𝐠𝐥𝐨𝐰 | 𝐟𝐥𝐲𝐧𝐧 𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫

(7)

Maximus' white nose pressed against the ground, intensely inhaling with every step. Eventually, his nose led him to a tree, where he looked up to see a flyer. He squinted at the image of Flynn's face, eyes focusing on his wrongfully upturned nose. Maximus used his hoof to cover the horrendous feature, and his eyes widened in realization before ripping it off its branch and chewing it up. 

Two snaps in the distance made his ears perk up. He followed the noise and hid behind a horse-shaped rock. He jumped out from behind it with a ferocious whinny, startling a hooded figure. The horse deflated with a sigh.

"Oh, a palace horse," Mother Gothel exhaled, relieved. Her eyes quickly widened as she had an epiphany.

"Where's your rider? Rapunzel... Rapunzel!"

She turned and tore off through the woods, approaching the tower as quickly as possible. When she reached the base, she screamed your sister's name, begging her to let her hair down. But, when no answer was heard, your name began leaving her lips, pleading for any sign of life.

Silence echoed around her.

She ran to the far side off the tower, ripping off ivy to get to the cobblestone underneath. She tore at the rocks with her fingers, climbed up the hidden entrance, and pounded at the trapdoor until it eventually broke free. Gothel climbed into the center of the tower, finding it pitch black and empty. She opened every door, pulling curtains and blankets loose everywhere. Nothing.

As light spewed in from the windows that now lacked curtains, a shimmer from underneath a stair caught her eye. Pulling the board up, she found a leather satchel that encased a shimmering, golden crown. She pulled the tiara into her hands and gasped, letting it fall to the floor. She searched through the rest of the bag with ragged breaths, eyes and hands falling upon a crumpled piece of parchment. Upon unfurling it, she saw WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE: FLYNN RIDER scribed across the top of the page.

Gothel pulled open a drawer and retrieved one of your extra daggers that laid inside. You had left it there a few months ago after showing your sister how to use it. How to defend herself. You had told yourself that she would be safe, even if you weren't there, because the dagger was. And now, Gothel's pale hand grasped the leather handle and pulled it from its home.

[y/n]

"I know it's around here somewhere," Flynn promised confidently. You trailed behind, unsure, as your sister held your hand gingerly. The three of you turned a corner, and Flynn pointed to a wooden sign. "Ah, there it is! The Snuggly Duckling." He referred to a unstable-looking building, with purple, moss-covered roofs and various horses tacked down outside. "Don't worry, very quaint place. Perfect for you, blondie." He turned to nudge her on the shoulder.

"Don't want you scaring and giving up on this whole endeavor now, do we?" He said, and you eyed him suspiciously.

Your sister, oblivious as ever, replied sweetly with, "well, I do like ducklings." You squeezed her hand.  

"Yay!" Flynn cheered happily. He turned to you and put his elbow on your shoulder, which was quite a feat considering you were only shorter than him by couple of inches. "And you, Grumpy? What's your opinion on ducklings?"

You brushed him off and stomped towards the building. "You wanna know how I feel about ducklings? Call me Grumpy one more time and you'll see why I'm not allowed near the ponds anymore."

"It's true, she's not," your sister said with a lighthearted giggle before following you.

Flynn's eyes watched you closely with a smirk before he followed as well. "Fiesty. I like it."

He quickly caught up with you both and slammed the door to the restaurant open. "Garcon," he called, "your finest table, please!"

Rapunzel gasped and grabbed your hand as your eyebrows furrowed. We've been tricked. Instead of the cozy atmosphere you were promised, you were met with the stares of menacing, hulking, muscled men clothed in fur. Some had eyes missing, others had hands missing. There was even a man with several pet rats. "Rapunzel, stay behind me," you ushered her, placing your hand on the hilt of your sword tightly.

Flynn began to guide the two of you in by your shoulders. "You smell that?" He asked. "Take a deep breath in through the nose." He continued his rant as you were pushed through the crowd. "To me, it's part man-smell and the other part is really bad man-smell." Rapunzel quivered in fright behind you. "I don't know why, but overall it smells like the color brown. Your thoughts?"

Your sister felt a pull on her scalp as one of the men grabbed her hair, letting it pass through his fingers. You drew your sword and pointed it at him. "Unhand her at once!" Rapunzel gathered it up and began to run away. You sheathed your sword in order to help her pull it out of the man's grip.

"That's a lot of hair," he grumbled out.

"She's growing it out. You'll have to excuse the other one, she has quite the temper. Say, is that blood in your mustache? Girls, look at this! Look at all the blood in his mustache! Good sir, that's a lot of blood!"

Rapunzel kept backing up until she felt her back hit a hard surface. She turned to see an incredibly large man looking down on her. You rushed to her side before anything could happen. "I am so sorry sir, she just-" the man cut you off with a growl.

Flynn waltzed over to see the look of sheer terror on your sister's face. "You don't look so good, blondie."

That lit a fire in you. You began to yell at the man, exasperated at his audacity. "Of course she's upset, have you seen where you brought us?! I shouldn't have ever agreed to this, I mean-"

"You make quite a point there, Grumpy. Maybe we should just go ahead and take your sister home, call it a day. Probably better off, I mean this is a five-star joint. I know you might be able to, but if she can't handle this place, maybe she should be back in her tower." He began to pull the blonde back towards the door.

A man slammed the door shut. His fingers were spread over a piece of paper. "Is this you?" He asked, looking at Flynn. Upon closer inspection you saw his face and name on the flyer, along with...

Wanted? Who even is this guy?

Flynn approached the man and lifted one of his fingers to reveal a horrendously drawn nose. He scoffed and said, "now they're just being mean."

Another man with a hook for a hand approached you three from the back  and the crowd began closing in. "Oh, it's him, all right."

"Flynn?" You called. "Why are you on a poster?"

"Long story," he replied nervously. "Tell you later, maybe sometime when we're not in imminent danger."

"Greno, go find some guards." The man with a hook ordered. A man sped off, and you drew a small dagger, palming it anxiously. The hooked man grabbed Flynn by his collar. "That reward is going to buy me a new hook."

Another man yanked Flynn away. "I could use the money." Flynn was passed from man to man as they all tried to make their cases. You followed behind, trying to help, but he was passed on before you could make a move. They began to grab his limbs and pull in various directions, as you and Rapunzel tried to claw your way into the center of the huddle. Flynn made yelps of protest to no avail.

The men held Flynn back as the hooked man reared back his fist, ready to punch. You grabbed the end of Rapunzel's hair, looped it around a branch, and pulled. When it snapped back in place, it hit the hooked man in the head, and everyone turned to face you and your sister. You stepped in front of her.

"Put. Him. Down. I won't ask again," you seethed.

The large man squinted at you and cracked his neck.

Rapunzel side-stepped out from behind you and began to plead with the crowd. "Listen, I don't know where we are, and I need him to take me to see the lanterns because I've been dreaming about them my entire life! Find your humanity!"

"Raps," you warned.

"Haven't any of you ever had a dream?" She continued.

The hooked man grabbed his axe from a sheath on his back as another man placed Flynn on a hook high in the air. The first man stomped over to you two, and you cracked your knuckles. Once the pair of you were backed into a corner, he spoke.

"I had a dream once."

He threw his axe, and it lodged in the wall just above the head of an accordion player. The frightened man quickly broke out into a lively tune.