Chapter Text
All he had been doing, for as long as he could remember, was running and hiding. Somehow, he couldn’t remember what he had been running from, nor what he had been hiding for. What he did remember was a rather large hole in the ground. He had been in a forest or some other sort of grassy place and had thought that, maybe, he would find a cave. The hole was hidden somewhat by the roots of a tree, so he had decided that there was a likelihood that they would miss it.
So he had clambered in and soon found himself slipping down the hole, his bag tumbling after him. It had been a long fall, filled with digital clocks and guns and tables. He had been confused and worried, but it seemed to fade the longer he fell. Instead, he began to grab at the things around him. There were biscuits and tea and, with some relief, he took some and managed to eat and drink it, right way up and upside down and back to front.
Eventually, the items had disappeared and a light from below had shown him the hard floor below. He had grimaced, closed his eyes and braced for impact. However, he needn’t have worried. Something had gripped at his clothes, tumbled him over, and slowed his fall until he had landed on his feet.
Now, he looked around the room he found himself in as he picked up his duffel bag and slung it over his shoulder. There were five doors, each with a different symbol on them. One of them had a skull and crossbones. Beside it were some crossed swords and beside that was a wreath made of roses. On the second to last door was a crown above a chess piece; he thought it might be a queen, but he couldn’t be sure. The very last door, however, was the one he gravitated towards. On it, were a pair of racquets, crossed over each other, as if they were being clacked together.
He didn’t know how he knew that.
Since he couldn’t go back or risk being caught, he opened the door. It resisted for a moment before it swung open with a loud creak. He stepped through carefully, peering into the gloom. Slowly, his eyes adjusted and he was able to make out what was around him.
Moonlight shone down over the scene, giving everything a spooky, silvery glow. Tall, glass-filled buildings loomed over him, though most of them were at angles, as if something had pushed them over and left them struggling to stand. Other, shorter buildings were missing roofs and walls. Cars snaked along a road that crossed the overgrown path he was standing on, all of them deathly still. Giant flowers with muted colours swayed in the wind; he was sure he could hear quiet voices singing with each gust, a sorrowful, pained sound.
Grimacing, he turned to go back through the door and try another one, only to find that it had gone. Behind him, stretched more of the path until it was swallowed by darkness. The darkness seemed to watch him, ready to pounce if he so much as stepped back. Shuddering, he stumbled away. He turned away from that darkness and hoped it wouldn’t catch up.
The path twisted away from the road before he got to it, stopped by a huge wall made of glass bricks. He thought it was rather impractical - if there was an earthquake or some other disaster, the wall would instantly fall down. Shaking his head at it, he walked along it, looking for a gap that he could step through so he could take a car. He walked for what felt like hours, but found nothing. The path stayed the same and the wall was smooth and whole.
“Well, well,” came a voice from above him. “A newbie.”
Startled, he stumbled back from the wall and looked up. He blinked and squinted. Hovering above the glass was a moon-shaped… thing . It was white and curved upwards. For a moment, he thought it was a smile, but it wasn’t like any smile he had ever seen and he shuddered.
“H-Hello?” he said, his voice hoarse from disuse.
And the moon-smile parted, revealing teeth, a tongue, lips, a voice. “Hello, rabbit.”
“Rabbit? I’m not a rabbit.”
“And yet, you came down the rabbit hole. Ergo, you must be a rabbit.”
“I’m not,” he insisted. “I just… I was… hiding.”
“Hiding, hm?” said the mouth. As it spoke, a tail popped into existence beside it, long and sleek. It was black with grey stripes and it waved to and fro. “Hiding from what, pray tell?”
“I… Does it matter?” he asked, uneasy.
“Of course it does. We have enough problems here in Wonderland.”
“‘Wonderland’?” He shook his head. “That- It’s not possible…” But, even as he said it, he knew that he was wrong. How else could he fall down a hole and arrive in this impossible place? “But… If this is Wonderland, then where did the other doors lead?”
“Oh, those spit you out in other parts of Wonderland,” the mouth explained as the tail was joined by a pair of pointed cat’s ears, both of them swivelled in his direction. “So. Why did you pick here to tumble into?”
“I… don’t know,” he admitted. He looked around and noted how Wonderland looked very different from what he would have expected, not that he could remember what he expected it to look like. “What happened here?”
“Don’t you know?” said the person that was suddenly outlined. When he blinked, the mouth and tail and ears belonged to a short man dressed all in black. His blond hair was pale in the moonlight and his eyes were shrouded in shadow so he couldn’t pick out the colour. The cat - for what else could it be - clambered to his feet and began to precariously make his way along the wall, wobbling and grimacing. “Did they not write about that up there?”
He followed, watching in case the cat fell. “Up where?” he asked, then shook his head. “No, I- There’s a girl named Alice and crazy things happen. That’s all.”
“Really? Humans are such silly creatures.”
“Yes,” he agreed. “But what’s that got to do with Wonderland?”
“Well,” said the cat, hopping off the suddenly knee-high wall. He stood in front of him, grinning rather maniacally at him. His eyes were a shiny amber, his pupils vertical slits. “Everything and nothing.”
“Did Alice do something here?”
“She knocked a little bit of sense into the inhabitants of Wonderland,” the cat explained, starting to walk backwards. He followed, intrigued. “Just enough for them to band together against other nations.”
“There are other nations?”
“The White Nation, run by the White King and Queen. And the other suits. Which is what happened here.” The cat spun around at the end of his sentence and paused long enough for him to fall in step. “You see, lovely little Alice made fun of the Queen of Hearts at her trial. The Queen of Hearts was angry and he yelled at people a lot, forcing them to hunt the entirety of Wonderland for the girl. But the King of Hearts was old and he died not long after Alice had left. Poor Queenie was devastated and stopped the search so he could remarry.”
When the cat paused for so long that he thought he might be finished, he said, “The Queen is a man? Why didn’t he just become King after the King had died?”
“Because that would be confusing,” the cat said with a dismissive wave of his hand. “He married a man who became the King of Hearts - but he was already the King of Clubs and he brought all his Cards with him.”
“He took over the Hearts part of Wonderland?” he suggested.
“Well done,” said the cat. “Ten points to…? Do you have a name?”
There was one name, but he didn’t want to tell the cat. “No. I don’t. Do you?”
The cat rolled his eyes. “Of course I do. I’m the Cheshire Cat.”
“So do I call you ‘Cheshire’ or ‘Cat’?”
Stopping suddenly, the Cheshire Cat turned to him. The Cat gave him an appraising look, those bright eyes piercing through him. “You can call me Andrew.”
“Okay.”
“And you need to have a name or you’ll make Wonderland more ridiculous than it already is.”
“But I don’t have one,” he said, frowning at Andrew.
“You could use Alice’s name.”
He frowned. “No, I don’t want that one. It’s-” He paused. Despite not really knowing much about Alice, he had been about to say that he didn’t want to be associated with her. But, having given himself a second to think, he realised that, deep down, it was because it didn’t feel right. “It’s not mine,” he finished saying.
“Then… Neil. I’ve decided your name is Neil and you can’t change it.” Andrew grinned maniacally at him. “I’ve decided to keep you - at least until we get you a weapon or to a safe place. Then I’ll have to go.”
“Wait, weapon? Go? Why?” asked Neil, his attention pulling everywhere at once. He had a new name and he… Well, Neil loved it. Somehow, he felt like he’d been given the start of his new life.
“Oh, yes. I haven’t finished the story.” Andrew twirled away and stalked off, his tail weaving through the air behind him. Neil had the strange urge to tug on it but decided not to. With all this talk of weapons and war, he didn’t think it would be a good idea to surprise him. Besides, he had seen cats and he knew they usually didn’t like their tails being pulled. “Well,” Andrew continued as Neil hurried to catch up. “The King of Clubs was horrible to the Queen of Hearts, but Queenie was relieved to have a husband again. Then, one fun day, the King decided to expand their territory.” Andrew shrugged and gestured around them, one of his ears twitching.
“And this happened?” Neil asked, staring at the devastation. “How?”
“Weapons,” Andrew said with a disinterested shrug.
“What’s happening now?”
“Do you ever stop asking questions?” Andrew retorted, shaking his head. “Now, those that were the original characters are attempting to fight back.” He scoffed. “It isn’t going well.”
Neil looked around again, taking in the toppled buildings, the abandoned cars, the smashed shop fronts, the silence. “Is that why you’re alone?”
“Mm. We also heard the door opening.”
“Huh?” Neil stopped, staring at Andrew. The Cat also stopped, turning to look at him, still with that wide grin on his face. “How did you hear that? It’s so far away…” He trailed off and started to turn to look back at the way he had come.
“Don’t do that,” said Andrew, making Neil freeze. “Not unless you want to be swallowed by shadows. Come on,” he added, continuing on his way.
Following, Neil resisted the urge to check over his shoulder and to make sure that they weren’t being followed. He remembered the disappearance of the door and wondered. “What are the shadows, anyway?”
“Who knows?” said Andrew. “No more questions. We’re nearly there.”
Confused, Neil looked around. He couldn’t see anything particularly interesting on their path. Something inside him told him not to ask, however, and instead he slowly said, “Okay…”
They had barely gone a few more paces when Neil saw what Andrew had meant. A door suddenly popped into existence, though it had clearly been there for quite some time. It had been painted green, but it was faded and peeling. Grass grew around the bottom of it, stretching for the sun. The yellow heads of weeds bobbed their heads in a nonexistent breeze; they looked rather depressed and Neil found himself feeling sorry for them. Apart from the rundown look of it, the door had another symbol on it: a paw print.
“Where-?” Neil began before remembering what Andrew had just said.
Andrew gave him an overly amused glance. “This will take you to the Queen of Hearts.”
“What? Why would I want to see him?” Neil demanded. He wasn’t keen on seeing the man who had ruined Wonderland.
“He needs all the help he can get,” Andrew said, apparently unconcerned by Neil’s outburst. “Go talk to him. He’s in a safe place.”
Neil eyed Andrew, unsure whether he should trust the cat or not. However, he was sure that the cat wasn’t among the people who had been chasing him, so he nodded. “Okay.” Then he thought about the rest of what Andrew had said. “Are you not coming with me?”
“No.” Andrew grinned at Neil. “I’ve got something to take care of in this district. Tell Queen Kevin that it’s mostly quiet here.”
“Okay,” said Neil, slowly. He gazed at Andrew for a moment before he turned to the door. For some reason, he trusted that he would see Andrew again. So, taking a deep breath, he put his hand on the doorknob and turned it, preparing himself to face the execution-happy queen.
Just as he pulled the door open, there was a screeching sound from behind him. It sounded like some sort of animal. Startled, he turned, leaving the door ajar, and searched for the source of the noise. In the distance and yet terribly close was a line of people, each one of them brandishing various weapons that looked horribly like the racquets on the first door. They yelled and began to charge, heading straight for them. Alarmed, Neil backed into the door, the edge pushing his duffel into his spine.
Andrew merely laughed. He turned from Neil, putting himself between him and the attackers. “Go,” he said. “I’ll take care of this. And don’t forget my message.”
“Wait!” cried Neil, his eyes wide. “Who are they? Why are they attacking us?”
“They’re the Clubs cards,” Andrew said, already brandishing knives. Neil hadn’t seen where he had pulled them from. “They attack everything. Go.”
“I’m not leaving-”
“If you don’t go,” Andrew warned, smiling at Neil, “you won’t be of any interest to us.” His smile was not friendly and Neil flinched away from it. Still, he couldn’t help frowning with worry. Andrew noticed and heaved a put-upon sigh. “Don’t be stupid. I’m a cat. I’m not going to die here, not for very long. And Wonderland doesn’t work like that. Now, go, or you’ll be back where you started.”
Neil grimaced, thinking of his desperation to hide. He nodded and turned to the door, opening it wider so he could get inside. Even as he stepped through, he turned to keep his eyes on Andrew, wondering how he would hold his own when there were so many of the cards. Before he even thought of closing the door, Andrew stepped forward, facing off against the first card who met him. Neil could see his manic grin as he leapt forward, his knife flashing. The card went down and Neil jerked backwards as the door slammed shut of its own accord.
Still, even though he didn’t know what was happening, he felt a sense of relief, somehow sure that he would see Andrew again.