Alice was swimming upwards towards the surface towards what she thought would be a bandersnatch boat of some kind. She knew she wanted to gain entry, but she wasn't quite sure how and the boat was getting closer and closer! Suddenly, Alice felt that the effort needed to swim towards the boat had reduced and she seemed to be veering to the right slightly with no explanation. Alice kept swimming but the strange effect didn't wear off and It was steadily increasing with alarming strength.
Alice looked in the direction she was being pulled and gaped in horror as she realised she was being pulled into one of the ships huge propellers!
Suddenly, Alice swam as hard as she could away from the propeller to no avail as it's invisible grasp on it's prey was holding and it's unconscious intent of chopping her into as many pieces as possible seemed almost certain. Alice was losing the battle with the propeller as every stroke her arms reached out, she lost more and more strength in the battle and her chest had now begun to hurt from lack of air, she was going to die soon if she didn't have a stroke of luck! Either of drowning from lack of air or chopped into chunks!
In a last ditch of determination, Alice thrust her blade into the belly of the ship which was now in reach and pulled herself towards it, fingers clinging to the handle for dear life. As her face touched the metal hull of the ship she quickly withdrew her blade from the hull and rammed it into the hull again, an arm length above her head. She hovered for a moment between the pull of the furious current from the swirling propellers and the tight grip on her knife as a piece of ribbon would when blown invisible towards a fan. She coaxed herself to lie face up on the first hole she had made with her blade and began to breathe the air from within the ship. She felt better as the (almost) fresh air glided into her mouth, down her throat and into her lungs and her head and chest gradually ceased to ache so.
"As long as I hang on to the knife," she thought to herself "I wont get pulled into the propeller! I only hope that whoever on board doesn't mind a knife end sticking into their ship!"
The ship was definitely heading for Alice's Wonderland and from what she could tell, it was approaching the shore near the troll village. For half an hour the ship ploughed through the waters and all the while, Alice held on to her knife. While breathing he air of the ship she could hear voices from the other side of the hull. Some were gruff voices and some were high voices but they were all surely talking to each other with various levels of intensity. Alice pressed her ear (as best she could) to the hull and listened further.
"Captain, at current speed we will reach the mainland in 10 minutes and we've already shifted the cargo up onto the main deck so we can get it onto the land."
A voice, laced with authority gave it's response.
"Very good, how did it take us to get here first mate?"
This was obviously the captain.
"It took us 7 hours at full steam ahead sir. A total speed of 35 knots."
This voice sounded quite posh and sophisticated. It had an air of education and civilisation. Or at best it sounded coming through a metal hull and into Alice's ear. The captain spoke again.
"All stations to landing and prepare to offload cargo as soon as we reach shore."
"Yes sir!" replied a multitude of voices and they then began to natter amongst themselves discussing various bits of ships operations and trivia, until Alice jumped slightly at the sound of something hitting the floor. It sounded small and metal and It also ticked.
"Someone's dropped their pocket watch!" thought Alice
"I say, I dropped my pocket-watch under the table! I'd better go and get it then!" said one the first mate. Various shuffling noises were heard through the hull of the boat and suddenly, they stopped and gasped in surprise!
"I say Captain! Look at this!" said the First mate in alarm.
More shuffling noises were heard (now the captain was on the floor along with several others) and they all were surprised with what befell them.
Two holes in the wall of the ship. One of the holes was very small, dark and had it's own set of teeth while the other whole was completely filled by a large knife protruding from it!
"There's a knife sticking through the hull!" yelled the captain "Bring the engineer at once!" he ordered.
Alice then heard footsteps accompanied by a slamming sound.
A short time passed and she heard a door open, more shuffling and a lot of intelligent humming.
"Well, what do you think?" asked the first mate
"I think it's a knife!" replied the engineer.
Alice heard the slow clapping of a sarcastic cabin boy then a thud as he had been clipped by one of his superiors.
"I can see that but what does it mean?" asked the captain.
The engineer thought to himself for a while. "We might have knocked against it whilst underway or it got pulled in by the propellers and jammed itself in to the hull. Here I'll fix it!"
Alice noticed that the seabed below her was rising up to meet them and the pull from the propellers had began to slow down. This was fortunate for her because after a ear splitting KERRANG (ear splitting for her, as her ear was still on the hull) the engineer had obviously smacked her knife with a hammer and she was now loose and flailing towards the still turning propellers!
Alice let out a bubbled scream as she closed her eyes in preparation for the inevitable when she smacked against the rotor which was much slower but still moving and Alice fell dark.
Alice awoke to the sounds of sea birds flying over head and the gentle water rippling past her mouth causing to wake up spluttering. Alice had been knocked unconscious by the impact but thanks to the fact they were near the shoreline, the engines had stopped and she floated to the surface and was washed up on the shore, her knife missing.
She snapped to her senses and dug in the sand looking for her blade but It was no where to be seen. She didn't notice all the strange, unfamiliar being standing all around her until they were quite on top of her and she looked into their hazy eyes. Alice looked at her creatures.
They were moderately sized and came up to Alice's waist. They were all wearing uniforms of different types but all carrying a crest on the left breast which Alice found strangely familiar. (It looked like a large snark carrying a clock.) They had all pointed some devices towards her and followed her every move. Alice shivered slightly as she realised that these were weapons, and all four people standing around her on the floor had pointed them at her and intended to use them if she became a problem.
Alice stood up, her head still aching from the impact. As she was taller than all the people, they stepped back in alarm but their weapons never moved from her.
"You know, it's very rude to point your weapons at a stranger!" she insisted.
"A friend wouldn't like it if I pointed it at them would they!" replied one creature.
Alice was mildly offended, but keeping her temper, she introduced herself.
"My name is Alice." she spoke "who is your leader, please?"
A well dressed, slightly taller individual stepped forward. He was obviously of some important rank or position as his uniform was much more regal than any others she had seen.
"I am Wave." He spoke in a medium toned voice. "Captain of the Bandersnatch trading vessel, Floggit"
Alice suddenly jumped with surprise! So these little green skinned creatures were Bandersnatch! Alice almost jumped for joy at her discovery. But the thought of several weapons discharging into her with fear at her exclamations changed her mind.
"So you're Bandersnatch!" She yelled "I've been looking for your people and I thought you lived across the sea somewhere."
"By the site of our boat, I'm not surprised you think that!" replied a short but stout Bandersnatch.
"Now she knows about us what do we do?" replied a regal voice. Alice recognised this person as the first mate. He was also elegantly dressed but not as much so as the captain.
"I would like to dry off somewhat and I'm looking for my knife. I think it get washed up with me on the shore, have you seen it." She asked
The stout person produced her vorpal blade from his pocket and held it in front of her. To everyone's amazement (except Alice's) it disappeared in a sparkle of blue energy and reappeared in her hand. The stout fellow was not impressed and focused his weapon on Alice's forehead.
"How did you do that!" he ordered.
"I don't know!" replied Alice honestly. "But I know this blade is a part of me and it will come to me eventually!"
"A Vorpal Blade?" asked the captain.
Alice was surprised.
"Yes, how did you know?"
"SNICKER SNACK!" yelled the stout creature and the other Bandersnatch who were working with several large crates had all drawn their weapons and had encircled Alice in less time it took her to blink. Now she was worried but it seemed she had an ally.
"AS YOU WERE!" yelled the captain. And they all returned to what they were doing with similar speed.
Alice looked sternly at the stout Bandersnatch.
"And just who are you sir?" she asked as forceful as she could sound.
"Able seaman Shift Bandersnatch. Head of cargo operations and ships security!" he barked back. Alice noticed he almost saluted but controlled himself and never wavered his weapon once from its target, her.
"Miss Alice, if you'll come with me please." Said the captain. "and you get back to work!" he order to Shift, who then lowered his weapon and joined his comrades sorting the large crates.
However he never took his eyes off her until he had to and he had fixed a glowing stare of suspicion onto her. He did not trust this person. For a start she wasn't Bandersnatch and for another, it was her knife sticking through the hull of the captains room.
Alice knew she had made an enemy and would have to keep her eyes on him but that wasn't important now as the Captain and First mate were leading her onto the gangplank and into the large vessel.
Alice looked in the direction she was being pulled and gaped in horror as she realised she was being pulled into one of the ships huge propellers!
Suddenly, Alice swam as hard as she could away from the propeller to no avail as it's invisible grasp on it's prey was holding and it's unconscious intent of chopping her into as many pieces as possible seemed almost certain. Alice was losing the battle with the propeller as every stroke her arms reached out, she lost more and more strength in the battle and her chest had now begun to hurt from lack of air, she was going to die soon if she didn't have a stroke of luck! Either of drowning from lack of air or chopped into chunks!
In a last ditch of determination, Alice thrust her blade into the belly of the ship which was now in reach and pulled herself towards it, fingers clinging to the handle for dear life. As her face touched the metal hull of the ship she quickly withdrew her blade from the hull and rammed it into the hull again, an arm length above her head. She hovered for a moment between the pull of the furious current from the swirling propellers and the tight grip on her knife as a piece of ribbon would when blown invisible towards a fan. She coaxed herself to lie face up on the first hole she had made with her blade and began to breathe the air from within the ship. She felt better as the (almost) fresh air glided into her mouth, down her throat and into her lungs and her head and chest gradually ceased to ache so.
"As long as I hang on to the knife," she thought to herself "I wont get pulled into the propeller! I only hope that whoever on board doesn't mind a knife end sticking into their ship!"
The ship was definitely heading for Alice's Wonderland and from what she could tell, it was approaching the shore near the troll village. For half an hour the ship ploughed through the waters and all the while, Alice held on to her knife. While breathing he air of the ship she could hear voices from the other side of the hull. Some were gruff voices and some were high voices but they were all surely talking to each other with various levels of intensity. Alice pressed her ear (as best she could) to the hull and listened further.
"Captain, at current speed we will reach the mainland in 10 minutes and we've already shifted the cargo up onto the main deck so we can get it onto the land."
A voice, laced with authority gave it's response.
"Very good, how did it take us to get here first mate?"
This was obviously the captain.
"It took us 7 hours at full steam ahead sir. A total speed of 35 knots."
This voice sounded quite posh and sophisticated. It had an air of education and civilisation. Or at best it sounded coming through a metal hull and into Alice's ear. The captain spoke again.
"All stations to landing and prepare to offload cargo as soon as we reach shore."
"Yes sir!" replied a multitude of voices and they then began to natter amongst themselves discussing various bits of ships operations and trivia, until Alice jumped slightly at the sound of something hitting the floor. It sounded small and metal and It also ticked.
"Someone's dropped their pocket watch!" thought Alice
"I say, I dropped my pocket-watch under the table! I'd better go and get it then!" said one the first mate. Various shuffling noises were heard through the hull of the boat and suddenly, they stopped and gasped in surprise!
"I say Captain! Look at this!" said the First mate in alarm.
More shuffling noises were heard (now the captain was on the floor along with several others) and they all were surprised with what befell them.
Two holes in the wall of the ship. One of the holes was very small, dark and had it's own set of teeth while the other whole was completely filled by a large knife protruding from it!
"There's a knife sticking through the hull!" yelled the captain "Bring the engineer at once!" he ordered.
Alice then heard footsteps accompanied by a slamming sound.
A short time passed and she heard a door open, more shuffling and a lot of intelligent humming.
"Well, what do you think?" asked the first mate
"I think it's a knife!" replied the engineer.
Alice heard the slow clapping of a sarcastic cabin boy then a thud as he had been clipped by one of his superiors.
"I can see that but what does it mean?" asked the captain.
The engineer thought to himself for a while. "We might have knocked against it whilst underway or it got pulled in by the propellers and jammed itself in to the hull. Here I'll fix it!"
Alice noticed that the seabed below her was rising up to meet them and the pull from the propellers had began to slow down. This was fortunate for her because after a ear splitting KERRANG (ear splitting for her, as her ear was still on the hull) the engineer had obviously smacked her knife with a hammer and she was now loose and flailing towards the still turning propellers!
Alice let out a bubbled scream as she closed her eyes in preparation for the inevitable when she smacked against the rotor which was much slower but still moving and Alice fell dark.
Alice awoke to the sounds of sea birds flying over head and the gentle water rippling past her mouth causing to wake up spluttering. Alice had been knocked unconscious by the impact but thanks to the fact they were near the shoreline, the engines had stopped and she floated to the surface and was washed up on the shore, her knife missing.
She snapped to her senses and dug in the sand looking for her blade but It was no where to be seen. She didn't notice all the strange, unfamiliar being standing all around her until they were quite on top of her and she looked into their hazy eyes. Alice looked at her creatures.
They were moderately sized and came up to Alice's waist. They were all wearing uniforms of different types but all carrying a crest on the left breast which Alice found strangely familiar. (It looked like a large snark carrying a clock.) They had all pointed some devices towards her and followed her every move. Alice shivered slightly as she realised that these were weapons, and all four people standing around her on the floor had pointed them at her and intended to use them if she became a problem.
Alice stood up, her head still aching from the impact. As she was taller than all the people, they stepped back in alarm but their weapons never moved from her.
"You know, it's very rude to point your weapons at a stranger!" she insisted.
"A friend wouldn't like it if I pointed it at them would they!" replied one creature.
Alice was mildly offended, but keeping her temper, she introduced herself.
"My name is Alice." she spoke "who is your leader, please?"
A well dressed, slightly taller individual stepped forward. He was obviously of some important rank or position as his uniform was much more regal than any others she had seen.
"I am Wave." He spoke in a medium toned voice. "Captain of the Bandersnatch trading vessel, Floggit"
Alice suddenly jumped with surprise! So these little green skinned creatures were Bandersnatch! Alice almost jumped for joy at her discovery. But the thought of several weapons discharging into her with fear at her exclamations changed her mind.
"So you're Bandersnatch!" She yelled "I've been looking for your people and I thought you lived across the sea somewhere."
"By the site of our boat, I'm not surprised you think that!" replied a short but stout Bandersnatch.
"Now she knows about us what do we do?" replied a regal voice. Alice recognised this person as the first mate. He was also elegantly dressed but not as much so as the captain.
"I would like to dry off somewhat and I'm looking for my knife. I think it get washed up with me on the shore, have you seen it." She asked
The stout person produced her vorpal blade from his pocket and held it in front of her. To everyone's amazement (except Alice's) it disappeared in a sparkle of blue energy and reappeared in her hand. The stout fellow was not impressed and focused his weapon on Alice's forehead.
"How did you do that!" he ordered.
"I don't know!" replied Alice honestly. "But I know this blade is a part of me and it will come to me eventually!"
"A Vorpal Blade?" asked the captain.
Alice was surprised.
"Yes, how did you know?"
"SNICKER SNACK!" yelled the stout creature and the other Bandersnatch who were working with several large crates had all drawn their weapons and had encircled Alice in less time it took her to blink. Now she was worried but it seemed she had an ally.
"AS YOU WERE!" yelled the captain. And they all returned to what they were doing with similar speed.
Alice looked sternly at the stout Bandersnatch.
"And just who are you sir?" she asked as forceful as she could sound.
"Able seaman Shift Bandersnatch. Head of cargo operations and ships security!" he barked back. Alice noticed he almost saluted but controlled himself and never wavered his weapon once from its target, her.
"Miss Alice, if you'll come with me please." Said the captain. "and you get back to work!" he order to Shift, who then lowered his weapon and joined his comrades sorting the large crates.
However he never took his eyes off her until he had to and he had fixed a glowing stare of suspicion onto her. He did not trust this person. For a start she wasn't Bandersnatch and for another, it was her knife sticking through the hull of the captains room.
Alice knew she had made an enemy and would have to keep her eyes on him but that wasn't important now as the Captain and First mate were leading her onto the gangplank and into the large vessel.