Merry Christmas everyone! I was googling Coach Hedge and typed Goach Hedge, am I wrong though? Anyway here's the next chapter and more people have been added! I hope you are happy with my choices. Sorry that I don't give very good physical descriptions of people.

Ch. 4 New allies

"Well what have we here?" asked the man standing closest to the Nutcracker, he was a shorter man he looked at the Nutcracker with clear suspicion. "A wooden spy? Some kind of mouse king trap I'll bet." Said the other, Nutcracker seemed to recognize him Piper thought though she wasn't too sure how she knew that. They look over at Piper and the children "And kidnappers as well huh?" said the first man to have spoken. Hazel steps forward "No! They saved us!" The two of them still didn't seem too convinced "Well if you have nothing to hide then I'm sure that you won't mind answering a few questions then." It was the second one this time, he gestured for Piper and the Nutcracker to follow him as he walked over to a door in the trunk of a tree. "Come along children, Mellie here will take care of you." Hazel and Nico reluctantly walked over to Mellie while the other two led Piper and the Nutcracker inside for questioning.

"Well then, let's start off with who you are and what you are doing here." Said the older man. "I'm Nutcracker and this is Piper. We're both victims of the mouse kings magic." said the Nutcracker "We're trying to find the sugarplum princess, she's the only one who can defeat the mouse king." Said Piper. "The sugarplum princess?" the younger of the two seems almost familiar with the name. "Blegh, I've never heard such a thing." Said the older man dismissively while crossing his arms over his chest. "But it's the truth, it was told to me by Prince Jason himself." Said the Nutcracker. "Humph! Prince Jason? He's the reason we're all stuck in this mess! If it weren't for that reckless boy the mouse king wouldn't be turning everyone into Knick knacks!" he gestured at the Nutcracker

"You make the prince sound pretty awful." The Nutcracker looked down not meeting anyone's eyes. "Awful?! Hahahaha that would be a complement! He was useless, lazy, and irresponsible!" the man ranted as he paced around. "Major Hedge, aren't you forgetting that Prince Jason was my friend." The younger man said getting the Majors attention "Captain Leo you're forgetting that I am your superior." Leo just rolled his eyes and walks away. Hedge lets out a long sigh "I had high hopes for that kid," grumble "But that doesn't matter, I've got more important things to worry about. Like keeping what's left of our subjects safe from the mouse king!"

Piper took a step forward "Then maybe you should be looking for the princess too." Hedge looked up at her "I don't have time to search for some cupcake blah blah blah." Piper tried not to laugh "That's sugarplum princess." Piper corrected. Hedge waved a hand at her "To look for some imaginary princess." Leo cut in "Wait Major! I think they are telling the truth, I once overheard the king telling Prince Jason about this magical princess. The king himself had believed in her magic and we've tried everything else to defeat the mouse." Hedge seemed to think things over for a moment "Hmmm. Do you even know where she is?" he asked looking at Piper and the Nutcracker again.

"We were told that she is on an island across the sea of storms." The Nutcracker told them glad that they were listening to them at last. Grumble grumble "Alright we'll go with you to look for this sugarplum princess, but I'll be in charge of this expedition!" said Hedge and the Nutcracker bowed graciously to him "Of course." He and Piper turned to leave but Leo came over and grabbed the Nutcracker by the arm pulling him to a stop "Do you know what happened to Prince Jason?" the concern was clear in his voice and his eyes as he asked about his missing friend. The Nutcracker looked at him "The mouse king destroyed him..." he looked down as he broke the news to Leo then walked away.

…

The mouse king leaned forward on his throne and stared at the two solders standing before him. "So, you're telling me that the Nutcracker- a wooden utensil- managed to escape a well-armed fighting squadron Unharmed? And instead of fleeing into the hills you instead chose to return to me and report your incompetence?" the mouse king sneered at his solders as he recounted the report they had just given him. "Um yes…?" one solider looks at the other uncertainly. "Why don't you just blast them with your sceptre sire?" the bat laughed as he watched them tremble. The mouse king stood and looked at his sceptre "I suppose that I could…" he transforms it into a golden sword and the soldiers panic. "But I find its power to transform the incompetent much more gratifying." He looked pointedly at the two before him and they gulped audibly "The trick is making you useful." He transforms the sword back into a sceptre "Brice how are we doing with statuary for the palace?"

The bat, Brice pulls open a door off to the side of the room "Seem to be full up your lordiness." The mouse king thinks a little more "How about lawn ornaments then?" the mouse king asks and Brice pulls aside a curtain on a nearby window "Too much ornament, not enough lawn it looks like." He replied and the mouse king tapped his jaw in thought "How about paperweights?" this time Brice flew over to a cabinet full of small stone mice "We're covered for those too it seems." The mouse king places his hand to his head dramatically "Hmm what does one create for the palace that has everything already?" he asked of no one in particular. Brice raised his wing "Oh! How about bookends? After all there are two of them!" the mice soldiers panic even more. "That's a wonderful idea Brice; you know I do believe I'm starting to rub off on you." He then turns his attention back to the two mice "Since other tasks posed a challenge to thee, you shall be bookends for eternity."

He casts his spell turning the two mice to stone and shrinking them down until they became decorative bookends sitting on the throne room floor, he then walks over to the table he uses for his maps and charts to look in the royal registry that had been brought to him. "Here it is, the sugarplum princess 'kind, clever, and brave…'" he trails off as he looks down at the page, his eyes scanning the words over and over again and flipping the page "That's it?!" he throws the book across the room in a fit of rage after coming up empty handed "Where is she?!" then he pauses as a new thought occurs to him and he grabs his sceptre once more. "Hahaha I guess I'll just have to reduce the Nutcracker to splinters before he can find her." He glances around the room until his eye fall upon a stone pillar "Rock that will walk, destroy whom I seek, carnage and havoc will be yours to wreak!" the Pillar crumbles and reforms into a giant stone golem that lets out an angry roar that sends Brice running for cover.

The mouse king looks proudly at his new creation "Find the wooden man, and crush him!" he orders, a murderous light in his eyes. The golem turns to carry out its orders, shaking the ground as it leaves. "Follow him Brice, he's a bit rough around the edges and may need some guidance." The mouse king said as he watched the golem go. "You want me to babysit a rock?" Brice asks incredulously but when the mouse king glares at him he changes his tune "Alright! Alright!" he starts to fly away and mumbles under his breath "It's better than being a rock." He heads out after the golem.

Please let me know what you think!