his own fur. His accessories consist of the following; a red neck tie at a loose fitness, a pair of working goggles with different clocks on each lens, a monocle, his walking cane, and most importantly, his top hat. To him, his top hat is the most important piece of his outfit, as it holds his firey hair in place, as wells as hold his own personal time-piece on the outside.
          He watched the lass with his eyes, of which curiously resemble older time pieces, in the sense that, where numbers line along the outer sections of his eyes, the base is an aged yellow, aside from his red pupils. He ran his free paw along his fairly long muzzle, pondering why she would hang such tacky designs in her room, where she could be making a more "attractive" design. He hadn't spoken a word, though; he feared if he were to get her attention, she would pin him down and begin measuring him for the sake of designing a new outfit. After last year's dressing as a pimp, he decided that he'd rather not partake in the holiday. He knew that, at some point, he would have to speak; he'd rather wait for Grim to come in, so that she would work her attention on his outfit first instead.

          Grim had already made his way to Batten's home; Grim lived a fairly short distance from the other Hatters, but was always far away due to his work. With the steps he takes, however, it didn't matter; although slow, his long legs make for far stepping. More specifically, everything of his was long and thin; in height, he was over eight feet tall, without his hat, of which, he had recently set aside. With his little friends nearing mating season, he would not need the hat to bring them along.
          When Grim took his time to travel about from location to location, he was always one of the easiest people to spot; his entire form were shades of black and white; fur and clothing. From his fancy three piece suit, to his blank eyes and long, triple striped hair, his appearance would be well known as the ending for someone when seen outside of the Clockwork Cities or the Hatter community. Stories were rumored that, if he were to reach into his vest, he would be pulling out a scythe. Other rumors would be silly enough to state that he crushed the original reaper with a single step of his giant foot. In fact, the only rumor to be even remotely reasonable would be the design of his facial fur; some state that the white areas all sum out to be the shape of a skull if mushed together correctly.
          It mattered not to him; he knew the truth and his job, and he was content enough with that. The less interaction he experienced, the better. Even when conversing some citizens with the best of hope, they would be shaken by his voice, which only furthered the fear of death for some. While his deep voice wasn't so bad, it was the way he spoke; certain words, usually consisting of "r"s, "o"s, or "s"s, would be carried along. If that wasn't enough, he was also VERY monotone; his face is always a grimace of some sort; his eyes always wide and blank; his voice always...well, monotone. By this point in time, he preferred to just collect his harvest and move along to better tasks.

          It wasn't long, until a slow three knocks were made upon the front oaken door. Lillian perked her over-sized ears and began skipping her way to the front door, right past Batten, who began to smirk in his sudden feeling of safety for the time being. This feeling would be short lived, as Lillian chimmed in before opening the door;
          "Don't bother worrying on hiding; I took your measurements while you were sleeping, and have finished your costume."
          This statement made Batten scowl, before stomping off in defeat, throwing his tantrum on his way to the work station in the basement of the home. Lillian chuckled while watching, finding him rather adorable when angry. Her attention quickly turned back to the door, quickly and recklessly swinging the door open, breaking yet another vase in the process. Her clumsy nature was well known, and it was for this, that the Pottery store in the Clockwork Cities had begun giving her discounts on such vases.
          Grim gave two blanks before peeking down at the vase, now keeping the mental note of this being at least the thirty-second vase broken due to her opening the door.
          "You knoooooowww, you should consssssider placing thooooossseee elsewhere..." Grim uttered, before shaking his head and taking a step into the home, needing no invite.
          "Well, I could do that...or you could stop making me so happy to see you," she responded in a cheerful tone before hugging Grim, who was almost twice her size in height. She peeked into his sleeve curiously, as if looking for something. In place, a small, yet oddly adorable crocodile head peeked out and squeed, causing Lillian to fall back onto her bottom in surprise. The creature in the sleeve smirked before scurrying it's tiny form up along Grim's arm and shoulder, before finally resting on the top of his master's head, forming into a snug, curled up position.
          The small creature is well known as a Prawk, or, as you could probably guess, a Pocket Croc. The proper species name is unknown, as Grim owns the only few left in existence, or currently aware of. Despite being short, these Prawks have many benefits; aside from the apparent agile speed and movements, they also have have secreting poison glands in their fairly long mouth, which are used to fend off their predators and to help them digest their unusual diet of metals.
          It took Lillian a moment to shake off the fact that she fell before she began to giggle and leap up on her hind paws, reaching up with extreme difficulty to pet the small Prawk, who squeed with delight and flipped onto it's back, enjoying the belly rub. Grim merely watched before clicking his tongue, of which triggered the Prawk  to flip up and scurry down into Lillian's paw instead.
          "I brought Hooooooookkk....as you requested...mind explaining whhhhyyyy you desssiirreeed to see him..." the tall Hatter spoke, his expression still blank instead of curious.
          "Well, if you remember this time of last year, the Prawks had began their crafting of Halloween outfits for the big day, and since the younger Prawks are young adults by this point, I figure I would try scarier outfits with Hook and let him decide what would be suitable; after all, the scarier the costume, the more candy one gets, and these 'cute wittle guys' need the sugar."
          She was right; with mating season near by, the Prawks who have recently become young adults need to get plenty of energy and sugar for the soon to be mating season. While most would take a heavy feast of gross vegetables or a small bit of direct mouthfuls of sugar, candy, clearly, is the best option. Not only is it chock-full of sugar, it's also delightful to the senses of every sensible being. Grim, however, wishes for the Prawks to return to the wild one day, and refuses to assist the younger Prawks in their hunt for Sugar. Although this isn't exactly the BEST idea of their hunting, it'll suffice until the population allows the creatures to work together and hunt for wild foliage.
          "Now, I have some of the outfit's already made to his size; I need you to take Hook into the kitchen and help him try the outfits on, while I try to cheer up the "frumpy fur" in his personal workspace." She cooed the Prawk once more, who had become very pale from the idea of being used as a dress-up doll, before skipping to the Engineering room below. With just Grim and Hook at the doorway still, the Hatter gave a few blinks before making his way into the kitchen.
          "Betweeeeenn you and meeeee...I'd say she's the insaaannnnee one..." he murmurs to Hook, who fell into a squeeing giggle-fit. As they approach the counter, a small pile of tiny outfits were laid across the table, each with different designs and approaches to horror. Clearly, however, she had not considered the difficulty of making Prawks scary. Considering their shape and form, it's hard to work anything into a suitable suit of fear and intimidation. Trying to make a Prawk horrifying, is like trying to make Bi-trixial find a Kitten adorable; it's basically impossible. Still, young Hook wouldn't want to let Lillian down, while declining the invitation to candy for those in need.
          The first outfit was a simple re-skin to the typical crocodile. Fairly impressive with it's features and detail...but, by no means, terrifying. Hook slide into the outfit, and found the sizing to fit fairly well. This was passable. The next outfit was an attempt at a werewolf. The outfit was rather...shaggy; the fur was made of a fabric not resembling fur, and had no means of hiding or replacing the Prawk tail. Sliding into the outfit, Hook found the outfit to be far too hot and tight. This outfit, would not do.
          Such is the means of trial-and-error for Hook; from Skeletons and Spiders, to non-sense like Flowers and clowns, Hook spent over an hour trying on many of these outfits, before finishing the final one, of which was the most appreciated; an outfit to resemble that of Grim's. Although this one was clearly just for Hook, it had still been the best of them all.
          After the outfits were sorted out to what was, and was not, acceptable for the year, Lillian came out of the basement, wearing Batten's coat, which was over-sized for her. Grim blinked a time or two, curious on to why she was wearing his coat, but figured not to ask. She skipped over to check the results, and was ashamed at herself with so many outfits being set aside as "Discard-able". With the final results tallying in, she sent Grim and Hook off and away with what outfits that were liked, and had wanted to start plotting on new designs to try and attempt for the Prawk colony, until she heard some laughter from below; while she would ignore the laughter of Batten, she heard another laugh, from a less personal favorable source; Bi-trixial. It wasn't that she DISLIKED Bi-trixial. It was just that, at this month of the year, he tends to be far too much of a problem and pest due to some of his past, that he detailed to her many times before. Once Halloween is over, however, he becomes loveable once more. Until she, she demanded he stay away from her home. The fact that she heard his laughter means that he must be with Batten, of whom she expected to turn the Twisted hatter away. With haste, she slinked down into the basement, deciding to study on the two....or, more properly, spy.

          "...are you sure of this?" Batten spoke in a hushed tone, his bushy tail wagging behind with curious delight while peeking at a random machine that he had been working on for some time. Essentially, the machine appeared to be a door-way, but made of metal and cogs. For a moment, one might consider it to be a time machine...but, with Bi-trixial around, such a machine would not be needed.
          For those of you who don't know Bi-trixial of all of these Hatters...you have clearly never been to the Clockwork Cities. It is Bi-trixial, of whom is, perhaps, one of the most spoken individuals, for better AND worse, aside from a handful of others. Bi-trixial, first of all, is considered the head of the Hatter community. He's also most noted for being perhaps the most insane and reckless being around; he's felt little to no guilt for thing's he has done in the past, most of which would scar most people for life. From Karma KILLINGS to saving the tiniest of life forms, Bi-trixial has been dubbed "Karma's Advocate", as his reasoning to his actions make sense...while the actions themselves do not.
          If not known for the eccentric personality, it's clearly his appearance; while Batten and Grim match well and look quite attractive, Bi-trixial is pretty much the opposite; most noticeable for him is his face. Instead of a solid shade or two, his face, alone is up to 5 different colors; Blue, white, black, gray, and green. His facial fur markings resemble that of a Cathedral window, which depicts a picture from the bible in shimmery, well-tinted glass. The only difference being, it depicts nothing on his face; Black stripes stream on the lower half of his eyes, while everywhere on the upper-half is like an insane cluster of shades, shapes, and colors. The easiest part to note is the base of his fur is Blue and white; after that, is where it becomes confusing. The middle of his forehead streaks down two gray bars a short distance to between his eyes, just above spreading either left or right. Aside those, are blue box-like shapes of blue, enclosed by white bars, which are bordered by the split gray bars.
          His muzzle eases to a normal shade of solid white, which is perfect, as when he smiles, it gives notice to the insanity of his nature, and hints to new people that he's clearly missing a few....cogs. If that wasn't hint enough, his eyes may be; where it might make sense for eyes to be mostly white aside from black pupils, it's the polar opposite to him; the gaze of small white pupils tends to give the appearance of the Hatter peering into your soul. Where the pupil matches his muzzle, the rest of the eye matches the color of his long, rugged and long hair, most of which gets little to no attention, as his hat is much more attractive over all.
          Another reason for his confusing appearance is his outfit; while his undershirt and pants are Blue and black checkered print, his over coat is a deep Maroon, none of which matches his fur...directly. Weirdly enough, however, over all, the style fits PERFECTLY for him. Not that your opinion matters; he's not going to change his wardrobe for you. Why should he; he's not trying to impress you.

          Bi-trixial tugs lightly at both ends of his small, red bow with a wide grin, giving a confident nod before turning his attention to his notes on the table, running his claw along the papers, which soon has Batten leaning in to peek at the notes. Lillian's curiosity, as always, get's the best of her intentions, and she begins sneaking over to the shiny machine, shedding the coat of Batten's she was wearing just a moment ago. After a slow crawl over, her claw gave a light tap to the machine, before a sudden jolt zaps into her claw; in place of where she hid, remains nothing but smoke, while the whirring machine suddenly dies; silence, and lack of movement.
          "...eh?" That was all that could be said from Batten, as the two hatters peek at the invention, blinking before they start to check out different coils and cogs, pondering what set the machine to turn off, not aware that young Lillian was just taken to a far away place; a place, that even Bi-trixial is unable to get to with his own skills.
Related content
Comments: 1

Arikothal [2012-03-03 22:32:30 +0000 UTC]

At-least SOMEONE, being me, was paying attention to who was being described.

I had forgotten about Bi-Trixial's checkered attire.

👍: 0 ⏩: 0