"You did it!" Frida cried happily. "You rescued me! You're amazing! You're wonderful! You're...A little unorthodox I'll admit, but I am so grateful for what you've done for me."
"Yeah whatever." Manny said panting. "Oh God I better get my land back for this."
"Sir you are very strange but you're brave and honorable and that's all that matters. So you may remove your helmet now."
"Uh no." Manny said knowing what her reaction would be.
"Why?"
"I... I...have helmet hair."
"So? I have blue hair, I won't complain. Now I would like to see your face."
"No you wouldn't."
"Then how will you kiss me?"
"What?" Manny said backing into a rock, blushing. "That wasn't in the job description."
"Maybe it's a perk." Zebra Donkey said.
"No it's true love." Frida said. "Everyone knows the story. A princess that's me, is locked in a tower until a brave knight that's you, rescues me and then we share true loves first kiss."
"Huh?!" Manny blushed hard.
"Wait! You think Manny is your true love?" Zebra Donkey said.
"Well yes." She replied.
Manny and Zebra Donkey looked at each other and burst out laughing.
"What is so funny?" She asked.
"Let's just say I'm not your type." Manny said.
"Of course you are you rescued me. Now remove your helmet."
"Look I really don't think this is a good idea. I mean I'm not exactly handsome."
"I'm not expecting you to be handsome. I don't care you how you look."
"You say that now but just wait until you see me."
"Just take off the helmet."
"I'm not going to."
"Take it off!"
"No!"
"NOW!"
"Okay! Easy, but you're not going to like what you see."
Manny gulped nervously and removed the helmet. Frida was not happy with who was under it. This was not good. Not good at all. She couldn't have been rescued by a tiger hybrid. He couldn't be her true love. Her true love had to be a prince or at least human.
"You're...you're an El tigre hybrid." She said disappointed.
"Oh, you were expecting Prince Charming?"
"Well yes, actually. Oh no. This is wrong! You're not supposed to be this!"
"I told you, you wouldn't like me. But noooo. You insisted that you wouldn't care about how I looked."
"I didn't but I thought that at least you'd be human. I mean I can't marry a hybrid."
"Princess! I was sent to rescue you by Lord Sergio, okay? He's the one who wants to marry you." Manny said.
"Well, then why didn't he come rescue me?"
"Good question. You should ask him that when we get there."
"But I have to be rescued by my true love not by some tigre and his pet."
"Look Princess, you're not making my job any easier." Manny said.
"Well, I'm sorry but your job is not my problem." Frida said. "You can tell Lord Sergio, that if he wants to rescue me properly I'll be waiting for him right here."
"Hey! I'm no one's messenger boy. Alright? I'm a delivery boy."
"You wouldn't dare!"
Manny grabbed Frida and flung her over his shoulder. She angrily kicked and screamed while hitting his back with her little fists.
"Ahh! Put me down!" She said struggling to get down.
"Ya coming, Zebra Donkey?" Manny said holding on to her tightly.
"Yeah I'm right behind you." He said.
"Put me down! Or you will suffer the consequences!" Frida demanded. "This is not dignified! Put me down! Ughhh!"
She kicked, punched, and screamed the whole time he carried her. Neither her kicks or her punches would hurt him so he could easily ignore them. Finally she stopped and just hung off his shoulder.
"Okay, here's another one." Zebra Donkey said. "Say there's a chick that digs you but you don't like her that way, now how do you let her down real easy so her feelings don't get hurt and so you don't get burnt to a crisp. How do you do that?"
"Just tell her she's not your true love. Everyone knows what happens when you-"
Manny bumped her on the bottom.
"Hey!" She cried.
"Whoops. I slipped." He said smugly.
"Yeah right. Watch your hands bub or you'll be sorry and could you be just a little bit gentle when you carry me?"
"Whine, whine, nag, nag, don't you ever shut up? You're giving me a headache."
"The sooner we get there the better." She complained.
"Oh you're gonna love it there, it's beautiful." Zebra dsaid.
"And my groom to be, Lord Sergio? What's he like?"
"Well let me put it to you this way princess." He said putting her down. "Men of his statures are in short supply." He chuckled.
"There are those who think little of him." Zebra Donkey snickered.
"What's so funny?" Frida asked.
"Just don't expect a handsome prince or a knight in shinning armor when you meet him tomorrow."
"Tomorrow?!" She gasped looking back at the sun. In one hour it would set. "It'll take that long? Shouldn't we stop to make camp?"
"No. That'll take longer."
"But I'm tired. The whole escape made me exhausted."
"Sorry, but we're going."
"I need to find some place to camp NOW!"
Not wanting to deal with the wrath of an angry woman the boys found a cave for her to stay in for the night.
"Hey over here." Manny called.
"Manny! We can do better than that." Zebra Donkey said. "Now I don't think that's fit for a princess."
"No. No. It's perfect! It just needs a few homey touches." Frida said.
"Homey touches? Like what?" Manny said.
"A door." She said getting a piece of bark. "Well good night gentlemen, I hope you sleep well and if either one of you come in here I'll punch right in your face."
She then slammed the door.
"Hmmph! Can you believe her?" Manny mumbled. "She's stubborn and difficult and pushy and hot headed."
"Like you?" Zebra Donkey saif.
"Shut up! I'm nothing like her! Now help me get some firewood."
That night Manny and Zebra Donkey gathered up some wood and built a fire. They laid down on the ground and tried to go to asleep.
"Hey, Manny what are you going to do when you get your land back?" Zebra Donkey asked him.
"Build a ten foot wall around my land."
"Why?"
"To keep people out."
"That sounds pretty lonely."
"I like to be alone."
"Oh come on nobody likes to be alone."
"I do."
"Why?"
"I just do."
"What's that about?"
"What?"
"You always wanting to be alone?"
"I already told you I like to be alone. It's better for me that way."
"What does that mean?"
"Never mind Zebra Donkey."
"You're hiding something."
"No I'm not."
"Oh yes you are."
"Zebra Donkey, I'm warning you!"
"Just who are you trying to keep out? Who?"
"Everyone! Okay!"
Frida happened to be listening to the conversation. Luckily, it was so dark that if the boys saw her all they would see were her eyes. Her sliver blue eyes that seemed to be cat-like.
"What's your problem, Manny? What you got against the whole world?" Zebra Donkey asked.
"Hey, I'm not the one with the problem, okay? It's the world that seems to have a problem with me! You know I wasn't always like this! I used to be a real decent guy with a home and a family! Then one day when I was a kid some hunters came, burned down my home, and killed my parents! You see this scar on my eye here?" He pointed to the scar the was over his left eye. "I got this from one hunter who tried to stab me in my face with a knife but he missed and cut my eye!"
Both Frida and Zebra Donkey were shocked by his story.
"I pushed him back into the fire in my house and ran away! Ever since then I've always been running and I tried to find a friend but it never worked out! Because people take one look at me and scream, Ahhh! Help! Run! A big, stupid, ugly, monster!" Manny said. "They judge me before they even know me. That's why I'm better off alone."
Manny sat to the ground and his ears sunk in sorrow. Frida couldn't help but feel terrible for how she treated him. He wasn't a horrible creature he was just a poor kid who wanted to be accepted but fate had been very cruel to him and now he had no home and no family, he was all alone in the world. She knew all too well what that was like.
"You know, when we met." Zebra Donkey said sitting next to him. "I didn't think you were a big, stupid, ugly monster."
"I know."
The two spent the rest of the night silently watching the stars.