Prologue for new story idea - The Seven Dwarves

Note: My sister challenged me to come up with a story idea that involved Sneezy of the Seven Dwarves from Snow White being the Main Character, and she wanted Sneezy to be a girl in this story. So I wrote this up for her. Pretty short, and I don't plan on continuing it, but I did it :)

A loud sneeze sounds out through the mines, cutting through the sound of metal on rocks.

All mining stops for a second, “Gesundheit!” Several voices shout out, causing the source of the sneeze to flush even as the work picked up like clockwork.

Sneezy bit down on her bottom lip hard and channeled her embarrassment into destroying the rock wall in front of her.

Honestly, she didn’t mind the fact that she was born the lone daughter with six brothers. Nor did she mind working in the mines - she was a dwarf after all, and it’s as the family business.

But why in the name of Glittering Diamonds did their mother name her Sneezy?! And why! *TINK!* Couldn’t! *TINK!* She! *TINK!* Stop! *TINK* SNEEZING! *THUNK!*

She felt the urge build up once more just as she heard the sound of hitting something other than rock, but before it could get any further a handkerchief was shoved in front of her nose, startling her out of her sneeze.

“Hmph!” She turned and saw one of her brothers, Grumpy, glaring at her. “Stop messin’ up all good stuff lass,'' He growled out, “You’re just makin’ more to clean up after!”

She rolled her eyes but accepted the handkerchief gratefully as she looked at her brother, “Thanks Grumpy, but don’t get your beard in a twist. And don’t make it sound like you’re the one wh-wh-who- *ACHOO!*”

Sneezy winced at the force of the latest sneeze, but that wasn’t what kept her eyes closed. With trepidation, she slowly opened one eye to see the frozen face of her brother…

Oh my, that shade of red really couldn’t be  healthy for him…

She coughed awkwardly, quickly bending down and grabbing the ore that she had just unearthed, “Well I better hurry and get this to Happy, thanksforthehandkerchiefI’llseeyoulater!”

With speed borne of desperation she quickly ran just as Grumpy regained his composure and started yelling at her. Thankfully, with her head start she was able to lose him in the sprawling tunnels that was their mine.

Sure, they had both practically grown up in the mines, but it was easy to get lost in the dwarven created labyrinth if you weren’t paying attention, and she was always better at sneaking than he was.

Eventually the sounds of his yelling subsided, and Sneezy breathed a sigh of relief. He wouldn’t have ever actually done anything to her, but she was in no mood to listen to him lecture or rant at her… Especially after having sneezed directly on his face.

Looking behind her to make sure that she had truly lost him, she grunted when she ran straight into somebody, causing the two of them to tumble to the ground as she landed on something soft.

She quickly pushed herself up and winced, “Sorry Dopey,” She apologized with a grimace, quickly helping him up. Her youngest brother just gave a shrug and smiled at her happily, looking down the corridor before looking at her quisitively.

She rolled her eyes, “Yeah, Grumpy’s on the warpath again.” She said dryly. Dopey tilted his head and scratched his head in confusion. Suddenly, he brightened and mimed a sneeze, looking at her with an eyebrow raised.

Sneezy huffed, “C’mon, not all of my problems are caused by my sneezes,” She whined, “It could have been a - a -a *ACHOO!*”

She groaned and hit her head against the rock wall as Dopey peered out from behind the rock cropping he had jumped behind.

“Fine,” She grumbled, “I sneezed on him. You happy?”

He immediately shook his head and put on a silly expression, the look causing her to laugh. “Fine, fine, you’re not Happy, you’re Dopey.” She said fondly, reaching out with his hand and ruffled his cap. “Speaking of which, where is Happy?”

Dopey perked up and reached into his pockets, pulling out a diamond and putting it up to his eye.

“Inspecting?” She translated easily. “Sweet, I was just on my way there.” She gave him a look, “Thanks for the talk, but you better get back to work. Don’t think I don’t know that you’re supposed to be working with Sleepy today.”

He gave her a surprised look, gesturing to himself innocently.

“Yes, you.” She said firmly. “I’m not above telling Happy that you’re slacking. If you don’t fulfill your quota, he might even have you work next to Grumpy next -“

She didn’t get to finish that sentence, as Dopey suddenly vanished in his escape. She chuckled as she shook her head. Hopefully he was heading back to work. While he was a goofball, he was perfectly capable when he wanted to be.

Several minutes later she was in the inspection room, and she could see Happy looking carefully at several gems as he graded their value.

She felt another sneeze coming on and quickly tried to plug her nose to prevent it disturbing her brother… *ACHOO!*

… Maybe if she wore some kind of mask in the mines? Would that help?

The sound of the sneeze startled Happy from his inspection, and her older brother jolted towards, several stones going flying.

“Ah, Sneezy,” He greeted her dryly as she gave him an apologetic look. He chuckled, “Eh, don’t worry about that, I was almost done with those anyways.” He said dismissively.

“Eh he he, uhm, sure.” She chuckled nervously as she lugged the chunk of ore towards the table, “Well, I’ve got another one for you anyways.”

His face brightened as he looked over the lump, “Traces of silver… Working in the underpass next to the center chute? I thought we dug out all the good stuff a while ago...”

She nodded, quickly stretching out her muscles, “Grumpy said he thought he saw a glint the other day when he was walking by, so he and I were digging further.”

Her brother hummed happily, “Very good! This will definitely put us over on our quota for the month!”

Sneezy snorted, “Sure, cause meeting our quota is so important.” She said sarcastically, leaning against the table to look at various gems.

Ooh! Somebody found some more rubies!

Happy lowered his glasses and looked at her sternly, “Now Sneezy,” He began before she cut him off with a sigh.

“I know, I know, we were hired by the Kingdom to mine here years ago in return for a portion of the gems discovered, I remember. But Happy… It’s been years since they sent anybody to check up on us!”

He continued to look at her in disappointment. Not that it did much to her. This had been a long-standing argument between the two of them.

The deal made with the Kingdom had been quite the tempting offer to their family - the chance for a percentage of jewels found in a mountain that hadn’t ever been touched by miners. It was any dwarves dream come true, and they had immediately jumped on it.

Dwarves were a long lived species, and the cities of Vomuldhur and Kerum were quickly becoming overpopulated, all the mines near those cities having long dried out years prior.

The chance to build a home for their small family and to start in a new mine? How could they say no?

Sneezy looked sternly at her elder brother, “You know I’m right,” She accused him. “Humans don’t live as long as we do, there’s no way that they would go this long without picking up their share of the jewels.”

He stared at her for a while longer before sighing, “And what do you propose we do, hmm?” He asked. “We’re isolated out here, and we're totally dependent on the King sending somebody with news and the like.”

She scowled, “I don’t like not knowing what’s going on...” She stated stubbornly, and Happy gave a tired smirk.

“You didn’t have an issue with it when we made the agreement all those years ago,” he reminded her.

She sneezed disdainfully, “That was when they were actually arriving and giving us info.” She retorted, sniffing angrily. A thought came to her and she brightened, “Wait, why don’t one of us go?”

Happy jolted in surprise, “P-pardon?!”

Sneezy smiled as the idea gained traction, “Why don’t one of us go? We could go to the city and ask around, see why the King hasn’t sent anybody!”

“B-but none of us have ever been to the human city!” Happy blustered, “Last we heard, tensions between dwarf and human were still rather high - that’s why this mountain hasn't been touched before, remember?”

“Eh, It’s been years,” She replied dismissively, “I’m sure that things have gotten better.”

He cocked an eye at her in disbelief, “The cities of Boghuhm and Himkahan kept their status as enemies for well over a hundred years, in case you’ve forgotten your history lessons. Grudges can last a long time.”

She shrugged, “Yeah, well, those were dwarves. These are humans. They tend to move faster than us.” She leaned forward with a smirk, “C’mon Happy, lose the negativity, you really can’t pull it off.”

He narrowed his eyes at her, but before he could say anything a cough came from the hallway.

Happy looked over and gave a smile, “Ah, Bashful!” He greeted, “Sorry, c’mon in.” The shy dwarf slowly came in with a bag full of gems and looked awkwardly between brother and sister.

Happy looked at Sneezy once more, “We can discuss this more later with the rest of the family,” he said reluctantly, “But I want you to know I don’t like the idea.”

She waved away his concerns even as she started leaving, a smile on her face, “Sounds good,” She called back cheerfully, “But I want you to know, that I REALLY like this idea!”

She started skipping back to where she had been mining previously. Sure, she enjoyed mining and everything, but the unknowns right now really bothered her. What if another country invaded? What if the elves took over?! Their agreement had been with the King, but if something bad had happened to him, then they needed to be prepared. As isolated as they were, they would be completely helpless if something bad happened, and she would do what she could to protect her family.

It wasn’t long till she felt the familiar itch in her nose once more.

“Ah-ah-ah-*ACHOO!*”

“...”

“Oh… Uh, hi Grumpy? You, uh, have something on your face there… Would you like a handkerchief?”