Thank you for your splendid Reviews! I'm trying really hard to finish this story quickly, but I don't want to rush it so much that the rest of the chapters suck. Plus, I want to redo the first few chapters. When I look them now. . . I just have no idea what I was thinking at the time. :P on with the story!
Disclaimer: I own NADA of Alice In Wonderland. Lewis Carroll, Disney, and Tim Burton do.
Inspirational Song: "Streets of Gold" - 3OH!3
. . . . .
"You must do better than that, Miss Alice!"
Alice ducked and grunted, barely missing Sir Lawrence's blade. He was an excellent trainer and she had learned a great lot in the few lessons she had gone through, but he just never knew when to stop.
She quickly kicked her legs up to avoid his jab at her ankle. He grinned at her. "Better."
Sir Lawrence had been pressing hard on her for at least two hours now. Alice was sweating enough to create a new lake and stunk bad enough to scare the Bandersnatch away. But he wouldn't listen to her pleads.
"Dead is dead, Alice," he'd say. "There are no time-outs in war."
"Just ten minutes, please?" she tried again.
"Not much longer, I swear." He smiled at her and ran his hand through his cropped pink hair. "We don't need you to run off and get yourself hurt, now do we?"
Alice stifled a sigh. "I suppose not," she mumbled.
He gave her an obnoxiously positive grin. "Great," he said. He leaned in close to her, setting her arms in a crossed position over her face. "Your defensive stance isn't too great, Miss Alice. If your opponent is going for a direct and fatal blow, they will almost positively go for your neck," he raised her arms, "or your heart," he placed her arms slightly lower, in front of her chest. "In a one-on-one battle where you know for a fact that you are the lesser warrior, it's best to stay in the defensive positions. The best you could hope for in that situation would be to wear your enemy out so that you can be the one who delivers the fatal blow in the end." He dropped his hands. "Got it?"
Alice's brow furrowed. "But, Sir Lawrence, I don't want to be killing anyone."
The man threw his head back and laughed, although Alice seemed to have missed the joke. He looked at her, grabbing his sides. "Oh, come now, Miss Alice! This is a war! And you are our Champion! What did you think you'd be doing? Having tea on the sidelines with your wacky friends, as you so call them?" He wiped his brow with the back of his hand.
Alice narrowed his eyes at him. How dare he mention her 'tea friends' while Hatter was surely in the Red Queen's dungeons? "I was planning on fighting, yes, but not to kill. Only to maim so awfully that my opponent is unable to fight. I suppose I'm the only one here with a clear conscience, then?"
Sir Lawrence shook his head. "If you're implying that I have guilt about killing enemies of mine, then you are wrong. I carry no guilt. I am a the White Queen's First Guard. I am no Royal Hatter," he gave her a crooked grin with a glint in his eyes.
Alice gaped at him. "Lawrence! Do you even realize where Hatter is because of the bravery he showed? Or what he's going through?" Didn't he realize that his words were cutting her even more deeply than when she found Hatter's room still empty that morning? Didn't he realize what he was saying?
"That man was acting foolish and he got what he deserved. He is obviously not a true warrior. He is mindless, irrational, commonly dense, impulsive-Oi!" Alice had tried to smack Sir Lawrence with the back of her sword, but he was able to block it-but just barely. "What was that for?"
"For claiming my best and dearest friend to be the complete opposite of what he truly is," Alice said with hard eyes. She continued to combat with Sir Lawrence using quick and smooth strikes. Sir Lawrence's brow furrowed. "Hatter is never foolish-he has his own sense of logic. He is the bravest, most courageous, and noblest person I know. He clearly has a mind, and it is full of the most supreme of riddles and tea recipes. He is never irrational-there is a single reason for every little thing he does, whether it be great or small. I can't even fathom how you could call the Hatter common. He is the most unique man I ever have and probably ever will meet. Impulsive? Yes, but that only means he follows his heart and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that."
Alice stabbed forward with her sword, throwing her other hand back, placing it right below Sir Lawrence's chin. He gulped. "You, Sir Lawrence, First Guard to the White Queen, follow your hunter's instincts. You are competitive, rude, and quite frankly, a snob." She removed her sword and Sir Lawrence visibly relaxed. "You would be honored to borrow even a shred of Hatter's character."
Sir Lawrence narrowed his sharp eyes at her. "Alice, you fail to understand. I fight for Underland. I fight for Underland's people. I fight for Underland's Queen. I fight for you." He tried to caress her cheek, but Alice reflexively jerked her head away. His eyes softened.
"Alice, please try to be open-minded. Just for this moment." He looked her in the eyes, completely unwavering. "You must know that I strongly fancy you by this point. Am I correct?" Alice had certainly guessed at this before, but had been wise to keep her mouth shut. Even now, she did not say anything. He continued. "I would very much like to court you, Alice. You and I. . . We would be good for each other. The Champion of Underland with the Kingdom's Fiercest Warrior." He grinned and Alice inwardly smirked at the shallowness of this man. "We would be a much better pair than you and your. . . colorful Hatter ever could be." He made the mistake of suddenly grabbing Alice's hand and waist, pulling her closer to him. "You and I would be so right, Alice," he breathed.
Alice quickly pushed the beast off her. "Stay away from me," she snarled. How had she not seen him for what he truly was at the beginning? A monster, just like the men from Above. "And if you utter one more ugly word about Tarrant Hightopp, you will be fighting me later on today at the battlefield. Besides," she scowled and sheathed her sword. " I believe my training is finally thorough enough for it to have finished." With one last glare, Alice went to stride out of the room with a wide-eyed Sir Lawrence behind her.
However, she couldn't do that.
Alice sighed and stopped at the training room's doorway with her back to Sir Lawrence. She didn't want to leave things with her supposed friend as awful as that right before going to battle. Forcing her anger down to as low as it would allow, Alice spoke.
"I am sorry. . . I do not wish to yell at you. Try not to take it too personally, I had formed a bit of a. . . grudge. . . against men when I was Above. It's sort of a long story," she said. Alice allowed a moment's silence to see if he'd say anything; he didn't. Alice wasn'ttoo eager to turn around and see his expression, so she continued to speak. "I simply believe that you and I actually wouldn't be well together. I'm sorry. I hope we can continue and go back to the way we were before. I'll see you later, Sir Lawrence." With that said, Alice finally left the room.
She was walking down the hallway, heading straight for her rooms. If anybody had smelled her at that moment, they'd probably pass out right on sight. Alice hurried her steps.
"Alice!"
She stopped walking and looked around for her caller.
"Down 'ere," a higher-pitched voice said.
Alice looked down and smiled at Mallymkun and McTwisp. McTwisp was in his white uniform and Mallymkun was already in her newly-made armor. (Alice assumed that the Hatter had made it for her before he had ran off-the thought came with sadness.) She tried to sound chipper for her two friends.
She knelt down on one knee so she could see the pair better. "Hello, there. Haven't seen you two in a while! Where's the March Hare and Chessur?"
"Thackery is in the kitchen preparing the last meals for the troops." When he realized how his words could've been taken, he starting hyperventilating. "No, no, no. I don't mean the troops' last meals ever! I simply meant-oh dear, oh dear. They're just having soup, you know-"
"Nivens!" Mallymkun slapped him on the back. "We know what you meant!" When McTwisp's breathing started to return to normal she could've sworn she heard the dormouse mumble, "Gallymoggers," under her breath. Alice didn't know the meaning of the Outlandish term, but she could tell it wasn't too polite.
"And Chessur?" Alice asked again.
Mallymkun looked up at Alice. "Oh, 'e's around here somewhere. Probably just out and about, mixing up mischief. You know 'im," she told her.
Alice nodded. Yes, she did know. "So what are you two up to?"
McTwisp's breathing was fine enough now that he could speak again without fear of fainting of lack of energy and focus. "Actually, we were looking for you, Alice. It's almost time to leave for battle, and although it's not a fine party we're going to," he wrinkled his pink nose. "I still suggest that you hurry and bathe." Mallymkun sniggered.
Alice blushed. "Oh, yes, of course. I just came from training with one of the White Queen's Guards, so I probably do smell rather. . . " She creased her brow, trying to find the right word.
"Rancor?" Mallymkun offered. "Smelly? Foul? Putrid? Shukm-like? Like a Bandersnatch after it's-"
"Mally!" McTwisp scoffed.
"Just giving 'er options." Mallymkun grinned.
McTwisp shook his head, but Alice smiled and laughed, much to Mallymkun's pleasure. "Alright, so I better hurry and wash." She stood up and almost walked off before clearing her throat. "McTwisp? You haven't heard word from Hatter. . . have you?" Alice already knew the answer. She dreadfully hoped he had, but if he had, why wouldn't he have told her?
Mallymkun's ears fell back and McTwisp shook his head sadly. "Sorry, Alice. I'd tell if immediately if I had."
"Thank you anyway, I suppose." She tried for a smile, told them goodbye, and continued on for her rooms. She had just closed the door to her rooms when another visitor appeared. Literally.
Alice turned around to see Chessur materialize before her. He was grinning and his eyes were bright. Glad somebody's in good spirits. "Hello, Chessur." She couldn't manage to sound as happy as she had tried to. Chessur noticed.
"Why the sad face, Alice?" He grimaced and sniffed the air. "Better question. Why the smell of decay, Alice?"
She couldn't help but to chuckle. She walked past the cat and scratched him behind his ear, causing his eyes to close and his head to turn round. "People can really stop telling me how foul my odor is. I get it. I stink." Alice sat down in the chair near her vanity. She closed her eyes and sighed. "And I will answer your question with one of my own. Do you know where Hatter is?" Of course he doesn't, Alice, how would he know? You need to stop depressing everyone by asking-
"Yes," he replied.
Alice's eyes shot open and she sat straight up, face-to-face with Chessur. "Really? Where? How is he? Can you bring him back? How exactly-Ohm." Chessur had placed his paw over Alice's mouth.
"One matter at a time, dear." He removed his paw and swirled around the room. "Finding him was easy enough. I simply went back to where that Hamish brute was settled before. I had to follow them down there. I was completely unnoticed, of course." His grin increased in size. "I just have that much muchness, Alice. Aren't you a great deal happier now?"
"Yes, I'm incredibly relieved; you have no idea!" She wanted to squeeze the wonderful cat! "But please, go on," she assured.
"The Red Queen and her army have practically been living in tunnels all this time, so I had to make sure I did not lose them or might've gotten lost." His grin lessened. "They placed our dear Tarrant in a caged-burrow. Although, his living conditions are a lot better than many others. He actually has his own area. Everyone else is sleeping in the strips of dirt, along the tunnels."
Alice's smile slowly fell from her face. Her Hatter. . . was caged in. . . the dirt. Alone. Probably injured. Starving. Too hot or too cold, depending on his location. "Are they feeding him? Are they giving him water?"
Chessur nodded, his eyes in a faraway place. "Yes, he gets the same amount as everyone else. . . Which I may say, surprises me. We are discussing the Bloody Big Head, are we not?"
Alice ignored his question. "Is he hurt? Did you speak with him?"
He turned his body, most likely out of boredom, before answering her. Every second of silence made her more and more impatient. She needed to know more about Hatter's conditions! "Chessur?" She forced herself to sound calm.
"Hmm? Oh yes," he drawled. "Well. . . Is that new body armor? I must say, it is mighty shiny. I do enjoy shiny things. And exquisite things. That body armor is. . .very. . . shiny." Alice's hardened stare caused Chessur's ramblings to die down. He sighed and closed his eyes. "He is injured badly and in pain."
Alice gasped, horrified.
"A few broken ribs, a slight concussion, and multiple cuts and bruises, to be exact."
Alice's jaw dropped to the floor and she had trouble with blinking back tears. Hatter was hurt, so, so, badly. It was because of that stupid Sir Lawrence! If he hadn't implanted the idea of attacking the Red Guards at the castle into Hatter's mind, then he would be here, in Marmoreal, safe, with Alice.
What hurt the most was the mere fact that Alice couldn't do anything to help him.
Chess grimaced and winced at Alice's reaction and quickly tried to cool things over. "It'll be alright, Alice, I can assure you of that, truly."
Alice's head snapped up as she glared at Chessur. "How, Chessur? How could this possibly turn out alright?"
Chessur vanished and reappeared over Alice's left, putting a paw on her shoulder. He frowned. "I'm a cat. I may be a mad, insane, constantly-grinning, and evaporating cat, but I am still a cat. And I still have my animalistic instincts. My animalistic instincts are telling me that everything will turn out alright." He grinned.
Alice sniffled. "How often are your animalistic instincts correct?"
Chessur's grin widened. "Haven't missed a beat yet, love." He disappeared only to emerge right in front of Alice. "And besides," he said, puffing out his fluffy chest. "We are on the White side. And everyone knows that you have the Lucky Whites' Advantage in chess."
Alice laughed softly and wiped her face for any stray tears that might have escaped. "Thank you, Chessur. You're a great and loyal friend. You know that?"
Chessur's eyes softened and his grin lost a bit of its width. Alice knew what he had done many years ago, how he had abandoned his friends when it mattered most, when he cowardly left a fearsome battle. But he had certainly made it up for it.
Alice smiled at him and the cat grinned back. "Now," he said before vanishing once more and appearing on her side. He mockingly sniffed Alice and waved his paw in front of his face, grimacing. "Somebody needs to hit the showers."
Alice laughed and stood up. "I'll see you soon, Chessur."
"Fairfarren for now, Alice." Very slowly, the Cheshire Cat faded away, until all that was left was his grin. After a bit of time, even that had gone, too.
. . . . .
Insanity: I always tear up at these heart-warming moments.
Rachel: Oh, so you're not only the insane and criticizing part of me, you're also the sappy and sensitive part?
Insanity: . . . I don't' know.
Rachel: But if that is true. . . Then what am I? O.o
Insanity: Ha! You're the b****! :D
Rachel: O.O