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Alice Between the Untamed

Chapter 2: A Pitchpole into a Banderole

** ** If the crushing inferno of rapid-fire rain didn't soak her, then the torrent of ocean waters invading the deck of the ship did.

Alice stood at the helm of The Wonder, knuckles white as she gripped the wheel spokes and trying her best to keep the ship steady while the crew followed her commands.

"Trice the sails, men! Haul those ropes and tie them tight!" Alice's voice fought for dominance against the thunder as she did her best to direct her crew, while also keeping her eyes on the ship's bow. The boatswain repeated her words to the men, who looked like drunken spiders climbing up a web.

Not long before sundown did the storm begin to growl at them. And now with the clouds blocking the stars like smog spilling from a chimney, the darkness awakened the nocturnal typhoon like a devil tickling the ears of a sleeping dragon. And the further they went, the more furious the beast was. They were in its territory now, and there was little they could do to battle its heart-pounding strikes of electricity lighting up the sky, forcing the winds so hard onto them they could barely open their eyes to see.

The continuing barrage of salt water and gusts of air made it more and more difficult for Alice to steady her position. Hands slipping, breathing heavy, she focused every ounce of energy that she had into keeping her hands grounded onto the wheel so as to prevent the ship from colliding head on with any of the monstrous waves threatening to pitchpole the ship. The fire in her arms burned like a Bandersnatch bite, and for a second she almost found herself drifting into the memory of her running from the then-untamed creature of Underland.

But even the most terrible of creatures can be tamed, and if not, defeated, Alice thought, lifting her eyes to the storm in acknowledgement of its prowess. "Cast the stern lines into the sea! We need to slow down!"

"Captain! We should be lying ahull! There's no way we can outrun this storm!" The boatswain shouted back. His voice sounded like he was shaking, but Alice couldn't tell if it was a symptom of his fear or if the thunder merely reverberated every sound she could hear.

"If we do that, we'll lose our course!" Alice argued, wincing as another wave splashed on deck and spewed across the ship. "We need to keep going! We must keep fighting!" Again, Alice slipped into another memory, only this time it was, once again, the image of her standing before the jabberwocky. Its lethal eyes watched her, just as the crackle of lightning glared at her from above. Before long, she found herself mirroring her movements of her battle in Underland as if she had gone back in time to slay the beast once again.

In her mind's eye she watched herself tucking and rolling away from a lash from the great lizard's tail; she opened her eyes and braced her hands to throw the spokes of the ships' wheel leftward in order to dodge a bow-cutting wave. Then the Jabberwocky lashed out with its claws; a cluster of gales spiraled into the ship head on, to which Alice could only drive_The Wonder_ forward like a bull to the color red. The only other thought that crossed her mind during this battle was the safety of her mother, who was busy securing her own lifeline and staying out of harm's way. The men continued to squabble across the rigging, the last of the sails tied up from their open position, and the lines of the stern thrown behind the ship in order to help decrease their speed. Now it was up to Alice to continue steering them on course.

I'm their captain! She repeated to herself. I must lead them! I must-

"Captain! Watch out!" Alice turned to the source of the holler. She only had a second to gasp when a slab of wood that must've once been part of the ship's railing smashed into her body. Her fingers unhinged from the wheel, which began to turn vigorously like an out-of-control clock now that there were no strong arms to steady it. Alice tried to scream, but the wind had been knocked out of her, and without it her lungs felt like they were going to collapse.

"Captain!" Shouts rang from the deck as the sound of boots ramming against the floorboards began to approach her. But when she looked up, the sails were growing smaller, and the waves taller.

She only heard one more scream of "Alice!" before her body slammed into the gaping maw of the ocean, which ate her up as her mother cried her name from the ship she had just been thrown overboard.

Alice's lungs were a volcano as her chest sweltered with the need for air. But every time she resurfaced, another crippling wave crashed over her. Her arms and legs flailed, her mouth coughing and hacking and taking in every ounce of air she could in the few seconds she had above water. But the pain in her side from earlier was only adding to her increasing inability to resist the surges of water burying her in a breathless prison. She tried to cry for help, but it was no use.The Wonder had disappeared from her sight, and with it, any chance of her being saved.

Again, her body was pulled under by the current, but this time she did not fight it. She allowed her body to swirl and churn and be thrown under the sweeping waves like a rag doll, and with each passing moment she grew dizzier and dizzier. The icy stings of the frigid water pierced her like needles, and the cold gradually began to creep under her skin.

This is it, she thought as her sinking body grew more and more distant from the turmoil above.The impossible has finally won.

"Why must you always be so daft, stupid girl?"

Alice opened her eyes in shock, not even noticing the sting of the salt water stabbing her eyes. In front of her was a soft blue light. It shined like a lantern in a dark alley. Like the moon on a cloudy night. Instinctively, her hand left her side in order to pull her body closer to it, her other arm holding onto her injured ribs. But just as she thought she was about to reach the mysterious radiance, a sound like screaming and gnashing teeth echoed from the light source. And this time Alice did scream. And she felt the water around her infiltrate her lungs as the blue transformed into a corrosive shade of red. She blacked out, but not before a significant pain latched onto her chest, and an odd warmth began to spread across her skin like a cocoon.

...............................................................................

Alice woke to an overwhelming salinity coating her mouth. Immediately she wanted to vomit, but her body was so sore she couldn't do anything but choke and cough in the hopes that whatever was in her mouth would leave.

"Quiet, stupid girl. Are you even listening to what I'm telling you?" Alice flittered her eyes to the left, where she saw the source of the voice. Despite her dry heaves and aching muscles, she smiled wider than she thought she could at the time.

"Absolem! I knew it was you!" She cried out. But when she tried to get up from the lying position on her back, she found that she couldn't move. It was as if an invisible rope was tying down every inch of her body; she couldn't even crane her neck, having to resort to the meager movement of her eyes to see around her.

"Of course it is, human. Have you really grown so ignorant what with all that time you've spent in Overland?" Absolem's wings flickered in annoyance. His eyes went from glaring at Alice to looking at what was a soft piece of parchment. The material looked thick, but its corners were tattered and its shape was bruised by what could only be the effect of overuse. "Now, if you'll shut that mouth long enough, I shall continue."

Alice's brows scrunched in confusion. "Continue? Continue what?" Absolem let out a heavy sigh.

"I suppose you humans do have terrible attention spans," he reasoned and frowned at the girl. "Very well. If you're so adamant on making me repeat myself,_you_can read it," with that said, he held the paper over her eyes, close enough where she could interpret whatever it might've said. The only problem was... there was nothing written.

"But... there's nothing there to read," Alice questioned Absolem, trying again to move her body in some way, but only managed to make her head throb even worse. Another sigh came from the butterfly, and Alice couldn't help but become more annoyed. "Why must you be so cryptic, you silly caterpillar? What is going on? Is it Underland? Is Underland in trouble? Is_Hatter_ in trouble?" She thought back to her previous trip to Underland, and found herself in a tug-of-war between wanting to see her friend again, but at the same time not as she questioned briefly on the adversity he endured during her last visit. She didn't want her presence to be only a necessity in darker times, but if evil had once again invaded the world she loved, she would do anything to help.

When Absolem didn't answer, she repeated her question. Was it Underland? Was it the Hatter?

"I'm afraid so," the butterfly huffed and pulled back the antique piece of paper, adjusting his monocle so as to look back down at it. His eyes leered and his flat-nosed face scrunched, making him look like a philosopher contemplating an especially unnerving theory.

"What is so? Underland or Hatter?"

"Everything is so. Just as anything is so it is."

Alice rolled her eyes. At least she had enough movement to do that. "What is that paper? And what were you trying to tell me before?"

There was a minute of silence until Absolem spoke again. And with each passing second, Alice's eyes grew drearier. Like a trickle of sand was gradually pouring into bags underneath her eyes.

"Underland, Hatter, everyone, is so.... So..."

"So...?"

"So-so."

Alice groaned again. She had had enough of these games.

"Why won't you just tell me!?" She shouted. And as her voice escaped her throat, so did her body escape the invisible chains of fatigue that held her still. She sat up and reached her hand to grab at Absolem, but only managed to grab the paper. But when she did, she noticed something... strange about her hand. It didn't feel right, as if weights were tied to each finger. Like someone had just pressed a branding iron against her palm. She felt both numb and overly sensitive at the same time. But before she could get a good enough look, she fell back down, and she was again locked into the position she was held in before.

"Underland has changed, Alice. Ever since Aurarius Day. The people are scared. The people need to be able to hope again." He paused, letting the air between them grow quiet. "They need their_champion_." The butterfly's last word made Alice's skin feel like it was being pricked by sewing needles. Whatever was going on, she needed to help. But from the sound of it, she would require aid in order to provide it.

"And Hatter?" She asked. "Is he ok? Is... Is everyone ok?"

"Some are not how they ought to be. But they are what they_could_ be," Absolem explained - or what he thought was explaining. Alice tried her best to translate his pseudo-statements, but could not decipher the code he was writing for her in his speech. "And so are you, dear Alice. But don't let that stand in your way."

The throbbing in Alice's head fell to her heart, and again dropped even further to slosh in her stomach. "What does that mean?" Her breathing quickened and her heart pitter-pattered like nails dropped on steel. Then she remembered her hand and tried again to move herself so as to get a better look at her limb, but could not flee the invisible enclosure that so tightly sucked her down in a lying position. "Absolem, what's going on? What's wrong with my hand?"

But the butterfly did not flinch at her call. All he did was place the disheveled paper - she presumed - in a pocket near her hips, and waited for her to stop struggling.

"Be warned by what you see, Alice," was the last she heard before once again, the light in her eyes began to fade, and everything went dark.