Rough chapter snippet for @pinkshgum
“Are you guys still alive?” She called, looking over into the bushes. “Say something if you’re not dead.”
“We’re alive!” Pink called as her foot appeared from the bushes followed by the guy’s face.
“Rosa why-,” he cried as he stood up with Pink still clinging to his back.
“Because you always have to expect the unexpected remember?” She grinned.
“Fair enough,” he conceded as she slid off his back and took her seat at the picnic table.
But you’re getting better! You actually broke the chokehold this time!”
“Finally,” he sighed, collapsing at his seat at the table.
“Arepas?” He asked, holding the bag towards Pink.
“Thanks!” She beamed eagerly taking one . “Tell your abuelita I said hi!”
“I will,” he nodded before he held the bag towards Red. “Arepas?”
“No thanks,” she shook her head. “I’m full.”
“Suit yourself,” he shrugged, taking a bite for himself. “I guess it’s more for us Rosa.”
Somewhere between all of the bites, Red could’ve sworn she heard Pink let out a victory cry. Maybe.
“You can sit down if you want,” he spoke again, this time to Red as he gestured to the empty seat next to Pink.
“Alright,” Red started slowly joining them around the picnic table. “So…is this surprise assault thing a regular thing you do or?”
“Yes,” Luis and Pink answered in unison as a twig fell out of Pink’s hair.
“Great…” she rolled her eyes. “I’ll have to remember that…”
“Why?” He asked in between a bite. “We’ve been doing this for years.”
“Years?” She repeated, which from the look Luis gave her, may have been a mistake.
“Luis,” Pink frowned. “Please.”
For a moment he, the one Ponk called Luis hadn’t said anything, merely looking from her to Pink. Then as if deciding something he leaned against the table. “Right…” he finally nodded before turning to Red. “Sorry. I’m Luis. Luis Madrigal.”
Pink paused mid bite. “Why are you introducing yourself?”
He shrugged, “I just thought she’d appreciate the refresher. Plus we didn’t really get to talk that much last time, right Princess?”
“….Right…” Red slowly nodded as he continued eating.
Oh yeah. Luis Madrigal? He was definitely going to be a problem.
But to his credit his answer seemed to placate Pink as her smile quickly returned. “Oh! I get it! Red, you remember Luis, right? Luis is a foreign exchange student and the smartest student in all of Auradon! If there’s any question, riddle or puzzle you need solving then he’s your guy!”
“So you really know everything? Really?”
“Well almost everything,” Luis laughed, brushing off his shoulder. “But quick disclaimer: The universe is always infinitely expanding, so it is to some degree physically impossible to know everything-,”
“Could you at least answer my question?”
“Knowledge? But I thought you said you knew almost everything-,”
“And I do, but that’s about this and my world. The place you two come from is an entirely different beast. So I’ve been trying to gain all the wonderland knowledge I can in the past few days and what better source to use than the two princesses of wonderland themselves?” He asked as Pink beamed.
“Fair enough,” Red shrugged. “What do you want to know?”
“You might want to sit down for this one,” he gestured to the picnic table. “This is a serious question. Not for the faint of heart.”
“Uhh…okay?” Red frowned as they all seated themselves around the table as Luis seriously looked them over.
“Tell me…Whats the difference between Croquet and Golf?”
“Culture,” Pink answered.
“The potential for animal abuse,” Red replied as the others stared. “What it’s true? The ball and mallets are literal animals.”
“They were literal animals,” Pink retorted, clearing her throat. “But when Mom ended that she made sure to well compensate them. Nowadays we just mallets that look like flamingos and balls shaped like hedgehogs. Not the real thing.”
“Oh,” Luis sighed, “well that’s good to know. Alright since you answered my question. I’ll answer yours. So go ahead. Ask away.”
“Great,” Red muttered, trying to ignore Pink’s presence from beside her. If only she hadnt been here. Maybe then Red could’ve asked him about any other historical or subtle changes. But he already seemed suspicious, so whatever she’d had to ask, she needed to frame it carefully.
“You honestly seem like a gossip,” Red commented as Pink choked on her arepas.
“Do you know what happened after I passed out?”
“Not much,” he started. “Of course everyone initially panicked. So much so that the council decided to launch a whole investigation into the matter. From what I heard they thought someone had poisoned or maybe cursed you.”
“Poison?” Red spat. “Who would poison me?!”
“I can think of a few,” Pink scowled.
“And you’re not the only one in that line of thinking. They were interrogating the other team for a while.”
“An investigation? That seems a bit much-,”
“It does,” he nodded as he stretched. “But I guess some don’t want to take any chances.”
“Okay,” Red interjected, trying to ignore how vague these two were. “But did they discover anything?”
“No?” Luis answered. “The investigation is still ongoing. But if anything major is about to happen I expect to hear it in about,” he held up his hand. “5, 4, 3, 2…1.”
“AAAHHHHH!” A voice wailed as Red looked up, just in time to catch sight of a figure crash landing right next to the table.
“Hello Robbie,” Luis replied, completely unphased by his friend’s abrupt entrance.
“Hey Luis,” Robbie called from the ground before galling himself into the spot next to Luis. “That hurt.”
“I can tell, considering how you fell, what? 10? 15 feet?”
“Are you always falling out of trees or is this just something new?”
“Oh I’m always doing it,” Robbie proudly nodded as he pulled a few branches and leaves from his jacket. “Helps to maintain the Robin Hood’s son brand.”
“Is everyone in this group insane??” Red questioned.
“Probably,” Luis shrugged as he and Pink stood to help Robbie up.
“Robbie, you could’ve hurt yourself! What were you even doing up there?” Pink chided as she pulled another branch from his hair.
“Testing the strength of the vines. They’ve gotten a lot bigger lately.,” he reached into his pocket before pulling out a stash of papers as he turned to Luis.
“Here ya go- the morning paper-,”
“Great! Thanks!” Luis called taking it to open it. “More expected yet unnecessary petty political conflict amongst the nobles and HK parents? Say it ain’t so…”
“Well you can’t exactly blame them,” Pink sighed. “You saw them at the orientation yesterday some of the incoming VK classmates…leave a lot to be desired…”
“It’s probably nothing we can’t handle though! We whooped them in soccer like we were the villains! Right Luis?”
“Absolutely and we’re gonna do it again today too-,” Luis grinned as he folded his newspaper and motioned for his friends to lean forwards. “I’ve come up with at least 32 strategies to beat them in any sport known to man-,”
“Wait…” Red interrupted, as she pointed towards his newspaper. “What’s that headline on the back of it?”
“Oh this? Didn’t you hear the news?” Luis refolded the paper. “It says Maddox is coming back to Wonderland.”
“No way…” Robbie frowned.
“Ugh,” Pink shuddered. “I can’t believe mom’s letting him back..”
“Back?” Red repeated looking from Luis to Pink. “When did he leave?”
Luis shifted in his seat. “Leave is a…kind way to put it-,”
“Red…” Pink frowned. “Maddox was exiled, remember?”
“…What? What do you mean exiled? He can’t be exiled-,”
“He was. Mom sent him to the aisle a long time ago after he used wild time magic against her.”
