Down the Rabbit Hole

L.A.: And here is the next chapter.

"Not enough room, huh?" Rin said.

The gummi ship was deceiving from the outside. It had a rather large cockpit, nice upholstery seats, and a spacious back room for sleeping.

Donald laughed sheepishly.

"This is so cool," Sora said as he jumped into a chair. Swiveling back and forth he said, "so, do I get to drive?"

"Absolutely not," Donald said. "I'm the only one who can drive." He sat down next to Sora while Rin and Goofy took seats behind them. "Chip, how's the ship?"

To her surprise, two chipmunks scurried up onto the dashboard.

"We've checked the engine and it looks good," one of the chipmunks said. Seeing Rin's and Sora's startled expressions, the chipmunk said. "I'm Chip and he's Dale." He motioned to the chipmunk beside him who grinned. "We're the mechanics for this gummi."

"Pleasure to meet you," Rin said.

"Okay," Donald quaked. "Enough with the chit chat, let's go!"

The engine gunned to life as the ship lurched forward. With a sudden acceleration, the ship leapt up into the sky.

Rin pressed her face to the window, as she watched the twinkling lights of Traverse Town fade away only to be replaced by the stars. It was probably the most beautiful sight she had ever seen.

"I guess you two have never seen the stars from up here," Goofy said.

Rin blushed as she pulled away from the window. To her relief, Sora had been doing the exact same thing.

"All we've ever known is the island," Sora said. "So this is all new to us."

Rin nodded. "Trust me, if someone had told me a couple of years ago that I would be flying in a spaceship when I was fourteen, I would have thought they were crazy."

"It's not a space ship," Donald said. "It's a gummi ship. Gummi ships are better."

"Sorry, gummi ship," Rin said as she resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "Where are we going anyway?"

"There's a world nearby called Wonderland," Donald said as he glanced at a screen to his right. "We might as well start there."

Rin wasn't really sure how it happened; but, before she knew it, they were falling. The world they had landed on had a huge gaping hole in it. When they opened the door to look at the hole, a wind shook the gummi ship sending them tumbling down the hole.

For a few minutes, they were all in denial. Donald was grumbling that they were doomed, Goofy and Sora were yelling in fear, and Rin was frozen with her face slowly turning white.

After a while, when they weren't slowing down and the end was nowhere in sight, they soon became calm...then they became bored.

"Is this a bottomless pit?" Rin asked. Her answer was her voice echoing back.

Goofy snored slightly as he drifted off to sleep. Sora and Donald had taken up playing rock, paper, scissors.

"Ha, I win! Scissors beats paper every time," Sora said with a grin.

"What do you mean you win? You did rock and scissors at the same time," Donald said.

"How would you know? I can barely see my hand in from of my face."

Rin sighed as she glanced down. A light was slowly approaching them. "Um, guys," Rin said. "I think we're about to stop."

As they passed through the light, Sora, Donald, and Rin landed on their feet. Goofy, on the other hand, fell to the ground with a loud thump, jolting him awake.

"What happened?" Goofy moaned.

"We landed," Rin helped Goofy up. "Where we landed though I do not know."

"I think we are in some kind of room," Sora said.

Rin looked around the room. It was circular and pink reminding her of a dollhouse.

"Oh, my fur and whiskers! I'm late, I'm late, I'm late!" A voice said, causing everyone to start.

From out of nowhere, a white rabbit hurried past them. He was clothed like a nobleman and was nervously glancing at the pocket watch he held in his paw.

"Oh, dear, oh dear, oh dear! I'm here and I should be there." He glanced at his pocket watch again and started hopping faster. "I'm late, I'm late, I'm late! The queen, she'll have my head for sure." Without even looking at the group, he ran through the door that materialized in front of them.

The quartet stood in silence for a few moments.

"Huh," Rin said with a frown. "I guess Sora's and mine's world's the only one that doesn't have talking animals."

"Should we follow him?" Goofy asked.

Sora glanced around the room." Well, there are no other exits so I guess we have to follow him. Besides, it sounds like he may need our help."

The group entered in just in time to see the white rabbit exit through a wooden door with a big brass doorknob.

Rin quickly took in her surroundings. Black and white tile covered the floor contrasted greatly to the vibrant multi-colored walls. In the center of the room was a small table with two chairs. To the right of the table was a flowerpot and to the left was a small bed.

As they approached the door, they began to realize that the door was a lot smaller than they thought it was originally. In fact, it was so small that even the white rabbit shouldn't have been able to go through it.

Sora leaned forward curiously. "How did he get so small?"

"No, no you're just simply too big," the doorknob said.

All four stared with their mouths open in shock. Rin was so surprised that she accidently ran into the bed causing it to slide into the wall.

As they looked closer, they could see the shape of a face on the doorknob.

"It talks!" Donald quacked in disbelief.

"Oh," Rin said with relief. "Glad to see that I'm not the only one who's surprised by talking inanimate objects."

The doorknob groaned. "Must you be so loud? You woke me up."

"Well then, good morning," Goofy said cheerfully.

The doorknob yawned. "Good night. I need a bit more sleep."

"Wait, what do we have to do to be small?" Sora asked.

"Why don't you try the bottle...over there?" the doorknob said as he closed his eyes and began to snore.

" A bottle," Sora said they turned around. A little blue bottle sat on the table.

"That wasn't there before," Sora said, "right?"

"I don't think so," Rin said.

Sora picked up the bottle and examined it. "Do you think it will work?"

Donald, Goofy, and Rin shrugged.

"Well, there is one way of finding out. Bottom's up!" He took a gulp from the bottle.

"Whoa," Rin said as she stared down at him.

"You're like a doll," Goofy said, causing Rin to giggle.

"Ha, ha," Sora said as he crossed his arms. "Hurry up and drink it as well."

They did as they were told. Once they were small, they saw that an opening was in the corner.

" Hey, look, it seems that Rin's lack of coordination paid off. There is a hole over there to the outside," Donald said pointing to where the bed used to be.

"Hey yeah you're ri... Wait a second," she glared at him. "Take that back."

"Or what?" Donald smirked.

"Or I'll..."

"Um, guys, I hate to interrupt you; but, I thought you would like to know that Sora is leaving us," Goofy said.

"What?" Donald said.

Sure enough, Sora was already half way to the hole in the wall.

"Sora, wait!" Rin yelled as she and the others ran to catch up with him.

"Well, this is a change of scenery," Donald said.

As soon as they left the room, they found themselves in the middle of a beautiful garden maze.

"I love gardens," Rin said. "They're always so pretty."

"Hey, doesn't that look like the white rabbit up ahead?" Sora asked.

A strange meeting was being held before them at the end of the maze.

"Yeah, it kind of looks like they are having some sort of trial," Rin said.

The white rabbit stood on a podium in the middle of the garden. Beside him in the judge's seat was a woman with black hair swept up in a bun. She wore a red dress and a crown on her head. Facing them in the defendant's stand was a young girl with blond hair and blue eyes. Strange card shape guards stood at attention on each side.

Sora glanced at Rin. "You want to investigate?"

Rin nodded. "Of course."

As they walked closer, she thought she heard Donald sigh.

The white rabbit cleared his throat and held a parchment out in front of him. "Court is now in session."

The young girl frowned. "I'm on trial? But why?"

"Her Majesty, the Queen of Hearts, presiding." The rabbit said as he flattened his parchment.

"The girl is the culprit. There's no doubt about it," the queen said as she brandished her scepter. " And the reason is...because I say so, that's why."

The young girl put her hands on her hips. "But, that's unfair."

"This doesn't make any sense," Rin said.

"Shh!" Donald said.

"Well, it doesn't," Rin said sarcastically.

"Have you anything to say in your defense?" The queen said as she glared down at the young girl.

The girl nodded. "Of course. I've done absolutely nothing wrong." She put her hands on her hips. "You may be queen, but I'm afraid that doesn't give you the right to be so...so mean."

The queen stared at the young girl with a look of both surprise and rage. "Silence, you dare to defy me?"

Sora turned to the group. "Hey, guys, we should help her out."

"We're outsiders, so wouldn't that be muddling?" Goofy asked.

"Meddling, " Donald said.

"Oh, yeah, right. And that's against the rules" Goofy said.

"As much as I hate to say this, I have to agree with Donald and Goofy," Rin said. "We don't know anything about this world. Plus, we should be looking for Kairi and Riku."

"Yeah," Sora said as his shoulders sagged. "Okay." He still didn't look happy about it.

Their discussion was interrupted by the sound of the queen's voice. "The court finds the defendant...guilty as charged. For the crimes of assault and attempted theft of my heart...Off with her head!"

The cards began to advance towards the girl who backed away horrified.

"No, no, oh, please," Alice said as her eyes started to tear up.

"Hold it right there," Sora said as he ran towards the court.

"Sora!" Rin hissed. "Get back here."

He ignored them as he continued to approach the court. She shrugged at Goofy and Donald before they joined Sora.

The queen placed a hand on her chest. "Who are you? How dare you interfere with my court?"

"Excuse me, your majesty, but we know who the real culprit is!" Sora said.

Rin frowned. "We do?"

"Yeah it's the heartle..." Goofy covered his hands with his mouth before he finished the sentence.

"Anyway, she's not the one you're looking for," Sora said.

"That's nonsense. Have you any proof?" the queen asked. She smirked at the panicked look on all four faces.

She motioned the guards and they took the young girl and locked her in a cage. "Bring me evidence of Alice's innocence," the queen said. "Fail and it's off with all of your heads. Gather as much or little evidence as you please. Report back here once you're ready."

"Thank you your majesty," they said as they took their leave.

"Great going Sora. Now look what you've got us into," Donald muttered angrily.

Sora ignored him as they approached the young girl. "Are you alright?"

The young girl grinned. "Yes, thank you for helping me. My name is Alice."

"Hi my name is Rin, the boy next to me is Sora, the grumpy duck is Donald, and the dog is Goofy," Rin said.

"I'm not grumpy..." Donald grumbled.

"It is a pleasure to meet you," Alice said.

"Can you tell us what is going on around here?" Sora asked.

"I am not exactly sure myself, but I do believe there is something in that forest that has caused all this mess." Alice said as she pointed to an opening in the hedge on the other side of the courtyard.

"Hey, no talking to prisoners," an Ace of Spades said as he poked them with his spear.

"We're going," Rin said as the four headed for the forest entrance.

"Don't worry, Alice, we'll clear your name," Sora called over his shoulder.

Alice smiled.

The forest they entered was filled with tall grass, mushrooms, and flowers. They stood in awe for a few moments before they decided to plan their course of action.

"So, where do you think we should look first?" Goofy asked.

"How about you try up, down, and all around" said an amused voice from behind them.

They whirled around to see the speaker. A huge cat with a big grin on his face stood on top of a big mushroom. He had dark and light pink horizontal stripes running up and down his body. The strangest thing about him wasn't his ability to talk but the fact that he was standing on his own head.

"Who are you?" Sora asked after he had recovered his voice.

"Who indeed," the cat said as he began to rock back and forth on top of his head. "Poor Alice. Soon to lose her head and she's not guilty of a thing."

"If you know who the culprit is, tell us." Donald said as he tapped his foot.

The cat's grin widened as he put his head back on his shoulders. " The Cheshire Cat has all the answers...but doesn't always tell. The answer, the culprit, the cat all lie in darkness." The cat slowly began to dematerialize.

"Wait!" Sora called but the Cheshire Cat had already vanished.

"They've already left the forest. I won't tell which exit. There are four pieces of evidence in all. Three are a cinch to find. The fourth is tricky. A big reward if you find them all." The Cheshire's voice echoed.

"What does he mean by that?" Donald asked.

"I don't know but we need to…" Sora trailed off as he saw Rin. "Rin, are you okay?"

Rin had a strange look on her face. Her left eye and shoulders were twitching. "Cat...head...gone...maniacal grin...evil..."

"Um, Rin," Jiminy lightly tapped her cheek. "Please, snap out of it."

Rin shook her head and blushed. "Sorry, this is just a lot to take in."

"That's why you should have stayed in Traverse Town," Donald mumbled.

Rin's attention snapped towards him. "What was that?"

"Nothing," Donald said as he began to whistle.

Rin clinched her fists.

"Hey guys, look what I found," Goofy said as he leaned back on his haunches.

Sora, Donald, and Rin gathered around Goofy. In his hands was a long black antenna.

"Good job Goofy. Looks like you just found are first piece of evidence," Rin said.

"Gawrsh, it was nothing," Goofy said, his cheeks reddening slightly.

"Come on. Let's find those last three pieces of evidence," Sora said as they headed into the forest.

The next two pieces were easy to find; but, after an hour of searching, they still hadn't found the last piece. The group sighed as they headed back to the entrance for one more look around.

"Geez, where could it be," Sora said as he searched behind a rock.

"This is a waste of time," Donald said as he stomped his foot. "We should be looking for the king. Not for pieces of evidence."

"But what about Alice?" Goofy said as he peeked from behind a mushroom.

"We've already meddled enough," Donald said. "We should leave before we get in anymore trouble."

"We can't just abandon her," Sora said. "What they are doing is wrong. I can't let them do that." He turned and went to search around a flower.

Donald grumbled as he and Goofy went back to searching as well.

Rin cautiously approached Sora. By the way he was yanking away grass, she could tell he was angry. "Hey," she said as she squatted down beside him.

"Don't tell me you're going to complain as well," Sora said.

Rin shook her head. "Not at all." She picked up a piece of grass and twirled it around her finger. "Actually, I was going to say that I thought it was rather brave of you to stand up to the queen like that."

Sora's cheeks were tinged pink when he looked up at her. "Really?"

Rin nodded. "Yeah, I could never be so bold."

Sora shrugged. "I don't know. I've just always been this way. Riku used to call me the brave little idiot because I would always try to protect the weak guy even if I knew I'd lose." Sora laughed. "Sometimes I just act before I think."

Rin placed a hand on his shoulder. "Still, I think it's cool."

"Sora! Rin!" Goofy called. "Look out behind you!"

They both turned to see several heartless creeping towards them. Sora stood up and whipped out the Keyblade. "Man, I'm getting sick of these heartless."

"I know what you mean," Rin said as she pulled the Heartstaff from its holder.

A heartless lunged towards her forcing her to take a step back. To her surprise, her foot landed on nothing. With a yelp, Rin went tumbling backwards straight into a hole.

"Rin," Sora said as he lurched forward and reached for her outstretched hand. Their fingers grazed each other but missed.

Rin screamed as she fell further and further away from the opening, not knowing when or where she would stop.

L.A.: And now, I leave you with a cliffhanger. Maybe now, I will get some reviews.