Once Again : Part 1 : Home In Wondeland

Part 5 : Sword Fight

Alice opened the door, and looked around. She didn't find the Hatter, but his hat was sitting on his desk. She looked around the house. Nothing. She put on his hat, and went out to look for him. She looked around the outside of his house. Alice kept walking when she figured that he wasn't there.
"You're not switching places are you?" Cheshire said, materializing next to Alice.
"Oh-!" Alice had nearly been given a heart attack. "Chesh! What are you talking about?" Alice said surprised. "I'm looking for Hatter."
"Next he'll give you his coat." Cheshire joked. Suddenly Cheshire noticed something. "Did he GIVE you his hat?" He smiled very widely at Alice.
"No." Alice explained. "I found it in his house, but he wasn't there." Cheshire thought for a moment. A spark seemed to come up.
"Follow me." He said quickly, disappearing. Alice followed Cheshire to a tree in the woods with many slice marks in it. Hatter was there practicing with his sword, with his coat hung on a tree branch. When he saw Alice and Cheshire he stopped to say hello, but then realized that Alice had his hat on.
"Where did you get this?" Hatter asked, gently taking his hat back.
"I found it in your house," Alice answered. "But you were not there, so I went looking for you." Hatter shrugged. "Do you still want to practice?" Alice asked finally. Hatter smiled a little, only revealing his little gap in between his teeth.
"Oh and by the way, if you ever run into another situation where you find a hat without a Hatter, come to this tree, he practices here all the time. Or, you could look to see if he's taking a nap somewhere outside his house." Hatter gave Chess a surprised look.
"I hope you don't mind me saying, but I would much rather keep my unconscious body in my bed, where i'm comfortable, thank you very much." Hatter looked at Cheshire, squinting
"You sleep at the tea table at times." Cheshire mused. Hatter just looked at Cheshire.
"Anyhow, on to the practice!" Hatter handed Alice his extra sword, and took a step back into an open space in the forest. Alice got into stance, and Cheshire sat to watch them from a tree. Hatter, being quite good with swords already, was trying his best to go a bit easy on Alice.
The sound of hitting mettle rang in the two's ears as they doged, and blocked. Suddenly, Hatter's sword got a bit too close, and cut Alice's finger. She dropped her sword.
"Ow..." She said quietly. Hatter stopped, and put his sword down, as Chess was doing his best to see what had happened.
"Oh dear." Hatter said. He pulled out a small ribbon from his pocket, and began to wrap it around Alice's finger. He tied it into a little bow, and then held her hand both of his palms.
"Does it hurt...?" He asked, giving Alice a concerned look with a squint."Not much." She answered.
"I am very sorry, I got a bit excited. I find sword fighting a hobby of mine." Hatter squeezed Alice's hand in his palms.
"Don't blame yourself, these things happen all the time." Hatter looked at her simply confused now.
"How often do you sword practice?" He asked. Alice laughed.
"No, I meant ACCIDENTS." Alice explained, smiling. "We all make mistakes." Hatter nodded, feeling a little better now.
Hatter and Alice looked up at one another, finding themselves standing peacefully. They both smiled happily. Hatter now snapped back into his surroundings, let go of Alice's hand, and picked up his sword. Hatter hung his coat over his shoulder, put his hat on, and started walking, seeming to forget the moment entirely. With only one comment:
"That's enough for today." Alice just watched as the Hatter walked off, wondering what was wrong. Wondering why he simply walked away. Cheshire, noticing his weird actions, followed.