A/N: Boom goes the dynamite
(3)
"On the shore we sat and hoped
Under the same pale moon
Whose guiding light chose you"
~"The Poet and the Pendulum", Nightwish
"Quick, get on," The stranger said to her, gesturing towards a grey horse waiting for them just outside the building. Even outside it was dark…not as dark as inside the building, but still too dark to see the strangers face. There were no stars in the sky, nor a moon to light the way. It was freezing cold aswell…
"Where are we going? Whats going on?" Alice asked him as she mounted the horse. He mounted aswell, sitting himself behind her. He reached around her and grabbed hold of the reins, "Best to save the questions for when were safe, yes? HYAAH!!" He kicked the horse in the side and the creature took off. Alice had to hold on to the saddle to keep herself from falling . she had never been on a horse before until now, and she was rather afraid. Luckily, the stranger was seated behind her, else she would have flown off.
"Cant you at least tell me where I am?" She asked, trying to speak above the sound of the horses hooves on the ground. "Wonderland," The stranger responded, "Or what's left of it anyway…I'll explain everything when we get to somewhere safe." The stranger had a sort of a British lilt to the way he spoke…it was quite charming, rather. Alice had always fancied that particular accent…
"Wonderland?" Alice asked incredulously. She shook her head and mumbled, "I really must be dreaming…" "This aint no dream, love…" He responded, having heard her comment, "and this aint no fairytale neither…Trust me, I will explain everything later."
"I don't even know who you are, how can I trust you?" she snapped, looking up at him from under the dark hood. "Because I'm here to protect you," He was clearly starting to get agitated with all of her questions. "Protect me? From what?!" she said, but before he could respond, the horse reared on its hind legs, screaming in fear. Its sudden movement, threatened to throw both its riders on their back, and it would have, had the stranger not held on to the reins tight enough. Alice's full weight on his chest almost threw him off, but he was able to regain control of the frightened beast by yanking on the reins. Once the horse was back on all four feet, He jumped off, handing the reins to Alice, "Go! The horse knows where hes going, he will take you to safety!"
"Wait, whats going on!!" She cried, but was silenced by the sounds of gunshots accompanied by high pitched screams and screeches. God knows what kind of creature could ever make such a terrible sound, and Alice wasn't willing to find out anytime soon. "Just go!! Run!!" He shouted at her. He turned around for a brief second to slap the horse's hindquarters. Before Alice could say anything, the horse broke out into a run. The sounds of he battle behind her began to fade the further the horse ran. Alice still couldn't believe what was happening…but even in her cluelessness, she wasn't about ready to let someone die for her, even if he was a complete stranger to her. She yanked on the reins and forcibly turned the horse around back in the direction they came.
"What are you doing!!" the boy roared at her, reloading his gun to fire once again at the screeching shadow creature in front of him. He couldn't see the thing, only its piercing scarlet eyes. The creature suddenly turned towards the sound of the incoming horse. He could see gleaming ivory teeth as it smiled, "yesssssss….at lasssst!!!" The beast lunged at Alice.
Alice could see the creature running towards her, silver teeth bared, red eyes flaring like embers from the pit of hell itself.
"ALICE!! NO!!" was the last thing she heard…
Warmth…
Her mind perceived this feeling around her as warmth…she was somewhere warm…
Soft…she felt something soft wrapped around her…this soft thing was warm…but there was something else that was warm.
Light…a gentle light made itself known to her from behind her eyelids…this light was the source of the warmth. The light was flickering slightly…Fire. She was by a fire.
There was a delightful aroma that filled the air. Very herbal…
Her eyes fluttered open. It took her a second or two to become accustomed to the lighting after having spent so much time in the dark, but when she did, she noticed she was in a small building…judging by the walls, she was underground. She was laying on some cushions infront of the fireplace, wrapped up in a blanket of rabbit fur. Hanging on a pole, awfully close to the fireplace were the jeans, tanktop and jacket she had been wearing earlier. She furrowed her brow, confused for a second until she realized that the fur blanket was the only thing shielding her bare skin from view aside from her bra and underwear.
Gasping, she sat up, holding the blanket tightly around her. Her eyes scanned the room frantically as dozens of questions began to pour into her head, resulting in a slight headache…Where am I? Who brought me here? Why am I half naked? What is going on?!
"oh good, you're awake."
Alice's head whipped around to face the familiar voice. A handsome young man, about the age of twenty, with wild black hair and dark eyes was coming toward her with a small teacup in his hand. She could see the steam rising from it and the fantastic aroma it gave off nearly made her forget her questions for the time being. "Would you care for a cup of tea? Made it meself," He said, handing it to her with a kind smile, "It'll do ya good, especially after what you been through."
She took the cup from his hands and stared into the dark liquid, taking in the fresh herbal scent of the tea, then looked over at her clothes, "did you-"
"Had to," He cut her off, "You were drenched…musta been raining something awful back in your world…and here in this cold weather? Couldn't have you getting sick now could we?"
She stared at him, eyes wide, and he chuckled, "don't worry…I didn't touch you. I know better…I would never perform such hideous acts. Leaves a nasty taste in my mouth just thinkin of it." He stood from his crouch an walked over to her clothes, touching them to make sure they were dried well enough before handing them over to her, " 'ere ya go. nice and warm. Go on and get dressed. I'll be in the other room of you need me." He started to walk away then turned around quickly, "Oh! Silly me I almost forgot! I have not yet properly introduced meself." He reached for the short tophat on his head and removed it, bowing in a very gentlemanly manner, "The name is Hatter…at least that's what everyone calls me…"
"I'm-"
"Alice…I know who you are…" He cut her off again. Alice's eyes opened in shock, "how?" Hatter smiled slightly and reached out to his side, placing his tophat on a short hat-rack, "Get dressed. We will discuss this over some tea, ya? Go on now." He walked into one of the other rooms. There were no doors connecting the rooms, only drapes.. Normally, Alice would be very uncomfortable with this, but right now she diddnt seem to care. She took a sip of the warm tea in her hands. It warmed her up quicker than the blanket and the fire had. She could instantly feel the tension in her muscles ease and her headache fade.
Sighing, she put the cup down on one of the cushions and stood, allowing the fur blanket to fall from her shoulders. She rapidly began to dress, not wanting to be so exposed when Hatter came back into the room. Just as she slipped her shirt over her head, she heard him call from the other room, "Are you decent?" "Yes," she called back as she finished putting on her shirt. Hatter made his way back into the room, carrying a teapot in one hand and an empty teacup in the other. He set these items down on a small round table in the corner, then pulled up two chairs, setting them opposite eachother. He gestured for Alice to have a seat. Alice reached down to pick up her teacup before heading over to the table, sitting herself across from him.
"Now then…I promised to answer all your questions when we were safe…we are safe now, " Hatter said, his voice calm as he poured himself a cupful of his tea, "I'm going to tell you a story…that I hope will answer many of your questions, so listen carefully." He took a sip from his cup, "Wonderland hasn't always existed…it was created, long after your world came to be, and it all started with the dream of one human child…the first human child ever to dream, and remember his dream. The result of this dream was the birth of a magnificent diety, the White Stag. The more this child dreamed, the more powerful the stag became…and eventually, as more children dreamed, the Stag became somewhat of a god, using their dreams to create this magnificent world and all of its inhabitants….it took quite a few generations to make, but the end result was a breathtaking world where dreams weren't just pictures in your head at night…they were real." He shut his eyes for a moment, as if picturing the magnificent world Wonderland once was before returning to his story, "for hundreds of years and thousands of generations, the land became more and more magnificent with every dream and every wish from every human being….but…all of that started to change when the Stag stopped working his wonders. Humans from your world started becoming more aggressive...more 'realistic', and began to forget how it was as a child…they began forgetting their dreams." Alice couldn't help but notice the sadness washing over Hatters once cheery eyes. He was gazing down sadly at the teacup in his hand, running his finger over the rim of it, "as a result, people started making their children forget their dreams aswell. They pretty much forced their children to grow up…as a result, Wonderland saw no more of the Stag…the very diety who protected them for so long." Having suddenly lost his craving for the tea, he pushed his cup to the side and leaned back against the wall behind him, "slowly but surely, an evil force started to creep its way into this once peaceful land. Things were really hectic around here before we even noticed what was going on. Plants started dying, valleys became wastelands, cities turned to ruin, and Wonderlands people started to die off one by one…and is been that way ever since. Slowly but surely, this land of ours is dying, and soon enough, there wont be any dreams left." Hatter shut his eyes once more, trying hard to control the negative emotions stirring within him; sadness, anger, hate, etc…the last thing he wanted was to snap in front of a girl he had only just met. He took a deep breath before opening his eyes again. Alice was fiddling with her teacup in the same manner he was just a while ago.
"so…" She began, "if the Stag has no power…how did he bring me here?"
"He comes and goes…but only when he needs to. You see…he still has power, but not enough to save wonderland on his own. He had help once before…another girl named Alice came here once many years ago and restored peace to Wonderland. As a result, humans started dreaming and imagining again…but it didn't last for too long. The Stag prophesized the coming of another Alice who would restore Wonderland to its former glory, but very few believed him. I was one of the few that did…and out of all of his remaining followers, he chose me to be the one to protect Alice when she came." He rolled up his sleeve, showing her the mark that was tattooed into his skin. It appeared to be a tree branch. It looked more like his skin had been stained. "and if I'm not mistaken," He said, rolling his sleeve back down, "you have a similar marking on your shoulder there, do you not?" Instinctively, Alice pulled down her shoulder strap from her tanktop, looking down at the area that had appeared to have been bruised just a while back. It actually had shape now. She recognized the shape of a single tree leaf, with two or three smaller leaves surrounding it.
"what? But…why? Why me? How?" She asked, not only to Hatter, but to herself aswell. "I asked myself those very same questions, Alice…and I don't even have answers yet."
"But…I…I don't understand…" She said, shaking her head, "this cant…no, Im not...I cant-" "Alice…" Hatter cut her off with a soothing tone in his voice. He reached out and placed one hand on her arm in a friendly gesture, looking her straight in the eyes, "Listen, I know this is all very confusing for you. It is for me too…but lets just trust in the Stags judgment for now, ya? He's been around for a few thousand years, I'd say he knows what he's doing, don't you agree?" He chuckled slightly, but Alice didn't find any of it humerous. She turned her face away from him, sniffing lightly. He knew she was crying…
He shook his head and stood up from his stool, kneeling down on the floor infront of her. "Oi," He said making eye contact with her once more. Tears were welling up in her eyes. "Theres nothing to be afraid of, love…I'm here to take care of you." He said to her with a smile on his face, "I promise you I wont let anything happen to you…and I promise, I will get you home safe and sound once this is all over, okay?" She wiped at her tears before they fell, nodding slightly. "brilliant," He said, standing up, "now then…time to get some shut eye, yes? Weve got a long journey ahead of us and we need to rest up while we can."
Alice looked over toward her makeshift bed by the fireplace, but snapped her head back when she heard Hatter chuckle. "You don't think I'm gonna let you sleep on that mess again, do ya? Come on, you're place is back here." He said with a grin, taking her back into a small bedroom with nothing but a bed and a small table in the corner. "I know its not what you're used to…but ever since my home was destroyed, I had to start from scratch. Built this place with me own hands I did." There was a hint of pride in his voice as though he had accomplished something phenomenal. Alice couldn't help but smile. "Ah, see? Now I got you smiling." Hatter said with even greater pride, "now off to bed with you."
He watched her as she slipped away behind the drape, then turned towards the cushions he had laid out in front of the fireplace. He walked over to them and seated himself down on one of them, staring solemnly into the dancing flames. He thought about the earlier events…how he had almost broken his vow…He had sworn to the gods to protect her at any and all costs, but earlier today, he had almost lost her. How could they expect him to protect someone when he can barely even protect himself?
He knew for sure he wasn't going to get any sleep tonight at all…
A/N: and from here on out, ladies and gentlemen, things are gonna get really fucked up.