Grimm Tidings

Racing footsteps rage forward on the thick ice of the frozen pond. Roars of opposing forces cut through the crisp, cold air. A battle of myths, made manifest, is to be had. A grotesque, giant, monster goose shrieks a horrifying sound as its enemies draw near. The four women who had summoned their mother goose, were engulfed by the very monster they thought to rely on. They screamed in horror as they were swallowed into the monster's body. It needed the energy to fight the encroaching warriors of fable, so it took it from its own kin. Seven bearded dwarves lead the charge, with a beast and five knightly heroes, one whom rode atop a big wolf, following suit. The two Grimm brothers, Karl and Carl stayed back to watch the ensuing mayhem. The child knight, Ruby and her wolf companion, Fen, ran alongside the beast, Adam, to come up with a quick plan of attack. "Ruby and I will attack one of its wings. Come up with a way to get at its head while we have it distracted," Fen demanded as he ran ahead. "Right, on it," Adam caught up to the dwarves, "I'm going to start throwing you at the head of whatever the hell this is. Try to get its eyes, if not do some bigger damage." "I like the way you think, laddie," the dwarf leader exclaimed. "Alright, furball, gimme a good throw," another dwarf said. Fen leapt into the air with Ruby holding tightly onto his tufts of fur, as he bit down on one of the monster goose's wings. It shrieked in pain as Fen pulled the wing downwards. Ruby climbed over Fen and onto the wing and swung her axe into the wing multiple times, trying to cleave it off. The monster goose was about to bite either Fen or Ruby, but Adam started chucking the dwarves at her head. The dwarves let out war cries as they flew through the air and grabbed hold of the ghastly feathers, as they landed on the monster. They began to strike the monster with their pickaxes and hammers. They eventually were able to strike the eyes and blind her. She shook her head more violently and the dwarves were tossed about. They grunted as they hit the ground, some having the wind knocked from them. The armour would see to them having little damage though. The other four knightly heroes, Allie, Anabelle, Pearl and Philip struck the torso with their swords and spears. The monster goose started thrashing about in pain, knocking them all back. Fen saved Ruby from hitting the ground too hard and the dwarves got up to pull the others away from harm. They watched as the monster goose flailed about blindly and bled out. It was almost sad if it weren't a malicious monster. They let out a collective sigh of relief as it lay dead and took a moment.

The Grimm brothers walked to the carcass of their alleged mother and dug their hands into the wounds, fishing for something. The heroic team watched in bewilderment and slight disgust. Carl then pulled out a bloody circular object, "I have it, brother." "Onwards then," Karl exclaimed as they started walking further away. The group is confused about what happens next. How do some of them return to their original bodies? How do they do the same for their friends and families? They follow the brothers to get some answers. "Hey, where are you guys going," Philip shouts out, but the brothers ignore him. "The lad asked you a question," the lead dwarf said, yet he too was ignored. Fen, frustrated, ran in front of them, "answer us! What happens now?" "Patience, good boy," Karl answered. "You will know shortly," Carl continued. Fen growled a scoff and followed. Adam looked to Ana, "I don't like this." "Me neither," Ana agreed. "We gotta be on our toes," Allie chimed and then looked to Pearl. "Yeah," Pearl nodded. The dwarves heard that and readied their weapons in case. "Are you alright," Philip asked Ruby, as she was just a child. "Yeah, I'm okay as long as I have Fen," Ruby answered. The brothers lead the group past the Everwinter Pond and into an open field. Carl then stopped and cracked the object they found within their mother and it oozed a purple liquid. The ground shook as the liquid fell to it. The brothers backed away swiftly and the others followed. The ground split and a tree sprout from the ground. "All that for a pear tree," Allie joked. "Oh no. Those are not pears, milady," Karl answered. "Those are changeling eggs," Carl explained. "Behold, Yggdrasil! The Tree of Life," Karl exclaimed. "It once gave us life. Now too it shall our children," Carl continued. "What the hell is this about," Adam roared. "Our matriarch simply calls upon Yggdrasil with her...excretions," Karl explained. "But the Tree is the one who breathes life into our kind," Carl went further. "The others blindly followed their instincts without purpose," Karl said. "They just played with living beings like children playing with toys," Carl added. "That's why it was so easy to get you to enter the fray and destroy them," Karl continued. "But, we are more sophisticated. We want to tell great stories with you," Carl continued further. "So, you manipulated us? How," Pearl inquired. "An author leaves some room to the imagination," Karl answered. "All the same. The world's the stage, and life the play," Carl exclaimed. "Our children will...what is that incessant noise," Karl asked in anger. "Brother," Carl gasped as he turned around," the Woodsman!" The Woodsman, a secret ally of Ruby and Fen chopped Yggdrasil down as the brothers prattled on, too preoccupied for anything but their villainous monologue. The others kept quiet and didn't attack for that purpose. "Noooo! What have you done," Karl screamed. "Our stories now are to be undone you wretch," Carl yelled. A green light burst from the tree turning the Brothers Grimm to dust and enveloped the surrounding land. Adam, Fen and the dwarves were swept up by the light and returned to their normal forms. They assumed that all else had changed back too. They went to the carriages that had taken them there and rode them to the areas where they once were affected.

Allie reunited with her friends, Tom and Theo. Pearl reunited with her brother, John. Anabelle reunited with her dog, Maurice. Adam reunited with his parents and manor attendants. And the rest reunited with their friends and family. The other people caught up in this twisted story returned to their lives. The media went abuzz with all these missing persons returning from seemingly thin air. All was well, but explanations would not be believed. So, it was best that they should never tell the story of the Brothers Grimm, as a last bit of retaliation. They went on to lead normal lives even though they took part in fairy tales. Some even married like Anabelle and Adam, or Allie and Tom. Despite a grim start, they lived happily ever after.