Rudely Rapunzel

Chapter Three: Rider

Rapunzel tried covering her mouth to keep from being heard. She thought about what they would do to her if they found her. Kill her? Violate her? She'd rather take her chances in the wilderness than be caught.

With the cover of the trees and nearby bushes, Rapunzel slowly made her way back into a shrub, concealing her from the incoming men.

"Aye, I can't wait to gut this bitch once we find her."

"No, the Captain said to bring her back unharmed. Said nothing 'bout killing the hag."

Rapunzel made her way through bushes and shrubs, getting pricked by thorns. She had to grit her teeth to hold her pain in. She was almost away from the two men when her dress got caught on one of the devilish thorns. Unaware of this, Rapunzel kept crawling, getting dirt under her nails and all over her knees. As she kept going through, the bush's thorn she was caught on started to shake and make noise.

"Aye, what's that over there, lad?" said the older man who wanted to gut her.

"Oh, probably just an animal, sir. Nothing to worry about." said the younger man, probably around Rapunzel's age, who had called her a hag.

"No, son. That there is no animal. Get yer cock out between ya legs and go look!"

Rapunzel struggled to get her dress off of the thorn. It wouldn't rip or tear itself away. She was stuck there, like a pig for slaughter. Her breath grew heavy and butterfly wings started to tickle themselves against her stomach. She felt nauseous. She feared she's puke up what little she had had for breakfast that morning.

The young lad approached the rustling bush, sword in hand. His Adam's apple bobbed in his throat. He was terrified of what he might find. With a rush of adrenaline, he quickly parted the leaves and branches. His heart dropped and the endless wave of nerves came to a sudden halt.

It was the girl. Rapunzel.

Fear danced in her eyes, but she didn't react in any way. She didn't scream or jump up from her knees and fight back. Instead, the girl shut her eyes and whispered something.

"Whet 'tis it?" the older man had called over.

Rapunzel kept still but opened her eyes. She felt helpless. What could she do now other than be gutted by some old man in the woods? She was free now of the thorn, but she still would struggle too much to run in a dress. She had finally accepted that there was no escape and that by the night, she'd be back in her high tower, locked away among the stars.

The young man bit his lip and met his eyes to Rapunzel's. He took a deep breath and exhaled as if a weight had been lifted off of his chest. "Nothing, sir. Just an animal."

Rapunzel was relieved but confused. Why had this boy helped her?

"Aye, c'mon then. Don't have time to wank around, lad."

Rapunzel felt the tears pull back. The boy had met her gaze again.

"Thank you," she mouthed to him.

He didn't reply. Just gave a slight nod and was off to join the older man again.

***

The young lad was called Flynn.

He was very well known for he was a strong and handsome prince. And not just any prince. Flynn Rider was the Prince of Corona.

He had spared the girl who he had come to know as Rapunzel, but he wasn't entirely sure why. Maybe it was because he felt whatever punishments lie ahead of her were too horrid to let happen. Perhaps it was because he had enough already to deal with and he certainly didn't need to have a crazy murder on his hands. But maybe, just maybe, Flynn Rider was rebelling against his father, his kingdom, and himself.

Flynn tried to shake the evil thoughts from his mind as he and the other man rejoined their scouting group on the road outside the woods. Without any questions, Flynn and the other men set out on their horses for their next search checkpoint.

It took very few words to convince the men Rapunzel wasn't in the area. Why would anyone, especially sellswords, disobey the prince's orders?

Once Flynn had spoken to the group of men, the lot of them agreed to stop by a pub before setting out on another search. It had been hours since any of them had had a proper meal or drink, and since Flynn had found Rapunzel, he didn't see why they couldn't make time for a pub.

The afternoon sun hung high in the sky as the men and their prince raced towards their destination. Despite his title, Flynn Rider was just like anyone else. He loved drinking, he loved dabbling with many lovers (men and women, sometimes at the same time), but above all, he loved not doing his job.

It wasn't necessarily because he hated being a prince. He loved what he did, but it wasn't what his heart truly desired. Flynn was born into the job, he didn't choose it. And if he could, he'd very well be doing something else. Something he chose. Something more like him.

When they arrived at the insolated pub just barely out of the grasp of the woods, the group of men Flynn was traveling with got off their horses and practically ran as if their lives counted on all the beer they'd be drinking. Flynn, however, stayed seated in his horse's saddle. Although he thirsted for a good ale or mead, he couldn't bring himself to join the other men inside. Something was off. He felt wrong. Guilty, even. But why?

Flynn surveyed the road and woods around the pub. There was no one in sight. This part of the land just outside the woods was hardly visited. Many feared the beasts that lingered just inside the shadows of the trees. Others simply had no business traveling so far from home. Flynn decided that whoever had the idea to build a pub way out in the middle of nowhere was an absolute idiot and they so rightly deserved the wrath of whatever beasts resided nearby.

The guilt drove deep into him. It was sharp as a dagger and couldn't possibly be ignored. What was it?

Finally, Flynn's mind went back to Rapunzel. When he found her hiding, she wasn't in the best state. He knew it was wrong of him to leave her behind with no assistance, but what else could he have done? He didn't have much of an option. At least, he didn't at the time.

Without a second thought, Flynn reached for the reins of his horse and fled the pub. He could care less about what consequences would come of him abandoning his scouting group. If he could save a life, that was all that mattered. He was a prince, but if he wasn't going to act like a prince, the least he could do was become a hero.

Flynn's horse sped back to where Rapunzel was hiding. With all the guilt building up inside him, he sure hoped she was okay.