Her eyes watered at a pungent smell that wafted down the narrow corridor. She soon found out what it was when she turned the corner and was stopped short by several pools of acid with a single rope hanging from the ceiling in the centre of each. At the corner, she noticed some tabulated results that kept what the guards jokingly referred to as the 'skor.' Survivors: 105; Deaths: 1,052. She winced at the odds.
After taking a few practice jumps, she finally took the running leap at the rope, and didn't have time to congratulate herself for catching it before she had let go and landed at a crouch and sprung again, cleanly from the knees. Something that Jeremy had always laughed - landcrouchspring - at her about when they - landcrouchspring - had played Tarzan and Jane as kids - landcrouchspring. She repeated it several times without a single thought passing through her head. So that was what it felt like to be an athlete, she thought wryly.
She landed and instinctively rolled to keep bones from breaking, and jumped up. After about a mile, she came to a huge cavern, with apparently no way to get across but about four, foot-wide, forty-foot high columns dotted about. On this scorecard was written Survivors: 79; Deaths: 26. This one was apparently easier. But how?
Once again, she took a running leap, but tripped and fell short. A strong gust of air suddenly caught her skirt and lifted her up. She stayed there for a moment, and used the occasional gusts to get her through to the next. There was a point where there wasn't any air a short way off, and she realized that if she had not tripped, she would have been victim #27. But she did a somersault the way that Jeremy had taught her and passed by with some ease.
Nonetheless, she was relieved to reach the other side. Then it was a long, long walk to Del the elder. She was reassured when she saw the first person there. It was a man who seemed to be in his early to late forties, and he was busily chipping away at the stone. A short while later she came upon a woman. She was ancient, and weak. She fell several times under the load that she bore, and sweat poured down her face. She glanced darkly at Mara's healthy appearance and ignored her. Mara encountered that reaction many times as she continued her search for Del.
As she searched, she heard a rather dry chuckle from behind her. She turned around and saw a frail old man sitting, sorting rocks. Only his focus was not on his work. It was on her, and she recognized Del the son's piercing eyes. She walked towards him, and stopped just short of the pile that he was working on.
"You've been looking for me, I see," he cackled. He was blind one eye.
"Yes," she whispered. Her throat was dry and the tight atmosphere of the tunnel did nothing for her.
"Well? Who sent you? I need to know if I'm helping the right side."
"I was sent by the Cheshire Cat. I need-"
"Hold it. I'm not quite so interested in helping you yet. But I'll tell you what. Since you say that Cat sent you, I'll make you a deal."
Mara hesitated. "Shoot," she finally said.
"If you do something small for me, I'll help you. There is a pendant that I need. However, the guards took it, and as I'm chained here, I can't really do much. So you get pendant, you get help."
Mara nodded. "Where is it?" she asked. He pointed to a mine cart.
"Pretty straightforward. Ride that down and get it. It'll be in plain sight, I should think."
The mine cart was a rickety thing that didn't look like it would hold a pebble, much less a person, without breaking. She held her breath and jumped in.
The speed of the cart pressed her far into the back, and the bumps and curves left her even more bruised and aching, while falling rocks elevated her heart rate to almost unbearable speeds. But it was not long at all until she saw the end a ways away. Realising that she would be smashed to smithereens if she did not get out now, she took a breath and jumped. It was a good thing that she did, because the cart splintered and shattered as it hit the barrier. She, meanwhile, got off with nothing more than a few more bruises and scrapes.
She dusted herself off and stood. There were two tunnels branching off in either direction. They abruptly branched off and Mara could not see where they led.
"Ride down and get it. It'll be in plain sight, he says," she muttered as she tried to peer down a tunnel. But she could only do that if she was all of the way inside, and she did not trust them. Finally, she walked over to the remains of the mine cart and took a piece of wood. It crumbled in her hand instantly. Impatiently she threw it away, and tried for a rod of metal. She tested it out by pushing with all her might against a rock wall. It bent into an accordion-like thing and broke in half. Finally, having run out of options, she grabbed a wheel and headed to the tunnel's entrance.
Placing the wheel endwise on the ground, she stepped through the entrance. A door came down abruptly from the top of the tunnel, but the wheel held, keeping the door eight inches from the ground. She rolled away, and sat up. It was with relief that she saw the wheel holding firm.
Cautiously, she skirted the edge of the tunnel, watching for more of those peculiar guards, her knife out and waiting. As she walked, she checked for signs of danger, and as she continued deeper into the tunnel, it got steadily brighter and louder. Louder?
It seemed to be a mix of men and running water, which grew steadily more violent as she progressed. At the tunnel's end, there was a tall, wide door. There was an argument going on, behind it, it seemed. As she reached for the doorknob, something glittering caught her eye, and she reached for it. Abruptly, there was a crash against the door, as if someone had been thrown into it, and she rushed back against the wall, waiting for anyone to come out.
No one came.
Cautiously, she bent down to take the glittering object, tensed and ready to fight or run. When she first took the pendant, however, there was no need to do either. At just that moment, however, something jumped down from above.
It was a strange type of spider, with a china doll's head. "Ohh, okay. Um, hi little fellow, what are you?"
It spoke, so softly that she couldn't hear. So she told it to speak a little louder. Instead, it climbed up onto a large rock beside her and whispered, "I'm a nightmare spider," and swiftly slashed her arm with its front leg. Too late Mara noticed that it was a syringe. Faith reeled, and struggled to stand. She was feeling upside-down, and couldn't see straight. Mara clutched her head with one hand and staggered away from the spider, her other groping for the knife. Faith's hand hit the sharp blade, and it cut the back of her hand. She didn't even notice. They drew it out and sliced air. Up. Down. Which was which? A spider dropped down behind her. Faith sliced it, but the knife passed through harmlessly. They turned, with effort, to the real one... or was it? There were spiders closing in all around- they sliced at them several times, but the blade passed harmlessly through each.
Slowly they advanced. Through the haze she noticed that there was one who wasn't moving, wasn't going anywhere. She drew her hand back and threw the knife.
The spider was plastered to the wall and all that was left was a murky haze. The pendant was clasped safely in her hand... she went slowly to get her knife - it felt as though she were walking through a thick vat of peanut butter. Her head moved from side to side as she waited. She had forgotten that she was supposed to help Del. She forgot about Rabbit, the fruit woman, the manor. The asylum.
As she stood there, new thoughts entered her mind. Thoughts that could have proved dangerous. She forgot what was behind the door, and wanted to peek in and see. But when she turned to it, it wasn't there. She giggled at this strange turn of events and sat down heavily, feeling suddenly as though she weighed a thousand pounds. She peered back over at the spider and felt sickened by what was happening. What was happening? The door was looking like that pole that had bent, like an accordion. She reached towards it.
"Faith, what are you doing?" She remembered that voice.
"I'm not Faith. I'm Mara. Faith isn't me," she babbled. She realised at that point that no one there seemed to call her 'Mara' unless other people were there.
"Aw, c'mon Faith. Get with the program. You have some saving to do."
"I do?"
"Yes, of course you do! Y'know, you have to get the bad guys - demonstrate that slashing blow, the whole bit." As Jeremy spoke and grew clearer, he picked up her knife and demonstrated, his face ever cheerful, his voice always teasing.
"Yes, that's right," she murmured. "I do, don't I?"
Jeremy nodded and walked over. Grinning, he handed her the knife and winked. She gave him kind of a half-smile back, and took the knife, her purpose infinitely clearer. She had to save Wonderland. And up was up, down was down. And Wonderland was in trouble.
A guard flying through-literally-the door interrupted her thoughts. He stood up, and she saw that he was not a club, but a diamond. He was definitely drunk. Slowly, she backed away, waiting for him to do or say something. When he did, it was the last thing that she wanted to hear: "WE GOT COMPENNY!!!"
Mara turned and ran, hearing the sound of fast-moving projectiles following her, along with the sounds of running feet. She quickly drew out her knife and whirled around mid-stride, twice slashing the guard closest to her.
A few guards halted in surprise, watching the four pieces of their comrade float slowly down, to land in a careless pile on the path in front of them.
Mara, meanwhile, had used that opportunity to pull ahead in front of them, looking behind her every so often to see if they were following too close. If they were then she would slash again, but if not, she would try to run faster. Once or twice she had to dodge when diamond-shaped projectiles sped towards her. One cut her arm and she cried out in surprise. She was immensely relieved when the door came into view, but she heard the sounds of the guards gaining on her. The wheel was buckling. She gained another few feet. The guards were gaining again.
She dived through the opening, just as the wheel gave entirely and the door crashed down, cutting off the soldiers.
After taking a few practice jumps, she finally took the running leap at the rope, and didn't have time to congratulate herself for catching it before she had let go and landed at a crouch and sprung again, cleanly from the knees. Something that Jeremy had always laughed - landcrouchspring - at her about when they - landcrouchspring - had played Tarzan and Jane as kids - landcrouchspring. She repeated it several times without a single thought passing through her head. So that was what it felt like to be an athlete, she thought wryly.
She landed and instinctively rolled to keep bones from breaking, and jumped up. After about a mile, she came to a huge cavern, with apparently no way to get across but about four, foot-wide, forty-foot high columns dotted about. On this scorecard was written Survivors: 79; Deaths: 26. This one was apparently easier. But how?
Once again, she took a running leap, but tripped and fell short. A strong gust of air suddenly caught her skirt and lifted her up. She stayed there for a moment, and used the occasional gusts to get her through to the next. There was a point where there wasn't any air a short way off, and she realized that if she had not tripped, she would have been victim #27. But she did a somersault the way that Jeremy had taught her and passed by with some ease.
Nonetheless, she was relieved to reach the other side. Then it was a long, long walk to Del the elder. She was reassured when she saw the first person there. It was a man who seemed to be in his early to late forties, and he was busily chipping away at the stone. A short while later she came upon a woman. She was ancient, and weak. She fell several times under the load that she bore, and sweat poured down her face. She glanced darkly at Mara's healthy appearance and ignored her. Mara encountered that reaction many times as she continued her search for Del.
As she searched, she heard a rather dry chuckle from behind her. She turned around and saw a frail old man sitting, sorting rocks. Only his focus was not on his work. It was on her, and she recognized Del the son's piercing eyes. She walked towards him, and stopped just short of the pile that he was working on.
"You've been looking for me, I see," he cackled. He was blind one eye.
"Yes," she whispered. Her throat was dry and the tight atmosphere of the tunnel did nothing for her.
"Well? Who sent you? I need to know if I'm helping the right side."
"I was sent by the Cheshire Cat. I need-"
"Hold it. I'm not quite so interested in helping you yet. But I'll tell you what. Since you say that Cat sent you, I'll make you a deal."
Mara hesitated. "Shoot," she finally said.
"If you do something small for me, I'll help you. There is a pendant that I need. However, the guards took it, and as I'm chained here, I can't really do much. So you get pendant, you get help."
Mara nodded. "Where is it?" she asked. He pointed to a mine cart.
"Pretty straightforward. Ride that down and get it. It'll be in plain sight, I should think."
The mine cart was a rickety thing that didn't look like it would hold a pebble, much less a person, without breaking. She held her breath and jumped in.
The speed of the cart pressed her far into the back, and the bumps and curves left her even more bruised and aching, while falling rocks elevated her heart rate to almost unbearable speeds. But it was not long at all until she saw the end a ways away. Realising that she would be smashed to smithereens if she did not get out now, she took a breath and jumped. It was a good thing that she did, because the cart splintered and shattered as it hit the barrier. She, meanwhile, got off with nothing more than a few more bruises and scrapes.
She dusted herself off and stood. There were two tunnels branching off in either direction. They abruptly branched off and Mara could not see where they led.
"Ride down and get it. It'll be in plain sight, he says," she muttered as she tried to peer down a tunnel. But she could only do that if she was all of the way inside, and she did not trust them. Finally, she walked over to the remains of the mine cart and took a piece of wood. It crumbled in her hand instantly. Impatiently she threw it away, and tried for a rod of metal. She tested it out by pushing with all her might against a rock wall. It bent into an accordion-like thing and broke in half. Finally, having run out of options, she grabbed a wheel and headed to the tunnel's entrance.
Placing the wheel endwise on the ground, she stepped through the entrance. A door came down abruptly from the top of the tunnel, but the wheel held, keeping the door eight inches from the ground. She rolled away, and sat up. It was with relief that she saw the wheel holding firm.
Cautiously, she skirted the edge of the tunnel, watching for more of those peculiar guards, her knife out and waiting. As she walked, she checked for signs of danger, and as she continued deeper into the tunnel, it got steadily brighter and louder. Louder?
It seemed to be a mix of men and running water, which grew steadily more violent as she progressed. At the tunnel's end, there was a tall, wide door. There was an argument going on, behind it, it seemed. As she reached for the doorknob, something glittering caught her eye, and she reached for it. Abruptly, there was a crash against the door, as if someone had been thrown into it, and she rushed back against the wall, waiting for anyone to come out.
No one came.
Cautiously, she bent down to take the glittering object, tensed and ready to fight or run. When she first took the pendant, however, there was no need to do either. At just that moment, however, something jumped down from above.
It was a strange type of spider, with a china doll's head. "Ohh, okay. Um, hi little fellow, what are you?"
It spoke, so softly that she couldn't hear. So she told it to speak a little louder. Instead, it climbed up onto a large rock beside her and whispered, "I'm a nightmare spider," and swiftly slashed her arm with its front leg. Too late Mara noticed that it was a syringe. Faith reeled, and struggled to stand. She was feeling upside-down, and couldn't see straight. Mara clutched her head with one hand and staggered away from the spider, her other groping for the knife. Faith's hand hit the sharp blade, and it cut the back of her hand. She didn't even notice. They drew it out and sliced air. Up. Down. Which was which? A spider dropped down behind her. Faith sliced it, but the knife passed through harmlessly. They turned, with effort, to the real one... or was it? There were spiders closing in all around- they sliced at them several times, but the blade passed harmlessly through each.
Slowly they advanced. Through the haze she noticed that there was one who wasn't moving, wasn't going anywhere. She drew her hand back and threw the knife.
The spider was plastered to the wall and all that was left was a murky haze. The pendant was clasped safely in her hand... she went slowly to get her knife - it felt as though she were walking through a thick vat of peanut butter. Her head moved from side to side as she waited. She had forgotten that she was supposed to help Del. She forgot about Rabbit, the fruit woman, the manor. The asylum.
As she stood there, new thoughts entered her mind. Thoughts that could have proved dangerous. She forgot what was behind the door, and wanted to peek in and see. But when she turned to it, it wasn't there. She giggled at this strange turn of events and sat down heavily, feeling suddenly as though she weighed a thousand pounds. She peered back over at the spider and felt sickened by what was happening. What was happening? The door was looking like that pole that had bent, like an accordion. She reached towards it.
"Faith, what are you doing?" She remembered that voice.
"I'm not Faith. I'm Mara. Faith isn't me," she babbled. She realised at that point that no one there seemed to call her 'Mara' unless other people were there.
"Aw, c'mon Faith. Get with the program. You have some saving to do."
"I do?"
"Yes, of course you do! Y'know, you have to get the bad guys - demonstrate that slashing blow, the whole bit." As Jeremy spoke and grew clearer, he picked up her knife and demonstrated, his face ever cheerful, his voice always teasing.
"Yes, that's right," she murmured. "I do, don't I?"
Jeremy nodded and walked over. Grinning, he handed her the knife and winked. She gave him kind of a half-smile back, and took the knife, her purpose infinitely clearer. She had to save Wonderland. And up was up, down was down. And Wonderland was in trouble.
A guard flying through-literally-the door interrupted her thoughts. He stood up, and she saw that he was not a club, but a diamond. He was definitely drunk. Slowly, she backed away, waiting for him to do or say something. When he did, it was the last thing that she wanted to hear: "WE GOT COMPENNY!!!"
Mara turned and ran, hearing the sound of fast-moving projectiles following her, along with the sounds of running feet. She quickly drew out her knife and whirled around mid-stride, twice slashing the guard closest to her.
A few guards halted in surprise, watching the four pieces of their comrade float slowly down, to land in a careless pile on the path in front of them.
Mara, meanwhile, had used that opportunity to pull ahead in front of them, looking behind her every so often to see if they were following too close. If they were then she would slash again, but if not, she would try to run faster. Once or twice she had to dodge when diamond-shaped projectiles sped towards her. One cut her arm and she cried out in surprise. She was immensely relieved when the door came into view, but she heard the sounds of the guards gaining on her. The wheel was buckling. She gained another few feet. The guards were gaining again.
She dived through the opening, just as the wheel gave entirely and the door crashed down, cutting off the soldiers.