Chapter XX: Scarves And Hats
The rugged men didn't seem very friendly at all. Their clothes and demeanor told people to refrain from giving hospitality to them. They were both also quite large in size; larger and buffer than Kristoff even. Though both were fairly smaller than Oaken, they looked more intimidating. The first impressions Anna and Rapunzel had on these two newcomers was a negative one. The girls assumed that the men wouldn't make great friends.
"We've got company." Rapunzel said, as if that wasn't obvious.
One of the men, the one with the beanie like hat, had a sword strapped to his waist. The sword didn't look very elegant like Kai's was. This sword was had more dents in it, and it wasn't perfectly straight nor was it perfectly curved. The blade was more grayish than silver, and brown stains were on it. Anna hoped that the stains on the sword were not what she thought they were. The other man, the one with the scarves covering his neck and mouth, had an axe strapped to his back. The axe was a one handed weapon, large but small enough so only one hand was required. The blade looked similar to the sword's, only with more brown stains. The wooden handle of the axe was a large stick anything but straight.
These men looked like they had seen battle, and that was exactly what the girls were afraid of. Oaken seemed thrilled to see new faces, but Anna and Rapunzel were exactly the opposite. They didn't want to hang around much longer.
The two men looked over at Anna and Rapunzel and gave them a dirty look. Anna looked away from them before they made eye contact, looked at the ceiling, and started to whistle. Rapunzel was pretending to study her nails to avoid the gaze of the men. The man with the hat leaned closer to the scarved man' sear and whispered something. The scarved man nodded, acknowledging whatever his partner said while still looking at the girls.
Oaken was still studying his new potential customers, wondering if they truly were there to buy from him. As long as they had some money with them, Oaken didn't care what they bought.
The man with the hat walked over to the wall on the right side of the door, where many large products were located. Their diversity ranged. He then turned his head to scan the room, and was unsatisfied when he analyzed it thoroughly. He looked back at his partner, the man with the scarves, and shook his head. The scarfed man gave his partner a disappointed look and walked towards Oaken.
As the man approached the desk, Anna and Rapunzel slowly and silently stepped away from Oaken. They then made their way to the winter department and pretending to be studying the little objects in it. Anna's head was turned so that she was able to see what the scarfed man and Oaken were doing. The man with the hat was near the shelves, making a ruckus where he was.
Rapunzel got closer to Anna. "I don't like this." Rapunzel whispered.
"Something's going on here." Anna said. "We need to find out what."
"Don't you think it's a better idea to just leave now?" Rapunzel asked. She didn't want any trouble with these men, and trouble was inevitable wherever the girls went.
"Not a chance." Anna said. "These guys mean trouble, and I want to find out why."
Rapunzel sighed in disappointment, knowing that Anna had made up her mind. "Fine." She said. "I'll go see what Hats is doing over there while you go check out whats up with Scarves and Oaken."
The girls were careful to keep their voices low so that no one else could hear what they were saying. Anna nodded to Rapunzel's plan. The two girls broke off. Rapunzel walked over to the wall the hatted man, Hats as Rapunzel called him, was looking through. She pretended to be looking at the items on it, but her eyes were turned to Hats. She saw he was looking through the items on the shelves, and moved any object that got in the way of his line of sight and another object.
The man looked over at Rapunzel to see what she was doing, but Rapunzel quickly turned her head back at the wall, whistling a tune. She couldn't look like she was doing something suspicious in front of the man.
The man shrugged off his suspicions and looked back at the shelves. He continued making noises by scavenging through the items. He was looking for something, Rapunzel knew that for sure. She didn't know what he was looking for or if he would even be able to find it, but he was desperately searching for it.
Rapunzel was able to hear the scarfed man, Scarves, and Oaken speak to each other from where she was standing. It seemed that the job she gave Anna wasn't a job she couldn't do on her own.
"Hoo-hoo!" Oaken exclaimed. "If you are looking for some winter fun, I have small sleds and winter clothes in our winter department." Oaken pointed towards the winter department which had almost nothing but some snow shoes. "We are out of stock for items I have just mentioned." Oaken told the man.
"I don't care about some winter supplies." Scarves said, angrily. "I want weapons. Swords, axes, flintlocks, anything you can get me."
Neither Anna nor Rapunzel were surprised that these guys wanted, out of all things, weapons. They looked like the type to choose a sword over a frying pan. Anna wonder why they would think Oaken sells weapons here, looking at all the other non-weapon-related items he sold.
"I'm sorry, but I don't have any weapons to sell." Oaken said. "But, may I interest you in some lutefisk?" Oaken took another jar of dead fish from under his desk and shook it.
Scarves pounded the desk with his right fist, and Oaken put his jar down immediately. "I'm not playing!" Scarves yelled.
"Me neither." Oaken said, merrily. "If weapons is what you wish for, please take your business to another store."
Scarves stepped away from the table angrily. He looked over at Hats and saw that Hats was just as disappointed as he was. He assumed that Hats was not able to find any weapons. The closest thing he could find to a weapon was a frying pan, which was completely underrated if you asked Rapunzel. It was obvious that they weren't going to get anything from Oaken as he had nothing they wanted.
Then, Scarves noticed Rapunzel standing near Hats, pretending to not notice,anything outside of her thoughts. He motioned his head towards her, and Hats looked over at her. Scarves then walked to the winter department and stood near Anna. Anna tried to ignore his presence, but he was close enough to imply he wanted a word with Anna.
"At least there's a silver lining." Scarves whispered to himself.
Anna felt uncomfortable around Scarves. His presence gave off such a bad connotation, and his attitude with Oaken told Anna that he wouldn't make a great friend. Now since he was close enough, Anna saw that he had menacing eyes with some cuts on his face. It was clear that he had seen some action.
"Can I help you?" Anna asked, half-heartedly to Scarves.
"Are you carrying any weapons on you, miss?" Scarves asked, quickly.
Anna shook her head and looked away, hoping for Scarves to just move on. But, Anna refocused her attention back on Scarves after he didn't walk away. It was obvious that he wasn't done talking to Anna.
"What's a pretty girl like you doing out here in a place like this?" Scarves asked.
Anna paused. She didn't know how to answer the question. She didn't trust Scarves, nor did she want to tell him the truth, but she wasn't one to lie. Whenever she did, she always felt horrible right after even if it was a small lie. That was why she barely lied. The guilt was always such a burden on her. She was still suffering from the guilt of betraying her husband's and sister's trust.
Luckily, Anna wasn't alone. Rapunzel was there to help her. Rapunzel walked away from Hats and stood right next to Anna. She was able to overhear the questions Scarves was asking Anna. Knowing Anna, she knew that Anna needed the support. She held Anna's hand and gave her look saying "You can do this." Rapunzel, like Anna, wasn't one to lie which is why she's rather Anna do it with her playing along.
"I'm Adele." Anna said. "And this is my sister..." Anna didn't know what to call Rapunzel.
"Dazeem." Rapunzel answered for her.
"Right." Anna said. "See, we're sisters, and we're trying to get home. We stopped by to get some food."
Anna hoped that Scarves would buy it. Hats walked up next to his partner while Anna was telling her fake story. Anna wondered if Scarves and Hats knew who she was, prior to her telling the story to them. Anna made many public appearances in Arendelle, and she have met many people. Anna doubted that they would recognize her since they didn't look the type to go to one of her parties. She knew for a fact that they wouldn't recognize Rapunzel since this would be the first time she stepped out of her country, assuming the men have never been to Corona.
"Is that so?" Hats asked.
The girls quickly nodded their heads, intimidated by the men.
"Where's your other sister?" Scarves asked Anna.
"I'm sorry." Anna said. "Dazeem is my only sister."
"Oh, I don't think so." Scarves said. "Where's your sister, Elsa, Adele? Or should I say... Anna."
Busted. Anna's fear was true. The men knew her true identity. The men took a step closer to the girls, pushing them to the wall. Their intent was not noble.
"The other's will be happy with who we bring back." Hats said.
Scarves reached his hand out towards Anna, but before he could touch her, Ralunzel quickly took out her frying pan and swung it in front of her, slightly above her. It hit both Scarves and Hats in the face, knocking them to the ground. Rapunzel grabbed Anna's hand and started to run. Rapunzel was able to pass Hats' body, but before Anna could get a safe distance Anna, Hats grabbed Anna's ankle, forcing her to fall to the floor on the left side of the long shelf from where they were.
Hats had a great grip on Anna. She tried kicking his head to make him let her go, but it was no use. Scarves had gotten up at that point, and was ready to help Hats deal with Anna. When Anna looked ahead of her to the exit, Rapunzel was nowhere to be found. She assumed Rapunzel was in too much of a rush that she ran out without her and didn't notice her fall.
When Anna looked back at her adversaries, she found Rapunzel standing behind Scarves. She must've ran around the entire room to get behind Scarves. Even though Anna was struggling to get away from Hats' grasp, she smiled at Rapunzel who raised her frying pan above Scarves' head.
Rapunzel swung down, hoping to get the effect that usually came from her frying pan. Unfortunately, Hats was stronger than most of the people Rapunzel used her frying pan against. He stopped focusing on Anna and turned around, facing Rapunzel, not showing a single reaction from the frying pan. Rapunzel smiled at the man as if she didn't hit him. She grabbed a snowshoe from the winter department wall and offered it to him as an apology.
Scarves smacked the snowshoe away from Raounzel and grabbed her frying pan. He then threw it on the ground next to them. Scarves grabbed Rapunzel's wrists and pushed her up against the wall behind her. She tried her best to escape from his grasp, but his hold was too strong. She strugglee but to no avail.
"I don't know who you are." Scarves said. "But bringing you in woth Princess Anna will be a bonus."
Rapunzel was able to smell his horrid breath. She moved her head away, concerned with not smelling the death gas that came out of his mouth. Even though it was covered, it was strong enough to be smelt.
"In your dreams." Rapunzel said, bravely. Her legs were still free to move. She raised her knee up quickly upon the man's genital area, hitting it's target. The man squeaked in pain and let Rapunzel go. He fell to the ground with his hands over his crotch, hoping there be no damage to it.
Rapunzel looked over at Anna who was still kicking at Hats' head. Rapunzel ran over to her friends aid. She stood over Hats with her frying pan next to her head and swung down upon the top of Hats' head. Luckily, Hats was not as tough as Scarves was. He let go of Anna's ankle and grabbed the too his his head which stung from the frying pan.
Rapunzel held her hand out in front of Anna, offering her help. Anna took Rapunzel's hand and Rapunzel lifted her up.
"I have got to get me one of those." Anna said.
Rapunzel smiled and started to swing her frying pan. "We should get out of here." Rapunzel suggested.
Anna nodded, and together they ran for the exit. Before they reached the door out, Scarves got in their way. He blocked the doorway with his huge body. Rapunzel gulped as he took his axe out from his back.
"I only need to bring back Anna." Scarves said, looking at Rapunzel. "You on the other hand..." Scarves swung his axe as if chopping Rapunzel's head from her neck, but Rapunzel reacted quickly. Anna sidestepped the axe so it wouldn't touch her, and Raounzel ducked, making the axe swing over her head. The axe got stuck on the wooden corner of the long shelf, shaking it greatly and making some objects fall off.
Scarves struggled greatly to try to get the axe unattached to the shelf. While he struggled, Rapunzel swung her frying pan at Scarves' face, but yet again, he took it with no reaction. It was as if his head was steel.
The girls knew that they had to get away from Scarves immediately, and they had to lure him away from the door. They turned behind, prepared to run, only to find that Hats had gotten up with his sword in hand. He was getting closer slowly. They turned back towards Scarves to check his progress. When they heard the sound of wood snapping, they assumed he was able to free his axe. By the way he was pulling it out, when he freed it, he unintentionally swung it to the right.
Anna and Rapunzel were lucky enough to dodge that attack as well by ducking from the axe. The axe then got stuck on the wall to the right of Scarves, and once again, he had to pull it out.
Anna decided it best to run away immediately. She ran to the left side of the long shelf, on the opposite side Hats was on. She looked back at Rapunzel, perplexed as to why she didn't make a move. Anna motioned for Rapunzel to come over to her, but Rapunzel just shook her head, denying the offer. Rapunzel looked over at Hats who was nearing her. He was taking large steps with his legs spread apart. That was Rapunzel's opening.
Rapunzel ran towards Hats on the right side of the shelves. Hats prepared his sword to strike. Just as that was happening, Scarves was quickly able to take his sword away from the wooden wall it was stuck on. He saw Rapunzel running towards Hats, and knowing she wasn't needed, Scarves threw his axe at her. Hats swung his sword at about the same time the axe was thrown.
Rapunzel knew hoe the men were going to attack her. She was counting on it. When the sword was swung at her, she dropped to the ground and slid under Hats' legs, dodging the sword attack. Scarves' axe flew past Hats' head and hit the wall in front of Rapunzel.
"Wow..." Anna whispered, amazed.
"You almost killed me!" Hats yelled at Scarves. He then threw his sword at Scarves, and it flew past Scarves' head. The blade then stuck to the door behind Scarves. Scarves then took a step forward and gave an evil look to Hats.
"You almost killed me!" Scarves yelled at Hats. Scarves ran at Hats with his fist raised in the air, ready to bring the hurt upon his partner. Scarves swung his fist down upon Hats' left cheek, and Hats' head moved toward the direction the fist was going. Hats looked back up at his partner in rage. He grabbed Scarves shoulders with both of his hands and threw him on the wall next to them. Many items that were hanging on it fell to the ground, making loud noises.
Anna knew that their struggle would be their downfall. She pointed Rapunzel toward the direction of the exit, and Rapunzel nodded. Both of them were well over ready to get out of Oaken's shop.
"Don't fight me, you idiot!" Scarves said. "Focus on them!"
Hats turned his head to look at Anna and Rapunzel who were just about to tiptoe away from the winter department and to the door out. Hats put his partner down and walked toward Anna and Rapunzel. They backed up as he got closer to them. When he reached Scarves' axe, he took it out of the wall and held it in his hand as he approached the girls.
Anna and Rapunzel hit a wall as they were walking back, and found that they were cornered in the left corner of the winter department. Scarves, although with no weapon, joined his partner cornering the girls. Hats gave an evil smile to the girls, and Scarves gave one too even though it wasn't visible. Scarves then cracked his knuckles, ready to take them.
Anna gulped. "It's been nice knowing you, Rapunzel."
"Same here." Rapunzel said.
Then, before the men were able to do anything to the girls, a large figure appeared behind them. Anna and Rapunzel were now focusing on what was behind the men. Hats and Scarves were then picked up off of their feet which were now dangling above the ground. They were just as confused as the girls were as to what was happening.
Hats was so caught off guard that he dropped Scarves' axe on the floor. They looked behind them to see why they were floating and found Oaken holding both of them up by the collar of their clothes. Oaken banged their heads together, making imaginary birds fly around both of their heads.
"I'm going to have to throw you guys out for making a mess in my store." Oaken told the men. Oaken then turned around, still holding the men. Oaken was much taller than the men, and much bigger in every way. It was no surprise that he was stronger as well. He carried them to the door as they struggled to get out of his grasp. They did all they could to get away from Oaken, but his grip was simply just too strong.
Oaken kicked his door open, and the wind blew into the building. He then tossed Hats out first, who landed roughly into the snow. Then, Oaken tossed Scarves who hit Hats when he landed on the ground. Scarves was the first to get up, and the Hats followed.
"Bye bye!" Oaken said happily to the two.
Oaken then walked back inside while Anna and Rapunzel passed him while walking outside. The girls were able to see the men start running away from the building into a path that led into the forest. They left prints in the snow as they ran away. Scarves looked back at the building once more before he entered the forest.
Anna and Rapunzel watched as their adversaries ran away from them.
"What are we going to do now?" Rapunzel asked Anna.
"We should follow them." Anna answered.
"Are you crazy?" Rapunzel asked. "They almost killed use and I'm sure they'll do it again."
"Look." Anna said. "They talked about capturing me and bringing me back to people. How much do you bet they're with Cade and Lilith?"
"That's a probability." Rapunzel agreed.
"Also, where could they be running to?" Anna asked. "They're going to their base, and they'll lead us right to Cade and Lilith, hopefully."
Rapunzel nodded. It seems as though that was their only option at this moment. They had nowhere else to go, and the route the men were running down was new to them. The girls would find these men useful after all.
Anna was the first to run after the men since she the one that was so sure the plan would work. Rapunzel was skeptic as first, believing that they were running towards a trap, but she trusted Anna's judgement. Scratch that. She didn't after remembering what Anna did when she first met Hans. But, she couldn't just let Anna run into the forest alone without some form of protection.
Rapunzel followed Anna running. The two entered the clear path that led into the forest. The girls sprinted as fast as they could possibly go, hoping to catch up with the men. They ran side by side. At first, they were just following the fresh footprints of the running men, but then, they was able to spot both running men ahead of her.
Unfortunately, Scarves and Hats were able to see both girls running behind them. It was obvious that they had no more interest in kidnapping Anna as they just gave up and ran earlier. Now, the girls were really getting on their nerves. The men were without weapons, and Rapunzel had her infamous frying pan in her hand. They just kept running, but something clicked in Hats' head.
From a pouch he carried, he took out a brown ball and pulled a small piece away from it. He then shook the ball as a fizzing noise happened inside of it. He then threw the ball behind him, at both Anna and Rapunzel. Rapunzel didn't exactly know what the ball was, nor what was in it. She just looked at it fly at her as they ran.
Fortunately, Anna knew exactly what it was. Anna grabbed Rapunzel, and then jumped to the right, avoiding the ball but falling on the ground. When the brown ball landed on the ground a few feet behind them, it exploded. The noise deafened both girls for a few seconds. They found themselves covered in snow thanks to the ball. Anna remembered well what it was. It was an explosive that the Bandit Organization often used. She knew they were custom made as well exclusively for the Bandits, so she asked herself why exactly Hats would have it? Could it be... No. Anna shrugged the thought off of her mind. Now was not the time to worry about that.
Anna focused on recovering from the blast instead of having bad memories. She help Rapunzel up who looked even more shocked than she was. Anna then stood up herself.
"What was that?" Rapunzel asked.
"An explosive. A small bomb." Anna answered.
"That was close." Rapunzel said.
"Yeah, I wouldn't necessarily play catch with them." Anna responded.
They looked ahead to find the men had gone. The bomb was a good enough distraction for them to get out of the girls' line of sight. Both girls thought that there was no way the guards could've gotten away running straight in time. It just didn't make sense. Luckily for them, the footprints were still there.
They continued to follow the footprints of Scarves and Hats. The prints didn't go straight forward for long. They showed that the men had turned and ran into the forest, off the path. Rapunzel gave Anna an unsure look, and Anna acknowledged it. This looked a little fishy for her too. But, they had no other choice but to walk into the forest.
They followed the tracks that led through the trees. The prints weren't together, but they both led to the same direction. After walking for a bit, the girls found that it led to a small, empty, flat area covered with snow but with no trees. It was about fifty meters long, and fifty meters wide in a perfect circle. They found that the tracks didn't go into the circle at all, but to the side of it.
"That's weird." Anna said.
"Do the tracks end here?" Rapunzel asked.
Anna looked at the ground to find that the tracks did not end yet. She continued to follow the tracks while Rapunzel walked deeper into the clearing. Anna followed the tracks on the side to a clearing and found that they ended in front of a tree. That was it. No more tracks in front of Anna. Only a large tree stood in her way.
Where did they go, Anna asked herself in her mind.
Rapunzel was just as confused as Anna was, but it was for something else. As she walked towards the middle of the clearing, she noticed that her footsteps sounded different. She then heard a creaking sound whenever she stepped, as if she was walking over a layer of wood. Something was definitely odd about the ground beneath her.
Then, the floor beneath Rapunzel started to shake.
"Anna!" Rapunzel called.
Anna turned over to Rapunzel to find her standing in the middle of shaking snow. A creaking noise went on infinitely. Anna ran to Rapunzel's aid, hoping to help her get out of their current predicament. Then, when Anna finally reached Rapunzel's position, the ground beneath them tilted down. The piece of floor they were on tilted like a slide that continued into the darkness beneath the ground that was not tilting.
They tried to hold their footing as the snow around them slid down into the darkness. They then found, when the snow was gone, that they had been on a wooden floor. It was a trapdoor that led to who knew where. They thought they were safe from sliding down, but the wooden floor then continued to tilt, getting closer to a ninety degree angle. Soon, neither of the girls were able to hold on to the ground.
They both slid down the wooden trapdoor, and slid beneath the part of the ground which was not a trapdoor. It seemed to have been hollowed out since the trapdoor led under it.
"What is this?!" Rapunzel said.
Before Anna could answer, both girls slid down into complete darkness.
Author's Note: I haven't had a good cliffhanger ending in a while, so there you are. I've received little feedback on the past chapter or two, and I really want to know how the story is so far. Also, I'll be talking about future projects when we near the end to the story. Ciao.