Chapter 9
Fashionably Late
Petra sank down to the bottom of the pocket, trying her best to be swallowed into the fabric, but no such luck. Aiden's hand still came in, digging deep into his vest.
That Bastard! He's a traitor; I can't believe I trusted him! Why did Ivor let me go with him?! Does he not know Cheshire works for the Queen?!
Aiden's finger tips brushed against her chest, she kicked the middle finger, trying to keep him back. But what good was a three inch person against a much larger hand?
But suddenly, Aiden's hand adjusted, pulling away from Petra and wrapping around the mushrooms. What was he doing?
"Ah, there it is."
Confused, Petra stared at the digits. What was Cheshire planning? His hand seemed to linger there, slowly going up.
Wait! He wasn't betraying her, he was trying to tell her something.
Mushrooms, what was important about the mushrooms?
"Why so slow Cheshire!"Torque demanded.
"Calm yourself you filthy mutt, before I shrink you down to size."
Shrink...shrink! Grow! The mushroom's can grow and shrink her! Without the growing mushroom, who knows how long she'd be stuck like this! Petra lunged forward, and grabbed a handful from the growth inducing one and tore a chunk off. It wasn't a very large handful, considering her own hand wasn't that large to begin with. She now had a chunk about the size of her fist, which equaled to about crumb in the normal standards.
She just hoped it was enough.
Aiden felt the tug and pulled the rest of his hand out. "Here you are Torque."
"You know upelkuchen food is strictly forbidden." Winslow snarled, "It is the law."
"Would it help me if I said, I had them before the law," Aiden said thoughtfully.
Petra watched as Torque sniffed the food, "He's right, these are old. Before the Queen's Reign-"
Winslow snarled, and Torque flinched, "I- I mean, these were made during the Turmoil Ages."
The horse approached closer and it's passenger got off. Finally Petra got a good look at Winslow. He was part human, part cat, same as Aiden. But unlike Aiden, his skin was covered in the same patchwork colors as his ear and tail, and his entire body seemed to be covered in a fine layer of fur. Overall, Winslow was more cat that human. And he looked twice as mean, peridot green eyes which were marked by a grisly scar right over his left eye. They were three jagged lines that started at the corner of his forehead and wove down past the eye and to the jaw. He actually only had one eye, the other the one with the scar, was covered by a white leather eye patch, marked with the insignia of the Queen.
Winslow sniffed the mushrooms. His lips curled in disgust, and he spat. Crushing the mushrooms in his hands he cast them to the ground, "So old they probably don't even work." He looked back up, "But tell me Cheshire, what were you doing with these?"
"I've always had them," Aiden replied, his voice as smooth as silk, "You never know when you might need to shrink down. Mice are dreadfully hard to catch when they go into their little burrows."
"And the growth, I wonder?"
"Well I need to get bigger again don't I?"
The other male hissed and slammed his hand into Aiden's shoulder, pinning the male against the tree. The smaller male yelped in a mix of surprise and discomfort.
"I don't believe you!"
"I haven't seen a red haired girl," Aiden pressed, "I would have reported it."
Petra looked up to see a hand with well manicured claws come up to Cheshire's throat, "You know the consequences if you don't." Winslow hissed, "Tell me then Cheshire, if you weren't going to the Wizard's Woods, and if you weren't looking for the girl, then where, pray tell, were you going? It wouldn't happen to be the Duchess would it?"
"I ... Was on my way to Hatters,"
The other snorted, "Hatters?! Why in Wonderland would you go there? Last I checked, you've had nothing to do with each other for the past age."
Aiden shoved Winslow off, "Unlike you, Captain, Hatter doesn't hold a grudge."
"The Hatter may be insane," the older male hissed, "But he's sane enough to stay away from you."
"I'm. Going. To. The. Hatters." the Cheshire snarled. "And you've made me late for tea. I can't even be fashionably late now."
There was a moment of tense silence, then Winslow raised a clawed hand as if to strike, then "Very well," With that the captain turned on his heel, and gracefully mounted the horse. "I'm warning you Cheshire. You will report in if you find the girl. Remember, I caught you once, I'll do it again."
Aiden said nothing.
"Troops, move it!"
Torque roughly stepped past Aiden, bumping him, "Watch your back."
"Same to you."
Turning into a hound, Torque let out a howl and led the chase onward. Then the patrol quickly moved on, after the girl with the red hair, unaware that she was right there.
Petra let out the breath she didn't know she was holding, and Aiden pushed off of the tree. She poked her head out of the pocket, "Are you alright?"
"Don't speak," he hushed voice barely above a whisper lips hardly moving. "The captain has hearing as sharp as a sword, stay in the pocket."
Petra reluctantly slid down into the pocket, and proceeded to wait. Finally, after what felt like hours, Aiden spoke up.
"Alright, you can come out now."
Petra climbed out, and settled onto Aiden's shoulder, "Thank you."
"For what?" he asked tersely.
"For not turning me in, I thought you were."
"Hmmm,"
Petra paused, "So...Is Winslow, important to the Queen?"
"Yes. Captain Winslow is a cat, like me, but he is able to turn into a giant cat, unlike myself. He's the Queen's closest confidant, and her hand. When she wants something done, and she wants it done bloody, she sends him to do it. Be grateful I found you my little mouse before he did, or you'd be dead already."
"On a scale of one to ten how dangerous is he?"
"What an odd question."
"Cheshire, is he dangerous?"
"...Yes."
"He said he caught you before, what did he mean -"
"We got in a scrap once long ago nothing more." Aiden said quickly, "He's still sore over the matter and tries to talk himself up when he gets the chance."
Petra found his tone a bit odd but she didn't press. "And Torque?"
"An annoying filthy dog."
"Ah." Petra looked over her shoulder, noting that the sun was in a different angle than earlier "We're not going the same way as we were before."
"Aren't you the observant one."
"Cheshire," she warned.
"The Jubjub bird is still following, and I did say I was going to Hatters."
"It sounds like you two have issues,"
Aiden bared a toothy grin, "Not at all, he's just a little, ah, mad."
"'Mad' as in insane or 'mad' as in angry with you.
He didn't answer her question, instead plucked her up, "Now, back into the pocket. We're almost there and we don't need to startle him with that dashing hair of yours my little mouse."
Ignoring the irritating pet name, Petra reached down and grabbed her helmet from the bottom of the pocket and put it on. Then straightening she hooked her arm around the fabric, so able to see above the hem.
Aiden ducked into an overgrown grove, and stepped over a fallen sign. Hatter's it read, in swirly faded red ink. Large rose bushes grew up and over them, wrapping tightly around broken arches and climbing posts. Aiden swung open a rusty old gate, glints of silver still peeking out amongst the decay. It swung open with a loud screech, echoing down the path.
Just beyond the shaded grove there was a faint merry tune.
"Twinkle twinkle little bat, how I wonder where you're at..."
"Here we are," Aiden whispered.
He stepped out with Petra in tow, into a open clearing. The fabulous gardens circling the property were now faded and overgrown with weeds. The stone path leading to the large old house was cracked and missing stones. The house itself had a hole in the roof, the door hanging by one hinge, and the windmill connected to the building clearly no longer turned.
In the center of the vast clearing was a twenty foot long, oak table. With dozens of chairs, all in various heights and girth lined along the length of it. The table and its cloth were covered in a very good number of tea pots, tea cups, platters, and displays of food of all shorts shapes and colors. Compared to the rest of the scene the table and it's accessories were a grand sight indeed.
It was the Mad Hatter's famous tea party.
Already seated at the table all the way on the opposite end, were two guests, the source of the song. Petra recognized Maya immediately, happily swinging her rapier as she sang about bats. She couldn't identify the other person from the distance, but judging by the large black rabbit ears atop his head. Petra concluded it wasn't Jesse, but perhaps the March Hare. However the only thing off, was the large chair at the very head of the table that was empty.
She watched as Aiden's eyes focused immediately on the chair, and his ears twitch.
"Where is the Hatter-" Petra began.
"You...are too late to be even fashionable.
Aiden and Petra turned their backs to the party. Petra felt her jaw drop.
"Hello Hatter," Aiden said.
Author's Section
He's coming soon.
Okay, um, haha...I thought I just covered this topic...
At MilkandCookies.
This is not the request for one shots fic. That honorary title belongs to "The Stories That Define Us." I know your new, at least I haven't had anyone review with that username before, so I'm just letting you know. I do not take requests on my other fics. Just the one ^^^^ above that I just mentioned.
Also, lack of alerts on my email is not due to issues with my email. It is because stories I no longer work on or have completed, I have SHUT THE ALERTS OFF TO. I don't want to get messages from those stories so I simply disabled them. It's not an email issue. Haha.
Just so you know.
I also, unfortunately, because you are an Anon I have to post this here. Am not comfortable using a prompt set in a insane asylum. I can handle horror and gore, but Asylum for the mentally ill or insane is not a topic I can do. I'm really really sorry.
Thanks to everyone who is still reading! Gonna see you soon!
