Samara didn't realise that the Creshire Cat has reappeared to her again until he spoke, in that deep, rumbling voice of his, "your knife is necessary but not sufficient. Always collect what's useful. Reject only your ignorance and you may survive,"
"Wait!" Samara yelled, not sparing one second lest he should vanish again.
The Cat remained, his malicious grin as wide as ever.
"I was wondering, where do you go when you disappear?"
Samara could swear that the Cat had sighed through gritted teeth at her question, but then changed her mind seeing that this was impossible to do, even for the Creshire Cat.
But the Cat and his grin remained. He nodded once, swished his tail as he got onto his paws and turned around.
He began leading the way to the mines. Tightening her grip on the Vorpal Blade, Samara then followed close, not bothered by her unanswered question.
Naturally, the mines were dimmer and relatively more closed compared to the underground Village. Samara just couldn't figure out what kind of mineral that was dug out of there; it was all earth and tree roots again. The passage was less narrow than the mine she came through earlier, and they reached a point where it diverges into two every now and then. Even so, with the Cat leading her way, Samara was confident in not getting lost.
After about half an hour of walking through the twisty and branched passage, the Cat finally came to a halt. He turned to face her, swished his tail and sat down. Samara looked around, allocating a full minute to take in her surroundings.
She now stood on what appeared to be a narrow railway track, and there was a rusty cart blocking their way. Creshire Cat indicated this cart with one front paw and once more disappeared before his lingering grin. Samara took it to mean that she should jump into the cart, and she did.
As if it had been condemned to years of solitude, waiting in eager for someone to board it, the cart started moving forwards of its own accord before Samara could properly settle herself in it. Following half an hour of silent journeying with the Cat, this sudden motion and creaking sound almost made her jump.
She reached the first turn. It appeared to be getting brighter. Samara soon found out why.
The turning opened into another underground air pocket, as huge as the previous one in which the Village was set, but the flowing matter at its bottom was more of a vast lake rather than a network of streams like that of the Village's. There was no steam jetting out from the bottom and the unknown matter glowed and seemed alive. Indeed, the flowing matter at the base of this cave is of the very same kind as those contained in the crystal balls that the gnomes of the Village were carrying on their backs.
"That must be what they're digging for here," she said to no one in particular. She could not confirm this though, because there seemed to be no mining activity going on at the time.
The tracks remained narrow and twisty, and the journey silent, save for the creaking of her rusty cart. She saw no other sign of life for a good one hour.
The cart stopped when it reached the other end of the cave and she vacated it. Before her stood an opening into yet another passage. The prospect of this being an endless journey hit her, and she silently prayed that the Cat had led her through the shortest, not the safest, route. She wouldn't mind facing more cardboard guards if it meant reaching her destination faster.
Something pulled her out of her frame of thoughts; floating to her right as the Vorpal Blade had done before she grabbed it, was a book with a red diamond shape on its white cover. She reached out for it and the book replaced the dagger in her hand. Upon closer examination, she found that it was not a book at all. It was a Deck of Cards; all four sets bind together neatly by something invisible.
She then began to wonder how the Deck of Cards was going to help her fight against anything; the Vorpal Blade was an obvious case.
Suddenly there was a searing pain on her left shoulder. She now realise that she had been absently walking through the passage, and has reached the next pit. Samara didn't have the time to worry about having taken a wrong turn along the way; the pain she felt had come from the card guarding a doorway at the other side of the cave. It was a seven of diamonds this time, its sceptre shooting out red diamond-shaped cards at her, slashing her brutally.
Focusing on saving herself, she held out her Deck of Cards and mentally commanded it to attack. It obeyed.
Cards shoot out of the Deck at incredible rate, and Samara noticed some of them went flying towards a different direction. A yelp of pain told her that there were two of the guards, the other one had been obscured from view, and was now laying dead. Oh yes, she was loving the Deck of Cards.
The guard soon fell defeated, left in its place was its life force in the familiar form of a luminous ruby. Seeing this, all the pain came back to her and Samara began limping towards the now unguarded doorway. Before she reached it, the ruby disappeared.
Samara groaned in painful frustration. "Of course! Why should the thing stick around?"
She now desperately wished for another encounter with card guards.
But alas, she had to continue forward despite her agony. She had cuts in her shoulders, arms and right thigh. Limping through the doorway and into the next tunnel, Samara said to herself, "how deep is deepest pit anyway?" and mentally added, "and how do I find this guy when I get there? I don't think he'll have put up signboards directing towards where he lives." She amused herself with a picture of a road sign at the end of this passage, written on it the words 'The Last Free Gnome' in defiance to the Red Queen.
Not long afterwards, she entered into the next pit. This one was similar to the Village for a change. There was no signboard of any kind, and her path diverged into three. She cursed loudly.
Straight ahead, the path twisted and turned until the other side of the pit. The path to her right went higher and higher towards the right side of the cave, leading into a dark tunnel above. Then she caught sight of the Cat sitting in the middle of the left turn. "Every adventure requires a first step. Trite but true, even here," with a nod, he vanished again.
Samara decided to take the left turn. Halfway across it, she had to ride the hot air again. This doubling of her physical suffering made her determined to kill off any being that dares to even cross her path. Evidently, Samara felt homicidal. Perhaps she would like her Vorpal Blade back now so she could actually inflict pain before consuming her adversary's life force. At this thought, she smiled for the first time since she fell through the Rabbit Hole.
Something red and aglow was sent her way. She looked up to see her next victim. The seven of diamonds was shooting red cards at her still but she ran towards it and dodged them with newfound agility. She didn't remember when had the Vorpal Blade replaced the Deck of Cards in her hand, but the next thing she knew was all her cuts were healed and the pain gone. The guard was no more and she missed no time in grabbing its meta-essence. Samara felt victorious.
Creshire Cat had reappeared beside her. Samara thought he looked grudgingly proud. "How am I to find this guy? I've got some fancy toys now, I could try breaking into the Fortress of Doors and save time," she said to the Cat.
"Doors have locks, locks need keys which you don't have. Let's hope the doors are open," he said.
"And if not, there may be more than one way to skin a cat," said she before hastily adding, "if you'll pardon the expression."
"Most unpleasant metaphor. Please avoid it in the future," he replied, his grin wide still. He swished his tail and got on his paws, leading the way again.
The walk was very short this time, they soon reached their destination. It was a small house not unlike the cobbler's. Creshire Cat walked up to the door, turned to face her and nodded, then he was gone again.
The door opened, and a gnome stepped out to meet her. He looked cleaner and healthier than the ones she saw earlier.
"Why do you pursue me to this deserted place?" apparently he was not surprised that she now stood in front of his door. Well, there can't be that many free gnomes around.
"to benefit from your wisdom," she answered. "I need to get into the Fortress of Doors so I could get this small," and again, she indicated about half an inch with a thumb and a forefinger.
Author's Note
This chapter is not quite finished, I'll get back to it later. I just needed to update the story in case I lose the chance.. Thank you for reading!^^ Leave a review if you please :D