I do NOT own Alice in Wonderland, only this story and my original characters.
This story is rated M, for violence, language and sexual themes.
Chapter 4
A Walk through the Wastelands
Slowly the remains of the forest faded until all that they could see was a dead desert. If possible the ground here was even more cracked than before. It was creepy and quiet. The echoes of their footsteps supplied an easy beat ad in an effort to fight off her boredom Alice began to hum. It was an Otherworld sing. She couldn't remember it fully. Nor could she remember its name or who it was by.
"Tell my ma, when I go home the boys won't leave the girls alone. They pulled my hair and stole my comb but that's all right 'till I go home. She is handsome, she is pretty, she is the belle of Belfast City. She is courting one, two, three, please would you tell me who is she?" Alice sang happily.
Nudging Thackery she continued.
"Albert Mooney says he loves her, all the boys are fighting for her. Knock on the door and they ring the bell, oh my true love are you well. She is handsome, she is pretty, she is the bell of Belfast City. She is courting one, two, three, please would you tell me who is she?" Alice finished with a giggle.
Both the cat and the hare were looking at her like she was mad.
"What? I like that song, though I haven't heard it in such a long time." She said a playful grin on her face.
"Besides, singing makes the time go by faster." Alice said with a shrug.
Thackery and Chess looked at each other then at her, then back at each other before they shrugged.
"Well if it makes you happy Alice, than by all means sing." Chess said kindly.
"All right, from the top." Alice exclaimed. She remembered the full song now.
"Tell my ma when I go home, the boys won't leave the girls alone. They pulled my hair and stole my comb but that's all right 'till I go home. "
She nudged Chess with a grin before continuing.
"She is handsome, she is pretty, she is the belle of Belfast City. She is courting one, two, three, please would you tell me who is she?" She spun and mock bowed to Thackery while batting her eyes.
"Albert Mooney says he loves her, all the boys are fighting for her. Knock on the door and they ring the bell, oh my true love are you well? Here she comes as white as snow, rings on her fingers and bells on her toes. Old Johnny Mary says she'll die if she doesn't get the boy with the roving eye." By now she and Thackery were spinning in circles while still managing to move forward.
"Tell my ma when I go home, the boys won't leave the girls alone. They pulled my hair and stole my comb, but that's all right 'till I go home." Now Chessur joined in.
"She is handsome, she is pretty, she is the belle of Belfast City. She is courting one, two, three, please would you tell me who is she?" They sang together.
Alice started the second verse.
"Let the wind, and the rain, and the hail blow high, and the snow come tumbling from the sky. She's as nice as apple pie; she'll get her own boy, by and by. When she gets a lad of her own, she won't tell her ma 'till she comes home, let the boys stay as they will, for its Albert Mooney she loves still." She sang while cueing the others.
Sure enough they all started singing.
"Tell my ma when I go home, the boys won't leave the girls alone. They pulled my hair and stole my comb but that's all right 'till I go home. She is handsome, she is pretty, she is the belle of Belfast City. She is courting one, two, three, please would you tell me who is she?"
Singing louder they repeated the chorus.
"Tell my ma when I go home, the boys won't leave the girls alone. They pulled my hair and stole my comb but that's all right 'till I go home. She is handsome, she is pretty, she is the belle of Belfast City. She is courting one, two, three, please would you tell me who is she?" They had all started dancing again.
All were smiling when they sang the final chorus.
"Tell my ma when I go home, the boys won't leave the girls alone. They pulled my hair and stole my comb but that's all right 'till I go home. She is handsome, she is pretty, she is the belle of Belfast City. She is courting one, two, three, please would you tell me who is she?!" They were all panting and laughing by the time they finished.
"That was so much fun, we must sing together again, but first we must take our bows." Alice insisted through her fits of giggles. So acting like they were on a stage they all held hands, or paws, and bowed before looking at each other and laughing again.
"You know what? I love you guys you're the best friends I've ever had." Alice said wiping away the tears in the corners of her eyes.
"Really Alice. Well I for one am honoured." Chess said bowing his head, with Thackery nodding his head and following suit.
"Really Chess, I never had friends back in Otherworld. I never fit in, never belonged. I was always alone, but here I've already made two amazing friends." She said with a proud smile.
"But why didn't you have friends? It shouldn't matter if you're a little different." Thackery asked, Alice was used to him not stuttering around her now.
"I wasn't a little different Thackery. I was really different. I am a Kingsleigh. I should be prim and proper, yet I'm anything but. I like to run and climb trees. I love to dance and sing without a care. I dress however I want. Where I'm from, if you're from an old powerful family you just don't do that." Alice explained sadly.
She wouldn't lie, especially to herself. It hurt that her father was embarrassed by her, ashamed. It hurt that after her mother's death he changed and remarried so quickly. Her step-mother didn't even try to reach out to her, she just told her father that she was a wild child and had him send her away to Ascot Academy.
There were no stories there. No songs and games. The only thing Alice actually enjoyed there other then the gardens was the gym. She spent most of her free time there training, just like her great-grandma taught her. She always told Alice that you never know when you'll need to fight so you best know how.
So she became an outcast. She didn't talk about boys or clothes. She never cared about gossip. She liked songs and swords. She enjoyed stories and adventure. She would never be caught dead wearing frilly, lacy dresses with big bows. She wore jeans and sweaters, with tanks underneath.
All in all, she just wasn't a girly girl. Sure she would wear a dress as long as it wasn't girly to the max. She preferred more mature styles. And despite being a proclaimed "Tomboy" Alice was a hopeless romantic who dreamed of getting married one day. Of course it was always to a certain hatter.
But very few at school tried to get to know her and she wasn't going to beg for fake friends. Thus she was almost always alone.
"It doesn't really matter does it. I mean it's not like I'm going back there anyway." Alice said calmly, while looking over her shoulder. When she was thinking she had gotten a little ahead of them.
"Wait, you mean that after we save Underland, you're going to stay, not go back to Otherworld?" Asked Cheshire, who looked completely shocked.
"Of course, if the White Queen will let me anyway. I feel more at home here than I ever did in Otherworld." Alice stated. She really did hope that the Mirana would let her stay.
"I'm sure the Queen will be most pleased that our savoir wishes to stay." Chess said gently trying to ease her discomfort.
"Yes, yes and then we can all have tea and sing and dance!" Thackery exclaimed happily.
"Why I think that is a fine idea Thackery. I really do love tea and of course we must have cake with it. Oh I know, we should have a giant party to celebrate the White Queen's return to the throne once we've saved Underland from the shadows." Exclaimed Alice, her eyes sparkling with excitement.
"Sing us another song Alice!" Thackery exclaimed, now bouncing as he walked.
"Yes please do, I simply love your voice." Chessur encouraged.
"Ok, let me think." Alice replied teasingly.
"Hmm, how about I sing a song called "Anywhere but here"? It's sung by Hilary Duff." Alice asked the two animals.
"Sounds great, let's hear it Alice." Chess replied while Thackery nodded excitedly. Taking a deep breath and slowly releasing it Alice focused on the beat of the song she was about to sing. Slowly she started.
"When I'm in a crowd, or on an island by myself. Silent or too loud, wishing I was somewhere else. And I can't believe, you hit fast and hard. When you turned to me and say, never change the way you are." She sang it nice and clear, her voice being carried by the wind.
"Trying to catch you eye, things will never look the same. Now I can't deny you're the moth and I'm the flame. There I go again, I should walk before I run. How can I explain, I can't stop what you've begun." Alice felt the beat in her chest speed up.
"I'm falling through the door, flying 'cross the floor. When you look at me suddenly it's clear, you're burning up my dreams, crazy as it seems. I don't want to be anywhere but here, anywhere but here." Thackery's eyes were closed and he was being led by Alice's hand holding his. Chess was just lazily floating with a very content smile on his face.
"What goes on inside, is a mystery no doubt. A roller coaster ride, I may never work it out. Here's the brand new me, skates around and floats on air. I'm a sight to see, rainbow colors in my hair. You have set me free, the one who gets me there."
"I'm falling through the door, flying 'cross the floor. When I look at you suddenly it's clear, you're burning up my dreams, crazy as it seems. I don't want to be anywhere but here, anywhere but here." She smiled at both of them.
"Here is the place where, my head is spinning. Time is beginning to race away. You come to throw me, knock me off my feet. You give me wings to fly, and the world goes crashing by again." Alice looked to the sky.
"I'm falling through the door, flying 'cross the floor. When you look at me suddenly it's clear, you're burning up my dreams, crazy as it seems. I don't want to be anywhere but here, anywhere but here." Looking forward again she finished the song.
"I'm falling through the door, flying 'cross the floor. When you look at me suddenly it's clear, you're burning up my dreams, crazy as it seems. I don't want to be anywhere but here, anywhere but here." She whispered the last part with a soft smile. Her great-grandmother loved that song.
"That was wonderful Alice. You truly have a gift for singing." Chess said with something akin to a purr.
"Yes, yes it was. It was splendid, wonderful, oh marvellous really!" Thackery said while hopping around.
"Thanks you guys, but it's not just singing Chess, I can play many instruments and I love to write songs as well." She said with a fond smile.
"Well I'm sure the White Queen would love to hear some of your work. There are plenty of instruments at the palace." Chess said with a grin.
"What else can you do Alice?" Thackery asked curiously. Alice grinned.
"What to say?" She thought.
"Well I can sow, bake, cook, draw and paint. I also know nine forms of martial arts and five different sword styles. I know twenty-seven different dances and have a love for photography. I can speak eighteen different languages fluently and another ten roughly. I enjoy reading and studying other cultures." Alice listed each one off with ease.
"Wow." Thackery had stopped bouncing and had his mouth open. All in all she thought he looked cute.
"That is absolutely amazing." Came Chess's reply. He too looked quite shocked.
"I had a lot of spare time, when I wasn't training I was pushing myself in the education department. I'm also very good at battle strategy."
It was true too. Since she lived with her great-grandmother world culture and languages were a part of everyday life. Even when she went to Ascot Academy she pushed herself to be the best, but still herself. At the time it had been to impress her father, but now it was a survival guide.
Looking around she noticed that they were in a canyon of sorts and that at the end of it was a huge castle. It looked like the modern buildings in Otherworld had been smashed into an old style castle. It personally did nothing for her but her step-mother would've loved it.
~A.N.~
Yay! Authoress Note! Ok so the following songs will be listed and once again I do not own them! Thank you for reading and please rate and review! *smiles and bows*
Song List
Tell my Ma – Rankin Family
Anywhere but Here – Hilary Duff