Welcome Home (Dream SMP Rapunzel AU)

An Acre Before Us

tw: strangulation, minor violence, very very brief mention of alcohol

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Someplace else at the brink of mid morning, three thieves scramble upon the snowy shingles of the palace's roofs. They stand outside the balcony of one of the western towers, the captain of the interior guard having already left his quarters. Early daylight drapes around bits of dust in the air, undisturbed, peaceful. Isaac pokes his head through the window of the captain's bedroom, perched on the sill with a rope around his waist. He lightly steps onto the carpet whose colors proudly display the empire's flag in blues and gold. Isaac glances around the room, still for a few moments to listen for passing footsteps outside in the hall. Not a sound is heard from the door, and he decides the coast is clear.

Isaac snatches the opportunity to quickly rummage through drawers. He shuffles about the room in search of their treasure, or rather, the captain's treasure. He quietly tosses open the captain's wardrobe and skims through the contents. A heavy snow-coat, a few casual garments, one of the young man's old uniforms, worn back in the early days of the L'manberg "Conflict", now threadbare, etcetera. It's nothing he wants to take, and nothing very eye-catching is in the closet's smaller compartments either, save for an old-looking, red bandana adorned with a golden pin. The captain's coat-of-arms is carved in intricate detail on it, but it's not what he's looking for.

He dashes to the left of the fairly large bedroom, clumsily knocking over a coat rack. The mistake brings a gift, when he sees the thin outline of a subtle sink in the wall's paint. The thief manifests a repurposed shard of glass from his satchel and pokes into the depression. He begins to carve along the outline, feeling the glass knock against a piece of loose wood until he's finished, with the small shape of a rectangle torn away as the result. His "knife" pokes under it, carefully pulling the hidden box out to reveal a circular object inside.

A compass—a dull, silver casing accompanied by the sheen of an enchantment. It sits face down with two engraved words in the back of it to stare up towards the ceiling. Isaac carefully takes it into his hands, gently turning it over to examine the face when the door to the bedroom slams open.

Tubbo stands in the doorway with his hand gripped on the frame, looking to have run over here. He stares at Isaac wide-eyed, huffing, livid. Shit, he must've seen us on the roof, Isaac curses to himself. Tubbo glances at the object in his hands. In a second, the captain is on him. Issac's head hits the ground and keeps the compass squeezed to him. The captain yanks at his arms, scratching and digging nails into his skin. He raises a leg to kick the young man off. Tubbo, however, is persistent. He fips Isaac over and wraps his arms around his torso to lock him in place and snatch the compass. Futility—in a panic the thief bites down on Tubbo's hand. His grip loosens with a curse and the thief arches his back to throw him off.

Tubbo catches himself on the closet. The thief's fist slams his skull into the wood. In a blur of everything the man scrambles back through the window with the compass in hand, abandoning the captain before he beelines after him along the roof.

"Go!" Issac shouts, Niki and Jack to move. "Go!"

The thief looks down to the courtyard to see that the four had grabbed the attention of more guards. "After them!" Tubbo cries as his feet skid along. Isaac whistles to the other two before sharply taking a turn. His shoes slide down the snow covered roof as the other two follow behind and his feet connect with a roof below them. The shingles fall loose with his clumsy landing, almost joining them down below before a hand catches him hard by the back of his jacket.

His eyes stare down at the churning waves of the ocean below his dangling feet, dark and beckoning with another coming wave. Niki pulls his weight back onto the roof with a heave. She takes a moment to catch her breath when three palace guards jump down to the roof behind them. Their swords are drawn, sharp and gleaming.