DISCLAIMER: I don't own Inuyasha, or its characters. I don't own Alice in Wonderland or American McGee's Alice, both of which were inspiration for this fic.
Wow, finally, chapter 2!! . Took me long enough, ne? So... I guess... enjoy. If you can stand me...
Chapter II- Going Down
Kagome kicked her legs frantically, hoping to slow herself in her fall. But with Cheshire's hand clamped firmly on her wrist, pulling her down along with him, all attempts were in vain (seeing as he was quite a lot bigger than her). She gave in with a sigh and squirmed downwards to settle her weight on his chest, hoping that, hey, if they hit ground, he'd break her fall.
"Comfortable?" he said loudly over the rush of air.
Kagome nodded, fidgeting a little as he wrapped his other arm around her waist.
"Good. You know your skirt was flying up."
She turned furiously red and kicked Cheshire in the shin. He only grinned, making her rather nervous—again.
"Okay, so. I can only go with you to the second level, so I'll be dropping you off there. From then you'll have to go on by yourself to the fourth level—that's two levels down from the second level—and land there."
"How do I land?"
"You will, don't worry. From the fourth level you must take the left path—now that's important, the left path, never the right," he ordered, absently blowing a strand of silver hair out of his mouth. "Take the left path through the Labyrinth to the Queen's Garden. If you don't run into Inuyasha in the Garden, keep going, you should find him in the Forest. When you do find Inuyasha, ask him to take you to the Mad Hatter—"
"The... Mad Hatter??"
"Yes, please don't interrupt me."
Kagome rolled her eyes. "Sorry."
"Anyway, ask him to take you to the Mad Hatter. Don't be too rash with him, he has very little manners and he's quite rude, but if he refuses you, do NOT try and find the Hatter by yourself, just keep asking. You will need Inuyasha to guide you down to the sixth level, where the Hatter and the March Hare live. When you meet him, the Hatter will give you a key, most likely, if he recognizes you, which will open the Door in the Queen's palace, but we'll get to that later."
"When?" Kagome asked over the wind. "I thought you said you were leaving me?"
"I'll meet you again soon, maybe after you have spoken with the Hatter." Cheshire glanced down, spotting a candelabra jutting out of the wall a ways down. "Remember. Land at the fourth level and take the left path. Your feet should be able to guide you from there."
"O-okay," Kagome said as bravely as she could, "but I don't understand half of what you just said to me."
Cheshire smiled. Not a grin, not a smirk. This time he was truly smiling.
"Do not forget, schoolgirl. You are the only one who can open the Door. Find the Protector and the path is set." He sighed, closing his eyes wearily. "I can only help you for so long. You'll have to learn to help yourself... and all of us... soon enough."
Kagome's heart leapt into her throat and she wriggled in Cheshire's grasp.
"Do be careful, schoolgirl," he chuckled, and kissed her lightly on the mouth.
(AN: . ... -dodges tomatoes-)
She squeaked, her hand flying out of his, raised for a slap. Then she noticed something she hadn't before—
They had stopped.
In front of the candelabra, they had simply stopped. The odd thing was, there wasn't any floor for them to have stopped on. They were suspended in thin air, something she didn't want to believe...
But then, she remembered, anything could happen here. Look at me; I'm suspended in the air, three miles down a rabbit hole in my backyard, kissing the most beautiful man I've ever met. Sounds normal enough for these people... whoever they are.
Cheshire took a step backward, and resumed his usual grin. "Good luck," he said briskly, touching the brim of his hat. "Second level, going down."
He yanked hard on the candelabra, spun in a circle with a soul-lifting laugh, and shot up into the darkness that led to the surface of the earth.
Kagome started, staring up after him. "Cheshire?" she called up into the dark. "...Cheshire!!"
"Going down," said a hoarse voice, echoing Cheshire's words. "I like the sound of that."
The schoolgirl's stomach dropped and she went catapulting further down the rabbit hole.
Kagome lay sprawled on the red-and-white tiles of the fourth level, panting after having landed forcefully again. Something in her foot was definitely broken now, and her whole body was sore from the impact of her fall. It seemed that graceful landings... just weren't her style.
She pushed herself up slowly into a sitting position, breathing carefully, and looked around her. The ceiling ascended up into blackness again, only farther this time, with only the light from this level in sight. She was walled into a circular room with tiled walls. Two red doors stood in front of her; one about six inches high, the other normal sized. And, of course, the six-inch door was the one on the left... the one she needed to go through.
"Dammit, Cheshire!!!" Kagome yelled to the infinite dark. "The door on the left, my foot!"
She sighed, and crawled over to get a good look at the small door. "What am I going to do..." she mumbled to herself, touching the tiny doorknob with her finger.
"Oooooh, I'm LATE!!"
Kagome spun around, hearing the tiny voice from somewhere near her foot. And to top off the weirdness so far, she saw the little fox-boy from before, only now he was barely two inches tall, and scurrying around like a mouse. He scampered past her, hurled the tiny door open with his minuscule fists, and flew in, slamming it behind him.
She blinked, glaring hatefully at the small red door. "I need to get smaller..." she muttered, flopping onto her back. "Or the stupid door could get bigger..."
She scratched a bruise forming on her arm and closed her eyes in thought.
"What to do, what to do?" laughed a voice—the hoarse voice she had heard before, on the second level. "Wait there until one of you is smaller, or take the right-hand path?" The voice chuckled mischievously. "What a dilemma..."
"Don't listen," Kagome told herself. "Don't... trust the random voice in the sky. Take the left path, like Cheshire said—"
Why do you trust him? the other part of her brain reasoned. You only just met him. Do you believe him because you should? Or because he kissed you...?
She sat bolt upright, flushing red in the face. "I'm taking the left path, and that's that. Now shut up."
"Ehh... great." She sighed, rubbing her eye. "Now I'm talking to myself... just great."
Something small and hard fell on her head, bouncing off her hair and onto the floor next to her. She picked it up warily between her thumb and forefinger, examining it closely. It was a tiny sliver of some sort of purplish crystal, pointed and jagged, as if it had been broken.
She cocked her head and looked at it closer, and in doing so pricked her forefinger on the sharp point of the end.
A drop of red blood ran down the side of the crystal, and suddenly the tiny red door wasn't so tiny anymore.