Yada, yada.. I don't own AiW... you get the idea. =3
Chapter 4~ Into the Black of Night
Alice and Hatter stood in silence for a while, but it was broken when the Cheshire Cat appeared. He floated over to Alice.
"Having fun yet?" he asked before becoming a wisp of smoke. Alice ignored the cat, but she could still see the blue-green eyes watching them.
"Alice...What happened out...?" he didn't finish, so she finished for him.
"Your 'friend' decided to try and corner me." she growled, clenching her fists until they were almost white. "I knew it was a bad thing to let him stay here."
"If the Queen says, though..."
"I know that." Alice snapped before walking out of the room. Hatter didn't follow her. He just looked at the door with a puzzled look.
Alice watched as her best friend battled Stayne. She couldn'twatch, though. The Jabberwocky lunged at her, and she dodged it to the best of her skills-nonexistent skills, she thought. All of Underland was fighting it seemed; even the March Hare had his share of throwing spoons at the red card-soldiers. Tweedledum and Tweedledee where fighting, but Alice couldn't spot them. The only one she seemed to see was The Mad Hatter. Her foe followed her as she raced up the stairs. It lunged at her again, and Alice took the chance to climb onto its' back. The Jabberwocky thrashed around, sending her high up into the air. The next four words that came from Alice where ones she would never forget.
"OFF WITH YOUR HEAD!" she called out, driving the Vorple Sword through the beasts neck. The head fell and rolled down the stairs, landing for all to see. The next thing Alice knew swords and spears clattered to the ground, and the Red Queen was banished along with Stayne. She had won, yet she lost almost everything that day.
Including the man she loved.
Alice blinked her eyes open, coming back to reality, or what was left of it. Reality wasn't big in Underland, yet everything was very real to Alice. He left it dead, and with its head. He went galumphing back. The lines from the poem where true, she suddenly thought. What Hatter said was true...so why didn't he see that she was going to leave Underland after she killed the Jabberwocky? Alice, lost in thoughts, didn't hear Mallymkin scuttling up to her. A stab in her foot brought her back again.
"So, you came back?" Mally muttered, putting her dagger away.
"Good to see you too, Mally." Alice mumbled. The dormouse frowned and pulled her dagger out again.
"Would another stick in the foot wake you up?" she asked, about to drive the blade into Alice's' foot. She moved away before Mally had a chance.
"Twice is enough, Mally." she sighed, sitting down on a huge bed. "I need some time to think." With that, Mally scurried off, knowing she wasn't wanted there.
Oh Alice dear where have you been?
So near so far so in between...
What have you heard what have you seen...
Alice! Alice! ... please, Alice!
"Alice! Alice! ...Please, Alice!" Hatter shook her awake, looking a bit worried.
"Hatter...?" she mumbled, looking into his green eyes. "What...happened?" she asked, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.
"You...looked like you fainted..." he whispered, looking down. "I wanted to..." yet again, he couldn't speak properly around her. "I mean, I knew you where fine, it just looked like you had been...I'm not sure, but I just wanted to make sure you were fine, and if you where fine then I would be-"
"Hatter."
"Fine..." he whispered, not really fine. After he and Alice had been so...close, he felt protective over her, and if anything happened to Alice, he wouldn't know what to do. And when he saw Alice looking very pale and almost...gone...he rushed over to her. "The Queen wanted to see you." he muttered, moving aside so Alice could run down the hall. When she had vanished, Hatter sighed and took his hat off. He sat down on the bed and started considering things beginning with the letter M. Moving, miraculous...murdered... the last one made the image of Alice come back in his head. He shook the image out and studied his hat. So much had happened that it was beginning to tear. That wasn't the only thing that was torn.
Alice stood before the White Queen, listening to her. Whatever she had to say was important, but Alice found herself day dreaming a bit.
"So I need you to ride out as fast as you can to Night and see what you can. Bring Tarrent with you, too." she paused. "Alice, are you listening to me?"
"Yes, Your Majesty." Alice said quickly.
"As I was saying...Night is the place the Black Queen lives. Be careful, I don't know what sort of tricks she'll pull." Alice nodded and took the Vorple Sword from it's resting place. Her Bandersnatch appeared, and she stroked it. Even after what it had done a few years ago, she loved it like a boy loved his dog. Hatter appeared, and to Alice, his face was unreadable. He gave a quick nod to the Queen before walking out the doors. Alice followed on the Bandersnatch.
"You must be mad!" a women screamed at Alice. She looked angry, and she was. The women was her mother, and she had enough of all this Wonderland nonsense. "I'm having that hole filled in weather you like it or not!" she stomped off, leaving Alice alone.
"I know what happened." she muttered, sipping her tea. "It wasn't a dream at all." Yet her mother said otherwise. A few moments later, Alice stood up and found herself running to the rabbit hole. Too late. It had been filled in, and this...This marked the start of Alice's supposed Madness. The following year, an adopted daughter of Johns' vanished in the middle of the night. Alice had never considered her a daughter, but for her husbands sake, she acted devastated.
"Alice!" A voice called her back, and a pair of worried green eyes followed it.
"I'm fine...Just thinking." Alice mumbled, noting that things had changed a bit. Everything was shades of gray. "How far are we?"
"As far as we'll get today, Alice." Hatter told her. Alice stopped the Bandersnatch and jumped down. She gave the beast a pat, the looked around.
"So...anything I might need to know about, Hatter?" Alice asked, knowing she wasn't being told everything.
"The little girl... She wasn't always in Underland. A few years ago, she appeared and soon, a castle stood in place of part of the wastelands. She was a child when she came, but after she freed Stayne and the bloody Red Queen..." Alice nodded, understanding what happened next. The girl grew up in the care of the Red Queen, so she was bound to be more evil than...normal. If normal was the same in Underland as it was in the rest of the world.
"Well..." Alice yawned. "I'm going to get some sleep..." she yawned again and layed down by her Bandersnatch. She closed her eyes and didn't even feel Hatter lying down next to her.
Oh, tell us are you big or small
To try this one or try them all
Its such a long, long way to fall
Alice, Alice, oh, Alice
"Alice! Alice! Oh, Alice..." A new voice squeaked in her ear. Alice opened her eyes and a young girl stared back. "Oh, your awake!" she squealed, clapping her hands together.
"Where's Hatter?" Alice demanded, getting out of the bed she was laying in.
"Who?" the girl asked, tipping her head to one side.
"Hatter!"
"I don't know who that is, Alice."
"Tarrent Hightopp! That's who I'm looking for and who I need to see!" Alice almost shouted at the girl.
"Who?" the girl asked again. Alice was about to say something when Absolum's voice came first.
"Stupid girl..." he grumbled. "Doesn't know who The Mad Hatter is.." Alice nodded thanks to Absolum, not really wondering how he got there, then walked toward the door. The little girl stopped her.
"You can't leave!" she cried, stretching her arms out to block the door. Alice pushed her aside and opened the door. Outside, everything was black. She shut the door and looked back at the little girl. "Where am I?" Alice demanded, suddenly seeing the Bandersnatch in a darkened corner of the room. She ran over to it and jumped on.
"Night of course!" the little girl laughed. "It's the bestplace in Underland." Alice just shook her head, telling the Bandersnatch to go outside. It crashed threw the doorway, leaving the girl behind.
"Sorry, Leona, but I have to leave." she called back. "I'm coming, Hatter." she whispered, unsheathing the Vorple Sword.
"Into the black of Night, Alice..." she heard Absolum say. "Into the black of Night."
There is an explanation for all this madness... But I'm asking for at least two reviews for the next one to poof. FIVE would be nice, but I'm not a jerk. ;D I love hearing the reviews. I can't wait to check for them, and I'll even go online at school to check it (on my email, of course. FanFic is blockon the coms there =P)
~Wolfcrystal