WonderLand

I stopped listening to M.T.'s story after it stopped making any resemblance to sense at all. While he droned on and on about learning about the different branches of Arithmetic in school ("Ambition, Distraction, Uglification, and Derision" he called them), and things like Drawling and Fainting in Coils and Laughing and Grief; I eventually guessed he didn't plan on getting around to the actual reason he was a Mock Turtle for some time an decided to turn my attention to Gryphon, who seemed to be showing just as much interest in M.T.'s story as I was.

There was something distinctly off-putting about the Gryphon. I mean, no one I had run into so far had exactly given off a "normal" vibe to say the least, but the Gryphon's presence gave me an uneasy feeling. Though he was dressed like a gentleman, and was even rather attractive in a rugged sort of way, there was something undeniably sleazy about his attitude.
It certainly didn't help that he kept casting me sly little looks out of the corner of his eye, and then grinning innocently when I caught him looking.

Eventually it became too much for me, and I finally turned on him, interuppting M.T. mid-sentence.

"What do you want?" I snapped, glaring at him full in the face. His eyebrows shot up in mild surprise, and a grin tugged at the corner of him lips.

"What do ya mean?" He asked, innocently.

"Why do you keep looking at me like that?" I demanded, more than a little defensively. This time Gryphon didn't bother holding back his smile.

"What, am I not allowed to admire a pretty girl?" He asked sweetly, reaching out and stroking my jaw with his knuckles. I pulled back, snarling.

"No." I spat. The smile slid off Gryphon's face abruptly.

"Ah. I see I can't pull the wool over Miss Alice's eyes," He said, with a hint of bitterness. "I'm just fascinated in ya, is all." His eyes drifted away from mine, until they were fixed, unfocused, on a point somewhere above my head. "You are the Alice, after all. An awful lot of people are very interested in you." His gaze suddenly snapped back to mine, and he smile good naturedly again. "You're mighty lucky it was us what found you, girly. There's a lot of nasty fella's out there who'd give a lot to get their hands on you."

An icy shiver ran down my spine, but I didn't let it show on my face.

"We'll see just how lucky I am when I actually meet this Hatter and Hare couple I keep hearing about." I replied, stoically. "I don't think they'll be too terribly pleased to find out I'm not actually Alice."

"But of course you are," M.T. suddenly cut in, his watery eyes wide. "You must be!"

"I must be nothing!" I said heatedly, stamping my foot in childish emphasis. "I'm not Alice, I'm not some prophecy, I'm not anybody!"

Both M.T. and Gryphon looked taken aback.

"How can you say that?" M.T. tearfully quavered.

"Because it's true," I said. "My name is Alex Riverman. I'm a sixteen year old girl who lives in a trailer and juggles bowling pins for a living. I'm most certainly not part of any rebellion!"

At my stubborn insistence, M.T. and Gryphon exchanged troubled looks.

"Well, I'm 'fraid it's too late now." Gryphon said slowly, his brow knitting into a frown.

"What do you mean?" I hissed, narrowing my eyes at the pair.

"Everybody's gots it into their heads that you are Alice, haven't they?" He said. "You've taken her place, whether you like it or not."

"Just because you believe something doesn't make it true!" I pointed out. Gryphon let out a sharp, joyless bark of laughter.

"Oh really? What about justice, morality, right n' wrong? Aren't those just ideas, concepts? There's no real justice in the world, no real line defining good n' evil. Nature don't abide by any sense of justice. It only exists because we thinkin' animals believe in it. If you don't believe in justice or hope or fairness anymore, and you don't uphold what they stand for, then they don't exist, do they?" Gryphon said, his voice cold and harsh. I stared wide eyed up at him, unsure what to say in response to that.

"B-but-" I began.

"There are no buts." He cut me off with a glare. "We believe you're Alice, The Alice. Therefore, you have no choice but to be Alice. We won't wait any longer. We won't wait for another chance like this to come along. So now, please, Alice, be a good girl and come along without any more fuss." The Gryphon met me stare for stare, as if daring me to argue further.

I didn't.

I let him and M.T. -who, judging by his quiet weeping, felt a little more regretful about the present circumstances than his fellow- flank me on either side and lead me in stony silence through the dense network of trees, to some unknown location.

The fact that my hunch about Gryphon being an unpleasant person was correct didn't give me any condolence. And the fact that what he had said had made and uncomfortable amount of sense unnerved me even more. I didn't like the thought that I might have to play the part of Alice whether I liked it or not. My only hope now lay in the chance that I would still be able to convince the Hatter and Hare that I was nobody but an unfortunate girl who got lost on her way to a magic act.
That, of course, or the possibility that this was all simply an extremely elaborate, incredibly life-like dream and I would be waking up sooner or later in my trailer, safe and sound.

Personally, I was banking on the second one.

The majority of the remainder of our trek through the forest was spent in uncomfortable silence, save for the gentle sobs coming from M.T.
I'm not easily intimidated- in fact, I'd been told off by my mother on multiple occasions for frightening off customers because of my aggressive attitude- but I wasn't eager to get on the Gryphon's bad side again. His previous anger had passed finally, and he was quietly humming a little song to himself, but still I remained silent. Antagonizing him further was far from the top of my list of things To Do. I doubted M.T. would be of any help if the Gryphon completely lost him temper, and so far the Cat was no where to be seen, so I decided that for now, the best course of action would be to get to the Hatter and Hare as swiftly as possible and try to get things sorted out there.

The Cat.
Several times I thought I saw a flash of purple out of the corner of my eye, or heard a strange rustle in the bushes, but every time I whipped around to look, there was nothing to be seen.
I was more than a little annoyed that he had left me in the tender care of M.T. and Gryphon, and planned on telling him exactly what I thought of him the next time he showed up.

"Miss Alice... Miss Alice!"

I snapped out of my reverie with a jolt and blinked up dazedly at M.T., who was looking at me with concern. "Miss Alice, we've nearly arrived. Would you like an opportunity to, erm, make yourself more presentable?" He asked timidly. I glanced down at myself, and grimaced.

I was a mess.

My once shiny black shoes were scuffed and dirty, and my dress and white socks were splattered with mud. I reached up and ran a hand through my hair- or tried to anyways. It was thickly tangled, and felt too heavy after going a night without a washing.

"Yeah, actually. That would be nice," I said, pulling the ribbon out of my hair and trying to fix some of the damage.

I scraped off the worst of the mud from my dress and pulled my hair back into a half-ponytail, and wiped my shoes in a patch of dewy grass. It was the best I could do in present circumstances, so it would have to do. If the Hatter and Hare didn't like it, then they could blame themselves for making me trek all the way through a forest just to meet them.

"All right, how's that?" I finally said, turning the Gryphon and M.T.

"You've still got a little somethin' right there," Gryphon said, with a smirk. I tried not to growl at him.

"Right where?" I said through grit teeth. He took a sudden step forwards, closing the distance between us in a fraction of a second until barely an inch separated us.

"Right there," He said quietly, brushing his thumb across my cheek.

"Why is it," A cold, hard voice suddenly spoke from behind us. Flushing, I slapped Gryphon's hand away and spun around, to see the Cat sitting lazily on a tree branch, one leg dangling listlessly. "Why is it, every time I find you, Alex love, you're being advanced upon by... undesirable company?"

"Cat!" I said, a little too excitedly.

"Yes." He replied shortly, jumping easily down from the tree. "Me."

"What are you doing here?" Gryphon snarled, fixing the Cat with a look that could kill.

"I'm here to uphold my promise," The Cat said silkily, walking with a distinct swagger in his step towards us, and flinging an arm around my shoulders possessively. "I swore I'd deliver Alice to the Tea Shoppe myself. I'm here to do just that. I graciously thank you for getting her this far, but now you can scamper off on your way, like a good little errand boy. Too-da-loo," He waved mockingly at the Gryphon, his stretched grin spreading easily across his face. The Gryphon barred his teeth at the Cat, his hands clenched into fist at his side.

"I was instructed to bring Alice, by Hatter and Hare themselves." He spat, squaring his broad shoulders.

"And now, I'm relieving you of your charge and dismissing you," The Cat replied cheerfully. Then a sudden, almost hungry look flashed across his face. "Or are you challenging my authority?" He added softly, dangerously.

Gryphon grit his teeth and seethed, seemingly torn. The two of them faced off for a long moment, the air around them practically crackling with tension while M.T. and I stood awkwardly to the side, as if imposing.

"One of these days, you'll push the wrong person, Cat," Gryphon finally shot bitterly, deflating a little, but the fire in his eyes didn't dim. He stiffly turned to me and gave a low bow, his golden eyes never leaving mine. "Lady Alice," He said in a strained voice. "We'll meet again, I hope. It's been a pleasure."

Uncertain what else to do, I gave a tiny curtsy.
"That's one way to describe it," I replied. The Gryphon rose, and snapped his fingers. M.T., his eyes studded with tears, hurried to his side. Without another word, the Gryphon spun on his heel and vanished into the trees, M.T. following close behind him.

For a moment, neither the Cat nor I said anything. Then he turned to me, unwrapping his arm from around my shoulders as quickly as if I were a leper.

"Are you alright?" He asked, his tone so different from before that it momentarily threw me off guard.

"What? Oh, yes. I'm fine." I replied.

"I'm sorry for leaving so abruptly like that." The Cat went on, his smile slipping into an equally disconcerting frown. "If I'd known that scum-"

"No, no; I think I'm getting used to it," I hastily cut in, wrinkling my nose. "To be honest, I can't even tell who're the good guys and who're the bad guys any more- if I ever even knew in the first place." I brushed a loose lock of hair out of my eyes and sighed. "Well, I guess it's time to get this over with, then. Lead the way; we don't want to keep Hatter and Whoever waiting any longer."

The Cat's grin twitched at the corners of his mouth. "No, we don't. Though I suppose I should warn you- they are both quite mad."

"But of course." I replied, matter-of-factly. "I believe you were the one who told me everyone here was mad in the first place. I'd be far more worried if you told me they were completely sane."

The Cat gave a short laugh, and held out his arm with elegant courtesy. With a slightly sarcastic curtsy I took it, and the Cat and I started off once more, arm in arm, for the Tea Shoppe I had heard so much about since my arrival in this WonderLand-

And abruptly stumbled upon it in almost the same moment; as not two paces later the dense thicket of forest trees suddenly ended and a huge, lopsided building that looked very much as if it wanted to be a castle but was too tall and narrow to be much anything at all loomed into view.