A Tangled Cinderella Story
Prologue
It was a clear, chilly morning as the young boy crawled out the open window and slid down the tied up bed sheets to the sidewalk below. He was flushed with excitement and anticipation as he searched the street for a direction to go. Nothing was on the street; it was empty at 4 and still dark, but he was determined to get away from the orphanage as quickly as he could.
It was then he heard a commotion; a scuffle in the street and he heard what sounded like a little baby's cry. He grabbed and pulled the sheets out of the window and ran like the wind toward the sound.
What he found there was strange. A woman with a wild mane of long black hair lay in the cobblestone street, unconscious. Beside her was a tiny bundle wrapped up in a pink blanket. The minute he picked it up, the crying stopped. Inside, he found a tiny baby girl with long blonde hair and the largest green eyes he'd ever seen.
He looked up. He hadn't realized that he was right outside the castle gates, but that's probably where she was coming from.
But then again, you never know what people would be up to.
The boy didn't know what to make of it, the woman didn't look as if she was moving or breathing at all. He bent down to try and rouse her, but she wasn't budging. Not wasting any more time, he picked up the baby and held her in his arms. She looked up at him, gurgled and smiled. He smiled back at her. There was something about this baby, something special, but he didn't know*what it was or why he felt this way.
A scream split the night. The boy looked up and in the direction from where it came from. Quickly, he retreated behind a behind a large, fat tree. From his vantage point, he was able to make out a young woman out on the porch and he could hear her crying. Just then, a man emerged and held her in his arms, whispered in her ear and pulled her toward him. He assumed that it was the King and Queen, but he just wasn't sure. He looked down at the baby again.
He watched as another man joined the couple on the porch. He saw the man nod and saw him run back inside.
Then he watched the castle gates open and noticed five men from the Royal Guardsmen run out into the street. The four snapped to attention as the fifth barked out their orders.
Nodding, the four split up with the fifth still standing in front, not sure which way to go.
The boy looked back at the baby, and then realized that this must be what they were looking for. Quickly, he stepped out from behind the tree and bravely marched up to the fifth guardsman, still unsure of himself.
"Excuse me," the boy said and he held up the little bundle. He pushed it toward the guards. "Is this what you're looking for?"
The Guard took the bundle out of the boy's hands. He unwrapped the blanket and found the little princess safe and sound inside. She had been quiet all along, but now upon seeing a different face, began to cry again.
The Guard couldn't get her to stop no matter how hard he tried.
"Where did you find her? How did you…" but his words trailed off.
The little boy had disappeared.
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The boy ran. He didn't want to be found out. He didn't want them to know he had escaped the orphanage this night. It seemed that the guards weren't interested in him, however, so he slowed down. He hid behind a tree, waited and watched. It was the woman that he had found laying the street that they were after. He watched as two guardsmen lifted her unconscious body off the street. He watched as they tried to rouse her, just as he did, but she didn't move.
The boy felt a sneeze coming on and tried to block it, but it didn't work. He sneezed anyway. Unfortunately, the guards carrying the unconscious woman heard him and stared in the direction it came from.
The boy didn't waste any time. He darted from behind the tree and disappeared into the night.
In the morning, he found a discarded paper on the street. He picked it up to read. It made mention of a Mother Gothel, the dead woman they found on the street earlier this morning. The King and Queen identified her as the one who kidnapped their little baby girl. They also made mention of a brave young boy who returned the child to the Captain of the Guard, but he was nowhere to be found. They had searched high and low, but he had disappeared into thin air.
The paper also made mention of a young boy who was missing from the orphanage and hadn't returned as of yet. Search parties were on the lookout for the little boy as well. So far as he knew, they hadn't connected the two, but he couldn't be sure and didn't want to take any chances.
And so the boy, Eugene Fitzherbert by name, decided there was only one thing to do and that was change his name and disappear altogether. He had to remember that from now on he was only to go by the name of his dashing swashbuckling hero, Flynn Rider.