Intruder

Summary: Cedric and Wormwood notice someone whom they believe appears to be attempting to infiltrate the castle. In order to avoid unnecessary chaos, they choose to investigate on their own, which naturally doesn't sit well with a certain princess…

Disclaimer: I don't own Sofia the First.

A/N: …I have to wonder about my brain sometimes. I was innocently sitting in my chair and watching Golden Girls, and all of a sudden it was like, "Hey! I've got an idea…" And the rest is history. Lol. Hope you enjoy. This literally was super random and came out of nowhere, but I thoroughly enjoyed writing it! I guess every now and then, a little bit of silliness does me some good. ;) By the way, keep an eye out for another story pretty soon: probably tomorrow. It's another idea I've been enthralled by all day, and I have to write it down. Hope you enjoy both!

*Story*

"Did you see that?" Wormwood asked as he peered through the window in Cedric's tower.

"See what?" Cedric asked distractedly as he was attempting to clean up a new case of beakers and vials he'd received from his father.

"There's someone lurking around outside the castle." He tapped at the glass with his beak. "Open this thing up and let's see what's going on."

The sorcerer shrugged and decided to appease his companion, who flew up and settled on his shoulder. "Very well, although it's probably just one of the workers trying to do his job." He pushed open the window and looked down, realizing that there was in fact some suspicious-looking person hanging around the base of his tower. Cedric frowned. He didn't recognize the person, and the long brown cloak draped over him (or her) was blocking the visage. "Strange."

"Right. And I'm just throwing this out there… If anything does happen in this castle, whether it's stealing or overtaking or whatever the case may be, we will be the first ones who get dragged before the king again, because they'll automatically fault us because of a certain incident. So might I suggest we investigate and put a stop to whatever may be going on before we get in trouble for something we didn't do for a change?"

Cedric sighed. "As much as I hate to admit it, you are probably right… Let's go take a look and see if there's anything to this. We can't really afford to get in any more trouble." With that, he and the flustered raven left the workshop.

A few minutes later, Sofia arrived at the workshop door and knocked. Not hearing anything, she knocked again. She frowned when yet again she received no response. "Mr. Cedric? Are you in there?" She pressed her ear to the door and sighed. It didn't even sound like he was inside. She couldn't hear the usual rattle of scientific or magical instruments…nothing. "Where could he be?" She turned and started back down the stairs again.

Outside, Cedric and Wormwood were quietly checking around the base of his tower and the surrounding areas. They didn't see anyone nearby, but that obviously didn't mean that someone wasn't within close range… So they continued their search. After all, as Wormwood had so clearly pointed out, if there was an actual intruder, that person needed to be detained for more than one reason. It wasn't long before they saw the cloaked figure dash across the grass, apparently heading straight for the water.

"There he is!" Wormwood snapped, digging his talons into Cedric's shoulder to get a response. "Follow him!"

"Ow! Ease up with the firm grip, Wormy." He huffed and took off running after the person, panting along the way. "I'm—really—in—bad—shape," he managed to get out as he paused just before the land swooped down toward the water.

"Don't worry. If we do, in fact, get blamed for this incident, we'll get plenty of exercise to make up for it...considering we'll be running away from the guards."

"Funny." He caught his breath as he watched the person below, seeming to pace back and forth before the water, hands rising up toward the sky in seeming frustration. Then the mysterious figure resumed pacing again. "What on earth?" Sensing the person might be up to no good, he wielded his wand.

Meanwhile, the princess made her way outside, deciding that perhaps her friend had gone on a business trip or to see his parents or something. It's not that she necessarily felt that he needed to check in with her or anything, but he was a creature of habit. For him to just go missing like this was somewhat troubling to her.

After walking around for a bit and just soaking up the sun in a rare moment of tranquility and peace, the young girl gasped as her eyes trained on a sight in the near distance. "Mr. Cedric!" Sofia called as she finally spotted her friend. She smiled and hurried toward him.

"Ignore her," Wormwood stated firmly as he and Cedric stood perfectly still, their backs still to the princess. "She can't get involved in this. It's best to just pretend like you didn't hear her."

"Right," Cedric muttered uncertainly as he clutched his wand tighter.

"Mr. Cedric!" Sofia attempted again, frowning as she slowed to the point where she was standing right behind him. "Mr. Cedric? Didn't you hear me calling you?"

"Not…one…word," the bird whispered to his master.

How could he not hear her? She was right behind him. Then it dawned on her. The princess gaped at the two companions. Was her mentor ignoring her? 'Oh, I don't think so,' she thought with an annoyed look overtaking her features. She then folded her arms. She knew one way to get his attention. "Hey, Ceddy-kins!"

Cedric reacted rather quickly, turning to stare pointedly at his student. "Don't ever call me that."

She grinned. "It got your attention! Why are you guys ignoring me? I've been calling you!"

"Yes, we know," Wormwood grumbled. "And we were attempting to do something without your interference for a change."

"Like what?" she wondered as she lowered her arms and walked over toward them, attempting to see what they appeared to be so engrossed in just moments before.

Cedric quickly stepped in Sofia's line of sight and held out his arms. "Um, nothing in particular, Sofia."

She smiled sweetly as she placed her hands on his arms. "If it's nothing, then it shouldn't be a big deal, right?" With that, she swiftly lowered his arms and shuffled around him, blinking when she saw the hooded figure below still pacing and seemingly ranting at that point. "Is that what you guys were looking at?"

"Well, since you must know, yes," Wormwood replied in aggravation. "We're afraid this person might be an intruder and was attempting to infiltrate the castle. He was seen lurking about the tower earlier, and when we approached, he took off..."

Sofia paused before giggling, her hands over her stomach from laughing so hard.

Cedric and Wormwood blinked as they exchanged glances before looking back at the girl. "Did we miss something?" Cedric asked in utter confusion.

The princess calmed down before turning back toward the figure below. "Hey, James!"

The figure stopped pacing and lifted the cloak, revealing the young prince beneath. He grinned up at them. "Hey, Sof! Cedric! What's up?"

"I'm lost," Cedric admitted to Sofia as she resumed giggling. "What is going on?"

"We have a play that Amber put together coming up soon, and we're going to put it on for the village. I guess James decided to practice his role: the thief." With those words spoken, she snickered before laughing again. "Oh, gosh, that makes so much sense now!"

"…See, this is what happens when we actually try to protect the kingdom for once," Wormwood griped with a wave of his wings. "We look like fools! Blasted children's play. I'll be in the workshop, Cedric. If there's an actual intruder, let the guards handle it. I really don't care anymore." He flew off in a pretty sulky mood.

Sofia smiled. "It's almost like he wanted James to be an actual intruder. Sorry to disappoint him."

Cedric shook his head in amusement before sighing. "Well, now that that crisis has been averted, I suppose I should return to work." It then dawned on him what she'd said earlier. "Oh, wait, you came looking for me in my workshop, didn't you?" Seeing her sarcastic look, he chuckled. "I apologize. Wormy was so certain we were under attack and didn't want the blame to fall to us, so he insisted we do something about it."

She giggled and grabbed his arm, pulling him away as James returned to his practice. "Don't be silly, Mr. Cedric. I think it's pretty clear by now that you actually would try to help keep our kingdom safe. We have more than enough 'bad guys' around here." She shrugged. "Besides, between the two of you, I'd expect Wormwood to try taking over the kingdom first."

He laughed. "Really now?"

"Yeah! He's just a little bit more evil than you, Mr. Cedric. …Actually, he's a lot more evil than you. Well, most of the time." She grinned. "So, do you need any help in your workshop today?"

"Don't I always?" And with that, he led her back into the castle once more.

The end