by Dani Hoots
To have called it a tree house may have been a bit much. It really was just a flat board. A large flat board, but seriously that was it. No walls, no ceiling. Just a floor and some padding.
“You sleep here?” I asked. It seemed strange, to be sleeping outside instead of in the castle. But I guess he was a cat.
He nodded. “Yup! Cats like heights.”
“And you thought this would help me relax? I don’t like heights as you already know.”
“No.” He picked up a rock. “I brought you up here to see this.” He threw the rock into the forest.
As the rock hit the forest floor, hundreds, if not, thousands of lights came shooting up into the sky around us. I watched them in awe. There were so many of them. They looked like fireflies but something told me in my mind that they weren’t. They flew more like butterflies. They spread across the sky, twinkling and changed color. I couldn’t believe it, all I wanted to do now was paint what I had seen. As they rose in the sky, they looked like the northern lights, twinkling different colors. I could spend hours staring at them.
“This is amazing!” I exclaimed. “I’ve never seen something so beautiful.”
“Wonderland is full of beauty and mystery. That’s why I love it here, I always can find something new to explore.” Chase sat down and leaned back on his arms. “I could never settle down in one place with so many things to explore.”
I went over and sat down next to him. “My world must seem so boring to you.”
He laughed. “It is pretty dull, I have to admit.” He glanced over to me. “But there are some great things about it.”
I blushed as I looked back up at the sky. The lights still sparkled in the night sky. I leaned back on my arms and closed my eyes for a second. I didn’t realize how tired I was and before I knew it, I was out.
CHAPTER 12
I woke up to find clear sky above me. I blinked a couple of time, wondering how that was possible. Then it hit me. I was in a tree, way up in a tree actually. Chase had brought me up here last night where I could sleep.
That’s right, I was in Wonderland.
So this isn’t a dream. I’m trapped in Wonderland.
It hit me like a wall, I couldn’t believe it. Deep down I really thought it was a dream, but I should have woken up by now. I should have found myself covered in paint in my room. Instead, I found myself in a tree, by myself, with Chase nowhere to be seen.
Great.
I peered down at the ground. I had to have been at least five stories up. God, if Chase left me up here I was going to punch him. I hated heights, especially ones where I knew there was no way I could get down without him transporting me down. He was such a jerk if he left me.
After the anger started to dissipate, I realized how much I could really see of the Kingdoms. Although I had walked through the ruins yesterday, it was much different seeing them in the day like this. I could see how grand it really once stood, how many people it could occupy. It was extraordinary to see, as time and nature currently trying to take it back to a time before it was created, trees and plants swallowing it whole, slowly but surely. I imagined parts of the Greek and Roman Empire looked quite the same. History that would slowly be forgotten.
“Chase, where the hell did you go?” I whispered as I tried to figure out how to get down from here. Nope, there was no clear way of doing it. I was screwed.
“You didn’t think I would really leave you here alone, now did ya?”
I looked up to find Chase on a branch higher up than the board. I don’t know why I didn’t think to look up, he was a cat after all.
“Who knows with you,” I commented
He grinned as he jumped down to the platform. “You learn quickly.”
I looked back down at the ground below. It seemed quiet, but I knew Malcolm and the others were down there. “Shouldn’t we be getting down there now? You said something about learning how to fight today.”
“As you wish.” He wrapped his arms around me and suddenly we were on the ground. He kept his arms around me, smiling. My heart started to beat faster. His skin was warm against mine and I could feel his hot breath against my face. He started to lean closer…
“Chase!” I heard Malcolm’s voice call from behind me. Chase let go of me and I turned to find Malcolm running over towards us. “You have some nerve, you stupid cat!”
Chase raised his eyebrow with a sly smile. “What are you talking about?”
“I went to wake up Alice and she was gone. You didn’t tell any of us where you took her. What do you think that was like, especially since there are people out there who are trying to get her? For all we knew, she could have been kidnapped. But lo and behold, you were missing as well.” Malcolm had his hands clenched in fists and his face was starting to turn red. I stepped away from the two of them.
Chase shrugged it off, not letting Malcolm talk down at him. “She couldn’t sleep so I decided to take her up to my tree fort to see the wonders of this land.”
Malcolm looked up in disbelief. “You took her up there? How could you?”
“Easily, I’m a cat. Now, stop yelling at me or are you just jealous that she spent the night with me instead of you?”
Malcolm pulled his fist back and punched Chase right in the jaw.
“Chase!” I exclaimed as he fell back. I knelt down next to him, making sure he was all right.
Chase placed his fingers over where his lip was bleeding. “That was uncalled for.”
“No it wasn’t,” Malcolm sharply replied. He held out his hand. “Now let’s go Alice, there’s a lot we need to go over today. You don’t want to spend your time with this cat.”
I looked down at Chase who was licking the blood off his finger. I didn’t understand why Malcolm was so mad at Chase, he was just trying to help. Though, then again, he should have told someone where we were, but I was responsible for that as well. I sighed as I grabbed Malcolm’s hand and he helped me up.
Malcolm led us back towards the castle where I could change into something more practical to learn how to fight in. I spotted an ivory and brown corset with a blue shirt, brown pants, and a utility belt that would be perfect to wear.
I glanced behind us to find Chase following at a distance, scowling. I felt bad for him and didn’t know what to do. The more time I spent with either of them, the more they fought. I liked them both and wanted both to be my friends. It was a lot more complicated than I even realized, especially if they had existed for such a long time.
“Why are you so mad at him?” I finally asked Malcolm. I would have whispered so Chase couldn’t overhear, but I remembered he was a cat and could hear pretty much anything.
“Because, he knew better than to take you away from the base. If Bill attacked here, he would have been defenseless. We have to stick together in case someone finds us,” he explained, keeping his eyes forward.
“But would they have been able to get up there, on the tree I mean. We were pretty high up.”
“When Chase opens portals like that, they stay around for a while. Bill has a device that can allow him to go through. That is why we didn’t use his abilities in the forest. If Bill figured out you were up there, you would have been cornered and everything that we worked hard to accomplish would have been for nothing.”
I looked down at my feet. “Oh, I didn’t know.”
“You aren’t the one at fault, Chase is. He should have known better, or at least told one of us.”
“He was just trying to help me, I couldn’t sleep last night. Too much going through my mind.”
Malcolm looked over to me. “I know this is a lot to take in, Alice, but I think with our help, you can overcome anything.” He nodded over to the other boys. “We will train you in everything you need to know.”
He led me to them, and they smiled when they saw me.
“Ready for a fun day of fighting, Alice?” Melvin smiled.
“If it will help me defeat Morpheus, then sure?” I had a feeling, though,
it wouldn’t help. But I was open to anything.
Melvin and Davis looked over at Chase and frowned. They didn’t say a word but I knew they were as mad at him as much as Malcolm was. Chase was silent as he approached.
I quickly changed into the outfit I had spotted earlier and came back down for breakfast. Chase simply lingered in the shadows, watching, making sure I was all right, but not saying a word to any of the others, his ears down and a bit ashamed. He acted like a cat who got caught perching on the dining room table on Thanksgiving. It was sad to watch, but almost a little comical.
Once breakfast was over, the four boys took me to a large room that was full of weapons of all sorts. I gasped in amazement. It appeared like something that would be found in an English palace.
“To start off, we will work on hand-to-hand combat.” Malcolm gestured to sit. “Melvin and I will demonstrate some fighting and then teach you a move and you will try it with Davis.”
“Why me?” Davis squeaked.
Malcolm smiled. “Because you are the smallest and best for her to practice with.”
Melvin and Malcolm went out to the middle of the room. Bowing, they raised their hands. Right away, I could tell that Melvin and Malcolm had two different styles of fighting. Malcolm held his hands up, but with fingers in, sort of like a tiger style that I had seen online, whereas Melvin had his fingers up and extended.
Melvin was the first to move. It all happened really fast, I tried to keep up with how they were fighting, but it was rather difficult. When Melvin first struck, Malcolm blocked the attack with his left arm and then counterattacked with his right hand, slashing Melvin straight in the face. It was clear they weren’t giving it their all, as Melvin had barely been hit. If it was full throttle, Melvin would have been on the ground.
Even though he took the hit, Melvin was quick to recover. He swung his leg out towards Malcolm, bouncing back on his arm, knocking Malcolm’s legs from underneath him. Although I would have definitely have fallen face-first on the ground, Malcolm landed on his arms and tumbled back up to a standing position. The fight was clearly nowhere near over.
Malcolm took a punch at Melvin that was easily deflected and punched Malcolm in the stomach. As Melvin was just about to hit him again, Malcolm grabbed his arm and pulled him towards himself, stepping out of the way and kicking him down to the ground. Malcolm knelt down as if he were going to punch Melvin in the face, but he stopped short.
“You get the idea, right?”
I nodded, eyes wide. They were pretty good, as it was just a demonstration. I wondered how good they were when they weren’t holding back.
Malcolm motioned Davis and I to stand up. “Now, you two come here. We will show you the first move and how to deflect it.”
I stood across from Davis, worried that whatever would happen wouldn’t cause Davis any pain. He looked as worried as I did, as if he has been in this situation before.
“Now Davis, act as if you are punching straight at Alice’s face, and do it slowly,” Malcolm said as he stood behind me.
Davis’ fist came slowly at my face.
“Now, use your left arm to deflect it, and once it is deflected, use that momentum to punch him across the face. Don’t actually do it, but get the movement down in your muscle memory.”
I nodded and did just that.
“Very good!” Malcolm said. “Now when he punched with his left hand, grab his wrist with your left hand and punch his elbow with the palm of your hand. Then with both hands grab his arm, pull him forward, and kick him in the knee.”
“You suck as a teacher, you know that? She isn’t going to get anywhere with a teacher like you,” Chase said, as he still stood in the corner watching and ready to mock anything he could.
Malcolm turned and frown. “Really, you want to do this now?”
Chase shrugged. “Just telling you my observations. You aren’t that great of a fighter, I could beat you any day of the week.”
“This again. You are just mad that I beat you last time.”
“Oh, yeah, how about a rematch? “Chase stepped forward. “And show Alice here what a real fight looks like, not this choreographed nonsense. You and me, one on one. No weapons, just fists.”
Malcolm sighed, then nodded for us to move. “Fine, but don’t complain to me when you have to crawl up a tree and lick your wounds clean.”
I quickly moved out of the way, along with Davis and Melvin. Both of them frowned.
“Not this again,” Melvin whispered. “What is he thinking?”
I didn’t know which of the two he meant. Malcolm and Chase bowed and raised their hands. However, instead of a tiger-like technique or an open hand, Chase raised his hands like a boxer would.
“He is completely different than both of you,” I commented.
Davis nodded. “Good eye. Neither of them ever agree on anything, even fighting techniques. That is where things gets really interesting. Sorry you have to watch, but when Chase said no holding back, he wasn’t joking. When these two have an excuse to physically fight, neither of them will stop until the other is down and out.”
I stared at them, a bit afraid as to what was going to happen. I didn’t want either of them to get hurt. I knew how much they hated each other, and they used these matches to really lay into the other. I wondered how long I could watch.
Chase went straight towards Malcolm, his elbows close to himself, punching towards his torso. Malcolm blocked them all and tried to rebut with his own technique, but Chase blocked him as well. Then Chase laid one right onto Malcolm’s jaw.
I put my hands over my mouth as Malcolm wiped away the blood on mouth. “Good one.”
And with that he punched Chase right into the jaw as well. Chase stumbled back for a moment, then charged back at him with another punch. Malcolm easily deflected it and kicked him in the side. Chase blocked the second kick, adding a few more punches of his own. One landed straight into Malcolm’s stomach but he didn’t let it phase him. Quickly he punched back, making Chase turn his back to him to block. Malcolm had the upper advantage for a moment, but Chase quickly got out of it.
“Oh my god, when are they going to stop?” I whispered more to myself than to Davis or Melvin. Neither of them were slowing down and the more they fought, the more they appeared angrier.
Chase took a large swing at Malcolm, which Malcolm easily dodged and kicked Chase straight in the face in retaliation. I watched as blood started to run down his face next to his eye. God, I couldn’t stomach watching anymore, but my eyes couldn’t look away for even a second.
Malcolm charged at him, round kicking twice at his face, but Chase dodged both of them and punched him straight in the face. Chase kept punching but Malcolm held off each attack and punched him in the nose. He started to fall back but Malcolm grabbed him and pulled him into a full Nelson. Chase was helpless.
“When are you going to realize you can’t beat me, cat?” Malcolm yelled. “Stop being a selfish bastard and realize you are nothing! Just a pain in my ass.”
“Why should I ever take orders from you, you’re an outcast! A criminal! You should have never been allowed back into Wonderland. Alice should have never accepted you, she was stupid to think you could ever change!” Chase kept struggling in Malcolm’s grip, but couldn’t do anything about it. I wondered if they meant the original Alice, the Alice of legend.
“That is none of your business!”
“Boys, enough!” Howard stepped in the room. “Really, I leave you alone for ten minutes and I come back to this. How is Alice supposed to learn if you can’t hold it together for a few minutes?”
Malcolm let go of Chase and Chase dusted himself off. They both answered. “Sorry, sir.”
“Chase,” Howard sighed. “I want you to teach Alice how to use a sword. You are the best one to teach here.”
He nodded. “Sure.”
“Well then,” Howard gestured to the swords. “Go ahead.”
Howard stared at Chase, scowling at him as he we
nt to get the swords.
“Come on Alice, we will practice over here,” Chase said.
Chase started showing the different type of swords there were and what each one was best at when it came to fighting. “There are many types of swords, as you can see. I will give you a quick overview before we decide which one we should practice with.
“First off, you have your longswords and bastard swords, which are the typical medieval looking swords. These can either be one or two hands, though with the heavier ones I think they need two hands. It really just depends on the handle. They are usually double-edged.” He moved on to the next swords.
“For one-handed swords, we have broadswords which include claymores. Then there are long knives which are always good to have handy in case something happens to your main sword.
“Next we have the edgeless and thrusting swords, such as the xiphos, rapier, and panzerstecher, which are more for agility, finding your opponent’s weak spot when it comes to armor and aiming there. Then there is the single-edged and curved swords, which include katanas, sabers, and cutlasses. Any questions?”
I had a lot of questions, actually. I knew nothing about swords and suddenly was thrusted in having to choose one of them. But there was one thing I wanted to know. “What would be the best to fight against Morpheus with?” I asked.
Chase scratched his chin. “Really depends on what he has. It’s not like I have seen him fight with a sword. As for the King and Queen’s guards, they fight with rapiers, which have more precision when dealing with armor. With Morpheus, you don’t need to worry about that. You also won’t be able to learn to be that precise and quick. As for double-sided, two-handed swords, I think they might be too heavy and slow you down. So really for you I would pick either a claymore or any of the single-edged swords.”
I glanced back at the rest of the boys and Howard. They were all talking, and Malcolm seemed to be arguing about something, but Howard wouldn’t have it. The tension was growing thick in the room.
Turning my attention back to the swords, I studied them all. I did agree that I would want to start out with something light at first and there was one that stood out to me above all the rest. I grabbed the katana.
