Disclaimer: IZ and Alice in Wonderland do not belong to me.
"ARG!"
Dib growled at nothing. All day he had spent searching for that sword, and no sign of it! Not anywhere in the castle. And it's not like he could ask around about it without looking suspicious. It's all Zim's fault! If he would just come... Dib thought. But he knew Zim could be especially stubborn when it comes to something he cares about.
The sensation of something falling into his grasp pulled him out of his thoughts. "Take this to the bandersnatch cage. Hope you don't get eaten." Dib looked up, and glared at the sight of the knave. Of course. But there was one problem with that...
"I don't know where the cage is."
"It's right over there." The Knave pointed to something that looked like a shed.
The human stared at it. "Wait, if it's right over there, then why don't you do it?"
"Because I don't feel like getting eaten." The Knave responded coolly. "Have fun, brat." Dib glared at him as he left.
Grudgingly, Dib lugged the bale of food towards the door. After opening the unlocked door, Dib had the unfortunate experience of seeing a bandersnatch close up. In a way, it looked like a large dog. It's fur was gray, with dark spots over the body. It had short, triangular ears and sharp, long fangs. Upon seeing Dib, it growled.
"Nice bandersnatch... good bandersnatch..." Dib muttered as he approached it. The thing watched intently as Dib dropped the bale of food. He backed up intently, but stopped upon seeing something on the wall. It could only be the Vorpal sword. Dib swallowed his fear of the lupine and attempted to cross the cage.
The bandersnatch growled menacingly. As it turns out, giant canines don't like humans invading their territories. Who knew?
Dib jumped back, away from the beast. How was he supposed to get past this thing? It was huge! And on top of that, it seemed to have a desire for human flesh. But... the resistance needed that sword. He would have to brave this thing.
He approached, slowly. With every step, the beast seemed to grow louder. Dib was thankful for the collar keeping it chained to the wall. But he would have to come in range of it to get the sword. Gulping, Dib stole forward.
The bandersnatch growled loudly, pouncing forward and attempting to maim Dib with it's bare claws. Out of pure surprise, Dib jumped back. The claw had struck his shoulder, tearing through his shirt and most likely scarring his shoulder.
Lightly brushing his fingers against the wound, and wincing at the pain just that caused, Dib stared at the large lupine and noticed something wrong with it's paw. A large splinter of wood was sticking out. Despite his wound, Dib felt sorry for it. He slowly move forward. At the last moment, he darted forward, pulling it from the paw. The beast howled, knocking Dib backwards.
A moment later, Dib picked himself up and brushed the dirt off of himself. The bandersnatch was no longer angry looking. Instead, it stared patiently at him. Dib slowly approached yet again, and recoiled when it lower it's head towards him. Instead of biting him, though, it licked the wound on his shoulder.
Dib smiled at the creature, petting it behind the ear. Now that it wasn't threatening to kill him, it really wasn't that bad. A quick glance to his shoulder revealed the wound was already healing. By morning it would be all healed. Probably.
"Will you let me past?" Dib asked the lupine. It moved to allow Dib to pass it. Underneath the sword, Dib reached up and found he couldn't reach it. He frowned. Maybe there was a stool or something he could use to get up there.
As it turns out, he didn't need a stool. The bandersnatch lower itself down, and used it's paw to put Dib on it's back. It then raised itself up to full height. From there, Dib could easily reach the sword. He pulled it off the wall, and jumped off the bandersnatch.
The human turned to leave, but was stopped by his own subconscious. The poor creature didn't deserve to be chained up here. It deserved to be free. Dib placed the sword on the ground, carefully, and climbed up to the bandersnatch's chain. It took little effort to release it of it's hook.
"There!" He jumped back down. "You're free!" The bandersnatch ran off, across the open drawbridge. Dib picked up the sword. Now, all he needed to do was get Zim and-
"GET HIM!"
Uh-oh.
Uh-oh indeed, Dear Dib.
Thank you for reading this far. And an apology for the lateness of this particular chapter. I've been busy.
