Sword Fight Two: Dormouse, King of the Pirates
"Country of Pirates?" Alice said questionably as Rachel picked up her cup and took a sip from it.
A red fur kitten hopped onto her lap, being careful not to touch the wooden staff in any way as it sat in her lap.
"That's correct," Rachel said as she put her cup down and started to pet the kitten's fur. "In this country, there are many territories where most don't even get along and very few do."
"That sounds a lot like what I've been through," Alice said, taking a sip of her tea.
"Ever had Heart Castle and Diamond Castle in the same country before?" Rachel asked with a kind smile while her eyes held a sinister meaning to that. "Or better yet, have you watched fights between the Hatter's family and Pirates before?"
"No," Alice said uncertainly, slowly lowering her cup down.
Rachel smiled as she picked up her cup and took a sip from it again.
"I do admit that this country is a little bit different from the other countries you've been to." Rachel said as she scratched behind the kitten's ears. "But it's a land that needs to be tread lightly all the same."
Alice stared at Rachel with a puzzled look as Rachel continued to pet the kitten.
"After all, there are many secrets that you have yet to discover about Wonderland, Alice." Rachel said as she finished the last of her tea while a bell rang violently throughout the mansion. "Looks like she's back," she said with a huff, setting her cup down on its saucer and began to roll herself to the door. "Could you get the door, Alice? Trickster's sleeping at the moment or else he would do it."
"Of course," Alice said as she quickly got up from her chair and walked toward the doors.
"Thank you, dear." Rachel said as Alice opened the double doors and walked out into the hall. "You just don't know how hard it is to open a door when you're stuck in a wheelchair for the rest of your life."
"How did you get that way anyway?" Alice asked as she allowed Rachel to roll out in front of her.
"I rather not talk about it," Rachel said as Alice followed shortly behind her. "Besides, there are more questions about the country that you are dying to know the answers to more than my silly, old condition. Am I right?"
"How did she know?" Alice thought, staring at Rachel with a worried look as they neared the stairs.
"Should you really take the stairs?" Alice asked as Rachel slowed herself to a stop.
"Why do you ask that?" Rachel asked, looking at Alice curiously as she picked up her staff from her lap, without disturbing the sleeping kitten.
"Well, you're in a wheelchair," Alice said politely as Rachel hit the end of her staff hard on the ground twice. "And since I don't see Trickster around, it would be really difficult for you to go….down…." she continued, only to trail off as she saw the stairs turn into a ramp.
"I see that you never knew the stairs could do this before. Am I right?" Rachel asked with a giggle, placing the staff back on her lap.
Alice nodded her head as Rachel began to roll herself down the newly made ramp.
"Aren't you coming, dear?" Rachel asked, snapping Alice out of her shock. "If there's one thing you need to know about her, it's that she hates to wait."
"Who is "her" anyway?" Alice asked, quickly catching up to Rachel as she shook the little kitten awake.
"You'll know soon enough," Rachel said as the kitten quickly hopped off her lap and ran toward the front doors. "Trickster will make the trip there shorter than needs be."
"And where exactly are we going?" Alice asked as she looked toward the doors and saw Trickster standing there with his hands on the handles.
"Somewhere you've never been to before in Wonderland." Rachel said as Trickster opened the doors to reveal to be what looked like a harbor. "Welcome to the Harbor, Alice."
"Wow," Alice said, looking around the area as Trickster began to push Rachel down the walkway.
"Nothing to be amazed about, really." Rachel said as Alice followed shortly behind them. "The amazement will end in three….two….one…."
"Where the bloody hell is that wench?!" a rough female voice yelled, followed by the sound of gun shots. "I ring the bloody bell like she wanted and yet, she takes her sweet time to get here!"
"You do remember that Trickster helps her since she's in a wheelchair, right?" a rather depressed sounding male's voice said as the trio turned a corner.
Ahead of them, they found a shoulder length, orange haired woman wearing what appeared to be a black pirate's hat on her head. She also wore a lime green and gold trimmed coat over a white blouse with a pair of black pants and boots. In her hand was a black pistol while peeking out from under her coat was a brown mouse tail.
"What did I tell ye about reminding me about trivial things like that?!" the woman exclaimed as she pointed her pistol at a semi-long, messy, dark blue haired man as he sat on a wooden ramp with his chin in his hand.
"They're here, captain." the man said rather depressingly, tilting his head to the side some and successfully dodging the woman's bullet, enraging her more.
The woman quickly snapped her head toward the three, revealing that her left eye was covered by bangs while her right, green colored eye glared at them. Alice also noticed that the woman had a pair of mouse ears as well.
"What in Davy Jones' locker took ye so long?!" the woman exclaimed as she made her pistol turn into a saber before sheathing it in her belt.
"We have a new guest staying with us," Rachel said, pointing towards Alice. "This is Alice, she's an Outsider."
"Isn't her name funny?" Trickster asked with a giggle as the woman walked toward them.
"Alice? What's funny about an Alice?" the woman asked, looking Alice up and down.
"What's an Alice anyway?" Trickster asked innocently, making the woman pinch the bridge of her nose in frustration.
"Let me guess, he thinks the young lass's name is Outsider." the woman said as she pointed from Trickster to Alice.
"That's correct," Rachel said with a mischievous smile.
"I see," the woman said, putting a hand on her hip. "So, is this your first move, Alice?"
"No," Alice said politely.
"Alice has moved five times now," Rachel said.
"Has she?" the woman said, sounding a bit surprised. "Well, that's more than me and Rachel have experienced in our lives."
"That's true," Rachel said with a laugh in her voice, "but you've moved more times than I have, Rose."
"Aye," the woman, Rose said as she put her hands behind her head. "Oh, almost forgot to introduce myself." she continued as she put on a cocky smile. "The name's Captain Rose Villiers. I'm the Dormouse role holder of Wonderland and also the King of the pirates." she said, taking off her hat and bowed toward Alice. "The bump on the log over there happens to be me first mate, Thompson Toru, the Mock Turtle role holder of Wonderland."
"Hey," the man, Thompson said as he looked toward the group with his water blue colored eyes. He wore a white, long sleeve, puffy shirt tucked into a pair of black pants and a pair of boots.
"Very nice to meet you both," Alice said as she curtsied to the two of them slightly while Rose put her hat back on.
"Nice….to meet….us?" Thompson said chokingly as tears came to his eyes.
"Here comes the waterworks," Rose said with a sigh as she walked over toward Thompson as he began to cry. "This happens with every single thing he encounters." she continued as she began to hit Thompson's back rather harshly, making him gasp for air with each hit.
"Stop that, you're hurting him!" Alice exclaimed, taking a step towards Rose.
"This happens to be the only way to make him stop crying for a bit." Rose said as she gave him one final hit, knocking the wind completely out of him.
Thompson took in a couple of breaths before regaining his calm composure once more.
"So, Alice," Rose started, turning her attention towards the trio once more, "which country were you in before coming to this one?"
"Diamond," Alice said as she saw a flash of red out of the corner of her eye.
She quickly looked to see a short, messy, red hair, cat eared boy that looked to be around the age of five running towards Rose. He wore the same clothes as Trickster with the exception that he wore a black and gold stitched sash. He ran toward Rose and hugged her legs.
"Hey, hey," the little boy said with a wide smile as he looked up at Rose with his gold colored eyes. "Rose, do you want to walk around the land with us to see what's new?"
"Aww, how can a self-respecting pirate say no to a cute face like yours, Trickster? You mischievous, little kitten, you." Rose said, picking up the boy and rubbed her cheek against his.
"That's Trickster?" Alice thought out loud as Rose walked over to Rachel and sat the little boy in her lap.
"Yes, just like the bloody twins, he has the ability to make himself younger or older." Rachel said as she petted Trickster's head. "After all, he's a kitten compared to the other half of the Cheshire cat role."
"Yup!" Trickster exclaimed happily as a cat grin graced his features, causing Alice to smile too.
"So where should we go see first?" Rose asked, putting her hands on her hips.
"If it's alright with everyone, I would like to go to the castles first." Rachel said as Trickster looked up at her. "It's been awhile since I last saw Vivaldi and Crysta."
"I take it it's revenge time?" Rose asked, sounding a bit uneasy as Rachel shined her a smile that told her so. "Fine, we'll go." she said with a sigh, getting behind Rachel and turning her around. "Mr. Toru, watch the ship while I'm gone!"
"Sure," Thompson said as he got to his feet and walked up the ramp.
"It was really nice meeting you, Thompson." Alice said as she waved goodbye to him, making him cry once more while the four walked out of the Harbor.
