Name: By the Will of the Witch
Chapter One: The Autumn of Discontent
Pairing: Rancis Fluggerbutter / Gloyd Orangeboar
Author: xxBoppingAllTheWayxx
Word Count: 700 words (700 words overall.)
Story Warnings: Slash (m/m), Non-con, Hypno.
Summary: Rancis Fluggerbutter knows what he wants, but what is he willing to give up to get it? The stakes are high when dealing with the wicked witch Annisede de Chanectarine…
'Raaaaaaanciiiiiiiisssss…'
The name whistled through the liquorish leaves as the young lad made his way through the night. His journey so far had been uneventful, far from the perilous adventure he had promised himself, and it was with an almost bittersweet resignation that he surveyed how close he was to his final destination.
This area of the kingdom had long since been decreed impermissible - one of the earliest insistencies of the Princess. Even under the later totalitarian rule of Turbo, during which period the punishment for trespassing upon forbidden land had been too gruesome to bear thinking about, no-one dared take the risks. The gumball moon shone from above, lighting the ground beneath his feet with an almost unnatural glow, far brighter than he thought it should have been with the heavy bootlace branches otherwise blocking out the night sky.
For a moment, Rancis contemplated how pretty the woods would look in the light of day, with its sweeping acres of forestry spiralling as far as the eye could see, but quickly dispelled himself of that notion. This land had been encoded within the permanent shadow of the Mentos Mountain – long fabled to be a planned Halloween expansion that wasn't totally dummied out in the event that Sugar Rush Speedway should ever tackle the home-console market. Its effect in-game, however, was far from fun and frolics. Not programmed to be gullible or easily led, Rancis had never devoted much time or consideration to any of the schoolyard legends that had done the rounds throughout the kingdom. Never, that is, until now.
It was said that when the gumball moon shone brightest, and Mentos Mountain gave not a single rumble, that the forbidden kingdom's ruler rose again for the night to ensure the smooth operation of all that was rotten in the sugary universe from her gingerbread headquarters, and – for those brave or foolish enough to make the journey to her door, she would grant one wish in return for an unspecified favour…
Rancis Fluggerbutter was a man on a mission.
The divide between the two lands couldn't have been more obvious – whereas Vanellope's land flourished and thrived with all manner of saccharine delights, the world beyond the boundary was dark, its air rich and heavy with strong and spicy scents. He'd crawled through the Curvy-Wurly fence that bordered the kingdom, crossed the Bourneville River that edged the liquorish forest, and made the long and winding journey to its centre. And, all within the imposing shadow of the unnervingly-silent Mentos Mountain…
And then he saw it, with trees flanking it so naturally, he was almost tempted to believe the abode had been grown, not built, into the land. But instead, there was something so clearly unnatural about the building in front of him – it oozed stillness; not a branch nor a leaf around it dared to move, and no light shone from its windows. Rancis, struggling to shake off the feeling of oppressive immobility that seemed to numb his extremities, would've written the cottage off as abandoned and condemned, but enough smoke was billowing from the modest chimney to finally block out the gumball light that had persevered through the woodland's canopy. Being swallowed by cloudy darkness was nearly enough to convince Rancis to turn back and forget about the whole daft idea but, as if to encourage him, a memory jolted through him unbidden – a smile, a laugh, an orange-tinted blush… – filling him with the courage and resolution to take the few short steps to the door.
His hand trembled as he reached for the large gumdrop doorbell – felt it squelch around his finger as he gently pressed the tip. Fighting wave after wave of chilling terror, he felt his breath hitch in his throat and his stomach knot tightly around his core as a faint light flickered to life far behind the door's pane. The frosted glass prevented him from knowing what horrid fate awaited him and his legs had cemented themselves to the ground below in sheer dread. The light grew, till its warmth could almost be felt from the other side of the door, and the handle began to turn…
There's truth behind every schoolyard legend.
Teaser: How will Rancis cope when he finds himself face to face with the embittered enchantress that rules this kingdom: the fearsome Annisede de Chanectaraine – and whatever will she ask in return for granting Rancis' deepest, darkest desire?
Author's Notes: The first story-for-publication I've written in quite a while – I'm definitely interested in hearing your views on it, ideas for where you'd like it to go, and areas of improvement!
Till next time,
Joey x