Rapunzel Chapter 4
Prince Hiccup walked around Rapunzel's house, taking everything in. The house was a small, simplistic wooden house, with a thatched roof and a few gaps between the rafters, through which the odd raindrop fell with a splip. The tables were made of simple, unembellished wood, a large wooden trunk hung in one corner, and inside a glass tank, a green lizard sat, with strange turreted eyes and a crest behind his head- a chameleon, probably bought from a Roman merchant stationed in Africa.
He recognized the two other teens from his brief skirmish in the market tent. The boy was at least 5'9, four inches shorter than Hiccup himself, but seemed much better-built, with toned muscles and a very self-assured stance, that somehow drew greater attention to his pure white hair, crystal blue eyes and pale skin. His sister, in contrast, was very petite and tanned, her button nose sprinkled in freckles, and she wore a simplistic dress of lilac, pink lacing in between, and her hair was more than blond, almost gold, and so long Hiccup was taking care not to trip on it.
Rapunzel, in turn, looked interestedly at the Prince. Although taller than her by a foot, he looked surprisingly small in terms of build, as though he couldn't lift any weapon larger than an axe. His thin nature was accentuated by the sleeveless vest of brown fur he wore under his cape, through which his lanky arms protruded. But at his hip, he wore a straight sword, its hilt black and red with a crossguard in the shape of a dragon's snarling mouth, its blade two short retracted prongs. Beneath his helmet gazed two clear eyes as green as her own.
Rapunzel hung up his coat on a nearby hook as she let Hiccup warm himself by the hearth.
"So, why were you out riding at night in weather like this?" she asked.
"The weather wasn't like this when me and Toothless first left," Hiccup replied. "It was as though the weather followed us here."
"To our house?" Rapunzel asked.
"Aye, to your house."
"Was anyone with you?" Jack asked, looking out into the night as though expecting to see more dragon riders emerge from the storm.
"Right now? No," Hiccup replied, after an uneasy glance out the window.
"Is this a first time for you?" Rapunzel gently teased.
Hiccup chuckled, then reached over to stroke his dragon's head.
"Oh, he's beautiful," Rapunzel murmured, moving towards the Night Fury. "May I?"
Hiccup nodded, then let Rapunzel run her hands down Toothless' smooth back. Grunting in sheer joy, Toothless then turned his crocodilian muzzle towards Rapunzel's face and started licking it repeatedly, showering her with dribble. Rapunzel spluttered and giggled helplessly.
"Oh, stop that, Toothless! Come on," Hiccup protested. "You know I can't wash that out of my clothes!"
Toothless made a deep barking noise which was clearly dragon laughter. Jack grinned smugly, then walked over to join his sister and her new friends by the hearth.
"So, Rapunzel," Hiccup asked. "Do you own this farm?"
Rapunzel laughed a bit shyly, as she wiped her face clean. "Uh, technically not. Our father used to own the farm, but now it belongs to our uncle." She broke off, painfully remembering Uncle Mildew's harsh words earlier. "We just tend to the animals and grow our crops."
"Are these books yours, then?" Hiccup asked as he got up and picked one of her mother's favourites from the basket.
"Yes, they are," Rapunzel agreed.
Hiccup looked through the books. "Hmmm, they're not the kind of things I thought farmers let their children read."
"Well, you can't always go on appearances, can you?" Jack gently chided him. "I mean, you wouldn't think I ever spent a day outdoors, would you? Or that my dear sister could even walk with all that hair." Rapunzel laughed and slapped his arm softly.
Hiccup allowed himself a wry grin. So these two people had something in common with him. "What do you both like to read about?"
"Honestly? We really love adventure," Jack replied.
"Adventure in books? Or adventure in real life?"
"At the moment, books. For as long as we live on this farm under our sour old uncle Mildew, I doubt we'll have a chance to change that," Rapunzel began to loosen up a bit.
"Mildew?" Hiccup was used to strange names, but this name sounded positively loathsome. "What's he like?"
"Wet, grumpy, snarky, ugly, belittling, harsh, and unappreciative," Jack rattled off, as he casually reached out and created a small wind gust to blow out a candle a short distance from him. "He hates anything that's strange to him, including his own family."
Hiccup frowned. "How…how did?"
Rapunzel blushed upon realizing her brother had revealed his magic, then turned to face the Prince. "When we were born, we had the gift of magic. My hair- when I sing, it glows, and it can heal wounds or sicknesses with a touch. Jack, on the other hand- he can fly upon the wind, or call upon the elements of frost and snow. One time we were out in the fields, and a wolf came at us through the wheat. Jack tried to use his powers to scare it, drive it off, but he ended up freezing the whole field solid. Our uncle saw what happened, and he's never forgiven Jack for it."
"He thinks my power damages all it touches," Jack said bitterly. "He only respects Rapunzel because her hair can heal things. But if we do anything to displease him- he rejects us. He considers us a burden upon him."
Hiccup felt a stab of sympathy for the twins. His father could be overprotective and at times neglectful, but this Mildew sounded like a despicable human being. He then noticed a small bruise on Rapunzel's cheek, and felt his sorrow turn to rage.
"That bruise, did he do that to you too?" he said, keeping his voice level.
Rapunzel shook her head. "No, I got that in the market today. There was this drunken Viking girl. I got in her way…so she hit me."
"Why did you get in her way?" This was sounding familiar to Hiccup.
"Because she was trying to make a pass at the Crown Prince of Berk. And I didn't want her to hurt him."
Hiccup scoffed incredulously. "You did it to protect the Crown Prince? Are you sure that isn't something you just read about in your books?"
"Yes, we are," Jack replied. "I was there. I stood behind my sister to get that Viking girl to back off." It was somewhat disappointing to Jack. They'd tried to help the Prince, and he couldn't even remember them.
"Well, how did you recognise the Prince?" Hiccup continued.
"We didn't," Rapunzel replied. "All we saw was that he was in trouble. We only recognized him when the crowd bowed down to us."
"Except it wasn't us they were bowing to," Jack interrupted. "They were bowing to the Dragon Guard. They'd arrived outside the tent. The Princess Merida herself was leading them…" he trailed off for a few moments, allowing himself to remember Merida's beautiful, fierce face.
"Well, in comparison with what happened later on today, it didn't seem important. He might not even remember me…remember us," Rapunzel quickly corrected herself. "I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't."
Jack then leaned forwards to ask his own question. "So, I've noticed you and your dragon appear to be running away from something. Could you tell us what?"
Hiccup laughed, then got to his feet again. "Why do you think Toothless and I are running away from anything? We could be running after something, our own adventure." He looked outside, more wistfully this time.
"Well, what you've ran after at this point, is the light coming from outside, which led you to our house," Rapunzel said, before then adding softly, "My Prince."
At this point, Hiccup was quiet for a few seconds. It was the same Saxon girl who'd stepped between him and Ruffnut! And she remembered who he was! Touched, he no longer saw the use for hiding his face any longer. Hiccup reached up and removed his helmet, revealing his freckled cheeks and tousled auburn hair. He then turned to face Jack and Rapunzel, only to find them both bowed before him.
"Please, don't bow," he said. "Save that for my father. I do hope you don't think I'm stupid for forgetting you."
"No, it's just, I hoped we might remember each other…" Rapunzel said as she got to her feet again.
Hiccup smiled. "Jack, Rapunzel, I want to thank you both, for helping me."
Rapunzel reflected his smile. "We'll gladly do so again."
She then walked over to pick up one of her books and offer it to him. "And until you manage to go on your own adventure, I'd like to give you this."
Hiccup took the book from her, then looked at the cover. "The tale of the Fomorians of Magh Tuiredh. A Celtic tale."
"Yes, our father was a Saxon, our mother was Celtic," Rapunzel agreed. "Our father used to read that story to us."
Hiccup smiled wistfully. "My mother, Queen Valka, she read that story to me too."
Rapunzel chuckled. "I wish you good luck finding whatever you seek, My Prince."
Hiccup shook his head. "Please, Rapunzel. Call me Hiccup."
"Hiccup," Rapunzel repeated. A simple word, yet one which her Saxon tongue pronounced beautifully. Hiccup looked across at her, and four emerald gazed deep inside one another. Jack, from over their shoulder, grinned, happy for his sister. For a moment, everything was perfect.
And then that moment ended.
Earlier, when Mildew had thrown the daffodil seeds onto the floor before leaving the house, one of the seeds Rapunzel and Jack couldn't pick up in time fell under the floorboards and into the soil below the house. There it had lain, completely relaxed and untouched by water, but the falling rain now leaked through the thatched rooftop, between the floorboards, and into the soil. And through the soil it ran, until it finally touched the seed. And the seed began to take up root.
The first that the two young half-Saxons and the Viking prince felt was the floorboards beginning to creak and shake below their feet. Chirping anxiously, Pascal the chameleon climbed out of his tank and ran towards Rapunzel.
"Why is the ground shaking?" Jack asked nervously, clutching his shepherd's crook to his chest. "What is it?"
"A Whispering Death?" Hiccup suggested. "A Catastrophic Quaken?" These subterranean dragons were a common cause of ground vibrations in Berk.
But what emerged from the earth then was far more terrifying than any dragon.
With a loud, the floorboards split open, and a positively massive golden flower head tore its way upwards and shot through the ceiling between the three teenagers, twisting violently on a rapidly-growing green stalk, tangled and curved like the roots of a huge tree, and with a sticky white substance oozing from the green flesh. Rapunzel and Jack were thrown backwards by the sheer force of the flower emerging, and Hiccup was knocked over and fell under a table.
"Hiccup!" Rapunzel cried, and she and Jack ran straight towards the young prince, but before they could reach the table, another flower head erupted from beneath them, throwing them off their feet and onto the twisting stalk as the flower grew upwards through the ceiling.
"Jack! Rapunzel!" Hiccup screamed, running desperately forwards, only for yet another flower to grow outside the house and slam into the doors, pushing them shut. Toothless gave an agitated roar and charged at the doors to try and force them open.
Outside the house, Jack and Rapunzel got to their feet, just in time to see the full extent of the chaotic giant flower growth outside their house. As more flower heads tore out of the earth, their twisting roots began to slowly lift the house clean off the ground, raising it into the air. Rapunzel compared the situation to a ship caught in the arms of the terrifying Kraken, except while the Kraken pulled its victims down into the sea, these massive flowers were lifting their victim high into the sky. And higher still, Rapunzel noted in horror.
"Jack, quick!" Rapunzel screamed. "Use the wind! Get us back up there!" Pascal the chameleon shivered from where he sat in her hair.
Jack grabbed his sister by the shoulders. "Wind, I beg your aid," he murmured, then jumped into the air.
Immediately, even amid the chaos of the storm around them, the wind created a cushion beneath Jack's feet, and blew him upwards, above the rising roots of the flower, and up onto the doorstep of the house.
Inside the house, Toothless was becoming increasingly edgy as more flowers began to twist inside the walls of the house, coming too close to him and Hiccup. Growling, the dragon opened his mouth, the inside of his throat glowing purple, before a pure indigo fire ball(the unique breath weapon of all Night Furies) shot out of his gullet and hit a flower stem, the part leaking sticky white latex.
As if in response, the stem exploded into a spraying mess of burning green plant lumps, spreading over the floorboards towards the prince and the dragon.
"No! That substance is flammable, Toothless. Stop shooting at it," Hiccup said, getting out from under the table to run over to his dragon.
A wooden shepherd's crook then protruded through the window, and cold wind rushed through the house and blew the fire out. Jack then used his staff to pry the flower away from the door so Rapunzel could get it open.
"Rapunzel!" Hiccup ran over to the door to help his friends get inside. As he pulled on Rapunzel's shoulder, he looked over it, and saw the distance separating them from the ground.
"Oh! Oh dear, this is bad! This is so bad! This is really, really bad!" Hiccup groaned, looking as though he was about to lose his balance.
"What's wrong?" Rapunzel asked.
Hiccup replied, "Would now be a terrible time to admit that when I'm not on a dragon, I seriously don't like heights?"
His tone was light, yet Rapunzel could sense the undercurrent of fear lying below it. While she strained upward, lifting herself while keeping her tight grip on Hiccup's arm, Jack started stabbing at more of the flower stalks with his staff. Toothless sprinted over to join him, tearing one flower's head clean off and snarling emphatically. For a few moments, Rapunzel felt safe.
But then, with a loud crack, an unexpected flower erupted through the floorboards below Rapunzel's feet. She tried to sidestep the rising plant, but, caught off-balance, fell backwards with a scream, pulling Hiccup's gauntlet away from his hand.
"No!" Jack dived down the trunk of the flower towards the ground, putting all his speed into catching up with his sister before she hit the ground. As soon as they were level, Jack gently pulled his sister into his grip, mentally struggling to slow the winds below them.
So it was with a soft thud that Jack fell to the foot of the gigantic flower, cushioning Rapunzel and Pascal with his own body. Winded but not wounded, Jack lay there for a few moments, as the rain fell around his head and the flower continued to extend into the sky. And the last words he heard before he fell into a sleep of chaotic exhaustion were Hiccup's scream of "RAPUUUUUUUUNZEEEEEEEELLLLLLL!" and an anguished Night Fury's roar.
Rapunzel's dreams were feverish and over-active. They involved standing on hard ground, feeling the earth vibrate below her feet. A gigantic figure, its form obscured by night apart from its glowing eyes, walked ominously towards her, lowering its head to her level, then spoke in a deep Viking accent, "You, girl. Wake up."
Rapunzel opened her eyes, just in time to see a monstrous face looking down on her; a bull-sized dragon, with a bright red head and three long curved horns, baring its teeth at her. Its body was bright green, with a wide neck coated in several flattened scaly pads, and its chin ended in a curving spike to match the horn on its nose, giving its head an axe shape.
For a mad moment, she thought it was the dragon who spoke to her, but then the dragon turned its head, revealing the bearded man sitting upon its back; the visage of King Stoick the Vast.
Suddenly aware of where she lay, Rapunzel quickly struggled to her feet, getting off Jack's body(she took care not to step on him) and brushed herself down while bowing deferentially to the King. Jack woke and got up a few minutes later, then looked around aimlessly before Rapunzel tugged him insistently onto one knee. On either side of King Stoick stood a further progression of men sitting on dragon-back. There was King Fergus and Queen Elinor of Dunbroch, Lord Dingwall(a short, flabby man whose face was permanently sanguine while his grey hair stood up in a puff from his head), Lord Macguffin(a big blonde man with eye-covering eyebrows and a braided moustache) and Lord Macintosh(a skinny black-haired man wearing red tartan and blue woad). Behind them rode the entire Dragon Guard, with Princess Merida at their head.
"That gauntlet, it belongs to my son," King Stoick continued. "How did you get it?"
Rapunzel's eyes widened upon realizing she was still holding Hiccup's gauntlet from the night before. "I didn't steal it, Your Highness," she quickly stuttered. "He arrived at our house in the night riding his dragon. He needed shelter for the night, so we let him in. And then…" she turned behind her, only to see a gigantic twisting column of green extending out of the ground, leaves and roots protruding at awkward angles. Their house was nowhere in sight. "That….grew out of the ground."
Just then Princess Merida's eyes widened in recognition. "Ah recognize ye," she said. "Ye're that Saxon lass wha stood up for the Prince in the market yesterday. It's Rapunzel, aye?"
"And Jack," the white-haired boy added, as soon as he recovered himself from seeing the leader of the Dragon Guard in front of him.
"Father…" Merida said to King Fergus. "King Stoick… Ah saw these twa the mornin' Prince Hiccup escaped intae the citadel. Ruffnut had got drunk on duty and was comin' ontae him, sae they stood up tae her. Ah arrived shortly after."
"Oh, is that sae?" King Fergus asked. "In that case…" he got down off his dragon, a massive blue Thunderdrum with a gaping mouth to rival any anglerfish. "Ye can stop bowin' now, bairns. Up ye get."
Rapunzel got to her knees, Jack following her shortly.
"One question, Rapunzel," King Stoick said. "You told me my son and his dragon took refuge in your house for the night. Where is your house now?"
Rapunzel swallowed uncomfortably. "At the moment?" she turned and pointed towards the gigantic flower-stem, which led up into the clouds. "It's at the top of that flower."
The huge crowd of soldiers, noblemen and royalty followed Rapunzel's fingers as far up the twisting green column as their heads could move, their mouths widening in unison with their eyes. The only people Rapunzel could make out not looking at the flower were a woman with grey eyes and curly black hair and a skinny red-bearded man with untidy hair and bright green eyes. They seemed to be whispering to one another and pointing at her. Rapunzel frowned.
"By the Dagda's club," King Fergus removed the tiny helmet on top of his head, sinking with great difficulty onto his remaining knee in a reverent way. "Could it be…?"
King Stoick took a different attitude towards the gigantic plant. "Merida? I need you to get your fittest soldiers together, along with their best dragons. You are to climb up there, find my son and his dragon, and get them both back down."
"Aye, King," Merida replied, bowing her head. Rapunzel noticed a worried look in her eyes, as though she, too, cared for Hiccup as deeply as his father. Was that why she had looked so angry to see the Prince with Rapunzel yesterday? Rapunzel felt a brief stab of jealousy, though she didn't know where it came from.
"Your Highness," the black-haired woman, garbed in elegant burgundy robes, spoke: her accent was very similar to Rapunzel's own, so she was probably a Saxon, a full-blooded one, too. "With your permission, I wish to join the princess' Merida's search party."
Merida's glance sharpened as she turned to the Saxon woman. "Ah mean nae offence, Lady Gothel, but we will be headin' up a monstrous flower intae what may well be dangerous territory. Ah think this job may be better suited tae mah Dragon Guards tae handle."
"But I can help you, dearest Princess," Gothel insisted. "My skills at negotiation and diplomacy may well come in handy, and I'm not as delicate as you may think. Besides, this is an ideal opportunity to prove my devotion to my future husband. And, indeed, to my king," she added, with a graceful bow to King Stoick.
Stoick nodded distractedly. "By all means go with my soldiers, Gothel. But make sure to bring my son back."
Merida tried to mask her angry expression behind a courteous smile, but just as Rapunzel was about to address the king, Uncle Mildew appeared at the far end of the field, saw his niece and the unnatural monolith of a plant growing out of the ground where his house once was, and lost it all.
"RAPUNZEL! JACK!" he shrieked, in complete incoherent horror and fury. He attempted to run across to his young wards, only to find two young Vikings grabbing him by the arms and then forcing him down onto his knees.
"Don't come any closer, you stinkin' slime-bucket," one of the aforementioned Vikings growled. Rapunzel realized with a side-take that it was the same Viking girl she ran into in the market yesterday: Ruffnut, she'd heard Merida call her. So given Ruffnut's behaviour the last time they met- drunk to the point of lecherousness- it was surprising to see her now behaving more like a typical Dragon Guard. "King Stoick doesn't need rat-eaters like you in his presence."
King Stoick turned to face Rapunzel. "Do you or your brother know this man, Rapunzel?"
"Sadly, yes we do," Jack muttered darkly, before Rapunzel sharply elbowed him in the ribs.
"He's our uncle, Your Majesty," she said. "He's the one who owns this farm. He's the only other family we've got."
"Oh, what have ye done, lass?!" Uncle Mildew shrieked from where he was held down. But his ire was quickly drawn to a different, more trivial source. "Why are all these stinkin' dragons on me farm? Get 'em off! They're not fit to live in civilized society!"
The other young Viking restraining the cantankerous old Saxon, a brawny lad with large nostrils and black hair, removed one of his hands and sniffed it. "Judging by your stench, neither are you, you ugly old butt-elf," he remarked sardonically.
"What the- WHO DO YOU THINK YE ARE, TALKIN' T'ME LIKE THAT, YE DISRESPECTFUL LITTLE WHELP?!" Mildew screeched helplessly.
The big Viking lad tightened his grip on Mildew's arm. "I'll tell you who I am, you foul-smelling old shrimp. I'm Snotlout Jorgenson, third-in-command to Princess Merida of the Dragon Guard, rider of the strongest Monstrous Nightmare in all of Berk, and cousin to the Crown Prince Hiccup! So I'm asking you now, who are you, trying to insult me, which only my cousin can do?"
Mildew, his skinny arm feeling clamped dangerously tight, was too intimidated to respond.
"No answer, hmmm? I didn't expect one from you." Snotlout looked over at Rapunzel in a surprisingly sympathetic way, as if he felt sorry for her and Jack having to live with a unpleasant coward of an uncle like Mildew.
Stoick seemed to share that expression, if anything.
This sympathetic gaze was what emboldened Rapunzel to speak up. "King Stoick… Me and my brother would like to join your soldiers on this expedition to bring back your son."
Merida let out a startlingly exasperated growl. "Oh, greet! We have tae accept the wee lamb an' her brother noo? Why no' jus' send a bunch of auld maids up the flamin' floower as well?"
"Please, King Stoick," Rapunzel pleaded, still unsure of what Merida's problem was with her. "My brother and I, we may just be a farmer's children, but we know how to climb and we've endured the worst of the weather here. Let us help you."
At this point, Lady Gothel spoke aloud. "They make a good point, King Stoick. I move that these two come with us. They must have seen this monster of a flower take root in the night. Perhaps they can help us find out why… or, indeed, where this flower leads to."
She fixed her eyes on Rapunzel for a few seconds, and Rapunzel wondered if Gothel had her own personal reasons for wanting them to come with the Dragon Guard.
"We cannae jus' accept the help of any random person we meet!" Merida protested heatedly. "Yer Majesty, please listen tae reason…"
"No, Merida," King Stoick replied, getting down off his dragon and straightening to his full formidable height. "You listen to reason. Gothel has a point, perhaps these two youngsters' knowledge can help us. Besides, from what you yourself have just told me, they helped protect my son's honour in the market yesterday. You shouldn't let your pride blind you to your allies."
He fixed the Scottish princess with a reproving glare reflected by Merida's own parents. With a reluctant sigh, Merida jumped down off her dragon and walked over to Rapunzel.
"Ye get yer wish, Rapunzel," she said briskly and strictly. "Ye an' yer brother can come with us, but that means the twa of ye have tae obey me. If ah tell ye tae run, ye run. If ah tell ye tae fight, ye fight. And if ah tell ye tae kill someone…ye will kill them. Nae questions asked. Are we guid?"
Rapunzel nodded, trying to avoid Merida's piercing eyes.
"Guid," Merida replied, her expression lightening somewhat. She then turned to the two Viking youths on either side of Mildew. "Snotlout, Ruffnut. Ye will be our new allies' escort up the greet floower. Ye keep them safe at any cost. An' Ruffnut, consider this compensation fer yesterday's mishap."
Ruffnut nodded, her own expression as visibly cowed as Rapunzel's. The two young Vikings then walked over to the petite farm-girl.
King Stoick then raised his trusted axe above his head to call everyone's eyes to him. "Everyone, hear me! From this moment on, your mission is to climb up this giant flower, find my son and his dragon, and bring them both back down safely. You will secure yourselves to each other with ropes, and you will be followed by a team of dragons, so that, should any of you fall, they will catch you. Now go forth, climb up this giant flower, and by the strength of the gods may you return bringing my son back to me."
He bowed his head, the Dragon Guard bowed their heads, and then Princess Merida lifted her bow onto her shoulder.
"Ye heard yer king," she growled, tossing her crimson hair out of her face. "Dragon Guard! Prepare tae move oot!"
"GRUH! GRUH!" the soldiers shouted in response, hammering their breastplates twice in honour of both their commander and their king. Rapunzel and Jack reflected this salute in their minds, then set about busying themselves with the climbing ropes.
To the side, Lady Gothel and Dagur the Deranged spoke quietly to one another.
"You remember that thieving druid, Lady Gothel?" Dagur whispered shiftily. "After she made off with the seeds yesterday, she didn't have them by the time I caught her. And now, one of these flowers has grown under the house of these farm-children. I reckon they got it from the old hag."
"Indeed, Dagur," Gothel replied. "And where there is one flower, they must have the rest of them."
"Well, what are we waiting for?" Dagur hissed. "Let's kill the pests and steal the rest of the seeds now!"
Gothel placed a restraining hand on Dagur. "Patience, Dagur. We will get the seeds and take the throne, but not yet. We go up there with the rest of the soldiers, but we play it slow. All good things come to those who wait."
There you go! Here is yet another new chapter to Rapunzel! Sorry about the delay. Next chapter, the journey to the land of the Fomorians begins!
Stay tuned!
Sammael29