Chapter 2: Slight Turbulence
Alice had a surprisingly peaceful nights sleep that night upon the floor. So much so she decided not to wake up until the troll pestered her the next morning. However, not many people who pestered Alice in wonderland got away with it, no. Alice usually left some form of lasting impression such as a knife wound or a razor sharp playing card imbedded in some part of the body. Unfortunately for her the morning came and she was awakened by an impatient Elder standing over her in his flying coat.
"Wakey, Wakey Alice! You've got 10 minutes to get ready." He moaned and strolled out of the back door towards the hanger. She didn't need much time as she was sleeping in her undergarments. She slipped into her dress, fastened her leather boots, combed her hair (she was still a girl) and followed after him. (not forgetting to take her knife.)
Alice had no fear of flying. However the contraption she was about to board was un-nerving to the sight. The hangar door was opened and before her was a small zeppelin with a few additions to it. The two tail fins had long sticks running down to the pilots chair. The pilot sat on a bicycle attached to a large basket where the front tire should be and the rear chain attached to a propeller for locomotion. The whole balloon was tied to the ground by sturdy looking ropes and upon the saddle with each stick in his hand was the troll Elder looking impatient.
"Come on Alice, you haven't got all day!" he snapped with an air of authority.
"You know how I feel about you mode of transport however reliable you claim it is!"
"We've never had any trouble with it before!" he replied in defence.
"What about when you took me to the fortress of doors and we were attacked by the diamond guards. They nearly shot us out of the sky!"
"You forget we out-manoeuvred them and got away. Now, GET IN!!"
Alice gulped and gingerly sat in the basket, pulled her knife out and rested it in her hand, blade first. If there was going to be any trouble, she wanted to be ready for it.
"There's some playing cards in there with you, just in case!" He piped from the back as he began to peddle.
One of the most unusual phenomenon's in wonderland was how the playing cards behaved, especially for Alice. The cards always seemed cold to her touch as if they were afraid of her as she had sliced and diced many of their bigger relatives when they were working for the red queen. Also if she threw a card at any given target, the card would become incredibly sharp as to slice through whatever it came into contact with. She decided to take the cards with her if bad degenerated into a catastrophe.
The Elder flipped a switch on his handlebars, the ropes broke away and they began their ascent into the sky and towards their destination of the fungiferous forest.
Alice decided not to look down during the voyage. She remembered to enter through the walls of the garden you had to be no bigger than the size of a small pin and a fall from their altitude would certainly be fatal to a person of this height. She planned to drink the potion Cat had given her before they landed so she could slip through into the garden without being noticed by the insects as she would make a delectable snack in her reduced state.
Her train of thought was suddenly and sharply interrupted be a medium sized explosion to her left. The balloon veered away from it with skill and speed but by now their assailants had them in their sights.
"What the hell was that!" she exclaimed.
She thought to herself it couldn't be bomber insects with their explosive acorns, they were currently too big to make an effective assault.
"Spade guards!" shouted the Elder in alarm. Trying to talk and fly at the same time was no easy task, especially when you are being fired upon.
"They're the strongest suit next to the Hearts, the Queen didn't have as much influence over them and they're still as organised and deadly! Do something Alice!"
Alice needed no prompting. She had already filler her pouch with cards and was taking aim at the cards on the ground. "I wonder what they're doing near the village" she thought to herself. An explosion flew close to her basket and burst into a ball of blue energy 10 feet away from the balloon.
This was not the time for questions Alice thought and threw her hand towards the ground. Her first deal was close to the mark, It knocked the spade sceptre out of one of the guards' hands and imbedded a card in the other guards' leg.. He plucked with out with a mild wince of pain and the other retrieved his weapon and both fired simultaneously.
The first two shots were intended to knock the pilot from his saddle but he lurched the zeppelin left where they passed under him and blew up harmlessly. Unfortunately he had positioned the balloon straight in the path of the incoming next two shots.
"THEYRE GOING TO HIT THE BALLOON!" yelled the troll frantically pedalling with all his might.
Alice pulled 4 cards out of the deck and threw the first two sequentially in the direction of the incoming spade projectiles. The effect was relieving as each card detonated each of its targets halfway on it's journey. She aimed her remaining two cards towards the ground where the two guards stood cursing and threw as hard as she could. Her aim was straight and true and the surprise of the guards was short lived. Each card sliced through the neck of both the cards decapitating both of them and leaving their bodies gushing blood from where their heads should have been until they dropped down and vanished in a swirl of blue light.
Both Pilot and passenger breathed a sigh of relief at their victory. Alice collapsed into her basket and put her deadly deck of cards away. The Pilot of their lucky craft slowed his rate of pedalling and the zeppelin reduced speed and regained their course towards the gardens.
"What were those two doing near the village?" inquired Alice as she felt the Elder had left out a vital piece of information he neglected to mention.
"I don't know. The guards never do attack unless they have a good reason, or good orders" he said slightly embarrassed.
"Well I did kill their queen so maybe they had a grudge against me. But still they're a long way from home."
"Something for you to ponder later, we're coming up on the gardens so get ready for landing and hold on tight, I never was any good at this bit!"
Alice had a surprisingly peaceful nights sleep that night upon the floor. So much so she decided not to wake up until the troll pestered her the next morning. However, not many people who pestered Alice in wonderland got away with it, no. Alice usually left some form of lasting impression such as a knife wound or a razor sharp playing card imbedded in some part of the body. Unfortunately for her the morning came and she was awakened by an impatient Elder standing over her in his flying coat.
"Wakey, Wakey Alice! You've got 10 minutes to get ready." He moaned and strolled out of the back door towards the hanger. She didn't need much time as she was sleeping in her undergarments. She slipped into her dress, fastened her leather boots, combed her hair (she was still a girl) and followed after him. (not forgetting to take her knife.)
Alice had no fear of flying. However the contraption she was about to board was un-nerving to the sight. The hangar door was opened and before her was a small zeppelin with a few additions to it. The two tail fins had long sticks running down to the pilots chair. The pilot sat on a bicycle attached to a large basket where the front tire should be and the rear chain attached to a propeller for locomotion. The whole balloon was tied to the ground by sturdy looking ropes and upon the saddle with each stick in his hand was the troll Elder looking impatient.
"Come on Alice, you haven't got all day!" he snapped with an air of authority.
"You know how I feel about you mode of transport however reliable you claim it is!"
"We've never had any trouble with it before!" he replied in defence.
"What about when you took me to the fortress of doors and we were attacked by the diamond guards. They nearly shot us out of the sky!"
"You forget we out-manoeuvred them and got away. Now, GET IN!!"
Alice gulped and gingerly sat in the basket, pulled her knife out and rested it in her hand, blade first. If there was going to be any trouble, she wanted to be ready for it.
"There's some playing cards in there with you, just in case!" He piped from the back as he began to peddle.
One of the most unusual phenomenon's in wonderland was how the playing cards behaved, especially for Alice. The cards always seemed cold to her touch as if they were afraid of her as she had sliced and diced many of their bigger relatives when they were working for the red queen. Also if she threw a card at any given target, the card would become incredibly sharp as to slice through whatever it came into contact with. She decided to take the cards with her if bad degenerated into a catastrophe.
The Elder flipped a switch on his handlebars, the ropes broke away and they began their ascent into the sky and towards their destination of the fungiferous forest.
Alice decided not to look down during the voyage. She remembered to enter through the walls of the garden you had to be no bigger than the size of a small pin and a fall from their altitude would certainly be fatal to a person of this height. She planned to drink the potion Cat had given her before they landed so she could slip through into the garden without being noticed by the insects as she would make a delectable snack in her reduced state.
Her train of thought was suddenly and sharply interrupted be a medium sized explosion to her left. The balloon veered away from it with skill and speed but by now their assailants had them in their sights.
"What the hell was that!" she exclaimed.
She thought to herself it couldn't be bomber insects with their explosive acorns, they were currently too big to make an effective assault.
"Spade guards!" shouted the Elder in alarm. Trying to talk and fly at the same time was no easy task, especially when you are being fired upon.
"They're the strongest suit next to the Hearts, the Queen didn't have as much influence over them and they're still as organised and deadly! Do something Alice!"
Alice needed no prompting. She had already filler her pouch with cards and was taking aim at the cards on the ground. "I wonder what they're doing near the village" she thought to herself. An explosion flew close to her basket and burst into a ball of blue energy 10 feet away from the balloon.
This was not the time for questions Alice thought and threw her hand towards the ground. Her first deal was close to the mark, It knocked the spade sceptre out of one of the guards' hands and imbedded a card in the other guards' leg.. He plucked with out with a mild wince of pain and the other retrieved his weapon and both fired simultaneously.
The first two shots were intended to knock the pilot from his saddle but he lurched the zeppelin left where they passed under him and blew up harmlessly. Unfortunately he had positioned the balloon straight in the path of the incoming next two shots.
"THEYRE GOING TO HIT THE BALLOON!" yelled the troll frantically pedalling with all his might.
Alice pulled 4 cards out of the deck and threw the first two sequentially in the direction of the incoming spade projectiles. The effect was relieving as each card detonated each of its targets halfway on it's journey. She aimed her remaining two cards towards the ground where the two guards stood cursing and threw as hard as she could. Her aim was straight and true and the surprise of the guards was short lived. Each card sliced through the neck of both the cards decapitating both of them and leaving their bodies gushing blood from where their heads should have been until they dropped down and vanished in a swirl of blue light.
Both Pilot and passenger breathed a sigh of relief at their victory. Alice collapsed into her basket and put her deadly deck of cards away. The Pilot of their lucky craft slowed his rate of pedalling and the zeppelin reduced speed and regained their course towards the gardens.
"What were those two doing near the village?" inquired Alice as she felt the Elder had left out a vital piece of information he neglected to mention.
"I don't know. The guards never do attack unless they have a good reason, or good orders" he said slightly embarrassed.
"Well I did kill their queen so maybe they had a grudge against me. But still they're a long way from home."
"Something for you to ponder later, we're coming up on the gardens so get ready for landing and hold on tight, I never was any good at this bit!"