An adolescent, with dark brown hair that looked almost black and brown eyes to match sat on a scruffily made bed in the corner of a used and worn room. There was a wooden door, only just on its hinges on the opposite wall and through it the boy could hear the sounds of other children playing.

He took no notice of the children though, even as one of them fell against his door with a bang. Instead he continued to read his book - The Adventures of Flynnigan Ryder. It was his favourite, had been since he was a young boy. That was years ago. His birthday was coming up in two weeks and he would be 18 and free of the oppressive walls of the orphanage.

He did love the place really, but he wanted adventure! He wanted to get into fights and ride a horse to somewhere new. And more than anything, he wanted what he hadn't had since he was 3 - a family. He hid this desire behind a wall, not wanting to get hurt. He had lost his Father to illness and his mother couldn't support him on her own. Eventually she told him to take a note to the big stone building near the forest. It turned out that she had packed and fled and that the building was an orphanage, who took him in when they read the note.

He didn't care what form that family took - brothers and sisters, parents or children. He'd take any or all, he just wanted someone to call his family. Eugene had already packed his belongings, and they sat in a small sack under his bed.

He hated his name - Eugene Fitzherbert. It sounded... useless. Like it belonged to a boring man who lived a dull life. No achievements. Nothing. Flynnigan - Flynn - Ryder was a much better name. That name belonged to a man who lived an amazing and exciting life running around the Kingdom and the ones surrounding, meeting people and seeing extraordinary sights.

That's who he wanted to be. And that's who he will be from the day of his 18th birthday onwards.

5 years later...

His breath was loud in his ears as he sprinted through the forest. Flynn could feel the wind whipping around him and hear the thud of three pairs of feet. Glancing behind him, he saw the identical faces of the two men he had joined with for this job. He had every intention of losing them the first chance he got. The only issue being that they had the bag. That bag held two of the most valuable items in the Kingdom - the crowns of The Missing Heirs.

In the distance he could hear the thundering hooves and the shouts of the Guards as they chased after the three criminals. It was at that point when they encountered a ledge, where he turned to the two men.

"Either of you fancy giving me a hand up?" He questioned, out of breath. He needed to do more exercise. You'd think running from the authorities on a regular basis would improve one's running ability.

The scarred twins scowled at him before one of them stepped forward and held his hands out in a cup shape. Flynn made a show of balancing himself and hoisting his tired body up. In doing so, he leant on the other brother causing him to lose his grip on the satchel. As soon as his hand lost contact with the loot, Flynn was off, leaving the two brawny men to the Guards quickly approaching.

Taking a moment to catch his breath, knowing the Guards were occupied, he looked aroung him for a good hiding spot to wait the hunt out. Seeing a rock with ivy covering it, he ran and hid underneath. However, upon moving the flora he found that it wasn't solid rock. In fact, it was a tunnel that lead to a clearing. In the centre of the clearing was a tower that looked to be several storeys high. However, there was no visible door - only a window near the top of the tower.

Ignoring the tired burn of his body, he pulled out the two daggers he had on him at all times and scaled the wall up to the window. Arms and legs screaming at him, he hauled himself through the opening and flopped onto the floor before straigtening himself. And that was the last thing he remembered.

The next time he opened his eyes, there was cold water dripping from his hair and off the end of his nose. He flexed the few muscles he seemed to be able to move, feeling an ache setting in from the running. Flynn then took the time to examine his surroundings. He was still inside the tower, by the looks of the view from the window. The tower was circular and contained two beds, a table and a two dressers.

And then Flynn looked down. He was tied to a basic wooden chair with what appeared to be hair. Following the trail of hair, he saw a two dark silhouettes perched up in the rafters. One of them jumped down upon seeing his eyes gaze up at them. The figure stepped out of the darkness and it was revealed that they were a female. It only took him moments to realise that the hair tying him was hers, and was long. Like seriously long. He'd never seen hair so long... He shook himself out of the daze he had worked himself into about her hair when she slunk towards him cautiously, and he watched her with amused eyes.

"Hey, darlin'. What's your name?" The darked haired man asked with a note of well-earned (in his opinion) arrogance in his voice.

"Why do you want to know?"

He looked at her quizically, not noticing the soft thud of a second person jumping down from the beams supporting the ceiling. It was only when a masculine version of the female's face popped up behind her that he realised that the second figure was no longer above him.

"I just thought that it'd be nice to know the identity of the person holding me hostage." He smiled causally, hiding his concern at his inability to move.

The blonde hesitated and looked at the boy behind her. They stared at each other for a couple of seconds before she proclaimed, "Well, I'm Rapunzel and behind me is my twin brother Arieh..."

Flynn nodded his head, taking in the information. Then another question, considerably more important than the last appeared in his head.

"I have another question - why have you got me tied to a chair in your tower?"

Again the two before him paused.

"You were the one to climb up into the tower! Surely that means you want us for our gifts. And we won't let you use us! So we tied you up and hid that satchel you had with you. And you will only get it back if you do something for us."

It was only then that Flynn realised that his satchel wasn't lying across his shoulder as it had been before he blacked out. He cursed to himself quietly before asking them what they wanted for his prize.

"We want you to take us to the celebrations that we always see - the one with the lights. We've never been before and we've always wanted to go. It's out 18th birthday in three days and we are desperate to go!"

Whislt the girl, Rapunzel, was stating their conditions, Ari-something or other (he's not the best with names) was moving a heavy curtain from its position against the wall to reveal an image of the night sky filled with 'the lights'. Flynn stared a moment and tried to work out what lights they were talking about. Then he realised that they meant the lanterns that were released on the anniversary of The Missing Heirs. He voiced as much, and the girl smiled excitedly and nodded.

The 23 year-old stared for a moment longer, startled how simple the request was, "You two are very sheltered aren't you?"

The male, Arieh, glared at him before rolling his eyes. Flynn realised that yet again he had missed the boy's movements and had only noticed his return to the position in front of him when the cerulean glower was aimed towards him.

"Are you going to take us or not?" The petite blonde demanded, attempting to look tough and just looking like a tiny puppy yapping at a shadow (Awww).

Flynn continued to stare further before sighing, "Fine..."

As soon as the word had left his lips, the blonde was squealing and grabbing her twin in a hug that looked uncomftably tight. Arieh (yaaay! He remembered his name again! He definitely deserved a pat on the back for that one) seemed to agree from the strained look on his face. Flynn sighed again - this was going to be interesting.

"Now, if you're finished killing your brother, I kinda need to not be tied to a chair in order to take you to the celebrations."