Chapter 5.
Robyn felt as if fine, invisible strings were tugging him and drawing him near the dark tunnel. His heart was urging him to jump, and a strange sentiment he had never felt before stirred within the depths of his very soul. The adolescent didn't notice his friends calling out to him nor that he was at the verge where the wooden planks and bustling wind met.
He jumped. The wind brushed against his face and tousled his hair. Robyn felt his stomach lurch and his hands tightened into fists. It only took a few seconds for his feet to meet the uneven and cracked stone floor. Robyn was surprised that he hadn't dropped the candle holder. The flame flickered slightly and was blown back by the wind, but nevertheless it still continued to burn softly in the dark.
"Oh for goodness' sake! What in the world are you doing Robyn?" Hobie groaned. Robyn had to hold up the candle to discern the rabbit's horrified face looking down at him.
"Penelope, please give Robyn a hand to get him out."
"On it," Penelope's voice was followed by the loud thump of the dragon laying down to lean over the crack.
"Wait!" Robyn reached his hand out towards his friends. He wasn't sure what compelled him to protest.
"Pardon?" Hobie frowned.
"Gothel won't be back until two in the afternoon- I have about five hours at the very least... I want to explore this tunnel." and find a way out to the outside world...
"Robyn, listen to yourself," Hobie helplessly motioned his paws in the air, "I know you're eager to see the outside world for yourself, but think this through.. please."
Robyn was loss for words. He knew that he was being extremely irrational, but he couldn't contain his urge to explore what laid beyond the magical barrier. Every day that he spent within the manor, no matter how pleasant, still left Robyn feeling unsatisfied. The trapped robin must free itself from its cage and sing its sweet song while flying across the ocean blue sky. The doors of opportunity had been opened, and Robyn was going to take that chance. It was now or never.
"Hobie... I-"
The second Hobie saw the expression on Robyn's face, he knew that he wouldn't be able to convince his friend to turn back.
"Robyn, give me a few moments. Penelope, give Robyn his dagger will you?" Robyn heard the rabbit hop away. The boy hastily set the candle holder behind him and hoped that the flame wouldn't die out.
"Heads up Robyn, catch!" the adolescent caught the sheathe of the dagger with both of his hands.
"Thanks Penelope," Robyn tilted his head up and caught a glimpse of the outline of the dragon cub swishing her tail back and forth. He carefully slid it into his boot so that he could reach it when he needed it.
"Robyn, please take care of this cloak and don't lose the matches I placed in its pocket," Hobie tossed a dark emerald cloak to Robyn. It billowed and flowed slightly to the left before Robyn grabbed it.
"Wear it at all times with the hood on. Oh, and don't try to attract unnecessary attention," the rabbit nervously lectured the adolescent.
Robyn tied the silky strings of the cloak into a neat little bow and drew the hood over his head.
"And remember to refuse any beverages or food from strangers."
"I understand Hobie, don't worry too much about me. I'm almost sixteen, I think that I can manage," Robyn smiled reassuringly at the rabbit before kneeling down to pick up the candle.
"Come back before two!" Hobie called after Robyn.
"Of course Hobie. Farewell, I'll see you two soon," Robyn turned around and offered his friends one of his lighthearted smiles with his head slightly tilted to the side.
Then the adolescent continued to walk further into the dark abyss of the tunnel.
Robyn had to cup his hand in front of the dancing flame to prevent it from flickering out. He nearly stepped on some mice scurrying by. He forced down a yell and shakily calmed himself. Robyn scolded himself for almost dropping the candle holder. The rest of his journey was rather event less. He followed the direction of the whispering wind which beckoned him more and more urgently. Then he heard a familiar noise that was honey to his ears. The pleasant chirping of the sparrows. The adolescent's lips turned up slightly and he quickened his pace. Then he noticed the ground no longer consisted of rugged stone bricks but natural rock. As he continued, Robyn saw a wavering curtain of vines flowing in the summer breeze a few feet away. Robyn blew out the candle and set it on the ground near the cave's entrance just barely behind the wavering vines. He breathed in and used his hand to part the greenery. He stepped out of the cave and into the glorious sunlight.
Robyn gasped. He was on top of a grassy hill that was sprinkled scarcely with vibrant flowers here and there. A few trees stood upright proudly and offered small blankets of shade. The wind seemed to congratulate Robyn and affectionately ruffled his golden sunlit hair. About half a mile away was a quaint little village. The charming houses were made of chocolate brown tiled roofs and cream colored daub. Most majestic of all was the castle which overlooked the village from the hill it was perched on. The sunlight washed over its light surface, making it appear as though the castle itself was glowing. It stole the breath from Robyn's throat as he stared at it in wonder.
Robyn wandered down the hillside and took his time to drink in the beautiful scenery. When he reached the entrance of the village, he felt his heart jump ever so slightly. There were humans. Robyn had never interacted other humans before- Gothel was an exception. Even if he had, he couldn't remember.
Robyn frowned slightly to himself. He wasn't going to let his anxiety get the better of him. He took a step forward and stepped onto the village's cobbled streets. It didn't take long for Robyn to get carried in the direction of the stream of bustling villagers.
"Pastries, pastries! Warm and freshly baked!" a plump, stout man called out to the crowd as he held up a tray loaded with steaming buns and rolls. Robyn's mouth watered slightly when the aroma of the sweets wafted towards him.
"Miss, would you like a pastry?" Robyn's hunger vanished almost in an instant and he inhaled sharply in shock. Had the baker just called him Miss?
"No-no thank you," Robyn stuttered slightly and tugged the hood of his cloak over he head. He rushed away. Suddenly, the crowd was too much for Robyn to take. He had to find a place with less people and less noise. He hugged his cloak closer to his body and kept his head down.
Robyn nearly sighed out of relief when he saw a path leading out of the town into a meadow. Despite the meadow's lovely appearance, none of the townspeople seemed drawn to it. Most walked by the path and didn't spare a single glance to their right. Perfect. Robyn sat himself under a hazel tree and hummed quietly to himself.
"Woah! Woah Botticelli!" a high pitched voice giggled. Robyn peered from under his hood and saw a small girl tug at a white horse's reigns. What was more surprising was the other two girls riding the horse. Robyn guessed they were triplets since they looked alike except for their hair and eyes. The three girls slid off the horse's back onto the lush grass. The blond triple pet the horse, who nudged her hand away gently. He stole the apple the redhead triple was about to eat from her hand then scoffed it down.
"Hey!" she protested while her siblings laughed. Soon, she joined in.
"I think he's still hungry," one of the sisters giggled.
"Oh! Look! An apple tree!"
The girls turned in the direction of the apple tree and their faces lit up. Its crimson fruits hung from its branches temptingly.
"I'll go get some for all of us," the blond triple eagerly darted towards the tree, but suddenly a shriek sliced through the pleasant atmosphere. The blond had disappeared and a dark hole was in her place.
"Katrina!" her sisters shrieked. Robyn jumped to his feet and ran over to the edge of the hole. The girl was desperately clinging onto a root of a tree sticking out of the wall of the hole. A mesh of thorns entwined together impatiently held their claws open to embrace the trembling girl at the bottom of the pit.
"I'll go get help!" the brunette jumped onto Botticelli and rode away.
Robyn laid on his stomach and gingerly pushed himself to the edge of the hole. He stretched out his hand to the terrified girl.
"Grab my hand," Robyn attempted the extend his hand further. The girl tried to reach for Robyn, but quickly hugged the tree's root afterwards.
"I can't," she cried out. Tears were starting to fill her eyes.
"It's OK, just take off one hand and reach up," Robyn instructed calmly despite his feelings being a jumble of fear and anxiety for the girl's safety.
"Uh," the girl grunted, and this time she succeeded in grabbing Robyn's hand.
"Good job, you're almost out," Robyn smiled at the girl, who beamed back. She held onto Robyn's hand as she climbed the steep wall. Suddenly, she slipped and let out a startled shriek, pulling Robyn down with her. His heart skipped a beat. Then strong hands grasped his waist and pulled him back to safety. Unfortunately, Robyn's shift of weight caused him to fall into his savior's arms. He quickly freed himself from his savior's embrace, unused to being held by anyone but Penelope or Hobie. The girl was fine and stood shakily.
"Brother!" the little girl sobbed and threw her arms around the male that appeared to be a little older than Robyn.
"Katrina, I'm so glad that you're safe," he hugged his sister tightly and stroked her hair.
"Why didn't you listen to father? You three aren't supposed to be wandering around on your own."
"We-we wanted to surprise Tommy since today was his birthday. I thought that if we rode around we could find some flowers for him. Of course no one else could know, because then it wouldn't be a surprise," Katrina sniffed and her lower lip trembled.
"Oh Katrina," her brother sighed.
Although Robyn did enjoy watching the sister and brother's heartwarming reunion, he couldn't help but feel awkward. He shifted his weight from his left foot to his right and looked at the ground.
"My apologies, I haven't thanked you for saving my sister."
Robyn blinked and looked up at the other male. His face was chiseled and breathtakingly flawless like a statue's face carved by the most skillful sculptor. His fine light brown hair was neatly brushed back and his eyes were deep blue lakes shaded by eyelashes. That's when Robyn's eyes trailed to the sword strapped to the hip of the older adolescent. The gears in Robyn's brain clicked and started to whirl, piecing the little details together until it formed a clear image. The fancy dresses the sisters were wearing, the sword strapped to their brother's hip... Robyn stared stunned, once again all the words he was about to utter dissipated from his mind, dissolved by his astonishment.
The prince's eyebrows furrowed ever so slightly and his eyes filled with concern, "Miss, are you alright?"
Robyn snapped back to reality, mainly because the prince had spoken. To Robyn's annoyance, the prince had also thought that he was a girl. Pushing that thought aside, Robyn focused on the more important issue.
Robyn *genuflected* and averted his embarrassed gaze to the ground, "Your majesty."
Author's Note- February 10, 2015
I wanted to take a break from homework because it gets pretty tiring writing essays, computer programs, chemistry problems *cough* Hess' Law, etc. ect... High school's not horrible, it's just that sometimes the work load piles up and crushes me. *sigh* And I heard that the last two years of high school are the hardest! I'm not sure how I'll survive haha. On the bright side in symphonic orchestra we've actually started playing the New World Symphony with the band! We listened to the professional recording before we attempted to play the piece. Each of the movements of the piece made me remember a specific scene of the movie. I squealed when my favorite part of the symphony started playing, it gave me the goosebumps! But when we actually tried to play the piece I nearly burst out laughing because we were murdering it. Antonin Dvorak would have run out screaming if he heard us play this piece. My apologizes Mr. Dvorak, I will practice harder so hopefully by next week I will be able to play at least ten measures decently. I hope you guys will have a wonderful week and a stress-free weekend!
All the best,
-Haelan
genuflect: to bend one's knee and bow submissively. It was a gesture used to show respect in the old days.