The trio wandered through the forest for at least four hours with the children still riding on Gunter while Ivan preferred to walk the whole way. Thankfully, the kids snuck a few pieces of food during their moment at Corona, just enough for all three of them - but no candy, obviously - and plenty of water. So far, nothing worth staying at appeared in the area. There was still nothing but the trees and the rocks all around. And they still haven't found the village anywhere yet. It was such a tiresome effort, traversing the woods with no clear destination in mind. But they still had each other as long as they stayed close together. Lenny even started trusting the kids enough to let them hold him. Gretel hesitated at first, but allowed the snake to coil himself around her arm and thankfully, didn't try to bite her. Gretel giggled, beginning to see him as adorable.
"He's so cute." She giggled, gently petting him on the head.
"Just be careful with him. He's not really the lovey-dovey type." Ivan informed her sternly. "He actually snapped his fangs at me once I tried to pet him. That was when we first met. Had to earn his trust and his friendship."
"Don't worry. He's in good hands. Aren't you?" Gretel cooed at the reptile in her arms.
"Let me tell ya. It's not so easy having a dangerous animal as a pet. It takes some getting used to for the both of us. Overtime, I got used to him as he did me."
"Can I hold him?" asked Hansel as he eagerly reached his hands over to grab onto the reptile, only for Lenny snapped his fangs at him and hiss warningly, making Gretel yanked the poor guy out of her brother's reach just so he doesn't bite him, then patted his head again, whispering comforting words to him to calm him down.
"Yeah, don't do that, please. You'll freak him out." warned Ivan, placing a strict hand on the boy's arm to inch him away protectively.
"I'm sorry." The boy apologized.
"Ivan." spoke up Gretel.
"Yeah?"
"Do you think we'll ever find a new family?" She asked.
Ivan could tell by her tone that the poor girl was concerned over whether or not she and her brother would ever find a loving family that cared for them unlike their last one. He couldn't really blame her. They've been abandoned by their parents in the woods to fend for themselves, almost eaten by a witch, and so far, things have not turned up well enough since they're now wanted criminals hiding from the law back at the kingdom. But she wasn't gonna give up hope yet.
"I hope so. Kids like you need parents." Ivan explained to her warmly.
"Are you sure?"
"I know I am." He assured her gently. "Parents who love and respect you and protect you. Not ones that will just toss you out and leave you all….alone? Hey."
His sentence had slowed as easily as Gunter did as Ivan's attention had directed to a small building at the end of a path. The building itself appeared as if the giant tree was smushed up against it and there were horses outside, meaning that there were undoubtedly some people inside. Its roof was covered with moss and violet tiles and the structure of the building had a strange, angular shape to it, most likely due to the tree itself shifting the land it rests upon.
The sign for it said "The Snuggly Duckling", with a yellow duckling above the words and a couple of daffodils.
"Maybe there's someone in there that can help us." Hansel cried hopefully as he climbed off of Gunter and headed over there himself before Ivan could think to stop him.
"Uh, hang on a minute…." Ivan was getting an off vibe about the place already by the looks of it. Sure, the name of the place made it seem harmless enough, but he had a feeling the interior of it would be anything but welcoming.
"Ooh, I really love ducklings! They're so cute! Maybe they'll let us pet some!" Before he knew, Gretel had already dismounted and was speeding off over there, as well, after her brother.
"No, wait! Wait a minute! Get back here now!" Ivan screamed as he hotfooted after the children to try and stop them before getting themselves into another situation similar to the witch.
No matter how fast he ran, he couldn't catch up with them, because the two were already at the front entrance of the building to see themselves inside. Ivan slowed down and froze to a stop right before the door to catch his breath for a moment before flinging open the door and once he entered, all color drained from his face. It was just as he feared. All around, nothing but scary looking gentlemen, probably the worst of the worst just by looking at them. Each character had an intimidating, spine-chilling and dangerous aura about them. Not typically the kind of people you'd want to cross paths with or provoke in the least. Each terrifying person had their own characteristic that succeeded in making them look more frightening than they already did.
One guy had a hook for a hand like a pirate, one had the company of rats, few guys had either a missing eye or appendage, most of them were huge, stocky, muscular and were just enough to scare the ever loving pants off of anyone who dared lay an eye on them and one of them was dressed as a mime...for some reason. And they all were adorned in viking-style armor, armed with deadly weapons from an ax, to a spear, to a sword. Finally, it dawned on Ivan that this must be some sort of pub where scary-looking individuals like them usually frequent. And there poor Hansel and Gretel stood at the center of it all, both scared out of their wits and holding each other protectively as the unsettling brutes gave them both the stink eye for barging in.
"I'm sorry, those two are with me." Ivan cried out as soon as found his voice, but cautiously made sure not to offend anyone here. "We were lost and just need to-Woah, hey!"
He couldn't finish his sentence for at that moment, one of the barbarians lifted him up off the ground by the scruff of his jacket and yeeted him outside of the building like a wooden log with the strength of ten plus plus five. Then shortly after, Hansel and Gretel found themselves given the same treatment; tossed out like two garbage bags and landed right on top of Ivan.
"No minors allowed. It is what it is. Now go away!" said the deep-tenured thug bellowed with a threatening gaze before slamming the door shut.
Ivan groaned from impacting the ground as he lifted himself back up with the children; Hansel looked a bit upset, if not insulted while Gretel looked disappointed and discouraged.
"No ducklings?" She peeped.
"Well, at least they didn't try to eat us." said her brother.
Well, they'll just have to keep moving. As they rejoined Gunter and traveled onward in the opposite direction down the same path. Ivan will admit that while he was glad they didn't get tied up or eaten like with the witch not too long ago, it still shook him to his core to think that anything bad would've happened to them under his watch. Lord knows what would've become of them. Looking all around, there were wanted signs on some, if not all of the trees. There were some that had two scary twins on them called the "Stabbington Brothers" - odd choice for name. And most of them had the face of that douchebag that scammed and framed him, none other than Flynn Rider with that smug grin on his face.
Needless to say, Ivan was less than surprised. And for some absurd, yet hilarious reason, each different poster had his nose in a different weird design, which actually made him giggle. Obviously whoever makes these posters was not very good at faces.
"What a bunch of meanies!" complained a frustrated Gretel. "Who names a place "The Snuggly Duckling" and not have ducklings?!"
"Well, that's what happens when you judge an establishment by its name." Ivan informed her matter-of-factly. "Not everything is as it seems to you."
"Yeah, like the witch and her gingerbread house." added Hansel.
"Exactly." said the blonde hippie, who then picked up a noise just a few feet from them.
It sounded like a bunch of horses running, which brought an icy chill to Ivan's heart. Perhaps it's the palace guards doing a routine search of the woods, no doubt. As he peered out to where the sound was coming from, he was proven correct when catch a slight glimpse of a couple of figures riding in a group together on horseback in the distance. And by instinct, he quickly coaxed Gunter into a different direction off the path away from the proximity of the soldier, but then he heard the pounding of the many hooves on the ground get a little louder almost as if they were heading in their direction.
He was not ready to be placed in a cell so he took off running with Gunter away from the guards with Hansel and Gretel hanging tight so they didn't fall off. Dashing through trees and avoiding giant boulders and roots in their way, Ivan's panicked brain scrambled for a solution as he looked for a place to hide from them. Finally, there was what appeared to be a curtain of plants against a rock wall. Nearing it with his companions, Ivan felt a gentle hand against the leaves, revealing nothing behind them but the entrance to some kind of cave inside of the wall.
"Well, how about that?" He wondered with curiosity, then looked at the kids, who shared an equal amount of wonderment in their eyes.
So they nudged their way forward, passing through the leaves until there was no darkness around them once they were clear inside of the cave. At first, Ivan thought it had to be just that, but he slowly trekked even further into the cavern to see a light on the far end, since, as it turned out, it wasn't really a cave at all, but actually a tunnel. Gretel held onto Hansel tightly as they proceeded. Once they were outside of the tunnel, they stopped for a moment to get a layout of the new location and froze once their gaze happened upon a peculiar and curious spectacle; there sitting all by itself near the large mountain walls was a tower.
A very lonely and very cute little tower just resting idly by a small waterfall behind it and hidden away inside this huge rock pit. Its stone walls were covered with decades worth of moss and plants as it made it look possible that the place had been untouched and unfound for song time now. And it was located directly inside of a rock pit, so it was no wonder why nobody would have discovered it yet. But if someone were living there, how they would even get in or outside of it was the biggest question. There were no doors or stairs to be seen or used for entry. Only a single window at the very top. This began to remind Ivan of something he read a while back. Something about a tower in the middle of nowhere.
"Would you look at that? Interesting." He marveled, almost mesmerized by his own inquisitiveness.
"Do you think someone lives there?" asked Gretel.
"How can they? There's no way to even get up there." Hansel reasoned, unsure of how entry would be possible. "Unless they can fly."
"No, I'm sure someone does live there. Let's go take a look-see, huh?" suggested Ivan as he started over to the large tower, wanting a much closer look as Gunter followed suit with the kids on his back.
"But-but, what if they throw us out, too?" Gretel started worriedly.
"Have faith, little inkling." soothed the sun-haired teen. "I'm sure the guards won't find us up there."
The closer Ivan got, the bigger and taller the tower appeared from his perspective. He approached the base of the large structure and gazed upon it wonderingly, his head tilted backward the better to see the room sitting at the top. In the back of his mind, he had a feeling who'd might be inside this tower. But who could possibly be living inside a doorless tower planted right here in the middle of nowhere? Only one way to find out.
"Uh, hello!" Ivan shouted upward, his hands cupped to his mouth. "Is there anyone up there? Helllooooooo!"
No answer. Not even footsteps. Either the tower was really abandoned or maybe whoever was up there was too busy to hear him. They were really high up, after all.
"Maybe they're sleeping?" suggested Hansel while he and Gretel dismounted Gunter and searched around the perimeter of the tower for something. Anything.
"I guess?" Ivan shrugged and tried again, "I'm sorry to disturb anyone up there, but I was really hoping…..!"
The sounds of stones being shoved and knocked to the ground made him freeze in his words before heading around the back of the tower to see that the two kids had ripped away some bushes clinging to the wall and were not flicking off some loose stones on the wall.
"Uh, what are you two doing?" He asked.
"Secret entrance." Hansel answered as his sister sat on his shoulders, working to remove the stones until she was able to peek through.
"There's stairs in there." cried Gretel.
"Really?"
Ivan joined the two and helped them remove more of the stones, especially the larger ones that were too heavy for the children to move with their tiny arms. After a few seconds of ripping a hole in the wall, the trio were able to walk inside and true to Gretel's word, there were stairs. A spiral staircase that leads to the top.
"Whoever sealed off that wall there must've done it for a reason." Ivan speculated.
"I sure hope they won't mind." Hansel said with self-assurance.
"Yeah, if they're willing to listen, that is." sighed Ivan with a deep inhale through the nose as he carefully started up the creaking steps, Hansel and Gretel hesitantly followed afterwards, hand-in-hand. Ivan hoped that they found the right spot to keep out of sight from the guards, but at the same time, felt bad for doing this. If anyone did live here, he and the kids were clearly breaking and entering. With any luck, if they're nice enough to let him plead his case, then maybe they'll let them stay. Further and further up the squeaking wooden flight of stairs they went and closer and closer they were to the top of the tower. Ivan already sweated beads, hoping that the owner wasn't dangerous either or wouldn't try to kill them after all they've been through. Escaping palace guards was bad enough and getting kicked out of a pub by save-looking barbarians already put a strain on his confidence. But there was no turning back now.
Finally, they reached the very top of the steps which lead them to the ceiling and a trapdoor of sorts, which could lead to the room inside. After psyching himself, he turned to face the children and shushed them.
"I'll go in first and see if it's okay." He whispered to them and they nodded.
Grabbing onto the door's handle, he pushed with all of his might to lift the door straight up. Hansel and Gretel even back away to avoid anything that might fall on them. Curiously enough though, as he lifted up the door, dust and cobwebs fell from the ages-old wooden planks on it, since it has clearly never been used in a long time. Finally, Ivan carefully settled the door on the floor and climbed up inside to get a good scope of the room he now stood in.
Now it definitely looks like someone lives here just by observing the interior appearance of the place. Not really a speck of dust or any cobwebs as it was immaculate and homey. Like a little house high above the ground. It certainly had everything; a table with chairs, a grandfather clock, a tiny kitchen, a wardrobe, a couple books, candles, a mannequin for designing fashion, a sewing wheel, even a staircase to another bedroom above and then there's the support beams right above where he stood holding the top of the tower together. But that's not all Ivan saw. For on the walls around him as far as they eye could see, painted murals and artwork all over, decorating the room with such beauty and majesty. Whoever lives here is really committed to their art. Then leading his eyes to the floor, there appeared to be long strands of golden…hair?
However, all of the sudden, from out of nowhere, Ivan felt himself stuck from behind in the head by some metal object so hard that the force of the impact sent him tumbling to the ground. He yelped in agony as he fell to the hard tiled floor, holding his head in pain, wincing.
"Ow!" He howled.
"Who are you?!" screamed the figure in a feminine voice, aiming their weapon at him; a saucepan of all things. "Who are you?! How did you find me?! What are you doing here?!"
"It's okay! It's okay! Chill, man! Chill! I meant no harm! Honest!" Ivan cried out vainly and desperately holding his hand out to the person.
"Oh, really?" The person was unconvinced. "You're here for my hair, aren't you? Why else would sneak your way up here, huh? Why?!"
"I'm not-! You're what? You're hair?" asked Ivan, a bit perplexed and confused as he turned his head to peer up at the person when he saw them raise the saucepan again, ready to strike him with it once more, making him shield himself and cower.
"Please! Please, listen! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to barge in like this, but…I'm lost! I'm trying to find a place to stay and…and I can't find anywhere else to stay safe for a while. Okay? That's it! I promise. I'm not gonna hurt you! I don't want to hurt you!"
"Liar! Do you really expect me to believe that, ruffian?!" She hissed at him. "My mother warned me about people like you! Thought you could come and steal me away, didn't you? Well, you won't take me alive! You hear me!?"
"Wait! Stop! Don't hurt him!" Hansel and Gretel shouted with worry as they both rushed over to shield poor Ivan from the attacker - though most likely the owner of the tower - to try and reason with her.
"What?" The person said, lowering the saucepan a bit in confusion.
"Please, we're very sorry, miss. We didn't mean to scare you like this." Hansel started. "He was only helping us find a place to stay."
"Yes." Gretel agreed, nodding her head. "You see, our parents tossed us out and left us in the woods and we were almost eaten by this evil witch, but Ivan saved us from her. So he's helping us look for a new family and a new home!"
"Are you…..are you sure?" said the person gently and carefully, hoping to herself that they weren't deceiving her.
"Of course not." said Gretel with utmost surety. "I try not to eat any candy after that. By the way, you're not a witch yourself, are you?"
"What? No! Of course not! Why would you-!"
"I hope so." Hansel replied. "We were lucky Ivan here was there to kill the mean old lady before she could throw us into the fire and cook us, otherwise we'd have been dead."
"Well, I….."
Ivan moved over on his back and finally got a good look at the person before feeling his face go warm and his heartbeat pick up speed. There stood a beautiful young woman, roughly about 18 years of age with fair skin, rosy cheeks, light freckles on her face and big doe green eyes. She wore a purple and pink dirndl dress with a longer skirt with a lavender corset top and a pink ribbon, her skirt decorated with swirling floral patterns similar to ones painted on the walls in pink, dark purple and white. It should also be noted that she was barefoot. And her most distinguishable feature of all was her hair. She had long, glamorous, sun-kissed golden locks of hair and, as Ivan looked all around, seemed like it would go one for miles. About 70 feet in length.
The girl locked eyes with him for a brief moment, trying to catch anything suspicious, holding the cooking utensil in her hands, fiddling her fingers nervously. Eyeing him up and down over and over again, not sure what to make of his outfit and her cheeks appeared to brighten red as well. Is it possible that she was feeling the same thing he was feeling?
"Well, you sure don't seem that dangerous now that I think of it." She finally said. Ivan thought she had a cute, attractive voice since he was listening much more closely now. "But just to make sure…."
She got on her hands and knees, placed the pan down and crawled closer to him to get a much better look at his features. Ivan's heart raced faster at an alarming rate when the girl got this close to him. Never before had he had a pretty girl get this close to him. She seemed to be looking for something that would expose him as a fraud or something like that, even grabbing his face with her hands.
"Uhhhh….." His mouth went as he felt her warm, soft hands feeling his face, peeling up his eyes, pulling his mouth open and seeing nothing out of the ordinary. Then she grabbed his pink glasses off his face, looking them over with curiosity.
"What are these?" She asked, putting them on.
"My glasses." He said, rubbing his face. "They, uh, go with my look."
"Hmm." Then she looked all around the room through the pink lens with a sudden burst of childlike excitement as she laughed. The two kids looked at each other oddly. "It's pink everywhere! Oooooh!~ This is so cool!"
"Okay. Can I have those back now?"
She let out a tiny sigh and handed them over before returning to her feet, quickly swapping back over to interrogation mode.
"I suppose you aren't that bad. Nothing unusual about you. Well, too unusual, I guess." She started. "And these kids here do have a very convincing story, so that's a given. But I need further proof that you're not here to hurt me or kidnap me or try to steal from me, okay?"
"Yes, ma'am." Ivan nodded immediately.
"Now, what's your name?" She asked.
"Ivan. Ivan Jones." He introduced himself. "And you?"
"Rapunzel." She said, reaching a hand to him. As he repeated that name in his head, he accepted her hand - again blushing from how soft and warm it felt in his palm - and allowed her to help him back up to his feet.
"And these two are Hansel and Gretel." Ivan introduced his two companions next.
"Hi!"
"Hello!"
"Hello." Rapunzel waved at them with a smile that started to appear on her face. Then a small green chameleon landed on the top of her head. "Oh! And this is Pascal!"
"Oh, hey." greeted the hippie, although the lizard was giving him a skeptical look, but Ivan couldn't blame him. Then Lenny made his own presence known by slithering out from inside Ivan's jacket to stare directly at Rapunzel with his big reptilian eyes and hiss at her, to which she screamed and jumped backward, almost hitting the wall behind her and she held her pan out defensively.
"What is that thing!?"
"Woah, woah, woah. It's alright. That's just Lenny. He is mostly harmless." Ivan held his arms out to calm her down. "He's just not used to strangers, is all."
"Yeah, he likes head rubs." Gretel perked up.
"Um, okay?"
"Go say 'hi', Lenny. And be nice." Lenny reached in and pulled the reptile out to introduce him to the girl. Rapunzel kept her guard up, but cautiously and gently approached the snake, involuntarily jumping back slightly each time she saw his tongue come out, but she slowly put her guard back down and reached a hesitant hand out. Pascal even climbed up on her arm, though keeping his distance.
"Just the head, okay? Use your finger."
She did as she was told and carefully stroked Lenny on the head and the snake relaxed against her touch.
"See, he's not so bad." Ivan said comfortingly, putting his reptile companion back on him, letting him coil around his neck. "So as to why we're here."
"Yes, that."
"Let me be honest with you and I won't blame you if you don't believe me." Ivan began. "I was with my friends in a library reading this book until all of the sudden, a flash of lightning knocked me out and when I woke up, I was here in this strange new world. Just a while ago, I was looking for a new home for these two, because it was apparent that their parents didn't want them anymore. But then this jerk tricked me into buying apples for him and stole my money in the process. So now we're trying to find a place to stay until they forget about-"
"You mean you're a criminal?" interrupted Rapunzel with shock and fear.
"No! I'm not-! I told you. I was robbed and made to look like I was stealing, which is why those guards were after me and why I need to hide from them until they lose interest so I can look somewhere else. I really hope you don't mind. I don't want these kids to get locked up after all they've been through."
Hansel and Gretel nodded and gave Rapunzel a look of concern, fear and sadness, which really melted the girl's heart. And it was really nice of Ivan to think about them and go all through all this trouble to help them out.
"I mean, it's really nice of you to help these children out. I can't even imagine how scary it must be for them." Rapunzel exclaimed.
"It really was." Hansel nodded in agreement. "But we don't wanna be locked up because of what some mean man did to Ivan."
"Again, I'm very sorry for breaking in, but it's important that we seek shelter and protection." Ivan urged and pleaded with the girl.
"I'm sorry for all of you, I really am,...but you can't stay here." She said with remorse.
"What?!" Gretel and her brother cried. "Why not?"
"It's just that…well, my mother keeps me up here in this tower for a reason. It's to keep me safe from all the dangers of the outside world." She explained with more seriousness this time. "She would be very angry if some strangers like you were staying here with us. She's very overprotective."
"I-I see." Ivan groaned sadly. "But where are we supposed to go? There isn't any other place out there for miles. We've been wandering these woods for days."
"Try to build a shelter I guess. Out of tree branches and stuff. I hear that's what they do out there. Either way, I can't guarantee you'll be allowed to stay here when my mother is around." replied Rapunzel. "Tell you what. You're more than welcome to visit me whenever my mother is away."
"How will we know that?" asked Gretel.
"You'll know when you see her approach and leave the tower." informed Rapunzel. "But make sure it's just you three, okay? I don't want you inviting any more weird people into this tower. No offense."
"It's alright. But either way, I suppose we could salvage something out there." Ivan shrugged and the children nodded in agreement, but with worry.
"Just make sure you keep out of sight, understood? Or else she'll suspect something." Rapunzel then warned them gravely. "Now go. My mother will be back soon any minute."
"Sure. Got it." The hippie answered with a salute as he gestured the two protesting children toward the trapdoor. "So, uh….I guess we'll head out then. See you later, I guess."
"You bet." Rapunzel smiled. "I surely hope to hear more from you since, well, you guys are the first people on the outside that I've actually spoken to. You don't seem so bad after all. Just so long as you don't try anything funny with me."
She said this as she raised the saucepan again threateningly at him, but Ivan lowered it from his face.
"Ok, no, there's no need for that again. I promise you. I will prove to you that the outside isn't so scary." Ivan promised her.
"Good to know. See ya!" She waved goodbye as they disappeared down the stairs, shutting the door closed and making their way down the steps. Although they were a bit disappointed they won't get to stay inside that comfy tower, they'll just have to make the most of what they can in order to get by somehow.
"How are we supposed to survive out there in the woods?" asked Gretel hushedly.
"We'll just build a tiny shelter out of branches and try to keep it hidden so nobody sees it." Ivan answered before making back to the hole in the wall they created to get inside and there stood Gunter waiting for them at the base.
"Good to see you here, big man." Ivan patted the horse on the nose.
"Oh, Rapunzel!" cried an older woman's voice from afar, making them all freeze. That had to be the voice of Rapunzel's mother, the person she warned them about. Hiding themselves behind the side of the tower and in the midst of the bushes, there was in fact a middle-aged woman with thick, black curly hair in a hooded cloak approaching the tower.
"Rapunzel, let down your hair!"
And they watched as Rapunzel's golden locks were thrown down from the window above down to the woman below, which she grabbed onto with one hand and holding her basket with the other as she was lifted up off the ground and into the tower while the group watched with amazement and befuddlement.
"I guess that's one way of getting inside." Ivan spoke softly before he urged Gunter out from their hiding spot and he, the horse and the children all ran away from the tower and out through the tunnel before the woman could see them.
Inside, Rapunzel had to secretly divert her mother's attention away from the window so that they could sneak away without getting seen and without her mother noticing a thing. All her life, she was told that the outside world was dangerous and filled with horrible, selfish people and that she was safer inside the tower. But after meeting Ivan and the two siblings, it made her wonder. Is the outside world really that awful? She didn't know. But she was really hoping to see him again, since it was obvious that he wasn't a threat. In a way, Rapunzel even considered him kind of cute or did she? She only met the guy seconds ago and she still didn't know much about him yet, but maybe she'll get to know him a little better next time he shows up.