A/N: Happy New Year! Or, if you're where I am right now, you've got a few more hours to go. But either way, merry 2014 to all of you!
This chapter is the shortest so far (I guess you could call it a filler chapter), so I am going to try as soon as possible to get the next one out after this. I start school again this Thursday so I may or may not have time to work on the story. But I will try my best to get chapter 5 out by sometime next week, or sooner!
I hope you all enjoy! Have a good night/day!
-Disney owns Tangled and all of its characters
As the sun rose, Chance awoke to find that he was the only one in the tree house. Last night was the first night he had a good night's sleep in a long while. He didn't have to worry about anyone pestering him with studies, or of his "duties as future king". He got out of the hammock (almost flipping over at first) and strolled around the room. It was such a quaint place; he wondered how no one (at least, no one he met before) had ever found it.
In the corner of the room, something moved. Trying to ifnd something to defend himself with, Chance ran in the opposite direction and tripped, causing whatever had moved to freeze. With a sudden bout of bravery, Chance inched towards the dark corner, and all of a sudden, a flash of orange bolted between his legs. As the animal stopped, he could finally see what it was, and he almost smacked himself. A fox? Was he really scared of a tiny fox? Feeling embarrassed, he walked over to the fox, his hand outstretched. The fox sniffed him, and then licked his fingers. Chance smiled. "Who are you little buddy? How did you get up here?" he asked. The fox stopped licking his finger and ran to the window. He seemed as if he were gesturing towards a rope that was tied to a basket. Making the connections in his head, Chance picked up the basket. "Oh, so she pulls you up here? I was wondering how a little guy like you got up here. You must be one special little fox." He smirked, thinking that it was sweet of Kitlyn to take care of the animal. Chance put the basket down, let Rico jump in, and then carefully lowered him down to the ground, watching as he ran off in the woods.
Chance entertained himself for a short while by looking at the various pelts that hung around the walls. So many different creatures, but no large ones, like bears. There was not one fox pelt to be seen. This girl must really like that fox, Chance assumed, thinking back to the pulley that had given the animal ability to enter the treehouse. It was then realized that Kitlyn had been gone for quite a while. Where could she have gone?
A distant neighing rang through Chance's ears. He peered out the window to see Kitlyn and Brutus ride into view. Kitlyn held a bow in one hand and an empty sheath was visible on her back. She looked up at Chance and waved. "I see Sleeping Beauty has finally risen from his slumber." She called up to him, snickering. "C'mon down, and bring the full sheath that's sitting by my hammock please." She finished. Chance grabbed the sheath and headed down the ladder. He handed it to Kitlyn.
"Why do you need the arrows? I mean, what are they for?" He asked.
"For fun. A girl's gotta have at least one hobby out here in the middle of nowhere. It's almost like a target practice sort of thing. I make my own targets on the trees and me and Brutus here run and shoot. I think it's best to go early in the morning so your eyes can adjust to the light, and also because I love the morning. I didn't think you'd be up by now, but since you are, I figured maybe you'd wanna give it a try." She said, handing him the bow and sheath.
"You want me to do what now?" Chance had never practiced archery before. Sure, he had always wanted to, but his parents would never have let him go near a bow, let alone shoot with one.
"Why not? I thought since you were on your own, I could teach you a lesson or two on living in the forest, if you want. We're not all crazy psychos out here you know."
"I know. I just, um… thanks I guess. I would love to."
"No problem." She said.
Kitlyn hopped on Brutus, leaving Chance standing around awkwardly. "Well, you're not gonna walk there are you?" Kitlyn patted a spot on Brutus's back behind her. With a bit of hesitation, Chance got on the horse. They rode away from the tree house, forestry flying by, providing a green and brown kaleidoscope around them. After a bit, Brutus slowed down, and Chance could see that they had stopped in a clearing where large white marks had been made all over the surrounding trees. Kitlyn gave Chance a minute to look around at them before asking, "You ready to start?"
Kitlyn got off of Brutus with Chance following close behind. She proceeded to give him a white cloth. "What's this for?" Chance asked.
"You know what they say, first time's a charm."
Once he comprehended what she had meant, Chance was beside himself with shock. "Wait, what? You don't mean… blindfold myself? No way! I can't do that!"
"Don't say "I can't" unless you've never tried. You certainly won't know unless you attempt it at least once. I suggest you try, or else it looks you'll may never make it out here," Kitlyn said, folding her arms in sarcastic protest.
Shooting her a quick glare, Chance began to set up his bow and arrow, reluctant to the girl's last statement. Kitlyn helped put the blindfold on him, and took a few paces backward. "Now, just imagine the target. Someone you really hate is on the other side of that blindfold. What are you going to do?" Kitlyn said.
"Shoot at him?"
"Yes! But with confidence! Think of the worst person or thing you could possibly think. And aim for the kill."
At the moment, the only thing Chance could think of was of his father. Disgusted of what had just happened in his mind, Chance tried to shake the thought away, but to no avail. The constant lectures and boring speeches about everything he would have to do as king pierced through his brain and kept getting louder and louder. Knowing that there was no way he would ever even attempt to point a weapon at his own father, Chance focused his hatred on the pressures of becoming king. He felt his anger surge from his core down to his fingertips and into his bow. Blindly taking aim, Chance readied himself to let go of the arrow. Without one more second of hesitation, the tipped spear left his fingers. Like a magnet to metal, the arrow pierced the target dead on.
"Wow, you must really hate someone." Kitlyn joked. Not seeing the stone-like expression Chance still wore on his face after taking off the blindfold, she was instead thinking of her emotions. She was truly happy right now. Somehow, this lanky rogue had come out of nowhere and found Kitlyn. The events of the past few days made her question if fate and destiny were real or not. The gap in her soul that her family had left was temporarily patched up by Chance. For once, her mind wasn't set on eating, sleeping, and surviving. She was having fun, and she did not want it to end. A small ray of hope had begun to shine over Kitlyn's dark past.
