A Dangerous Treasure
Written By: Commander Cody CC-2224
SUMMARY: Flynn Rider's very first encounter with Mother Gothel...for the very first time. Flynn unburdens to Rapunzel a horrible moment in his life that took place during his career days as a soldier-of-fortune.
AUTHOR'S NOTES: Despite the fact that I'm a retired fanfiction writer, the idea to write this fanfic work of literature sprung up from my mind after I first watched Disney's elegant yet tasteful Tangled film. I also watched the gameplay for Call of Duty: Black Ops, and all of a sudden I had the idea of putting Flynn in a situation that the character Viktor Reznov was in, specifically in the 8th level of the game, Project Nova. Combine the two together and you get…epic-ness. L.O.L.!
PRIMARY CHARACTERS featured from the Tangled film: Rapunzel, Flynn Ryder, Mother Gothel, and the Stabbington Brothers
STORY STATS:
- Missing moment from the Tangled movie; story takes place around the middle of the film, after Rapunzel heals Flynn Rider's injured left hand; Flynn Rider story is set probably a few days ago prior to Flynn Rider and the Stabbington Brothers raiding the throne room of the Palace of Corona
- Fanfic work heavily borrowed (ripped off) from Call of Duty: Black Ops, Game Level: Project Nova
- First names of the Stabbington Brothers derived from the Tangled fanfic "In The Night", written by "Daughter of the Bomb"
- The names of the King and Queen of Corona (Harold and Julia) were derived from the Tangled fanfic "The Princess, The Queen, and The Thief", written by "LoveBroadway1510".
ACT I
Flower gleam and glow,
Let your power shine.
Make the clock reverse,
Bring back what once was mine.
Heal what has been hurt,
Change the fate's design,
Save what has been lost.
Bring back what once was mine.
What once was mine.
Flynn Rider could hear the voice of a singing incantation sung by Rapunzel. The incantation song of healing was ringing in Flynn Rider's ear. It was sung most beautifully and Flynn already found himself raptured by the song's beauty.
By the time the song was finished, Flynn suddenly snapped back to reality. But this snap was followed by a strange mood of hyperventilation, suspicion, and seconds later, fear. Flynn's suddenly reaction to the song after being healed already grabbed Rapunzel's attention.
"Flynn? FLYNN?"
"Yeah! What?" responded Flynn, apparently quite startled.
He started turning his head around, checking to see whether he was really back in reality as he thought he was. Then he looked up. The same starry night sky hovered over the forest of Corona like a twinkling blanket covering all the Earth. Save for the chirping of crickets, the forest was mostly quiet.
"Flynn, are you with me?" asked Rapunzel, quite frantically.
Flynn positioned himself upright while seated on a large trunk of a huge tree. "That…that song…" he began. "I have heard that song before," Flynn muttered to himself very slowly in a perturbed manner.
This suddenly got Rapunzel startled. Heard it before? She thought to herself suspiciously. How? How is that possible? She had to dig a little deeper into that strange claim.
"Flynn, how is that possible? I've only sung it to you like…once. You mean you've heard it before?"
Flynn tried to recall major events in his memory involving the use of this strange healing incantation song. "Yeah. Yeah, I did."
"Who, then?" asked Rapunzel. Given Rapunzel's already heightened state of anxiety, her pet chameleon and loyal friend Pascal hid behind her left shoulder, shuddering.
Flynn nervously cleared his throat. "It was sung by a strange, mysterious woman who went by the name of…Mother Gothel."
Rapunzel sat back…not believing her ears. Mother Gothel? She just couldn't believe it. Since her childhood, Mother Gothel never made mention of a living soul inhabiting the vast reaches of the Kingdom of Corona. Mother Gothel never even mentioned interaction of someone else aside from Rapunzel. Did that mean that anyone aside from her ever interacted with Mother Gothel?
"You mean…" she began, but was too shocked to continue. "Mother Gothel…"
"What is it?" asked Flynn. "You know her?"
"Yes! Of course I do!" Rapunzel exclaimed. "She is my Mother! She sheltered me in the very same tower you found me in." She paused herself, trying to take in the very idea that anybody aside from her knew of Mother Gothel at all, or was aware of her existence.. "What…what do you know about…Mother Gothel?" asked Rapunzel worriedly. She leaned closer to Flynn. "You…" she gulped back. "You met her, haven't you."
"Indeed. Indeed I did," said Flynn. From his tone of voice Rapunzel could nearly tell that he didn't really like talking about his encounter with Mother Gothel. Apparently something happened to him that gave him the impression that Mother Gothel was a creature to be feared above all else. But she had to know.
"Then…what do you know about her…Flynn?" pressed Rapunzel.
Flynn cleared his throat again. "At the time I met her, Mother Gothel was simply a strange, mysterious old woman who we were looking for to assist us with finding a terrible potion intended to be for the use of Corona's defenses. However, we were double crossed."
"Tell me how it happened," Rapunzel demanded of him. "Tell me how you came across Mother Gothel."
Flynn only shook his head. "You won't like it," he said to her. "It's really not that pleasant a story to tell. Hell, it's a dark one."
Rapunzel took a deep breath before pressing him further to tell his side of the story. "You have to," she emphasized.
"Have…" stuttered Flynn. "Where's my writ that I have to tell this story to a girl who barely even knows me…"
"Because she's my Mother!" cried Rapunzel. "If it concerns her, I have to know!"
Flynn sighed in exasperation. "Okay, fine," he said. He scratched his head. "Now…where to begin…"
"Start with the part where you first met her," Rapunzel tried to coax him.
"Right, right," said Flynn. "Well, you see, Mother Gothel really didn't have that much significance in my life. Granted, of course, her existence was of great significance to a traveling band of soldiers of fortune wishing to seek her out to pry from her the location of a hidden dangerous treasure."
"What kind of treasure?" Rapunzel inquired rather curiously.
"I'm getting to that, Blondie," he replied. "You see, I was part of an expeditionary force responsible for aiding in the search of Mother Gothel. Little did I know, however, that Mother Gothel possessed a side far darker than anything you could have ever imagined in your childhood nightmares…for me…this nightmare…was the most horrifying…"
Beginning of the story…
- Dudley Reading and his soldiers-of-fortune commissioned by King Harold and Queen Julia of Corona to investigate the last known location of Mother Gothel, a local who is designated to offer her cooperation in the search for a legendary treasure that will of be of great use to Corona's defenses
- Dudley Reading and his soldiers-of-fortune sent to the Eastern region of Corona
- Flynn Rider (a.k.a. Eugene FitzHerbert) detached to Group Four, with the Stabbington Brothers
- 1200 hours, Mid-Afternoon of the Spring Season
Flynn Rider set his gaze over the grassy valley, perched atop a high knoll. Accompanying him on his journey were his two close traveling buddies: the Stabbington brothers, Hadrian and Leif.
In spite of being twin brothers, the only stark difference between was that the latter, Leif, had a black eye-patch from his left eye, most likely from a brawl with his twin brother, who stabbed him right in his eye.
"Everything is loaded and appears to be ready," informed Hadrian, before turning to Flynn. "Flynn?"
"Yeah," answered Flynn.
Hadrian brandished his sword rather gleefully. "It's time."
"You said it," Flynn agreed with him. He then turned to Leif, the other Stabbington brother. "Leif, grab the gear," he demanded him. "We are moving out."
Armed with his crossbow and heaving up his back, Flynn urged the Stabbington brothers to move down the high knoll with him. The trio headed over to where there was a traveler gathering.
The traveling group's leader was Dudley Reading, a man of adequate pomposity yet reserved in stature. He was brandishing his sword and hitting it slightly on his other hand. To his right was his second in command, William Pool, a bespectacled fellow who looked like an eccentric employee to the King.
Near the group was a rugged horse-drawn cart. The Stabbington brothers were the first to climb aboard the cart. Flynn was about to do the same when William Pool managed to successfully seize his attention.
"Master Eugene FitzHerbert, 'tis a pleasure to see you alive…and in one piece," the bespectacled man greeted Flynn rather politely, yet in a more defined manner. "I hear your reputation as a legendary thief precedes you. Have you not tired of adventure already, Eugene?"
This sort of greeting came as a surprise for Flynn, because much of the time he was known to everyone else as Flynn Rider. Derived from his favorite swashbuckler Flynnagin Rider, Flynn gave that name to himself due to sheer embarrassment by his name for some reason. But for some reason, one way or another, someone had divulged Flynn's real name to Dudley and his second-in-command.
"Naw, not really," said Flynn, trying to be modest. "As far as looks are concerned, I've still got more adventure packed into this thieving operation than my pals put together."
It was at this reply that the Stabbington brothers started scowling at one another over the way Flynn put them at a low comparison. But Dudley Reading was not about to let such petty argument over status brew in his traveling band. "Put aside your petty rivalry, William," commanded Dudley, and to the Stabbington brothers as well. "Eugene FitzHerbert will do as he is told."
"'Hell, yeah' to that one," said Flynn in a rather cocky manner.
"Indeed," said Dudley quite pompously. He then turned to address his traveling group. "Gentlemen, it is an honor to divulge to you at last what are mission will be," he announced. "By order of the King we are to head over to the abandoned village of Cherrywood. It is at Cherrywood that we will be searching for…a woman."
"A woman?" The Stabbington Brothers blasted at Dudley with loud guffaws.
"Exactly," replied Dudley, feeling slightly bothered by Leif Stabbington's unexpectedly rude interruption. "A woman who goes by the name of Mother Gothel. Mother Gothel has offered her cooperation to our search for the legendary potion treasure said to be hidden in a vessel somewhere east of the Kingdom of Corona. Our Lord the King wishes to assess the potion for himself, as it might prove useful against all enemies of Corona. At all costs Mother Gothel is not to be harmed."
"Why, what happens if she's harmed?" asked Leif in dismay.
"Then all hope for searching for the legendary potion…is lost."
"And the King will have our heads for this," Flynn finished for Dudley.
"Indeed," the group leader conceded. "Now that you have been briefed, let's move out."
With that the horse-cart started moving. Flynn conveys his suspicions about Dudley Reading.
"What happened in Corona, between you and Dudley Reading?" asked one soldier.
Flynn cleared his throat. "When me and my pals were scheduled to loot the local bank in Corona, Dudley and his lap dog William Pool left us hopelessly outnumbered. Dudley made a promise to us to get us out of a sticky situation if we got caught by the King's men. That promise was made…but was never kept."
He clicked his tongue in sheer disappointment over the issue between him and Dudley Reading. "From the looks of it, both Dudley Reading and William Pool betray themselves as ruthless opportunists…never giving a damn about their own fellow men…and waiting for the right moment to get rid of us. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if Dudley and Will sold themselves to the highest bidder for their services. Even to this day I still cannot trust him…"
"You know, Flynn, coming from you as an opportunist yourself, your words of condemnation to Mr. Reading as one of these ruthless opportunists should make you look like a hypocrite," scolded Rapunzel.
"Well, Rapunzel, I may have lived a life of crime…but I still believed in the essence of comradeship." At least that was what Flynn believed before he himself would be betrayed by Dudley…which would eventually lead Flynn to betray the Stabbington brother. But that would come much, much later…
At this point, it was Pascal who had to goad Rapunzel into letting Flynn continue his story, or else Flynn would never finish at all. Still atop her left shoulder, he gave Rapunzel a good tug at her ear. But it made Rapunzel peeved at his antics.
"What?" asked Rapunzel furiously.
Pascal pointed his left hand at Flynn. His pointer seemed to serve as a reminder to let Flynn continue.
"All right, Pascal, I'll let him continue his story," she said to him in exasperation. Rapunzel gave Flynn her own silent cue to continue.
"Indeed, the village of Cherrywood was abandoned," Flynn continued. "Not a soul around. Or so it seemed."
Dudley Reading and the travel group finally arrived to the village of Cherrywood.
"Split up," ordered Dudley. "Flynn and the Stabbington brothers will take the north end. The rest of you, cover the south end…and the east end. The group spread out across the village.
Flynn and the Stabbington Brothers took the north end. The Stabbington brothers were readying their swords, as Flynn readied his crossbow. As the trio neared the other side of the village, they noticed a fairly modest-size grove of trees blossoming with strange ripe red cherries. It was most likely the reason behind this local village being dubbed "Cherrywood", due to the strange berries thriving in these trees. Flynn also took notice of these same barriers thriving in the forest near where the local village itself was located.
Flynn gave direction to the Stabbington brothers to split up. "Hadrian, you take that way," he ordered, pointing to his left. Then pointing to his right, he then said to the other Stabbington brother, "Leif, the other."
With a very curt nod of acknowledgment, the two Stabbington brothers split up. Flynn continues straight past the abandoned village road.
All by himself, at least for a time, Flynn continued to explore the northern end. Very soon he stumbled across a mysteriously hooded figure in a red cloak, with its back on him. It was gracefully picking the strange ripe red cherry fruit on a little field right near the village. By the looks of it Flynn could probably suspect it was a woman behind the cloak and hood.
Even most curious was a very strange song the hooded figure was singing to itself. Flynn could not help but find himself impacted by that song, sung in a most angelic voice, but in the most casual manner ever. The song strangely sounded like an incantation, as if calling for something; something that was in possession of the hooded figure and was lost forever.
Flower gleam and glow,
Let your power shine.
Make the clock reverse,
Bring back what once was mine.
Heal what has been hurt,
Change the fate's design,
Save what has been lost.
Bring back what once was mine.
What once was mine.
Flynn readied his crossbow. "Madame?" he called.
The sound of the figure's voice was so sickeningly sweet yet was attractive enough to deserve even the most modest attention. "Yesssss?" it called.
The mysterious figure slowly turned around to face Flynn. To his utter surprise, it turned out to be a woman of great matronly beauty. Her smile was endearing, yet there was craftiness masked behind it. Her ebony black hair was attractively curled.
Flynn was beginning to find himself quite startled and awed by her beauty, but he just couldn't trust her enough even to do such a simple thing as lower his crossbow. He instinctively aimed his crossbow at her, which truly shocked Mother Gothel out of her matronly wits.
"Do not point that crossbow at me…you uncouth dog of low pedigree!" she shrieked in a humorously lyrical but raspy manner.
It was at this point that Flynn decided to lower his crossbow, but cautiously, just to satisfy her and put here at ease. He then began the process of courteously introducing himself.
"I'm Flynn Rider," began Flynn. Now that he was finished introducing himself, it was time to move on to even the most basic of objective facts. "My superior, Captain Dudley Reading, seeks a woman by the name of Mother Gothel. Do you know where she is?"
"Oh, my dear," replied Mother Gothel, fanning herself with her hand, as if savoring the fact that Flynn had difficulty guessing who she was. "There's really no need to keep searching further. You are, indeed, already face-to-face with the woman you seek."
Flynn thought about this part for a moment before heaving a rather unenthusiastic sigh of relief, as if he was not really one for jests of that nature. "So you are Mother Gothel after all," he concluded.
Mother Gothel instead said nothing, but made a rather bland but crafty-looking smile on her face.
"Captain Dudley Reading requests your presence, now," Flynn had to remind Mother Gothel. "Please come with me."
"Of course, my dear," said Mother Gothel rather craftily. "Indeed, I have been expecting him…"
"We led Mother Gothel to our little traveling group…. And it was at this singular moment I could almost suspect she was up to something…crafty…and unnerving…with Captain Reading. The tone in her voice seemed to betray a kind of…craftiness…that was part of her character. Like it was…affectionate…"
The traveling group was near the derelict sailing vessel. Dudley Reading began directing Flynn and the Stabbington brothers with a rallying gesture.
"Flynn Rider, bring your men!" he called out. At Dudley's command, Flynn and the Stabbington Brothers fell into formation.
"Would you mind telling me why this particular vessel is so damn important?" asked Hadrian.
"Dunno," replied Flynn. "But I think he believes this sailing vessel boasts something of great value to the kingdom. He wants to make a name for himself by being the first to claim such a discovery as his own. Even if Mother Gothel, in all manner of justice, would be more deserving of such a claim, since it appears that she knows about it first, which is why she is leading us to it in the first place."
Leif Stabbington began to prod Flynn, trying to get his urgent attention. "Flynn, I think Mother Gothel and Dudley Reading are discussing something in private…like old friends. I'm starting to have a terrible feeling about all this…"
"You always have a terrible feeling about everything, Leif," said Flynn with a light chuckle, before his mood turned pretty somber. "Nor I, too. Best thing to be on your guard, just in case…"
Flynn and the Stabbington Brothers could nearly overhear Dudley Reading and Mother Gothel discussing the treasure.
"We must hurry, gentlemen," called Mother Gothel in a terribly sickeningly sweet voice, as if to her own child. "I hear there are crewmen who would rather see their precious cargo destroyed at the bottom of the sea than captured…"
But Dudley Reading interrupted Mother Gothel in mid-sentence, pointing his right-hand finger at her. "Wait a minute; you told me there wouldn't be any problems, Mother Gothel."
"Well, I cannot control the actions of these crewmen, Dudley," protested Mother Gothel sweetly, conveying a shrug that indicated that she could not guarantee herself being in control of the situation. "For all we know, they are sworn to keep all knowledge of their precious cargo from prying eyes."
Flynn had to confide to the Stabbington Brothers. "Doesn't sound good," he said to them. "It sure sounds like that derelict vessel houses something…dangerous. Why else would they bother going to such trouble?
"I agree," concurred Leif Stabbington. "I'm having my crossbow at the ready…"
The traveling group started stepping into the derelict vessel.
"Mother Gothel, what is it exactly that's in that vessel?" asked Dudley.
"You find out soon enough," replied Mother Gothel. "I like to keep it as a surprise."
"With me, Mother Gothel, I tire of surprises," said Dudley rather unenthusiastically.
"You seem to have lost the thrill of being surprised, Dudley."
Dudley cast his gleeful face at Mother Gothel. "Is it…gold?" he prompted her teasingly.
Mother Gothel returned her tease. "Even…better," she said slyly.
Dudley couldn't help prodding her even more teasingly. "Is it a magic potion brewed in secret?"
"Close enough," replied Mother Gothel in her teasing manner. "It's special."
"Is it a dangerous one?" Flynn asked quickly.
"You'll soon find out," Mother Gothel said to him rather cryptically. But even that reply began to plant an idea in Flynn's head that Mother Gothel's answer was a suspicious "Yes".
"I've got a bad feeling about this…," muttered Flynn.
"You've always got a bad feeling about everything!" Hadrian retorted.
"Not everything, Hadrian," said Flynn. "It's just this little adventure Mother Gothel is hosting is getting creepier and creepier by the minute."
"Maybe we should just leave," said Leif.
"They'll kill us for that," Flynn had to warn him.
Dudley and the traveling group neared the door.
"Thisssss…is it…" hissed Mother Gothel.
"Flynn, open the door," demanded Dudley rather easily.
Flynn obliged, though by this time it was already apparent that he didn't like what discovery was in store for him…or his friends.
In the stats briefing (after the words "Beginning of the story...", there is no specific year as to when Flynn's story takes place. This is because in the Tangledmovie, there was no specific year at all. According to various writers on the forum Discussion and Debate: When does 'Tangled' take place?, a majority of participants seem to pinpoint the period in which Tangled took place somewhere around the late 1700s to the early to mid 1830s. I had decided to leave the matter of the date vague because I didn't want to leave lingering doubts on the reader's mind about the exact date in history. So basically I wanted you to enjoy reading the story without being bothered (to indignation) about the exact historical period that Tangled takes place in.
(To head to Tangled's Discussion and Debate forum on , type on the URL http, followed by a colon (;) a slash (/), and another slash (/), type forum, followed by a dot(.), type fanfiction, and then type the following: .net/forum/Tangled/80879/. I had to write the directions this way because the FanFiction site wouldn't allow me to post the entire URL address on this page.)