Chapter 7: Slithering Snakes and Bandersnatches

The Mad Hatter ran, grabbing Alison's hand in a death grip as he dragged her behind him. Alison looked back at the giant beast as she moved her legs to keep up with the Hatter. The monster roared and screamed, charging faster, gaining quickly.

"Hatter, we're not going to make it!" Alison yelled over the sound of the Bandersnatch behind them.

"Nonsense! Just keep running!" he yelled, both of them sprinting out of the edge of the forest and into the ruins of the kingdom.

But there, they found a certain Knave of Hearts, holding onto their two friends, with an army behind him. Hatter stopped on a dime, all of what color he had, had in his face, drained completely.

"I didn't want to wait for my horse any longer." Stayne smiled smugly "Besides, my Queen wishes to meet with you."

"You snake. Let my friends go!" Alison screamed, jerking out of Hatter's grasp to address the knight.

"I do not take orders from you, 'Princess'." he spat.

"Then you leave me no choice." she glared, grabbing the Swiss army knife from her backpack and flipping it to the small blade.

The Knave of Hearts laughed.

"You call that a weapon? I call it a toothpick."

Alison's face fell a little in realization as the knight brought out a large sword and pointed it at her. The Hatter placed an arm on hers and pushed it down.

"It won't do any good, Princess." he said.

"But...Hatter..."

"It's over...we're caught." he said, his head bowing in defeat.

"But Hatter we can't just give up, I..."

The Hatter stepped forward and offered up his hands.

"Please. Spare my Princess, mighty knight." he begged with composure.

"That's not up to me, peasant. It's up to the Queen. And usually, it's 'off with their heads!'"

"Then I beseech you as a some-what honorable man. That you let her go. She can do no harm." Tarrant explained.

"Hatter...don't." Alison saddened.

"She means too much to us, to have her ever be harmed. And if I remember correctly, you never liked the Queen yourself, so why not go against her orders just this once?"

Stayne stood there, looking at Hatter then to Alison, looking at the puny weapon in her hand.

"I suppose I could...but what do I get out of it?" he asked.

Tarrant turned to Alison and gestured to her backpack "Give him some of your food."

"What? No way, I'm not just going to..."

"Just, some." he repeated.

Alison growled and took out a few granola bars, offering them to Stayne.

"Food? Hmm...not such a great trade for a life, but I did enjoy that last one you gave me. So, I accept." the knight smiled before tying up the Hatter's hands and connecting him to the rest of the Underlanders.

"Please, no. Don't take them." Alison saddened, reaching out for Tarrant.

"Sorry. Oh wait...I'm not." the knight let out a wicked laugh, getting on his horse and marching with his troops away from the once white kingdom, the Bandersnatch following obediently with them.

Alison fell to her knees and watched her only friends, be taken away. She lowered her head and began to sob, knowing something terrible would happen to them. A tear fell onto the marble floor just as a familiar hat flew and landed in front of her. She looked up from her sorrow and saw the Mad Hatter give her one last look, before they receded into the valley.

She looked back down at the hat and picked it up. The odd fraction of 10/6 mocking her as it's owner was already gone. She hugged it carefully and continued to cry. Maybe she just should have stayed in bed, and ignored the White Rabbit from her child hood. Then her friends wouldn't be taken away to be executed, and she wouldn't be kneeling there alone in a sorry state.

Alison wobbled to her feet and walked gloomily into the forest, searching for the large tree where she had seen the White Queen. Looking up into the looming branches she found no ghost or comforting. She laid against the trunk of the tree and held the Hatter's hat with care.

"So much for bringing down the Red Queen." she sighed.

"You still have opportunity." came a voice.

Alison gazed upward and found Mirana floating to sit beside her.

"How so? I don't see a White Knight, or a mighty steed to gallop into battle on, or even armor and a sword to protect myself with." she frowned.

"That's because they're hidden. You must find them." she said, with a smile.

"Easy for you to say. And what do you mean, find a White Knight? That's impossible, especially in my world. And I thought everyone in the kingdom was killed."

"Well...if I remember correctly he was sent flying out of a window, trying to protect me. I have no idea if he's alive or not, but there's no harm in looking." she smiled brightly.

Alison sighed "I guess so...but I don't have much time. My friends will die, if I don't find them."

"Then I suggest you start looking." she whispered before disappearing into thin air.

She groaned and stood up, pulling her backpack back onto her shoulder, and carried the Mad Hatter's hat, at her side. Stalking off she went in search of some miracles.

Meanwhile in the vicinity of the Red Kingdom, a Queen sat impatiently on her thrown. Her lipstick was blood red and the lips it covered, pursed to make a heart. Her large head beheld a crown, that she had taken back from her now dead white sister. Her majestic red, black, and gold dress flowed down over the chair and laid sprawled at her feet.

At the end of the great foyer, the doors opened, the Knave of Hearts entering with three prisoners. The Queen sat up and peered at the newcomers.

"Where's the Princess you told me about?" she asked forcefully.

"Sorry your majesty. We were unable to capture her. Her magic was much too strong. Even for the Bandersntach." he bowed.

"So the Bandersnatch is dead?" she asked, curiously.

"No. But she had managed to rip out a tree and take it down for a moment." he lied.

"How odd...with her own hands?"

"No. With her magic." he said.

"Hm...perhaps I should send out one of my other little pets..." she began.

"No...I don't think that would work your majesty." he said quickly.

"And why not?" she glared.

"Because...if she took down the Bandersnatch, what's to say she won't take them down as well?"

"I suppose your right." she huffed, sitting back in her chair.

"But I did capture her accomplices." he pushed the three Underlanders forward.

The Queen looked at them closely, noticing one of them as familiar.

"You there." she pointed at Hatter, who in turn looked up at her "What is your name?"

"Tarrant Hightopp, but my friends call me Hatter." he said.

"You look familiar, didn't I execute you once?" she asked.

"Well...if you had, wouldn't I be dead?" he replied with a question.

"Don't mock me, Tarrant Hightopp, or I will have you beheaded...in fact, I should have all your heads just for helping a powerful Princess into my Underlanders." she growled, threateningly.

"You know...there's a certain song we sing about you." Mullymkun said.

"Oh? A song. I do love songs. What is it?" she asked excitedly.

"Twinkle Twinkle little bat, how I wonder where your at. Up above the world you fly, like a tea tray in the sky." she sang with a wicked smirk, knowing it'd piss off the Red Queen.

"Tea tray!" the March Hare screamed.

"Down with the bloody big head!" Mullymkun martyred.

The Red Queens face turned red, then purple with anger.

"Off with their heads!" she pointed at the Dormouse and hare.

Four card soldiers grabbed the two and hauled them off to the dungeons to await execution. Tarrant bowed his head in silence, not knowing what to do. He could only think to not say anything to upset the Red Queen, so that maybe somehow he could help Alison.

"So, Tarrant Hightopp. What can you do? How can you tribute to my kingdom?"

"Well...I make hats." he smiled some.

"Hats...hmm...I don't have a hat maker in my kingdom yet...I suppose I'll let you live as long as you make hats only for me."

He merely nodded some and bowed.

"Good. Stayne, take him up to one of the rooms. I'll be up to get my measurements soon, just after I finish making arrangements for the kingdom ball." she told her, taking out a piece of parchment and a quill.

"Yes, your majesty." he bowed before grabbing Tarrant harshly and dragging him out into the hall.

"Thank you." Tarrant squeaked.

"Not a word, or I'll go back to finish my queens orders." he growled.

"Right, sorry." he gulped his lips rising and falling quickly, his thoughts now set on Alison "I hope she's alright..."

"Ah!" Alison screamed in frustration, kicking and smacking branches so that she could get free of them.

"Stupid trees, let me go!" she yelled at them as if they could hear or do as she commanded.

Her pants ripped and her shirt tore slightly as she finally broke through. She looked down at the damage finding a slit in the shirt at her stomach, and her pants ripped at the side. She closed her eyes and clenched her fist, screaming inside her head, profanities and insults.

"These were my best clothes!" she roared.

She stripped off her now ruined black tripp pants, and her black My chemical romance t-shirt and put on the ones she came here in.

"Damn it..." she cursed before slinging the backpack and continuing on her way.

She came to the water fall where she had bathed earlier and knelt down beside the lake. Taking a hand-cup full she splashed the clean cool water on her face, cooling her temper and relieving her face. She then put her hands on her knees and stared into the water, staring at her reflection.

She could see the lines under her eyes from crying, but her eyes were no longer red. Her heart shaped face was still so pale and her eyes were green, but soon after watching the reflection, turned to blue.

She sighed and bowed her head. What was she doing there? Why did she come back to the waterfall? Why was she kneeling at the lake and not looking for things she needed to save her friends? She frowned and looked back at her reflection. Why couldn't the person in the water just show her who she needed to be, or who she was?

Her backpack quivered and shook violently. She quickly opened it and found the teacup glowing bright like it had when she had found Hatter. She looked over at it and frowned in curiosity as the chess pieces danced around the cup before stopping to point to the right. Standing up she jogged over to the where it pointed, which was the waterfall.

She stood at the edge where she could get behind the waterfall, the chess piece now pointing straight. She sucked in her gut and clung to the wall so she wouldn't get wet. Moving in deeper than she had to take a shower, she found a cave in its middle. She peeked around the corner and peered into the darkness.

"Hello?" she called, sliding over to stand in the entrance.

There was no response and the tea cup pointed into the cave before all the chess piece came together as one and went dim. She grabbed the flashlight from her backpack and turned it on. She took a few steps forward before calling again, but still there was no answer. She ventured deeper into the cave, the flashlight only penetrating the darkness a few feet. She took a left and then a right, her flashlight not finding any trace of bones or spiders. She smiled at the thought of no spiders, she hated them.

She turned another corner and her flashlight came face to face with an eye.