SHINING STAR

-MichelleTheVampGirl

Chapter 4: Alice

I cast a quick glance at the weathered wooden sign as I walked into the small village. Dartton. I knew this place, I had been here before. Dartton was a rural town where everyone trusts everyone to the point of stupidity. It was a thief's dream come true... until you realised these people had nothing worth stealing. Reaching into my satchel, I pulled out an apple that I had plucked from a tree out in the forest. The tree technically didn't belong to anyone so technically I didn't consider it stealing. It was all in the technicalities.

I had made a promise to Rapunzel that I wouldn't steal anymore, and while I technically considered myself to be Flynn Rider again, there was still the Eugene inside of me who refused to break a promise to Rapunzel. Since I was trying to do everything right by her, a promise sworn was a promise kept.

Food was scarce of course. Living was hard without any substantial income. But I did what I could to get by without breaking my promise, but without any trade skills, I couldn't get a job.

So, in every town I passed through, I sang.

Yes, busking isn't exactly glamorous, and it doesn't turn up a lot of money, but it was honest. And there were always people willing to lend a few coins to someone who looked as run down and malnourished as I did. I was homeless. I guess people saw me as a charity case.

However, Dartton was not the best place to be for busking. The people were kind enough, and would gladly help a fellow out, however, they could barely afford to feed themselves, let alone me. But yet, the next town was miles away, and since dusk was rapidly approaching, I would have to find a place to stay in Dartton. Providing I could find someone hospitable, I could eat the fruit in my satchel until I made it to Gatsburg, the capital city in Rieva Kingdom.

Gatsburg seemed like the place I had been subconsciously making my way to from the beginning. It was a large enough city that I wouldn't be noticed, far enough from Corona that I wouldn't be tempted to return, and with enough people that I could probably get by on busking alone until I died. A sad and lonely future ahead of me, I know, but what other option did I have.

I walked into Dartton, singing softly under my breath as I wandered aimlessly, searching for someone who would take me in. Another good thing about Dartton was that it was so isolated from both Rieva and Corona that no one would recognise me, or my criminal record.

"All those days, chasing down a daydream

All those years, living in a blur"

I kicked a stone in front of me, feeling wretched inside at how much those words that used to seem so romantic and true, now just seemed like a lie. I was back to living in a daydream, everything was blurry, to sing otherwise was false. But it was one of the only songs I knew, so I continued singing.

"All that time, never truly seeing

Things, the way they were."

I glanced up from the ground and saw a young girl sitting on a fence in front of me. Her off-white dress was stained with dirt and grime, the clothes falling off of her slender frame. Her hair was pinned up on her head in a mess of wild dark red curls, a pale blue ribbon tied around her scalp. I noticed quickly that the ribbon matched her eyes, which were watching me in astonishment. The girl had a small upturned nose and a round chin with full rosy cheeks. Her mouth set in an easy smile as she tucked a long strand of her curly crimson hair behind her ear. She blushed furiously when she noticed I was looking at her, and ducked her head abruptly. I felt a smile tug at my lips as I continued to watch the girl try and seem cool and unaffected by my presence.

"Now she's here, shining in the starlight

"Now she's here, suddenly I know,"

The girl giggled, holding a tiny hand over her mouth, her plump rose lips opening to expose small white teeth. I walked up to the girl on the fence, and dropped in a gallant bow, smiling up at her chivalrously.

"If she's here, it's crystal clear

I'm where I'm meant to go"

My thoughts went back to Rapunzel, and I glanced uneasily back in the direction of Corona. The song suddenly felt thick and heavy in my throat. I struggled to work around the meaning of those lines which seemed so contradictory to what I now believed in. The girl on the fence noticed my hesitation, and took it as a conclusion to my song. She jumped of the wooden fence and took a bold step forward. A strand of her hair fell out of its ponytail when her feet hit the ground and landed right in her face, she pushed it back while smiling pleasantly. When she was next to me, I noticed just how small the girl was. She only stood up to my chest, and looking down on her, I realised just how young she was. How inappropriate of me, singing to the girl. I mentally kicked myself, hoping she didn't get the wrong idea.

"You have a beautiful voice."

She spoke confidently, her own voice soft and breezy. The light, childlike tones were feminine and lilting. She met my gaze with her rosy lips pulled into a very earnest smile which I couldn't help but reciprocate, but I didn't reply.

"My name is Alice." She pulled at her skirts in a curtsy, ducking her head to the point that it was only at my waist.

"What's yours?" She straightened herself and waited expectantly for my reply, her little round face cocked to one side, her sky blue eyes twinkling in the fading light. I opened my mouth to answer, but stopped myself. What was I going to say? In all the time since leaving Rapunzel, no one had cared enough to ask that question, so I hadn't yet had to think of a reply. Who was I? The girl's eyebrows knitted together in frustration as she raised her fists to her chest, pointing dramatically at her own face.

"Me: Alice. You?" She then pointed at me with exaggeration. Each word was spoken slowly, deliberately, as though she was speaking to a toddler. I laughed because I assumed I had about ten years on this girl and her assumption that she was smarter than me was pretty funny.

"I... I'm Flynn. Flynn Rider" I winced as the familiar name fell off my tongue without me deciding on using it. Well, it was out there now. No pulling it back.

"Hello Flynn Rider" she giggled and pushed more of her crazy curls off of her face.

"Now that wasn't so hard was it?"

The girl began walking off down the street in a way that made it clear she thought I was following her. So I obliged. Having nowhere else to go, I figured I could see where this goes. I ran to catch up to her, seeing her smug face looking straight ahead as she kept walking, not even bothering to acknowledge me.

"So... you're... Alice?"

I asked lamely, not sure what else to say to the girl.

"Yep. That's me. Alice Pine. And you're Flynn Rider. And you are also clearly homeless."

I drew back, mildly wounded at her assumption, albeit true, it still hurt to hear it out loud. She just laughed and turned to look at me with a smirk on her face as she raked over my appearance, making me feel mildly uncomfortable as her eyes lingered on the white shirt I was wearing that had long ago turned a colour that nowhere near reassembled white.

"I mean, you were singing a love song to a fifteen year old girl. That kinda reeks of desperation."

I hung my head in shame, feeling a weird mixture of embarrassment and optimism. Alice was the first person I had met since Rapunzel that actually made me smile. She reminded me of a girl I once knew at the orphanage called Sally, who was equally as blunt and cherry and confident. I always thought of Sally as a little sister.

"Sorry about that, I'm just... kind of..."

"Homeless. I noticed." She smiled again and reached out her tiny hand to mine.

"Not anymore. Mama and Papa always taught me to be nice to people, so you're coming to stay with us, that is, unless you have somewhere else to go?" She let out a giggle at the fact that she obviously knew I had nowhere else. Without waiting for my reply she dragged me down the street towards a small, run down cottage as the night slowly fell.

It wasn't the castle, and it wasn't Rapunzel's hand in mine, but maybe this was where I belonged. I didn't deserve palaces or crowns, and I definitely didn't deserve Rapunzel. But here, in a poverty stricken village, with a crazy little redhead that I could learn to call "sister", I could make a home for myself.

Looking back again in the direction of Corona, I hoped that Rapunzel was making some progress toward moving on, because after so long, I felt like maybe I finally had.

(A/N: Sorry about how nothing really happened in this chapter. I need to introduce two OC's into my story that will play supporting roles to both Eugene's and Rapunzel's stories of coming to terms with themselves and how they feel about each other. Alice and Eugene are NOT going to be a couple! She's going to just be there helping him realise sense, with her naive and childlike mind that can't comprehend his motives... eg "what did you leave her?... but why?... but why?... why?... why?... why?..." Next chapter will be about Rapunzel and how she is "Moving On". I'm looking forward to writing it, because, a: it has another OC, and b: I'm looking forward to the reactions Mason will receive :D Thank you everyone for the reviews! You guys are the reason I'm still writing this.. if no one reviewed, there would be no motivation now would there! So thanks again!)