My horse stood on the hill of Cantoria. It overlooked the small village made of old wood and stone. I hit down on the reins and the horse slowly made its way down to the village. Children ran back and forth on the lawns playing games barefoot. Women laid out laundry to dry on the clotheslines and the clanging of metals came from the men at work. A young woman came up to me.

"Welcome to Cantoria," she smiled. Her honey brown hair was tied back in a cloth bonnet. "Can I help you with anything?"

"I am looking for a map maker," I said.

"Oh yes, Scorpios," she said. "It's down the road. The one with the missing letters." I thanked her and pushed my horse down the road. When I came to the shop I tied my horse to the tree and walked inside.

It was light and sunny with shelves full of maps. A girl was sitting on the counter wearing a shirt showing her midriff and a short skirt. Her legs were crossed and she was reading a long map. When she looked up my cheeks went red. She was one of the prettiest girls I had ever seen. She had long dark straight hair and an olive complexion

with big hazel eyes.

"Welcome to Scorpios' mapmaking fanatic," she said. "How may I help you?"

"I-I need a map," I said.

"Of?" sound a voice. A girl popped up from behind the counter. She wore a tight shirt and short shorts. She smiled revealing high cheekbones. She was pale with light blonde hair.

"I-I need a map of,"

"Please girls," said a boy's voice. A door opened and in stepped a boy with blonde hair almost white. It was slicked back and he wore a leather jacket. He had a defined pointed chin and grey eyes. The girls giggled and clung to his side. He smirked then looked at me. "This fellow can hardly talk because of your beauty," he said kissing each one on the forehead. "What kind of map are you looking for?"

"I need one of the whole Region." I said. He laughed.

"Can I ask why?" he said. I turned around and lifted up my shirt to show my tattoo. He laughed.

"For godly reasons?" he smirked. "I see, I see." my face turned red and I cursed at the tattoo artist silently in my head for not finishing it.

"I'm looking for Rapunzel." I announced. The boy's face dropped.

"Girls, go in the back, and fetch me a map of the Region." he said. The girls nodded and disappeared from sight.

He leaned over the counter.

"The name's Scorpios," he said. "You really think you can find Rapunzel? Men have searched far and wide for such a beauty and they've always failed."

"Have you heard of the League?" I asked. He nodded solemnly.
"You know how many people want to get there? But it's not even possible unless your selected at birth." I nodded my head in realization. That's why I never remembered my parents or child hood except growing up in that room.

"Well, I'm part of the League." I said. Scorpios laughed.

"Yeah. Right." he said.

"My tattoo was getting done," I said. "But the guard ran in and said Rapunzel was gone."

"Wait, you guys rescued her?" Scorpios said in shock. I nodded.

"But she was kidnapped and I was hired to re-find her."

"Rapunzel is supposed to be beautiful," said Scorpios. He nodded his head towards the back door. "And you know how much I... appreciate a beautiful woman. If I give you the map, can I help you find her?" I nodded.

"And do you think they'd let me in the League?"

"If you helped me find Rapunzel, I'm positive they'd let you in the League."

A girl came in through the door and handed Scorpios a large map.

"Here you go," she smiled. Scorpios wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

"I'm going on a trip," he said. "I need you to watch after the store for me."

"Oh, how long will you be gone?" she cried. He shrugged his shoulders.

"Weeks, months maybe," he said. "But when I come back, we'll have a celebration, just you and me okay?" he winked at her and she giggled.

"Yes sir Scorpios," she said and kissed him on the cheek. He grinned at me when she disappeared behind the door.

"Just don't be upset when Rapunzel chooses me over you, okay?"

I stared out of the window and sighed. How long would she be gone? I turned around and examined the white walls and spotted the paint out of the corner of my eye. "Of course that's what she expects me to do," I muttered as I plopped down on the stool. "But I'm not going to." I crossed my arms over my chest and spun around on my chair, but grew bored.

I jumped up and dipped the paintbrush into the red paint and started to make an arch. I followed up with five different colors to create a rainbow. Above it I made a dark sky with stars. I stood up on my stool and started to paint the planets. I hummed softly to myself then started to sing my special song. I felt the warmth start from my roots and my ends searching for another person.

"Not yet," I sang. "But hopefully soon."

"Rapunzel could be anywhere," said Scorpios scanning the map. We were outside of Cantoria in a small grassy area of land.
"According to legend, she was traded for a Rapunzel plant," he said. "And she was locked up in tower."

"Yeah, but we rescued her from the tower," I said. "And its highly unlikely they took her back to the tower, it would be too obvious to take her back and a waste of time to try to find the tower."

"But what if her kidnapper wants you to think that?" Scorpios asked.

"I'm sure they wouldn't want to take a chance," I said. "There's a vast mind of places they could have taken her."

"Well, where would you take Rapunzel if you kidnapped her?" Scorpios said. I sat in thought.

"Why does everyone want to kidnap Rapunzel?" I asked.

"Besides her being totally hot? There's something special about her hair, but we don't know exactly what. Rumors are it makes you younger and promotes health." I sat in thought.

"Well they wouldn't want to hurt her," I said. "Maybe take her somewhere to make her happy, then ask her to demonstrate the power with her hair so they don't seem like the bad guys?"

Scorpios shrugged.

"Maybe they took her back to her old home, to see her parents? I'd sure like that." he said. "My parents abandoned me when I was born." he cleared his throat. "To my knowledge, Rapunzel plants only grow in the city of Dalora. I don't know if its still standing, but its worth a try considering we have no other leads."

I nodded then rolled over on my back.

"I think I may know how it feels to be in her shoes," I said. "Locked up in a room for all of your life. But I didn't have it nearly as bad." I squinted at a cloud trying to make out its type. "At least I got to come outside sometimes. Can you imagine never running outside and squishing the dirt and grass between your toes? To have never felt the crisp waters cover your body?"

"And to not have human contact with anyone but yourself?" Scorpios shivered. "I can't live without girls." I chuckled.

"I'm going to find some food," said Scorpios. "We'll leave by sunrise."