The poll is now closed and the results were that Varian finds Ruddiger! Yay! I'm aiming to make this chapter longer than the others now that I have some idea about what I'm writing. Enjoy

Varian was bored out of his mind. It's been a day since he ran from his former friends, and everything has gone wrong. First, he couldn't find any good food and was stuck eating only berries. It didn't seem so bad at the time, but eating nothing but berries for more than 24 hours got boring really quickly. Second, he had no one to accompany him. Whenever he was alone, Ruddiger was always the one to lift his spirits and give him something to do, but seeing how the raccoon abandoned him, he was on his own.

He also realized that he had left all of his stuff back at the palace. He could either get new things, or go back to get them. Varian wasn't quite ready to go back to Corona, but he wanted his stuff back, and not some new stuff. Eventually, he decided that he' story to sneak back into Old Corona, go to his house, and hide there for a while. The only problem was that everyone was probably looking for him, so there'd be extra guards everywhere.

"I'm going to regret this," the boy said to himself. He turned around, and started the long journey back to Old Corona.

ooooooooooo

After Varian had run, (again) Cassandra said it would be best to go back to the palace. She and Rapunzel both agreed that Varian would go back to get his stuff because of how attached he was to it all, especially his goggles. Eugene, on the other hand, argued that Varian wouldn't do that because he was smart enough to know that people were looking for him.

After a short argument, the three decided to go to Corona, just in case. There was a 50/50 chance that the alchemist would head back to the palace dungeon to retrieve his stuff or continue his journey to wherever.

When they arrived, Rapunzel convinced her father to call off the royal guard for now, so that if Varian came back, he wouldn't feel threatened. She also asked that the villagers of Old Corona report if they saw Varian at all, but make no move to stop him.

"Alright, guys," said the princess, "if we're going to catch Varian, we need to think like him. Now, how does a 14 year old alchemist turned villain think?" No one answered, not even Pascal. "This might take a while," she said to herself.

ooooooooooo

Varian could see his house. He was so close, yet so far. He had walked as fast as he could without being suspicious so that no one would come after him, but during the whole 3 hours he was walking, he came across only a squirrel and a mouse. He thought it to be weird at first, but brushed it off until he could get his stuff back.

Looking around one last time to make sure the coast was clear, Varian covered his head with the cloak he was wearing, and started to casually walk to his old home. Hopefully no one would see him.

As he weaved through the crowds, he received a few strange looks, but who could blame them? He was wearing a heavy cloak in the middle of summer, so he supposed it was normal for people to give him weird looks. Little by little, the alchemist got closer to his house, but right before he could open the door, he felt something brush against his legs.

At first, Varian panicked. But when he realized that no human could be that fluffy, he looked down. "Ruddiger! You came back!"

ooooooooooo

"Hey, Raps," said Cass as they entered Corona. "Is it just me, or does that look like Varian?" Rapunzel looked to where Cassandra was pointing. She saw someone in a cloak making their way towards Varian's house. She saw the person bend down to pick up a raccoon and - wait, a raccoon? That meant it had to be Varian. He's the only person she knows that has a raccoon.

"I think it is. I mean, do you know anyone else that would have a raccoon trust them enough to let themselves be picked up by a human? Only Ruddiger would, as far as I know." She looked back at the house and saw the boy and raccoon disappear into it. "And I say we go investigate."

ooooooooooo

"Oh, Ruddiger, where have you been? And why did you leave me?" The alchemist was so glad to see his best friend again after so many months of loneliness. And it seemed that the raccoon felt the same way seeing how he wouldn't leave Varian's side.

Ruddiger just looked at the boy curiously. Varian took this as a clue to pick the animal up, and headed inside. "What are we going to do now, bud?" Ruddiger just continued to stare at Varian, as if he couldn't believe he had gotten out of prison.

"Varian? Are you in there?" Someone was outside! Oh no, what was I thinking coming back here? What am I going to do? What am I going to do?

"Varian, we know you're in there, so open up," he heard Cassandra call. "I'll give you until the count of three, then I'm coming in. 1...2...3! Alright, Varian, I'm coming in."

This chapter was longer than the others. Not as long as I'd like it to be, but it's a start. I've decided that one day I'm going to write a chapter for this story, and the next day write a chapter for my other story, Red & Angry's Sleepover, alternating what one I update each day.