A/N:Hello everyone! See? I'm not dead! My life has been extremely busy and I've found myself only being able to work on this during the night. My nephews seem to want to play with me all time! Believe it or not, I would have been done with this chapter literally a week after the last one came out if it were not for my nephews lol. Anyways, enough of that! Heres the next chapter, beware of possible bad translations and flying teacups. Check at the end of the chapter for another authors note!
Chapter 10: Champions Travel by Hat
The table and its occupants turned completely silent. An exact opposite of what Alfred stumbled into in the beginning. Soldiers in red quickly surrounded the area; menacing in their stature. The Knave arriving regally on her horse, smiled devilishly before dismounting.
"Having proper tea time are we Hatter? Why the sudden change?" She said taking off her riding gloves.
"Splendid question, if I do say so myself! Well, when you arrived we had come to conclusion that today was opposite day."
"Oh? How come?"
"Imagine our surprise when woman shows up as a Knave!"
Fits of laughter erupted at the table. The Hare and Dormouse throwing cookies and biscuits haphazardly at each other through the hysterics. The woman unamused by the jest, scowled with impatience.
"Enough of your jokes!" Her hand slamming on the table caused the teacups to tip over. "I am here for a reason and I think you know what that reason is." The Knave pointed an accusing finger at the Hatter.
"You must be as mad as I am for I haven't the slightest idea of what that reason could be." The Hatter said his hands joined under his chin complete with an innocent smile.
The Knave laughed, "Oh, I think you do." Her glance shifted to the White Rabbit and she smiled, "I heard a little birdy sing quite an interesting song the other day." The White rabbit turned wide-eyed and he shifted in his seat, his gaze looking down and disheartened.
"Ooh! Songs! I love songs! Hare, don't you know a good one?"
The Hare bounced in his seat and with a teacup in hand and a flair in his eyes sang, "Aaa very merry unbirthday to me!"
"To who?"
"To me!"
"Oh you!"
"No! Not this again! Bloodhound!"
Alfred noticed an older but still beautiful woman come out of the shadows in a hurry.
"Yes Knave?"
"Search them."
"Yes of course, right away!"
Now that she was closer, Alfred could see two drooping dog-ears and a long thin tail protruding from her body. She began to literally sniff out the area leaving nothing unturned. Her relentless sniffing led her under the table, shaking it vigorously. The Hatter became visibly nervous and cackled, "Bloodhound? Not even sister? You call her so roughly."
The knave smiled and turned her back on him, "I like to keep things very professional in my line of work. Something I can see you are lacking of."
The bloodhound inched closer to the Hatter and came up to his lap where Alfred lay in the sugar bowl. She began to growl her eyes never leaving the Hatters.
"The birds fly south for the winter, Wolfie." The Hatter whispered, his fingers rapping on the lid of the sugar bowl. A startled gasp and a contemplative look befell the Bloodhound. "Twenty minutes. No more, no less."
The Bloodhound scurried back under the table and began to bark out directions, "Over here! Over here! I smell something!" She was pointing to the woods west from where he and the White Rabbit emerged.
"Follow her. Keep an eye out!" The Knave ordered. She stepped closer to the table to take a small biscuit off the table.
"You know, you're all mad."
The Hare gasped, "We are? Hatter did you know of this?" The man in question simply shrugged, "It's the first I'm hearing it."
The Knave's eyes narrowed and she indulged in a single bite of the biscuit before crumbling it her hand. "Mad!" She threw the remains onto the floor as if it offended her and mounted her horse, her red cape billowing behind her as she retreated.
"Well, that was close. What now, Aru?" The Dormouse said trying his best to pick up all the fallen teacups.
Alfred emerged from the sugar bowl and fell haphazardly onto the table.
"What now? Now we leave. Hare, see if you can contact the underground. There should be a clearing station about a mile from here, the abandoned tunnel? Remember?" The Hare grimaced.
"How could I not? I spent hours walking in a circle to find it. Engrained if anything."
"Good. Off you go then," The Hatter looked to the two remaining occupants. "Dormouse, why don't you accompany White Rabbit to the Red King's Castle? It is to my understanding that you two have become particularly fond of each other as of late."
The Dormouse raised his head with arrogant flair, "I only appreciate his way of life is all. Nothing wrong with a little splash of red color in your life, right aru?"
"Huh? Oh. I suppose so…" The White Rabbit mumbled in his cowering state. He took a glance towards the Hatter and noticed a pair of green narrowing eyes staring right back at him. "Oh! I mean not really! Well, I wouldn't say a splash more like a sprinkle. You know I'll always be on your side, eh?"
"Hmm."
Alfred sensed an awkward tension. Like having mom discover your hand halfway down the cookie jar late at night. "Um, so were escaping?"
The Hatter snapped out of heated gaze and smiled down at Alfred. "Yes, of course! You all heard the Bloodhound, twenty minutes. March Hare no detours. Dormouse and White Rabbit be careful boarding the wrong boat to the Red Lands, pirates are rampant these days."
"Yes sir!" They all said in unison. 'This whole thing is bonkers' Alfred thought. He longed for the days when seeing a group of women in men's clothes was the weirdest thing he's ever seen, and even then that was a pleasant experience!
The group began to depart and the Hatter carried the small Alfred in his hands. Alfred didn't know what to say so he didn't say anything. For the first time ever the great talker Alfred F. Jones was at a lost for words. Instead, Alfred took the time to take in the scenery before him. Dense forest turned to light grassy clearings with beautiful purple flowers sprouting out in random areas and a pleasant smell greeted him.
"Is that Lavender?" Alfred asked innocently. The Hatter smiled.
"Yes. This kind of Lavender is native to my homeland." He lifted Alfred higher and placed him gently on top of his top hat. "Here, see for yourself." The Hatter plucked a single purple flower from the green flowing grass and seated it on the brim of his hat.
Alfred took in the calming scent, "Oh, that's lovely. Just the thing I needed right now. Say, you said this was native to your homeland?"
"Aye."
"But isn't this all Wonderland? I thought this was all one big stretch of land divided between factions."
The Hatter laughed suddenly then and Alfred felt a touch embarrassed and irritated, "What? Is this place much bigger than that?" He huffed out.
"Is aboveground just one big stretch of land divided between factions?" The Hatter said amusement in his voice.
"Well, no. We have large rivers and huge bodies of water dividing us all. Continents with many countries clustered inside of them." Alfred emphasized with clashing his hands together. The emerald-eyed man smiled, "Well, we also have that here. There are stories that Wonderland is a mirror image of the Aboveland. The country we are currently walking in is Genland, my homeland."
Alfred went wide-eyed, "Oh. Of course it is." Alfred was beginning to piece things together, 'Same land but different names and people…' Alfred began to ponder if he needed to see a psychiatrist after all this was over.
The Hatter suddenly stopped dead in his tracks, a sigh escaping his lips. Alfred crawled towards the edge of the hat and peered down. "Huh? Hey, what's wrong? Is everything alright?"
The Hatter gently plucked Alfred from his hat and placed him gently into the palm of his hand. As if he were made of glass and cautious not to break him. The man smiled warmly and Alfred felt a breeze swish through the small purple meadow around them.
"We need your help Alfred. There's so much that needs to be done and the prophecy says you're strong enough to do it and I'm sure you are everything it says you are but-" His expressions became sad and frown graced his face. "You look so fragile to me."
He emphasized that last word with a gentle stroke to Alfred's cheek with his thumb. Alfred didn't know what to say. Couldn't have known. He just stared with wide eyes and an open mouth. After what felt like an eternity, Alfred realizes he was just staring like a fish out of water.
"Uh, well. Don't you worry 'bout a thing. I'm the hero remember? I'll try my very best!"
The Hatters smile returned slowly as the soft strokes continued, "Yeah…I know."
There was a sudden bark in the distance and the two men snapped backed to the present. The hatter cleared his throat, "Ah, very well. Shall we continue on?" He placed the shrunken man back on top his hat and began a leisure pace through the meadow. The barking became more prominent as they walked and the soft green grass of the meadow became more dispersed and pebbly. Then, there on the edge of large rock stood the beautiful girl they named the Bloodhound.
"Oh good. You're right on time. Hurry, we must get Alfred out of here to safety. My sister feels as though she's been tricked and suspects you Hatter. In a few moments she will come here and arrest you, I will make sure of your safety Hatter." Alfred became perplexed and a small gasp escaped his throat.
"Hey! Hey! Nobody's getting arrested because of me! C'mon we can fight her!"
The Bloodhound looked up and smiled, "My dear Alfred, do not worry. The Hatter will be fine. I will make sure of that. I too have authority in the Red Kingdom you know? Besides, everything is still going according to plan, right Hatter?"
A small chuckle graced the air around them and the Hatter winked, "Like clockwork."
Shouting could be heard in the distance and the Bloodhound became tense, "You must go. Now and not a moment too soon."
The Hatter gently lifted his top hat off his head and stared wearily at Alfred, "Please, be careful. Stay vigilant be watchful but most importantly be prepared."
"Prepared? Prepared for what?" Alfred instinctively grabbed on to the ribbon wrapped around the hat.
"For this."
The Hatter then brought the hat inwards towards himself and with great skill cast the top hat out towards the sea.
"Ah!" The hat traveled a fairly good distant away and Alfred felt as if he was going to puke. He had a sudden flashback of the time one of his Air Force buddies showed him that one of his bombers could do a barrel roll. Despite it all however, the hat landed gracefully on top of the water. Alfred took in a deep breath and shakily let go of the ribbon.
"Are you mad?!" He yelled out.
"It's in the name!" The Hatter yelled right back a grin plastered on his face.
Alfred let out a curse and watched as the Knaves soldiers loomed near and finally arrested the green-eyed man. Despite capturing him, Alfred could see even from quite a distance that Knave was fully satisfied.
As Alfred drifted out into the sea he could he could only wonder how his German companion was doing.
A/N: Just to make things clear, Wonderland is a mirror image of our world. Some things are clearly the same, like people, but names are mixed up and among other things. So instead of England, all I did was jumble it up and tada! Its mirror name is Genland. Believe it or not, I made a whole map of Europe with the all the countries names jumbled up. Thats how dedicated I am to this story and world. I think everything will be much clearer in future chapters.
Also, the place the Hatter and Alfred are at is based on a real place! I was looking at places in England through google and found this place called North York Moors. I found it so enchanting that I had to put it my story and it just fit so nicely! So, now you have a setting! :)