I'm so sorry it's taken me so long- I had my internals for maths and physics and I suck at them both so I had to study lots. But now they are over (YES!) and I can update regularly now. Enjoy!
Chapter 10: For which there is no scientific explanation.
Alyss had woken up in a lot of bad situations. Jail, for instance. Often though she expected them. She didn't know why stealing a very valuable tea set could put you in the slammer, but she did know that it did. However, when Alyss surfaced from the dull shock in her mind to what was debatably the real world, she was well, surprised. Being in a man's arms was a shock in itself, but Tinker's? That would have been enough to throw her in itself, but when she reluctantly looked beyond Tinker's face, she was angry. There was a sword pointed at her nose. Actually, there were five swords pointed at her nose. Most people would be frightened at this point, but not Alyss. To the knight who was attached to one of the swords surprise, Alyss grasped the sword between two fingers and twisted it viciously out of his grip, snapping his wrist in the process. Before the four knights beside him could even move, she had disarmed them as well, whipping away their swords. Five down - Alyss craned her neck to see over Tinker's arm – fifteen to go. To everyone's helpless surprise, Alyss managed to down another three knights before a sword was laid against her throat. The man was blonde, tall and very attractive, but Alyss didn't notice this because she was a little distracted at this point. "Any last words?" He hissed, the cold metal biting into her skin.
Alyss sighed. Please. Was a little originality too much to ask for? "I can't leave you guys for five minutes without you getting into trouble can I?" She grumbled. The man scowled. "Trouble? Trouble? I'm going to kill you, and it's only trouble?" Alyss rolled her eyes. "Don't flatter yourself. Many people have tried to kill me before you, and most of them were a lot better at holding a sword" - Alyss jerked the blade, making the knight stumble- "than you. Everybody hold onto Tinker!" Chess, shivering gingerly placed a paw on his shoulder, followed by them all. Alyss smiled sweetly. "Tell the Queen that although, the murder attempt is flattering, don't send amateurs to do a professional job." The man snarled and made a grab for Alyss, but to his horror she and her party disappeared before his eyes. Fairhaven screamed, and smashed his fist into a tree, shattering the wood. The White Queen was going to be furious.
"You can poof?" Alice spluttered, eyes wider than dinner plates. "You can poof?' They had ended up about a kilometer away from where the White Queen's knights had caught up to them, and were stuck at the very top of a towering tree. Alice untangled herself from Tinker; making the branch they were perched on groan dangerously. Alyss, still cradled in Tinker's arms rolled her eyes. "Not the most elegant way of putting it, but yes. I can poof." Alice was silent for a moment, and the only sounding was the wind swishing the branch back and forth. "You could have mentioned this before, you know." Alice muttered, burying her chin into her skirts. Hatter, who was twisting his threadbare waistcoat in his hands, glanced nervously at the ground below, which was very far away. "Uh, Alyss. Thank you for getting us out of that fight before, but is there any chance we can get down now?" Hatter stammered, his fidgeting getting more and more agitated. Alice, looking down, instantly agreed with Hatter. Alyss shook her head. "I can't. One, I don't think I can actually poof with all of you again, and two… the knights will still be looking for us and this tree is our best shot to sleep in for tonight. Siez rumbled his agreement. Hatter, who now had unbuttoned and buttoned his waistcoat seventeen times gulped. "I don't really like heights…" He trailed off, wringing his hands. Alyss nodded sympathetically. "Hatter… Are you acrophobic?" Hatter looked very confused. "Are you scared of heights?" Hatter nodded. Alyss shook her head. "Then you should be fine." "What?" "You aren't looking at anything tall, are you? Now if you scared of depths, that would be bad." Hatter smiled at Chess. "She's so smart sometimes, isn't she?" Chess's chest puffed like a balloon. "Yes, with my evaporating skills, she obviously learned all her smartness from me."
When everyone started laughing, Chess was very confused.
Alice, who had been perched right on the edge was trying not to look down, or think about looking down. When she opened her eyes and saw the drop yawning at her feet, she gulped. "Why don't we just climb down?" She burst in suddenly, cutting through the laughter like a knife. Tinker, who had been examining Alyss's ankle, shook his head. "Look at Alyss. She isn't going anywhere." As the last of the laughter died in Hatter's throat, they all stared at Alyss. Though she had been joking around before, her face was white as a sheet, her smile pinched. Tinker shifted Alyss in his arms, leaving her ankle in full view. It had swelled hugely and was an ugly black purple. "It's broken, or at least badly sprained. She definitely won't be walking on it. And I don't think I can climb down and hold her at the same time…" Tinker looked tired and worried as he gently supported Alyss in his arms. Alyss strained to peek at her ankle. "You're such a hypocrite Tinker. It was only this morning you broke your leg!" Tinker stiffened. "That was completely different," He muttered. Siez and Sevin, who had been completely silent, shifted uncomfortably, making the tree and Alice's stomach lurch. "We have to sleep up here tonight. In the morning Sevin and I will carry Alyss down. " Tinker nodded. "Alright then. You don't think it will be windy, do you?" Alice and Hatter straightened, creeping towards the tree end of the branch. Sevin nodded enthusiastically. "My armor is tingling. There's going to be a big one!" Hatter, who was usually pale as a ghost anyway, went an unappealing shade of light green. "I'm not akkrophobic, I'm not akkrophobic…" He muttered under his breath.
As night began to fall, the first few drops of rain began splatting on the branch above them. Although Alice was not enjoying being 70 feet in the air, she was glad they were dry. The thick canopy above them acted like an umbrella, so outside their little torture camp was a constant shower of freezing water. Tinker slowly crept closer to the center of the tree, Alyss fast asleep in his arms. Chess lazily opened one eye. "What are you doing?" Tinker ignored him. Chess growled. "Tinker. You'll wake her up!" "I don't want her getting a shock when she wakes up!" Tinker furiously protested, his sharp whispers almost impossible to catch through the rain. "All that moving is going to make her ankle worse!" Chess snarled, pinning Tinker's foot to the ground.
"No it won't!"
"Yes it will!"
"What the bloody hell do you know?"
"More than a stinking stray does."
"Stinking stray? You pompous fart I'll rip your throat out!"
"I'd like to see you try. You have the most meager evaporating skills I've ever seen."
Both of them tensed hissing, when Hatter stepped, or rather, crawled hanging onto the branch for dear life in. "You're going to wake her!" Hatter hissed, giving them both a look. "Just let her sleep. She needs it." Chess and Tinker gave each other a look –This isn't over- then nodded sulkily. Hatter leaned back, almost falling off the branch. Scrabbling desperately for a hold, Hatter's bid to hold on became more and more frenzied. Siez rushed across the branch, making it groan angrily grabbed hatter by the collar, heaving him up as hatter's grip slipped away. Hatter, flustered started fidgeting with his waistcoat again, eyes wide with fear. Alice reached out, timidly patting him on the shoulder. "Chess, Tinker, why don't you tell us how you and Alyss met each other?" She asked, desperate to calm Hatter down. Chess, giving Tinker a dirty look, began.
It was 10 years ago in Otherworld, a dark, stormy night. I had been curled up in a particularly cozy cushion hole when I saw it happen. There was a bright flash, green, purple and gold sparks bouncing around on the pavement, though they died quickly in the rain. As my superior vision returned, there was a little girl of about 5 lying face down on the street. She was filthy and stained in something dark. At first I thought she was an urchin, her clothes were tattered and torn and she was more skin and bone than anything else. But as the alleyway was light up bright as day by lightning it was easy to see she was in a bad way. I though she had been covered in dirt but… but it was blood. She was soaked in red, and even her hair was dripping. But the rich color of it was an easy sign she wasn't an ordinary child.
Naturally, being the charitable cat I am I jumped down from my warm high perch to try and help her but when I got close she saw me and started screaming and sobbing, Daddy day no no no Daddy NO PLEEASE NO! Besides a few nasty gashes on her arms and legs it looked like most of the blood on her dress wasn't hers. I tried to comfort her, it's alright, alright, but she kept cringing away and crying. Chess stopped, a strange look in his eyes. "Something… something really bad happened to Alyss before then. I know her mother died, but I think it might have been more than that. She acts so brave now but I don't know hat effect it's had on her… especially since I restored her memories." Everyone was silent. Tinker gazed down at Alyss. She looked so peaceful, so innocent. What had happened to her? Tinker looked at Chess, eyes unreadable. "Go on," he said slowly. Chess sighed.
It was easy to tell that the girl was disturbed and shaken, so when she fainted again I dragged her into a dry patch and let her sleep. She woke up a few times, always begging her daddy to stop. When morning broke she woke with a jolt, crying and whimpering. Seeing me, her eyes took on a shine of hope. Where's mummy? Is she okay? Has daddy gone? I didn't know how to answer her. Mummy's fine, I finally managed, smoothly reassuring her. I could guess who her mother was, and I seriously hoped she wasn't here, but I couldn't say that to a desperate little girl. I asked her what her name was, how old she was and why she was here. But the poor girl got confused, and she could only manage to tell me her name. Alyss Crimms-Stayne. After that she wouldn't stop crying, even then Alyss was sharp as a tack and I think she knew I was lying. So when she fell back to sleep, I blanked her memories. I couldn't let a little girl like that suffer. When she woke up, and asked where she was and who she was I told her she had hit her head, that she was Alyss Stayne and she was in London, safe with me.
Chess stopped, looking down at Alyss's sleeping form, his face softened. "I told her lies to protect her." He said softly. "I told her she was an orphan and she had escaped from the orphanage with me, and that we had to lie low and make sure we weren't discovered or they would take us back there. I left out her royal name because I knew it would protect her, and it was so unusual that she'd ask questions about it. She was such a sweet little girl… I was able to teach her everything I know, and I have kept her safe all these years." He looked at Tinker, their eyes meeting. Chess's grin changed subtly, almost becoming a threat to back off. "Because I know what's best for her."