Mewtwo: So he's made a series of oneshots featuring the Jabberwocky? ... Again?
Bahamut: Yep.
Mewtwo: That makes absolutely no sense! I don't understand it!
Bahamut: Better this than that raven riddle.
Me: Did I hear someone say RIDDLE?
DISCLAIMER: OWN THIS VERSION OF THE JABBERWOCKY AND ALL THE REST THAT'LL FOLLOW.
"Twas Brillig"
By Corvus no no Genmu the Prince of Slumberland
Alice huffed angrily to herself as she stomped away from the eccentric Mad Hatter and equally mad March Hare's tea party. She had quite enough of their barmy and rude behavior to last her for quite some time. The young brunette hoped that the other denizens of this strange place weren't like them. However, before Alice could delve deeper into that thought, a small raindrop landed on her petite nose and was soon followed by another and another and another.
Silently berating herself for thinking that the storm clouds she had seen shortly before her curt departure from the Hatter and Hare's tea party would pass quickly, Alice hastily raised her arms above her head in a vain attempt to keep herself dry as she ran deeper into the woods. The rain began to fall harder as the young girl ran through the woods while also trying to find any sort of structure, besides the seemingly branchless trees around her, that could offer her decent enough shelter from the cold rain.
A sudden strange sound like that of a saw cutting a tree caught Alice's attention, causing her to stop in her tracks and turn to stare in utter surprise at the large cave that was just a few meters off to her right. Though her mind virtually ached with the curiosity of the cave's sudden appearance and the strange noise it produced, the need to find dry shelter pushed her to enter the large cavern. Shivering and dripping several large droplets of water onto the stone that made up the cave floor, Alice slowly walked deeper into the cave, noting idly that the strange sound that had attracted her attention to it was slowly losing its volume.
Sighing softly to herself, Alice carefully seated herself on the cold stone floor and leaned back to rest against the surprisingly warm wall. Alice sighed softly to herself, 'Maybe I won't catch a cold after all… Though it is rather strange that this cave is so warm… Then again I just had the absolute worst tea party with a large headed man and a rabbit!' Alice giggled softly to herself as her eyelids slowly began to droop while her tired body became more relaxed by the cave's soothing warmth and the strange drum-like beating that softly echoed around her. Though she had no intention of doing so, Alice fell asleep quite easily while also failing to notice the fiery reptilian eyes that slowly opened to stare at her as a soft hiss emanated from fang-lined jaws.
Alice tiredly blinked her soft brown eyes and slowly sat up, wondering how long she had slept and if it was even daytime. However, her wonderings were brought to a very abrupt halt at the sight before her. Several of large torches that were embedded in the rough walls of the cave were alit with bright orange fire, lighting the large cavern quite easily. Yet it was not the large torches that had young Alice staring in a mixture of wonder and fear, but rather the strange yet remarkable sight that was literally resting before her.
Standing quite regally for an inanimate object was what could only be called the most beautifully carved table Alice had ever seen. Although the table was quite extraordinary as well as the vast array of food that lay upon, it was the sole-standing chair that really lit up the room. It was a tall throne made of pure gold with several apple-size sapphires decorating its entirety. Its fluffy cushions were deep sky blue and easily drew attention towards the gemstones decorating it. The ends of the armrests on the throne were made to resemble a roaring lion, while, on the headrest, there stood two proud-looking eagles, both with their large wings spread outwards and their eyes staring into her own.
Just like the creature behind the throne.
Eyes so close to that of a snake stared questioningly into Alice's own brown ones for a moment before a mouth lined with sharp fangs hissed a soft "Hello." Alice's eyes widened slightly at the obvious male voice of the creature before her. She shook her head slightly. She had to call it by what it truly was even if she feared its true name.
For you see, the strange creature that was staring at Alice with his eyes like fire was something that couldn't possible be there staring at her. After all, dragons are make-believe. … Aren't they?
Alice took in the features of the dragon slowly, in a vain hope that something, anything, would be out of place, thus making it anything but a dragon. Alice's eyes first fell upon the dragon's long snout, which resembled that of German Shepherd, albeit a German Shepherd with a single pair of whip-like whiskers that were only a few feet long. Alice's eyes fell upon the fire-like ones of the dragon for a moment before moving on to gaze upon his pointed ears before falling upon the large curved horns adorning the back of his head. Two small rows of bony white spikes began shortly above his eyes to disappear down the dragon's sinuous neck. It was the neck that really drew Alice's attention.
Just under the dragon's 'chin' was where a growth of large scale plates grew out to protect the dragon's soft underbelly. Alice's soft brown eyes widened slightly when she saw that the neck was curved more and more closely to her and, upon turning her head, she saw that the supposed wall that she was reclining against was actually the dragon's body. With a startled squeak, the young girl jumped to her feet and twirled around to stare at the dragon's body as she slowly stepped away.
The dragon had rather long legs, with both pairs resembling that of a jungle cat, with ivory claws that glinted in the light of the torches. The large bat-like wings were folded tightly against his body, but Alice still saw that myriad of colors that made up the wing membrane, which only served to increase the splendor of the dragon's black scaled body and the hardness of his gray underscales. Turning her head slightly, Alice saw that the dragon's serpent-like tail was as long as the dragon was without it-and then some! The dragon had to easily be thirty-five feet long!
With her eyes focused on the dragon before her, Alice failed to see the small pebble until it was too late. With a small yelp, Alice started to fall backwards when the dragon's tail whipped forward and wrapped itself securely around her petite waist. Alice's sigh of relief turned to a startled gasp when she felt her feet leave the ground. However, instead of ending up in the dragon's jaws like she had expected, Alice found herself being carefully placed onto the golden throne and having it pushed closer to the table. Eyes wide with surprise, Alice stared up at the dragon as he slowly began to twist his body around so that his head rested above the other end of the table. The dragon had to sit up slightly to achieve this but it seemed perfectly relaxed nonetheless.
Alice stared at the dragon as he did the same. Both continued their staring contest until a rather loud growl emanated from Alice's stomach. Blushing in embarrassment, Alice wrapped her arms around her stomach and looked down at the ground. She soon looked up when a rather strange sound came from the dragon. Looking up, Alice saw that the dragon had a wing covering his snout and his eyes were closed tightly as his shoulders shook. Alice's eyes widened in pure surprise, the dragon was actually laughing!
The dragon's chortling soon came to an end and he gazed upon Alice once more with fire-like eyes. "I take it that you're hungry…" the dragon chortled a bit more, "Help yourself Miss… uhm…"
" Alice," squeaked the young girl in surprise, "My name is Alice, Mr. Dragon."
" Alice…" hissed the black dragon, testing how the name felt in his mouth, "It suits you, but please, call me Jabberwocky. Mr. Dragon makes me feel too much like an adult…" The dragon -Jabberwocky- shivered at the thought, causing Alice to giggle. Jabberwocky smiled slightly and leaned his head downwards so that Alice would have to look upwards the entire time. "So tell me, Alice… How did you end up here in Wonderland of all places? Oh, and help yourself to some food. I assure you that it won't affect your size at all."
Alice smiled at Jabberwocky and took a careful sip out of her regular-sized teacup just to be sure. When there came no strange loss of height, Alice took a much more generous sip of her tea, finding the strange flavor to be rather exciting. It tasted rather much like strawberries with the barest hint of cherry and banana. "Thank you very much Mr. Jabberwocky but tell me… What flavor is this tea?" asked Alice.
"You're welcome and that's dragon berry, very hard to find here and nearly impossible to find in the real world." Alice looked up from her tea to look at Jabberwocky in surprise.
"I beg your pardon but what do you mean?" Jabberwocky smiled slightly and cocked a spiky eye ridge at the girl.
"Surely you've noticed you aren't exactly in England anymore." Alice blushed slightly and nodded the tiniest bit. "How about you tell me everything that's happened since this morning? I love a good story and something tells me that yours is quite a good one." Alice sighed softly but began her story nonetheless, starting with how her dreadful Aunt Millicent how somehow convinced her parents' to have her perform for their party guests that afternoon and to use the song 'Cherry Ripe' of all songs. She went on to explain how she was too afraid to perform and so, ran away into the forest in her backyard to wait until it was the proper time to go back. The proper time being after the guests left for their respected homes. That was when she had caught sight of Frederick Rabbit, otherwise known as the ever late White Rabbit, and had followed after him. Alice went on about the many strange events she had undergone and people she met soon afterwards and ended her story with her falling asleep against him.
Alice looked up slightly at Jabberwocky to see that he had a small grin on his long snout. "I see you've had quite the adventure thus far, Alice. Quite an accomplishment for one so young, but then again…" Jabberwocky chuckled softly, "I'm not really one to talk."
"If you don't my asking, how old are you Mr. Jabberwocky?" asked Alice, blinking up at the fiery-eyed dragon.
"Ask any question you like as long as you quit with the 'mister'. In human years, I am a little over two hundred but in dragon years, I'd be fourteen years old." Alice blinked in surprise at this.
"Why, you're only two years older than me!"
Jabberwocky smirked, "Technically… Sigh… Still, I'm not much of a dragon with the meager hoard that I've got…" Jabberwocky looked down towards the end of the cave, which was lit with minimal light and sighed once more. Alice turned her head to try and see for herself but all she could make out was a rather large pile of several small objects. What those objects were she couldn't tell though she had a sneaking suspicion that most of the pile consisted of gold and other such precious metals.
"Why do dragons hoard gold anyway?" she muttered under her breath.
"To sleep on of course," answered Jabberwocky. Alice jumped slightly in surprise; she had not expected him to hear her so easily. Jabberwocky chuckled at her surprise and continued, "Dragons use gold to sleep on and as a sort of form of status; the bigger the hoard the higher the status. I believe that it is the same with humans isn't it?"
"Yes… but… why use gold as bedding?" Jabberwocky smirked slightly before pointing his head upwards and blowing a small stream of fire from his fang-lined maw. Alice gasped in surprise before smiling slightly in delight when Jabberwocky flipped some apples towards the flames, effectively roasting them. The young dragon carefully placed the steaming apples onto Alice's plate before snatching an unroasted one for himself.
"Fire breath may help with cooking but it doesn't with sleeping. Believe me I've tried. Have you read anything about the great fire at that mattress factory a few years ago?" Alice furrowed her brow and tapped a finger to her lips as she searched her memories of any such thing.
"No I'm afraid not. Sorry."
"Ah no need to apologize! Better off that way really. Hate to think that there were knights out there still hunting for my scaly hide. Brrrr!" Jabberwocky shivered, causing his ebony scales to rattle softly. "I hate knights!"
"But… surely there are some knights here…" Alice arched an eyebrow in surprise when Jabberwocky actually began to chuckle at her statement.
"Well, there are some here but… well… let's just say they're not totally ripe in the head." Jabberwocky tapped a claw against one of the few unroasted green apples for emphasis, causing Alice to giggle lightly, which, in turn, caused Jabberwocky to grin happily.
"But on to a different subject," hissed the black dragon, "why do you not want to sing? Is it that you're afraid?" Alice nodded numbly. "Okay… of what? The audience or yourself?"
"A little of both actually…" murmured Alice.
"Hmmm…" Jabberwocky looked out towards the cave opening and saw that the rain was letting up quite fast. "I guess I can give you my piece of advice before you must leave…" Alice looked up at Jabberwocky, a confused look adorning her young face. Before she could ask the black dragon what he meant exactly, he leaned his head down enough that his eyes were looking into her own.
"Fear is something all of us feel at one time or another, Alice. It is something that can turn even the bravest of us into cowards in the end, but only if we let it. And that, my dear, is precisely what you mustn't do." As he spoke, Jabberwocky's body was slowly dwindling in size, shape, and species. With every word that he spoke, he became more and more human. However, Alice was too wrapped up in staring into the now human Jabberwocky's fiery eyes to pay too much attention to anything else, besides his words of course.
"You must not let your fear take control, Alice. Fight it with the passion and strength that makes up your heart. The same passion and strength that makes this world, as well as you and the creatures living in it, what it, and we all, truly are…" whispered Jabberwocky softly, leaning his pale human face closer to Alice's own.
"Simply wonderful," murmured Jabberwocky before placing his lips gently upon Alice's own.
Alice awoke with a startled jump. Quickly getting to her feet, Alice looked around herself to find that she was still in the cave but the torches, the table covered with food and drink, the golden throne that she had been but moments ago seated in, and Jabberwocky himself all missing. Slowly walking outside, Alice murmured quietly to herself, "Was… was it all just a dream…?" Alice stepped out into the golden light of the afternoon sun rather quickly. Finding the path she had originally taken, Alice set forth upon it, but not without taking one final glance back at Jabberwocky's cave.
Had Alice not so readily accepted that it was all but a mere dream, she would have noticed that the hunger that had pained her during and after the Mad Hatter and March Hare's tea party was gone. And had she bothered to look up to the top of the cave she surely would spotted the figure of a boy a mere two years older than herself with hair black as night and eyes like fire watching her and a sad smile adorning his face.
The boy was dressed in a simple pair of black trousers and a very light gray colored tunic, albeit the necklace adorning his neck was anything but simple. Jewels of every color of the rainbow made up the necklace that was securely tied around his neck, each one representing the many colors that made up his true form's wings. The boy smiled briefly at the rapidly departing Alice before murmuring under his breath,
"Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe…"
Alice awoke slowly to the sound of what sounded awfully a lot like a flute of some peculiar sort. Opening her pale brown eyes rather tiredly, Alice looked around for the source of the rather sad-sounding music. What she saw caused her to gasp and sit up quickly as her pale face gained a very deep blush. A boy who could have been no more than two years older than her was sitting in front of her facing to her right, where her house lay, and was currently playing on a strange instrument that Alice had never seen before. The boy stopped playing and turned his head to face her and slowly opened his eyes. This merely caused Alice to gasp once more in surprise and wonder. For you see, his eyes weren't like the ocean, of the earth, nor of healthy grass. No, this boy's eyes were something else entirely. They were a color that Alice had only seen once before, back in that world of wonders and madness.
That strange yet exotic color of fire.
"Ah, Sleeping Beauty finally awakens," murmured the boy, "I take it you had a rather… wonderful dream?" Alice's blush deepened slightly and she struggled to look at anything but the boy's pale face.
"I-er… who are you?" The boy's eyes widened slightly before he hastily turned to give Alice a slight bow.
"Do forgive me, my name is Charles Dodgson. My parents are friends of your own, and though I do enjoy a good tart or two, the 'party', as our parents call it, is rather boring so I decided to go for a walk when I happened upon you. I'm not sure how long it's been but if I were to harbor a guess…" said Charles, tapping his chin thoughtfully as he looked upwards between the leaf-less branches of the apple tree that he and Alice were currently sitting under. "I'd say it's about brillig…"
"Brillig…?" whispered Alice, silently thinking to herself that she had heard that word once before.
"Oh, forgive me. I tend to come up with rather peculiar words and rhymes. You see, brillig is the time that dinner is normally made, which would be around four-o'clock." Charles turned to look back towards where Alice's parents' party was currently taking place. "Do you still wish not to sing, Alice?"
"How did you know my name?" asked Alice, trying to avoid the subject. Charles, however, wasn't born yesterday and easily saw through her façade.
"I know because your parents described you to me in hopes so that I may find you and encourage you to sing. Do you still wish not to?" asked Charles.
"I… I…" Alice trailed off and looked down at the ripe apple lying next to her hand. "I do want to sing… but…"
"Let me guess, your dear sweet aunt has chosen a song you'd rather do anything but sing." Alice looked up at Charles once more to see that he was smiling softly.
"Did my parents tell you that?" she asked quietly.
"No. Everyone has some aunt thinking they know better than them. Believe me when I say that my own seems to think that I would be a better mathematician than a poet or an author of some book of nonsense," said Charles as he pocketed away his instrument.
"Really? You write poetry?" asked Alice, surprise quite evident in her voice, though she did get confused by Charles' flinching slightly.
"Well… I wouldn't call it poetry really… The only one I've written so far barely makes sense, even to me."
"Do you have a name for it?" asked Alice, quite intrigued by Charles' poem.
"Yes, I decided to name it after its main character. The Jabberwocky," said Charles. Alice gasped once more and nearly fainted.
"Jab-Jabberwocky?"
"Yes… Is… something the matter, Alice?" Alice remained silent as she looked down at the apple that had fallen slowly from its branch earlier before she had entered Wonderland.
Slowly picking up the ripe fruit from the ground, Alice asked, "How do you like apples?"
"I… beg your pardon…?"
"How do you like apples?" repeated Alice. Charles blinked once before hiding a smile behind his hand, making it look like he was thinking about his answer.
"Well… I prefer them ripe and roasted on an open fire. How about you?" Alice smiled softly.
"The same… the same…" she murmured before standing up and brushing the leaves off her dress. "Well, we better get going."
"Going?" asked Charles as he too stood up and brushed the leaves off his charcoal colored slacks. "Going where?"
"To the party of course," said Alice, "I do believe that they are waiting for me to sing." Charles smiled as he rather futilely tried to retie the bowtie that he had undone when he had come upon the sleeping Alice.
"Yes I suppose they are," said Charles, still fumbling with his tie. Alice, seeing that he was having a bit of a problem with the uncooperating clothe, walked up to him and calmly pushed his hands away and tied the bowtie herself. 'A bit crinkled but I think it'll do,' thought Alice to herself as she looked up into Charles' blushing face.
"Th-Thank you," he stammered causing Alice to giggle. Together, the two began to slowly walk back to towards the 'party'. Alice smiled as she thought to herself how silly it was for her not to notice the strange similarity between the Jabberwocky's human form and Charles. Like everyone else that she had seen in Wonderland, the Jabberwocky was based upon a person, or object in Gryphon's case, and since she had no objects that was in the shape of a dragon nor had she seen anyone her age at the party, Alice quite easily came to the conclusion of the Jabberwocky's identity. Though she did not realize it, Alice was actually looking forward to see if Charles kissed even better than the Jabberwocky had.
"And now my daughter, Alice, will be singing a song for us," said Alice's father before starting the strangest device that Charles had ever seen. Though the device was quite fascinating to look at, Charles soon found out that it was quite boring to listen to. It sounded rather much like a clock and nearly bored the boy to tears. Still, he managed to keep himself focused upon Alice.
She knew it was time for her to sing and, though she had the confidence to do so, Alice found that she was quite unwilling to sing. By herself anyway. Clearing her throat, Alice stopped the strange device that had bored Charles and said, "Actually, I have a better one. One that I hope you'll help me with Charles."
Charles blinked in surprise and blushed slightly from the looks of both his parents and the other party guests. However, before he had a chance to reply, Alice's Aunt Millicent spoke up, "Now dear, I'm sure Charles would rather that you sing by yourself." Alice's own reply to that was cut off by Charles' soft laughter.
"Actually… Who am I to deny a lady's request?" Charles stood up and slowly walked up to Alice and stood beside her, his ocarina set and ready in his hands. "What song shall we perform my lady?"
Alice's slight blush as well as Charles' own did not go unnoticed by either of their parents. However, the small smiles and knowing twinkles in their eyes did go unnoticed by their respected children as well as the other guests. "Do you know happen to know how to play to 'The Lobster Quadrille'?" asked Alice. Charles blinked before a knowing smile appeared on his face.
"My lady, if there were but one song that I knew how to perform it would be that song," said Charles before he slowly placed his ocarina to his lips and began to play. When their short concert was over, both Charles and Alice's smiles were wide not just from the applause of their audience nor the proud smiles of their parents, but also from seeing the simple and ordinary grin of a not-so-ordinary Cheshire Cat. However, Alice's smile grew wider than Charles' own shortly after she had stood on the tips of her toes to give that taller boy a generous kiss on his pale cheek, causing the normally pale boy to blush bright red.
A few hours later, one would find Charles and Alice relaxing inside their secret hiding place as the party guests slowly beginning to leave. Since Charles lived virtually right next door to her, Alice asked if he could stay for dinner. After receiving permission from both their parents, Alice and Charles had retreated to the safety of the leaf-less apple tree to merely sit and talk. They talked and talked about all kinds of things, from school lessons to their favorite stories, but the thing they talked about most was their respected adventures in Wonderland and the people they encountered.
"So… what is it really?" asked Alice as she rested her head on her knees. "And why us?"
"Who knows? It could be a world where the dreams of children are given life, or a place for those lost in their fears to go and overcome them. Either way, I'm quite glad to have gone there and be back home. Though now I have another reason to gladly be back," said Charles, a faint blush growing on his face.
"Oh?" asked Alice, "What would that reason be?"
"My dear, that reason is you. I not once had such fun conversing with a girl before. Especially one as pretty and witty as yourself." Alice's blush grew to match Charles' own, and soon grew even bigger when she leaned upwards and softly placed her lips on Charles' own. Charles' eyes widened in surprise but soon closed as he matched Alice's gentle kiss with his own. So engrossed in their kissing, the two failed to see the bodiless grinning head of a gray cat floating above them grin even wider as it slowly disappeared, silently wishing for the next child to stumble upon his home of wonders and madness to be as fun as Charles and Alice were.
The End