This chapter and story is now dedicated to aireagle92 who was so nice to favorite and review my story. It might take awhile to update next because the next chapter is no where long enough to be uploaded so when I get the time to make it longer I will update as soon as I can.
Chapter 3
Dani looks around at everyone arguing about what hat to make and smiled. "You can make all 3 for me so I can have a variety of hats to wear every day." She says looking over at the Hatter with a smile on her face.
Hatter hesitated, then returned the smile. "A different hat every day... What a peculiar girl." He fingered the rim of his own hat, his gaze going distant.
"Hatter... Perhaps the girl would like the find the blonde one now." Chesh said gently, snapping Hatter out of his thoughts. He blinked a couple times, then smiled again and stood up.
Dani looked over at Chesh and smiled while standing up while brushing off her dress. "Yes, we do have to wonder around and find my sister, knowing her she could be anyway. Always out going and exploring different places."
"You arrived in the white queen's palace... do you think..." Hatter trailed off.
"There is a possibility." Chesh nodded.
"But it's dangerous." The white mouse piped up.
"But it would be morally correct to get her." Hatter nodded.
"I suppose sacrificing yourself for someone you do not know could be considered morally correct..." Chesh said slowly.
Dani looked around confused from each person watching them have an inside conversation. "Um look if you guys are finished we really need to go." She says standing up and walking over to her horse.
"Ah, yes, yes. Let's go then." Hatter nodded, though looked a little worried.
"Good bye." Chesh grinned, then vanished.
The white mouse lifted a shaky hand to take a sip of his tea, but the liquid sloshed out of the cup before it could made it to his mouth. With a small cry, he dropped the cup and dashed from the table.
"Looks like it's just us." Hatter murmured as he walked toward his horse.
Dani looked over at him with a weird look while climbing up on her horse. "Look I can go on my own from here if you're scared to go. You obviously are worried about something and don't want to go and I don't want to force you to take me, I am stronger then I look." She says walking past him.
Hatter gave her a small smile. "I will have to lead you there either way. I might as well make the whole journey. Now come on, we might not have much time." For a moment, he actually sounded sane, then he turned his horse and heeled it into a gallop, away from the table.
"Wait not much time? What do you mean by that?" Dani said shocked and confused before riding after him trying to keep up with him now more determined than ever to find her sister before something bad happened to her.
"I don't know..." Hatter said softly. "It depends on if I am right... I hope I am not." He gave her a small smile, as if to cheer her up.
Dani gave him a worried strange look that came out like a glare then looked down and sighed out loud. "I'm starting to hate this place." She says riding forward as she rubs her forehead now starting to worry more about her sister.
"Now why is that? It's a beautiful place full of wondrous things." Hatter smiled and looked around, as if seeing beautiful and colorful plants. "
Dani stared at him with a worried look on her face. This guy must have been bipolar and needed some major mental help if he thought this dead waste land was beautiful, she thought looking around at nothing. "You're quite strange you know that?"
"Thank you, so are you." He said with a small bow of his head, as if he had just given and received a compliment. "Why are you looking at me like that?"
She blinks at that remark and looks around slightly confused. "Um, thank you?" She guessed knowing this man was off his rocker although to him and everyone else it was a normal behavior. "I'm just confused on why this place is so bad, why do you stay? Why not leave to a better place or try to fix whatever happened here that's all. I'm curious."
"We are trying to fix it." He corrected her. "It is just... Slow." He frowned and glanced back in the direction they had come from. "The Red queen's army is very large, and she has a weapon we cannot defeat."
Dani nods her head understanding that was can take a very long time to finish. "We just got out of a war ourselves so I understand that was takes long." She says looking over at him. "You know if you ever go into battle and need extra man power I would volunteer to help. Nobody should go to war."
Hatter gave her a funny look, then laughed. "You have woman power, not man power... Unless you really are a man." He looked her over, looking like he was confused now.
Dani glares at him as her anger beings to boil inside her. "How dare you? I'll have you know that just because I am a women does not mean I can't fight like a man. From what I can tell, men can't fight in this war since this land is dead and you are losing, maybe you need a women to fight in this war to save whoever is left." She says walking past him as she grips the reins tightly in her hands.
Hatter winced, actually looking frightened. "I did not mean to say you can not fight. But you said manpower... you are not a man. I never said anything against womanpower."
Dani's eye twitched before calming down and stop the horse while rubbing her hands together. "Wow, you actually took that literally, I did not know that you took everything so literal I apologize for yelling and loosing my temper." She says looking over at him.
"Oh! Was it a riddle?" Hatter smiled happily. "I love riddles. What was the question again?"
Dani blinked, stumped and had no clue on how to respond to this man. "Um...Where can I find the red castle to find my sister?"
"We're almost there. Just an hours ride." He said, and slowly his smile faded. "How do you plan on getting her out?"
"Well I guess we will see when we get there and I can get a good look at the place." She says hiding ahead. "I would make a plan but everything in this place is...different it probably wouldn't work."
"Oh no one can get in or out without the Queen knowing." Hatter shook his head. "Not unless you have very good vanishing skills."
As if on cue, a wide grin appeared next to Dani, though the rest of the Cheshire Cat remained hidden.
Dani looked over and smiled at him. "Well if we could find a way inside to see if she has my sister i'm sure we can find a way in and out before anyone got hurt. How hard could it really be?"
"She has a ten foot wall around her whole castle grounds, and the gate is guarded by two dozen soldiers." Hatter said solemnly. "The only way to get in is to please her, but then there is no way out."
"Please, it sounds to me like without her army she is nothing. You get me alone with her and I'll take her down in a heartbeat." She says waving her hand slightly to the side.
"But she is never without her army." Hatter protested. "She is always surrounded by guards. Especially her personal body guard. You will never get close enough to her."
"Well I don't see you coming up with any better ideas so I guess we are going with mine." She says hiding off towards the red castle, trying to think of her plan step by step and a backup plan just in case anything goes down.
"But you will get caught." Hatter protested as he hurried to catch up with her. "The only way to get in is to look abnormal. Right now you look as normal as me or the White Queen."
Dani looked back over at him then took a second to really look at him and his outfit. If he was considered to be normal looking then what could the Red Queen possibly look like? "So you're saying that I have to look weird in order to get in?"
"Look weird, act weird, or have some sever disorder. Anything to make you ab-normal." Hatter nodded. "How you are right now just won't do."
"That is weird cause I always thought I was different and not normal." She says looking down at herself. "Look weird..." She says tapping her finger on her chin then snaps her fingers. "I need Chesh."
The second she snapped her fingers, Chesh appeared, still grinning."What can I do for the lovely lady?" He purred.
Dani looked over at him and smiled." You spoil me, I need to look abnormal to get into the red castle so I need you to someone give me your tail and ears since you can fade and control what parts of your body shows."
"How adorable." Chesh grinned, then moved so he was curled up on top of her head, then faded until only his ears showed, and his tail swished lazily down near her bottom. "There, now you look weird." Hatter smiled happily.
Dani looked up at her head then behind her at the tail and giggled while having a giant smile on her face. "Yay... what a great idea. I may never leave." She says before riding off towards the red castle. "Hope sis is having as much fun as me."
Hatter's smile faded slightly, but he was wise enough to stay silent about that. "It shouldn't be too far away now... I will have to leave you before we get there. I cannot risk being seen by the guards."
Dani looked back at him and made her smile fade and she controlled her excitement. "That is a good idea; I don't want you to get caught." She says nodding her head slightly while looking forward as the red castle came into view.
Hatter pulled his horse to a stop and looked down at the castle. "Well... Good luck." He told her, giving her a tiny smile of encouragement.
Dani gave a nervous smile back and got off the horse and walked up to the castle while looking around at the large walls and the giant metal red door before pushing the door open and walking into the castle. She gulped slightly while looking at the card guards.
The guards were too surprised to do anything at first. It was rare for anyone to willingly walk into the castle. Finally one stepped forward and lowered its spear toward her chest."Who are you and what are you doing here?" It said in a metallic voice.
Dani freaked a bit while putting her hands as she turned pale." Um...I'm here to see the Red Queen?" She said in a nervous voice while looking the guards up and down. They were metal cards, she was not told that or she would have brought a weapon in with her. She inched around them while walking backwards into the main room where the Queen was.
The guards hesitated, and then began to follow her like an escort. Once in the room, they bowed slightly to the queen and pulled back to let Dani continue on alone.
