Alice woke up when she could hear the grandfather clock strike Midnight. She knew that everyone would be asleep. She grabbed the satchel from under the bed. There was one more thing she was going to need before she left. She crept out of her room and down the hall careful to avoid running in to any Cards. Cards were the Queen of Hearts royal guards and they also acted as her secret police. In Alice’s opinion they weren’t the brightest bunch.
The Princess of Hearts made her way down to the kitchen. She found a rather large knife and clutched it in her hands. One never knew when they might need protection. Alice stood still and listened carefully to make sure nothing in the castle was stirring. The Cards were infamous for falling asleep while on guard detail.
Alice didn’t hear anything so far everything was going well. She was almost nervous because she honestly didn’t think she would even make it this far. She quickly made her way out the back door of the kitchen. She didn’t even bother to look back as she made her way towards the Lotus Forest. She was running as fast as her feet could carry her.
The Lotus Forest could be a frightening place at night. There were all sorts of creatures that lurked in the forest. Alice gripped the knife in her hands even tighter turning her knuckles white. She was being careful not to trip. The last thing she wanted was to fall and trip on the knife.
Alice slowed to a walk as she entered the forest. The last thing she needed was to run into trouble. She jumped as the breeze rustled through the leaves. Her heart was pounding in her chest. Alice could hardly believe that she was really going to try looking for the resistance.
“And the Mome Raths outgrabe.” a disembodied voice sang. A mouth with a wide grin seemed to appear out of thin air. Soon there was a head that appeared to be a young boy with purple hair and cat ears. The eyes were a bright green with black slits for pupils. The head was soon followed by the rest of the body. He wore a purple leather vest and matching leather pants and he wore black boots that laced up his calves.
“Cheshire Cat!” Alice exclaimed. Alice knew that the Cheshire Cat was a bit of a mischief maker. He was a constant source of vexation for her mother. She wasn’t sure she if she could trust him, but if anyone could help her get to the resistance she knew he could. The Cheshire Cat knew of all the goings on in Wonderland.
“Seriously Your Royal Highness. I really would be careful of the Mome Raths if I were you.” Cheshire Cat warned. He flash his toothy grin and disappeared once more into thin air. The Princess of Hearts wasn’t his problem after all.
Alice screamed as a large creature lept out from behind a tree. It was a Mome Rath. It almost resembled a normal rat. It was covered in black fur and it had red flashing eyes. Alice dodged as it lunged for her. It bore it’s fangs and snarled. Alice gripped her knife tight as the beast lunged for her again. She stabbed the knife into it as it made for her.
The Mome Rath made a blood curdling sound and it dropped to the ground. Alice stood over the animal panting. She didn’t want to take any chances so she plunged her knife deep into it once more just to make sure it was really dead. The Mome Rath shudder a few times and was still.
“Impressive Your Highness.” Cheshire congratulated. He appeared once again out of thin air. He was sitting up in a tree grinning down at Alice. He jumped down and landed in a crouching position before Alice. He stood up stretching very much like a cat.
“You could have helped you know.” Alice scolded. She was lucky that she had came away from her encounter with the Mome Rath with only a few scratches. Cheshire Cat looked at her quizzically with his head cocked to the side.
“It was much more fun to watch you kill the beast.” Cheshire quipped. His grin became even bigger. He found watching people amusing. He saw all kinds of interesting things in his travels around Wonderland.
“Cheshire I was wondering if you know where I can find The Hatter?” Alice inquired. She was hoping that perhaps he would have heard of the resistance’s whereabouts. She doubted though as to rather or not he would be helpful. She needed to try though.
“Maybe I do, maybe I don’t.” Cheshire purred. His eyes flashed mischievously. He enjoyed playing his little games people were so much fun to toy with. Wonderland had become so terribly dreadful that it was the only fun to be had.
“Do not play games with me Cat. I want a simple answer.” Alice hissed. She pinned the cat-boy to a near by tree and held her knife to his throat. Cheshire Cat stared back at her with wide eyes and swallowed. After being attacked by a wild beast Alice wasn’t in the mood for Cheshire’s little games.
“I know where the man with the hat is.” Cheshire confessed. He really didn’t want to end up like the Mome Rath so it was probably better to play nice. He preferred to keep his nine lives intact. “I can take you there, but we should wait until it’s daylight.” he added
“Self preservation suits you.” Alice commended the cat-boy. She took the knife from his throat and stepped back. She knew he was right they were better off waiting until it was light out to continue on. “Where should we sleep?” Alice wondered.
“Higher is safer Your Highness” Cheshire suggested. He jumped up into a tree and pulled Alice along with with him. Alice settled herself on the branch opposite of Cheshire Cat. She clutched her knife to her chest and closed her eyes. She was just going to have to trust that the Cheshire Cat would come through for her.
If Alice was lucky by tomorrow she would be able to meet with The Hatter. She wasn’t sure what her next step would be, but getting to the resistance was the first part. Alice listened to the sounds of the forest and Cheshire mewling in his sleep. She let out a sigh and allowed herself to drift into slumber. Her journey was only just beginning.
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