Amnesia

Act XI: Training

wow it's been more than a year since i've updated this holy crap hopefully my writing has improved.

   The truth was, the Queen wasn't my mother exactly. My mother has been dead ever since I was born, but that didn't stop my father from telling me amazing stories of them; together and happy before I came along. It also didn't stop me from crying for another hour, until the cat found the strength to get me up and drag me back into the woods.

     I felt like a child when the cat hummed me a lullaby to calm me down. My muffled cries quieted down to sniffles, and I wiped my nose on my skirt. The cat looked at me strangely, but continued to sing. After I was all done, he stopped. My heart dropped a bit, because I wanted to hear more. I loved the odd sound of the cat's soothing voice.

    I got up from sitting on the ground, holding onto a tree for support. My legs felt wobbly but my head was feeling better. I took a few deep breathes before releasing myself from the tree and attempting to stand up straight. I immediately fell back, holding onto the trunk.

     "I don't think I can do it." Whether I said to myself or the cat, he sighed and extended his paw.

     "That sounds like something that someone who doesn't deserve to be a queen would say. Come." I took his paw, feeling how warm and soft it was. "All you need is basic training. It was my mistake for not telling you the proper ways, since I thought you had come into this world with that knowledge already." I nearly tripped a thousand times over with the cat dragging me on ahead. My wobbly knees were barely straight enough for me to balance myself, only to be pushed on forward.

     "What's the rush, cat?" I spat. I pushed away a lone branch in my way with a free hand.

     "We need you to train immediately Alice. This is important for you to help us." The cat insistently dragged me along, deeper into the forest, far away from the White Queen's castle. I looked back at the glimmer of the castle and the beauty of it all. I quickly returned to blindly stumbling forward, my anger for the cat slowly increasing. 

     The woods gently cleared out to an opening, filled with scattered plants and strange animals hopping around. The cat pulled me to walk along the edge of the clearing. He was acting surely strange for someone who took me here in the first place. 

     "What are you doing?"

     "Finding the perfect someone." He continued to pull me along, and my dress was starting to fall once again. I realized how ridiculous I must look, but no one seemed to notice. "Here," the cat finally said with relief. He brought me to a chubby childish looking boy who was innocently licking a lollipop. He saw the cat and quickly dropped the candy from his hands and cleared his throat. 

     "Hello, nice to see you again, Chesire." His voice was surprisingly low for his appearance.

     "Doo," The cat said dismissively. "This is...Anne." It seemed like a horrible lie to me, but the fat man just gobbled it up. Probably like he does most candy, I would bet.

     "Greetings," I said with a bow.

     "Anne!" He said excitedly as he pulled me into a large hug. I felt suffocated by his stomach and arms. I noticed how large he actually was. He towered above me and I felt like I had shrunk again. His face turned serious as he kept me close. “We need some work.” He peeled away, starting to walk off into another section of the forest. The cat begged me to follow, as I did.

     The next thing I knew, a bow was in my hand and I was preparing to take a shot in the target ahead. I squinted one eye, hoping I was doing it correctly. I had no idea. And surely, I was wrong. The pathetic bow fell to ground in front of me. I stared at it in horror. I looked over at Doo and Chesire and they shook their heads.

     “This is what we’re here for,” Doo declared. He marched over, taking my hand in his and showing me the proper technique. Quite obviously, the arrow hit the middle of the target while I stood there dumbfounded.

     “Why am I using a bow and arrow? Surely you didn’t think I came here to learn such uselessness?” I demanded.

     “Ah, but this is where you are wrong, my dear,” he countered. “The bow and arrow is more elegant than your pity knife. Sure, I’ll teach you how to use that rusty old thing, but this right here can help you win.”

     The cat glared at me. I furrowed my eyebrows, returning to my work on the bow.

     Days seem to pass. And hour upon hours on end dragged on but I still couldn’t seem to do it. Finally, the large boy sighed and took my knife.

     “Since you can’t seem to handle the bow and arrow yet, we’ll start small.” He shoved the knife in my hand, nearly taking off my fingers.

     Next, we were surrounded by targets. Doo demanded that I hit every single one a thousand times, improving with each hit. As I did. I could sense my body adjusting to the knife, molding around it. My hands became permanently gripped to the base. My weight evened itself out, allowing for easier movement. 

     The cat couldn’t stop squirming after a while, encouraging me with those big eyes. Cheering, it did. Yes, it was almost strange to have it be so happy.

     Things took a turn for the worst, however, when my seventeenth trial began. I was hitting twenty targets in thirty seconds, slowly improving. The targets were all scattered out, and it became hard to breathe. Whether my dress slowed me down or my inathletic ability, Doo didn’t seem impressed.

     I was nearly dying, on the brink for sure. The cat called out, “Go Alice!”

     Doo stopped. He looked at the cat, eyeing him down. “Don’t you mean Anne?” He called.

     “Oh, why, yes of course. I’m so sorry Alice.” The cat apologized to me.

     “You did it again you little piece of Tuerie scum!” Doo came running at the cat, holding his hands out as if to strangle him. Tuerie? The Red Queen’s section of Wonderland. Death, murder. Why did he say the cat was Tuerie scum?

     “We’re out of here, Alice!” The cat yelled while running away. I couldn’t comply. I needed time to think. But I knew I didn’t have much of it. I started running in the other direction when I heard arrows shoot from the sky. I could hear some sort of call to alert others.

     All of a sudden, we were in the middle of an ambush. It must’ve been the spies watching us. I ran not as fast as I would’ve hoped, because of how tiring the training was. I pumped my arms, desperately seeking an exit.

     I was shot in the leg, this I knew. I fell to the floor in pain, attempting to crawl my way out. My arms were severely aching as I pulled them in front of me to drag myself along. Another shot in my arm caused me to stop completely and allow the scary men to come closer.

     “What do you want,” I growled.

     They didn’t respond, but instead waited for me to black out. Maybe a bow and arrow is more graceful than a knife but not as unexpecting.