The Nutcracker

Chapter 13

Chapter 13

"Master! Master! I bring you some news!" Pip batted his wings noisily as he entered through a window.

"WHAT NEWS. THERE IS NOTHING IN THESE BOOKS THAT SAY ANYTHING ABOUT THE PRINCESS"
While Pip was away, the king had resorted to looking through every book in the palace library to search for information on the sugarplum princess. He didn't trust his attendants with the job, however, sourcing for information was definitely not his forte. The Mouse King sat in his chair made of gold surrounded by heaps of books that were 'useless'.

"AHHH HERE. THE SUGARPLUM PRINCESS." The Mouse King dipped his pointy nose closer to the tiny words. "KIND, CARING AND BRAVE" he paused. "WHAT THATS ALL?!" The Mouse King ripped the book into pieces and threw it beside the mountain range of books.

Pip who had been watching the Mouse King's futile attempts flew closer to his Master. "I have news about the Nutcracker and his little toy! It's a good one, you're definitely going to want to hear this!"

"WELL WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR GET TO IT NOW"

"Well well. It seems the Nutcracker and the girl are heading south. Very close to our troops that have set up a camp near the Azura lake. So..... I was thinking..." Pip paused and sat on one of the summits.
"Ohh oh i had a brilliant idea. But i'm just too hungry to remember." Pip slouched and pretended to be weak and vulnerable.

The Mouse King slapped his forehead. Then with a swish of his wand a bowl of fruit appeared beside Pip. Pip gobbled everything up within seconds.

"Ahh thats more like it. So... Where did i stop?" The Mouse King turned up to glare at Pip.

"Alright alright. I'm getting to it. So i was thinking, you could set up one of those doll houses and trap them. But obviously that's going to take some time   So you'll probably have to distract them a little and get them off their route to until you finish the set up."

The Mouse King sat in his gold chair with his head in his paw. He sat still for about a minute, not moving an inch. Then all of a sudden he exclaimed "THATS IT! I'VE GOT THE PLAN"
The Mouse King waved his wand and the entire castle hall shook as if they were hit by an earthquake. The walls vibrated noisily as the brick walls brushed against each other and a few pieces of stone fell and rebounded across the marble floor. Then one of the central pillars broke and moved towards the centre of the hall. More central pillars broke and were climbing up the existing broken pieces. The beast began to take form. It had long limbs and was fifty times taller than the Mouse King. The brick beast roared and took a step forward which made a huge crack in the marble floor. Pip flew away from the catastrophe into the candle holder behind his Master.

"FIND THE NUTCRACKER AND KILL HIM"
The speechless beast treaded heavily, making several holes in the floor in the process. Then the sound of heavy stomps faded away as the beast moved further and further away from the castle.

"THAT SHOULD GIVE US SOME TIME. NOW. SHALL WE MAKE A DOLLHOUSE PIP?" The Mouse King was pleased with his weapon of destruction and he wanted more. He smirked at the thought of his great plan and prepared to begin on the next wonderous work of 'art'.

Not too far away from the Mouse King, Clarie and the Nutcracker had already begun their journey south. The were about 2 miles into the planned route but they hadn't spoken much. The only conversation they had so far involved navigation and safety precautions. Clarie fell into what she called an awkward situation again. She didn't dare to ask questions after her experience last night. She fiddled with the necklace that rested against her chest, a sign of anxiety and frustration.

Luckily, the Nutcracker wasn't oblivious to the situation. He noticed that Clarie was quieter than usual and he didn't like that. He liked it when Clarie spoke her mind and he could get to know her. He was contemplating whether or not to bring it up, but the thought of confrontational conversations gave him butterflies in his stomach - assuming he had one.

"Hey. Erm so i errr noticed. We haven't spoken much since last night. I know it might be because you're afraid that some questions might, you know... Hit the sensitive spot."

Clarie maintained eye contact with the Nutcracker and they slowed their pace to pay full attention to each other.
"But i just felt that, there's something you need to know." The Nutcracker took a deep breath.

"I really enjoy talking to you and getting to know you.... And.... i hope you do to. To be honest, its been a while since i've opened up to anyone. So don't worry about what you say, sometimes its better for me to get it all out. And i'm comfortable around you."
Clarie remained silent.

"Ermmm.... I hope that made sense" he added.
Clarie smiled at that last part. She was happy to hear that the Nutcracker was comfortable with opening up to her and even more relieved that she could relax and be herself again. "Yeah. Of course it did"

"So... What do you like doing? As in... Your hobbies and stuff." Clarie decided to seize the moment to start a proper conversation.

The two were buzzing along cheerily as they made their way south. They were just a few miles away from the Azura lake when Clarie got distracted by the loud and almost rhythmic thundering noises that came from behind. It sounded like someone was letting a house sized rock drop to the ground over and over again. The two stopped in hope of investigating what the sound was. But before they could begin, the ground beneath them shook and the unstable duo fell from the slope they were tracking. "What? Earthquake? Are there earthquakes in this world?!" a very puzzled Clarie stood up slowly. The Nutcracker wanted to ask what an earthquake was, but someone else beat him to it.

The brick beast roared as it spotted its target. His roar blew the dried leaves in one direction and the trees bent over to crouch down and tremble in terror. Clarie and the Nutcracker felt the strong wind beat against their skin and Clarie raised her hands to sheild her eyes. In her world she would have thought it was a typhoon. But right now she didn't know what to think. Then the brick beast moved closer to the duo and was partially visible behind the small hill the two had already passed. Still wondering what it was, the two stood rooted to the ground. After a few more ground shaking stomps, the beast was finally fully visible. He was a giant that had the capability to kill them both under his big 'feet'. Realising what they were up against, the Nutcracker grabbed Clarie by the arm and muttered under his breath.

"Run."