Based this off the idea of a modern Alice from Alice in Wonderland. Her backstory is based off the song "Lady Marmalade" by Christina Aguilera, Lil Kim, P!nk, and Mya from the movie Moulin Rouge!. Alice refers to her 'home' as a brothel, but it's really a cabaret.

Disclaimer: I own NOTHING!... Except Alice. Yeah, I own her.

Alice finishes the last few chords of a song, the name of which escapes her, as the sun sets over the horizon. She lingers, not wanting to head 'home'. Her day job was perfectly legal as long as she kept some kind of hat or tin plate of some kind in front of her. Her night job, though, wasn't as legal. In February of 2011, in New Orleans, Louisiana, prostitution was legal as long as you weren't caught. Luckily for her boss, one Harry Zigler, there were enough corrupt cops and politicians in town to keep the cabaret where Alice worked and lived going.

She decides, as she put her money into her small, hand-made (by her, of course) satchel and slings her guitar over her shoulder, to take a walk through town. New Orleans was, is, and always would be, home to her. She loves the smell of liquor and cigarette smoke that always hangs on the air. She loves every single cobblestone that was laid in the street where she walks. She loves every child that played in the streets near their houses. She loves this city, and wouldn't leave for the world.

Her brown, short hair bounces as she walks. Her blue, almost grey, eyes take in everything as she strides down Bourbon Street. The cabaret where she lives and works is in another part of town, but she prefers the French Quarter to any other part of New Orleans. She walks by Johnny White's, a small restaurant that was almost home to some of the bikers who regularly ate there. She gives a quick wink at a couple of them that she recognizes, and they laugh loudly at her. She grins, and keeps walking.

Her stiletto's click on the pavement and her skinny black jeans hug her curves comfortably as she walks. Her corset chaffs her side a little painfully, but she pays it no mind. Her purple, long sleeved blouse provides her enough warmth to block out the cold winds, though her neck freezes. She wishes she had a scarf, but alas, there are none to be had. She considers buying one from one of the small fashion shops that she walks by, but decides against it. She didn't really need it, and she didn't make very much that day. That and they probably made enough off the tourists.

Deciding on taking a short cut she uses often, Alice turns down a dark, damp alleyway. As she walks, she suddenly hears more feet on the pavement. Casting a quick glance behind her, she spots four men, one with a small knife, slowly following her. "Crap." She thinks to herself, as she quickens her pace. She turns another corner, going the wrong way, hoping she knows these streets better than they do.

As she walks, she suddenly realizes there are two more guys at the end of the street, and when she glances behind her, there's now six following her. Taking a quick left, she sees three more at the end of that alley, coming towards her. Her eyes widening, she takes her eyes off the street and breaks into a run, heading around another corner. What she doesn't see is the open manhole in the street.

She falls. She falls for what feels like miles. Her shoes get knocked right off her feet, her pants tear, and her shirt gets torn. She tries to take hold of anything, as she notices that she's falling through dirt and tree roots, instead of pavement and sewer water. Anything she grabs doesn't hold, and she continues to fall. She collides with a bed, but her light weight bounces right off. Alice screams, afraid of whatever it is that awaits her at the bottom of this seemingly bottomless pit.

Finally, she collides with something that feels like stone. She lays there, stunned and in pain, thinking that death has taken her. Then a realization strikes her, "I'm… breathing? But aren't I dead?" She opens her eyes, and looks around her. When she glances up, she sees her hair standing straight up in the air. Then she falls again, this time to the floor of the sewer, landing in nasty water. She hurts all over, but slowly stands. "Where… where am I?"

Alice spots a nearby ladder, leading up to another manhole. She grimaces, no longer trusting of them after what she just went through, but decides to take a chance. The ladder is old and creaks when she stands on it, the wood seemingly rather rotten. The manhole cover is heavy and made of some kind of steel, but she manages to move it after a few tries. She breathes in the fresh air as she climbs out slowly, pulling herself up. The smell of the sewer hits her then, and she almost throws up right there. She rolls over quickly, hoping to get away from the awful smell.

She stands up slowly, her bare feet cold on the cobbl-…"Wait… COBBLESTONE?" Alice glances around quickly, and realizes that the entire street is made of laid cobblestones, and all the buildings are made of some kind of wood. She shakes as the cold wind hits her wet clothes, and it's then that she also realizes that it's raining, hard. Alice ducks into the nearest building, hoping to find some shelter. She glances around, and notices the smell of beer on the air. She huffs. "Of course, its pouring rain out there, I'm afraid, soaking wet, and have no idea where I am, and where do I go first? A bar. Great."

"Welcome to the Inn of the Prancing Pony, miss! I'm the owner of this fine establishment, Barliman Butterbur. What can I do for you, miss…?" He asks in a strange accent, foreign sounding in comparison to her own Creole accent. She also notices that he has to lean over the bar some to be able to look her in the eye, making her conscious, yet again, of her stout height of only 4'11".

"Alice. Alice Dawn." He interrupts her before she can ask him anything.

"Well, Miss Dawn, I've got a nice room upstairs that you can use for the night. Hey, if you don't mind me asking, where are you from?" She smiles warily.

"Not here. Sir, if you don't mind my asking… where am I?" He stares at her, shocked and confused. She hurriedly comes up with a quick lie, "I'm afraid that I just woke up outside, and I have no recollection of where I am or, even really from. I just remember my name, and that is all." She pretends to start to cry, knowing this would tug at a kind, older man's heart, and he shushes her softly.

"Hey, now, little miss, don't cry. You're in Bree, north of the Shire, and about a four day journey south of Rivendell, if that helps at all." "Rivendell? The Shire? Why do those sound like something I've read out of a book?" She shook her head after a moment, unable to place the names. A thoughtful look crosses his face. "You were most likely robbed, if you were hit over the head so hard you don't remember nothin'. Tell you what, if you'll man the bar so I can deliver orders to the customers, you can spend the night here for free. How does that sound?" She grinned up at him, the tears vanishing. He returns the grin, before handing her a key, "Here, take this key, second floor, third door on your right. There's a dress and an extra apron in the closet. Change into those before you come back down. There might be some extra shoes in there for you, too." She nods, still grinning. She takes the key, and bounds off upstairs.

Entering the room, it's less than she expected. A small bed, a small closet, a small bedside table, with a small lamp on top of it, unlit, and all of it, minus the lamp, is entirely made of wood. She snorts, "Lucky I don't have any kind of weird allegories, or else I might've been in trouble." She takes the guitar off her back, and places it gently on the bed. "This place just keeps getting weirder. Why am I required to wear a dress? Is this town stuck in the Middle Ages or something?" Slipping the dress over her head, it's about three sizes too big; so, she pins it up in the back, figuring it's the best she's going to be able to do for now. The apron is also a bit big, like it was designed for a very fat woman, but she simply ties it tight behind her back.

As she descends the stairs, she notices a man in the back corner of the pub. He's dressed entirely in black, with some grays and greens thrown in the mix of his outfit, and a hood over his head. He's staring across the room, though at whom exactly, Alice can't tell. She decides to simply keep an eye on him from where she can see behind the counter.

She walks up almost stealthily behind Butterbur, and clears her throat. He turns around with a start, and sees her before him. He quickly shows her where all of the beers are and how to access them. He tells her to not let the costumers push her around before grabbing somebody's order and taking off. She observes the costumers. She doesn't press the matter when a young man, no, a boy asks her for a pint. She's already seen several that look sort of like him, so she assumes that maybe this bar serves beer to young people. Or maybe she's being stereotypical, and he's just short like she is.

Before she even knows what she's done, she's accepting money from the boy. She glances down, and notices that there is suddenly a huge cup, filled to the brim with beer, sitting in front of him. He looks down at it with greed in his eyes, and takes a few sips before turning to his neighbors and introduces himself. Pippin's his name, and the familiarity of it claws at her mind. "Where do I know him from?" She asks herself. It bothers her greatly, and without realizing what she's doing, she fills more and more orders. Finally, her mind snaps back into reality as he says something out loud that causes her heart to stop, why, she doesn't know.

"Baggins! Sure I know a Baggins. He's over there, Frodo Baggins. He's my second cousin, once removed on his mother's side, and my third cousin twice removed on his father's side, if you follow me." Her eyes follow his finger across the pub, and she sees another boy, this one so familiar to her it almost causes her pain, as he stands and runs across the bar to Pippin. He tries to stop him from speaking further, but slips on a man's boot and falls backward. Alice sees a glimpse of something gold before… he disappears into thin air.

Review please! =D