Made this cause of the severe lack of OCxRapunzel stories here and plus I watched Tangled and The Witcher, and Castlevania back to back the other week and an idea popped up.

Major changes are that Rapunzel's age is lifted from 18 to 21 along some major changes from the film's plotline.

Shape of The Moon

By

ZOMBIESLAYEROFTHEUNDERWORLD

For the animal's soul is mine
We will be completed right before your eyes
I have no control this time
And now we both shall dine in Hell tonight

- Disturbed, The Animal

A lone figure on horseback breached the horizon overlooking the kingdom of Corona, the rising sun shrouding any details of the imposing silhouette as the horseman descended down the path with his focus on the island kingdom itself.

The night and morning guards were preparing to switch shifts when they noticed the horseman making his way across the bride and approaching the gates, causing them to eye the rider upon the snow white horse cautiously until the breaching sunlight revealed him to be a man with short, jet black hair, a fair complexion, a muscular build that showed a lifetime of nothing, but combat. However, the feature that really caught their attention upon observing everything else were the man's unnaturally golden eyes.

This man was Lucien of the North, a wandering Hunter who made his way in the world by taking the jobs that everyone else proved far too cowardly to attempt themselves, especially when the targets weren't always human; these men knew of the Monster Hunter, his deeds and that it was better to stay out of his way.

With this, the guards simply opened the gate with nothing more than a greeting nod to Lucien as he passed them by, his golden eyes forward with unshakeable intent as the officers closed the gate behind him and went back to their business.

Once he entered the city, Lucien guided his horse through the city as any by-passers parted in order to give him a clear path to his destination, whether out of fear, respect or a mix of both could be heavily debated depending on who you asked; and whether or not they knew the secrets of his true nature.

After tying his horse to a post near the guard station, Lucien removed the trophies from his latest hunt, the horns of a Minotaur, talons from a Fire Drake and the cleanly severed heads of three local bandit leaders who had been harassing the kingdom and everything within their borders for some time. The commotion of these items being removed from the saddle made the Captain of the Guard and his men look up from what they were doing as the monster hunter approached them, their eyes went to the black, studded leather cuirass, matching bracers and blackened steel, bronze trimmed shoulder plates for a moment before he stopped directly in front of them.

Upon reaching the post, Lucien's golden eyes moved between the men as he placed the items he collected from his recent hunts on the table in front of the Guard Captain, causing him to study each piece for a moment, reach into the chest beneath the table and pull out a hefty coin purse. "Tough hunt?" He asked with a slight wit as he tossed the coin purse to the hunter, who caught it without effort.

"Tougher than any of yours..." Lucien retorts dryly, causing some of the guards behind the Captain to stifle laughter while the man just gave him a brief glare as he pocketed the coin purse then make his way to the bounty board to check for more work, the Guard Captain's eyes following him the entire time.

"You've been to DunBroch, Arendelle, The Southern Isles...many other places no one would ever go...what brought you back here...?" He asked while Lucien studied the bounty board intently and read through each possible contract. "Usual business..." Lucien answered, his eyes not leaving the board, causing the Guard Captain to narrow his eyes lightly.

After a moment, Lucien pulled a bounty from the board that was talking about a group of ogres harassing travelers passing through the forests surrounding Corona and seemed like they were drawing close enough to the city itself to cause significant concerns. "Do you know where this is...?" Lucien asked the Guard Captain as he showed him the document, making him study it for a moment to see if he recognized any details.

"Out to the West of here...chances are, you're the only one crazy enough to go there, though; that land is cursed." The Guard Captain answered, a sense of foreboding in his tone when he mentioned the land being cursed, although Lucien didn't seem very amused by it. "May have to look into that while I'm there..." He muttered, mostly to himself before giving the Guard Captain a nod in thanks, turning away from the guard post and returning to his horse, Snow.

"Excuse me, Mister...did you say you were heading West...?" A little girl's voice called to the man, causing Lucien's golden eyes to search for the source until they landed on a girl no older than seven, with pale skin, strawberry blonde hair, green eyes and a matching green dress who was standing a couple of paces from him. "Yeah...why?" He said simply, making a mix of fear and concern dance through her eyes before she motioned him closer, leading him to crouch down to where she could whisper whatever she needed to tell him in his ear.

"My Papa says it's controlled over by an evil witch...she lives in a tower there, lures travelers in with her singing and feeds them to the ogres." The little girl whispered in fear as Lucien listened intently to the details, noting them for later when he was finished dealing with the ogres. "I'll look into it while I'm out there..." He told the girl simply as he untied Snow and mounted him, making the girl look to him with fear and concern.

"Wait! You don't have to..." She started in a worried tone before Lucien raised his hand to shush her, giving her a moment to actually pay attention before speaking. "What I'm already after is worse than any witch...it won't be an issue." He assured her in his usual dry, stoic manner as the girl studied him for a moment until he coaxed Snow forward, causing the white horse to snort before trotting through the streets of Corona and back to the gates.

After leaving the kingdom of Corona and making his way to the West, Lucien was soon trotting through the forest on Snow with his senses intently scanning the surrounding area for his intended quarry, although for the moment there was no sign of the band of ogres he was hunting; and given how potent their stench was, this told him he would have to go deeper.

Before long, Lucien would cross paths with a woman who looked to be in her late thirties or early forties with pale, fair skin, gray eyes, long curly black hair and a voluptuous figure adorned in a favorable red dress with a hooded cloak covering some of the more distinguishable features of her face. Lucien immediately smelled light traces of magic on her, but he quickly determined that she wasn't the original source of the trace.

Upon noticing the traveller, the woman turned her gaze to him and gave him a warm, inviting smile. "Oh, hello there! You're heading to the West...?" She greeted him in a friendly tone, making Lucien's golden eyes move to her, immediately noticing something suspicious about her despite choosing to openly ignore it and taking note of it for later. "Yeah..." He answered simply, making the woman study him curiously upon hearing his response.

"You know about the rumors coming out of there correct...?" She asked, her tone riddled with curiosity and intrigue as opposed to the same fear that the little girl was riddled with when she told Lucien about the supposed witch who ruled those lands, something else he subtly took note of before giving her a nod. "I have...but, my business is there, so a witch isn't going to stop me from doing it..." He retorts dryly, making her study him from under her hood and noting that he seemed quite capable of handling himself, which peeked her curiosity more.

"Might a girl ask for your name...?" She inquired, throwing a touch of flirtation into the question in the hopes of testing any other resistances, something that Lucien caught onto immediately, but decided to humor her for the time being, but not without getting hers in return so that he would know who to look for if she caused trouble. "Ladies first..." He said simply, making her give a subtle, slightly teasing smile before chuckling lightly.

"Ah, a gentleman...such a welcoming surprise." The woman declared in an impressed and flattered tone before giving the man a light bow. "Madame Gothel...but, please just call me 'Gothel'..." The woman, Gothel introduced herself with enthusiasm before Lucien gave a light nod in greeting. "Pleased to meet you, Madame...Lucien of the North..." He answered simply, causing her to look to him when she heard the name, one she had grown pretty familiar with, especially recently.

"Lucien...the wanderer who travels the kingdoms hunting the things no one else will...?" Gothel asked curiously, taking note of the man's true identity considering how much risk he could present to her endeavors. "The same..." Lucien answered dryly, this confirmation caused Gothel even more internal concern even though she hid it relatively well considering what she had hidden in the very direction he was travelling. "Might I ask what business you have out West...?"

Lucien couldn't help finding the question suspicious even if he wasn't showing an ounce of the suspicion he held for Gothel from the start, it almost struck him as though she was hiding something that she didn't want him stumbling across while he was there. "Just brigands that have been harassing travelers in the area...shouldn't be anything difficult." He said with a shrug, believing that any information regarding the ogres shouldn't be spoken considering he still didn't trust this woman and really didn't want to risk stirring a panic among the populace.

Gothel didn't completely buy the story, mostly because she knew about the ogres in the area given the fact she made her home in that area, but decided not to point it out considering she didn't want to run the risk of letting him know she was trying to cover anything up. "Well, I wish you the best of luck in your mission." She said in a friendly tone, making him give her a brief nod. "Thanks..." Was his only response before he gave her a light nod.

"Until we meet again..." Lucien said simply, making Gothel give him a smile and a nod. "Likewise." She said contently as they went their separate ways, heading in completely opposite directions, although as soon as Gothel figured that Lucien was out of sight, she took an alternative route in the hopes of beating him to his destination so that she could try and hide the treasure she had stolen away years ago.

Lucien didn't openly pay Gothel anymore mind as he knew that given how suspicious she had been acting, especially after he mentioned his travels taking him West that if she was indeed hiding anything out there, then she would end up revealing it on her own out of the paranoia she most likely held after this encounter.

He put the trail of thought in the back of his mind for the time being so that he could focus on dealing with the ogres fast enough to where he would have enough time to investigate the tower the little girl mentioned so that he could look for signs of this supposed witch and deal with her if she proved to be a genuine problem.

When he arrived in the area where the ogre attacks had been reported in the most frequency, Lucien took Snow to a safe place and tied him up so that the creatures wouldn't get to him before retrieving the weapons he knew he would need for the job, specifically his silver longsword, his hand crossbow and accompanying bolts along with a few iron grenades just in case things got nastier than he expected.

Once he had everything he felt like he needed to dispatch the creatures, Lucien took a few moments to sniff the air, listen to the sounds of the wild and even scan the area in the hopes of getting a trail on his quarry. It didn't take him very long to find the trail as Lucien quickly determined that the entire group was gathered in one place and seemed to be distracted by a fresh kill.

Lucien would track and stalk the ogres for an hour given that they left an easily followable trail for him to follow and once he arrived at the scene, he remained crouched down and watched the ogres help themselves to the broken and mutilated remains of the recent batch of poor souls that travelled through their territory. This made him lower his head in respect for the victims before he re-opened his eyes, drew his sword and quietly stalked a circle around their position as he searched for a good opening to take them down quickly, which would be a little easier now given they were still relatively slothful from their feast.

After finding his position, Lucien watched the ogres for a moment before carefully pulling one of the iron grenades from his pack, striking a match, lighting the fuse then throwing it directly in the middle of the group of four in an attempt to dispatch at least one or two, severely wound the others and cause them to scatter in a way that would allow him to catch then kill them smoothly.

When the grenade exploded, one of the ogres fell dead while a second was severely crippled to a point where he couldn't run while the other two fled in a panic with terrified, monstrous howls only for a crossbow bolt to glide through one's eye socket, directly into his brain then out of the back of his head as it fell while Lucien strolled out of the shadows then drove his sword through the crippled one and finish it off.

The fourth ogre had fled the scene quickly in the hopes of escaping the hunter before eventually finding itself in a clearing as it frantically searched for it's next escape route, but only ended up frustrating itself more and letting out a furious roar until a silver blade slid through the back of its neck, making the creature choke on its own blood before Lucien cleanly finished pulling the blade through its neck to finish lopping its head off.

As soon as the ogre fell, Lucien knelt down and collected the head before pulling its teeth out to serve as evidence that the job was done before looking to his left to notice a lone, surprisingly well preserved, but noticeably decrepit tower in the clearing, which made him raise his eyebrow curiously as he thought back to the rumors of a witch the little girl told him about.

Lucien approached the tower after a moment and studied the area around it to look for signs that would let him know if the resident was practicing witchcraft or not, although as far as any signs outside of the tower, he couldn't find anything, but he could pick up a distinct and powerful scent of magic coming from within it; powerful magic from what he could tell.

"Hmmm..." Lucien's golden eyes scanned up the side of the tower like he was looking for an entrance or an easy way to get inside, but after a good few minutes of searching the structure, he couldn't find a single door or any other windows save for the one that was positioned at the top of the turret, the only noticeable opening of any kind in the structure.

After a few moments, Lucien shook his head, cleaned and sheathed his sword before going back to the other ogres he killed and collecting their teeth as trophies so that he wouldn't have to deal with the issue on his way out of the tower.

Once he reached the tower again, Lucien took a few moments to see if he could find some rope or something that would make the climb a little smoother without having to draw on his bestial nature too much just in case there was a witch inside that way he didn't end up alerting her to his presence.

Unfortunately, the search revealed nothing even resembling rope and Lucien took a few more moments to prepare himself before approaching the tower once again and scaling the wall, using his claws to help make the climb itself much easier without having to completely depend on just feeling for stones poking out to aid in the ascent, especially considering there weren't many at all for him to work with even if he did depend on them.

Lucien climbed the tower with no hesitation or fatigue in his demeanor, only a tenacity that would've been long forgotten by most in this age, the scent of the magic coming from the tower's window grew steadily stronger, which confirmed that there was indeed either a witch or some form of magic inside; however, the source of this power would not at all be what he expected...

A/N: A Special Thanks to my Co-Author Shadow-Walker26 for helping me write this, constrictive criticism is welcomed, and sorry for the FlynnxRapunzel fans.