The Prince out and about

The Prince found himself walking the dark stone hallways of the castle. He wore a white shirt with a dark blue tunic placed over it. He's strolled these hallways for so many years, yet this one instance felt eerily familiar to him. He placed his eyes on a half-opened door that gently lit the dark hallways. He could hear the soft sobbing of a girl coming from the room. The Prince approached the door and peeked in. There lay a small girl dressed in a tiny blue dress with her knees to the chest and her face buried between her thighs. Her hair was the same color as the Prince, snowy white. The Prince stepped into the room and approached her.

"Bean?" Tavish spoke.

Bean raised her head and looked over at her older brother. She wiped her eyes and tried to speak, but all she could muster at that moment were small sobs. Tavish walked over to the edge of her bed and sat down. Her placed his arms over her, and she quickly wrapped her arms around his waist, buried her face into his chest, and continued to cry. Tavish softly caressed her sister's head as she continued to sob and sob. Tavish spoke calmly, "It's going to be ok, Bean…everything is going to be ok…"

"N-No it-It's not!" She forced out her words. "Nothing is ever going to be ok! I want Mom! I want her back!" She clenched the back of Tavish's blue tunic tightly.

"I want her back, too," The Prince replied, moving his hand from Bean's head and rubbing her back.

"It's not fair!" Bean yelled into her brother's chest. "Why did Dad have to go and get married?! Doesn't he miss mom?"

"He does, Bean, he does," Tavish replied. A lump appeared in his throat. "The king must have a queen…"

"It's dumb!" Bean snapped. "All of it is dumb! I hate it!"

He couldn't try to make sense of it anymore. A spark of anger and sorrow swelled up in Tavish's chest. His mother's gentle smile and familiar blue eyes flashed in his head. His voice quivered as he replied, "I hate it too…" He fully embraced his sister, bringing her into a tight hug. The twins sat there, holding each other in silence. Bean would break the silence occasionally with her sniffling and quiet sobs. Bean looks up at Tavish, her eyes red from the crying. "Tavish…" She whispered. Tavish looked down at her sister. She sniffled and asked, "Y-You won't ever leave me, right?"

"Of course, Beanie," Tavish whispered. "I'm not going anywhere."

"You promise?"

"I promise,"

"Pinkie, swear it," She lets go of Tavish, sits on her knees, and holds up her pinkie finger.

Tavish smiles and holds up his pinkie finger. "I, Tavish Mariabeanie de le rochambeau grunkwitz, do solemnly swear that I will always be at my sister's side forever and ever."

Bean giggled. "And I, Princess Tiabeanie mariabeanie de le rochambeau grunkwitz, do solemnly swear…that I will always love my big brother,"

Bean threw her arms around her brother's neck and hugged him tight. Tavish closed his eyes and wrapped his arms around her sister, holding her tightly. Tavish opened his eyes, and standing before him was a giant burning man roaring at him.

He gasped and found himself staring at his ceiling. Tavish's upper body was on the floor, and his legs were on the couch. "Oh dear…" said the Prince. "What time is it?"

GONG! GONG! GONG! GONG!

"Is that a.m. or p.m.?" Tavish asked. He had always thought flying birds hitting the bell was a silly way to tell the time in Dreamland. Nevertheless, Tavish gets off the floor and sits on his sofa. In a matter of seconds, it all came back to him. The party, his conversation with Bean, and the questions that she asked him. Tavish noticed that he was still in his formal garments and went to change. He was now sporting his everyday all-green tunic. The first thing that Tavish thought about was sitting at his desk. But he paused once he placed his hand around his desk chair. He stood there, staring at it for a moment. Tavish didn't feel like sitting at his desk. He didn't feel like studying. But what was Tavish going to do? His room is where he spends most of his time. Now, the Prince didn't feel like staying in his room. He wanted to go out. And so he did.

Tavish exits his room and closes the door behind him. He strolled down the stone hallways, not knowing where he was going or what he wanted to do. All Tavish knew at the moment was that he didn't want to stay couped up in his room. The Prince would hear chattering coming from down the halls. Two castle maids were heading Tavish's way, carrying bins of clothing.

"Greetings," Tavish waved at them.

The castle maids froze when Tavish greeted them. They stared at each other in shock and confusion.

Tavish stared back, trying to find his words. He cleared his throat and smiled awkwardly. "Umm…how is your day going?" He asked.

"Umm…are we in trouble, your majesty?" One maid asked.

"N-No, no! You're not in trouble! I was asking how you two were doing!" said Tavish reassuringly. "I see that you're carrying clothes! Did you have fun washing them?"

"Umm…if I say no, will you execute us?"

"W-What? No, I wouldn't do that!" Tavish replied.

"My hands are all wrinkly from all our washing," said The other maid.

"Oh, how unfortunate…" The Prince glides his hand through his white hair. "Well, um…best be on your way, I guess?"

The castle maids hurried past Tavish, whispering to each other. Tavish sighed as he continued down the halls. A few knights were standing guard, and Tavish waved to them. "Good day, men," He greeted.

The knights stood up straight. "Greeting your holiness!" They thundered.

"Uhh…greeting's…" Tavish stared at them, perplexed. "How is your job going?"

"Very well, your majesty! We are keeping guard over—something!" said one of the knights.

"Oh…well, that's nice," Tavish stared at them. They stared back. Tavish scratches his cheek. "So…nice weather we're having, right?"

"It is very cloudy, Your Majesty!"

"Oh…that's not good. It might rain…" said Tavish.

"Yes, it might, sire!"

"So uh…umm…" Tavish struggled to find his words as he stared at the stone floor.

"Permission to please leave this awkward conversation, sire?"

"Permission granted—wait, what?" Tavish looks up from the floor and sees that the knights are gone. "Oh…" He sighed. The Prince would hear the sound of tiny wings flapping and something heavy landing on his shoulder. He looks at his right shoulder and sees a herculean beetle resting on it. "Well, look at you. Where did you come from, little guy?"

"Trevor, there you are!"

Tavish looks up and sees Koga walking towards him. His eyes widened when the 6,4 wanderer stood before him, eyeing his pet beetle. "Seriously, Trevor, I'm tired of chasing you through the castle! Give me a break already!" said Koga irritably.

"Koga? Does this beetle belong to you?" He holds his out to the beetle for it to walk onto it.

"Yeah, sorry about the little pain in the ass," said the wanderer, gently taking Trevor into his hands. "You can't just go out alone in this castle, Trevor! People will not hesitate to step on you or, worse, have Zog sit on you!"

Tavish chuckled. "That is a terrible fate for such a wonderful beetle,"

"I don't think my heart could take having Trevor go out like that. That, and I'd be very pissed," said Koga, placing Trevor on his shoulder. "So what brings you out of the cave? The sun is not burning your skin, is it?"

"No, I don't have a skin condition that hurts me—oh, it was a joke," said the Prince, staring up at Koga. Tavish, unknowingly, was looking at his physique—his long arms, muscles, and height.

Koga raised a brow at Tavish. "Is something wrong?"

Tavish blinks. "What? Oh! No, nothing is wrong—I'm just admiring your build!"

"My what?"

"Your build. You're very muscular and tall, especially around your arms!"

Koga slightly narrows his eyes at Tavish. "What the hell is up with you today? Did one of those demons possess you or something?"

"What—No. What's wrong with me saying that?" The Prince asked.

"Usually, it's the women that compliment me like that,"

"Well, men can compliment on their looks and physique. There's nothing wrong with that," said Tavish confidently.

"You've never been in the knight's stall rooms, have you?" asked the wanderer.

Tavish thought about it. Then the Prince replied, "Well, there was this one time when Bean and I were little; we pulled a prank on the knights by putting fire ants in their undergarments."

Koga laughed. "What? That's genius! I remember Bean telling me that you and her used to be pranksters when you were little. Hey, how about we go pull one right now?"

Tavish's eyes widened a bit. "W-What? Now?"

"Come on!" Koga placed his arm around Tavish's shoulders. "You're always so tense and uptight! Loosen up a little! Show me how to pull off a good prank!"

"I haven't done that in a long time…I don't even know where to start," Tavish pondered. "Well, there is one thing that we can do. Will you please escort me to the enchanted forest?"

"Sure. But why do we need to head in there?"

"You'll see," Tavish grinned.

Elsewhere, Bean, Elfo, and Luci were hanging out in town. They planned to hang out at the bar, but unfortunately, the stray demons that stuck around in Dreamland started causing trouble. Luci frowned. "Look at all of them…out there hogging my spotlight…"

Elfo looked at Luci. "Is that really what you're worried about?" He scowled. "These demons are running amuck!"

"Yeah! And look at all the beautiful chaos they're causing!" Luci shouts. "That should be me out there!"

"Guys, stop standing around, and let's just get round them up! I haven't had a drink all morning!" Bean snapped.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever, you weird alcoholic," Luci grumbled.

The task of rounding up the demons was annoying. They slithered out of their grasp each time one of the three grabbed them and laughed in their faces. Elfo ended up getting a demon stuck in his pants and bit him in the (Let's just say it bit in a spot that really hurt), And he yelled in pain. That, at least, put a smile on Luci's face. In the end, the three could round up the sub-demons, each holding up a few in their arms.

"What in hell are we going to do with these guys?" Bean asked.

"Seriously, the castle is swarming with them," said Elfo.

"They took all of my good hangout spots—AND all the attention is on them!" Luci griped.

Bean, Elfo, and Luci arrived at the castle entrance with a shocking sight. All the knights in the courtyard were running around with their faces bright red and rolling around the ground with their tongues sticking out. "What in the hell is going on?" asked Elfo.

Bean could hear the sounds of laughter near her. She looked to the right and saw the laughter coming from Koga and Tavish. Bean couldn't believe her eyes when she saw Tavish smiling and laughing. Bean let go of the demons, and they hurried off; then, she walked over to Koga and her brother. "Tavish?" she said.

Tavish stopped laughing and looked over at his sister. "Oh, hello, sister…"

"Did…you just pull a prank?" The princess asked, surprised.

Koga placed his tightly around Tavish's neck. "He even surprised me! We went out to the enchanted forest and found some weird-looking vegetables! He crunched it up and placed it in some food!"

"I-It's called a paper," Tavish gagged and placed his arms around Koga's four-arm. "Can you please let me go!" He asked. Koga does so, and Tavish rubs his neck.

"Wait, you guys have peppers here? It can't be as good as the ones we have in hell," said Luci.

"Oh, cool!" said Elfo, smiling. "What's a pepper?"

Koga reached into his pocket and pulled one out. "Here, try one!" He hands it to Elfo.

Elfo took the pepper and took a bite out of it. "Oh wow, this has some good flavor to it. Oh wow, this is hot. Like, REALLY hot," Elfo's face went red. "WATER! I NEED WATER!" Elfo drops the pepper and runs over to the water fountain.

"He does know that hasn't been cleaned, right?" Tavish asked.

"Nope," Koga smirked and crossed his arms.

"Well, well, well," Luci looked up at Tavish. "Look who's deciding to show their true colors! I'm proud of you, freckles!"

"Don't call me freckles…" said Tavish, glaring down at Luci.

"Yeah, Luci," said Koga. "It's freckles number two."

"Eh, that doesn't roll off the tongue," Luci replied.

Koga rubs his chin. "True. We need a proper nickname for these two."

Bean rolls her eyes at Koga and Luci. She then asked her brother. "So what made you wake up and choose violence?"

"Well, I didn't plan on pulling a prank. But it was a nice way for me to break away from the usual boring routine I do daily," said Tavish.

"Like being an ass?" said Bean, smirking.

"You can say that," Tavish laughed a bit.

"Guys," said Elfo, walking over to them. "I don't think anyone cleaned that fountain in a while…my stomach feels funny…" He quickly placed his hands over his mouth.

"Uh oh…"

After Elfo puked up his guts, Koga picked up Elfo and took him to Tavish's room. There, the Prince fixed a remedy and held it before Elfo. "Here, this should help your stomach issues," He said. Elfo looked up at the bottle suspiciously.

"It's not anything that will harm you, I promise," said Tavish.

"Well, if you say so," Elfo takes the potion and drinks it. He licks his lips. "It tastes like honey!" He continued drinking.

"You know how to make potions?" said Koga.

"Only ones that ease paints," Tavish replied as he sat on the couch beside Bean.

"Huh, and I thought you just sat in your room all day and read boring books," said Bean.

Tavish sighed. "I do that too. I didn't want to sit in my room all day. I grew tired of isolating myself. I wanted to converse with people who aren't royalty. Although, I've learned that so many are terrified of me."

"Don't take it personally, Tavish, but I can't blame anyone for being terrified of you," said Elfo. "You walk around with such a scary look on your face."

"Let's not forget the fact that you cut off my first boyfriend's head," said Bean bitterly.

"Will give it a rest already? He deserved it," said Tavish.

"What exactly did he do?" Elfo asked.

"He…He inappropriately spoke about Bean…" The Prince replied, embarrassed.

Koga let out a snicker, and Luci laughed. "You gotta be kidding?" said Koga. "That's why you cut off his head?"

"I was going through something, ok!" Tavish yelled.

"Awww…Tavish has a sister complex," Elfo smiled sweetly.

"I don't have a sister complex! Silence!" Tavish blushed. "Ugh, I don't get why people still talk about that. Everyone else in this kingdom gathers around to watch executions. What's different from what I did?"

"That's a royal beheading, big bro," Bean replied. "You used those knives over there and cut his head clean off."

"And? I'm royalty, so it was a royal beheading. That's not a good argument," Tavish replied.

"But you're not a king, so, meh,"

"And you're not a queen, so meh,"

"Why are we talking about a moral reason to behead somebody?" Elfo asked, looking at Koga.

Koga shrugs. "That's royalty for you,"

"This isn't helping," said Tavish, getting up from the couch and pacing around the room. "I didn't know so many people feared me…they fear me just as they fear father. What am I supposed to do when I become king? I don't want them to think I'm a tyrant."

"Why not? Being a tyrant is fine!" said Luci. "You'll be the perfect one!"

"Luci!" Elfo glared at him.

Bean ignores Luci's comment and says, "Well, show the people you aren't anyone to be scared of. Will it be hard? Maybe people will still be scared of you. But go out there and show them that you aren't anyone to be afraid of!"

"I…I don't know how to do that…" Tavish frowned.

"It's easy," said Bean. "I'll help!"

"Really?"

"Yeah, of course. What are sisters for, after all?" Beam smiled at her brother.

Tavish smiled warmly at her. "Thank you Bean…"

"Bean…why are we at the bar?" Tavish asked as He, Bean, Elfo, Luci, and Koga stood at the bar's entrance.

"If you want to get in tune with locals, you need to do it where they all hang out and have fun!" Bean explained. "Like playing cards!"

Koga stares at Bean. "Are you trying to get your brother to win back the gold you lost?"

Bean's eyes widened. "W-What? No, I'm not! S-Shut up Koga!"

"Is this why you're always broke?" Tavish asked.

"Do you wanna get in touch with the locals or not?" Bean asked.

Tavish groaned. "Fine...although it has been a while since I played cards,"

"Come on, Tav, your big brain will remember!" The princess replied, slapping him on the back.

Bean would take them over to the poker table. Conor, a man with an oval-shaped head and a patch of brown hair, sat at the table. He smirked as he took his pile of gold, and the man he was playing walked off. He chuckled and said, "Who's got the next game?" He asked confidently.

"Right over here, Conor!" said Bean.

Conor turned to Bean. "Well, well, well, if it isn't Princess Tiabeanie. Come back to hand over more gold, I see?" He smirked.

"She won't be the one playing," said Tavish, sitting down. "I'll be your opponent for this evening."

Conor's eyes widened. "Wait a second. Tavish Grunkwitz?"

The bar, filled with drunken men's voices, went quiet. They all turned towards the table where Tavish sat. Luci looked around. "What the hell?" He said, surprised.

"Is your brother really that famous?" Elfo asked.

"It's a long story," said Bean.

Connors eyes Tavish as the Prince grabs the cards. "It's rare to see the Prince of Dreamland appear like this. What are you waging?"

Tavish reached into his pocket and pulled out a bag of zog coins. "One hundred Zog coins," said the Prince.

Conor's jaw dropped. He grins. "Deal,"

The game would begin. The first game ended quickly, with Tavish getting a winning hand. At first, he was going to stop it right there. But he continued the game by playing with other people in the bar. Bean and Elfo were cheering on Tavish, but Elfo was getting worried that he was going overbored. Koga was silent throughout the whole ordeal. The money kept piling up as the evening went by. And then, Tavish decided to call it quits.

"Well, that's enough for tonight," said Tavish, getting up. "What a shame. Not a single one of you was able to beat me. I guess luck was on my side. But fret not. It's just, how, say, one of those days, right?"

Everyone in the bar glared at the smug Prince as he, along with Bean, Elfo, and Luci, helped collect his winnings.

"Hold it right there," said Conor, getting up from his seat. "You went all day and hadn't lost a single game…"

"And?" Tavish raised a brow. "Oh, wait, I see. You're accusing me of cheating, are you?" Those who played against Tavish began surrounding him and Bean, Elfo, Luci, and Koga. "Hmm…It seems like all of you are accusing me. Are you lot really going to be such sore losers?"

"I play with these guys all the time. They are sore losers with a capital S!" said Bean, her back against Tavish's.

"Uh, guys, we're about to get our asses kicked! We need to do something!" said Elfo.

"Ugh," Koga rolled his eyes. With one punch, he sends Conor hurdling into the air and crashing into a group of drunken customers. "Everyone just scram! I'll hold them off!"

Without wasting time, Bean, Elfo, Luci, and Tavish quickly ran out of the bar. Koga sent one man hurdling through the glass window as they sprinted down the cobblestoned road. The group found themselves outside of the kingdom. They stopped to catch their breath.

"I don't think I've ever done that much running in a while…" said Tavish, wiping the sweat off his head.

"You gotta get back in shape, Tav," said Bean, sitting against the tree. "Back then, a run like this wouldn't make you break a sweat."

"Sitting at a desk pushing pencils would do that to a guy," said Luci.

"Jeez, the nerve of those guys accusing you of cheating!" said Elfo.

"Well…about that," Tavish began as he slipped some cards from his sleeves.

Bean's jaw dropped. "No way…you did cheat?!"

"I wanted to see what I could get away with," said Tavish, tossing the card out of his hand. "And it worked like a charm."

"Noice!" said Luci.

"I gotta say, big bro, I'm impressed. I never thought I'd see this side of you again," said Bean, smiling at her brother.

"I guess this side of me never left," Tavish shrugged.

Bean's eyes gleamed as she smiled softly at her brother. "I'm glad…" She whispered.

"Hey guys, I think there's a satanic ritual happening far ahead," said Elfo, pointing toward the crowd of people surrounded by a large man made of hay.

"That's not a satanic ritual," Bean sprung to her feet. "Oh my god, I forgot about the hayman burning!"

"Oh yeah…that is today, isn't it?" said Tavish. He looked at his sister. "Do you want to go?"

Bean's eyes widened at her brother. "Wait…you want to take me to it? You're not going back to the castle or anything?"

"I don't feel like being couped in the castle. So, why not?" said Tavish. "If…it's ok with you, sister…" He twirled his hair a bit. Bean bore the happiest smile she could muster. She grabs her brother's arm and hurries down the hayman gathering. Elfo and Luci followed close behind.

The fire from the hayman was as bright as the starry skies above.