Hatter's Revenge (rewriting - read at own risk)

Ch. 12: A Beast of Teeth and Claws

They got out of the Glass Plain with barely any time to spare. Just as the moons rose, the fires started again. All going off at once, they created an awesome display of color that blasted Mad and the others with a wave of heat.

Mad dropped his bag and dug through it before he pulled out a clean cloth and went over to Cheshire. "Let me wrap it up at least. If sand gets in it, the wound will fester."

"I told you. We don't have time!" the Viso said, voice impatient and commanding.

Mad didn't answer, ignoring the Viso as he used a little bit of the water from his own canteen to dab at Cheshire's ear, cleaning it. Chesh winced but didn't complain, looking up at him with complete trust.

He kind of wondered if he was worthy of that look.

"Are you deaf?" the Viso started, walking toward them. 

Pausing in his ministrations, Mad's hand slid to the inside of his coat, resting on the warm grip of a gun. He was already shaken from their insane dash across the Plain and worried about Chesh. This guy was really pushing it.

The Viso stopped when Alice appeared out of nowhere. She put her hands on her hips, face angry and fearless, even as the Viso towered over her. "Look, buddy. I don't know who you think you are and I don't really care, but Mad is right."

Mad looked over at her in surprise when she used his first name. He didn't say anything though as Alice continued speaking. 

"We have enough time to at least clean and wrap Cheshire's ear. If you'd been shot we would have done the same for you." She paused and glared at Mad when he grumbled at that.

"Yeah. Sure. 'Course we would have," he finally said under the weight of her stare.

She looked at him for a moment longer, then turned to the Viso. "We appreciate your help, but if Mr. Hatter thinks we have the time to spare, then we have the time to spare."

Going back to cleaning Chesh's wound, he had to fight a smile as the Viso backed down. Obviously he wasn't sure about how to respond. Since he was a Face Card and of a high rank, Mad was sure no one had ever spoken to him in such a way. He was actually a little surprised that the Viso hadn't snapped back at her though.

Mad finished wrapping Chesh's ear. "There," he said with satisfaction. "Now we can go." Turning to the Viso, fingers tapping one of the guns at his waist, Mad said, "By all means, lead the way."

The Viso's eyes caught the movement of Mad's fingers, and he looked like he wanted to say something, but Alice walked past him, cutting between the two men.

Bare feet shuffling in the powdery sand, she said, "Come on. We don't want to give the Ace a chance to catch up, do we?"

They continued on for about an hour before Mad felt they had put enough distance between themselves and the Glass Plain. When he suggested they take a moment to rest, the Viso started to argue, then stopped when Mad glanced at Alice. She was still pushing forward, but her exhaustion was evident.

Looking around, Mad saw that she wasn't the only one showing signs of fatigue. They stopped for a little less than an hour, resting and drinking some. Then Mad and the Viso had them up and on their feet, moving again.

Since he wasn't very familiar with this part of the desert, he was more than happy to let the Viso take the lead. Only a fool pretended like he knew what he was doing when he really didn't. It would be stupid and possibly deadly not to take advantage of the Viso's knowledge. He obviously knew where he was going for he never wavered on their path.

As they walked though, Mad's steps slowed as he started noticing massive tunnels in the low, rocky hills they were passing through. Looking more closely at the entrances to the tunnels, he saw the skeletons of creatures large and small at the openings of some of them.