A/N: All characters' appearances and personalities are based on the movies, not the books. Yes, there may be some minor inaccuracies to make sure that the story actually flows. Things based off of shorts are events or things, not people.
As you are reading you will notice I don't write the accents. I often find written accents harder to read.
Characters from Rise of the Guardians and How to Train Your Dragon belong to DreamWorks.
Characters from Brave and Tangled belong to Disney/Pixar.
EDIT MAR. 12, '15: Hello there, dear reader!
If you are seeing this, then I am sorry to inform you that this series has been discontinued, and I am instead working on a better revised version of this before moving on. The question is:
When?
Hiccup leaned his back against a rock near a stream as his Night Fury, Toothless, picked at some fish. He placed his elbows on his knees in a typical sitting position. The afternoon sun beat straight down on the two as Hiccup began reaching for his map, but thought otherwise and withdrew his hand. His eyes shifted back to the stream, which was full of fish jumping straight out of the water and diving back in. He watched as Toothless caught a fair amount of them in his mouth and gobbled them down.
Hiccup just sighed after a few seconds. "We haven't seen one dragon in a while," he says to no one in particular. Only Toothless, who was still busy picking out fish, could hear him. "You think we would've at least found something like a Timberjack?"
As usual, he was out mapping new lands which housed dragons he nor anyone else back at Berk has ever seen before. But he's been out here for about a day and a half. Not one dragon in the past few hours. At this point, someone like him must wonder what might have happened to them, or if there even are any dragons living in the area. Being chief, he didn't know how long Valka, Gobber, and Astrid could handle the place with him gone. He's had a few qualms that made him want to turn back, but he dismissed all of them and pressed on.
Hiccup noticed something out-of-place near his head. There, hanging from a branch by a thin string, was a piece of wood, carved into a simple circle. The design made it look somewhat like a target. Upon further examination, he noticed several arrows lodged into it, all hitting what would be the bull's–eye, confirming that it was indeed a target.
Staring deeper into the forest, Hiccup could see several other target–like wood carvings scattered throughout. Every single one of them had at least one arrow lodged right into the bull's–eye, and some of the targets with multiple arrows had one arrow split in two by another.
Hiccup caught sight of something in the forest. He's definitely never seen one of these before. It looked like a small beacon, emitting a thin blue light. He could've sworn he heard it whispering to him. Hiccup's foot slipped forward, and—
Whoosh! An arrow breezed straight by his head, lodging itself into the wood carving. Hiccup reeled back as it appeared so suddenly, landing him a one–way ticket straight into the stream. Lucky for him, she was able to hit her mark (although judging by the arrows in the target, she does it every time). A bit to the right, and he could've been a goner. Toothless jumped as well from the arrow that barely missed his owner by a few inches.
"Whoa!" screams a feminine voice in a surprised fashion, followed by what sounded like a crash into undergrowth. The neighing of a horse came shortly after. It came from inside the forest, and more than likely, the owner of that voice is the one who shot that arrow. "Angus!" she screams.
Toothless turned to reveal to Hiccup a Scottish Clydesdale horse, jet–black with an ivory muzzle and fetlocks. By now, Hiccup was just standing up and stepping out of the stream, barely catching sight of it. Upon seeing the horse, he rushed over to Toothless, bouncing along on his prosthetic left leg.
Out of the trees emerged a girl, not very far from Hiccup's own age. She had long, wild, fiery red hair and a slender body. In her hand, she held a bow, confirming that it was her who shot the arrow. A leather quiver stored several arrows in a spot where she could instantly grab one should she ever need to.
Hiccup was forced to restrain Toothless from lunging at her. "Can I help you?" he asks, still trying to restrain Toothless. The fact that he had to do this disabled him from retrieving his sword, as he couldn't restrain him with just one hand.
"Merida! You okay, princess?" called a voice through the woods.
"I'm fine, mum!" the red–haired girl called back in a thick Scottish accent before turning her head back to Hiccup and Toothless.
"So your name is Merida," says Hiccup as the two entered Merida's view. "My name is Hiccup. Great name, I know." He said the last sentence with a very slight hint of sarcasm. Not fully sarcastic, although it was definitely there.
Toothless stopped moving, although a look of displeasure remained clear across his face. Hiccup was then allowed to reach for his sword, which he grabbed but never deployed. He was still unsure what this girl named Merida may do.
After a moment, Merida slung her bow onto her back and over her shoulder, sending Hiccup a message that said, "I'm not going to attack." Hiccup put his sword away, and the displeased look that swept across Toothless's face suddenly disappeared, returning to its typical expression.
Both of them relaxed, and what sounded like something galloping away rang throughout the woods. Someone riding on horseback, definitely, but whoever it was seemed to be leaving instead of wanting to join the party.
Merida took a glance back. "Well, there goes mum," she muttered under her breath so that Hiccup couldn't hear. She turned her head back to Hiccup to find him still standing there, frozen in place.
"So, your name's Hiccup?" asks Merida curiously, taking a single step closer.
"Yeah," Hiccup replied, keeping a fairly straight and emotionless face.
Merida came a few steps closer. "And I'm assuming you already know what my name is."
"Merida. I heard your mom say it a minute ago," says Hiccup, feet (or foot and prosthetic) still locked in place. After a few moments, he decided to take a seat and leaned against a large boulder, the same one he leaned against when they landed here. "So where am I?"
"DunBroch," Merida answers in a curt fashion. "Where exactly are you from?" she asks, approaching closer.
"Berk. I've been gone one and a half days, if you've ever heard of that place. DunBroch, is it? Never heard of it." Hiccup ran a hand over the smooth rock that he was sitting on, the running water just inches from his prosthetic leg.
Merida was now right beside Hiccup, standing over him. "Ah. That explains it. Yeah, I've never heard of that place. And since you said you've been out here for one and a half days, and since you're with that," she pointed at Toothless, "then you must be a long way from eh… Berk. I bet a dragon could fly much faster than a boring old boat can sail across the sea. Why are you even out here to begin with?"
The question came so suddenly, it took Hiccup a few seconds to react. He reached for his map and flashed the neatly folded array of papers in his hand. When folded, it was about the size of one of Hiccup's pieces of paper which lay stored under a cover on his sleeve. It looked like they were all stacked upon each other. "Mapping new lands, learning about new dragons, and all that fun stuff."
Hiccup looked around for a spot where he would be able to unfold his map, yet avoid any splashing water from the stream (or Toothless). In time, he was able to find a good flat spot several feet past the tree line. He stood up and rushed over to that spot, and Merida followed him.
Hiccup carefully laid the map down on the ground and dropped to his knees. He unfolded it, and to Merida, it looked as if it would be quite irritating to unfold the thing. However, after the countless times Hiccup has added new segments to it, he knew every crease of the thing, so he made the job look like a cakewalk.
There, on the map, was a sketch of every dragon Hiccup has found in every new land he and Toothless have discovered in the past few years. Every dragon the two have discovered for Berk, and the dragons' home place in relation to Berk. Merida was able to read the text, although it did take her a few seconds to adapt to Hiccup's handwriting.
Hiccup pointed at a spot toward the middle of the map. "This would be Berk." He moved his hand over toward the bottom–right corner of the map. "And that is one of our more recent discoveries."
Merida peered closely at the one segment he was pointing at and read his nearly illegible handwriting. Or at least she tried to. "What's this say?" she asks Hiccup.
Hiccup squinted, reading the text she was pointing at. "Itchy Armpit."
"Itchy armpit?" Merida chuckled, although a slight hint in her expression made her think Hiccup was crazy enough to give something a name like that. "What kind of name is that?"
Hiccup just laughed along. "A name given by Toothless." He looked over at the dragon who was sitting by the stream. "Right, bud?"
Toothless's head perked up from the stream toward the two, and he pounced straight at Hiccup, pinning him straight down as Merida just watched from the sideline.
"Ah!" exclaims Hiccup in a cheerful manner. Toothless gave Hiccup a huge lick to the face, and Hiccup made several attempts to block the wave of slob.
Merida chuckled as Toothless backed up off of Hiccup's body, leaving him in a defensive position with his arms in front of his face and his knees up.
"Oh, come on!" says Hiccup, shaking off the dragon saliva. "After Gods–know–how–many times, you know that doesn't wash out!"
Merida just burst out laughing from the side as her view shifted from Hiccup to Toothless, who had a light smirk on his face (or so Merida guessed it was a smirk). Hiccup gave her a light grin in response, his eyes shut as he gestured between himself and Toothless. Then his eyes shot straight back to his map, which was still folded. As Merida was still laughing, he carefully kneeled down, folded up the map, and put the thing away.
Merida had calmed down by the time Hiccup finished with his map and gritted her teeth, staring at Toothless's prosthetic tailfin. She waited until Hiccup sat down again before pointing at Toothless and asking about it.
"What happened to his tail?" she suddenly pipes up. Hiccup's eyes were trailing off into the woods, so the question took him by surprise. "Missing half."
Hiccup jolted slightly before answering. "Oh. That? Uh… shot him down. I ended up finding him in the woods, made him an initial prosthetic. Really, it wasn't that great compared to the one he has now, but after all, the one he has now is newer."
"Oh…" Merida didn't understand how Hiccup could simply shoot Toothless down and then suddenly help him. Her eyes began to trail off until she caught sight of Hiccup's prosthetic leg. "And what is it with your leg?"
Again, the question took Hiccup by surprise, but he didn't jolt again, as he was anticipating a question— just not this particular one. "Fighting some dragon threatening to kill off my whole village. Long story made short, we managed to take it down, Toothless's prosthetic tailfin detached, and I would have been killed that day if it weren't for him."
Again, Toothless shot a glance over at the two, but then looked back away after a few seconds. He looked right at Angus, who reeled back, making a lot of noise.
Merida was sidetracked. "Angus! It's okay!" she says, attempting to calm the black Scottish Clydesdale and gesturing for him to come over. Overall, she wasn't doing a good job at it.
Angus neighed in response, keeping his distance from Toothless.
Hiccup seemed to take note of it and jumped in. He placed a hand on Merida's shoulder. "I don't think he'll come over. Just leave him be. Let him calm down on his own."
Merida sighed as a sign of giving up. "Fine."
The two of them just sat in silence right next to each other, listening as water flowed down the stream. Angus had gone silent by now, meaning he had calmed down.
Hiccup spoke up, breaking the silence. "So… you got dragons around here?" he asks Merida, although he already knows what the answer would most likely be.
"No," answered Merida. "This is the first one I've seen in my life."
"Thought so." After seeing no dragons for a full day, it wouldn't take a genius to think that there are no dragons in DunBroch.
Merida sighed as well. Quickly, she stood up and headed over to Angus.
"Where are you going?" asks Hiccup, standing up as well.
Instead of answering, Merida just walked right past, and Angus followed her as she remained silent, stomping off into the forest.
Hiccup shot a glance at Toothless with a look that said, "I don't know." Toothless seemed clueless as well. The two of them watched Merida ventured farther in, but she walked on her own the whole way rather than taking Angus, which would, without a doubt, be much faster.
Rather than just staring off into blank space and watching Merida disappear, Hiccup opted to follow her right into the forest. Chances are, her mother wouldn't let her hurt herself (duh), and there really wasn't anywhere else to go if it wasn't home.
He ran, and Merida never picked up the pace. Rather, she allowed Hiccup to catch up to her. If anything, she slowed down her pace once she noticed Hiccup was following her.
"Wait!" says Hiccup as he caught up with Merida. "You still haven't answered a few things about this place yet!"
Merida continued walking, but she decided to speak up. "And I've still got questions to ask about your place."
Without even giving a start, the two jumped to their first questions. "What have you got at home?" asks Hiccup.
"What have you got at Berk?" asks Merida at the same moment.
The two of them realized that both of them had spoken simultaneously, meaning that neither of them picked up on whatever the other said. The two of them continued to navigate through the forest, Merida leading the way, as Hiccup has obviously never been here before, and Merida has lived around here her whole life. "Uh, you go first," says Hiccup.
"Okay," Merida replies, taking a deep breath before asking. "What do you guys have back at Berk? Like, what do you do there? What are the people like?" Hiccup could tell it was more than what she asked at first, but he found no problem in answering everything she asked.
"Eh, well, as for the people, Vikings. Tough, stubborn, some demeanor if I do say so myself. Uh… just be aware that they hardly ever listen… um… well, dragons, well they used to be a bit of a problem," he says nervously.
Vikings. That was the one key word Merida heard from Hiccup, and it kept replaying in her mind as she listened. As soon as Hiccup said, "Viking," it set off an alarm in her knowledge. How could this guy, who was close to her age, be a Viking? For one thing, he looked nothing like one. For another, he didn't act like one either. At least, not in the way she learned. The word stuck in her head to the point where she didn't even hear anything else Hiccup was saying.
"Wow," says Merida, awestruck. "Some village really dug into living with dragons, are you guys?"
Hiccup didn't want to go too far with his answer this time, seeing how Merida reacted to his first one. "Yep," he answers curtly.
Merida decided to move on. Hiccup has already told her more than enough about Berk. "So here, we have–," she was cut off as the two emerged from the forest, revealing a large stone castle across a bridge, overlooking a vast lake. The place was huge compared to most buildings back on Berk, making it almost certain for one to become lost if left alone.
"Well, I guess I get to see now," says Hiccup as Merida started forward.
Merida crossed the bridge first, and once on the other side, she looked back and quickly gestured for Hiccup and Toothless to come over.
Hiccup and Toothless did so, and Merida walked past the two guards at the main entrance to the castle. One of them was a thin man who was sleeping on the job, and his mustache grew longer on one side than the other. He sort of resembled Hiccup when he was younger, minus the ethic and the mustache. Awkward, sleeping fish bone. The other one was, by far, in much better condition.
"Let them in," whispers Merida as she walks straight past. Hiccup could hear her, so it was clear that Merida still wanted him here.
Hiccup looked over at the other guard just in time to catch sight of the longer side of his mustache being chopped shorter than what was the shorter side, waking him up. The guard didn't know who it was, of course, as he was asleep and completely oblivious to the presence of whoever did it. Hiccup barely caught sight of a red streak, but it disappeared just as fast as he saw it.
Upon noticing Toothless, the once–sleeping guard raised his weapon, although the look on his face told everyone that he was going to lose this fight that would never happen.
"Martin, no," Merida snapped at him.
Although still nervous, the guard put down his weapon. He was still visibly shaking, having actually seen a real dragon for probably the first time in his life.
Hiccup came a bit closer to Merida. "How are we supposed to get him inside without someone freaking out?" he whispers.
"We don't," replies Merida as she proceeds inward.
Well, that's never something anyone wants to hear. "Well, then I sure hope you know what you're doing," says Hiccup as he and Toothless follow, grabbing more than enough stares.
Most people either fled or held up some sort of weapon at the sight of Toothless— until they caught sight of Merida. The fact that she looked unfazed and fully aware that there was a dragon right behind her raised a few eyebrows. At this point, a reasonable question would be, "Why isn't the princess doing anything about that dragon?" or, "Is the princess trying to get herself killed?"
The only one who really looked uncomfortable but didn't flee was Angus. Of course, no one would just let the Clydesdale run off somewhere just to get away from the dragon, so he was pretty much forced to stick close to Toothless.
They reached an area that looked like a complete mess, with hay bales scattered all over the place. Stables, no doubt about it. Merida left Angus in a stall, which was no surprise at all.
Hiccup walked over to another stall, this one vacant. "Want me to leave him here?" he asks.
Merida thought for a moment before she decided to answer. "No. Bring him in."
One step was all it took. One step, and everything suddenly fell silent. There, standing in a doorway, was a plump woman with white headwear. She was frozen in place, eyes widened. In one hand, she held a tray of desserts, which was being feasted upon by a small boy, whose hair was similar to Merida's.
"Oh no," whispers Merida before raising her voice. "Maudie!"
Rather than listening, Maudie ran off screaming, arms flailing. The tray of desserts went flying, and two more young boys who looked exactly like the first one scuttled after everything that flew off that tray.
Merida just sighed. "Come on," she says to Hiccup and Toothless, and the two of them followed.
After taking a winding path through the castle (which Hiccup lost himself halfway through), Merida came up to a large door. She opened it, the door creaking on its hinges with every slightest move it made.
A disgruntled voice could be heard from the other side. "Ugh. Maudie, what is it this time?" The voice had the same thick Scottish accent as Merida, definitely masculine. "No bears this time around."
Merida could see Maudie and the king talking. Maudie opened her mouth, but before she could say anything, Merida intervened.
"It's nothing," she says, casually stomping into the Great Hall. Inside was a large wooden table with several chairs propped up to it, and scattered around the table were trays of food carrying a high level of variety. There was meat, fruits, bread— everything, like someone was about to have a feast.
Hiccup decided to enter as well, and Toothless followed not too far behind. The door creaked open, and Toothless accidentally bumped into a wall, setting off everyone in the room.
The king was first to take a look at the door, seeing the black, green–eyed dragon staring at him in a harmless way. It didn't work out. Rather than holding his ground, the king charged straight for Toothless, sword drawn. "Fergus, no!" screams that same voice from the forest. Merida's mum.
Merida drew her bow as the queen jolted straight onto her feet. Toothless backed off until he hit the wall.
Hiccup barely caught sight of him charging from the corner of his eye, and if it weren't for the queen screaming, someone would be a goner. He quickly drew his sword and deployed it, the flames dancing around the blade. It looked menacing, like it had the ability to cut through steel, but at the same time, it looked appealing to the eye. Capable of putting on a good show.
CLASH! The two blades met with a bang as Hiccup blocked Fergus's attempt to take a slash at Toothless. They both struggled to gain the upper hand, and from the looks of it, Fergus was clearly winning this one.
Only after the two blades met did Fergus realize what he was up against. Even if it were someone like Hiccup, someone who would often be overlooked by many, a blade of fire still looked menacing. Fergus has never seen anything like it before. Still, if it meant protecting Merida and Elinor from a dragon, he was willing to do it.
"Elinor! Merida!" shouts Fergus as he turned his head to Elinor. Elinor was just leaning forward, her palms pressing on the hard wood of the table. He turned to Merida to find her bow drawn. She loaded it with an arrow and pulled the string back.
"Stop. Fighting. Now," she says, taking a deep breath. Who would she shoot? No one had any idea. Fergus definitely knew how good she was with the thing. She's already disarmed him once (and thank the Gods she did), so there was no doubt she would do it again if she had to. Although Hiccup hasn't known her for nearly as long, he could still bet that Merida could nail him straight in the eye from that far away if she had to.
Fergus withdrew his sword but didn't drop it. A portion of the blade had turned red thanks to Hiccup. Hiccup, no longer having to struggle against the sheer force Fergus could apply on him, assumed he no longer wanted to fight and dropped his sword.
Without warning, Fergus lifted his sword in preparation to strike. There was nothing Hiccup could do at this point without taking it to extreme levels, and was that something he was really willing to do? Even if he's trying to kill him due to a misunderstanding, he barely knew the king.
WHOOSH! An arrow came whizzing by the two, and before either of them knew it, Fergus sword was sent tumbling straight to the stone floor of the castle. Toothless backed off right into the wall due to the sudden action. He turned his head to Merida with an, "are you crazy?" look on his face.
Hiccup, on the other hand, picked up his sword from the floor, but didn't deploy it. Instead, a strange dark green gas began seeping out from the other side, floating across the room.
He and Toothless headed over to a corner of the room, a disarmed king Fergus clawing at the gas. It looked like smoke, like the flames of his sword had set something on fire. He carried both of their swords across the room, although he was closer to dragging Fergus's. The blade screeched as it slid across the stone floor, while Hiccup had no trouble at all with his weapon.
"I'd be careful around that if I were you," says Hiccup casually, like nothing ever happened between the two. It was plain obvious that he knew what Fergus just tried to do, but he shouldn't be a threat so long as he is unarmed.
Fergus twitched, turning his head at Hiccup. "And why is that, wee lad?" he says, pulling his hand away from the gas. Perfect.
Hiccup raised his sword and pointed it at a small amount of gas near him. There was a trail of gas leading to the main concentration, so that's why he waited for Fergus to clear the way before demonstrating.
Suddenly, he deployed the thing, tongues of fire reaching outward. It was like a chain reaction. One bit of gas burst into flame, followed by the rest. All of it at once, it just caught fire.
And then it was all gone.
Fergus watched as the flames died out before turning his head back to Hiccup. He had a puzzled look on his face. Why was the boy he was just trying to kill earlier, why is he giving him a tip? Sure, neither of them had plans to harm the other, as Fergus listened to Merida thanks to past mistakes.
Merida trotted up to her father and tapped her on her shoulder. She took him aside for a further conversation, but they decided to keep it secret from Hiccup and Elinor for reasons unknown to those who couldn't hear them.
"You even know this lad?" whispers Fergus.
Merida's confident look dulled down slightly. "Met him at the stream," she says quietly. "What do you think you're doing with him?" she asks, her voice taking a sudden turn toward a more demanding tone.
Toothless nudged at Hiccup toward the door, but Hiccup insisted. "We'll be fine," he whispers, certain that no one other than Fergus would dare attack a dragon. As charming as they can be, they still have the ability to play ferociously. They have, by no means, evolved to become harmless ever since they moved into Berk.
"It. Is. A. Dragon. Merida," whispers Fergus to Merida, everyone else in the room still unable to hear.
Merida countered. "I told you I met him this afternoon. Maybe you'll say I shouldn't trust him because I just met him today, but if I tried to kill him or he tried to kill me, I wouldn't have brought them here. Just trust me with this."
Fergus just sighed audibly. There was no way he could win this one. He huffed in frustration before taking a seat at the table. Elinor shot him a strange look, and Fergus just questioned her expression.
Merida left the room, disappearing behind a small doorway. She emerged from the same place a few minutes later, a tray of raw fish in one hand.
Hiccup grabbed a fish from the top of the tray, feeling the cold scales before tossing it to Toothless. Toothless, who was watching everyone attentively, caught the fish in his mouth, and a grin broke across Hiccup's face. Toothless just devoured the thing, eyeing the tray Merida was holding.
Merida, knowing what he was thinking, set down the tray of fish right in front of Toothless. Without even the slightest delay, Toothless worked himself into the huge pile.
"Reminds me of my mum," whispers Merida.
The words reached Hiccup's ear, and although barely audible, he understood what she just said. How could seeing Toothless digging into a pile of fish remind her of Elinor? Sure, it did remind him of the first day he tested a prosthetic tailfin on Toothless, but as far as both of them knew, humans don't eat like that.
"What?" he asks.
Merida's head turned to Hiccup. "It's nothing."
"No, I know it's something," says Hiccup, trying to push her into telling him something. Telling him how it reminds her of Elinor.
Merida just sighed. "Fine." She paused for a moment before giving him an answer. "Bear."
Jack jumped from building to building as he always did before landing in a dark alley. He sauntered through, watching as streams of Dreamsand flew throughout the city. Like every night, the city lights were alive, providing him a clear view of everything around. Wreaths and Christmas trees decorated each and every building as a light snow began falling from the sky.
"Take me home," Jack whispers to the wind, gripping his staff. After a few seconds, the wind picks up, giving him a lift right back home, back to Burgess. He landed in the small town on a seemingly empty street, the city mostly silent.
But something just wasn't right in this place. Jack couldn't really put his finger on it, but something was off. Unusual, it was. His home wasn't the exact same place he's been living in for all this time, like something has shifted places with another.
Jack shook his head and mouthed the word, "no." Just like that, he was back up, jumping across rooftops as he always has, gripping his staff in his left hand.
From atop the buildings, he could overlook a good chunk of the small town, most windows blackened by now. He jumped over toward Jamie Bennett's house to find it dark. Every window, every house on the street was dark.
The place just had a more ominous setting than usual, but it was easily obvious that nothing terrible was about to happen. Jack flew up to the clouds, once again catching sight of Dreamsand as Sandy transported dreams to children.
Jack just decided to ride the wind wherever it would take him. He rolled over, seeing the land below become more of a mere blur, flashing right below him as he rode on. His head shot up to find the full moon shining down brightly. He was traveling east, and soon the ocean came straight into view, leaving nothing but the dark water to see. It doesn't take more than five minutes to get bored of watching the ocean at night. If it were dawn or dusk, however, that would be a different story.
Traveling east, the day would become seemingly shorter as Jack crossed time zones, but having traveled so often, it's become relatively nothing. However, this did mean that Jack would see the sun rise earlier than those at Burgess, or North America in general.
Knowing that he wouldn't fall, Jack dozed off as the wind continued to carry him throughout. He himself was unsure of where exactly where he was going. Right now, he was just headed to wherever the wind was taking him.
"Come on, Eugene!" shouts Rapunzel as she continues flying through the forest. Not literally, but it seemed like it considering how fast she swung along the branches. Running around with short hair did take some getting used to, but Rapunzel was able to manage. Flynn Rider, although he goes by Eugene Fitzherbert, was struggling to keep up.
Eugene had to stop for a moment to catch his breath. It seemed as though he was running for hours nonstop. "Where's Max when you need him?" he mutters to himself. He rested the palm of his left hand on a nearby tree trunk, watching as Rapunzel continued throughout the forest outside Corona. He held a frying pan in his other hand. One can never be too careful about things, and a frying pan makes for a great weapon against any foe.
His eyes traced over to a rock wall, a good portion of it filled with vines. He knew where he was and what exactly hid behind these vines. He stuck his hand out and reached through them, confirming that it was indeed the thing he thought it was.
Rapunzel seemed to notice that Eugene had stopped following her. Retracing her steps, she found Eugene staring at the one thing that hid the place she's lived in for eighteen years. Eighteen years she was secluded up there, away from her real family, raised by Gothel.
Before Rapunzel could mention anything, Eugene crossed through what was really vines, leaving him facing a tower. The tower he climbed with the satchel. "What are the chances of us coming across this again?" he murmurs.
Rapunzel walked up right next to him before proceeding toward the tower. "Say, you think there's anything in this place that could prove useful?"
Eugene had no idea. He's only been inside twice, and one time involved him getting killed by Gothel before Rapunzel brought him back. The other time wasn't so pretty, being the first time he's met Rapunzel. It involved him getting smacked by a frying pan thrice, getting licked by the chameleon Pascal in the ear twice, and the list goes on and on. "Uh… well, we can go check the place, see how it's doing after all this time of no one checking," he says.
They reached the base of the tower, searching for a way up. Now that Rapunzel's hair was short, getting up could be a bit of a hassle. The two of them scanned the perimeter before Eugene noticed a small hole in the wall. Also, in the same spot, the rock pattern changed to having no particular formation compared to the rest of the tower's walls.
Eugene reached his hand through the hole before dragging down a few more stones that made up the formation. He continued to tear away at it until he was left with an open doorway. "Well, I guess we've found ourselves a way up."
Rapunzel was already watching. Eugene gestured inside saying, "Probably Gothel's plan in case you went missing. Still works." She was the first to step inside the tower that held her for eighteen years. The two of them proceeded up, up, up. They circled so many times as they climbed that it felt like they were just walking in circles, gaining no ground at all. As thin and tall as the tower was, building something like this inside couldn't have been a cakewalk.
The two of them reached the top, finding no markers, nowhere they could enter from. Eugene placed his hand on the ceiling, feeling an individual piece slip as he pushed it. It also made a slight creaking noise as it budged, like stone rubbing against stone.
Eugene handed Rapunzel his frying pan in order to free up both of his hands. It took several tries, several times he had to push up before it opened up. He pushed the tile aside, and the dark ceiling of the tower came into view.
The two of them climbed in in order to find how much of a mess the place was. A shattered mirror still lay on the floor from the day Gothel was killed. There was no hair snaking along the floor, however. The two of them could barely see a thing, as only one window was open. Rapunzel headed over to the door and opened it, lighting up the place enough so they could see most of the interior.
Eugene brushed off some of the dust on his fingers. "You want to clean this place up, Rapunzel?" he asks.
Once Jack came back to attention, he was flying over a forest. The sun was already shining bright overhead, meaning it was around noon. But Jack should be seeing something— buildings, cars, trucks, all of that. But all he saw was forest, forest, and more forest. Maybe the occasional stream or pond, but that didn't hold his attention for that long.
Jack came across a gorge, and looking down, he spotted a tower. The design however, wasn't that of any modern building. No, this looked like some older building, like it was built a long time ago. Having been around for a long time, he didn't know why he's never seen any buildings designed like this.
Curious, Jack flew down to the tower before circling it, searching for a way in. Strangely enough, the main door was toward the top of the tower, but he did find an open doorway littered with stones on the ground at the bottom.
Rather than flying straight in, Jack landed and inspected the open doorway. Nothing with hinges hung onto it, as if this was never meant to be the main entrance to this tower. Because it wasn't. If the main entrance was at the top, then how is one supposed to enter this thing? This only looked like a backup in case the way up was lost or destroyed.
Jack flew straight back up, landing atop the roof of the tower this time. Leaning over the edge, he inspected the door at the top of the tower. It looked much closer to a main entrance than that old stone thing. There was a small wooden platform to stand on, but nothing was growing in the pots that decorated it. Whoever lives here must have been gone for a long time.
No more than three seconds later, Jack heard a sound like someone were pounding on something. It sounded like it was coming from underneath the floor. Observing, he watched as a tile on the floor budged, moving upward. Soon, it dislodged itself from the others, revealing a hole in the floor large enough for a person to climb through. Two people emerged, entering the tower. Both had short brown hair, one male and one female. He looked a bit older than her, and the two of them looked like a couple. The girl held a frying pan in one hand, for a reason Jack could not come up with. Jack positioned himself at the top of the only flight of stairs there was, watching as the two tried to find a way to light up the room. Sure, it was dark, but not too dark to the point where they couldn't see anything.
The girl headed over to the door and opened it, lighting up the place enough so they could see most of the interior.
The other one brushed off some of the dust on his fingers. "You want to clean this place up, Rapunzel?" he asks.
Jack decided to try and get out, but knowing that they probably couldn't see or hear him, he was expecting it to be easy. He just simply trotted over to the main entrance, acting as if the other two didn't even exist.
He turned around as he was almost out, checking on the two. "Hey!" the man yells as he faces them. The girl charged right at Jack.
Jack took one step back, but it was a bit too much. His leg bumped into the frame, and he ultimately tripped over the edge, the platform failing to catch him. The girl's hand missed his ankle by inches, swiping the thin air. Soon, he found himself plummeting toward the earth.