The Tumultuous Teapot of Tarrant Hightopp
Disclaimer: I do not own AiW at all, but the teapot concept it solely mine and so are the tea fueled rages!;)
Chapter 3: Evergreen
"Each cup of tea represents an imaginary voyage." ~Catherine Douzel
How dare they! The creatures of Underland toil with him, take him and toss him back and forth into the sea of madness. Can he just have peace? He is already reminded of HER everywhere he turns. "CAN Ah JUS' AVE MA BLASTED TEA 'N PEACE!" Tarrant screamed in Outlandish throwing the vial far past the table.
Tarrant sipped his tea sitting at his empty tea table. It was the bitter taste of evergreen, and that terrible tea brought up more memories from the past. It was the Horunvendush Day. The day the bloody red head took control. His father Harland Hightopp would always tell him: "Plain, but bitter tells of change unforeseen, but nothing speaks better than that of the evergreen." That day they died…ALL of them.. His sisters, brothers, father…and his mother Beatrice.
Tarrant always loved his mother best.. When all of the other Hightopps teased Tarrant of his fiery red hair she would say: "My lovely Tarrant, klotchyn, your hair is distinct my love, lest you be any less mad you wouldn't be my lovely Tarrant. Fear not, that hair makes you different, it makes you unique." She died, they all died, left him to be alone… Much like Alice.. But she chose to leave him. Leave him and his madness to forever wait for one day the Gribling Day, would soon return.
The small tear running down the Hatter's face broke Tarrant from his thoughts. His chest began to ache again until a familiar voice further awoke him from his nostalgia.
"Hatta!" Mally the door mouse screamed out to the madman. He refused to answer, he just sat at his usual spot at the tea table distant from the world cursing fate. "Hatta?" Mally asked again trying to break Tarrant from his current state of delirium.
That is when it happened…Mally tripped over the rather large vial that once held the Jabberwocky blood. Tarrant refused to touch the poisonous thing, cursing the bloody creature that dare cut further into his already smashed heart. "Hatta..Is this?" She asked, clearly implying what needed to be implied, and leaving out the importance of a name that may break the broken man.
Tarrant shook his head in rejection. "That blasted thing is not from that Lass, she is gon ye stupid creature! How dare ye open fresh wounds! Why would ye do such a thin to ma? Ya Slurking urpal slackush scrum!" Tarrant began to curse vigorously in Outlandish leaving the door mouse trying to reason with his heightened madness.
"But Hatta…I didn't do it. Have you even opened the vial?" Mally questioned tying to make the man see rationally instead of trying to gut her out and use the poor mouse as new hat material.
"I don' wan yer silly slackush, leave me naw!" Hatter screamed bolting towards the poor mouse. Mally began to back up in self defense not wanting to be a part of yet another treacherous fit of the madman.
"Hatta, the White Queen says she wants to see ya. She says she'll give ya till tomorrow and if ye don't come she'll send her army." Mally said retreating from the scene leaving the madman to destroy anything in his path.
The innocent land waited for its vicious assault, but it never came. Tarrant sunk to the ground against the table, hating the creature he had become. He was becoming a madman, threatening all he held dear, and closing out the memories that were once precious.
Tear began to flow down the man's face. Tears of regret, tears of sadness, tears of loss, and for once in a long time Tarrant began to cry…Through his fit of tears the sun was kind enough to shimmer its beautiful rays on the glass vial that lay a foot away from the distraught man.
The Hatter slowly inched towards the vial, feeling an overwhelming feeling of pain once again surge through him, but he was determined to fight it. He felt the cool glass of the vial once again touch his finger, and he slowly removed the top to read the parchment.
It read: "Have you any idea why a Raven is like a writing desk?" –Alice
For once in his life, Tarrant Hightopp, was utterly at a loss for words. How did he know for sure that it was indeed HIS Alice, and not just some imagination? Some tortuous figment created by his mind to harass him so.. He would ask.
He would first prove that it was he that sat at the end of the teapot and he would make whomever it was prove who they were. Tarrant ripped a piece of tablecloth from the table and made a small hat with it. The hat was just a little work of art, but if it was indeed his lass that sat across the other end of the kettle she would know it was he. He wrote on the back of the parchment saying: "Because Poe wrote both my dear. Prove to me you are who you say, what was slain on the Frabjous Day?"
Tarrant could hope it was she, the name he refused to speak of, the name that continually haunted him so. He would hope for the best, but the only real thing that was slain on the Frabjous Day was a heart of a mad man.
Tarrant grabbed the blue teapot and defended it with his life because that was the only shred of sanity the man had left, and he headed towards Marmoreal to face his fate.
~.o.O.o.~
"Alice? Alice, are you listening to me?" Mrs. Kingsleigh asked the girl sitting at the table staring out the large glass window so graciously placed in front of their dining table. She was thinking of Underland and how she missed it so, but she was broken out of her daydream by the squeals and squalls of her mother.
"I'm sorry mum, what did you say?" Alice asked slightly perturbed she was awakened from her daytime fantasies, and wonders about the teapot that sat on her dresser.
"If you continue to keep your head up in those silly clouds you are going to end up like your Aunt Imogene! I mean just look at you! You rejected FIVE suitors in the last month, all of which are from very noble blood! And furthermore look at the way you behave at breakfast! Is that any way for a Lady to sit?" Her mother criticized. Alice frowned at her mother's disapproval, and changed the comfortable position she once sat.
"And If I dare find you without a corset on again, I will have the maids tie you in it so tight your cheeks will be naturally rosy." threatened adding emphasis to naturally rosy. Alice winced at her mother's threats knowing that she was more than capable to accomplish these things. Alice knew she just wasn't a proper lady of England. She was however, a proper lady of Underworld.
Oh, how she wished to just find that rabbit hole and go back, but she needed to solve a few riddles here first. The clock chimed noon breaking Alice from her thoughts and granting the freedom from her luncheon with the squalling mother.
"Mother, I must leave I have a meeting set up today with Lord Ascot to address our further business adventures! Fairfarren!" Alice bid her farewell as she began to dash for the front door of her house.
"Stop running like that! Ladies do not run! And that kind of gibberish is not-" Mrs. Kingsleigh's critiques were cut off by the slam of a door.
Alice skipped to the Ascot's Manor instead of taking a carriage because that's what ladies do and Alice was not a lady. She was sure she would hear it from her mother later, but she did not care she wanted to feel the wind, and examine all the unsavory characters that walked the streets of London.
Many interesting characters passed the lass as she made her way to the lavish home, but she could not help but think of all the even more fascinating characters she had met in Underland. Alice spoke with Lord Ascot briefly as to avoid any awkward or unnecessary conversation with Hamish. The two business partners discussed the gala they would soon have to present their idea of China to all the stock holders in her father's company. Lord Ascot said her idea was mad, but a wise man once told her all the best people are mad.
Alice walked back in the dark of night to her home and slowly sneaked her way through her house to avoid her mother's scolding. Alice successfully made it to her room where she turned the lock of her door, and that's when she saw it. Her teapot shining in the moonlight sitting, almost waiting, for her to return.
The girl smiled at the piece of dishware and began to prepare for bed, but before she laid her golden tresses on the soft pillow she checked her teapot for any signs of Underland. She opened the lid that looked much like a hat to find a tiny hat inside the teapot as well as the vial she placed in it earlier.
She didn't have to guess to know the crafter of the hat was none other than her Hatter..No, not her Hatter. She meant to say the Hatter, silly what a little sleep can do to one's grammar usage. She opened the vial to read the response on the parchment and began to ponder the question.. What was slain on the Frabjous Day? She asked to herself. Well, it couldn't possibly be the Jabberwocky because that would be the obvious answer. Alice began to ponder the question knowing that the Hatter's riddles were difficult and pondersome, much like her Aunt's. Alice slowly climbed into bed with the vial and parchment in hand.
Her eyelids began to feel heavy, but before she went to sleep she noticed the faint sent of Evergreen Tea tickle her nose, and that night Alice Kingsleigh found herself smiling. Smiling because her dreams were filled a mad Hatter, and the wonderful sent of evergreen.
**IMPORTANT READ**
AN: I want to apologize to all of you for my inappropriate demands for reviews, a wise woman;) helped me see the light and I am so disappointed in my behavior! Please forgive me my precious readers and I pray that my terrible attitude will not keep you from reading on! So I hope you like this chapter! It's not THAT good so I am a little disappointed. As you can see I have added a lot of Outlandish lingo to the story! I am going to explain it to those who aren't familiar with Alice THAT much! Here it goes:
Frabjous Day – The day Alice slays the Jabberwocky and frees Underland from the oppression of the Red Queen.
Horunvendush Day – The day the Red Queen took control of Underland.
Gribling Day – n. – The day Alice will return to Underland.
Slurking urpal slackush scrum – Cursing, unknown translation. Outlandish
Marmoreal – The land where the White Queen's castle is located.
klotchyn – intj. – Listen up!; Pay attention!
jabberwocky – n. – The Red Queen's champion. The Jabberwocky looks to be a sort of dragon, with six limbs: four legs and two wings. It speaks in a low voice, and has a forked, snake-like tongue (it may also have a corresponding Jacobson's organ, from the movements of the tongue in the film), as well as forward-facing eyes. Its wings are observably used as much for walking as flying, and its blood has highly magical properties. The Jabberwocky is the subject of a poem, and from there we can surmise that it is also native to the Tulgey Wood. There is only one Jabberwocky.