Chessboard
Disclaimer- I do not own Alice in Wonderland or the characters therein. Unfortunately. =(
Chapter One- Unexpected Arrival
She ran, never stopping, the screams echoing in her head louder and louder. She stumbled and regained her footing quickly but…not quick enough…her pursuer was upon her in an instant.
The dream ended abruptly as the twenty-one year old young woman awoke in a cold sweat. This was by no means the first time she had dreamt of being pursued. Although the location of the chase seemed to change regularly. From a dark forest, to the corridors of a palace that seemed to have no ending. Both places seemed somewhat familiar to the shaken Alice as she absentmindedly ran a hand over the still prominent, jagged scars on her upper right arm.
Though she had the proof that it had been real, Alice Kingsley could not help but wonder sometimes if her time in…Underland…had been a dream. Though there were the many facts that clearly stated otherwise.
Since her return from China several months ago, Alice had resumed her living with her mother in their London mansion. She still refused to wear the corsets her mother so persistently insisted she wear and the stockings too.
The blonde woman sighed and kicked the white covers from her body, slipping her feet onto the wooden floor. Slipping a robe over her nightgown, she slowly padded out of her bed chamber to join her mother for breakfast.
"Alice dear…I know how you dislike speaking about such an affair but it is time you were married, my girl."
Helen's daughter scoffed "Mother, please! I really do not wish to talk about this I will not marry any man I don't love. And I have no interest in finding one."
The aging woman sighed and opened her mouth to reply, her words never presented themselves before a high pitched shriek echoed into the dining room and a clearly terrified maid ran in hurriedly. "A mouse! There is a mouse in the kitchen!"
Helen Kingsley pursed her lips "Well set traps for the filthy creature."
The maid nodded but continued "It is quite the largest mouse I have seen; the size of a rat!"
Alice tilted her head "But perhaps it is a rat."
Her mother ignored this "Set the traps."
"But traps are cruel, Mother!"
"Alice, it is a filthy rodent."
The girl frowned "Please? I'll find it and set it free, but don't hurt it!"
Her mother's eyes softened a little, her daughter could never bear to see a creature unjustly hurt, even a disgusting rodent like a mouse or rat. Reluctantly she nodded; it was not as if her daughter had much to do on that day anyway.
Alice returned to her room quickly to dress, casting aside the corset that her mother had been sure to place in obvious view, her eyes alighted briefly on the familiar blue dress, she had not worn it since that fateful day nearly two years previous. Her mother continuously insisted that she get rid of the still dirt encrusted, torn fabric of a dress but Alice continuously refused, claiming that it held great sentimental value. Which, in truth, it did.
She slipped on a simple, cream coloured dress, no complicated ties or petticoats with sleeves that ended neatly a little way below her shoulders. Glancing briefly into the looking glass placed in the corner of the room she made her way downstairs once again, the wooden boards creaking ever so quietly beneath her feet.
Beneath the roots of a familiar tree a purple top hat emerged, garbed with a pale pink ribbon. An arm followed it, and a second one after that, pulling up a frizzy haired head followed by a brightly coloured suit, complete with torso and legs. Vibrant, unbelievably green eyes glanced around eagerly, examining their surroundings.
Alice sighed; she had spent the past hour searching for the mouse, attempting to lure it out with pieces of cheese to no avail. Perhaps it would do better merely to let the traps be set and be done with it. After all, it was just a mouse and though Alice hated the thought of a harmless animal being hurt or killed without cause, she was tiring of searching for it.
Righting herself, she shook the dust from her long hair, debating whether or not she should take a walk. She froze, catching a reflection of some movement in the shining surface of a silver platter. There it was again, a white flash darting beneath the newly polished table behind Alice.
"Curiouser and curiouser." The woman murmured, crouching down to peer beneath the object. Her brown eyes found nothing there.
Once again Alice righted herself, blinking her eyes. It is just my imagination, I only see it because…perhaps because I wish to see it…
It was true; it had truly been difficult for her to leave Underland several years previous. Lately her dreams could not help but remind her of that fact.
Perhaps she would take a walk, it would do her good, Alice decided.
She was greeted immediately by the stray tortoiseshell cat she had affectionately named Dinah as she passed through the gate. She had found the cat on the ship on the return journey from China and she had seemed to have taken quite a shine to Alice.
Bending to give the cat a gentle scratch behind the ears, Alice smiled "Hello, Dinah…I wonder…have you been seeing strange white things moving around lately?"
The cat meowed and purred, rubbing up against the human's legs affectionately. "Of course you can't answer me. You, after all, Dinah, are not an Underland cat." Alice paused…perhaps that is a good thing… "I wouldn't wish you to disappear and reappear so tauntingly, Dinah."
The cat merely blinked up at her with her dark, olive eyes before sharply snapping her head to the side as though she had caught a scent and darting off into the hedges.
Alice watched after it for a moment and then stood, making her way…well…nowhere in particular.
She wandered, without realizing it, onto a stray path through the few trees dotting the landscape; it was not long before Alice recognized this path as being a much shorter way to the grounds of Lord and Lady Ascot. The truth was she found it much quicker to walk, the carriage driver was tediously slow and the dapple grey horses were not as young and quick as they had once been. Though, it was not 'proper' for a Victorian London Lady to walk great distances, Alice, of course, paid no mind to this. She had often walked this way, though Lord Ascot and Lady Ascot had not known of her visits to their grounds. Alice had always loved the clearings and paddocks owned by the Ascots, since she was a little, rather disobedient, child.
Before she knew it, she had arrived in a particular paddock, very familiar. As she gazed upon the large rabbit hole that she had fallen done twice now, Alice grinned "I do wonder…" she murmured quietly to herself. She shook her head "No, No, Alice. That is a ridiculous idea, think straight, now is not the time to be catapulting off into Underland."
She sighed and lay down a good amount of feet away from the roots of the tree, her long, blonde hair sprawling about her. Steadily, and unwillingly, faces began to re emerge in her minds eye. Familiar faces, some friendly, some not so friendly, but all of them strange. There was a cat, whose wide smile stretched further then ear to ear, there was a scowling woman, whose bulbous head was adorned with a vast amount of bright red hair, there was a gentler looking woman, whose long, white hair framed her smiling face, there was a man, whose bright orange hair stuck out from beneath a large, purple top hat, and whose fluorescent green eyes could be seen a mile away, there was a large bloodhound, whose soft brown eyes were gentle and grateful, and there were many more, 'human' and 'animal' alike, but we haven't the time to go into all of them.
She closed her eyes and almost slipped off into a light slumber before a high pitched cry woke her. Alice jolted upright, her dress bunching uncomfortably around the middle as she did so. The loud yowl of a cat joined the first sound as Dinah skittered into the clearing, a few yards before Alice, hissing and spitting violently, the ginger and black fur on her neck standing straight.
It was the smaller shape that caught Alice's eye however, what appeared to be a mouse brandishing a sword had leapt onto the feline's back, clinging on for dear life. Its battle to stay mounted did not last however and the creature was soon flung onto the ground. Dinah hissed, pinning the…mouse…to the ground with one white paw and making to bite down.
"Dinah! No! Bad cat!" Alice cried, hurriedly darting to the animals and gently pushing Dinah away. The cat protested, spitting at Alice and making to scratch her hand before hissing and running off.
The mouse scoffed and righted itself, waving the small sword in the air and crying after the retreating feline "And don't show your fuzzy face around me again!"
Alice knelt, astounded at her company as the mouse, clad in purplish clothing turned to her, sheathing her sword. "Your cats are extremely rude! It tried to eat me! Eat me!"
"Mallymkun?" The woman blinked. "Ho-" She screamed sharply as a hand clapped down onto her fabric covered shoulder.
"Hello Alice."