Nutcracker Sweet

((Can you get on AIM?))

Victoria followed along beside him, frowning as they went. The city smelt dirty and what was more, she didnt like evening looking at them. It was beginning to put her on edge.

She glanced behind them every now and again, eventually her doing so creating a gap between Hans and herself.

It wasn’t long before Hans lost her in the crowd of people that surrounded them. Of course he didn’t even notice she was gone until his eyes alighted on a sign that made his blood run cold. There was his face and hers, with a bounty on their heads. By order of the Goblin King. It said in blocky red letters. This town had fallen. Despair washed over him, but only for a moment. He had to get them out of there quickly before they were recognized. That was when he noticed she was gone.

“Oh no.” He whispered, immediately scanning the crowd trying to find her. He was afraid to yell out for her, in case someone should hear him and pay too much attention to the young man.

Victoria frowned, looking around. Oh... Amazing... She'd lost him.

She sighed and wrapped her arms around herself... She knew coming to the city was a bad idea...

The poor girl nearly jumped out of her skin when some one placed a hand on her shoulder. "Lost, girl?" a gruff voice asked.

She spun around quickly, pulling away from the hand before looking up into the face of the man who had grabbed her. "Me? No. Not at all." she lied glancing around. Two other men were watching. One eventually stood and motioned to the other, walking over.

"You sure?" the first man raised an eyebrow, taking a step closer to her, forcing her to take a step back. "Cuz I dont think no one smart would be in a city with a bounty on their head 'less they was lost."

The man grinned wide, his partner taking her arm forcefully, his grip bruising on her arm.

“I think you’ll be coming with us little lady.” The first man said, laughing as she futilely tried to fight back against him.

They dragged her away and down a near by alley, the people on the streets completely ignoring them as they went along. It wasn’t that they didn’t see what was transpiring. They had learned under the leadership of the Goblin to ignore such things. It wasn’t worth your own life to interfere.

"Let me go!" Victoria demanded, an innate sort of fear sweeping over her as they carried her off. When a firm hand covered her mouth she bit down, trying to scream, call for help. Anything!

She closed her eyes, trying to picture some sort of distraction or escape. A fire catching on their cloths, or some monster grabbing the men off of her, defending her-- ANYTHING.

She knew coming here was a bad choice. She closed her eyes tighter, a tear running down her cheek.

It was like an invisible line pulled at Hans from beneath his navel leading him through the streets and through the crowds. He didn’t know how he knew where to go, and yet he did. He turned down another alley and saw the men, and Victoria held in one of their arms and he literally saw red.

The next thing she heard was a loud crunch as Hans’s fist collided with her captors face, releasing her suddenly.

“Run!” He yelled, tackling the other guy and punching him hard. His attack had been a surprise which had given him a momentary advantage, but the truth was it was still two on one and Hans was clearly outmatched. He fought hard though, hard enough that he eventually staggered away from the fray, having laid one of the guys out with a well placed kick and a punch to the others face.

He grabbed her hand, and pulled her along, running as fast he could. He didn’t take them back to the main street but slid into a sewer pipe, pulling her along with him into the underground tunnel system. Once out of sight he stopped running, but held his hand over her mouth to silence her, until the sound of chasing footsteps died away. Then and only then did he slump to the floor, grateful beyond anything else he had found her in time.

Victoria was shaking from head to toe.She was trying her best, her very best not ot imagine what might have happened if he haddnt found her.

"T-thanks." she shuddered, looking him over. He was pretty bloodied up...

Swallowing she glanced behind them and looked down. She lifted the hem of her night gown, tearing the bottom off in shreds. At least it was still clean. Thankfully she wore the night gown only around mid shin length.

She knelt down next to Hans and took his hand in hers, wrapping it up in an attempt to soak up the blood seeping form his knuckles.

He grunted in reply, trying to calm down his adrenaline and access his body for damages. From what he could tell nothing was broken but he was definitely pretty bruised. When she took his hand to wrap it he flinched for a moment before relaxing and letting her wrap his battered hands.

“Are you okay? They didn’t hurt you?” He asked, his voice thin and scratchy.

"I'm fine." she said.

Actually, her arms were bruised something fierce, as was her foot. It had already been bruised form kicking the goblin, kicking and flailing like she had in the ally hadn't helped matters much. She was such a dainty little thing and those men haddn't been at all easy with her. she woudl be surprised if she didnt get a fat lip form that one mans hand clamped so tightly over her mouth.

She was in much better shape than he was though. And she had a feeling he wouldnt forgive himself if he knew she was hurt.

Hans had a feeling she was lying to him, so he opened his eyes grateful at once that they were in the dimly lit sewers and not out in broad daylight. A bruise was already forming across his face, his strong jaw purpling before her very eyes. Those same eyes were darting here and there, looking at her face, her arms, and everything he could see. Under that gaze her saw her arms darkening, saw the tender way she held herself. He knew without her having to tell him a single word and in the dim light he seemed like he could sleep for hours, as if some great weight had just pushed down on him, hard.

Yet, he didn’t rest. Instead he pulled her forward, hugging her against his chest. His steady breathing was comforting and yet the closeness of their embrace was disconcerting as well. She could hear his steady heartbeat she was so close.

“You got hurt.” He said into her hair, holding her tightly and yet not harshly enough to bruise or even cause her discomfort. In fact she probably could have broken free if she truly had wanted to.

“I broke my promise. I’m sorry.” The words were so heartfelt and the honest truth that they were painful to hear. In every breath he took, each beat of his heart, was that apology. He truly believed he would never be able to make up for this. He’d led her straight into danger, ignored her worries when she’d warned him, and she could have gotten really hurt.

Victoria blinked, then closed her eyes, sighing lightly, though it seemed to laborious coming from the small girls lips.

She buried her face lightly into his neck, fitting snugly under his chin. "It's okay." she said. "Just... don't leave me alone again." she requested meekly. That sense of abandonment had frightened her possibly more than the men themselves. She had always been alone, she had grown used to solitude and loneliness. But she had never felt as alone as she had when she realized Hans wasn't in front of her anymore leading the way.

He could feel her trembling like a leaf under his arms. She shook like a leaf, battered and tossed, scared. He could feel a tear run down his neck, falling from the girls eyes. She didn't make any move to leave form his lap. In fact, she actually pulled her delicate legs up, curling up against him.

Some boys grew terrified at the first sign of a girls tears. They would run and hide, suddenly unsure of themselves and lacking the ability to truly comfort. Some boys would stay but somehow make things worse in their attempts to comfort, not understanding why the tears were there in the first place. Hans however, was not any of those kinds.

The moment he felt the tear run down his neck, and her body began to shake he understood the fear coursing through her, the loneliness and abandonment she must have felt. So, rather than say anything else that would only be empty words, he simply held her, his strong embrace holding her close, with his nose buried into her hair.

When he felt her beginning to calm down, her shakes subsiding he nuzzled her head before speaking.

“I can’t promise you’ll never be alone again.” He said carefully, wanting her to understand what he was saying without panicking. “But I can promise I’ll always come find you.”

Victoria nodded against him, showing she understood. "Thank you." she said softly, calming down finally.

She pulled back, a stray tear still hanging on her eye lashes. "You got pretty beaten up... are you going to be alright?" she asked, eying the bruised bump swell on his jaw.

Hans reached out, and carefully wiped the stray tear off her eyelashes. His blue eyes seemed so serious at that moment, deep and full of secrets that she had never seen before. He was usually so carefree and open, transparent in a way so that it always felt like he was already known. Not a mystery or an enigma but a dear friend that you already know everything about. In that moment, with his deep blue eyes it became obvious just how little she really knew about Hans.

Then he smiled softly, his eyes losing that dizzying depth to them. “I’ll be fine.” He said reassuringly, though with the blackening bruise and who knew countless other injuries it was hard to believe him. Yet he seemed so unbreakable, that he could never fall apart.

No matter how reassuring he was now, no matter how friendly and seemingly transparent there was still that moment where his eyes had shown her more.

Victoria slipped off his lap, putting that depth to memory as she moved. "Is there anywhere safe you can rest?" she asked. "I doubt a sewer is considered a good place to stay..."

Hans frowned, unsure of where they could possibly go. At this point what he had thought of as a safe haven was obviously overrun. Add that to the fact they were considered outlaws now, he wasn’t sure there really was a place to go. What he really needed was an underground resistance group or something to miraculously show up and claim him their long awaited leader or something. Funny, since that kind of stuff only happened in stories.

Shaking his head he stood slowly, using the wall to help support him. Now that the adrenaline was gone he could really feel his various injuries. He grimaced for a moment before he steeled himself, knowing full well that he needed to be strong right now for her.

“Lets go. We have to get out of this city.”

Victoria frowned in worry at him. He was only going to make matters worse for himself if he kept pushing like that.

She set her face, then moved. She stepped forward and turned on her toes, pushing herself under his arm, pulling it across her shoulders to help support him. "Well... that was leads back to the mob... so, right then." she said. "Right?"

Hans nodded, looking down the long sewer tunnel and not particularly looking forward to spending the next few hours walking through all that.

He was silent as they walked, grateful more than he could say for her support. He didn’t know how far he would have been able to walk otherwise. During that silence however, he was thinking fast trying to come up with some kind of plan. There had to be some form of resistance left. He would just have to find them.

Victoria sighed after a long while of walking. The quiet was begining to wear on her nerves; though thankfully she had finally gotten numb to the smell. "So... That looks like a manhole up ahead... Should we look around?"

Hans looked up at the manhole, wondering if it was safe to venture out yet or if they would still be in the middle of the city. He didn’t want to take the risk of guards waiting for them to emerge and capture them. He had a feeling they wouldn’t hesitate to kill them both, and he couldn’t anything happen to Victoria.

“I think…I need to rest a moment.” He said quietly, his voice faltering. His strength was starting to wane. It didn’t help that his mind was in overdrive trying to come up with some kind of solution to their dilemma, or that he felt horribly guilty for getting them in that mess in the first place.

She looked at him and blinked before nodding. "OKay...." she said. She eased him down into a sitting position in the dryest part of the floor she could find.

Victoria looked him over, worried about his wellbeing. "So... If I imagine it- it'll come into being... like a bed?" she asked.

“Essentially yes. But magic is dependant on the strength of the user. Conjuring a bed for instance would be easy, keeping its form however for an extended amount of time would be taxing and at your level probably too much to accomplish.” Hans said breathily, finding it harder and harder to take in breath.

It felt like his chest was constricted, unable to rise and fall like it would normally.

"... Take your shirt off." she demanded suddenly, kneeling in front of him, having already used the hem of her nightgown to dress his arm wound and forehead. This time, she took the sleeve. Thankfully it was thin enough material to rip.

"I know how to do basic first aid... Mom thought I should learn it...."

Hans looked at her with surprise, wondering for not the first time that day how much she knew that he wasn’t aware of. He wasn’t sure if he should let her examine him, not because he doubted her persay but because he wasn’t sure if he wanted her to find out he was more hurt than he had thought before.

“I guess so.” He said softly, pulling off his shirt slowly. It was painful to move.