Hinweis/Act 0 - Prologue

A small cottage stands proudly in a grove, deep in the Black Forest. The sky plastered with mesmerising, glimmering, lights, twinkling gently above the humble home. Inside a woman stands, gazing out of the kitchen window, eagerly awaiting the return of her husband.
:Idony: Oh Allerick, where are you?
A horse and cart roll into to the grove, a man sits slumped over on the seat, looking over his shoulder at the empty carriage behind him.
:Allerick: *sigh* What am I gonna do?
The man sheepishly and tiredly gets up from his cart, giving his horse a pat before heading inside
:Idony: No food out there today either huh?
:Allerick: 'Fraid not sweetheart, what are we going to do? There's not enough for us all.
Idony walks the length of the kitchen towards a cupboard, opening it to reveal a half empty jar of jam, an apple, and 3 eggs.
:Idony: There's only one thing we can do now, we must think of the children, they need it more than we do. They're still growing after all.
:Allerick: You're right. We're just going to have to power through it, Hansel and Gretel take priority.
:Idony: So that's it then, we do what's best for our children.
Idony and Allerick go in for a hug, both with faces haunted with grief and fear, both afraid of disappointing their children. In the back, two curious faces can be seen peering behind an old wooden door.
:Gretel: Did you get that Hansel? Mum and Dad are going to starve themselves just so we can eat some apples and jam!
:Hansel: I feel awful! I wish there was something we could do.
Gretel looks out the window towards the glistening and powerful moon. The moon gives off an unusual gleam, and Gretel is suddenly struck with an idea.
:Gretel: Wait a second, why don't we go out and find some food? Think about it, imagine how happy they'd be if they woke up and there was a great big pile of food on the table, enough for all of us!
:Hansel: That could work! Oooh I bet they'd be so happy and proud of us! Let's do it!
:Gretel: Tonight?
:Hansel: Tonight.
The siblings exchange confident nods, however, they quickly scramble upstairs to their rooms as they hear Idony and Allerick preparing to leave the kitchen. Later on that night, Hansel and Gretel sneak back downstairs, put on their coats and grab a basket to gather food in and head out the door together in the dead of night. The two wonder around for hours, salvaging small berries and mushrooms, but little else. Hansel suddenly becomes aware that the two have wondered off the path.
:Hansel: Uuuh, Gretel? Do you remember which way is home?
Gretel stops for a moment and begins to look around her, calmly at first, but with growing concern and on setting panic.
:Gretel: ......No..
In a frenzy, the children drop their basket and begin to fret about finding their way home. Hansel begins to cry and Gretel is forced to hold his hand. The two wonder around the woods for some more hours, but alas find nothing as it is too dark to see where they are going. Now in the early hours of the morning, the sun begins to rise above the forest and birds begin chirping. When it feels as though all hope is lost, the two see a pillar of smoke, poking out above the canopy. They quickly head towards the source of the smoke and discover a house made entirely of gingerbread.
:Gretel: Woah, its...
Gretel breaks off a small chunk of the outside walls and takes a small bite out of it.
:Gretel: Gingerbread?
The children share excited giggles and begin to pull off parts of the wall. Moments later an elderly woman hobbles out of the home, carrying a cane for walking and with eyes like the moon, facing in opposite directions.
:Süsshilde: Hello? Is someone out here? I don't want any trouble, I'm just a blind old woman.
For a moment the children freeze, sharing worried and guilt-ridden glances before Hansel finally speaks up.
:Hansel: We're sorry for troubling you ma'am. We're just two children lost in the forest looking for some food. When we saw your home we just sort of-
:Gretel: What my brother is trying to say is, we're very sorry for disturbing you, we are just a little lost and hungry, and your house just looked so nice.
:Hansel: Yeah, so, again, sorry.
The old woman faces in their direction, putting her hand out in an attempt to feel for one of the children. Hansel walks closer to her, putting his hand out to hers. They both smile at each other.
:Süsshilde: Forgive me, child.
Süsshilde grabs Hansel and pulls him into her home, slamming the door shut behind her. It takes a few seconds for Gretel to realise what had just happened.
:Gretel: Hansel!
Gretel runs up to and pounds her hands on the gingerbread door, seemingly harder than steel. She begins to kick it, tears streaming down her face. After a few moments, Gretel tries to find another way into Süsshilde's home. Discovering a small crack in the side of the homes gingerbread walls, Gretel uses her hands and teeth to make her way into the house. She emerges in a room filled with various books, decorated with candy treats and sugary furnishings.
:Gretel: I've got to find Hansel, mum and dad will kill me if not!
In the next room, Süsshilde has thrown Hansel into a cage made of magical candy canes. Süsshilde moves from Hansel's cage towards a large basket that she had found using her cane to feel for it, and begins to rummage around inside looking for a sheet. Gretel enters the room quietly and slowly inches towards her petrified brother. As Gretel takes another step closer to freeing her brother. At the last second, Gretel accidentally stands on a broken candy cane, creating a quiet yet noticeable snapping sound.
:Süsshilde: Aaaah, the little girl is here now. Forgive me, child, for you do not understand my reasonings.
Süsshilde lunges out her cane in the direction of the noise and manages to knock Gretel unconscious in one swift motion. Hansel lets out a loud and heartbroken cry, believing his sister to be dead.
:Süsshilde: Oh hush child, she is not dead, rather unconscious. Hush now.
Süsshilde covers Hansel's cage with the sheet she pulled from her basket. Hansel continues to scream and cry for his sister under the sheet.
:Hansel: You monster! *obnoxious wailing* Don't you hurt my sister! Please! *sobbing continues* Please! Please!
Afer an unspecified amount of time, Gretel wakes up with a steel collar around her neck and a chain leash attached to it. Yanking and pulling at the sudden realisation that she is bound, she hears a familiar sound of a crying Hansel and attempts to get up to comfort him. Unable to, she is yanked back by her chain being pulled by Süsshilde. 
:Süsshilde: Come along now child, you must work for me now.
:Gretel: I will NEVER work for you, you wretched old hag! Go to hell!
:Süsshilde: I didn't want it to come to this.
Süsshilde pulls on Gretel's chain and takes her over to the cage where Hansel is kept, carefully removing the sheet.
:Gretel: Hansel!
:Hansel: Gretel! I thought you were dead!
:Süsshilde: Hush, please.
Süsshilde places her hands on a nearby table, feeling for a pair of scissors, picking them up slowly and snipping the air in front of her a few times to test them.
:Süsshilde: I'm afraid you must do as I request, child, or else...
Süsshilde reaches her wrinkled and wart covered hands to feel for Hansel's cage, reaching in and grabbing ahold of his wrist and pulling his hand to the outside of the cage. She grabs hold of his squirming fingers in one hand and holds her scissors in her other, holding them over his fingers, about to snip them off.
:Gretel: No!! No! I'll do what you want please! Just don't hurt him! I swear I'll do anything you want!
Süsshilde slowly and hesitantly removes the scissors from above Hansel's fingers, placing them back on the table.
:Süsshilde: Good. Now, clean my kitchen, tend to my garden, and make my bed, if I catch you slacking off even a little bit then you can say goodbye to you brothers fingers and hello to a finger desert, that you shall have to eat of corse. Now, get to work!
Gretel reluctantly obliges to Süsshilde's demands and proceeds to clean the kitchen. Several days pass and Gretel is near overexertion. Süsshilde notices Gretel's decaying power and health and takes it as a sign that her plan is almost ready.
:Süsshilde: Gretel my dear, turn on my oven.
:Gretel: *sigh* Yes Miss Süsshilde...
Gretel walks over towards a series of levers and pulls the one that has "power" labelled above it. Upon doing so, the oven door slowly creaks open and an increasing heat begins to come from within it. Süsshilde hobbles over to a nearby table and pulls out a braille cookbook from a drawer built into it. Opening the book, Süsshilde drops Gretel's chain as she runs her hands along the bumps in an attempt to follow the instructions. Noticing this, Gretel slowly and carefully moves over to Hansel's cage, being careful not to make a sound. She slowly removes the sheet from over his cage and reaches for the nearby scissors. Gretel takes the scissors and begins to slowly clamp down on the rope holding the cage shut. Upon freeing Hansel, she gestures towards Süsshilde, pushing her hands out in a suggestive pushing motion, and pointing to the levers, gesturing that Hansel is to close the door after Gretel pushes Süsshilde. The two sneak up to their positions and Hansel awaits Gretel's instructions.
:Süsshilde: Little girl? Where are you what are you doing? Go fetch me some carrots from my cupboard, now!
:Gretel: NOW!
Gretel snatches Süsshilde's cane that she was using to prop herself up with, causing her to lose her balance and stumble and trip over, before landing inside the oven. Hansel quickly pulls the lever and the door begins to slowly close shut.
:Hansel: It's not closing fast enough! 
The twins scramble to the oven door, attempting to push it shut faster. Süsshilde manages to gain her balance again and attempts to escape the closing oven. Just before she is able to escape, Hansel and Gretel manage to close the door, trapping her inside.
:Süsshilde: No! No! No! Oh! I am sorry children! Let me free! Oh! Oh!
The children watch on, horrified at Süsshilde's pleas for freedom. As Süsshilde smacks her hands on the oven doors window, she lets out a final scream before going up in flames. Hansel and Gretel look at each other with scared and distraught faces before leaving Süsshilde's home.
:Gretel: Wait, Hansel, we still need to bring back food for mum and dad.
Hansel and Gretel reluctantly head back into Süsshilde's gingerbread house and begin to take all of her food and even decide to take some of her gold. Carrying 4 bags full of food and gold each, Hansel and Gretel make their departure quickly, leaving her house and running down into the forest in search for the path they wondered off a few nights prior.
:Hansel: Gretel?
:Gretel: Yeah?
:Hansel: Thank you.
The twins head off deeper into the forest. Back at the gingerbread house, it is filling with a light smoke. A witch flies in through one of the windows on her broomstick and lands in the kitchen, carrying a spellbook and some ingredients.
:Maldehyde: Süsshilde! Oh, Süsshilde! Where are you? I brought that Nutmeg you asked for! And I have good news! I found a cure for- *sniff* Ugh what is that ghastly smell? You really need to clean up in here, dear.
Maldehyde awaits for a response, but hears nothing.
:Maldehyde: Sister? Where are you? I've figured out a nicer way to break the curse!
Maldehyde patiently awaits a response again, but alas hears nothing. Maldehyde begins to look for Süsshilde, checking her bedroom before heading back into the kitchen.
:Maldehyde: Well she can't be gone that long, she's left the oven on. What is she cooking anyway? It smells absolutely foul.
Maldehyde peers through the oven's window and notices the burning body of her sister Süsshilde. Horrified, Maldehyde backs away from the oven but trips over Süsshilde's cane, confirming to her that Süsshilde is in fact, dead. Struck with grief, Maldehyde prepares a spell.
:Maldehyde: Do not worry, sweet sister, I shall avenge you!
Maldehyde pulls a glass vial from the inside of her robe and uncorks it, sprinkling its contents in a spiralling motion around her.
:Maldehyde: An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, take me to the home of the killers in truth!
Maldehyde is swept up in a lightning flashing cloud of smoke and arrives at the home of Hansel and Gretel to find a worried Idony and Allerick
:Maldehyde: You! You mortal fools! You shall pay for what you did to my sister!
Maldehyde takes a swing at Allerick and punches him in his chest, knocking him over. Idony grabs a nearby firelog and smacks Maldehyde over the head with it. Startled, Maldehyde levitates height above the two and casts a spell to turn them into trees.
:Allerick: Idony!
:Idony: Allerick!
Idony and Allerick are slowly turned into trees, their faces immortalised with expressions of fear and pain etched into the sturdy bark of two trees standing side by side.
:Maldehyde: Disgusting mortals.
Maldehyde spits on the ground beneath the two trees, but flies away and hides when she hears two approaching voices.
:Hansel: Wow! We sure found home pretty quick, why couldn't we find our way back before.
:Gretel: Well it was dark Hansel, we couldn't see, remember?
:Hansel: Oh yeah.
Gretel cheerfully rolls her eyes at her brother's forgetfulness.
:Gretel: Mum! Dad! We're back!
:Hansel: Yeah! And we have food!
:Gretel: And gold! Enough for all of us!
The two children stand outside their home expecting their parents to come running out and hug them but instead get no response.
:Hansel: Mum? Dad? Hello?
:Gretel: We're back, are you guys home? Mum? Dad?
:Hansel: Maybe they're in the garden? I'll go check.
Hansel happily runs over to the sparse garden where they were unable to grow enough vegetables to feed the family and notices a pair of unfamiliar and eerie trees.
:Gretel: Hansel! Are they there? Hansel?
Hansel does not respond but looks on at the trees with a broken face and teary eyes. Gretel walks over to him to see what he's looking at and makes the sudden realisation.
:Gretel: O-oh my god...
Both Hansel and Gretel break down crying and hug each other in an attempt to comfort one another. Floating in the distance is Maldehyde, who makes the realisation that it was Hansel and Gretel who killed her sister, not Idony and Allerick, and tries to blast the children with the same tree spell. However, it becomes apparent to her that her magic is drained, so she reluctantly leaves but not before creating a magical owl to sit and watch over Hansel and Gretel so she may see from its eyes when she is not present.
:Hansel: W-we will protect each other, right?
:Gretel: *sniffle* Y-yeah, we will.
The two hug each other as the screen zooms out and fades to white
Next: Act 1 - Hinweis is Calling.
Category:Hinweis
Category:Cassadony's Articles
Category:Stories
Category:Chapters