Twisted Realities // Christian Torres

The Cheshire Cat was laying along a branch in the Deep Woods, near the heart of the forest. A lightly troden path trailed below him, the dirt path forked beneath the branch he reclined lazily on. His tail swung back and forth like a pendalum in a clock, swinging in time with the rythem of his words.

" `Twas brillig, and the slithy toves" The Cheshire Cat sang, lazily laying his cheek upon his paw and putting his elbow into the branch knot.

"Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:" He breathed, the little chant becoming more twisted and darker as he continued. The tail swishing back and forth slowing down as his pace did.

"All mimsy were the borogoves," He no longer sang, and his voice dropped low in a growl and his ears lay down flat against his skull.

"And the mome raths outgrabe." The Cheshire Cat finished, his tail stopping and simply hung beneath him in a dead weight. His ears were flat, and his eyes were slitted and narrowed.

His ears perked, when he head a twig snap. And his eyes widened expressively when he saw someone walking down the dirt path. His tail curled up and laid down in front of him on the branch, and he dropped an arm off the edge of the branch when the person came within earshot he smiled in his purr as his humanoid grin spread across his face.

"Second verse!" He called out, his voice purring as he spoke.

It was the first time Christian went away from beach. He rarely went too far from water, in case something comes up and he needs escape.

But this place was interesting and made the man curious.

So he'd wandered into woods. And about few hours into aimlessly walking and humming random songs he stepped on a twig and spooked himself...

And a voice spooked him... For the second time...

The Cheshire Cat had anounced that he was going to start the second verse, which went on to talk about a man warning his son away from the Jaberwock, and the Jub Jub bird. Instead, The Cheshire Cat simply repeated his first verse. In wonderland, there was no point in sense, keeping such would simply drive one completely mad! The Cheshire Cat stretched out farther on the branch above the man's head. Purring softly, he continued in his song as though the man wasn't there.

" 'Twas brillig and the slithy toves, did gile and gimble in the wabe. All mimsy were the borogoves, and the moth raths outgabe!" He sang out loudly, changing the tempo throughout the entire song. Once he finished, he moved his tail, dropping it off of the branch and having it hang down directly in front of the man.

"Third verse!" The Cheshire Cat called out. Of course, he would repeat the very first verse again. As it was how it was done in Wonderland.

Whoever was singing made no sense to the merfolk hybrid. He usually sang too but at least they made sense.
And it was suddenly overhead. And kept singing what seemed the same verse.
Why to announce new verse but repeating the first one.

And all of a sudden there was... a tail? hanging in his face. That of course spooked the half-human.

Kri, you're hallucinating, that had to be it. You got dizzy again and fainted, hit your head, rattled your sorry excuse of brain, so now you're hallucinating something like cat singing something. - Christian mused. For safety measure he shook his head, only bit too sharply, resulting in an actual dizzy spell... So not dreaming this time...- he concluded.

Why didn't he speak at all? The Cheshire Cat wondered, watching the man with his eyes that glowed in the dark. It gave him quite the eerie tone, though his ears where perked up still. A new person, how interesting! Though, there was no way he would be the one to save Wonderland as he was far to quiet and in the Cheshire's eyes, that made him cowardly. Then again, Alice kept all of her opinions bottled up each time he saw her, but when she left Wonderland she was braver, though more rash. There really was no pleasing The Cheshire Cat, if one were to leap to his defense, then they were rash and thick headed. If one were to not leap to his defense, then they couldn't be trusted or depended upon.

Swinging the tail back and forth, more then slightly savoring the look of surprise and confusion on the man's face. Despite having his eyes trained on the man, he pretended to not notice him and continue on his song.

"'Twas brillig and the slithy toves, did gile and gimble in the wabe. All mimsy were the borogoves, and the moth raths outgabe!" He sang, drawing out the last line, and speaking the rest with an upbeat tone. The verse actually went on to talk about the son charging off to battle the Jaberwock, and taking a rest at the Tum Tum tree. To which the Jaberwock appears to battle the foolish child. The Cheshire Cat was not going to be the one to start the conversation, as he had no interest in such! All he wanted at the moment, was to finish the song. If he was asked a question, he would respond, as he did for little Alice. Having someone around put him into less of a sulky mood, then when he was left to his own devices, not that he would admit it! His desires, and wants changed upon a turn of the hat though his plot never changed. One minute he'd want to finish the Jaberwock verse, the next he may set off to find some tea of some sort. Oh, but it cannot be any good! This world is far to sour for my taste. He thought, continually watching the man.

"Fourth verse!"

The thing… cat… kept on his song, Christian concluded once his brain settled from the dizzy spell. He eyed the tail still confused.

What was he supposed to do? Start a chat? Maybe greet the thing… cat…?

He rubbed his face with a hand and noticed slight tremors. Oh, Kri, you fool. Now scared, are ya? Really? the merfolk once again to inner dialogue. But maybe fear was not in the right place. He wasn't a fish. And human gene made him not to have any distinct fish smell.

He looked up curiously, with wide eyes and pale face, and decided to speak up, "Er… hello there? his voice came out bit stronger than a mere whisper, luckily.

"Hello is merely the beginning of goodbye." The Cheshire Cat purred, leaning down on his branch to see the man better. His tail suddenly stopped moving altogether, and simply hung off of the branch. Realising he had stopped in his song, he continued and looked upwards to the sky with his humonoid grin.

"'Twas brillig and the slithy toves, did gile and gimble in the wabe. All mimsy were the borogoves, and the moth raths outgabe!" Once again he changed the tempo throughout the entire song, and only the words remained the same. As that was how it was done in Wonderland.

"Fifth verse! Do you know it?" He asked, reminding himself that the little human was still there and still looking quite lost. The fifth verse went on about how the boy used the vorpal blade to smite the Jaberwock and went back to his home in victory.

Chris had to think a bit. "If it is so, then why people say that?" he mused, more to himself than the cat-like creature. So far there wasn't much sense, but who he was to judge.

"Well," merfolk scratched his curl-clad head, "as far as I can tell the previous four sounded alike," Chris cast his glance up to the sky, thoughtfully, "but I'm sure the actual verse has different story to tell." he finished and poked at the ground with the tip of his boot. "Just an observation, mister." the man looked up at the slightly creepy cat and grinned brightly, innocently.

"Observations lead to knowledge, but misplaced observations leads to ignorance. Yet, how can you tell which is which? Ignorance is often mistaken for knowledge to the dumb." The Cheshire Cat purred, finding amusement in the man's response. Nothing and no one was good enough for The Cheshire Cat's approval, he was the kind to look at the downside to any situation. Wonderland was lost, he didn't care about anything trivial matters past playing his part for the cause.

Saving Wonderland. Nothing else mattered, not manners. Not men that imagined themselves clever. Nothing else. He didn't say the next verse, bored with the verse he left out the part where the boy claimed victory from slaying the Jaberwock. The happy ending, was left out in his verse. The chant like song hung unspoken in the air itself.

"Everything has a different story to tell, depends upon who writes it, reads it, and understands it." He drew out his words, playing them on his humonoid smile.

If he didn't have his brain twisted before then now was about time to have everything bit swirling around.

"Well, I think ignorance is someone's way of closing off the world they feel out of place. But it's just my humble opinion. You, no doubt, seem much smarter." Chris said, struggling a bit to follow the weird, human-resembling cat. Obviously, from where the creature came from things were different.

"It does." he agreed. He had experience with stories. "I can tell most misinterpret sea. But it depends on how they've treated sea and how sea has paid back. And most depends on the mood, understanding and attitude. And not just sea." Chris added. Not that he wanted to sound like some snob-ish guy who thought he knew all.

"Only those who claim to understand, are familiar with such things. However deluded they may appear. Are you a fish, by chance?" The Cheshire Cat purred looking down at the boy with a hungry smile that crept it's way on his face. His toothy grin reaching from ear to ear, and his eyes sparkled from a hole in the leaves from the nearby roof of bright green leaves. His tail stopped in it's swinging at the mere thought, and he had a deep purr that vibrated through him.

He was a WonderLand Cat, that was different then normal household cats. He could teleport, fly, levitate, become invisible, shape shift into anyone he liked so long as he had a possesion of the person he wants to impersonate, and could evaporate upon a whim. Making him useful against a Bandersnatch injury, but despite all his differences from an average cat he still disliked the idea of getting wet, was lazy when the day was sunny, and he loved above all else the taste of a freshly caught fish.

"What leads one such as you, to wander down hidden dirt paths?" The Cheshire Cat asked, training his eyes upon the boy and not moving in the slightest. Eerie in his habits, he couldn't care less on how he affected the boy.

Christian froze. Was he a fish? Could the cat know? "Umm… well… not really a fish, but I can swim a sea." he said politely and hoped there was enough humanity in him to not start behaving fish-like.
Although he was often compared to dolphins. But they weren't really fish, so maybe he wasn't a fish just yet.
Being eaten by strange cat in the middle of woods wasn't what he'd put on his schedule.

The cat's gaze was mysterious and Christian tried to act not like little boy he suddenly felt like.
"Just curiosity. And boredom. Maybe a bit of loneliness and I wanted to explore this place since I can't really swim back home." Or so he thought. So far he couldn't. And despite all the sea life he was rather lonely.
So he kept his blue eyes big and curious as he looked back at the cat, wondering if he should've run instead. He was supposed to be cautious and careful with strangers, instead he tried to befriend any tree and molusk if not a capricorn and one overly friendly unicorn with ribbons.

The Cheshire was disappointed, he had quite been looking forwards to a good evenings meal of a freshly caught fish. Stretching out onto the branch, The Cheshire Cat extended his arms on the branch, dragging his claws against the surface.

"Disappointing. I was so looking forward to my evening's meal." The Chesire complained, it wasn't that he was hungry, he simply couldn't shake the idea of having a fish for his next meal. The wonderful fleshy taste, the scaly and tender texture.. Ah, there truly was, nothing like a good fish to soothe one's tempers. Essentially pouting, for his meal that was lost, The Cheshire rested his furry head against a knot in the tree branch above the not fish's head. He had to admit, though he did like a good fish, the boy was nothing like a fish. The Cheshire had no taste for a human, mermaid, thing.

Chris' jaw dropped open, if that was even possible since he already was hypothetically with his jaw hitting the ground with a resounding thud.
He suddenly felt incredibly self-conscious.

But a thought occurred. "Well, I can get you some fish, if you want." He offered. At least could try. It happened once, while ago, he actually made the fish levitate from the neatest river into the pool couple miles away. So maybe he could repeat it, this cat suddenly seemed really disappointed and Christian felt slightly guilty.
Maybe, he really was smelling like a fish...

It was a tempting offer, but The Cheshire Cat was far to proud a creature to take anything another offered. Unless of course, it was The Mad Hatter's hat. Oh.. How he loved that hat... After The Mad Hatter had been sentenced to death by the cutting of one's head off by The Red Queen The Cheshire had saved his life by 'borrowing' his hat in a plot to fool the excecutionar and got The Mad Hatter the time he needed to prove to The Red Queen's counsel were all frauds. In the chaos they had escaped, all of them. The Cheshire didn't have hurt feelings towards The Mad Hatter, after all he had done something one would imagine cowardly. The Cheshire had fled Wonderland upon the red queen's army's advance into Wonderland.

Others would see it as cowardly, he saw it as what had to be done. Nothing changed if he stayed behind to 'fight' for his homeland, it was still taken over. And he didn't have a single regret about his actions, helping Alice to save the world once again. Once that was all said and done, the armies returned, with a new leader and upon their first step on Wonderland soil, tainting it with their mere presence, The Cheshire Cat saw the battle as lost, and he fled. Staying in a forest nearby, he watched as wonderland characters reluctantly gave up the fight, and even went off to visit his homeland.

It was in ruins.

"Of course not! Why ever would I want such a thing?" The Cheshire Cat grinned his humanoid smile that set so many people at unease. His dialogue was often strange and confusing, and he took pleasure in confusing and bewildering his audience.

Now Chris was confused. But then just shrugged. "Well, I know some good fish. But if you don't want." half-merfolk played with a tree leaf. He let it float and dancing above his palm.

Ever since his splash into this new world Christian often thought about home, dad, his little siblings.
As much as he liked water he still missed home. It had been his biggest issue since being in this weird, but interesting place.
And he could use his abilities not fearing of angry or suspicious stares.

He watched the cat with humanoid grin. It obviously felt happy. And not shy to mess with whoever got in its way. Not that Chris minded. Talking wasn't a problem.