AUTHORS NOTE: Sorry it took a few more days to upload this one. I was mulling the possibilities around in my head. And I have a biology lab I'm behind on *sighs*
I have got to tell you…all your comments are really amazing. While I am unable to comment on all of them at the moment, I will tell you that I have read all of them. Each and every one has got me pumped and ready to dish out some more Wonderland/Underland kick assness!
I would, however, like to thank BlueNewt113, Dagger_Kitsune, AngelsRebellion and Darks_Mistress for their insight on character names or their helpful information regarding research for certain historical aspects of the setting. You guys have definitely helped me out a lot.
There were many site and names suggested for Alice's silk robes. The Hanfu was one that looked more like what I had pictured for her wearing although it said that they were usually worn by priests, children coming of age, or in recent years, plays.
Chapter 4: She's Not the Only One…
Alice squealed and ducked as another cup of tea went flying at her person. Her cheeks were flushed and her breath winded from running and laughing at the same time.
"Hatter! Hatter that's not fair," she giggled.
She found out earlier on in the game that the hatter was a very gifted cup tosser— aside to his boasting.
Already Mister Dodo and little Mallymkun were tagged out. She figured Bayard was hiding. But of course she was the red heads favorite to taunt and tease. Always just close but not close enough. She would have liked to think that it was either luck or her own talent that kept her from being 'tea tagged' though she highly assumed that was inaccurate. She was just lucky that Hatter seemed to have such a soft spot for her.
Now she stood, leaning against a wall she well knew hatter was lurking behind. She could picture his ear to ear grin while he figured out the best way of executing his plan to tag her out.
"It's not fair? Its…not…fair…"
"No it isn't," she insisted. "You have this uncanny ability to always have teacups on hand. I however do not get such advantages." She kept watching the door.
"Oh contraire, my dear," came the light and pleasant voice of Hatter from the other room. "I do believe you have something that I can neither have nor produce that assists you throughout our rigorous galumphing about."
"And what would that be, 'Tarrant'," she enunciated the others first name slowly with added meaning.
"Alice, your very womanly will and whim sets more than most to puddles of goo on the floor! I cannot bat my eyelashes and get even half as much leeway as you may while fluttering yours. Although, I must say, I do have the distinct impression that my ravishing eyebrows have done wonders on the governor in the town of Neverway…"
The young woman had to think about that for a moment and then began a slow climb into fits of laughter. She had slid to the ground and was holding her sides by the time the mad hatter decided it was safe to peek his head around the corner. He gave her a questioning stare, a light smile playing on his lips.
She waved a hand lightly at him, still unable to utter a single word. Hatter took this time to walk over and expertly set a teacup to the top of the blondes head. She calmed down long enough to gaze up at the mad hatter with slight awe.
"The truest riddle of them all is what it takes for you to fall. To put it on a silver plate, you best be wise on who you bait. Oh… and you lose Alice."
She gave a pout before slowly gathering herself to her feet. She regarded the other for a moment.
"What does that mean?"
"To be defeated: be humbled, be outdistanced, be sunk, be taken to the cleaners, be the loser, be worsted, come up short, declined, dropped, drop a bundle, fall, kiss goodbye, lose out, missed, succumbed, suffer defeat, take a beating, take the count, take the heat, yie-"
"I did not mean, what is it to lose, Hatter." She pursed her lips as he sputtered and then trailed his ramblings to a stop. "Specifically, what did you mean by that riddle of words?"
He wagged a finger.
"You won't tell me…"
"You must come to find the answer yourself, Alice."
She stepped closer.
"Then tell me one thing. How did I come to be in Wonderland without going through the in-between room?"
"Oh…" he avoided her gaze and fiddled with his fingers again— becoming nervous.
"Hatter…"
"Well….erm….that is….oh look at this fabulous pattern." Walks quickly over to touch and gaze at the curtain, "I should like to make a hat from it."
"What is so strange about how I got here….." She thought a moment and then paled, remembering how she would drink from the 'drink me' bottle so that she may get through the door to Wonderland. Had she somehow blanked that part out and ended up at the castle…..nude?
The mad Hatter was, by this time, trying to tug the very long curtain from its bracket loops.
"Well…as you know…" Tugging, pulling, heaving, straining. "You fell down the hole, of course."
"Got that part, thank you Hatter." She folded her arms and watched with a roll of the eyes.
"And you landed in the in-between room, as well."
That part she did not remember…
"You were unconscious, Alice, no one realized you were here." There was a large ripping sound and the curtain suddenly came tumbling down upon the orange haired man. Alice quickly stepped forward to help him, searching the folds until suddenly his face appeared. His hat had toppled off somewhere. "It was sheer luck we found you." Tarrant continued as if nothing had happened. "In fact it's quite peculiar indeed…"
"What is, Hatter?' she pulled the cloth from his person and began to straighten him out, righting his bow tie, smoothing the top of his hair and finding his hat for him.
"No two dreamers are allowed to be within Underland at the same time."
She gave him a confused look.
"Other dreamers?"
"Well you don't think you are the only one that has visited Underland, do you?"
"Well…I suppose I have never really thought about it before…...ever since I was a girl Wonderland was always my dream world…." the blonde girl leaned up to gently set the battered top hat to his head. He gave a softer look and stared into her blue eyes. "So…why was I found…was there to be another dreamer to come to Wonderland?" She began to fret, "Have I imbalanced the worlds. Oh dear." She didn't realize her presence could upset so many things.
"No, we have not had a dreamer since you last came to Underland, Alice." He tapped her nose lightly, "A curious thing, indeed, but your presence currently is not disturbing anything."
"I see…" She looked at their forms and then back to his bright green eyes before stepped back lightly. They were awfully close, weren't they? "Is….is it alright that I am here, Hatter?"
"Of course!" He bellowed with such might that she took a few steps back. "Alice! You are our champion, our friend and apart of Underland. You are always welcome within it."
She smiled bashfully as he proceeded to roll up the curtain in a neat ball.
He was right. It was a very nice lush pattern of blues with a hint of greens, reds, oranges and whites. Paisley if she wasn't mistaken.
"But, you said 'currently'…." She mulled the entirety over within her mind. "You say…I haven't upset anything and yet no two dreamers can be within Wonderland at once….and you haven't had a dreamer since the last time I was here…are you saying that my last trip here had caused a disturbance?"
He frowned.
"That, we aren't sure of, Alice. Strange subtle things have been going on these past years, though. Outer Underland is beginning to grow more and more unsettled by the days passing. Not only that…but within the marshes, lining the Outer lands, there has been some sort of odd construction going on. Due to the sleeping gases that the bog permits, no one stays awake long enough to get a good picture. The white queen isn't sure if she should be alarmed or not…"
"Can't you simply look at the Oraculum?"
"That depicts every major event, past, present and future, in Underland's history. If anything large is about to happen, the culprit seems to be very indecisive on what they are wishing to accomplish….or at least they don't have any plans as of yet."
She tucked that information back into her mind.
"So…I suppose everyone is wondering why I returned. I don't suppose I have shown up in the Oraculum at all, have I?"
"Well…actually you have…that's partially one of the reasons why we found you…we knew you would eventually come back…we just didn't know when."
She gave a smile.
"Then how did you pick the right day, you haven't been checking everyday have you? That would be silly."
His pale cheeks actually gave a bit of a flush. His eyes reverted from her form.
"You….you have been looking every day?"
"Well….yes, actually."
"You, yourself?"
He nodded slowly.
"Oh….I….hadn't shrunk, had I?"
He tilted his head.
"No, I used one of the other three doors to take you strait back to Memorium. No shrinking involved."
She sighed in relief which had the Hatter looking at her in a funny way.
"That takes dedication…thank you. I could have been stuck in there for days, most likely."
"Well the nice thing about your last visit, was that you actually left the key behind. If you had been stuck, you would have been able to find your way out eventually…" Before she could question he put in, "Dreamers thoughtlessly take the key with them and end up losing them along the way. We have had to replace hundreds through the years."
"Wow…that's a lot of people falling down rabbit holes."
"You'd be surprised on how clumsy Abovegrounders can be." He winked to show he was teasing. "By the way Alice…you do realize the teacup is still on your head, don't you?"
She stared.
"No really…." He pointed.
Alice raised a hand and, sure enough, felt the cup with cold tea sitting comfortably atop her head.
"Not much of a hat…."
"Oh Hatter…" She took the cup off and chuckled.
End note: The riddle was made up by me. I am sure the answer is completely obvious but if you want to share your ideas, please give me a private message rather than answering it in the reviews. That way we can let everyone have fun with trying to figure it out.
Alice is a smart girl, but for this I will leave her a bit naive for later reasons.
COMMENTS ARE APPRECIATED AND VERY MUCH WELCOME!! 333