The Nutcracker

Chapter 10

Yayyyy I'm finally back! :D

Chapter 10:

(Meanwhile in the mouse kingdom)

"THEY GOT AWAY?!" the mouse king growled, throwing the goblet beside him onto the stone floor. He glared at the two scrawny grey mice,  as they shivered , pleading for mercy.

"Hmmm.... i wonder what i should do with you...." He grinned, waving his bulky gold wand maliciously as the red 'flames' traced these movements like how the fairy dust traced a fairy's, except, this was no fairy dust,  it was nothing good to begin with.

"Tell me Pip, what do you say, we make another statue?" The mouse king said to his 'pet' bat, who flew over to pull open a curtain. Behind those thick blood red curtains, were hundreds of tiny mice statues, all with expressions of fear and shock, it was like they were killed in an instant, even before they got the chance to scream. Their identical yet frozen expressions gave an eerie feel that sent a shiver down the spine of the two little mice. (Well.... thats provided they do have a spine xD.)

"Mmmmmmm....overflowing sir" Pip said, looking playfully disappointed.

"Cups?"

Pip flew over to reveal the mountain of stone cups behind second curtain, depicting a fearful scene. There stood many furry cups, which looked rather harmless from afar. But upon closer inspection, you could see that each cup was really made out of a huge depression in the head of a mouse, as if the mouse had lost its brain. The most disturbing thing was, its eyes were wide open and they stared back at you;that long lingering stare that followed you no matter which angle you stood.

Again, the area was filled. Clearly the mouse king was a merciless ruler, one who used torture, as a punishment for all who failed him.

"Covered " Pip said, looking bored.

"Paper weight?" The mouse said, slapping his hand on his forehead. To him, those things were a pleasure, and after much repetition of the same method of torture, he seemed to be losing interest, or perhaps thinking of another way.....

"Covered"  Pip peeked through the small gap behind the thick red curtains at the corner, only to return with a look of disappointment, it was clear that he was eager to see the two mice receive their punishment, and it seemed like he enjoyed it as much as his master.

Just then, the king's advisor came along.

" Sir, i have news" he bowed as he stopped about a metre away from his king.

"Go ahead."

"Sir, it seems that  the Nutcracker and his...... well i guess we could say 'companion' are searching for some oracle to find a sugarplum princess."

"And how does that concern me, i just want him incinerated." the mouse king said, slouching and rolling his eyes.

"Sir, it seems to me that they think that the sugarplum princess  can defeat you."

"WHAT" the king got up from his slouching position, craning his neck to look down on his advisor.

"Here" his advisor allowed the magic mirror to justify his statement.

There, appearing in the misty mirror was the scene of the Nutcracker telling Clarie about the sugarplum princess.

(" so.... how are we going to find this sugarplum princess?" The girl asked. "The only way is to find the oracle of fire. She knows everything and legends say she is the only one who worked with the princess before." He replied.

" And do you know where to find this oracle?"

"Yes. The oracle lives beyond the path of courage. In a crytal made palace built by hopes eternal flame. The path will be hard. But i'm sure we will make it through." )

"My king. Seeing how eager they are to find this princess, there must be something about her that might pose a threat. " the advisor said, still as emotionless as he was before.

"SUGAR PLUM PRINCESS. Well well well, we shall see. BRING ME ALL THE BOOKS ON THE MYTHS AND POWERFUL SORCERERS. Let's see how GREAT this sugarplum princess is."

(Back to the Nutcracker)

The mouse King's army was as  persistent as houseflies attracted to a plate of food. Although the children were travelling fast on Marzipan,

Clarie and the Nutcracker were unable keep up with the pace on foot, and the gap between them and the army grew smaller and smaller. As they ran into the foliage  and made their escape through the forest, they noticed a small ladder made of planks of wood and rope, dangling from above. As they followed to path of the ladder, they saw that it led to a treehouse. Clarie and the Nutcracker turned to look at each other with the same puzzled expression.

"Should we climb up? That way we could take shelter for a while and pull the ladder up so that none of the mice will see it. " Clarie asked, holding the reins of Marzipan, making sure the children were alright.

The nutcracker reached out to touch the ladder with his stiff wooden hands. He applied pressure to the planks, checking whether they were strong and stable enough to support their climb.

" This may be our only chance of survival. Besides, the children need to rest"

Just then, the children yawned, right on cue.

"But what about Marzipan?" Clarie went on as she helped the children down the horse. While the Nutcracker was trying to think of a solution, Marzipan's ears twitched slightly, and in a few seconds, the majestic horse took flight, with her silky mane flowing with the wind and her hoofs taking on a steady and fast pace.

" I guess Marzipan understands our situation" the Nutcracker said as they watched the beautiful horse disappear from sight.

Clarie nodded in agreement, silently thanking the horse.

"Well we better get climbing. Children first. "

the Nutcracker helped the two children up the constantly swinging ladder that seemed to go up about 6 metres high. The children hid their fear and climbed up in cooperation, all the while trying not to look down.

When the children were close to reaching the top, the Nutcracker reached out an open palm, motioning for Clarie to climb first. Clarie took a deep breath and placed her foot on the first plank to start the long climb. It wasn't an easy feat, the ladder was swinging from side to side with every step she took, and her ballet flats did not have a good grip on the smooth wooden planks. Clarie almost slipped and fell a few times. Luckily, she twisted both arms around the rope above her before lifting her legs up, ensuring support whenever her feet lost grip.

The Nutcracker went up the ladder with stiff and unnatural movements. He couldn't help but worry about Clarie's safety as he saw how Clarie climbed up. He didn't want to lose her even though he had just met her.

When Clarie finally reached the top, her forearms were bleeding from the rope burn and they felt so sore that Clarie felt as if she had used a cheese grater on her skin. Clarie stepped onto the wooden platform of the treehouse and was greeted by a group of armed men surrounding her. The men were wary of her, and they pointed their spears at her in preparation to attack. Clarie stood rooted to the ground, raising both her arms to show that she meant no harm.

Behind her, the Nutcracker struggled with the tangle of rope and wriggled up the platform with a look of relief that ended briefly when he realised that he was surrounded by weapons that were all pointed towards him.