The marketplace was such a crowded area with so much to see, so much to buy and yet too many places to count. It was easy to get lost in a place like this, especially with the sea of people around. Hansel and Gretel both made sure to stay close to him the whole way, even though they were tempted to look all around and explore. Even the water fountain alone looked inviting enough. While quite the spectacle, they needed to remain with Ivan for the moment being. There were tons of children out as well, many of them being the same age as the siblings. Perhaps they'll have plenty of time to play with them soon and make new friends. Amongst the many shoppes lining up the square that was the least tempting to the two unlike any other was a small candy store with billions and billions of tasty, delectable and mouth-watering candies that would make any sweet tooth crave them, but Hansel and Gretel had the opposite feeling.

An instinctual and soul-shuddering feeling dread and anguish as memories of the gingerbread house they were lured into and their capture by the witch that tried to eat them returned and their best course of action was to evade the shop and catch back up to Ivan, who at this point, was now sitting at the water fountain, observing the glorious castle that overlooked the village below it. He marveled at its brilliant majesty and wondered what it was like living there and what the view might be like at the very top. A beautiful and glorious, awe-inspiring glimpse of the sun-glistened blue ocean waters down below.

"Beautiful, isn't it, brother?" Came a new masculine voice right beside him as he felt a hand slap him hard against his back. There sat a devilishly handsome young man with dark hair, a goatee and blue vest with a devil-may-care smug grin on his face that gave off this vibe that he was one of those fellows who believed themselves so good-looking that women would fall for him instantly. The man stared back at Ivan, giving him a close inspection.

"Not from around here, are you?" He asked.

"What gave me away, bro?" asked Ivan.

"Nobody wears clothes around her like you do." The man inquired. "Where are you from anyway?"

"Nowhere important." Ivan shrugged as the invasive man had his hand around shoulder, now making him feel uncomfortable.

"Me neither. Crazy, right? It's so weird how we have so much in common."

"Heheheh,...right." The blonde-haired hippie chuckled nervously.

"So what's your schtick, blondie?" asked the man, reeling it in a bit forcefully now.

"I-I don't-"

"Flynn Rider's the name around these parts." The man, now identified as Flynn Rider, proclaimed, gesturing to himself. "And as I saw you I could help but want to ask you an important question."

"Uh, sure, ask away." stammered Ivan, unnerved by Flynn's possible intentions, but didn't want to come across as rude.

"Can you get me some apples?"

Ivan blinked

"Uhhh….."

"I'd buy them myself, but you see, I'm completely broke. Gotta feed the little ones, y'know? It would be a huge favor. They're right over there." Flynn pointed over to the shop meters from where they say with a bunch of fruits laid on display for any consumers. One of them was full of red apples.

Though Ivan had this tingling feeling, he nonetheless agrees.

"Alright, then."

"Awesome!" Flynn cried, fist-bumping him on the arm with glee. "I knew I could count on you. I'll be right here when you get back."

The shit-eating-grin-faced man then unceremoniously gave him a little-too-rough shove as Ivan got to his feet as if Flynn was in a hurry and needed those apples pronto. Ivan grunted from being pushed like that, even Lenny was so close to lunging outward to sink his fangs into the guy's face, but he, none the wiser, ventured over to the fruit shop and that's when Hansel and Gretel finally reached him.

"There you are!" Gretel shouted.

"Hey, listen, I need you two to help me grab some apples real quick, okay?" Ivan instructed as he reached for a bag to place some inside it.

"What for?" asked Hansel with his young-age naivety.

"This guy named Flynn needs some and I just want to do him a favor." The hippie boy responded.

"Oh. That's nice of you." chirped Gretel.

Right away, they grabbed as many apples as they could lay their hands on, but not too much. Gretel even stuffed one in her mouth, craving for some juicy taste of succulent fruit to get her mind off that haunting memories of candy and it helped very much, since she's not had any good food to eat in a long time. Finally, they decided that they had enough apples for one serving. Ivan reached into his pocket, feeling for his wallet, but his eyes widened when he couldn't feel it. It wasn't there anymore. But he could've sworn it was there before.

"What's wrong?" asked Hansel worriedly.

"I lost my wallet!" panicked Ivan.

"What's a wallet?" Gretel asked next, confused.

"It's what I keep my money in!" Ivan shrieked. "It's not here! Where is it?!"

"Um, who is this man again?"

"His name is Flynn and he's right over…." He pointed outward toward where he was sitting at the water fountain and froze solid when he noticed, to his unparalleled shock, that the man wasn't there anymore and was nowhere to be found. He seemed to have taken off while he was in the shop.

"...there?"

"Well, where is he then?" asked Hansel.

"I dunno. Flynn?" Ivan walked out, calling out for the man who requested his help, his head moved every which way for him, but couldn't find him anywhere. "Flynn? Flynn?!"

"Hey, are you gonna pay for those?" The store clerk demanded and Ivan started to panic even more as he came up with the most likely conclusion that he has been tricked and Flynn must've swiped his wallet out of his pocket without him noticing and made his getaway while he took the fall for his crime. Ivan had no answer for the clerk and the siblings had no idea how to react or respond either, not sure of what to make of the situation themselves, being underage children and so forth. Gretel even let the apple drop from her mouth.

"You're stealing those apples, aren't you?! Thieves! Guards! Guards!" shouted the clerk, scaring the wits out of Ivan. There were a couple of palace guards on patrol in the area and in an instant, arrived at the scene as soon as the store owner's cry for help was heard and Ivan and the kids found themselves surrounded by judgemental glares.

"What is the meaning of this?" commanded of the guards, undoubtedly the captain by the looks of it, Ivan could assume.

"These three rats are trying to sneak off with apples without paying!" The clerk accused and thundered, jabbing his finger at the three of them. None of them realized that Hansel and his sister were sneaking away behind the guards on their horses

"What? No! Please, sir, we were gonna pay for them, but-!" Ivan tried to explain himself, but the clerk was not having it.

"Where's your money then, huh?" snapped the clerk as if demanding proof.

"I don't have it." Ivan mentally slapped himself. "...on me, right now. But I swear I had it a second ago."

"We've heard enough." The captain interjected. "Guards, take him away to the du-"

But then suddenly, the captain's horse neighed and whinnied in surprise as it felt something sharp slap against its side as it lifted up all of the sudden, bucking its front hooves out, making its rider nearly lose his balance as he desperately tried to get his horse under control. Ivan saw the kids from behind, apparently having struck the horse with a stick they found in order to create a diversion. While the captain was distracted trying to settle his horse down, Ivan quickly leaped into action and shoved the bag of apples into the clerk's hands.

"Here, just take them. I don't really need them, anyway." Ivan quickly informed him before making a run for it, hightailing it out of there while Hansel and Gretel took off running with him.

"Stop them!" screamed the captain angrily. "Don't lose them!"

About five soldiers on horseback obeyed their volatile commander without question and off they were to capture the new 'criminals' and bring them to justice. With the two kids with him, Ivan didn't stop running as they were now being chased. So this was what it was like to be running from the law. Ivan never thought of breaking the law in his life and the idea of incurring the wrath of the authorities always unsettled him. He never would've dreamed of doing anything illegal. If he hadn't fallen for that guy's little trick, this all could've been avoided. How could he have so stupid?

He needed to find a way to evade these soldiers and try to get out of the city before they found them again. Thinking quickly, Ivan snatched up the kids' hands and yanked them with him as he charged down the next alleyway he came across as the soldiers in hot pursuit came to a terse halt and had to dismount their horses to continue the chase on foot with their swords unsheathed. People observing the mad scene instinctively ducked out of the way of the palace soldiers, but then a man pushing a cart full of vegetables suddenly blocked their way, much to their irritation. So they had to shove him out of the way, making him knock over his cart and spilling his edibles in the process. They all proceeded down the alleyway in the direction the three were headed away from them, but little did they realize, they had taken advantage of their brief distraction to hide behind some wooden barrels, out of sight. Ivan's heart was pumping right now. Never has he been in a more nerve-wracking situation other than pushing himself to brutally murder a witch just to save the siblings. But what scared him more is being caught and thrown into jail. And the kids would be devastated to spend their time in a cell. He wouldn't let that happen.

Then he coaxed the frightened two away, sneaking through the buildings and crowds roaming the streets while Ivan put his hair up into a small ponytail and hid it inside of a hat that he had, well, plucked from the ground somewhere and removed his glasses, stashing them away into his pocket and finally covered himself with a rug, so much as to withdraw attention from himself and hide from the guards so that they don't recognize him. Thanks to that jerk, he was pretty much a wanted criminal now with Hansel and Gretel as his 'accomplices'. They were sitting ducks in the city.

"What do we do now?" asked Hansel.

"We need to leave this place." Ivan answered, spotting a few palace soldiers nearby and hurriedly moved the children into a different direction. "Right now, it's not safe for you two here."

"But where will we go?" Gretel desperately asked.

"I dunno. We'll just have to keep moving. We'll find another place." Ivan answered, before wincing. "I hope."

Taking the bridge out of the kingdom would be too risky, since the guards are pretty much surveilling the area and they'll undoubtedly get suspicious of anything that appears off-putting to them, like a man wearing a big hat with a rug around his shoulders in hurry out of the kingdom. It was then Ivan realized that they were nearing the kingdom's marina, which gives him an idea. Granted, he's never rowed a boat before, but it should be easy enough for beginners. Ivan leads the children to the docks to look around for something they could use to sail away on. There were a lot of huge vessels, which Ivan knows will be too difficult for him to sail, but it will always attract too much attention.

"There." Ivan ushered them both into something that looked relevant enough; a simple dinghy.

Hopping aboard and grabbing both oars, Ivan began to sail out into the harbor, though doing his damndest to avoid accidentally hitting against boats as there were a lot of them. Softly grumbling to himself as to why there were so many boats in such a small portion of water, he noticed the captain riding his horse on the bridge, looking out for the apple-stealing bandit, true to his worries.

"Get down." He whispered to the two and they ducked downward, hiding from sight to avoid being spotted. Ivan waited for what felt like half an hour until it appeared that the captain finally lost interest and rode back into the city. Ivan breathed a sigh out of relief, but right now, he worries what to do about the children. Where are they possibly gonna go now? At this rate, returning to the kingdom was out of the question since they'll get arrested. If lucky, there could be a caring family out there who would love to take the poor kids in, but that's merely wishful thinking.

The poor kids had nothing at this point. No home, no loving parents, the food, no one else to look after them at the moment. They needed him. And can't let anything bad happen to them until he is absolutely certain that they're being provided for, cared for and loved.

The boat jerked to a stop when Ivan realized he rowed too close to land on the other side of the harbor. So he climbed out, dragged the boat onto shore with Hansel and Gretel's help and placed it near a giant boulder, covering it back up. Then Ivan sat down on the ground to take a moment to assess their situation. Ivan's been tricked into getting apples for a stranger, gets robbed, framed for burglary and now there's a price on his head. What's worse is that he dragged poor Hansel and Gretel into all of this, which means that there is a minimal chance of them seeking a new home. He sighed heavily and resignedly, resting his tired head on his knees.

"I'm sorry I got you kids into this. I really don't know what to do. I really messed up." Ivan apologized remorsefully.

"It's okay, Ivan. Really." Gretel said, comforting him and putting her arms around him.

"No, it's not." He denied. "I let some no-gooder dude trick me out of my money and now we're wanted fugitives. It's all my fault."

"It doesn't matter!" Hansel bellowed with determination. "It doesn't matter what happened! What matters is that you saved us from being eaten by a witch and we helped you escape those men on the horses and you helped us get away. We're with you now. And even if we don't find a new family, we'll always have you. Right, Gretel?"

"Yes, brother!" Gretel cheered and nodded in agreement. "You're our hero. You wouldn't leave us, would you?"

Ivan's self-loathing was replaced with gratitude. Despite their shortcomings and mishaps, they still believed in Ivan as they were grateful that he stuck with them the entire way. It's almost like they considered him as their new family. It made him think back to his own family back at his home. Although he cared for his parents, they hardly ever paid him any attention since they were always working, never home. Never once had they even acknowledged his existence for once measly second. Not to tell him 'good morning', not to tell him to be careful, or to scold him when he did something wrong or even to give him a kiss on the cheek. Deep down, it always made him feel casted aside, forgotten and unloved.

But Ivan was adamant that he was not going to do that. He wasn't going to ignore them or neglect them or let them down. They were his responsibility and he needed to wear that responsibility with pride and dignity. He was not his parents. Hansel and Gretel needed him. He was all they had at the moment.

"No, I won't." Ivan declared, bringing them both into a tight embrace. They warmly accept the embrace, but then they're interrupted by the sound of a horse snorting and they scramble to see Gunter there.

"Gunter! I was wondering where you had gone." Ivan cried as he rushed over to the animal. "Did you follow us over here?"

The horse neighed and nodded.

"Well, thanks for sticking by me, I guess." The blonde teen then grabbed Gretel and mounted both her and her brother on the horse, while Ivan held onto the reins. "Come on, kids. We'll go somewhere else. Hopefully find a place to stay until all this silliness cools off."

"It's like an adventure!" cheered Gretel excitedly.

"I'll say." Ivan agreed with an amused smile.

So on they went with Gunter back into the woods. Now they head back to the village where they first met that woman, but the trouble is, they don't remember the direction to the village was when they were following her. Through the woodsy landscape was to hope where there was some other civilization out there where there will be suitable accommodations, hospitality, food and Ivan even took a mental note not to trust any strangers who may try to trick him again like before.