Prettyinpinkgal: Review, please :) There is a little bit of a reference to the movie in here too.
Disclaimer: I don't own Howl's Moving Castle or the Nutcracker.
A CHRISTMAS STORY
CHAPTER TWO
Squeaking sounds made Sophie open her eyes. "What on earth?!" she cried, staring at the floor. It was covered with mice. And they were trying to climb the legs of the couch to reach her!
She yelped and sat as far away from the ugly rodents as possible. Somehow, her nutcracker had ended up in her hands.
"This won't do at all," a throbbing voice said. Sophie looked around for the source of the voice. "Down here, you stupid human." Sophie looked down at the disgusting rodents and saw a regal-looking mouse (that is, as regal as mice can look) staring right at her.
"I am the Queen of the Mice," said the mouse, "commonly known as the Witch of the Waste--"
"What's the Waste?" Sophie found herself asking.
"Insolent fool of a human," replied the Queen. "It is where all mice come from, at the other side of the hole over there," she said, nodding her little head towards the mouse hole.
"I thought it was just a--" Sophie began.
"Shut up! As I had been saying, it won't do at all for you to have such a height advantage over us." Clearly, this woman enjoyed hearing herself talk.
Sophie's body began tingling, and suddenly she found that the Christmas tree was far taller than it should be, and that she was on the floor, surrounded by mice that were now her size. Or, rather, she was their size. Her nutcracker was now slightly taller than her.
"Oh, no..." Sophie said, backing up and hiding slightly behind the nutcracker.
All of a sudden, the nutcracker did not seem as rigid and wooden. He seemed to become human, with blonde hair which now moved and did not seem painted on. His blue marble eyes became slightly more real. "So we meet again, Your Majesty," the man said, his voice mocking.
"I will get you this time, Howl!" screeched the Witch. Her mousy minions charged, ready to attack.
However, before they could, two other men appeared, both dressed in soldier uniforms, although not looking as regal as the nutcracker man. "Sorry we're late, Howl," one said, looking younger than Sophie.
Howl didn't reply. He just ran. Sophie smiled with relief, sure that he would attack the Witch.
Except he was running in the opposite direction.
"Don't just run away!" shouted Sophie and the two soldiers.
"I have to save my own skin! You can take them!" yelled the nutcracker man.
"He's such a coward," growled the older soldier who had fiery red hair. He couldn't say anything else, because the mice had reached them. The two soldiers fought the mice as well as they could, and they were excellent swordsmen, yet it wasn't enough. Even two great soldiers couldn't fight so many mice at one time.
"Stay behind us!" the younger of the two called to Sophie. "We'll keep you safe!"
Sophie wasn't entirely sure they could, due to all the mice, but it was better protection than standing alone. She looked around for her nutcracker, but could not find him. There were far to many hideous mice.
"Hey, she's a cutie, for a human," a voice said. Sophie whirled around to see a mouse leering at her. It was even more disgusting than the others.
"Go away!" Sophie yelled at it. But it was no use. He grabbed her wrist and pulled her away from the protection of the two kind soldiers, who were too busy fighting to be able to help her. "Let me go!" she cried, kicking and screaming.
"Noisy, ain't ya?" he growled.
"I said let me go!" she screamed again. When that did no good and he only tightened his grip on her, she added a small, "Please?'
The mouse simply grinned maliciously at her. Suddenly, he froze, his face contorting in pain. His eyes rolled up so that all Sophie could see was white, then fell to the ground.
She screamed again, although her voice was starting to go from so much screaming when she was usually such a quiet person. "Are you alright?" came the nutcracker man's voice. She turned her gaze from the dead mouse to look at the handsome face of her nutcracker. He had saved her, even though he was apparantly such a coward.
"Yes, thank you," replied Sophie, still rather shaken.
"Come on," he said, reaching out to take her hand.
She hesitantly reached out, and he took her hand, his grip tight but not painful.
The Queen watched this, her fury mounting. "He is mine," she said to herself, "and no one else's!"