Chapter 15
Present day
When Flynn flickers open his eyes, he sees a pale canvas ceiling.
He notices the warm orange glow of a flickering lantern somewhere next to him, projecting shadows overhead and along the walls. He realizes he's laying on his back atop a hard cot, muscles sore and eyelids heavy.
As his blurry vision begins to focus, he recognizes the figure standing over him, and all of it starts to feel familiar.
"Lance?" he mumbles, realizing himself to be inside one of their camps' many canvas tents.
"I know how you get with your beauty sleep, but still. About time you woke up," greets Lance.
There's a mere sense of panic as the recollection of what had happened suddenly returns. Flynn had been running through the woods, leading the guards off of Rapunzel's trail. He'd thought he'd lost them, then it was as if something had struck him. There was a numbing pain in his entire body, then everything went black.
He forcefully pushes himself up onto his elbows, ignoring the warm rush of blood through his pounding head. "The girl I was with. Did—"
"Flynn! You're okay!"
Next thing he knows, he's being pushed back down onto his back when someone with a head of blonde hair suddenly throws herself onto him. It takes him a moment to realize what is happening as Rapunzel wraps her arms tightly around his neck, practically laying on top of him now.
After a stunned moment, he chuckles as his hand finds the small of her back. Then Rapunzel awkwardly backs away again once she realizes what she'd just done.
"What? You didn't think I would be?" Flynn teases as she pushes herself off of him.
He notices the sudden blush of her freckled cheeks, and the way she suddenly can't look at him. She's smiling though, and Flynn hadn't realized how much he missed the sight of it.
"To be fair, you'd been out for a while," says Lance, who is standing next to Rapunzel with his arms crossed.
"How long?" Flynn asks, dreading the answer.
"Six hours," notifies Rapunzel, though it had felt like so much longer. She'd been counting the minutes. "Lance kept me company."
Flynn pushes himself up into a sitting position, swinging his legs over the side of the cot. "Well," he grips the edge of it, lowering his chin as all sense of feeling gradually returns to his body. "I guess you two have met already."
"Sure have," says Lance. "Cassandra here told me all about how you got holed up back there. A group of us were out hunting when we saw you two running from those guards. You're lucky we showed up when we did."
Rapunzel's hands are folded in front of herself, now standing a safer distance away. "How are you feeling?"
Flynn shrugs, raising his eyebrows in disbelief, "Considering I almost just died, I'd say I've never slept better."
"Doc checked you out. Said you're gonna be just fine." Lance steps forward to pat him on the shoulder. "Those guards must've hit you with some sort of tranquilizer. It put you to sleep, but you were never close to dying."
Well, that would explain the numbing pain he felt and the overwhelming exhaustion. "Oh, fun. Knowing you, I'm surprised you didn't show up sooner to get your share in all of it," Flynn nudges Lance teasingly.
"Yeah, you wish," Lance pushes the other man in the arm, who sways to the side. They both chuckle to themselves like they've become kids all over again – as if they hadn't all just been terrified for Flynn's life.
Then Flynn's laughter dies down as he meets eyes with Rapunzel across the room.
She's standing silently a distance away, hugging her arms. She's watching their banter with admiration yet her somber eyes only seem to seek out Flynn's.
Immediately, he knows she's upset, and the two boys' play fighting slows to a stop.
Lance clears his throat.
"You didn't jump," she says.
They both stare blankly at her as Flynn recalls what had happened, and what he assumes to have had happened between then and now. There's a sudden guilt as he realizes that whatever it was, he hadn't been there. And clearly it affected her.
Flynn nervously scratches the back of his head, running a hand through his hair. "Uh…"
Sensing whatever unspoken tension that is, Lance jumps for the door flap that leads back outside. He stands underneath it, momentarily poking his head outside. "I'll, um… I'll just be—what's that, Hector? Coming!" Then he disappears, leaving Rapunzel and Flynn alone in silence.
There's an awkward moment after Lance is gone, with Flynn still sitting on the edge of the cot, and Rapunzel watching him from a distance.
"You get used to him," he tells her apologetically.
But Rapunzel's frown doesn't disappear. She looks away from him then, her eyebrows creased painfully. What happened back there might be a joke to them, but not to her.
"I knew you'd make it," he assures, tone suddenly serious. "I know those woods like the back of my hand."
"You scared me," says Rapunzel.
"I know. I'm sorry."
He realizes what that must have been like for her – being left alone like that. She'd been counting on him to come back for her, but he didn't. He can only imagine how worried she must have been. Six hours is a long time for her not to know when he'd even wake up.
"Are you, um… you're not hurt, are you?" he asks.
"No. I'm okay." Rapunzel walks slowly toward the cot, eventually sitting down next to him. She sighs, staring blankly ahead. "You didn't have to do that, you know. I don't want any more people putting their lives in danger because of me."
"Hey, I would've put my life in danger either way," points out Flynn. "That's kinda what I do, you know."
"I'm serious. First it was Cass, and now you. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if you had gotten caught."
"Whatever I did back there was my choice. Not yours," he reassures, speaking gently. "Besides, it doesn't matter now. We both got out of there. You're fine, I'm fine. And as long as we're here, they're not gonna find us."
She looks up at him next to her. "How do you know that?"
"The guys here have been hiding out in this camp for years. No one outside of it has ever come close to finding it. We're completely safe," he explains.
Rapunzel thinks about that. She supposes he's right. She does feel like they're pretty secluded. And if there are other people here, surely they think it's safe too. They wouldn't all be here if it wasn't.
"Speaking of - Lance didn't show you around yet, did he?" begins Flynn mischievously.
"No. I've been in here the whole time," says Rapunzel. "I… I didn't wanna leave you."
"Good. Cause showing you around is my job." He hops down off the cot and onto his feet.
Grinning, Flynn stands in front of Rapunzel and crosses his arms. Her feet don't quite touch the ground from where she's sitting, but the cot is high enough that her face remains at his eye level.
"What do you think? You ready to go meet everyone?" he asks.
She shrugs hesitantly. The idea of getting out of this small, dark tent sounds amazing, but she doesn't know anybody here. It makes her nervous. "What if someone recognizes me?"
"They won't. Trust me, nobody here even knows what the princess looks like. To them, you're just another criminal." He reaches his arms behind her shoulders and pulls her hood up over her head. "As long as you keep this on, you'll fit right in."
The fact that he's standing so close to her makes her heart pound, but she smiles up at him despite her worries.
Rapunzel closes her eyes and takes a deep, audible breath. "Okay. You're right. I can do this. Just another criminal."
By the time they walk outside the tent and join the rest of the camp, the setting sun from earlier has been drowned out by a star-painted night sky.
The camp is nestled within a circle of leaning oak trees. The roots wind endlessly along the dirt ground and overlap the vines of the forest floor. In the middle of it all is a collection of scattered tents and caravans on wheels with canvas rooftops.
The area is filled with laughing men and women chatting amongst themselves, shouting joyfully over the sound of a fiddle playing somewhere nearby. A bonfire is flickering brightly in the centre of the woods, illuminating the dark area with a dim orange glow. Barrels of ale and crates of supplies are stacked from the ground. There are long wooden tables surrounded by log benches, and sparkling fireflies floating through the air.
The leaves of the thick trees overhead almost completely shelter the area from the moonlight, encasing it all within a dark corner of the woods that Rapunzel swears she would have never been able to find on her own.
The camp had been practically empty when Rapunzel and Lance first arrived here, and she'd been so worried about Flynn she hadn't really taken the time to admire it all. Now that night has fallen and everyone has finished their day, it has all suddenly burst to life.
Hearing the distant music and laugher sends an exciting thrill travelling up Rapunzel's spine. All of it is a rather comforting sight after all that happened today. Not to mention, the last few days.
She finds herself completely fascinated, hardly believing she is here right now. All this time, she had no idea this was all hiding so far outside the kingdom.
Flynn smirks as he glances at Rapunzel next to him, enjoying her awestruck reaction.
"Okay, I gotta admit… this looks really fun!" she bubbles.
"Fun?" Flynn laughs, "No, no, this… is paradise." He plants his hands on his hips, gazing outward and admiring the thieves' haven before them. "No rules, no responsibilities… and all the ale you could drink."
Just as he says that, Lance emerges from the crowd in the distance, laughing at something someone had said.
He casually saunters toward Flynn and Rapunzel, shouting to them across the clearing, "Hey, look who's finally up!" He extends his arms out next to himself, grinning excitedly from ear to ear. "You guys are right on time. The party's just getting started."