Chapter 7: The Chess Kingdom
Alice was restless the night she went to bed after hearing Hatters story. She slept in Hatters bed that night both comforting each other keeping the haunting nightmares of his tale at bay. But despite how nice it was to sleep next to Hatter or cuddle with him something kept Alice from sleeping too long.
Instead of trying to go back to sleep Alice got out of bed to stretch her legs a little. She went outside for some cool refreshing air to see if that would help her. When she got outside she saw Cheshire sitting at the table drinking tea.
"You can't sleep after hearing Hatters tragic tale." Cheshire said.
"No, I just can't get over how something so horrible could happen to him. And he was so young too." Alice said.
"I think I know something that will help you take your mind off this."
"What is that?" Alice asked pulling up a seat next to Cheshire.
"To the north of Hatters village, the one you found yourself in when you first came here are some mountains. And beyond those mountains is the Chess kingdom; the former kingdom of the white knights. Even today it's one of the more rare and beautiful sights in wonderland. Why even just one trip there will take your mind off almost anything."
"That sounds great, it really does except those mountains are like half a day's walk at least plus there's getting through them. That could take days and I don't want to leave Hatter alone for that long."
"Normally yes but I happen to know a shortcut through the mountains that is a straight course through and takes less than an hour to walk through. And as an added bonus if you join me on traveling there tonight I will give you this once and a life time opportunity to ride on my back. It will take us two hours tops to get from right here to the very center of the chess kingdom. You can spend as long as you like there and when your ready to leave we will set off immediately I will even bring you your favorite snack in case you get hungry while were there."
Alice gave Cheshire a cynical look in response.
"Alice I promise you this is no joke or prank, I want us to spend some time together is all. And what better place than the chess kingdom, you can't sleep as it is and it's a one time offer only. So then what do you say?"
Alice looked up at the sky; the moon still had this tint of green to it. She thought about Cheshire's offer for a long while then sighed. "Alright, alright sure." She said. "But only if you promise to take me back right when I tell you too."
"I will even leave a note for Hatter and March to see." Cheshire said. Then he disappeared with a smile and reappeared a couple minutes later with a small sack. He handed the sack to Alice and told her it was her favorite snack inside. Then Cheshire transformed, growing six times his normal size and adding a lot of purple fur to his body.
Alice climbed onto Cheshire then used a long rectangular cloth to tie her bag with food around her waist. Then she double checked the bag to make sure it wouldn't fall off, and when she was content with it she grabbed a hold of Cheshire's fur and told him she was ready.
Cheshire took off so fast that Alice almost flew off his back. He moved faster than she had ever gone before at least that's how it felt. The wind was constantly threatening to throw her off Cheshire's back when he slowed down a bit, and shouted at her to lean herself forward more onto his back. She did so and put her chin on the back of Cheshire's neck then he picked up his speed again.
The landscape seemed to fly past her but she didn't dare take a long look anywhere but in front of her. Even then she was too afraid to stare ahead for too long and soon just nestled her face into Cheshire's fur waiting for him to slow down or tell her they were there. To pass the time and take her mind off of the speeding animal of doom she counted down from ten thousand.
When Alice reached 519 in her countdown Cheshire began to gradually slow down. And when she reached zero Cheshire was now at a sort of jogging pace. She lifted her head up and opened her eyes again when Cheshire moved so slow it felt like he was walking.
The first thing Alice noticed when she lifted her head was that Cheshire was indeed walking now; the next was the ruins of a massive white and grey stoned kingdom. The rubble was ancient looking and there was barley any ruins of castles or buildings left. However what did remain in tact were some of the most remarkable things Alice ever did see.
Giant white stone statues that represented chess pieces were scattered all around the expanse of the kingdom. There were Knights, Rooks, Bishops, and even some Pawns all around. They were beautiful to look at, but that wasn't the only thing that took Alice's breath away. Beneath her feet Cheshire stopped on a massive Chess board, each tile was about 5x5 feet. And at one end of the board was a beautiful white throne with a skeleton, wearing rusted white armor sitting in it, and a crown on top of its head.
Cheshire walked up to the throne and said, "The noble chess king struck down on his throne. Rumor has it a black knight disguised himself as a white knight came into the throne room and when the red queen launched her assault on the Kingdom the black knight killed the king before he could even stand."
And for the first time Alice had ever seen Cheshire looked truly sad; as if he was a personal friend of the king. When Cheshire noticed Alice was studying him he disappeared, then reappeared behind her looking as normal as ever. "You do know who the black knights are don't you?"
"They're the white knights who turned bad and started working for the queen of hearts correct?" Alice said.
"Precisely" Cheshire said.
The two of them spent most of the morning exploring around the kingdom, despite all its ruins it was still a beautiful place. After a while Alice grew hungry and took a break to eat. She opened up her sack and as Cheshire promised it was filled with her favorite foods. There was crème cheese cake, cinnamon bread, and some assorted meat slices.
After Alice was about half finished with her food Cheshire said, "Oh my I'm terribly sorry Alice but I forgot to pack some tea. Here I shall go fetch you some water instead." Then Cheshire gave Alice a mischievous grin before disappearing.
With a mouth full of cake Alice said, "Cheshire if this is another prank I swear you are going to pay dearly for it."
When Alice finished her food she wiped off her face and hands with the sack she used to carry her food in then called out to Cheshire who still hadn't returned yet. She called again for him but still no answer. Then she cursed to herself and shouted, "Cheshire whatever sort of game this is I'm not playing."
Alice sat in silence for a long while beginning to get worried when Cheshire finally came back holding a tin cup in his mouth with his head turned completely sideways. He placed the cup down next to Alice, which she could see was full of water and said, I'm sorry about that Alice finding this took a lot longer than id expected. And I can only whisk myself off to far away places instantly but I can't do so with any person or objects they would just fall to the ground, so I had to carefully carry this back to you."
Alice studied the tin cup then looked at Cheshire suspiciously. "The water is fresh from a nearby lake, and the cup is germ free I promise." He said.
Alice drank the water in three big gulps, it tasted very fresh indeed. Alice placed the cup down and began to fold up her sack when the sounds of clattering metal caught her attention. The sounds got louder as they came closer and Alice quickly spotted card soldiers all around; they quickly surrounded her and Cheshire.
This was the first time Alice saw the card soldiers, she believed they would be similar to the ones off the cartoon movie of it, but they were much scarier than she imagined up close. These soldiers were in the shapes of cards but they were clad in red armor, and had thin arms and legs that seemed to grow naturally. The Armor covered every part of their body; they had helmets and even shoulder spikes that looked very sharp.
Alice raised her hands above her head as the card soldiers pointed there sharp red spears at her. There were a couple dozen of them easy, too many for them to fight off and then run away, especially being surrounded. Alice turned to Cheshire and quickly said, "Use your teleporting trick and warn Hatter and March."
Then Alice was struck in the back of the head with the blunt end of a sword and was knocked unconscious. Cheshire didn't stay long enough to be attacked by the cards; he quickly vanished as they came after him. The card soldiers stuffed the unconscious Alice in a sack, tied it up then dragged her to a cage they had set up on a carriage. When they got her inside the cage and locked it, they signaled for the horse to start moving and as it did they marched behind, heading to the house of cards.
Cheshire returned to the Cottage to see Hatter and March at the table drinking tea and eating. When they saw Cheshire Hatter said, "There you are. You and Alice have been gone all morning without even a note. We were starting to become worried. Where is Alice anyways?"
"Well that's the thing," Cheshire said. "Me and Alice took a trip to the chess kingdom and we were ambushed by a group of card soldiers."
"What!?" Hatter shouted.
"She was knocked unconscious and they threw her in a carriage heading to the house of cards."
Hatter upset and angry stood up from his chair so fast that it flew to the ground several feet behind him. "Cheshire you get immediate word to white rabbit about this I'm going to need his help rescuing Alice." Hatter said storming into the cottage.
"Hatter hold up." March called to him. "We need to think about this rationally."
Hatter turned around and shouted back at March, "I'm going to the house of cards to rescue Alice. Either were coming back here together or I will die trying, but I refuse to lose anyone else to the red queen again!" Hatter was in tears now
Cheshire disappeared; teleporting to inform White Rabbit of everything as Hatter went into the cottage to prepare for his trip to the house of cards. March was right behind him as the two dressed themselves in a lightweight body armor that Hatter spent years slowly working on. He never knew when or if he would need it but now both him and March were glad he did because where they were going it might very well save their lives.
As the two finished dressing March pulled Hatter back to their room where he pulled out a box from under his bed. In it was a pair of long knives that were in excellent condition. He handed them to Hatter and said, "These belonged to the Joker whom saved your life. After Cheshire told me your full story I returned to the village to see if I could grab them in case something like this ever happened."
Hatter took the blades and starred at them for a while remembering how the Joker wielded them; like a true knight hidden inside a fool. Hatter then carefully put the blades through his belt on both sides of his hips like a sheath, and then they left the cottage.
When they came back outside Cheshire was waiting for them in a bigger and longer form of himself filled with hair. He kept his slender figure as much as he could to be less noticeable while still carrying both March and Hatter. When Hatter and March were both seated carefully on Cheshire's back he took off at incredibly speed. The three of them wind blasting their faces headed towards the most dangerous place in wonderland, determined to rescue their friend at all costs.
END OF PART 1