Disclaimer: This fanfiction is roughly based on BOTH Lewis Carols Alice in wonderland and events in American McGee's game Alice. All unfamiliar characters have been created by me all others are a combination of Lewis Carol and American McGee. The story is the continuation from the previous story, Cleric of Wonderland
Bandersnatch Isle
By
C. M. Griffiths
Chapter 1: Distant horizons
Alice was sitting on a comfortable toadstool on the outskirts of wonderland looking out over the sea and wondering as her curiousity often would. (It was also her curiousity that got her into the most trouble, but hadn't killed her yet.)
The air was sweet as the fragrance of nearby flowers as the chatted amongst them selves about any piece or gossip a flower could gain and talk about. The breeze was tainted with a pinch of salt as she inhaled a large lungfull. Because before her was the great sea of wonderland and it stretched out as far as the eye could see, spilling into the horizon beneath the shining sun and under the wisps of clouds, floating harmlessly in the sky. And all the while, amongst the pleasantries of wonderland, Alice felt bored.
It had been several days since she had defeated the Religion in the dark cathedral through the looking glass and freed wonderland from a tyranny yet again. It was almost becoming routine for her. However, she could not get the threat of Konchuu and his last words out of her head before he was crushed beneath a stone pillar as the building collapsed around them. He would return and Alice had been keeping watch over wonderland as the travelled, almost innocently through the now green fields but the people and animals were all living harmoniously again except for the card guards who still had their unquenchable thirst for conflict but had chosen to fight amongst themselves as they were divided and leaderless, only causing trouble amongst themselves.
Her friend the gnome elder had repaired his balloon and had begun transporting people from place to place for a fee, managing to keep himself busy and the Chess pieces had resumed their never ending game in the pale realms, eternally trying to outfox each other with neither side gaining any advantage for a prolonged time.
Caterpillar had not foreseen (or wanted to see) any trouble in the near or distant future and was endlessly smoking his opium, but still retaining most of his sanity in this mad place sitting on his toadstool as always in the centre of the fungiferous forest. The only person whom was still as bored as she was, was the Cheshire cat. He kept appearing looking for something to do or something to play with (or something to chase!) and disappear still smiling but more glum. And this was all getting to poor Alice.
The familiar descending chiming rang out gently through the sound of the sea beating against she shore and the Cheshire cat materialised, sitting next to Alice's toadstool, smiling as always.
"Oh good" she thought to herself. "At last something to do"
"I'm afraid not." replied the cat in answer to her thoughts. "I'm as restless a you are. Next time you seek to destroy your enemy, take your time about it!"
He smiled at her and they both laughed. Alice looked out to sea and spoke.
"Cat, is there anything out there beyond the sea?" she asked
"I'm not quite sure." Came his reply.
Alice immediately stared at him intently, almost in shock. He had been to every place in Wonderland in his own magical way and he had seen all of it's inhabitants. How could he not know?
"How is that possible cat?"
"Well, if there is anything on the seas, it cant be very interesting enough for me to look at!"
His feline stubbornness and arrogance sometimes got on her nerves.
"How do you know if you've never been there?" she asked
He shrugged his shoulders and smiled, or at least his smile widened a bit.
"There is a rumour that, originally, the bandersnatch came from over the seas." He said to himself
"What's a bandersnatch?" she enquired.
"Well I'm sure you have come across Banderscotch, have you not?"
Alice nodded, she had encountered it in the cathedral city (and saw it's intoxicating effects if one drank so much of it)
"Well they are the ones who make the foul drink," his face grimaced slightly "also they are very sharp minded. No-one has seen or caught one for a while because they are very difficult to catch and if they do, they get quite frumious!"
Alice had already gotten off her mushroom and was preparing to wade into the sea when the Cats head popped out of no-where in front of her.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you." He cautioned.
"And why not, thanks to the Mock turtle, I'm part reptile remember?" and tapped her back revealing an invisible mock turtle shell.
"It wouldn't make any difference," said cat "You would drown before you got a tenth of the way and there are large snarks in the deep waters. Large enough to swallow you hole"
Alice remembered the dark time when she was following the mock turtle underwater and had nearly got eaten by a snark as large as a whale! Alice returned to shore a more grumpy person until an idea struck her.
"Lets go see old mockers!" she suggested to the cat, "maybe he can answer my questions?"
Cat looked angry as for the first time he had failed to answer on of her questions.
"You may go but I will not!" he insisted. "His incessant wailing gets on my nerves." and proceeded to vanish, his smile somewhat reduced while Alice headed off towards the gardens once again.
Alice had always found it necessary to keep a getting small elixir in case she wanted to go into the gardens because making them was quite an effort that Alice couldn't be bothered with every time she needed to change size. She stood in front of the garden wall with it's tiny hole near her feet and took a few gulps of the liquid. She felt swirl of flavours enter her mouth from strawberry to chocolate to roast turkey until it suddenly ended abruptly and her head plummeted towards the ground without moving.
She shook the disorientation off and proceeded into the garden though the hole.
It was moments like these, surrounded by tall flowers busily chatting amongst themselves, feeling the soft grass beneath her feet where hard ground used to run endlessly in all directions and the sun shining brightly in the sky that she realised it was a good thing she came back to wonderland. If she hadn't, the place would remain a dark, depressing, festering world ruled by the tyrannical queen of hearts.
But now she had been defeated, everyone was free to enjoy themselves once again. She reminded herself this as she skipped down the path into the garden until she came to a familiar face.
The signpost was now the gardens mapmaker as he changed all the paths to suit his moods (and Alice always did her best to be on his good side!) and he was the only one who knew all the routes. He was asleep as always and Alice walked up to him and tried to rouse him.
She knocked on his post to waken him, which it did with a shock.
"What, What, What?" he yelled in confusion until his eyes met Alice. "Oh it's you again! Good morning Miss Alice"
"Good morning Mr Signpost," she answered "could you direct me into the vale of tears where my statue is please. I wish to meet the Mock turtle"
"I wouldn't if I were you," advised the signpost "he seemed quite upset about something this morning!"
"He's always like that!" she explained. "He'll be alright when I talk to him, I want to ask him a few things."
"Very well then, he's down that past there." And pointed his arm down the path as he went back to sleep as Alice walked confidently down the path towards the vale of tears.
The vale of tears was in desperate need of a new name thought Alice as the walked through the foliage and looking up she saw several ants working near a small stream which turned into a waterfall when it flowed off the mountain. It used to be a lot more miserable before she freed it and its name came from the statue of Alice downstream on top of the waterfall. It used to be a large model of Alice sitting crying into a lake which formed most of the streams and ponds, hence, vale of tears but the statue was not crying anymore. It was sitting on it's own little island in the middle of the lake looking not particularly happy but not sad either as if it were a pillar of normality in this insane world.
The only reason it could be the vale of tears was the behaviour of it's most prominent resident and probably the most recognisable in the whole of the gardens, the Mock turtle and he was always sad about something. Alice negotiated her way up the waterfall hill, albeit difficulty but there were no falling rocks to knock her to her death this time. Thankfully.
At the end of the stream she found the giant statue of herself sitting on her island, surprisingly, with a slight frown on her face. There was a great deal of whimpering around the pond with was quite loud, it was obvious that the statue had been forced to listen to it all morning. Alice looked at the statue which gestured over to a small glade behind a few rocks, this was obviously where the sound was coming from. Alice waded through the waters and scrambled to the rocky glen where she found what she was looking for.
Bandersnatch Isle
By
C. M. Griffiths
Chapter 1: Distant horizons
Alice was sitting on a comfortable toadstool on the outskirts of wonderland looking out over the sea and wondering as her curiousity often would. (It was also her curiousity that got her into the most trouble, but hadn't killed her yet.)
The air was sweet as the fragrance of nearby flowers as the chatted amongst them selves about any piece or gossip a flower could gain and talk about. The breeze was tainted with a pinch of salt as she inhaled a large lungfull. Because before her was the great sea of wonderland and it stretched out as far as the eye could see, spilling into the horizon beneath the shining sun and under the wisps of clouds, floating harmlessly in the sky. And all the while, amongst the pleasantries of wonderland, Alice felt bored.
It had been several days since she had defeated the Religion in the dark cathedral through the looking glass and freed wonderland from a tyranny yet again. It was almost becoming routine for her. However, she could not get the threat of Konchuu and his last words out of her head before he was crushed beneath a stone pillar as the building collapsed around them. He would return and Alice had been keeping watch over wonderland as the travelled, almost innocently through the now green fields but the people and animals were all living harmoniously again except for the card guards who still had their unquenchable thirst for conflict but had chosen to fight amongst themselves as they were divided and leaderless, only causing trouble amongst themselves.
Her friend the gnome elder had repaired his balloon and had begun transporting people from place to place for a fee, managing to keep himself busy and the Chess pieces had resumed their never ending game in the pale realms, eternally trying to outfox each other with neither side gaining any advantage for a prolonged time.
Caterpillar had not foreseen (or wanted to see) any trouble in the near or distant future and was endlessly smoking his opium, but still retaining most of his sanity in this mad place sitting on his toadstool as always in the centre of the fungiferous forest. The only person whom was still as bored as she was, was the Cheshire cat. He kept appearing looking for something to do or something to play with (or something to chase!) and disappear still smiling but more glum. And this was all getting to poor Alice.
The familiar descending chiming rang out gently through the sound of the sea beating against she shore and the Cheshire cat materialised, sitting next to Alice's toadstool, smiling as always.
"Oh good" she thought to herself. "At last something to do"
"I'm afraid not." replied the cat in answer to her thoughts. "I'm as restless a you are. Next time you seek to destroy your enemy, take your time about it!"
He smiled at her and they both laughed. Alice looked out to sea and spoke.
"Cat, is there anything out there beyond the sea?" she asked
"I'm not quite sure." Came his reply.
Alice immediately stared at him intently, almost in shock. He had been to every place in Wonderland in his own magical way and he had seen all of it's inhabitants. How could he not know?
"How is that possible cat?"
"Well, if there is anything on the seas, it cant be very interesting enough for me to look at!"
His feline stubbornness and arrogance sometimes got on her nerves.
"How do you know if you've never been there?" she asked
He shrugged his shoulders and smiled, or at least his smile widened a bit.
"There is a rumour that, originally, the bandersnatch came from over the seas." He said to himself
"What's a bandersnatch?" she enquired.
"Well I'm sure you have come across Banderscotch, have you not?"
Alice nodded, she had encountered it in the cathedral city (and saw it's intoxicating effects if one drank so much of it)
"Well they are the ones who make the foul drink," his face grimaced slightly "also they are very sharp minded. No-one has seen or caught one for a while because they are very difficult to catch and if they do, they get quite frumious!"
Alice had already gotten off her mushroom and was preparing to wade into the sea when the Cats head popped out of no-where in front of her.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you." He cautioned.
"And why not, thanks to the Mock turtle, I'm part reptile remember?" and tapped her back revealing an invisible mock turtle shell.
"It wouldn't make any difference," said cat "You would drown before you got a tenth of the way and there are large snarks in the deep waters. Large enough to swallow you hole"
Alice remembered the dark time when she was following the mock turtle underwater and had nearly got eaten by a snark as large as a whale! Alice returned to shore a more grumpy person until an idea struck her.
"Lets go see old mockers!" she suggested to the cat, "maybe he can answer my questions?"
Cat looked angry as for the first time he had failed to answer on of her questions.
"You may go but I will not!" he insisted. "His incessant wailing gets on my nerves." and proceeded to vanish, his smile somewhat reduced while Alice headed off towards the gardens once again.
Alice had always found it necessary to keep a getting small elixir in case she wanted to go into the gardens because making them was quite an effort that Alice couldn't be bothered with every time she needed to change size. She stood in front of the garden wall with it's tiny hole near her feet and took a few gulps of the liquid. She felt swirl of flavours enter her mouth from strawberry to chocolate to roast turkey until it suddenly ended abruptly and her head plummeted towards the ground without moving.
She shook the disorientation off and proceeded into the garden though the hole.
It was moments like these, surrounded by tall flowers busily chatting amongst themselves, feeling the soft grass beneath her feet where hard ground used to run endlessly in all directions and the sun shining brightly in the sky that she realised it was a good thing she came back to wonderland. If she hadn't, the place would remain a dark, depressing, festering world ruled by the tyrannical queen of hearts.
But now she had been defeated, everyone was free to enjoy themselves once again. She reminded herself this as she skipped down the path into the garden until she came to a familiar face.
The signpost was now the gardens mapmaker as he changed all the paths to suit his moods (and Alice always did her best to be on his good side!) and he was the only one who knew all the routes. He was asleep as always and Alice walked up to him and tried to rouse him.
She knocked on his post to waken him, which it did with a shock.
"What, What, What?" he yelled in confusion until his eyes met Alice. "Oh it's you again! Good morning Miss Alice"
"Good morning Mr Signpost," she answered "could you direct me into the vale of tears where my statue is please. I wish to meet the Mock turtle"
"I wouldn't if I were you," advised the signpost "he seemed quite upset about something this morning!"
"He's always like that!" she explained. "He'll be alright when I talk to him, I want to ask him a few things."
"Very well then, he's down that past there." And pointed his arm down the path as he went back to sleep as Alice walked confidently down the path towards the vale of tears.
The vale of tears was in desperate need of a new name thought Alice as the walked through the foliage and looking up she saw several ants working near a small stream which turned into a waterfall when it flowed off the mountain. It used to be a lot more miserable before she freed it and its name came from the statue of Alice downstream on top of the waterfall. It used to be a large model of Alice sitting crying into a lake which formed most of the streams and ponds, hence, vale of tears but the statue was not crying anymore. It was sitting on it's own little island in the middle of the lake looking not particularly happy but not sad either as if it were a pillar of normality in this insane world.
The only reason it could be the vale of tears was the behaviour of it's most prominent resident and probably the most recognisable in the whole of the gardens, the Mock turtle and he was always sad about something. Alice negotiated her way up the waterfall hill, albeit difficulty but there were no falling rocks to knock her to her death this time. Thankfully.
At the end of the stream she found the giant statue of herself sitting on her island, surprisingly, with a slight frown on her face. There was a great deal of whimpering around the pond with was quite loud, it was obvious that the statue had been forced to listen to it all morning. Alice looked at the statue which gestured over to a small glade behind a few rocks, this was obviously where the sound was coming from. Alice waded through the waters and scrambled to the rocky glen where she found what she was looking for.