Vocaloid Tales: The Nutcracker

Chapter 6: The Toymaker's Workshop

The long weeks began to take their toll on the toymaker as he sought an ever elusive safe haven for himself and his Nutcracker nephew. The kingdom he'd once lived in chased the two of them out almost immediately. Even if it was the once great Drosselmeyer and his apprentice, the king's orders were absolute and a human and a cursed toy had no welcome.

Next they tried to seek shelter amongst the dolls. That was before the mice came seeking them out. Some of the dolls would occasionally grant them shelter, but it was always brief. The ferocity of the revenge-seeking mice would eventually drive them away again.

How had it all gone so horribly wrong?

Every time he tried to correct his mistakes, he only compounded them. Every plan he forged led to unforeseen consequences. Even when his dear Sugar Plum tried to read the stars to divine the simplest solution to saving the princess, he hadn't thought to ensure the safety of the person delivering her a cure for her condition.

The faerie bore such a sorrowful face the last time he'd seen her. She promised to scour every single speck of light in the heavens to find a way to save the poor Nutcracker from his fate. And so he'd bid her goodbye, with the promise that she'd eventually return to him if she found a way to rescue him.

That was months ago.

One more person's pleasant life uprooted by his carelessness.

Only now was luck on his side, as he'd managed to make off with a pair of horses for the two of them to continue their escape. Before the Nutcracker and the toymaker rode into the grassy fields, he'd reminded the wooden soldier that should they ever become separated, their old workshop was their final destination.

And so the journey began in earnest, constantly interrupted by ambushes from their pursuers. The mice fought with no concern for safety, and his soldier's training did him well as he banished them again and again. The Nutcracker's short time served as a peace time soldier seemed to protect him, but still the toymaker would carefully inspect him after ever battle, trying to patch every crack and dent in the wood.

No matter how dangerous their pursuers, the Nutcracker's reaction to his fate seemed calm and resolute. He never complained. He never mourned. That's just the way he'd been, even as a human boy. Was he just always capable of being optimistic no matter what his circumstances?

Would that he shared the Nutcracker's endlessly cheerful spirit in such grim days. The ferocity of the battlefields of the Marzipan Kingdom trying to decimate the mice only made the journey more hazardous. The toymaker lamented his own part in this tragedy, yet he seethed with rage against the humans who threw doll after doll at the endless army of supernatural mice. To them, their lives meant nothing – even as hard as it was to kill a doll, running along fields strewn with broken doll parts still remained unsettling.

But with the familiar sight of his old home in reach, the toymaker tried to press forward. He had ways to protect it, to keep the both of them safe. "Uncle, we're finally home..." Hope echoed in the Nutcracker's voice as he clutched his long blue scarf close.

The toymaker pushed open the door to his old home. It hadn't been properly cared for in some time – many of his projects had been relocated to his new home in the Marzipan Castle. But many of his older blueprints still remained. He took a few careful steps inside, approaching one of his wind up soldiers. "Hm... the stardust nodes need repairing... but I should be able to get them up and running again soon enough-"

"UNCLE!"

The warning came too late – he felt the sensation of cold steel piercing his chest. Pain shot through his limbs, radiating from the deep wound.