Down The Rabbithole

Ch12

(Disclaimer: The pic of Chesire and Chesire himself belongs to Vivziepop. The Background of the pic was done by KenDrawC on Twitter. The song Cheshire sings is Welcome To Wonderland by Anson Seabra and is now way mine.)

She was SO. DANG. TIRED!!

Allison yawned and shuffled her sore feet along as she kept walking through the tall grass, bushes, and other plants through the forest to wherever this glowing butterfly took her. She had been following this small glowing creature for the longest time now and she was sure she was about to fall over any minute now from sleep deprivation. Her red eye blinked tiredly up at the thing as it fluttered a few feet ahead of her. Stopping every so while to let her catch up because of her sore and slow movements. She didn't know how long she was at this just walking through dense forest and tiredly and blankly at the pretty glowing insect. She was starting to wonder how long this was gonna last- Allison turned her tired blinking eyes ahead of her-....And stopped. The butterfly flew a little ways in front of her and stopped in-between two trees that were on the edge of the tree line leading into what looked like a giant clearing and on the far side of said clearing there a huge pink mass blocked from view by the trees ahead on her. She blinked and despite her tiredness, she rushed forward, stumbling over her feet falling to her knees a few times, but each time pushing her self up and running more until she burst through the treeline and was standing a few feet into the field.

".....O-Oh my goodness."

The field was MASSIVE. At least two or three football fields. Long grass waved gently in the wind as a few wild flowers poked their colorful heads out of the beautiful green grass and into the morning-.....Was it morning? She couldn't tell. She's been walking for so dang long. They lifted into the light anyways. And smack dab in the middle of this field was A. GIANT. PINK. CIRCUS TENT!! Just like the Fortune Teller told her. She didn't hesitate this time, umbrella in hand, she grabbed the hem of the tacky red dress she wore and began stumble running through the tall grass towards the tent as fast as she could. Her heart beating in her chest as she did. The Fortune Teller said the person inside the tent could help her get home! This was the last person she'd have to run to before she got home! That nice cozy non threatening home, with a soft bed she was gonna collapse into as soon as she got there. Or the couch. Anything would be better than a floor or walking constantly through the woods. She could finally see if Chesire was ok. She didn't know if the mirror fell on him or if he was alright! The sooner Allison got back the sooner she could see him! That thought pushed her forward and right now she didn't care if her legs and feet hurt. She could rest as soon as she got home! The tent was getting closer now, thank goodness it was in the middle of the field of grass so she wouldn't have to run for much longer she hoped!....Unfortunately she didn't see the shiny glim of the suits of armor as she was running past, or the men watching from the shadows who had spotted her as she ran across no longer needing any magical butterflies.

The one who was presumably the leader of the small group of armored men followed along Allison's path with a telescope, which gave him a full close up view of the human as she ran across the clearing of grass. "...Blonde-red hair..Red clothes...She matches the description of what her majesty has told us."..Eventually he put it down and stared at the blur heading for the large tent. "That must be her. Let us move in while we still have the element of surprise."

The three men behind him looked at one another unsure, before the middle one spoke. "I- Uh...I d-d-don't if this is a good idea, Captain." The soilder stuttered before leaning sideways to glance to the pink tent set up over there ....and gulped. "I-I-...N-No one messes with the Chesire. Y-Y-You know what he did year's ago!" He trembled as he shook and gulped. "I-I d-don't want to be turned to dust! "

"Would you rather face the Queen?," he asked back putting the telescope back into his harness as the three again exchanged looks. Facing the Queen and her temper didn't sound that appealing either...But when faced with the option of facing her or the rouge Chesire-

"E-Even the Queen never deals with the Chesire," a second one spoke and their leader narrowed his eyes watching as the blur of the girl disappeared into the tent entrance.

".....We won't be. Our orders were to retrieve the lady unharmed and bring her to her majesty, that old cat's weak right now according to her. And I am never one to go against the Queen's orders. Now come." He started making his way from the treeline as the others exchanged one last look....before following after their leader. "It's time for our task to be complete."

Allison had stopped and was taking deep long breaths as she stared up at the sight of this absolutely large and massive tent, and briefly wondered who could've been living here. A giant maybe? Or maybe there was a whole slew of circus actors and she needed a whole team to break into a castle? She didn't know. She was tired, hungry, and so desperate to just have this whole thing over and done with. She was willing to do anything at this point. So still breathing deeply from running, her hand shakily reached out and pulled the curtain entrance back. What was met was a long hallway of tent fabric. She blinked, before catiously stepping in and began stepping. The flap flopping back into place behind her, as she walked she couldn't help but feel a certain strange familiarity. It was hard to describe but she almost felt ....at home? She shook her head. No. It was because she was so tired. She was starting to turn her brain to mush. The tented hallway suddenly stopped and split into two different directions and she stopped for a moment to blink tiredly between the two directions, wondering which way she should go-....Wait. What was- She shook her head again and looked up as soft piano music started playing. No. Surely she must be hearing things, she looked right at the hallway the music seemed to magically flow from-

"Welcome to Wonderland.~ We've got it all.~ Potions and pastries that make you grow tall.~ Forests and cottages, castles and cards that can talk~," a very smooth familiar voice flowed down from the same hallway that the piano music was coming from, singing some kind of song. And she blinked again and shook her head at it as It continued singing. "Welcome to Wonderland.~ Look where you're at.~ Maddest of Hatters...the Chesire Cat.~" There was an emphasis on 'the chesire cat' that made her pause and absolutely froze, brain whirling. "Magical cabins and lovely white rabbits with clocks.~ Dancing through a dream underneath the stars.~ Laughing til the morning comes.~ Everyone that leaves has a heavy heart.~ Oh, Wonderland I love.~"

That voice. It sounded so familiar. It fact it sounded just like-

"CHESIRE?!", she shouted desperately down the hall and other than the music there wasn't any noise- A very familiar giggled rang out. She jumped. And immediately stumble ran down this hallway as the singing continued.

"Welcome to Wonderland.~ I'll be your guide.~ Holding your hand under sapphire skies.~" She came to another junction of two pathways and looked between them heart racing- "Let's go exploring or we could just go for a walk.~ Welcome to Wonderland.~ Where should we go?~" It was coming from the left now! Allison quickly followed in the direction of the music and singing and this hallway seemed longer than the last two. "There's a tea party along down the road.~ Make an appearance and maybe they'll sing us a song.~ Dancing through a dream underneath the stars.~ Laughing til the morning cooooomes.~ Everyone that leaves has a heavy heart.~" She stopped smack dab in the middle of a circle of hallway entrances now. SERIOUSLY?! This place was more like a maze than a tent. "Oh, Wonderland I Love.~"

Allison desperately looked around in circles at the multiple entrances, including the way she ran though there was five tunnels in total and she wasn't sure exactly which way to go yet. "Chesire!? C-C-Come on! This isn't f-funny!" She couldn't help the small tears beginning to form from the corners of her eyes. "Im lost and Im t-tired of running around! P-Please come out!"

The singing completely stopped for a good few moments- Before the tunnel in front of her began playing piano music louder and she zeroed in on it. "Nothing here is quite as it seems.~ Not sure if anything's real or a dream.~" She immediately made a dash towards that voice and began stumble running down a LONG hallway. "And the only thing sure from the start is the song that's inside of your heart.~ Don't let it leave.~" A light shown up in the end between two more tent flaps and with a desperate breath she ran and launched herself at it pushing the things aside and breathing heavily now inside the large room. Tears streaming down her face. But she could care less about anything else in the big room. Those red eyed locked onto the small blue furry ball sitting ontop of a wind up piano as the notes magically played by themselves. The mischevious cat was smiling softly at her and gave an almost guilty look. "If this is a dream then at least I got memories for when the morning coooomes.~" He sang before he jumped off the piano before bounding a few feet away from her. "Now That I must leave with a heavy heart.~ Oh, Wonderland I love.~......Hello, Allison. Welcome to Wonderland." He tipped his tiny hat to her. "I'll be your guide from now on."

The crying , shaking woman stood there tiredly blinking and staring at the small cat as he silently stared smiling back. Before Allison literally dropped to her knees and scooped Chesire into her arms. Crying her eyes out. Chesire didn't mind one bit as she widely smile back and hugged back. Just happy his old friend was alive and well and unharmed. Allison smiled despite herself through that tired face of hers and hiccuped. Reaching a hand up to wipe at her eyes and pull back to look the crazy cat in the eyes.

"I-I thought you might've gotten hurt! I'm so happy you're ok!...*sniff* H-Hey. How did you get here a-anyways?"

He giggled and pushed away from her grip floating again. "The same way you did! It just took myself some time and a lot of magic to piece it back together again. Where have YOU been this entire time? And how in the name of madness did you find my home? Not that I'm complaining of course!" His smile widened. "I'm so glad you found me, but how Is something my curiousity needs to know."

....She blinked. "OH! Right. Well-" She still remained on her knees just motioned with her hands as she spoke. "W-W-Well, I crash landed in a Giant's forest, and then a mouse spoke to me. And then I was talking to a mouse in a dress, and she said to talk to this Hatter and Hare. And then they let me sleep on the floor and told me to find these Twiddle sisters. I had to walk SO much just to find them, then I had to dodge a bar fight." She blinked tiredly and pointed at him. "Did...*yawwwwwn* Did I mention I haven't slept very well for two night and walked for about two days straight?..I'm so exhausted...Oh! And those sisters told me to find this Fortune Teller guy. He was this huge moth! And he made me follow this glowing bug all the way here through the woods....Oh! Did I also mention this dress is REALLY tacky?"

He listened patiently and giggled when she finished shaking his head. "Well, I'm so happy and so surprised you made it all the way here! As soon as all my magic is restored I'll think of someway to bring you home where you belong. In the meantime you can stay with me!"

...She smile dropped, suddenly remembering something. "...O-oh. About that. I-I have bad news-"

(This next few movements of the Chesire cat Im completely referencing what he does from the 'Vivienne Medrano - Updated Animation Reel 2015' video on youtube, since it's the only real animation of Chesire I'm using as much information and material presented to us I can. So if you wanna see that particular small animation of him, look up the video I named on youtube and skip to 1:14, and 1:44 in the vid.)

He jumped up higher in the air and held his staff out gesturing to the tent around him. Right behind him was the doorway she came in from."Welcome to the Cat's Meow Tent, Ladies and Gentlemen! Here you'll find out anything is but an ask away!" At 'away' he leaned back and she giggled as he did a back fip still talking. "But of course, these halls will make you flip for excitement.~" All of a sudden his head popped off his shoulders and his staff floated in mid air as he shrugged. "You don't wanna loose your head getting lost do ya? She giggled as he reached up to pull his head back onto his shoulders. "No, of course not.~ Just stick with me and I gaurentee everything will be just dandy!"

...Once again her smile faded as she tiredly blinked and he regrabbed his floating staff. "Actually. E-Everything's not dandy, Chesh. ...Those Twiddle sisters told me that there was already people after me." She didn't notice his posture instantly freeze at what she said, but it only became worse as she kept talking. "T-The Fortune Teller. He said the only way I can get b-back home was the magic mirror in the Queen's castle, that's why he sent me here. He said I'd need your help to sneak in so I can go home."

She jumped finding him inches from her face. There was something about that wide grin and the way he was now moving that seemed....off. Even for someone as odd as him. His pupils completely shrank to thin snake like slits and his body was slightly bouncing as he stared at her. His tail bouncing hard to some kind of beat only he could hear and his eyes blinking one after another with each bounce of his tail. He looked...almost scary. He giggled, devoid of any happiness. "And I don't suppose this person after you would happen to be the Queen of Hearts. Would it?"...She slowly nodded and he leaned back up. Still leaning forward on that staff though. "No need to fear. She wouldn't risk coming here even if her life depended on it.~ And I doubt anyone knows where you are right now."

Well, those were some really good points. She watched as the cat floated over and gestured to the giant room around them. There was what looked like bowling pins over near the door, probably for juggling, a unicycle, the piano he was sitting on a few minutes ago, and a few other things you'd expect to find in a circus tent.

"There's plenty of tricks and performances I'd love to show you while we figure things out!" He paused seeing her yawn and stretch her body out. "...Or perhaps we should invest in getting you some rest. I can handle things while you do?"

She tiredly blinked at him. "A-Aren't you tired?"

"Very! But I'm tired like I've just had a long run. I don't need much sleep. My magic needs to replenish from it's natural source after I used so much of it so few hours apart of each usage of it." He giggled nervously. "To be honest, I barely even have enough energy right now to even keep me afloat."

"...Hey. How did you use the mirror after you fixed it? Wouldn't the portal have been destroyed?"

He shook his head. "No. If the one who made the portal fixes it, then they can still use it. After all only the one who made the portal can use or even destroy it."

Allison sat there for a moment mind whirling....before she scowled at him. "Wait a second. If only YOU could use that thing, then HOW COME I CRASH LANDED HERE?!"

He paused for a minute, and his smile became smaller. Well that was one question he was expecting of her and he sighed. "Anyone who isn't from my world doesn't need permission to use portals ONLY IF they don't personally belong to someone. ...I think I must've accidentally gave you my permission to use it MY personal one and I didn't realize it until it was too late."

She looked confused. "But....I never ASKED to use it, and you never said I could."

His paws nervously tapped along his staff. "Mmmmmmm. No, you're right. I didn't exactly say yes, and you never asked. But magic works in mysterious ways and I must've subconsciously given my permission without meaning to or realizing it. Remember when you made the upside down cake?" He watched as she paused, probably remembering back days ago.

She tried to make pineapple upside down cake. She made it and turned her back away from it for a second when she turned back and almost had a heart attack from Chesire using his magic to hold in place upside-down.

"What are you doing?!"

"Helping you with the recipe. I don't think you'll be able to make it stay upside down on your own will you?"

"T-That's not...Wait." She blinked. "Your Upside down cakes are ACTUALLY upside down?"

"Of course they are! It wouldn't make sense for it NOT to be. What's the point of having an upside-down cake if it's not made properly?"

"Huh. You'll have to show me your world sometime."

"Really?!" His tone radiated excitement as that idea was thrown at him and he giggled. "What a splendidly marvelous idea!! You could take my portal but...perhaps it would be better if not. There is dangers still left to be undangered."

"What do you mean?"

''Hopefully you'll never find out. Now let's cut this open! Im starving so to speak."

He...accidentally DID give her his permission. He really didn't mean she could use it, and it really didn't count in their eyes...but it must've counted where magic was concerned. And she blinked.

"You...really did accidentally give me permission, didn't you?"

He only nodded. "Yes. And therefore it's my fault you've had to deal with everything thus far and I can't apologize enough for my carelessness. But rest assured I will get you home safe and sound, Dear friend." She yawned real loudly and he chuckled. "And speaking of rest, I believe we both should both have a moment to relax and rest up!"

She giggled lightly before yawning again. Yeah. Taking a rest sounded great. Now that she was in a safe place, they could both get some re-

"GAH!!"

A blur of blue suddenly shot down from the air past her as Chesire suddenly landed to the ground with a thud as she gasped and jumped. His hat and staff dropping to the ground from where he was previously floating as the cat laid limply knocked out on the ground. A few feet from him was one of the white juggling bowling pins that was near the exit. A shout of 'CHESIRE!' filled the air as she stared at her poor unconscious friend in horror before turning around as a large shadow fell over her- BAM!! Darkness clouded her vision and with her body being so tired walking all this time and without sleep, she easily went down unconscious to the floor as well, as four large men in shiny armor stared down at her....Before looking at their leader who leaned down to the unconscious Allison. Jabbing her side and getting a groan outta her. Good. She would be alright. The other three men looked sacredly over at the limp cat laying only a few feet from them before their captain leaned back up holding the unconscious human bridal style and turning like kidnapping A Chesire's best friend was something he did everyday.

"Come. We've gotten what Her Majesty wanted. We have no further business here."

The three were happy to comply as they carried Allison away towards the Heart Castle.