Chapter 6: The Chaser and the Hunter
"Answer my question!" the person demanded as she raised her weapon threateningly.
Sora widened his eyes as he gaped at her. Her green eyes narrowed dangerously and she looked as though she was ready to pounce if the situation had arisen. She had a tan skin with a tint of blush to it. She wore a dress that had a purple theme followed by pink accent as the bottom skirt was in purple with a lavender corset. The dress itself was decorated with swirling and floral designs in pink, dark purple and white.
"Hey look!" Sora cried out. "I'm not such a bad guy! Hear my story first."
The girl stared at the strange boy with a sense of odd fascination. She was intrigued by this person since she had never saw another being and was curious about him. After studying his blue eyes, the girl let out a breath and softened her expression.
"Something had brought you here. Call it what you will. Faith…destiny…" as she spoke, Sora felt the chair being pulled towards her until he was threateningly close to her. He widened his eyes when he saw the girl's big green eyes staring boldly at his own. Sora gave a sheepish smile as he let out a nervous laugh.
"Uhm…hi…?"
"Did you came here because of my hair?" she asked sternly.
"Your what?"
"Hair? You know the thing that grows on your head?"
Sora scowled slightly, giving her a small glare. "I know what hair is," he muttered. It was then where he finally looked down only to realize that he was tiedby something golden. He followed the rope and gaped from disbelief as he found out that it was her hair.
Sora gave out a cry after finding out what has been tying him to the chair. "That's your hair?" he exclaimed. "It's so long!"
"It's about seventy feet!" she said proudly.
"Haven't you ever cut it?" Sora asked then he realized that it was probably a stupid question. Like, if this girl had ever cut her hair, then it wouldn't be this long.
"Nope. My mother told me not to ever cut it because if I do, I would lose the special abilities it has—"the girl gasped, quickly covering her mouth with her free hand. "I shouldn't have said that…" she breathed.
Sora merely looked confused. "Wait…what abilities?"
"Nothing. Just forget about it but now," she then stared right in the eye of him which made him cower back slightly. "We need to discuss about you. Who are you? Why have you come here? How did you come here?"
Sora sighed as he tilted his head back. He had a feeling that this was going to be a long day and he hoped that his friends would just hurry up and find him. The girl wasn't bad; it was that…she asked a lot of questions.
"My name's Sora. I came here with a group of friends but our ship got wrecked so now…we got scattered and I'm trying to find my friends."
The girl blinked her eyes from surprise. "Ship? You came here with a ship?" she asked.
"Er…yeah…"
"Hmm…" the girl made a thoughtful look as she studied him—the awkward human.
"That's all. I swear!" Sora said as he tried to break free from the hair's grip. "I don't want your hair or anything. I just want to find my friends. I don't see what the big deal about your hair is anyway," Sora then stared at it again. "Other than the fact that it's long…"
The girl sighed. She supposed that this boy seemed genuine. "My mother told me that my hair holds abilities such as to heal. That's all I've ever known and the fact that she told me to never cut it and take good care of it," she replied.
"Oh…so I see…" Sora paused. "So uhm…can you let me go?"
The girl narrowed her eyes, staring at the boy before she straightened herself, bringing the chair back to the floor. She then eyed her small green creature that came out of hiding from her hair and went on her shoulder. The girl gave a huff and Sora felt the hair being loosened.
"Fine."
She then unwrapped the hair which made Sora rub his wrist. There was an awkward silence before Sora spoke.
"So uhm…you live here?"
The girl nodded until she gave a shout of exclaim. "Oh! I've never introduced myself and you seem a good guy. So…my name is Rapunzel," she replied with a smile.
Sora returned the smile. "Hey Rapunzel."
"And sorry for what happened…I guess I got a bit rough since I've never met another being before and it just felt so odd and—" she rambled.
"Wait. You never saw another human? Other than your mother?"
Rapunzel made a thinking look before she answered. "Nope. This tower is the only thing that I had ever saw and lived."
Sora widened his eyes from shock. "You've never actually went out of this tower? Like ever? Why?"
"Well…" Rapunzel got sheepish as she played with her hair with her hands. "My mother said that the outside is dangerous and so are the people, being selfish and cruel and how they wanted to steal and abuse my power."
Sora frowned. "That's not entirely true…well…I guess there is the Heartless but—you met me. I'm not such a bad person, am I?"
"No, I guess you're not," Rapunzel trailed off. "Wait, what's a Heartless?"
Sora winced as he rubbed his neck. "Uhm…never mind."
Rapunzel gave him an odd stare before she tore her gaze away from the boy and stared at the entrance. Seeing the troubled look, Sora asked.
"What?"
"Shh…I thought I heard something. Stay here."
With that, the girl took off while Sora called out.
"Wait, Rapunzel!"
Sora sighed as it was futile since Rapunzel was long gone.
"Uhm, Goofy…I don't think going into the castle is even allowed. Not like this anyway. I think you have to get some sort of invite or something," Riku replied as they continued down the road that would eventually reach the castle. "Wouldn't it be the same for you guys with King Mickey? Getting an invite with their Majesties or something?"
"Erm gee now that you think about it, I guess yeah…that's true and stuff. I was just focused on the castle itself. It's beautiful, don't you think?" Goofy responded.
"It sure is," Kairi agreed. "You think the King and Queen might help us though? If we ever get an invite or something?"
Donald shrugged. "I don't know but it's a worth a try."
They finally reached the castle and by the time they did, the sun was already setting down, indicating that the day would be almost over soon. As they climbed the stairs, voices were heard.
"Halt in the name of the King! No one trespasses without permission from His Majesty!" a firm voice declared.
"Hey, wait! We meant no harm—"Riku started.
"Silence! You shall have an audience with the King himself. He'll decide what to do with you," the guard said as the rest of the remaining guards pointed their spears at them, surrounding them.
"Nice idea, Donald," Riku muttered.
Just then, another guard's voice shout out in a more distress signal.
"Stop him!"
Something got shoved at the guard (the one who yelled at Riku) and he stumbled forward.
"You!" the first guard spoke but the person kept running.
Riku raised his eyebrow before an idea came to him. As the person was running, the figure stole a glance at Riku who stared at him before the runner tore away his glance.
"Stop him!" the other guard came out.
"What is the meaning of this?"
"That thief stole the most treasured item. He stole the crown!"
The first guard widened his eyes and then turned his attention to the remaining soldiers.
"Forget about them for now. Leave these people with me! Go and get that thief! The crown must be regained back!"
"Yes sir!" they all shouted before chasing after that man.
"Wait," Riku said. "Let's make a deal. We'll help you catch that thief only if you let us go with free of charges," he bargained.
The guard gave the boy a hard glare as Donald muttered.
"Riku..."
"Fine!" the guard spoke which made Riku smile with triumph. "On the King's order, you must retrieve the crown or the deal's off."
Riku smirked. "Consider it done."
"Now off with you!"
The group turned around and began to chase after the thief while Donald called out.
"Your idea is more idiotic than mine."
"Just shut up and catch that thief," Riku shot back. "And maybe he has some information on Sora."
The man panted as he hid himself deep into the forest. Once he was sure that the coast was clear, he opened his brown bag, revealing the precious item. The crown.
"Haha...alone with you my precious..."
As the man was dazzling himself with the crown, without a warning, something hard tackled him from the side which made him lost his grip on the crown.
"Oof!" the man grunted as he roughly hit the ground. He tried to push the attacker but found himself unable to do so since his hands were currently being tied.
"The crown! Where is it?!" the demanding voice spoke.
"If you hadn't tackled me, I wouldn't have lost it! Now get off me!"
"Riku! Don't be so harsh with him!" came a female's voice.
Riku growled. "Where's Sora?"
"Okay, now you just got me confused."
"He was with you?" Riku tightened his grip on the man's arms.
"Oww...no. Look boy. I don't even know who that guy is."
"You mean you never saw a short boy with brown spiky hair?"
"No. Now how about you release me and we can be friends?"
Riku narrowed his eyes. "Fine."
He let go of the man's hands but what happened next was not what Riku expected. As soon as the man was released, all of a sudden, Riku suddenly felt a hard punch across his jaw, losing his balance.
The man shoved him off as the others cried out from the unexpected move and then he scrambled up, quickly found the crown and ran away with it.
"Riku!" Kairi shouted.
Riku growled, whipping his head in hopes to catch the glimpse of where that guy could've gone but he had already disappeared.
"I'm fine," Riku mumbled as he spat out a trickle of blood.
The thief grinned, congratulating him on his move. He put back the jeweled item back to his bag, closing it securely.
When he was sure that there was enough distance between him and the boy, he slowed down to a stop though he found himself a cave nearby.
He looked behind once more before he entered through a cave, removing a vines of plants until he came across a view where he spotted a tower.
Eyes narrowed, the thief began to go towards it until he stopped, staring at the large stoned tower. He then trailed his eyes at the stones before he rummaged through his bag, pulling out his pivot and began climbing the tower.
He let out a sigh once he was in and once more, the thief took out the object.
"Alone with you. I am never losing you again."
And then, just like that, the man heard footsteps before his head was suddenly met with a hard blow and then he collapsed to the floor, unconscious.
Author's Note: Rapunzel and her pan. Gotta love'em XD sooo Flynn enters in, steals the crown, meets with Riku and friends, only to get knocked out. Fantastic. What happens next? Find out! Toodles!
