I know I haven't updated in a LONG while, but what else would you expect from a gal who is soooo easily distracted? But I have now put up the sixth chapter of Alice's Choice. . . obviously. This is, of course, Hatter's full reaction to Alice's return. I'll put in a lil' flash-forward for ya. :) Oh, and thank you, chaoticmom, for informing me on Mallymkun's accent! It's cockney! :D
Inspirational song: ANY song of Shinedown's
Disclaimer: I own NOTHING. :( The wonderful Lewis Carrol, Disney, and Tim Burton do.
"He'll be here in just a moment, but I could've gone along easier without being called a slurvish, frumious, git."
"We'll take what we can get! Hatter's gonna see Alice again!" And with that, the March Hare started dancing in his chair.
"Don't let your guard down, Thackery! It might not all be 'ugs and such. You should know more than-" Mallymkun was cut off when a sort of choke was heard from the direction of the March Hare's house. They all turned and saw Tarrant Hightopp himself, standing at the edge of the woods with his mouth hanging open and a shocked expression on his pale face. His eyes were the darkest green Alice had ever seen.
"Er. . . Hi, Hatter." Alice was about to stand when Hatter's speech shocked her enough to sit her back down.
"Guddler's scut! Now me hallucinations talk!"
Chessur, Mallymkun, and the March Hare all looked sad at Hatter's exclamation, but unsurprised. Thackery had stopped dancing. Alice, however, had her jaw hanging wide open. She realized no one was speaking, so she quickly shut her mouth and shook her head, as if to clear away all the confusion. "No, Hatter. I'm not a hallucination. I'm really here. In Wonderland." With you.
The madman took a step back. "Nae. Hope is a close ally with Betrayal," he said in his Scottish brogue. His eyes were turning a slight crimson. Not good.
Alice rose from her chair. Hatter's eyes never left hers. She took a few steps towards him, but went no farther because the movement made him shift his feet, thus him being halfway turned to the deep forest behind him. Hatter's eyes were still trained on her. Alice grew worried. "I promise I won't betray you. I'm not going to leave again." She had to blink back tears, the way he was looking at her! "I swear it, Hatter! I'm here to stay and I'm so sorry for hurting you. I regret it more than anything and I'm sorry." She hung her head. She had caused him so much pain, why in the world should he forgive her? What had she done for him that made her deserving? Nothing. It'd probably be best to just leave him, to never return, to never look back.
"Sorry? Don't apologize, Alice." She immediately looked back up at Hatter when she heard the absence of his accent. Some of the red in his eyes had disappeared. Not all of it, but some.
"But I really should be apologizing, Hatter. I can see what I've done to you!" The usually bright, cheerful, and colorful Hatter was gone and someone else had replaced him. This Hatter's eyes were full of gloom and despair. His hair was dull and his clothes were a boring gray with only a few red bows and sashes here and there. But now he turned his whole body to Alice with light green eyes and even took a few steps towards her with a small smile.
"Someone with as much much-ness as you should know what to apologize and not apologize for, Al-" His eyes widened and then turned a bright crimson again. His smile vanished. "Nae! I won't be trick'n meself again!"
Chessur materialized next to Alice, reminding her that she and Hatter weren't alone. "Tarrant, you really should calm down. And believe the young lady; she's here to stay."
"Lies!" Hatter's whole form shook. He stomped towards Alice with tight fists at his sides. His eyes were smoldering,
Alice was so stunned that all she could do was stand there, but the March Hare took it upon himself to leap in front of her with a fork in his hand. He looked menacing.
"No, 'Atter!" The dormouse jumped off the table and landed on Hatter's shin, for that's how close he had already gotten to Alice. Mallymkun scrambled up his whole extent and only ceased when she got to the rim of his hat. She started thumping his head with the back of her sewing needle. "Con-" smack "-trol" smack "your-" smack "-self!" She pricked Hatter's cheek when she got no response, but finally Hatter winced at the stab and stopped charging at Alice, although he was only about two feet away from him now.
Hatter opened his eyes and they revealed to be a pale green. "Mally, that hurt." He rubbed the spot where he was pricked, caught sight of Alice directly in front of him, and dropped his hand. He stared at her. "You're not real!" He didn't sound accusing, just weary and very, very sad. "You can't be real." His eyes were suspiciously shiny.
Alice slowly reached out and took his marred hand with hers. "Can you feel this, Hatter?" she asked softly. She stroked his palm with her thumb and he nodded. His green eyes seemed to get a little brighter, as well. "If you can feel me, then I am truly here. I've never lied to you, have I?" He shook his head. Alice continued to speak slowly. "That's right. So believe me when I tell you that I am here, in Wonderland, right now. In truth, I never wanted to leave." His eyes certainly got brighter then. "But the point is, I'm back and I'm here to stay."
"But-your-things to do? Questions. . . to answer?" Clearly he was confused.
"All done with." She pleaded with her eyes for his acceptance.
"So, you're really, actually. . ." Hatter started looking around him, as if searching for something. He even turned his body away from her a bit, but quickly came to attention again when Alice squeezed his hand. His wide eyes focused on hers and he leaned forward in amazement. "Alice?" he gasped. She slowly nodded and started to smile, hearing the recognition in his voice. In less time needed to blink, Hatter was grinning and his eyes were the brightest green known to man. "Alice! You're back! Terribly late, you naughty thing, but back, nonetheless!"
Completely surprising her, Hatter grabbed Alice by the waist and lifted her off the ground in a tight embrace. They were both laughing as they spun round in round until they were finally so dizzy that Hatter had to set Alice down. He released her waist only to grasp her arms and smile. "Would you like some tea?"
Alice was so happy, she's agree to anything! But Mallymkun interrupted, and curiously sounded a bit annoyed. "Actually, 'Atter, we 'ave to get Alice to Marmoreal as soon as possible. Any idea of what we should do?"
"Oh, yes, of course, um. . . " His eyes darted back and forth before he seemed to realize why Alice had to get to Marmoreal so quickly. "Right! The celebratory honor! Well. . . how did Alice get around before she. . . " His eyes darkened.
"Ran her errands?" Chessur asked.
Hatter's expression lifted. "Precisely! How did Alice get around before she had to go run her errands?"
There wasn't even a moment's silence before the March Hare shouted, "Feet! She used her feet!"
Chessur materialized right next to the Hare, scaring him half to death, which only made the cat's smile widen. "Dear Thackery, you're not thinking in terms of time. Even Underland's Champion cannot run as fast as a-" His raised his eyebrows. "Ah! Well, that's what we'll do."
"Chess, we're not mind readers here." Mallymkun glanced at the March Hare, which frightened Alice a bit. "So please, do explain."
"Anyone recall the beast that only Alice could tame? That only Alice could ride?"
Alice's expression brightened. "The Bandersnatch!" Why hadn't she thought of the thing before?
"Of course! Although, I have no idea where the old lug would be!" Hatter messed with his bowtie, which had recently changed to a vibrant peach color. "Hmmm. . . If I were a large, slobbering, stinking, beast, where would I go. . . ?"
There was a moment of silence in which everyone imagined themselves as beasts and tried to picture where'd they go. Needless to say, they came to no avail.
"Maybe we should call 'im," said Mallymkun. She turned to Alice with her paws on her hips. "'Ow do you suppose we do that?"
Alice was surprised at how fast the answer came to her. It was like instinct. She just knew. "Well, we could always try this. . . " She walked a few yards away for space and felt everyone's eyes on her. She placed a couple of fingers in between her lips, took a deep breath, and blew a long, high-pitched whistle. There was a moment's silence before the March Hare applauded her, but everyone else stood there (in exception of Chessur, who was floating around), waiting for something to happen. Just as Alice was. If the Bandersnatch didn't appear, how in Underland was she to get to Marmoreal in time? She was no-
"Rhaaaaaaaaar!" A deep, loud roar came from the woods in front of them before a huge, slobbering beast with one lazy eye ran through the trees, taking down a few, and leaped nearer to Alice. His white and gray fur swayed in the light breeze. He leaned forward, sniffed in Alice's direction, and pounced on her. As Alice was knocked to the ground, she heard Hatter's low gasp.
The Bandersnatch stared at Alice for a second, its head right above hers. Alice readied herself for teeth as it leaned in, but was shocked to feel a large, wet tongue lick her face, instead!
Alice laughed and tried to move. "Oh, stop it!" She playfully slapped at the Bandersnatch and it got off her. Alice stood up and pet the creature before wiping all the slobber off her.
She was smoothing out the skirt of her dress when she caught sight of Hatter. He seemed to be frozen in place with his sword halfway out of its sheath. He saw Alice looking at the sword and quickly put it away.
"What were you going to do with that?"
He opened and then closed his mouth before shaking his head. "We really must be going now, Alice."
Of course, that practically answered her question.
Cleverly, Alice didn't ask any more questions as she slung one leg over the Bandersnatch. She climbed up the rest of the way and sat down comfortably on the furry beast's back. Alice scratched the fur behind its ears. It made an appreciative noise. "That's a good Bandy. . . "
Chessur materialized in front of Alice and tipped upside down. "Bandy?
"I think that's what I'll call him. At least, I think it's a 'him'. I'm not exactly going to check."
The cat chuckled. "So I see. And I suppose you and Tarrant are making this journey alone?" Hatter had jumped up on the Bandersnatch behind Alice.
"Well, there might be room. . . "
"It's fine, Alice." She had to lean over in order to see Mallymkun on the ground below. "The celebration will be out 'ere closer to the villages, anyways. Everyone knows 'o you are, so they'll all come."
"Oh. . . " Right. She was Underland's Champion. Who wouldn't know who she was? "Alright then. We'll see you all tonight."
"Tonight!" Thackery hooted.
Chessur floated to the side so he wouldn't get trampled over. Alice readied herself for the ride before turning slightly to see Hatter right behind her. He was sitting as far away as you could on a Bandersnatch's back with his fists full of fur. The man looked absolutely terrified. "Hatter? You okay?"
He nodded stiffly.
"Alright. . . and you're going to fall off in that position." She blushed. "You'll have to hang on to me."
Chessur chuckled, which Alice and Hatter both ignored, as Hatter scooted forward and lightly put his hands on her waist. "How fast will we be going?" he whispered.
"Pretty fast," she whispered back. His face paled. "Would you rather stay here?" The thought came with sadness, but quickly went away as Hatter's grip on her tightened.
"No."
"Then here we go." Alice held tight to the Bandersnatch's fur and commanded, "To Marmoreal!"
Hatter wrapped his arms around Alice excruciatingly tight when the Bandersnatch set into motion. He leaped forward and charged into the trees. By the time Alice looked back, she could only just make out the Tea Party and its guests before it was too distant to see. Alice turned around and looked forward, and with Hatter at her back, rode on.
I'm not sure if I like the way this chapter turned out. . . The 'writer/other person' in me is sort of doubtful, so maybe you could cheer her up with a Review? :D Although, she is very thankful for the ones given to her so far. Don't stop! Or else I will, too! GASP. I went there.