Next chapter! Another character that you all know comes into the story in this chapter. Some of you may have already heard the story of how this character was not meant to even be a part of this at all until they just showed up in this chapter one day as I was writing the script. I hope you enjoy!
Rapunzel skipped her way through the forest, stopping every few seconds to admire a flower or the wind blowing through the trees. She reached out to touch everything that she possibly could, from the tree bark to a chameleon hiding in a thicket of moss. Shortly after she spent several minutes walking backwards to take a mental picture of just how far she'd already come, she turned a corner and was startled by a small building at the end of a path, the very earth beneath it slanted, with a sign out front that read "The Snuggly Duckling."
"I do like ducklings," she muttered to herself after a moment's consideration as she ventured down the walking path and into the first building she'd ever seen apart from her father's castle.
The door opened to reveal a dimly lit bar full of the most terrifying of men, all dressed in animal skins and armor and each brandishing his own weapon of choice. She immediately turned to leave just as one of the men slammed it closed in her face.
"That's a lot of hair," he remarked, his voice deep and dark.
Rapunzel smiled nervously, reaching her trembling hand down and taking hold of a frying pan she'd brought from the castle as a potential weapon, swinging it around, and threatening the thugs with it as if it were a sword. Suddenly, a man hidden in the shadows next to her chuckled before she saw a dark mass rise from a sitting position to tower over her. When he finally stepped out from the shadows and approached her, she couldn't help but gasp when he held up a silver hook in the place of his hand.
"You think that cooking utensil is any match for a hook, Lass?" he asked as Rapunzel began to back away until she bumped into the wall behind her, holding the pan out as far as her arms would reach to maintain as much space between herself and the hook-handed man as possible. However, he continued to approach her, only stopping just when he was close enough to see her face. Though the second that he laid eyes on her, his own expression was no longer one of intimidating confidence but of a shocking vulnerability. He quickly recovered and that confidence snapped back into place, though somewhat weaker then.
"Who are you?" he asked, genuine curiosity in his voice.
"N-no one. I was just passing through," she answered, voice trembling with fear. She started to walk past him before he reached out and pressed the back of his hook against her shoulder, holding her against the wall.
"Then where did you come from?"
"Listen, I don't know where I am, and I'm just trying to get to where the floating lights are going to be because I've been dreaming about them my entire life, and I'm trying to prove to my father that I have what it takes to make it out in the world without being attacked or killed, and this encounter with you is not a good way to start. Haven't you ever had a dream?" she asked desperately. His eyes lowered, away from Rapunzel's, his expression now one of great sadness.
"Aye, I had a dream once. You remind me of her…" he trailed off. Before Rapunzel could answer, the door to the bar flew open with a slam and Flynn Rider strolled in. Upon surveying the bar and spotting Rapunzel, an arrogant smirk formed on his face, but when he noticed the man with the hook standing over her, his hook still pointed out towards her, Flynn stopped, appearing conflicted as he struggled with whether or not he should involve himself in the situation. Finally coming to a decision, he masked his concern with that smirk again and continued strutting until he was standing next to the unlikely pair.
"I've heard about you. Captain Hook. Sailing from faraway lands. But apparently none of those lands have rules about proper etiquette in the presence of a beautiful girl," Flynn remarked with a wink at Rapunzel.
"Ah, and it seems I've heard of you as well, Flynn Rider. Your face is on every tree from here to the kingdom. Come to try and acquire a treasure, have you?" Hook replied, turning his hook on Flynn though Rapunzel remained against the wall, fearing any attempt at leaving would fail.
At Hook's mention of treasure, Flynn narrowed his eyes in false understanding, believing that Hook may have had the treasure that Rumplestiltskin had sent him after.
"Why, do you happen to have anything of value?"
"If I did, I wouldn't divulge that information to a known thief, would I?" Hook snapped, pressing his hook harder into Flynn's chest.
"Funny, coming from a pirate," Flynn retorted, turning his attention on Rapunzel, who was watching the exchange with both fear and fascination. "Who's your friend, Hook?"
Captain Hook glanced back at Rapunzel, that same look of familiarity, as if he recognized her, appearing before he shook it away.
"My name is Rapunzel," she answered when Hook said nothing.
"Gesundheit," Flynn and Hook replied simultaneously, sharing a brief look of mutual understanding before returning to glaring at each other.
"I'm just trying to get to the floating lights," Rapunzel said, ignoring them both.
"You mean the lantern thing they do for the princess?" Flynn asked curiously as Rapunzel's eyes grew wide.
"Lanterns! So that's what they are!" she exclaimed to herself before she paused, thinking. Suddenly, she stood up straight in an attempt to make herself as tall as possible, trying to sneer like she had seen her father do so many times when he wanted something from someone, and she pushed Hook's hook down by his side.
"Alright, Flynn Rider, I have a deal for you," she said confidently as Flynn sighed.
"Another deal?" he asked as Rapunzel lost her composure for a moment, confused at his words, before quickly snapping back into her best Rumplestiltskin impression.
"You will act as my guide, take me to these lanterns, and bring me back home, and I will see that you receive adequate payment."
Flynn started to open his mouth to respond, but several palace guards burst into the bar at that very second, scouring the bar for any sign of him.
"Rider HAS to be here. Check everywhere!" one of the guards urged.
Flynn seized Rapunzel by the hand and pulled her down behind the bar to hide. Suddenly, Hook reached down under the counter for Flynn, and for a moment, he froze in terror, but when he looked up, Hook pressed a lever behind the bar that opened a secret door in the floor leading down into a hidden underground tunnel. He gestured silently to the door as Flynn rolled his eyes.
"I've lived here all of my life, frequented this bar for years, and you show up out of the blue and suddenly have access to a secret tunnel I've never seen before," Flynn said, annoyed, rolling his eyes but crawling slowly towards the tunnel regardless. Just before he slid inside, however, Hook grasped his shirt.
"I'm feeling particularly gentlemanly today, so I'm letting you go. But…" he paused, pulling Flynn up so that their faces were within inches of each other, Hook's blue eyes dark slits. "You have to help her."
"What is she to you?" Flynn asked, appearing entirely unfazed by Hook's attempt at intimidation. Rather than supply an answer, Hook tightened his grip on Flynn, nearly tearing through his shirt. "Fine. I'll take her to the lanterns," he said as Hook smiled and released him to slide down into the tunnel, leaving Rapunzel beaming as she sat at the entrance to the tunnel.
"Why would you do that for me? You don't even know me," Rapunzel asked.
"You remind me of myself, some time ago. Willing to sacrifice anything for love," he answered, sadness in his words that she wished she could understand. She couldn't quite explain, but she felt drawn to this stranger…as if they were connected in some way.
"Thank you," she said, leaning over to kiss him on the cheek before she began to slide through the door after Flynn.
"Love?" he asked, pulling her back.
"Yes?"
"Who are your parents?"
"Well, I never met my mother. She died shortly after I was born."
Hook lowered his gaze to the floor as he recalled his own memory before looking up at her again, his eyes burning with anger now.
"And your father?"
"My father's name is Rumplestiltskin."
Hook's eyes widened for a moment as he opened his mouth to reply, but the guards' voices came closer and Rapunzel slid away into the darkness. A moment of internal conflict passed across Hook's dark expression before he sighed deeply, sadly, and closed the trap door.