Chapter 4.
Robyn lightly tapped the gargoyle's cool, smooth nose. The floor rumbled and a familiar spiral staircase appeared in the middle of the kitchen's stone floor.
"It's only been a month, but that alone has been too long," Robyn sighed.
"Say, Robyn, hope you don't mind me bringing the cookies into the room," Hobie mumbled with his mouth full. The rabbit chuckled and stuffed another cookie into his mouth.
"Of course not," the blond smiled and made his way down the stone staircase eagerly.
"You know, if you keep on eating that many cookies, you might become so fat that you can't outrun Otto anymore," Penelope teased.
"As if! The moment I see that ghastly fiend my rabbitly instincts jump in- figuratively speaking that is," Hobie nudged Penelope with his paw, who groaned at the rabbit's pun.
"Come on, let's catch up to Robyn. He's probably already inside the room drowning himself in books," the dragon shook her head and climbed down the dimly lit staircase. Hobie hopped after her holding a plate stacked with sweet cookies.
When the dragon and rabbit entered the room, they noticed that their friend had already lit the room up with the matches and candlesticks they found a while ago. Instead of sitting on the floor with a book on his lap like he usually did, Robyn was busy rummaging through one of the dusty trunks.
"Whatcha doing Robyn?" Penelope asked and plodded over to Robyn's side.
"I don't think that we have looked through what's inside these trunks... so I thought that I might as well open them to see what's inside," the blond wiped his gold hair out of his eyes with the back of his hand.
"Ah, what a wonderful idea Robyn, we'll help you out," Hobie spoke up and hopped to the closest trunk to him, setting the plate down. Penelope followed Hobie and helped the struggling rabbit open the trunk.
"Hey Hobie, why does Robyn suddenly want to look through these old things? I thought he would want to read more," Penelope whispered and then turned around to look at Robyn, who was busying himself with sorting out the numerous items in the trunk.
"I believe it's because he wants to see if he can find any clues about his childhood," Hobie whispered back. Penelope's mouth formed a small o and the dragon nodded. Both of the animals said nothing more and continued to search through the trunk with sheer determination. They wanted to help their friend uncover the mystery of his past.
"Whoa," Robyn breathed out. Penelope and Hobie rushed over to his side.
"What is it Robyn?" Penelope looked over Robyn's shoulder. In the boy's hands was a painting of Gothel and a man. It looked like someone had slashed the man's head, which resulted in him being headless in the painting.
"Hoo boy, looks like Gothel used to have a special somebody. I wouldn't like to be in his shoes" Penelope whistled.
"Or his head," Hobie added, causing the dragon and the human to turn around and look down at him.
"Sorry, couldn't help it," the rabbit smiled sheepishly and hopped next to Robyn.
The boy's fingers trembled a little as he pushed the painting's yellowing paper back into place to see the man's face.
The man's face in the painting looked strangely familiar. Robyn furrowed his eyebrows and scrutinized the man's face. His jaw was angular and he had sharp facial features. Most striking of all was his deep emerald eyes and auburn hair. Just like the palette of colors autumn uses for its first few weeks of fall Robyn thought to himself. Gothel was looking at the man with seer devotion while the man seemed to be staring at her warmly like she was his sister.
"Wait a moment Robyn, I think that I have something that you might find interesting," Hobie's feet failed around helplessly in the air as he tried to pull himself out of the trunk, holding something extremely heavy-well, for a rabbit.
Penelope lifted the rabbit out of the trunk and gently set him on the ground.
"Whew, thank you Penelope."
"Anytime Hobie, anytime," the dragon grinned.
Hobie carefully brushed the dust off the sheath of a dagger with its weapon still intact, resting it its eternal slumber waiting for its rightful owner.
"Robyn, why don't you unsheathe the dagger? I can't because of my... you know," Hobie lifted up his paws, "But carefully and away from everyone's face, mind you."
Robyn picked up the sheath with the dagger and passed it from his left hand to his right. He admired the the detailed carvings on the sheathe of two elegant dragons bowing down to each other. Robyn slowly traced the expertly carved wooden sheath with his fingers, memorizing every little curve and line engraved. Finally, he unsheathed the dagger, which seemed to glow luminous silver in the candlelight. For a few seconds, Robyn thought that he was hallucinating. The dagger was growing brighter and brighter. Soon, it looked like the moon against the dark blanket of the night sky.
"I'-I'm not sure if my mind has gone bonkers... but I believe that the dagger you're holding is glowing," Hobie stuttered.
"Oh, it's glowing alright," Penelope gaped at the dagger.
Suddenly, blue letters started to shine brightly on the dagger. It didn't take long for all the letters to appear, and soon the letters spelled out words.
"Constant as the stars above, always know that you are loved. To our son Robyn on his eighth birthday," the blond murmured.
"What an odd message to inscribe on a dagger," Hobie muttered, earning a light slap on the back from Penelope who pointed at Robyn.
The gentle light emitting from the dagger slowly dimmed and room returned to its normal warm color.
"Always know that you are loved," Robyn repeated the words again, savoring them. He sat down on the wooden floor and examined the dagger by turning its hilt around in his hands.
"Say, Hobie?" the adolescent asked.
"Yes Robyn?"
"Does the book on weaponry say anything about how to wield or carry a dagger?"
"Ah, I do believe there is a section about wielding a dagger.. Robyn, may I ask why you want to know?"
"I want to find a way out of this manor and find my parents- someday I hope. Learning how to fight might be a useful skill," Robyn explained.
Hobie nodded slowly and gave a slightly sad smile, "I see, well then let me find that book."
"Thank you Hobie," Robyn pet the rabbit's head before Hobie was about to hop away.
A loud shriek pierced the air followed by a crash, causing Robyn and Hobie to whip their heads around in Penelope's direction. The dragon's leg was currently wedged in between an crack where a part of two and a half planks of wood were supposed to be.
"Sorry Robyn, I saw a spider and I freaked out... and well... you know what happened after that," the dragon chuckled nervously and attempted to free herself by pushing herself out.
"It's alright, first let's try to get you out of here," Robyn grasped Penelope's underarm, "Hobie, help me lift Penelope."
The rabbit hopped over to the dragon's side and helped Robyn hoist Penelope out of the pit. After three futile attempts, Robyn decided to pull Penelope out from a different angle. This time the dragon's leg was freed.
"Whew, thanks guys," Penelope sighed. The dragon's leg wasn't injured, in fact the floor seemed to have taken a greater toll thanks to Penelope's impenetrable dragon scales.
Robyn leaned over the pit and borrowed a candle holder resting on a nearby table. He shone the light and gasped. The hole lead to a tunnel. Not just any tunnel, but one that had wind flowing through it like a rapid river. This could only mean one thing.
"This is the passage to the outside world," Robyn breathed out, and a smile graced his delicate face.
I was originally going to post this chapter two days ago, but I think fanfiction was down so I had to wait until today. Oh yeah, there was also a storm two nights ago. Over the course of ten minutes, the power almost went out three times in a row... right when I chose to write my story. Also, some creature tried to scratch its way into my room *shudder*. It always comes when it's a) really cold (so basically all winter long around 8:00pm-1:00am... just when I'm trying to get some sleep) b) extremely stormy. It's probably a possum but I'm not entirely sure...
-Halean