I hope people will forgive me for posting as if I'm throwing this story out, but I've worked a long time on this and wanted to have it out before the 3rd. season comes. So here comes another.

Have I mentioned, I have taken the liberty of making a poster to this story. You can see it here on my tumblr page; post/187666089533/finally-its-done-i-never-thought-i-was-gonna

Chapter 9: A Scare

The door to the kitchen were swung open with a rush, and Pete and Stan entered. "Everyone freeze!"

Karen made a loud cry when she heard him, jumping up from the stool and swirling around, knocking the stool so it fell on the floor. Caterpillar too got startled and made a hiss and an angry meow and shot it's back at them.

"Yeah, what he sa-aaa..." Pete wasn't able to finish the sentence when he sneezed again.

Stan looked around and looked at Karen. "A-are you alone here, miss?"

"Eh...yeah. So?" she sniffed, struggling to keep her voice calm.

"Stan, I dink we britened er." Pete commented with stuffy nose.

"I think you're right." Stan said, and calmed down. "We're sorry, Karen. We were just wondering if someone had been eh... passing here?"

"How am I supposed to know? I just got here." she said, getting angry now for being babied. "Now will you please get out? I have a royal dinner to prepare, and you're not helping by disturbing me!"

"Ehm... Sure. We're off, right, Pete?"

"Right, Stan!" When they saw her turn away, not intending to offer them any more attention, they made the decision to just leave.

As they closed the door behind her, she wiped her face and rubbed the last tears out of her eyes. "Oh, what is the matter with me?" she sighed and hid her face in her hands. Then she drew her breath and sighed heavily. "Better get started then."

She walked over to the vegetables, and made yet another startled cry as she slid on something that made her fall backwards on the floor. Coming to herself, she found a slice of greasy ham on the floor, and frowned. "And aunt Millicent says I'm making a mess! She was the one preparing the sandwiches." She tossed it into the barrel where they threw scraps and went to find a smaller cauldron and filled it with water from the bucket nearby, and put it to boil up next to the turkey, then a frying pan to put the cut vegetables into.

"Just a light fry before they're cooked, right?" she said to Caterpillar. But the cat was more interested in the slice she had tossed away, standing up in two legs and supporting itself to the barrel, sniffing into it.

"What? Don't tell me you wanted that? Ew!" she giggled, feeling how she got back in mood. "Don't be silly. Let me cut off some turkey for you instead. I know they've cut something off for the lunch earlier here somewhere..." She found the knife, put it on the bench and grabbed the frying pan to put it away to give room for her to get to the turkey, when all of a sudden she felt a tap on her right shoulder.

"Eh...scuse me?"

The sudden touch and the unexpected voice behind her frightened her twice as much as earlier, and in a hurry she swung the frying pan towards whoever it was sneaking up on her from behind.

There was a loud CLUNG, a short cry, and then a thump was heard.

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Meanwhile, out in the corridor, Ruddiger watched the King and the Captain as they were talking about his master. The King was pinching the bridge of his nose while moaning of exhaustion and frustration.

"Of course that food playing of his was just a distraction. I can't believe none of us saw that coming."

"Nigel is informing the Queen while I've told my guards to handle this as discreetly as possible." the Captain hurried to inform.

"Good!" the King looked up, but he didn't seem at earse. His eyes were tired and he looked like he wanted to lay down. "The last thing we need is my cousin getting to know about this." He sighed. "Or my niece for that matter. Do you think he..."

"Ran out in the yard? I doubt it." the Captain said and picked up the ham slice in the window. "The maids would have spotted him. He's clearly trying to trail us off. But I'll let them know about it, in case. He's not to be underestimated. Out of his mind as he is..."

"On the contrary, Captain. He if not at all out of his mind!"

The Captain looked and arched an eyebrow as he stared back at the King, who looked away and walked towards one of the many paintings, one showing a picture of the three of them, Rapunzel, the Queen and himself.

"This 'escape plan' of his has proven not only that he hasn't lost his mind. In fact, he's more than aware of his own situation." He turned slightly back at him. "Say Captain; what causes a prisoner to try to escape?"

"Simply the fact that he knows what awaits him." the Captain replied.

"Or perhaps because he simply don't know what he has incoming... and it scares him." he answered as he turned back towards the painting.

Now the King had caught the Captain's curiosity, and he listened when he spoke again.

"That's why he's putting up such a harsh defense. He has lost his trust in grownups and fears what we're going to do with him. He's covering his fear with anger to hide the fact that he's absolutley terrified. Out of his mind or not, the boy is not dumb. He most likely understand what his actions would most likely mean lead to. Had he been a full grown... " he sighed and bend his head down while he covered his tired eyes. "...we wouldn't even have this conversation."

Ruddiger walked over and looked up at him. He looked deeply worried, and very sad. His eyes... He had seen those kind of eyes before. On his master. Sad eyes. Lost eyes. Very often teary eyes. Eyes he had when he said out loud 'What am I going to do?' or 'I can't give up' or 'Why won't anyonbody help me?' Ruddiger felt sorry for the King, who had been kind to him, and who were now feeling just as lost as his master had been for so long. So now he decided to do what he did when his master was like this. He walked around his legs and rubbed his side to him, crooning warmly as a sign he was offering his help.

The King on the other hand mistook his kindly offer of comfort as a need of comfort. Becoming aware of him, he smiled warmly down to him.

"Don't worry, my friend. I'm quite certain he'll return once he finds out you're missing. He won't leave you behind. No no, he won't." Fredric lifted him up and let him rest on his arm while he scratched him on his back. Ruddiger found that the King's huge arm was quite a good place to rest after some frustrating moments, and found himself rather comfortable despite the situation, and closed his eyes as he kept crooning to give the intended comfort.

Fredric sighed. "He is a smart boy, indeed. It's such a pity. With such intelligence, Varian could have been the most useful resource this Kingdom could imagine. Instead..." he scratched Ruddiger under his chin, something the chritter welcomed warmly. "... he's turned to become the most dangerous villian we've had since... I don't know if the legends of Zan Tiri is true, but... I don't want to compare my friend's son with him. He's too young for that." He rubbed his eyes gently. "Then again... he's too young for this..."

Ruddiger crooned again and looked up at him, and slightly begun stroking his bearded cheek with his paw. The King became aware of it, and smiled again, and all of a sudden, it was like he found new straight and looked up at the painting again.

"But despite what people might think..." he paused and got a determinant look ok his ice blue eyes. "I won't give up on him. I promised Rapunzel I'd help him, and I intend to keep that promise, no matter what! Bringing him to justice is one thing, but I have a strong feeling he hasn't been fully himself when he did what he did. The loss of his father has caused a wound in his heart that had been infected. What Varian needs first is to get a clear picture of his situation."

Ruddiger looked up at him as he spoke, not certain if he was talking to him or to himself.

"Somehow, we have to make him understand that we don't want to harm him, that he can trust that we want what is best for him, despite what he has done. Only then will he be able to stand up to face the consequences of his actions and redeem himself. And only then can he be given a chance."

As he looked down again, he was met with Ruddiger's sweet innocent eyes, and he recalled that he wasn't supposed to be there. "So, what to do with you, my firend? We can't have you walking around freely now, I'm afraid. Annabelle will only scream when she sees you, and I have no idea how to explain this for Lars."

The Captain hid his obvious annoyance for the King's constant speaking to the animal, and cleared his throat. The King seemed to remember his presence and turned to face him. "May I suggest, Sire? If he'll come back for the critter, that would be just the way to catch him. Using him as a bait somehow..."

"Hm..." the King said, giving Ruddiger another scratch. "I'm not certain... I don't like the thought..."

"If I may, Sire. The boy must be captured again. Before he harms others. Or even himself, if Your Majesty is afraid of that."

"I suppose you're right, Captain." the king sighed.

Ruddiger looked at them both in turn again, and wasn't certain if he liked where this was going.

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When Karen dared to open her eyes again, she squinted around in front of her, but found nothing. When she heard her feline friend meow, she looked down to find Caterpillar sniff curious at the strange being on the floor. She chocked a gasp and froze again and held the frying pan in front of her as a defense. Slowly getting her breath under control to calm her beating heart, she started to eye him all over.

He was lying half on his face, apparently getting a swirl when he was hit. The long locks of black hair were hiding his face, his clothes were messed up and ragged, but after having a look at him, she found one trail that could place him; the huge, funny goggles he had on top of his head, now shuffled to one side, making him look even more shaggy than he already was. She dared to make a move and turned the frying pan around and carefully used the shaft to brush away some of the locks off his face. Her eyes widened and her fear dissapeared when she took a closer look at his face.

His nose was getting half squeezed as it was bent to the left where he lied, along with his half open mouth, giving him a rather funny appearance. His freckles were faded and he had his eyes closed, but she still recognized him.

"But... I've seen him before!" she said out loud, and looked at her cat. "What's he doing here now? And..." she bent over him and put the frying pan under her arm before looking at his clothes, arching an eyebrow. "What's happened to him? I wonder if Cassandra's got anything to do with this..." she rose and looked at Caterpillar again. "I wouldn't be surprised. Although, it's a while since she left with the Princess. She couldn't..." Then she looked down at him again, leaning on her knees to get a closer look, suddenly concerned. "I hope I didn't hit him too hard."

Like to answer to her concern, the red striped cat started sniffing him all over. When he came to his hair though, he wrinkled his nose, stepped back and sneezed.

"That bad, huh?" Karen said, eyeing his garments, and covering her nose with two fingers. "He could surely use a bath."

Caterpillar sneezed a second time before he rubbed his nose with a paw.

"I just wish I knew where he came from..." She walked around him to have a better look. "Do you think it was him Pete and Stan were looking for?"

Caterpillar licked his nose a few times, and stepped closer to the boy again. He got curious, like cats do when they find something unidentified, and when there was a possibility the being could still be alive, they would try to figure out how to get a reaction from it. He was still breathing, so apparently to him he was just sleeping. So the cat stretched out a paw and touched his half squeezed nose carefully. When he didn't seem to respond at once, he begun tapping his right cheek, adding a little claw to it. This seemed to have some effect as his face suddenly twitched.

Karen didn't know why she got a better grip of the frying pan again, but there was still an inch of fright left in her and she didn't want to take any chances.

Caterpillar obviously begun to enjoy this game and held up his paw again to give yet another strike, and suddenly he gave his cheek a slap with it.

"Owtch. Ruddiger, stop it." he mumbled and suddenly begun to move, obviously a little painful as his face got all twisted while he tried to rise up, but failed. "Ouwww... My head..."

Karen held the frying pan stiffly in front of her, biting her bottom lip.

Caterpillar meowed as a respond to him, and this made him force himself to open his eyes, or at least lift his heavy eyelids, he stared right into the green eyes of the red cat. He blinked a few times and looked like he struggled to focus.

"You're not Ruddiger..." he managed to conclude at last.

"His name is Caterpillar."

The boy got a bit startled by the unexpected voice, but wasn't able to react much, and all he could was to roll on his side and support his head as best he could while he squinted up at Karen. His huge blue eyes widened when he spotted her, and for a moment, she thought she saw a blush on his pale half freckled cheeks. From where he was lying, he looked rather harmless, and this gave her some courage back and she pot the frying pan away.

"Hi. Eh..." Karen said. "Are you okay? I'm sorry I hit you so hard, but... You shouldn't have snuck up on me like you did. That's rude!" She straightened up, wrinkling her eyebrows and placing her hands on her hips, like grownups did to make a strict appearance.

"Eh... what?" He looked up, giving her a disoriented look, but nevertheless, the small blush became brighter, and soon his whole face was red. "Oh, eh... Did I? I... I guess I didn't really mean that. I'm sorry." he looked down, obviously embarrassed.

She shook her head. "Never mind, What are you doing here anyway?"

"Well, to be honest..." He squinted his eyes again and pushed himself up in sitting position, looking around. "That depends on wherever 'here' is..."

"You're at Corona Castle. And I don't know what you were doing here now, but you've been here before."

"Huh?" he widened his eyes. "I... I have?"

"Mhm!" she nodded. "About half a year ago, or a little less, but I remember you well."

"Uh, wait... Outch!" he made a face when he touched the side of his head and begun rubbing it gently while trying to focus. "You said I've been... where... before?"

"Oh come on, don't play a fool with me! I saw you helping Cassandra with her duties that day!"

"Whaah..." he looked up with half closed eyes. "Helping... who with... what? When?"

Karen rolled her eyes in frustration and moaned before raising her voice. "The day at the science expo?! Don't try to deny it! I saw you! You were with her all over the Castle, and then I saw you doing them alone, and..."

"What? Waitwaitwait..." he blinked confused at her and stopped rubbing his forehead and held his hand up to hold her from talking more. "First... one thing... Who's Cassandra?"

Did anyone notice the remake scene from Tanlged the movie? I just had to use that, I couldn't help myself. I mean; Tangle universe. Rapuzel has alredy done some re-use of the movie in 'Rapunzel Day One', but why can't it be spread around a little? Just so people know, I'll be putting out little surprises like these in some of the chapters. Note; it doesn't have to be from the Disney universe. I might borrow something from something else. Be aware!