Clara was now feeling scared and she turned around and saw the Rat King gaining on her and chasing her.
"Come now…I don't bite," he called, now chasing after her faster.
"Get away!" she squeaked. But as she looked in front of her, the Nutcracker and Marcello ran out with their swords drawn.
"We're here Clara!" the Nutcracker called.
"Stay away from her!" Marcello growled out. Nutcracker ran and jumped in between Clara and the Rat King and Marcello pulled her to safety.
"Come now…put away the swords. I only wish to speak to Clara," the Rat King smiled.
"We know you're up to no good! Stop trying to trick her!" Nutcracker said, now standing bravely in front of the large beast.
"Clara don't fear. We came to help and we think we also found a clue of where the Sugar Plum fairy is," Marcello added.
"Where?" Clara asked.
"She's on the other side of the Chocolate Waterfall; it appears she's in the land of the candy canes and she has been checking on the candy cane citizens since the Rat King has been capturing individuals for the past year," Marcello said.
The Rat King only shrugged and then winked at Clara. "Why do you fear me so? I only wish to help you." He grinned.
"You-you're a rat!" Clara squeaked out.
"Oh come now…we rats aren't so bad," The Rat King smiled, now gently backing away into the darkness. "Soon, Clara, you will need my help. And when that time comes…I will be waiting."
And with that, he backed all the way into the darkness and vanished completely. The Nutcracker turned to Clara and motioned for she and Marcello to quickly run into the hole in the clock. Once they ran through and were on the other side, Clara was amazed that they were back where she left off…the chocolate waterfall.
"Clara…we can make it…don't fear the Rat King. He doesn't have as much power as you realize," Nutcracker said as he pushed back some branches. Clara nodded but paused as she heard the sound of stomping feet coming their way.
"What's that?" she asked.
"Our reinforcements," Marcello, the white soldier, smiled. Clara grinned as a line of soldiers came into view. They were all ready for battle with the Rat King and his army.
"I want to introduce you to the best group of men in the land of sweets! Jest, Jape, Blithe, Jovi, Vivo, and Amio! They will lead our army in a counterattack against the Rat King when we find the Sugar Plum fairy." Marcello said.
Clara nodded and walked forward and did a small curtsy. The soldiers all bowed and then gave her a gentle smile in return.
"There is a party prepared for you Clara! We are so happy to have your help in breaking the prince's curse!" one of the soldiers smiled. "The celebration will begin when we return!"
"And we thank you for helping us rid the land of that horrid Rat King," another added.
"I'm happy to help! Now where do we begin?" she asked.
"Well we will first go and find the Sugar Plum fairy…she will help us to create a plan for destroying the Rat King," Nutcracker said.
"Find her? Can't she come to us?" Clara asked.
"No…it appears that when she went to check on the Candy Cane Lane, the Rat King placed a spell on the bridge that prevented her from returning to this side," Nutcracker said gently.
Clara nodded and then squared her shoulders. "Then we must go and save her! She needs our help!"
The others nodded and led the way towards the Candy Cane Lane. As they began to walk, Clara giggled as she saw small sugar cane snow flakes falling from the sky, making her smile. She was truly enjoying everything!
"It is so beautiful here!" she giggled, now picking up a ball of candy and tossing it in the air. Nutcracker smiled and Vivo, one of the soldiers, picked up a candy 'snow' ball and threw it at her. Clara paused as she felt it hit her in the back. She then turned and gave them devious smirks! "Oh it's on you guys!"
And with that, she bent down and picked up some snowballs! She then began throwing them at them and a snowball fight broke out! It felt wonderful to just kick back and relax with her new friends! This place was just pure magic!
"This place is wonderful! I wish I could live here!" Clara giggled.
"You mean you would live here even with the Rat King being here?" Nutcracker smirked.
"Of course! I'm not afraid of him!" Clara smiled, now puffing her chest out playfully.
"Oh really? Then let's have some practice," Nutcracker chuckled deviously, now getting down on all fours and giving them a toothy smile. "Clara…come with me my delectable Clara…"
Marcello laughed and then got down on all fours too and gave Clara an evil smile. "Yes…come and become a rat just like the rest of us!"
"I'm not afraid of you! I shall defeat you!" Clara said, now playing along.
"Surely you do not know who you are dealing with…I am the Rat King. Why look at my wonderful long tail," Nutcracker teased, now shaking his coat tails like a tail.
"And look and my wonderful claws…" Marcello added, now wiggling his gloved hands. Soon they all burst out laughing and fell in a happy heap on the ground. It was good to know that fear could be overcome with joy and happiness no matter what. But after a few minutes, Nutcracker helped Clara up on her feet.
"Come everyone. We need to get going. The Sugar Plum Fairy needs our help," he said. They all nodded and headed out.
A few hours later…
Clara, Nutcracker, Marcello, and the soldiers were facing the broken bridge that would take them to Candy Cane Lane.
"What do we do to fix it?" Clara asked.
"We use some of our licorice rope. We will lasso it to those broken pieces of candy cane over there and walk across," Marcello said, now pulling out some licorice rope.
"Wait…we have to walk across? I don't want to fall," Clara said, now looking down. All the way down was the milk river and it would take her to the gingerbread village.
"Do not fear. I will be here to help you," Nutcracker smiled.
"We all will," Marcello smiled, now lassoing the long candy cane sticks on the other side. Once he had it tight, he tied it to another sugar cane tree and began to balance himself as he walked across the licorice rope bridge. Once Marcello was across, he motioned for Clara to come across.
"I-I'm too scared," Clara said in fear.
"You'll be fine Clara…go ahead. I'll walk behind you," Nutcracker reassured her as he helped her up. Clara took a deep gulp and tried to balance herself across. Truth be told, she was doing fine but when she looked down, she began to wobble!
"Don't look down Clara," came the gentle voice behind her. Clara nodded and before she knew it, she was across the bridge. She let out a deep breath of relief and soon they all made it across!
"I hope we don't have to do that again," Clara groaned, now feeling motion sickness.
"The Sugar Plum fairy can help us repair the bridge with her magic," Jest, the soldier, chuckled. The soldiers then led the way to the broken candy cane city. Once they arrived, they saw that the entire village seemed to be covered in some sort of black goo!
"The Rat King…he did this," Nutcracker growled.
"It looks like there was a battle here and some people were captured," a soldier said.
"But where is the Sugar Plum fairy?" another asked.
"Look! Over there!" one said! They saw some people trying to get free of some kind of cage!
"You all free those people and we will see if we can find the fairy," Clara said. Everyone nodded and split up.
Clara was looking among some debris when she heard someone and they sounded like they were mumbling and struggling. As she walked around the corner, she saw a beautiful white fairy with glittery wings, golden long hair, smooth snow white skin, and a light purple dress that was covered in bright sparkles. Her hands were bound behind her back and she was blindfolded and gagged. She was also in a crystal-like container and her wand was placed on the outside of it!
"I'll save you!" Clara said, now walking over briskly and picking up the wand! She didn't even know what to do but before she could call out for assistance, the wand began to glow! Soon it began to melt the crystal cage that held the fairy. The fairy mumbled in surprise, hearing something happened. She then blindly felt around, hoping to see what was happening. "Here, let me help you!"
The fairy turned sharply to the sound of the young girl's voice and mumbled something as if to say 'Who's out there?' Once Clara walked over to her, she could feel the fairy's hands wiggling around as if she was trying to get the wand from Clara's hands.
"Oh! Your wand!" Clara said, now realizing what the fairy wanted. Once she gave it to her, the fairy used the wand's power to get her bound hands free. But Clara then gasped as the fairy then turned and gently took hold of her wrist as she took the gag off. Clara tried to pull back, but she paused at the friendly giggle.
"Hold on there young one. I only wish to greet you. After all you did save me," the fairy soothed, now temporarily releasing her to get the blindfold off. But Clara, being somewhat shy, moved back and hid behind some broken candy cane walls.
"Now hold on a moment. Don't run away…there is nothing to fear little one," the gentle voice soothed. The fairy then gently removed her blindfold and searched the room briefly. She then arched an amused eyebrow as she saw some movement behind the candy cane walls. At that moment, the Nutcracker and Marcello walked in, but the Sugar Plum fairy motioned for them to stay quiet and pointed to Clara's hidden form behind the wall. Nutcracker and Marcello stifled their chuckles as the fairy teleported behind Clara, bent down, and planted a playful kiss on her neck. Clara let out a squeak of shock but then giggled as she was pulled into a warm and enjoyable hug.
"Now come here you. I have the right to hug my rescuer," the Sugar Plum fairy smiled.
"I was just trying to help," Clara smiled, now giggling as the fairy planted another kiss on her forehead.
"What's your name?" the beautiful white fairy smiled.
"Clara." Came the small reply.
"My name is Bliss. But most refer to me as the Sugar Plum fairy," Bliss replied, now letting Clara go and turning to the others. "You all have my deepest thanks. The Rat King was here and I was captured as I tried to protect most of the citizens."
"Where is he now?" Marcello asked.
"I think he was heading to the Gingerbread village!" a soldier said in fear.
"No! That's near the castle! We can't let him storm the castle!" Nutcracker said.
"Then there's no time to lose! We need to get to the castle immediately!" Marcello said, now leading the way!
"We can take a shortcut through the gingerbread village!" the Sugar Plum fairy said, now motioning for them to hurry!
The group then began to run as fast as they could to get to the gingerbread village! They had to stop the Rat King from getting to the castle or else it would cause an even bigger problem! If they took over the castle, they would have a strong hold against the entire land of sweets!
As they were running, Clara could feel a cold sweat going down her head. Would they be able to stop the Rat King? Would they be able to save the land of sweets? And would she ever be able to stop living in fear of the unknown?
"Clara," a voice said. The young girl turned as it snapped her from her thoughts. She saw it was the Sugar Plum Fairy.
"Clara…all will be well. You are the key to helping us destroy the Rat King," she smiled.
"But what do I need to do? This place is wonderful but I'm not like the real Clara in the story," Clara said.
"No…you're even better," the fairy smiled, now winking at her and then telling everyone to stop. "Everyone…I am feeling my strength returning. Come! We will fly to the gingerbread lands."
And with that, she swung her wand and a cloud appeared. Everyone climbed on it and the cloud lifted into the sky and flew them across the valley. The air felt absolutely delicious as it brushed past her face and Clara felt strengthened. She looked into the distance and saw the Rat King and his army approaching the gingerbread village and she squared her jaw.
"I'm not going to let you ruin my favorite dream or hurt my friends!" Clara said lowly, now clenching her fist. For the first time in years, Clara was ready to stand up and fight for what was precious to her!
guestsurprise: Hope you all are enjoying this story so far!