Disney Historian here! I wanted to apologize for the delay in publishing! I've been backed up with illness and work, so having time to work on the chapter was difficult to say the least! But here it is! Please enjoy!
As they went through the portal, Trevor and the team made it in, although where they landed was certainly what they weren't expecting.
"We're in the tower." Naku said as he scanned the surrounding area.
"Look at all the colors! This is a beautiful place!" Naomi exclaimed as she took a look around.
Doh and Rowena took a look outside the window to see the rock walls surrounding the area. "Man that poor girl is being held where no one can see her?" Doh said shocked by the massive size of them.
"That's the point of the area, genius." Rowena said scoffing at his unawareness, "Her mother did this so the royal guards couldn't find her."
"Guys, stop bickering. We have to be careful. Judging by the silence it seems we're the only ones-" Before he could finish, something whacked him behind the head so hard that he made a face closely resembling someone else, and fell to the ground. He was groaning so weakly it was like he suffered brain damage.
"Trevor!" Naomi rushed to check on him, while the others quickly found themselves facing none other than Rapunzel, who was about to swing at Doh, who grabbed the pan with his bare hands and disarmed her.
"Hitting people with frying pans ain't cool, miss. We ain't gonna hurt ya, but you certainly hurt our friend there…" Doh said repermanningly, as Trevor twitched like a cartoon.
"Why is it always me…." Trevor said frustratingly as he regained consciousness, and Naomi quickly picked him up to use a healing spell.
"You should be fine now my love. Just be very lucky you have a witch as a girlfriend." She winked as she helped him up and gave him a kiss ok a cheek.
"I'm so sorry! You all came in at once! I was scared! I thought you were bandits, like mother says." Rapunzel said, clearly apologetic from earlier.
"It's okay we aren't gonna retaliate. I'm sure this was meant for someone else but.." Naku said calmly as he turned to Trevor, who despite the healing spell, was still wobbling towards him slowly. "You think He hasn't arrived yet?"
"Yeah, looks like it." Trevor said as he finally snapped out for it and faced Rapunzel. "We aren't bandits. My name is Trevor, and these are my friends. We're called the guardians."
"G-Guardians? Are you from the outside world? I've never been outside the tower before…" Rapunzel said shyly.
"No, we're from-" Rowena was about to say earth, but Naku stopped her before she could go any further. "What was that for?!" She whispered angrily.
"We can't reveal where we're from. Last time we did that, we had a whole mix of issues during our previous adventure." Naku said sternly. They didn't want any mistakes like last time, so it's best they keep their real identities hidden.
"Yeah, we're from a village not far from here. Very nice and TOTALLY NORMAL." Trevor said with a slight pronunciation to get his point across to the others, who agreed with violent head nods.
"Oh, well I'm glad to know there are some good people out there. Mother will be pleased to know this! She always says people from the outside are evil and want to steal my hair." Rapunzel was relieved by their presence, but Doh gave her a questionable look.
"Why would anyone wanna steal hair? Ain't that like…not valuable?" He asked, a bit puzzled by her words. Rowena then punched his arm, causing him to rub it since that hurt. "Stop hitting me…"
"Stop being an idiot." She said playfully.
As they began to talk to Rapunzel, Naomi and Rowena began to look around and see all the beautiful art she had drawn. However, as they were talking, a familiar thief climbed right in, much to the shock of everyone there. "Oh..I didn't know this place was occupied…"
"Grab 'em!" Doh shouted as Trevor and Naku grabbed his arms and brought him in. "Don't try anything funny Flynn Ryder, or it's the frying pan for you!"
"Doh, we're supposed to protect him, not hurt him!" Naomi said in disbelief. "Babe! Put him down!"
"It's alright Naomi we won't hurt him." They placed him in a chair and confiscated his bag, "If you're wondering if we're palace guards we aren't. You're safe here. I assume you found this place by hiding from the captain?"
"How do you know that? Are you fans or something? Don't tell me you think my nose looks that way, they can't get my nose right! He exclaimed, trying to figure out the whole situation.
"Rapunzel? Rapunzel let down your hair!" A voice spoke from the outside, and they all assumed the worst; Mother Gothel.
"Oh no! My mother is here! Quick, you gotta hide!" She said frantically as Naku got in the middle of all of them.
"Okay, everyone grab hands and hold onto each other! Doh, grab Flynn and hold him tight." Naku ordered as everyone got into a big circle, with Doh being able to hold Rowena's hand and have Flynn hold his hand, thus creating the end of the chain. "Okay, one, two…THREE!"
With a violent fissure of wind, the team disappeared, and as Rapunzel let down her hair, the wind could be seen blowing slightly, causing concern for her mother when she arrived. "Is everything alright dear?"
"Everything's fine mother! I was just dusting the room!" Rapunzel said, trying to hide her recent encounter with the guardians. "How did your trip go?
"Oh it was splendid!" She answered, only being minimal with her daughter. "By the way, have you decided on your present yet?"
Rapunzel thought to herself. She had been preoccupied on one thing and one thing alone; the glowing lights. She had been drawing them ever since she had first seen them, and now she was obsessed with it. Maybe this time she can finally see them for real. "Mother, can you take me to see the lights?"
Mother Gothel paused her usual routine to look at her daughter with a sense of shock and utter disbelief. Why would she want to sew the outside? Didn't she do more than enough to convince her otherwise? "What complete nonsense Rapunzel. The world is dangerous out there. People might try to take your hair!"
Rapunzel was unconvinced, having met the guardians, she thinks the world might not be as bad as she thinks. "But mother, it's not what you think! There were these people who had stopped by, there were called guardians and-"
"Wait! What did you say?!" Gothel exclaimed as she was taken aback by what she said. People stopped by?! Has she been found out?! "There were people here?!"
Rapunzel realized her mistake. If she revealed that they were here, she would certainly face punishment, let alone go into hiding again. "No no! I meant outside the walls! They were speaking loudly! Talking about the land and such. They seemed like nice people!"
"Oh thank heavens! Rapunzel, don't scare me like that!" Her mother said as she laughed it off. Looks like her explanation worked! "But you must understand dear, they might look good and speak well, humanities intentions are never good to begin with. They are hidden within, and can be ignored with impressive skill. I'm sorry, but we cannot go to the lights."
Rapunzel was shut down by this statement. It seemed her mother was not convinced. Maybe there's another way she can get her chance to see them…
Meanwhile, back in the forest…
What a wonderful day in the forest. The sky was clear, the flowers were blooming, the grass was green, and ...People were falling from the sky?!
"Someone do something!" The captain shouted as Rowena used her magic to stop their descent. With that being said, her hand glowed a pure white, and gravity stopped their descent, as if they were all being held in place by telekinesis or a powerful protection spell. However, as the magic stopped them, they still fell to the ground, but only by a few inches, saving them any dangerous injuries that might have prevented them from moving around. "Naku…please work on that…"
Naku, who was the first to get up and shake the dust off his long sleeve, sighed heavily as he looked at all the others groaning and checking themselves. "Easier said than done man…."
"We're so lucky that my protection spell saved us from that fall. If you're going to teleport, you should at least try to think of a landing zone instead of the air!" Rowena shouted repemandingly. She was frustratingly rubbing all the grass that got on her outfit. "This was my favorite skirt…"
Doh and Flynn, who were the last to drop, made sure to check themselves as well before the cowboy grabbed the brown bag that he was carrying around. "What's this?" Doh asked as he shook the bag and opened its cover, frightening the thief as he took it from the cowboy. What was inside would shock some, but not all of the members of the team.
"That's my satchel. It's very important to me and I suggest you refrain from touching it." He said, trying to sound tough. This did the exact opposite of what he was trying to accomplish, since most of them knew what was inside the bag.
Naomi took the time to check her surroundings before walking over to Trevor. It seemed they were just along the outside of the secret passage. "Trevor, weren't the guards just chasing him before we got here? Would they still be around?" She was a bit nervous since they were on the hunt for Flynn since he stole the crown.
Trevor sighed as he tapped his head before speaking. "Alright guys listen up. This is the CCS, or the Cranial Communications System. We can talk to each other through this platform very easily. We're going to be splitting up into two teams. One team led by me, the other led by Nakumoto. One of us will take Flynn to the tower so we can go grab Rapunzel and head for the castle. Meanwhile Team B will find Cassandra And Maximus, while also providing reconnaissance throughout the village. Be on the lookout for anyone suspicious."
"Alright, then who goes with who?" Doh asked, now fully onboard with the mission. Maybe this would be a perfect opportunity for him to get more acquainted with his teammates.
"Yeah, reconnaissance sounds boring!" Rowena said sarcastically, yet unfortunately for her teammates, no one knew if she was joking or not.
Trevor's vein popped out as he looked at her sternly before taking a deep breath. "Rowena and Doh, you're with me. Naomi, you'll accompany Naku. Use the communication system to notify us of any issues you come by."
"Okay love. Be careful." She said with a soft smile escaping her lips, "Be sure to beat those shadows if you see them!"
Naku laughed as he and Naomi ran off to go start their task, while Rowena, Doh, and Trevor turned towards the secret entrance. Yet, those words kept coming to mind frequently as they walked towards the tower. Would they encounter them? Would they fight them? Would the shadow king try to destroy this world as well?