[The scene cuts to Merida, Flynn, Hiccup, Jack, and Rapunzel walking in the woods. Rapunzel and Jack talk excitedly with each other. Flynn and Merida occasionally engage in some quiet conversation. Hiccup is silent, keeping a hand on Toothless' head.]

Jack tilts his head. "You're not saying much."

Hiccup shrugs, a bit uncomfortable. "I, uh, I guess I don't have much to say."

Jack frowns. "Why? You trained a dragon! You've flown on him! You're friends with him! How do you not have anything to say?"

Hiccup winces at that. Because Jack is right. Out of the five of them Hiccup probably has the most to talk about.

Jack appears not to notice his discomfort. But for whatever reason Ivory does, and she says, loudly, "Let's continue, shall we?"

She winks at Hiccup, and, despite his stomach feeling all knotted and his hands clenched tightly in his lap, he gives a small smile in return.

Rapunzel, loudly: (suddenly) You have magical powers?!

Jack: [beaming] I do! I can freeze things and make it snow and fly!

[Rapunzel stares at him in awe, her eyes shimmering excitedly.]

I wonder why she's so excited about Jack having powers, Hiccup thinks. I mean, sure, anyone would be interested if someone was magical. . . But being that excited is kind of weird.

Rapunzel: I knew about the flying but the ice and snow? That's—that's amazing!

[Jack shrugs, seemingly embarrassed, though a bit of a pleased expression worms onto his face.]

Jack: Hah, thanks.

"One might even say it's. . . Cool."

Flynn groans and Jack bursts out into loud, cackling laughter. Hiccup grins cheekily, a little proud at his joke.

"Shut up," Flynn sighs, ignoring Merida's quiet snickers as she elbows his side. He bats her arm away. "Just—shut up."

Rapunzel: Can I see it sometime?

Jack: O—oh. Oh, yeah, sure!

[Rapunzel beams at him. The scene cuts to Hiccup and Toothless. The dragon's stomach grumbles. Hiccup sighs before turning to the others.]

Hiccup: Is there any place where we can, uh, stop to eat?

Flynn: (after a moment) I think I know a place.

Flynn winces. If he's taking them where he thinks he is. . . It can't be good.

(He knows why he's taking them there. He's trying to scare them into going back home so that he can continue on his way. Though the on-screen version of him appears to not have any qualms about this, he doesn't. . . Like it.)

(Ah, fuck. He's going soft. What can you do.)

[Jack gestures to the path in front of them.]

Jack: Lead the way then.

"You okay?" Jack pokes Flynn. "You don't—you look kinda sick."

The older man shrugs nonchalantly, though Hiccup catches his tense shoulders that give all too much away.

He leaves it though. It's not any of his business. And who's to say Flynn would answer him anyways? He might not even listen.

No one ever does.

[The scene fades in and out. It appears to be some time later. The group passed by a sign with a crudely painted duck and arrow pointing ahead.]

Flynn: We're almost there. C'mon.

"You're definitely not okay," Jack says decidedly. And it's true; Flynn's face has paled a considerable amount and his hands are clenched tightly into his beanbag.

"I'm fine." The older man waves a hand dismissively.

"No you're not." Jack gives him a pointed look.

"I am!"

"Are not!"

Hiccup sighs tiredly at their bantering, sinking into Toothless' side. The dragon rumbles.

[A large building called The Snuggle Duckling comes into view.]

Flynn: [gesturing largely at it] Ah, here we are. The Snuggly Duckling!

[Toothless' nose wrinkles, catching Hiccup's eye. The others look unsure.]

Flynn: [wrapping his arms around Rapunzel's shoulders] Ahh, c'mon, Blondie. It's a quaint place. Very nice. You're not gonna back out already?

Rapunzel: [collecting herself] N—no.

Flynn: Let's go in then.

[He leads Rapunzel into the building. Merida hesitates before following. Jack makes a face at the building, before turning to Hiccup who's comforting a disturbed Toothless.]

Jack: Uh, is he—is he okay?

Hiccup: [frowning] I—I don't know. Something must've spooked him or something.

". . . I don't like the sound of that."

Hiccup gives the young spirit a mock-shocked face. "Oh, no, really?"

Jacko: Oh. Well, it's gotta be nothing, right? I mean—it seems like a nice enough place.

[Hiccup nods, looking unsure. Eventually he pats Toothless' head one last time before heading inside.]

"I don't—I don't have a good feeling about this." Tooth frowns, her wings twitching nervously.

North shrugs. "Am sure it's nothing. You're just overthinking."

(He isn't too sure about it, actually. He doesn't really trust Flynn. Sure, he seems nice, but looks can be deceiving.)

"Maybe." Tooth doesn't look too sure. Not that North blames her. He purses his lips and refocuses his attention onto the screen.

[The scene cuts to a stump somewhere near the Snuggly Duckling. A cloaked figure appears out of it. She pulls down her hood to reveal herself as an aging Gothel.]

"Shit," Hiccup says flatly. Jack nods in agreement.

Rapunzel's hands fist into her dress.

Mother—Mother followed them. She'll drag Rapunzel back to her tower, or, even worse, move her. The others won't be able to find her then, and that's only if she doesn't do anything to them.

(Would she though? Surely she'd recognize Merida. Jack can't be seen anyways, and Hiccup has Toothless.)

(What about Flynn? a nasty little voice in the back of her head says. He's a wanted their; perhaps she'll turn him in.)

A cool, pale hand squeezes one of hers. She blinks, before looking up and meeting Jack's sweet, gentle gaze. She gives him a watery smile, and his lips twitch up and he nods.

You'll never be alone. Not like I was.

[We cut to Hiccup's startled face, before panning out to reveal the rest of the scene. Unlike what Flynn had told them, it's a pub filled with thugs. Rapunzel stands meekly behind Flynn, who acts nonchalant and gives greetings to people he appears to be familiar with.]

Jack's hand tightens around Rapunzel's subconsciously. She squeezes it in return, the two of them staring blankly at the screen.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Merida hisses between her teeth. And to think she was beginning to think that he was a relatively good guy.

Flynn winces. "I—I. . . You have to understand—"

"I don't have to do shit!" Merida shoots to her feet, snarling at the man. "I knew we couldn't trust you! I—I was going to give you the benefit of the doubt even after you stole the lost princess' crown, because the others liked you and I thought, 'how bad can you be?' But lying to us?" Her hands hurl up tightly. "Bringing us to a—a dangerous place? This is the last fucking straw."

"Meri," Hiccup says softly. "Just—just hear him out. . . Maybe he had a reason?"

Merida's still fuming, but she reluctantly obliges, inhaling and exhaling deeply. Though every inch of her wants to scream and tear into the man, Hiccup had asked her not to, and so she won't. Her glare doesn't lessen one bit however.

"You have to understand," Flynn tries again, "that for someone like me, you can't—you can't trust anyone other than yourself. You can't stay in one place too long. You'd—you'd have a higher chance of getting caught. And for me to go back to the place where I stole their most prized possession? It's like sending a lamb to the slaughter."

And Hiccup gets that. Because though his situation is far different than Flynn's there's so many similarities. Neither one can return. . . 'Home'. They'd probably be killed for it.

"I don't think I mean you guys harm." Flynn frowns a bit as he continues. "I think—I think I'm trying to scare you all away so that I can go on my way."

"Makes sense," Hiccup says softly. "All we know is that you're on the run. We—we didn't know you're the most wanted man in the kingdom at the moment. We didn't know we'd be sending you back to—to—"

"I don't blame you." Flynn places a gentle hand on the teen's shoulder, his eyes soft. "I—I made my choice. Did I really have a say in it? Well, not really, but it clearly means a lot to Blondie, and I wouldn't deprive her of her dream."

"Maybe you should tell Merida that. Maybe she'll ease up on you."

The thief shrugs. "She didn't really like me before, doesn't really like me now. I'm—I'm used to it."

Me too, Hiccup thinks. He wonders what else he has in common with the man.

"I think this a good time to take a break." Ivory waves a hand, and the screen pauses. "There's food in the back, please feel free to take what you want. And there's rooms too, if you need to talk privately. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some. . . Things I need to take care of." And with that she vanishes without a trace, leaving behind empty space.

"She'll be back." Ash nods to the crowd. "She needs to set up one of her other Realms."

"For what?" Jack asks.

The girl shrugs. "Same reason as you, I guess."

That makes more questions than answers, but Rapunzel shakes her head lightly, signaling the others not to pry. If Ash—not to mention the others—can bring them from their lives into one of their 'Realms', they could just as easily take them out.

Flynn and Merida are back to hating each other. Hiccup sighs tiredly, sinking into Toothless' side. If he hadn't offered to take Rapunzel, if he hadn't insisted that Flynn came along, they wouldn't be in this situation.

He just can't seem to do anything right, can he?