CHAPTER 10: Outset

They planned to set out that night. Marcus had left to gather supplies, and Alice had quickly come and gone (or was it gone and then come back?) from Elsewhere to assemble her own pack. And, though neither of her friends knew it, to leave a note for her grandmother explaining her absence. If she ended up leaving for more than a few hours Elsewherian time, Alice didn't want her Grandmother to worry. But, though she would not admit it to herself, she had really left it in case she didn't return at all.

If she had learned anything from Squirrelbeard's death, it was that no one is invincible.

Not even in Wonderland.

It was these dark thoughts that swirled in Alice's head as she stood with her friends, silently staring at the old shop.

The choice had been made- they were leaving. According to Percy, the Rebellion's headquarters lay within the Wayfaring Wood, about a day's walk from the shop. It wasn't far, but it was well-hidden and carefully guarded. No one knew much more than that. Even the conversations Percy had overheard between Squirrelbeard and other Rebellion members gave few clues about their headquarters.

But then, secrecy was necessary when running an insurrection. The three of them simply hoped that Squirrelbeard and Sir Gregory's reputations would prevent them from being attacked on sight.

It was small comfort, that, but it was all they had.

So, after giving the shop one last, long look, the three of them turned and entered the woods.

Not one of them looked back.

Will we live to regret it?

They walked in silence, not simply because there were no words to say, but because the quiet between them had solidified into an icy, choking shell.

Words spluttered and died in the oppressive silence that had overtaken the Wayfaring Wood.

To truly grasp the ramifications of that statement, you have to understand just what a forest sounds like. Something is always going on- the birds are chatting or the bugs are burrowing or the rodent populations are growing cabbages. There is always some modicum of noise at any hour of day or night.

Now there was nothing. No sound, no motion- as if the wood itself had been mourning the recent deaths. Even the trees looked older and grayer.

But Alice knew that the mourning wasn't for Squirrelbeard or Gregory. The silence had been creeping into all corners of Wonderland for years, slowly but surely reducing the world she loved to a colorless, brittle shell.

It was all because of the Queen. And now she had taken Squirrelbeard and Gregory, too.

"Quiet, isn't it?"

Three swords shot from their sheaths, but were quickly stayed.

It was only the Cheshire cat, perched in a low-hanging tree branch. Percy scowled- he had never liked that cat.

"What do you want, Cheshire?"

The cat looked the very picture of injured innocence. "Me? Last I checked, sitting in a tree wasn't a punishable offense."

His customary grin spread slowly across his face.

"But there's a certain... someone waiting by that clearing over yonder. She's very distraught... I wouldn't keep her waiting if I were you, Percy."

Without giving them a chance to answer, he vanished in a puff of smoke. It took him but a moment to rematerialize- this time, suspended inches from Percy's face.

"But I suppose it's not 'Percy' anymore, is it?"

His yellow eyes were locked on Squirrelbeard's old hat, and this time, he did not smile.

"My condolences for your loss. Hatters have a rather unfortunate habit of becoming heroes and disliking cats, but I was rather fond of Squirrelbeard. He was my favorite, you know- right next to a certain Tarrant Hightopp."

Marcus and Percy gasped simultaneously.

"You knew Tarrant Hightopp?" Marcus breathed. "But he lived over-"

"Two-hundred years ago, obviously." drawled Cheshire. "He was a most interesting person- barking mad, of course."

He sighed.

"And he did own such a lovely hat..."

Percy's fingers closed tightly over the brim of his top hat. The Hatter and the Cat locked eyes for a moment longer before Cheshire sighed again and vanished, his grin lingering for a moment in the air. With it stayed his voice.

"Such a splendid hat. Now, wasn't there a girl that needed talking to?"

With a last, resounding POP, he vanished.

Marcus gave Percy (Who was still clutching his hat protectively) a furtive glance.

"It's Tilda."

"I know."

"Now would not be a good time."

"I know that, too."

Alice prickled with annoyance.

"Would someone please explain what's going on?" she said sharply.

The boys jumped a little- they seemed to have forgotten that she was there.

Percy shrugged nonchalantly, but his tone was bitter.

"Tillie is a... friend."

He was nervous, but he wasn't rambling, as he usually did when he felt insecure. Instead, he had become curt and cold. His usual silly, roundabout speech had deserted him.

Alice decided that she much preferred the rambling.

"She's his girlfriend." said Marcus simply. He gave Percy a sharp look. "And she's come at a very, very bad time, and Percy is not going to go see her in his current state of mind. We are going to keep walking."

The boys exchanged a stare so intense, Alice was tempted to push them apart, for fear they would start throwing punches.

"Guys, stop it. This isn't helping anything."

Personally, Alice agreed with Marcus- Percy seeing his girlfriend wasn't going to get them any closer to the Rebellion, nor would it be entirely safe, with such pain fresh in his mind. His eyes were still blue, and Alice wasn't going to let them go black again. Anything could set him off, it seemed, and she wasn't having it. Not over something stupid like this.

"Marcus has a point." she said carefully. "I know this girl must be upset, but-"

"PERCY! Oh, thank heavens I've found you!"

Then, all of the sudden, discussion was made obsolete. Tilda Branksworth sauntered into the clearing, arms flapping and lips set in a wide grin. She was beautiful, no doubt- her long, silken black hair, dainty figure, and bright green eyes were a testament to that. But she was like the hopeless females from school- something was... wrong with her. Something just beneath the surface. Her green eyes were decked with long lashes, but there was no sparkle in them. Her laugh was sweet, but insecure- almost nervous.

Alice didn't like this girl at all.

But her opinion was rendered obsolete- Tilda had already thrown her arms around Percy and kissed him on the cheek. Alice winced a little- it felt.... weird.... to watch her best friend interact with someone like... her. This girl was from outside the fold- she hadn't practically lived with Percy and Marcus these last summers.

At that moment, Alice was painfully aware of the time she'd missed, during the school years.

Maybe I didn't know him as well as I thought.

Marcus and Alice were very uncomfortable with Tilda's open clinging, and Alice was tempted to tell aforementioned party to Present her Business or Get a Frigging Room, when she noticed something strange.

Percy wasn't responding to Tilda's hug at all. He simply stood, still as a statue, glancing between Alice and Marcus. His face was a bright shade of pink, and he wouldn't even look at his girlfriend.

A rush of highly unwelcome emotion flooded through Alice at that moment:

Pity.

"P-Percy? I was so worried... What's wrong?" Tilda stuttered.

His eyes flashed red.

"A great number of things, not the least of which is that you are crushing my ribcage."

Tilda recoiled, stricken, just as Alice stepped forward. She could feel the panic creeping into her veins.

Red eyes. Red comes right before black, that's not good, not good...

"Percy, calm down. She's not the cause of this-"

"Isn't she?" he snarled.

"Tilda, you really might want to go home." said Marcus quickly, his eyes darting between Percy 's clenched fists and Tilda's tearstreaked face. "He's not feeling quite right, he's suffered a huge loss-"

But he could say nothing more before Percy shoved him aside and stormed off into the trees. Alice made to follow, but Marcus held her back.

"Don't follow him- he just needs time."

Alice nodded blankly, running a hand through her unruly blonde hair.

Blast. Just when she thought he'd be fine again...

She made to shoot a resentful glance at Tilda, but she was already gone. The sound of distant sobs could be heard echoing through the trees.

Alice sighed, her head once again whirling with thoughts.

Percy. A girlfriend- and a creature like Tilda, no less. How much had she missed, while she was gone? Of course, there was nothing wrong with Percy having a significant other- it was inevitable, really. He wasn't a little boy anymore. Neither was Marcus- he had probably had a few girlfriends, in his day.

And all while Alice was gone.

For the first time, Alice was painfully aware of the fact that time didn't stop when the summers ended. It was one thing to know the fact- another to really understand what it meant.

"Blast him and his mood swings."

Alice blinked, shaken from her reverie. "What was that?"

Marcus shook his head, eyes narrowed. He was still staring in the direction Percy had left.

"He's always been a bit mad, but I hate it when he's like this. Being angry is no excuse."

Alice bit her lip. "It's not like him. What he said... he's not cruel, like that."

She forced herself not to end that sentence with "Or so I thought."

Marcus finally tore his eyes away from the woodlands, sinking to the ground.

"I suppose that kills our chances of making progress today."

Alice was forced to agree, and sat beside him, knees tucked against her chest.

They crouched by the tree in silence, watching the night fall. But the quiet wasn't so oppressive this time- broken as it was by Marcus' sighs. He looked more tired and haggard than Alice had ever seen him, but more than physical exhaustion weighed down his face.

"You miss Gregory, don't you?"

She almost expected his eyes to turn red, too, but they didn't. He just shook his head, giving her a slow, sad smile.

"No. We were never as close as Percy and Squirrelbeard were- I wasn't the only paige he was training. Flint and Baleira were much closer to him than I was... I'm sure the White Rabbit has informed them of the incident and they're grieving for him."

He sounded almost... bitter.

"I'm sure he cared about you, Marcus." said Alice quietly. "He... he gave everything for you."

"Let's not talk about this." he said quickly. "There's been too much talk of bloodshed and grief today. Frankly, I'm sick of it. I could go for a riddle right about now."

Alice bit her lip to hide a smile- Marcus was an awful riddler.

"I'm invisible, stronger than a thousand men, and not a part of the air or the earth. What am I?"

His brow furrowed in concentration.

"It's... hrmm.... the wind?"

"That's part of the air. Try again."

Marcus muttered something that sounded oddly like 'friggin writing desks' under his breath. Alice had to cover her mouth to hide her giggles.

After another moment's hesitation, he admitted defeat.

"All right- I give up. What's the answer?"

"Gravity."

He quirked an eyebrow. "Gravity? That's not fair- you can't use things I haven't heard of."

Alice didn't know what was stranger- what he had said, or the sincerely puzzled way he had said it.

"Are you serious? You haven't heard of gravity?"

"No, but it sounds boring. What is it- a disease?"

Alice laughed aloud. How long had it been since she had laughed?

"No, silly- it's a... it's a force that holds you to the ground. It's what keeps you going down when you fall."

Marcus pondered this for a moment.

"Huh. I never knew that- our scientists called it Mungo."

"Mungo?"

"Yeah. The law of Mungo keeps everyone on the ground. It says that when someone jumps, they have to go back down because the negative thoughts of the ground and people beneath them counteract the jump. Have enough happy people around and you'll jump a bit higher, but you'll always end up coming back down. 'Cept for Blungy the Barmy, though- he's still floating around in the sky somewhere."

It took several minutes for Alice to stop laughing long enough to speak.

Marcus looked genuinely puzzled. "You've never heard of the law of Mungo? I'm surprised at you, Alice. It's-"

But he was cut off by an excited gasp- a beautiful, blue-tinged shooting star had just streaked across the sky.

"Did you see that? The shooting star?" Alice breathed. Marcus grinned.

"I did." he conveniently neglected to tell her that there were no shooting stars in Wonderland- only Bungy when he felt like setting his pants on fire.

"It's beautiful."

"Yeah." said Marcus quietly. "Really beautiful."

Alice didn't see it, but his eyes were not on the shooting star.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Naww. Fluffy fluff. (Too bad Alice is STILL too dense to notice. XD And things are about to get just a bit more complicated... :D) Don't worry- they'll reach the Rebellion soon. (Within the next chapter or two.) In case it wasn't already glaringly obvious, I do not own Alice in Wonderland- only my OC's and this story. I will be EXTREMELY angry if anyone posts this ANYWHERE without my permission, so don't. If you want to share this with friends, link to it, m'kay? :D Much obliged. Thanks again to all of my lovely readers and especially to my reviewers. (Myuumay, KJ, and Becca, specifically. :D) Until next time, then!

-JadedWarrior