Whoah, it's been way too long, huh? I can explain, you see. I take AP classes at my school, and my European History teacher decided to take us at a break-neck speed to get done and start reviewing before the exam. So, so many review packets... If I ever see a Grand Review again, I may cry. But yeah, that ate all my time on top of my music concerts, then music banquets... It's been crazy, but exams are now over! Hurrah! I'll see if I can get anything more done before regular final exams at the end of the school year this May, but summer will be pretty open. More focus on this little area that they're in, and explanations will ensue.
Buttttt...I also wanted to mention some people that I love bunches, since I did hit the 100 review mark. There was one person in particular, their name something like Alyssameep I believe. I tried to find them in my reviews, as I'm certain that person was my very first reviewer. If not, my dearest Queen of Caspian's Heart is awesome. Both of you two are awesome for giving this fic a chance and early support. Then HalfBrachenDemon and Ash Ninja were those who gave awesome reviews and stuck to the fic. Also, who can forget PUTYOURCHIPMUNKON (love the name) for review number 100. Last but not least, everyone else who's reviewed deserves tons of cookies. I luff you all and won't drop this thing 'til the fat lady sings. Only school or marching band shall ever come between me and this fic!
I swear I'm done, lol. I don't own anything of Alice in Wonderland.
Alice was brought to her feet almost at once, the Hatter having had grabbed her arms and given her a tug. With that he began practically dragging her by her wrist off somewhere into the brush. Had she not come to her senses and sprinted behind him, she really would have been dragged on the ground. On her face, in fact. He zigged and zagged this way and that, the wind whishing in her ears, hair slapping her face. She thought briefly on how dreadful it would be to brush it all later! Leaves and twigs snapped under their feet and bugs rattled and hissed in their nighttime song. All around her was a blur of trees and leaves, the only thing stationary being the moon in the sky. How did he keep from running into a tree? Moreover, she hoped he'd know how to get back, as that might've been the only place for them to spend the night…
Of course, he was never the one to just slow down to a stop. Heavens, no. Just as before, the Hatter stopped dead in his tracks as if he'd run into a solid brick wall. This meant that Alice, having no clue at his intending to halt, simply couldn't stop her feet from moving. She quickly found herself pressed against his back, stumbling back. She very well would have fallen if the Hatter wasn't holding onto her firmly still.
She peered around him, still a little dizzy. He resumed, but was simply walking this time. A giant plum tree loomed over the pair. This one seemed not to be animate like most Underland vegetation, though it could have very well been asleep. Her wrist was released from his grasp as he advanced towards the tree. As tall as he was, he still had to get on the very tips of his toes to reach even the lowest branch. A large, succulent plum snapped off of the tree. He came over to her, needing to hold it with both hands due to its tremendous size.
"Oh, you must taste it! The Hare will use this to make his plum puddings, jellies, wines, and no other! Every one is sweeter than the last." His mouth seemed to water at the very mention of such things.
With both hands she took it from him, astounded at its weight. Surely it was at least fifteen pounds! Alice almost dropped it due to her surprise, though got her bearings shortly after. It was a lovely, rich purple under the moon and it glistened with dew drops. As she brought it to her mouth, the skin of the fruit was even heavenly. She bent her head down to take a bite out of the hulk of a fruit, the juice pouring out all over her face and hands.
"You got a splendid one, too! Look at how juicy it is! I'm so jealous that I'm going to get one myself," he proclaimed. He once again had to stretch to his very limit trying to obtain another gargantuan plum, biting greedily into it at once. Purplish clear liquid poured all over him as well and he cared very little of the mess he made. It tasted of perfection.
"Hatter, these…are so, so…unbelievably delicious! I would eat this every day rather than cake or candies!" It was the absolute truth, too. She ate it as amorously as an addict would partake in a drug. All that mattered was that she was eating the best food in her life, any sort of manners thrown out the window.
"As would I, but no one ever can." He said this rather sadly, but quickly took another bite into his plum.
She swallowed what she had been chewing, then looked to him confusedly. "Why not? If you find one, can't you just go back to it every day?"
"Ah, that is where the problem lies!" He wiped his mouth on the sleeve of his coat. "Plum trees are crafty creatures. All day they run around, hiding and running away from we fellow plum-eaters. By the time night rolls around, the poor things are so tired that they just can't move an inch until daybreak. I tried to catch one a particular morning, but goodness, they are as fast as the devil!"
Alice took a nibble from her plum, going for some of the skin (which was sugary sweet). "Well, surely we can take a few with us? Maybe can one or two…"
"Splendid, splendid idea! I do think they would be good back-up food supplies, just in case this path decided to go on for some time…" He carefully set his half-eaten plum down on the wet grass, then went out on the task of reaching for and tearing down another plum or two.
"Hatter, how long do you think we'll be walking?" She licked her fingers which were coated in the sticky juice of the plum.
"Hmmm, how long…" Another plum snapped off of a branch. He set it down beside her. "Currently I think we have a day or two to go. The path veered off into the east, then went back towards the Duchess's cottage as far as I can tell."
Alice huffed. Another two days of trying to keep up with him! If he continued his break-neck pace, she'd have to speak up. She peeled some skin off, eating it separately for the moment. "How did you know the plum tree would be here tonight?"
He replied in a strained tone while reaching for a precariously high plum, "I didn't." His fingers twitched madly, trying to get some hold of the fruit.
She furrowed her eyebrows, not quite expecting such an answer. She dismissed it, anyway, as she noticed his efforts for the second fruit. Alice set her plum down beside the uneaten one, walking over to him. "You know, you could just lift me up and I could grab it for you."
He looked to her incredulously for a moment then grinned widely. "Clever girl!" With that he ceased his fruitless stretching and promptly picked her up by her lower torso. Alice let out a small sound of surprise, arms waving around a bit. His grip hadn't lessened though, and she felt that he wouldn't allow her to fall. With that, she turned her head upward and saw a lovely purple plum above her head. Her slender creamy arms stretched up to grab onto it and she tugged with quite a bit of effort. After a moment's exertion it finally snapped off, causing her to lose her balance once again.
He lowered her at once, bringing her down to the level of his face before he was to set her down. The plum was between his chest and hers, being the only separator between them. Upon noticing this, the Hatter quickly put her on her feet again, Alice having to hide her face in embarrassment. Without the plum…she was mortified at the thought. It would have been a very awkward two days…
"I, ah, suggest it's probably about time to head back to dear Miss Willow," he said suddenly, picking up his nearly devoured plum and the first uneaten one.
"Yes, I'm dreadfully tired," she replied at once, returning to her own fruit. She carried both by their thick stems, causing her to feel unbalanced due to the difference in weight of the two.
"My, I never thought of it, but when was the last time you got any rest, Alice? I scarcely thought you did ever sleep through that storm…" He was blessedly distracted from what had just happened, she thought in relief.
"No, I didn't. I was just lying in bed, thinking myself silly." She wasn't about to go off anywhere, so she stood still. Only the Hatter would know how to get back to the Weeping Willow.
Sure enough, he led the way again. He began talking of other fruits in Underland, from dragonfruits to strawmellons, until she lost any kind of concentration due to her fatigue. She remembered little else, only to find herself lying in the grass under the willow with the sun shining down upon her face through the leaves.
She put a hand over her face, trying to block out the sun from her groggy eyes. She squirmed a bit on the ground as she let out a yawn, making the grass rustle. Alice would have been quite pleased to stay and sleep for longer, but she wanted to get to their destination even more. She pushed herself up onto an arm, inhaling the smells of morning. The sweetness of the earth was mixed in with that of plums, making her tummy rumble for breakfast. Her gaze swept across the area for the Hatter, hoping he saved her partially-eaten plum.
"Looking for Mr. Hightopp, dearie?" she heard an old woman speak. Turning around, she saw that the Weeping Willow smiled down upon her, awake after a night of rest as well. "He went over there," she said, pointing with a thin branch, "with a few plums a while ago."
She curtsied. "Thank you very much." Alice hurried over in that direction, curious to see what he was doing with their plums. He hadn't gone far, really. Beside another shady tree he cut away at a plum, putting the bits and pieces into several glass jars, air-tight hinged lids on each.
Once her shadow passed over him, he turned his attention to her, smiling sunnily. "Good morning, Alice! I say, you fell asleep walking last night. Not only did I have to carry four plums, but you as well. Consider yourself lucky that I didn't drop you all in a heap in my utter exhaustion!"
She laughed at his dramatic speech. "I'm sure that I am. You saved my plum for me, I hope?"
"Of course, of course! I remember what a ravenous monster you were on an empty stomach last night. I shuddered at the thought of such a beast combined with a possible hate for mornings!" He shuddered. "More frightening than a wily Bandersnatch…"
She rolled her eyes, simply holding out her hands for her food. After setting his tools down, he pulled out a chewed-on plum and placed it in her hands. His hands then continued deftly on slicing up the monstrous fruit, coated in the sticky juice. She concluded that the plum's own juice would preserve it just as well as anything else could, with all that blasted, mouth-watering sugar…
"And in case you were wondering," he spoke suddenly, "I did in fact think of how I would explain Underland's current predicament." With that, he put the last hunks of plum into their jars, sealing each swiftly.
"Oh?"
"Are you quite ready for the road yet, Alice? I do say that it would be better suited for our journey, as it's dreadfully long…" He wiped his hands off on his coat again, not fond of the sticky feeling. The jars he put somewhere on his person, but she didn't pay enough attention to his actions while she took a moment to think.
"Do you have a hair brush that I could use, maybe…?" she inquired.
"Ah, yes, I do…" He peered inside some of his pockets, soon retrieving a comb of sorts. The Hatter pulled out a couple of tufts of orange hair that remained within it before handing it over to her.
Alice didn't really mind at the slightest. She was simply grateful to get the dreadful knots from her tangled hair. It was horrible what she let it go through, really. A storm with pouring rain and wind, running through the woods at a blinding pace, all of that plum juice… She yelped in pain trying to pull it through her tresses. It nearly made some tears well up in her eyes. Oh, how much they did hurt!
"Alice, might you need any help…?" he asked. He spotted several knots, and if things continued going as well as they were…
She pursed her lips. Alice dearly hoped he was as skilled at brushing hair as he was at making hats, otherwise she was in for quite an ordeal. Seeing as though she had nothing to lose, except maybe a handful of hair, she held the brush out to him and plopped down on the ground.
He took it from her, going down onto his knees behind her to attend to her long locks. Alice grabbed the grass dreadfully firmly, expecting at any moment to feel pain shoot through her scalp again. She remained in anticipation, however, just feeling the bristles of the brush slide over her skin and through her hair. A minute or two was all it took. She blinked, rather shocked.
"There we are! Now we may finally continue on our journey!" He quickly put the thing away back into his pocket, helping her up once more.
She ran her hands through her hair. How silky and soft it now was! It would've been something, though, had the brush transformed her hair into something similar to the Hatter's. Alice would have very well demanded that they trade hats so that she could hide her hair. That wasn't the case, however.
"So…" she started, now following the Hatter through the forest and back to the path, "you left off where the Red Queen took the Knave's life, and there was something about a Lion and a Unicorn…"
A heavy sigh came from his body, his light-heartedness dissipating. "Yes, the Lion and the Unicorn… The queen, lost, only continued farther and farther off to the boundaries of Underland, going to a place where no creature ever dared to travel and come back to tell the tale…"