Ruddiger was terrified. He'd been terrified for months, ever since the accident that had gotten his boy's dad trapped in amber. What had happened was terrible, and Ruddiger kept on getting nightmares about Varian being the one who got trapped instead. Ruddiger may not have known the boy for very long, but he'd do anything to protect him. It was because of this that he had stayed at the boy's side as he'd started to spiral out of control.

Ruddiger had hated seeing Varian in that state. He'd been so angry and vengeful, and nothing like the boy that Ruddiger had come to see as his own kit, but the raccoon still didn't leave him. Ruddiger knew that if he left then Varian would have nobody, and he would never willingly subject the boy to that.

Unfortunately, Ruddiger didn't always have the choice to do what he wanted.

He whimpered and tilted his ears back. He scratched at the door that led to the castle dungeons, where they had dragged his boy. Ruddiger could hear Varian screaming and crying out for Ruddiger. He almost sounded as desperate and terrified as he had been when he'd first found his dad trapped in the amber.

It hurt to hear Varian sound so scared and distressed. Ruddiger had already thought that the Coronan guards were cruel and incompetant puppets who all shared a single brain cell that was controlled by the king. They had fed into his boy's paranoia and anger for months, tormenting a lonely child. Ruddiger hadn't thought that it was possible for his opinion on the guards to get any lower, and yet all of them pretended to be deaf to Varian's heartbreaking cries.

Ruddiger imagined that the only reason they were unaffected was because none of them had any hearts to begin with.

As much as Ruddiger hated hearing Varian's probably tearful cries, he became even more horrified when the cries started to dim as the boy was led deeper into the dungeon and farther away from him. Ruddiger would take Varian at his most furious, murderous, and most desperate as long as he was at the boy's side.

Ruddiger had thought that this couldn't get any worse, but just before Varian was dragged out of hearing range he heard a deep, painful-sounding cough. Ruddiger had heard this exact sound far too many times these past few months.

Varian had never been very good at taking care of himself, but it got even worse after his dad's imprisonment. Running to the capital and back in the middle of a blizzard had left Varian weak, but he didn't give himself time to properly rest. The boy had jumped right into trying to free his father, and his health had suffered for it.

Varian had been sick on and off for months, and it had only been getting worse. Ruddiger did what he could to make the boy rest and eat properly, but it wasn't enough. Varian still overworked himself and only stopped for more than a few hours at a time when his body couldn't take any more.

Ruddiger had been afraid of what mental state his boy would end up in without him there to lend a listening ear and a comforting touch when he had nightmares. Now though Ruddiger was also terrified of how sick Varian would get without Ruddiger there to get him to take care of himself. Ruddiger could smell the dampness and filth in the dungeon from here. The dungeons wouldn't be doing Varian's health any favors. Ruddiger thought that the only thing that would be more detrimental to Varian's health than the dungeon itself was the guards.

Ruddiger scratched at the door again and screeched at it, begging to be let in. His screech got louder when he felt someone pick him up. He tried to squirm out of their grip, but their hold just tightened.

"Hey, hey, little guy, calm down." A gentle sounding voice said, but Ruddiger wasn't fooled by the mask. He recognized this voice as one of the guards, a man named Stan. He wasn't as cruel as some of the other guards were, but he'd still been a part of the torture that Varian had been through these past few months. Stan hadn't done anything to help Varian when the boy was obviously sick. Now Stan was keeping Ruddiger from standing at his boy's side when he so desperately needed help.

Stan may act nice, but he wasn't nice to Varian, which meant that in Ruddiger's eyes he wasn't a good person.

"Sorry, buddy," Stan said as he turned and started walking away from the dungeon. Ruddiger whined and reached desperately towards the door. He couldn't leave his boy. He couldn't abandon him. Why were these guards doing their best to make Varian's life a living Hell? Why did they hate his kit so much?

"I know you want to be with the kid, but it just can't happen." Stan said quietly. Ruddiger refused to believe that his tone was truly sympathetic. "Prisoners aren't allowed to have pets, especially one as smart and loyal as you. You might try to help him escape, and that's not a risk that we're willing to take.

Ruddiger seethed. He wasn't Varian's pet, he was his companion. And of course he would try to help Varian escape. Being in the dungeon was just going to make him sick and make his mind go to darker places than they already were. Varian needed to be taken care of, not locked away and forgotten about because that was most convenient.

Stan the guard brought Ruddiger outside. As soon as the man set him down Ruddiger tried to scurry back inside, but he was just grabbed again. "Come on, the kid will be just fine." Ruddiger growled and bit the guard's hand. Unfortunately, his gloves were thick and strong enough that his teeth couldn't penetrate them at all.

"The dungeon is no place for an animal like you." Stan said. Ruddiger just glared at him. The dungeon should be no place for a child, and yet here they were. "The kid used you as a science experiment. You'll be better off on your own."

Ruddiger hissed. How dare this guard say such a thing. He knew nothing about Varian. The only reason why the boy had gotten so dangerous was because of guards like Stan and lying royalty.

Ruddiger would fight Stan and the entire guard battalion to be with his boy, but he knew it would all be in vain. Ruddiger was just one raccoon, there wasn't a lot he could do. Even Varian, with all his alchemical and mechanical knowledge, hadn't stood a chance against the guards.

Ruddiger would love to still try, but he had seen for himself just how quick the guards and royals were to condemn Varian. For all Ruddiger knew, anything that he did would be taken out on the boy, and he wouldn't hurt that kid like that.

Ruddiger wasn't going to just abandon and forget about his boy, but he knew that he had to be smart about this. If he wanted to save his boy, he needed some help.

Ruddiger remembered the sad feral man that had told him about Varian in the first place. Hector had told him to keep an eye on Varian and his dad, and he had failed. Hector had said to come get him if the black rocks hurt Quirin, or if weird things happened with Varian and the rocks.

The amber wasn't technically a block rock, but it had come from them, so Ruddiger thought it was safe to say that Varian's dad had been hurt by them. As for the black rocks doing weird things, they never stopped being weird. Even though the rocks were spreading throughout Corona, Ruddiger didn't think they hit anywhere as hard as they did Old Corona. And they didn't just hit the town once and move on, they stayed there.

And when Varian had been fighting Rapunzel the rocks had sprung up like weeds. Ruddiger had heard the princess and her friends talk about the rocks like they had been responding to her, but that didn't feel quite right. Ruddiger felt like the rocks had been reacting to Varian's anger until the princess had touched them and taken control.

Ruddiger knew that he might just be thinking that the rocks had reacted to Varian because that definitely qualified as weirder than usual, so Hector might come and do something to help. Maybe he was just jumping to conclusions that weren't there. Varian definitely wouldn't approve of it, but Varian wasn't here, and if making assumptions was what Ruddiger needed to do to get his kit back then he would gladly do it.

When Stan the guard set Ruddiger down again he resisted the urge to run back inside. It felt wrong to be leaving his boy in the dungeon, but this was the only way that Ruddiger knew to get him out. He was doing this for Varian's own good. So Ruddiger ran away from the castle, away from his boy, to try to find his way back to the Great Tree.

Unfortunately, Ruddiger didn't know where the Great Tree was. He'd only been there once. All he knew was that it was far away. How was he supposed to get there? He was just one little raccoon.

Not knowing what he was doing, Ruddiger ran back towards Old Corona. He knew that Quirin used to write to Hector, so maybe there was some clue back at the mansion as to where exactly the Great Tree was.

Besides, with Varian thrown in the dungeon there was nobody back in Old Corona to make sure that nothing had happened to Quirin. The amber seemed pretty solid, but Ruddiger had seen the black rocks pierce through all kinds of things, and those rocks had been popping up all over the place during Varian's confrontation with the princess.

Ruddiger knew that Varian's dad was probably as safe as he could be while trapped in amber, but he still had to double-check. If the worst had happened and the rocs had somehow pierced through the amber and harmed Quirin, Ruddiger couldn't leave. Varian would be destroyed if Quirin got hurt while he was trapped, and Ruddiger couldn't let that happen.

Old Corona was in even worse a state than Ruddiger remembered it being. The town looked completely destroyed, and Varian's home looked like it was barely standing. Ruddiger trilled anxiously and ran towards the lab. He almost reached the doors when he heard a desperate squawk.

Ruddiger froze in his tracks. He had thought that Old Corona was completely abandoned, not just by humans, but by the animals as well. Who could still be here, why had they stuck around, and did they need help?

Ruddiger wanted to check on Varian's dad, but if there was an animal here that needed help he couldn't just leave them on their own.

Ruddiger chirped and ran towards the sound. He found a black bird that looked similar to the crows that bothered their crops, except it looked a little bigger. The bird was stuck in some of Vraian's pest-catching sticky solution. The boy must have forgotten about a sphere he'd left behind and the bird had gotten a little too curious and gotten itself stuck.

The more the bird struggled the more stuck it got. Its feathers were getting caught in the solution, and it was going to get them ripped out if it struggled much more. Ruddiger whined and ran up to the bird. He held up his front feet in what he hoped was a calming gesture.

'It's okay,' Ruddiger chirped. 'I can help you get out, but you need to hold still.' The bird didn't calm down at all, so Ruddiger knew he had to work quickly before it hurt itself. Fortunately, Varian had taken to keeping a vial of the neutralizer near his spheres, just in case Ruddiger got himself stuck in the serum.

Ruddiger grabbed the small vial that was tucked between some nearby tree roots. He tipped the neutralizer onto the sticky serum and freed the bird. It screeched appreciatively and tilted its head so it could lean on Ruddiger in an awkward version of a nuzzle.

'Thank you, weird cat wizard'. The bird squawked.

'Raccoon,' Ruddiger pushed the bird off of him, but it just went right back to leaning on him. 'And it's alchemy, not wizardry.'

'Where did you learn magic?' The bird asked

Ruddiger sighed. He didn't think he'd be able to convince the bird otherwise, so it seemed he'd have to leave it be. 'My boy taught me.'

'You have a boy?' The bird tilted his head at him. 'I have a boy! Actually, he's my king's boy, but that means he's mine. Hey!' The bird shrieked so loudly that Ruddiger jumped. 'Have you seen my prince?'

Ruddiger blinked. This bird was even more scatter-brained than Varian was. 'Corona doesn't have a prince.' Unless, of course, the bird was talking about the princess' boyfriend, but Ruddiger doubted that was the case. Nobody would ever look at Flynn Rider, or Eugene, as he liked to be called now, and mistake him for a prince.

'No, not Corona's prince.' The bird said. 'The prince of the Dark Kingdom'

'The Dark Kingdom?' Ruddiger frowned. 'I've never heard of it before.'

'It's a secret.' The bird said. It hopped onto one of the black rocks, looking completely comfortable with it. Ruddiger had never seen anybody, human or animal, not be completely terrified of these things.

'A secret kingdom with a lost prince?' Ruddiger was starting to wonder if it was a requirement that young royalty go missing.

The bird nodded and hung off the black rock. He stared at Ruddiger for a long moment. 'I'm Hamuel!'

Once again Ruddiger was caught off guard by the suddenness of what the bird, Hamuel, had said. When Ruddiger got over his surprise he straightened and climbed up the rock to join Hamuel. He didn't know what to think of this bird, but if Hamuel was going to be polite enough to introduce himself then he could return the favor.

'I'm Ruddiger.' The raccoon held a front paw out to Hamuel, who took it with his claw. 'Why are you looking for your lost prince all the way out here?' Ruddiger didn't know a lot about the kingdoms outside of Corona, but he liked to think that he would have at least heard of somewhere called the Dark Kingdom if it was anywhere near Corona. The Dark Kingdom must be pretty far away.

'He was near here when I lost him.' Hamuel said quietly. 'I couldn't find him though, so I thought I would see if the knight has seen him.'

'What knight?' Ruddiger had never seen any knights near Old Corona, unless Hamuel was talking about the guards.

'The knight in the castle.' Hamuel gestured to Varian's house. Ruddiger stared at Hamuel like he had lost his mind.

'There's no knight in there.' Ruddiger said. 'The only humans that live there are Quirin and Varian.' Sure, neither of them were exactly living in the large house at the moment, but that didn't mean that a knight had snuck in.

Hamuel perked up. 'Quirrin, yes! Knight Quirin.'

Ruddiger grimaced. Quirin wasn't a knight, he was just a farmer, Varian's dad. Except, no, he knew Hector, and probably also that warrior woman, Adira. Ruddiger could believe that those two were knights, could it be possible that Quirin was as well?

It sounded impossible, but it was getting easier and easier to believe, which just irritated Ruddiger. How many lies had Varian's father been keeping from him? Why was it that the whole world seemed to be conspiring against his boy?

'Quirin can't help you find your prince,' Ruddiger said. 'He's trapped, and so is my boy. I was supposed to go to Hector and get help from him.'

Hamuel flapped his wings excitedly. 'You know Hector too! The Dark Kingdom has another ally!'

Ruddiger didn't know if he would call himself an ally of the Dark Kingdom, but the humans that he knew best and cared most about all seemed connected to the kingdom in some way, so maybe he was.

Besides, if he called himself an ally of the Dark Kingdom maybe Hamuel would be more likely to help him get back to Hector so he could help his boy.

'I need to get to the Great Tree, but I don't know where it is.' Ruddiger said.

'Oh, I do.' Hamuel said, just as Ruddiger had hoped he would. 'As the raven flies, it takes about three weeks, maybe less.'

'What about how the raccoon walks?' Ruddiger asked.

Hamuel tilted his head at him. 'Shouldn't matter. We're flying.'

'I can't fly, birdbrai-agh!' Ruddiger shrieked when Hamuel grasped his fur with his talons and lifted him into the air. He started flying, and Ruddiger was terrified. He wasn't made for flying. If he was supposed to fly, he would have been born with wings. 'Put me down!'

'It'll be a lot easier to get you to the Great Tree like this.' Hamuel said. The bird flipped around so it was flying upside down. Hamuel adjusted its grip on Ruddiger so he was sitting upright. It was still frightening to be off the ground, but at least there was something solid under his feet.

'You can't possibly carry me all the way to the Great Tree.' Ruddiger whined as he clung tightly to Hamuel's claws. If this bird dropped him he would kill him.

'If I can carry a book all the way back to the Dark Kingdom, I can take you to the Great Tree,' Hamuel said. Ruddiger was sure that he was larger and heavier than most books, but Hamuel didn't seem to be struggling at all to stay in the air. Ruddiger doubted that the raven would be able to carry him the whole way, but any distance they could go was that much less that Ruddiger would have to travel blind.

'If it's going to take three weeks, then let's get going.' Ruddiger said. It was far longer than he felt comfortable being away from his boy, but it couldn't be helped. The sooner they got there the sooner he'd be able to get back to Varian's side and help him recover from the mess that the guards and royals had forced onto him.

A/N: Hamuel and Ruddiger are my favorite animals in Tangled. They both just seem to embody chaos in one way or another.

It took me forever to decide what kind of bird to write Hamuel to be, because the show seems to say that he's both a raven and a crow, like they're the same thing, and they're not. Just by looking at his not black beak I might say that he's a rook (which don't have orange beaks either, but it's closer than ravens or crows get).

I mostly settled on raven because he's strong enough to carry a freaking' raccoon, and his beak is larger than crows' usually are.

Honestly, between Hamuel's orange beak and the weird way that he lowers himself to the ground towards the end of Day of the Animals (with his wings extended straight up and only flapping with the tips of his wings) I'm almost wondering if Hamuel is a weird call-back to those crows in Dumbo, which would be an odd choice to say the least.