Disclaimer: I own nothing; I do not own the characters they all belong to Disney. Main idea belongs to Default871 aka Maria, as well as Secretheart20 aka Victoria, Innocentagain aka Kayla, and Rotem270691 aka Rotem for their wonderful ideas.
A/N: I would like to send out a huge thank you to Innocentagain, Secretheart20, Rotem270691 and song-of-fate for their comments, they mean so much to me. A quick note, just a little heads up, I'm keeping the same outfit that Pocahontas wears in the movie. I just thought that it would be cool to wear something instead of the other clothes that the people in Hunchback of Notre Dame do. Just a heads up, Djali is pronounced like Jolly, that's how it's written in the description. Hope everyone enjoys this chapter.
Chapter one
Sixteen years later
Morning came shining its glorious light through the window of the bell tower stirring a young woman with silky black hair. A new day was just beginning in the city of Paris, and the excitement waited for no one. Opening her eyes she stared up at the glittering items in front of the window with her deep sapphire eyes. Something calming seemed to take hold of her as she looked at all her creations.
Her name was Pocahontas; she had grown into a gorgeous young woman of sixteen. But one thing still remained with her, even after all these years, her sense of curiosity and exploration. Even as a little girl she was always on the go. None of the monks or Frollo could ever get her to settle down. Even if they could it wasn't for long.
Frollo of course always tried to break her spirit and have her become a well-behaved woman. But Pocahontas wouldn't have it; she was too preoccupied and independent for that. Naturally it would infuriate him with her constant carefree ways.
As for the monks and the Archdeacon, none of them truly cared what she did, just as long as she did not disrupt any of the people coming in. Just like her name meant, Pocahontas was truly a playful person even at the age of sixteen. It served Frollo right for keeping her locked up with no one to be around. She was only allowed to go out if she was accompanied by Frollo himself.
Fully getting out of bed now and changing from her white night gown to a simple tawny colour dress with a single strap on her right shoulder. The dress itself was form fitting hugging her curves perfectly. The bottom of the dress ended just at her knee in a V-shape. It never actually looked like that originally; it was an ankle length dress with both shoulder straps intact. But Pocahontas had gotten creative and designed the outfit herself to match her personality.
After combing her now waist length black hair, Pocahontas sat on the railing over looking the town. Excitement seemed to fill the streets, she knew this day all too well. Ever since she was able to comprehend exactly what all the commotion was about, she always got eager to go see it. Of course Frollo forbade her from going anywhere near the crowds especially the Gypsies. He always feared that she might get corrupted by the Gypsies. Or worse. It never failed, every year she would beg and plead to go the Festival. But every time he refused it. He would tell her how dangerous it was to be around those heathens. By the time she hit thirteen Pocahontas stopped begging, stopped pleading and went on her own to discover what the excitement truly was about.
For three years of her life she learned how to sneak out of the cathedral without getting caught and stayed within the crowd. With her ability to be agile, flexible and quick witted, she never roused suspicion out in the streets. This was the only time she ever wanted to go out, she loved to be part of the crowds to watch the festival.
Meanwhile, the now sixteen year old Esmeralda was preparing for her day inside her little home. Her once shoulder length hair became chest length with more of a wave to it as she placed a pink ribbon to hold it back from her face. Her emerald eyes sparkled with a new hope in the world. She, like Pocahontas, grew into a beautiful and radiant young adult. She was admired by all the Gypsies for her beauty and talent. She no longer clung to Clopin as she once did; she still remained within the Court of Miracles among her own kind. Where once the citizens of Paris never minded her being around their children or on the streets, their views changed and now feared to be around her. Like anything she needed money to survive and the only way to make money was to dance, and that was on the street, which scared most parents thinking that they would get robbed.
Gathering her belongings from her bedside table, Esmeralda picked up a woven band that had a cross in the middle of it. A memory hit her hard as she recalled the day Clopin told her Melia, her mother had a gift for her. Apparently, Melia had made the woven band for her. Clopin told her that if wore this woven band she held the city in her hand. It also gave her comfort to know that if she needed sanctuary or she was lost she knew where to go.
"Mom, you have no idea how much I miss you. Not one day goes by that I am not thinking about you. But everyone has taken care of me so much," Esmeralda sighed holding the woven band close to her heart.
A white goat soon came to her side worried as it nudged her leg with its head. Looking down Esmeralda gave a weak smile as she bent down to pet the goats head.
"Its okay Djali, everything will be fine," Esmeralda whispered. The goat nuzzled closer as she wrapped her arms around him.
"Esme, you ready to go?" a voice asked from the door way.
Turning around, she could see Clopin standing there, a smile on his face unaware of what was going on. Esmeralda herself returned the smile as she rose to her feet.
"Yeah, I'm ready. The dress is packed and set to go. I'm meeting Malik in a moment to head into the city to do a before show."
"You were thinking of her again weren't you?" Clopin asked hearing Esmeralda's tone.
"Just a bit, only when I hold the woven band. I'm fine, I assure you Clopin I'll be okay," Esmeralda assured slipping the band over her head.
"I believe you. You have this way to bounce back into a happier mood."
Esmeralda smiled as she swept out of the room, her tambourine in hand. Djali was at her heels also as a protective friend. She had him for the last six years of her life and neither one were in separable.
Leaving the Court of Miracles and the cemetery, Esmeralda and Djali made their way toward the busy city of Paris. It was already a gorgeous morning waking up everyone to a good mood. The air was crisp and perfect for the festival to start. She knew in her heart that today was going to be a good day in general. As both strolled on the cobble ground, Esmeralda went through the moves in her head for her dance later. She wasn't nervous in the long run, she needed to ease her mind and the only way to do that was to run over every dance move.
"Esmeralda. Good to see you!" a medium height, slightly plump man with Capri style pants and a vest greeted.
"Malik, good to see you too. I see you brought some friends with you," Esmeralda gestured toward the three women dressed in tawny coloured dresses that clung to their bodies perfectly. There wasn't anything special to them compared to her light purple skirt, white blouse and black corset. On her ankle was a single gold anklet with a matching huge hoop gold earring.
"I thought that we could bring in more of a crowd," Malik replied.
"Good idea," Esmeralda simple said inclining her head to each young girl. They seemed to be just a year younger than her.
In seconds, Malik started up his flute while Esmeralda lightly tapped on her tambourine. As the beat livened the three other Gypsy girls began to dance around them in light footsteps.
Meanwhile, in the Palace of Justice not that far away from where Esmeralda and her friends performed, Frollo stood in the hallway with a young man no older than twenty five wearing gold armour with a blue tunic underneath with brown gloves and boots. Frollo seemed very confident and happy that he was there.
"Ah, so this is the gallant Captain Phoebus, home from the wars," Frollo said.
"Reporting for duty as ordered, sir," replied Captain Phoebus standing at attention not moving from his stance.
"Your service record you precedes you Phoebus. I expect nothing but the best from a war hero of your calibre," Frollo remarked.
"And you shall have it, sir. I guarantee it."
"Walk with me," insisted Frollo leading the way down the hall toward a door way leading to the balcony. Phoebus followed closely behind him without loosing his stature. His face was hard as stone refusing to give into his emotions.
"You've come to Paris in her darkest hour Captain. It'll take a firm hand to save the weak minded from being so easily mislead."
"Mislead, sir?" Phoebus asked confused.
"The Gypsies live outside the normal order. Their heathen ways inflame the people's lowest instincts. And they must be stopped!" Frollo said angrily.
"I was summoned from the wars to capture fortune tellers and palm readers?" Phoebus asked in shock finally breaking away from his soldier stature.
"Ah, the real war, Captain, is what you see before you," Frollo indicated to the crowd below where the five Gypsies were still dancing and performing. "For twenty years I have been taking care of the Gypsies…one by one." Frollo picked up a lose stone from the ledge revealing a colony of ants. "And yet for all my success they have thrived. I believe they have a safe haven within the walls of this very city. A nest if you will. They call it the Court of Miracles," he explained rolling his eyes at the last word.
"What are we going to do about it, sir?"
Frollo smirked wickedly as he slammed the stone back down crushing the ants at the same time. His heart was stone cold; he felt no remorse for what he did. Just as long as the pure survived he was satisfied.
Over at Notre Dame, Pocahontas still sat with her legs dangling over the edge preparing to jump. No fear filled her mind as she looked down at the far away ground. Heights never seemed to bother her in the slightest. She saw them as mere obstacle courses that needed to be cleared. Knowing that she was completely alone, she pushed herself off the railing to stand on the other side clinging to the railing. Taking a deep breath Pocahontas lowered herself to a crouch position as she reached for one of the pillars.
She had taken into affect that Notre Dame was like her personal playground on the outside. It was a good way to remember to remain nimble and learn where all the escape routes were in case something were to happen. Mainly if she ever needed to run away.
Hugging the pillar with dear life, Pocahontas slid down the poll to the second half of the building where a long rope with ribbons was strung up for the festival. Grabbing hold of the rope, she zipped down toward the other end. People were already gathering for the show. Excitement rose inside of her as she wandered around the streets. People on stilts were walking around. Pocahontas could already spot four different colours about them: There was black and white, red and yellow, blue and white and orange and yellow.
Each year always held something different and new, but each year her excitement rose to see something else. People were already sitting down on benches with their buddies and drinks. There were a lot of people roaming around still watching the little performance in the little side street.
Pocahontas got curious as to what was going on. Every year that she went, this was never happening. Heading to the crowd, Pocahontas looked on at the five people performing. She was in awe of the three dancing Gypsies and the other Gypsy with black hair on the tambourine. Pocahontas kept her eye on the other girl watching as she turned around and smiled at her. Pocahontas returned the same smile back to her. There was something genuine in her eye that comforted Pocahontas.
A large bang went off in front of Notre Dame sending confetti everywhere. Pocahontas' attention shifted from the Gypsies to the commotion. Everyone was laughing and cheering at whatever happened. Her face lit up knowing that something exciting was going on. She was eager to go see what was going on, but she wanted to talk to the one Gypsy. Turning her attention back to the Gypsy performers, she was in shock not to see any of them there any more; it was as if they disappeared from sight.
Esmeralda slipped into her privacy tent to get her new outfit on for the festival. She was glad that the explosion to start the festival happened when it did; it was going to be hard to escape the crowd any other way. She stood behind the curtain dividing her and Djali. Hanging up all ready to go was a red dress with purple sleeves. Esmeralda lightly touched the soft, silky fabric before getting herself changed.
Noises could be heard outside indicating Clopin had started the festival. It didn't bother her in the slightest. There were too many things that she needed to get done. Slipping off her clothes, she took the red dress off the hanger and slipped the cool fabric over her head. The top half clung to her body perfectly while her skirt part was loose giving her the ability to move with ease.
Outside, Pocahontas continued to wander the streets seeing everyone getting all excited for the show. In the background from what she could see, people were buying items at concession stands. She could hear people call out all their treasures for sale. She had to refrain from getting carried away with all the items, even if they were nice and she could probably use for her own creations.
More excitement started as a man in a yellow and blue outfit with a purple mask appeared out of the blue getting the crows to start singing to get hyped for the on coming performance. No one could hold back, they wanted to join in one way or the other. Pocahontas couldn't help but smile.
As Pocahontas looked around the crowds to get a better idea of how many people actually came out, she got a glimpse of a black carriage being pulled into the street. Her heart raced at the fear of being near Frollo. Just as long as he never saw her it was all right. The guard entourage fanned out around the crowd, obviously to protect Frollo, considered Pocahontas as she rolled her eyes. She could sense that something else was going to happen, it never failed in the long run.
Just as quickly as Pocahontas' gaze shifted to Frollo, they immediately shifted back to the Gypsy. Pocahontas could recall before hand that his name was Clopin, the king of the Gypsies, she couldn't exactly recall where she heard it, but somehow she remembered it. He easily could flip around like a child could. It was like nothing could stop him.
She followed his movements as she back flipped over to where Frollo sat grudgingly waiting for this to end. She couldn't understand why he hated it so much; the festival was always an enjoyment to watch.
"Come one, come all! Hurry, hurry, here's you chance. See the myst'ry and romance," Clopin sang hanging around Frollo catching him off guard. "Come one, come all. See the finest girl in France, make an entrance to entrance." Clopin was back at the stage again holding something in his hand. "Dane la Esmeralda! Dance!"
A/N: All right, here is chapter one, kind of a summary to what the girls look like and what their lifestyles are like. I know I didn't go into a lot of details into Pocahontas' room, but you'll find out more later on. I'm not sure how interesting this one is, I feel like I rushed it. The next one I promise will be a better. My describing things suck let's put it that way.
I also wasn't sure how I was going to go with this between Esmeralda and Pocahontas, Song-of-fate made the point out of figuring out if it was suppose to be only friendship or relationship. I went down the safe road and did friendship just encase someone says otherwise.
