The Nutcracker

Chapter 9

Hello!!!! i know its been a whileeee but i've been pretty busy lately :P anyways heres the continuation! hope you like it :D Enjoy!

Chapter 9

The snow fairies flew gracefully around them, dancing with a slow-paced rhythm, with their tiny elegant figures, it was like they were thanking Clarie and the Nutcracker with great joy.

Their arms fluttered around as their complex steps took the lead, with occasional twirls, each movement was done in time with the fairy alongside. They were so synchronized, that it looked as if they were all clones of the same fairy.

A particularly cute looking fairy with short brown hair,wearing a headband of flowers, and a little pink dress, which Clarie assumed was their leader, broke away from her dance and flew into the circle of shimmering sparkles. She rested on the Nutcracker's shoulder, whispering something inaudible to Clarie.

"You're welcome!" The nutcracker smiled as he turned towards the little fairy perched on his shoulder.

Then, the pink fairy flew off with her fairy dust tracing her every move, and the other fairies followed.

The two watched the fairies from afar as they

swirled in circles, round and round the withering trees in the area.

In just a few seconds, the trees came back to live!

Their evergreen leaves grew out spontaneously as the sparkles touched the dry bone-like branches and the tree started to bear fruit.

Countless red juicy apples dangled from each branch as the fairies made their magical touch. As the sun's rays fl upon the apples, the apples were so shiney and red that they looked like glazed apples.

The snow fairies brought the place back into life, where the flowers bloomed, the birds sang and the grass ran green. It was mesmerizing and beautiful .

Soon after, the Nutcracker and Clarie continued their journey to find the sugarplum princess. They headed westwards and scaled a mountainous region for about an hour before arriving at a small town. However this small town was uninhabited and deserted, without a single soul in sight.

Houses were destroyed; the wooden planks and bricks were sprawled messily across the white snow.

Despite the destruction, Clarie could see the pretty pastel colours of the houses in the area, these colours resembled giant lollies. "This must have been a nice place to live in." Clarie thought. She wondered how beautiful the town would have been, if it hadn't been invaded by the mouse king.

Clarie and the Nutcracker walked around the wreckage, taking in what they saw, with the same look of disappointment constantly clinging onto them.

Suddenly, the Nutcracker heard a sound of movement nearby, and he followed the sound to find a beautiful horse. It had a long shiny and silky mane, with flowers attached to it. Its fur looked like it had been..... brushed. The horse moved its hoofs back and forth, as if it was waiting for something. "There are still people living here!" The Nutcracker thought.

Just then, several snowballs flew pass, missing them by just a few centimetres. The shot was done with much force, it was like a baseball that accelerated pass them, even the sound of its movement against the cold air could be heard.

The Nutcracker followed his instincts " It's ambush! Take cover!"

He grabbed Clarie's tiny wrist firmly and swiftly, pulling her to hide behind the fence of one of the damaged houses.

As they sought refuge behind the wooden barriers, the frequency of snowballs crashing onto the hard wood decreased as the time went by.

Eventually, the Nutcracker stood up, trying to figure out who they were being attacked by. His sharp eyes spotted slight movements behind the fluffy cone-shaped trees. As he looked closer, he saw a small boy dressed in green.

"Well, at least these wooden eyes dont fail" he thought.

Just as the Nutcracker was about to call out to him, the boy threw another snow ball which hit him hard on his wooden chest, making him to stagger backwards unwillingly.

Clarie looked worriedly at him, only to see him smile sheepishly with that "hehe" look in his eyes.

"Dont worry, their just children."

At these words, Clarie stood up, using her forearm to shield her face. "Wait! We wont hurt you!"

She picked up the small,soft and furry teddybear lying on the snow a few feet away from here and waved it up.

"Is this yours?" She asked, in her gentle soothing voice, with here arm still acting as her 'shield'.

"Teddy!!!!" A little girl ran out towards Clarie, she had her fine blonde hair in a ponytail, and she was dressed in a pink jacket with shiny silvery buttons, matched with pink sweat pants. Her snow boots were cream brown, wrapped softly around her tiny feet. Her light blue eyes stared longingly at the teddy bear, and she threw the bear into a tight hug as soon as she received it.

The little boy reluctantly followed, with a unfriendly frown painted onto his face. He had a crinkle of suspicion on his forehead as he looked at Clarie and the Nutcracker with watchful brown eyes.

"Dont worry, we're not one of the mouse king's people." The Nutcracker explained, though his words probably fell on deaf ears as the boy found no reason to believe a person he had just met,

much less..... a man of wood.

"What happened here?" Clarie asked, her concerned eyes meeting with the fair boy's.

" It was the mouse king's army. They ruined everything! This is all Prince Eric's fault. "

"Prince..... Eric? " Clarie was slightly puzzled, the Nutcracker had never mentioned a Prince before, only the King.

The Nutcracker, with a slight urgency, cut into the conversation.

"Prince Eric was..... King James' son. He was supposed to take over the throne but he...... erm.... disappeared after the mouse king killed King Joseph"

His tone conveying such disappointment and sadness.

"He must have ran away and abandoned all of us! Such a coward! " The little boy said with his eyebrows pushed towards each other.

The Nutcracker looked down, it was as if he was hurt by the boy's words.

Clarie stared at the Nutcracker, wondering why he didnt reply.

Just as Clarie was about to break the silence, the rhythmic beat of countless footsteps from afar echoed from a distance.

"Its the mouse king's army! We should go" the Nutcracker said swiftly.

Clarie gentle held the hands of the two children,each on one side, preparing for flight.

"Wait! What about Marzipan?" The little girl said, pointing towards the gold haired, majestic horse, who happened to be moving its hoofs back and forth as it did before, resembling a restless little child longing for a run.

"We'll take her with us" the Nutcracker said, as he rushed forward to untie Marzipan.

Swiftly and steadily, the Nutcracker tossed both children directly onto Marizipan's saddle, he had half a mind to put Clarie on as well, but Clarie shook her head to reject the offer.

And off they went, away from the scuttling mice troops, away from stinging sounds of metal armours and weapons, and the rhythmic marching from not far away.

Yayyyy hope you enjoyed this :D