Lance McClain, whose genes were altered by quintessence, has lived in a tower all his life kept captive by Honerva. He dreams of seeing the mysterious lions flying through the sky.
Pidge Gunderson is a wanted thief, with a dream of her own who stumb...
Pidge was walking just a few paces in front of Lance, lost in her thoughts about this whole situation. This same very day she had broken into the Castle of Lions to steal some important information about the whereabouts of her brother. Now she was being a tour guide to a boy named Lance with unrealistically long hair. Seemed like something you'd do in a very weird video game.
Suddenly, she felt something soft on top of her head. She touched it and realized that it was a crown made of the flowers Lance had been picking up. She smiled and let out a small giggle when she noticed Lance was wearing a matching flower crown.
"That looks really pretty on you." He said, smiling at her with his head tilted to the side. Pidge's cheeks felt hot and she had no idea why. She was probably just getting sunburnt from being in the sun too long. She turned forward again and continued walking, and Lance fell into step beside her.
"Leaving that tower was the best decision I ever made." Lance declared. "But then again, Honerva would be so worried if I wasn't there when she got back." He continued, having a conversation with himself. "But, who cares! Rebellion is good for the soul! But, she could be completely heartbroken and what if all she said was true! About ladies with pointy teeth and- Well I guess you are a girl and don't have pointy teeth bu-" Lance said.
Pidge rolled her eyes. And she thought she was the rambling one. "Will you stop talking, I'm trying to remember the way to the nearest restaurant. I need sustenance. " She said, and she decided to flip open her holographic computer in search of a map.
"Ooh food! I'm so hungry!" Lance said, looking over her shoulder to get a look at the map. But, he must have gotten too close because Pidge shoved him away with a hard jab with her elbow.
"It looks like the nearest place is some place called... The Snuggly Duckling?" Pidge said almost confused by the name. Lance just brightened. "Oh, I love ducklings!"
— —
The Snuggly Duckling was not at all what either of them expected. The room was dark and filled with dirty, huge men with spiked helmets and scary weapons. Without even thinking, Pidge found herself climbing up onto Lance, hiding in his excess hair.
"Don't worry Pidgey. I can handle this." Lance said confidently, flicking a piece of hair that she wasn't clinging on to. "You just need to use some razzle dazzle!" Pidge, still unsure, crawled off of Lance as he began walking through. "Well hello, good to see you." He said with a charismatic grin. The bulky men glared at him almost confused. One man began gently holding on to his hair as they passed.
"Wow... that's a lot of hair..." He said bewildered. Pidge shrugged. "He's been growing it out." She explained.
The duo slowly and cautiously walked to wherever they could order food from. But, before they could order anything they heard the door slam suddenly and both instinctively turned around. A muscly man had shut the door and Pidge noticed a piece of paper in his hands. She gulped nervously.
"Is this you?" He said threateningly.
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"Well, I mean it's hard to say..." Pidge said hesitantly, she and Lance starting to back up slowly.
"Oh it's him alright." Said another threatening voice which belonged to a large blue skinned woman with furry ears. Lance looked down at Pidge confused. Pidge gave him a look that said, I'll explain later, if we can get out of this situation. "The prize money is going to get me and Ezor a new ship." She said, grabbing hold of Pidge. Pidge and Lance both exchanged a glance of fear.
"No! That reward money is mine!" Said another large man by the name of Sendak. He grabbed a hold of Pidge and the whole place turned into a battle, people trying to get a hold of the small wanted thief. During the chaos, someone was sent to go find a guard.
"Hey! Don't you touch her!" Lance shouted protectively as he started whacking the people with his trusty frying pan trying to get them to stop. "Let my guide go!" But none of them were giving him any attention. So Lance decided his best course of action was using his hair. He flung his hair at the people using it as a whip and shouted even more loudly then before; "Let Pidge go!" This caught everyone's attention, especially Pidge's.
"Okay." Lance began, trying to explain. "I don't know where I am and I need her to take me to see the Lions because I've been dreaming about them my entire life! Haven't any of you ever had a dream!" He said. This seemed to make everyone relax ever so slightly and make Pidge smile. This boy was really passionate.
The room was silent for what felt like a long time, when someone spoke up. "I had a dream, once!" Declared a man with black hair with a white puff in the front, and a robotic arm.
"I wanted to travel through space, and go on missions." He explained, his arms folded.
"I dream of becoming the best chef in the galaxy!" Announced a man by the name of Hunk who was wearing all yellow.
Soon the room became a flurry of excitement of people listing off their dreams, Lance listening intently. Pidge meanwhile, was trying to sneak out but she got caught. "Hey you!" Said Keith, a man in a red jacket with a black mullet. "What's your dream?" He said, almost in a threating yet still I don't actually care because I'm so emo way.
"I-" Pidge began, her mind thinking about the chip, and her brother and her father and the news report of them going missing. "Its personal." Before anyone could get Pidge to reveal more of her dreams, the door slammed open. "I found a guard!" Coran announced proudly with a twist of his ginger mustache.
"Oh no. We need to go." Pidge said, pulling Lance away from a girl he was flirting with by his hair.
"Come with me, we can help." Whispered Keith as he grabbed Pidge's arm and effectively dragged her and Lance to the back of the building. Hunk and Shiro were already there.
"Go. Live your dreams." Hunk said, tearing up. "And if you ever need anything, know you have us to back you up." Shiro added, as he pulled a lever that opened a secret hatch. Keith gave a very curt, subtle nod to the duo. Any further farewells were quickly cut off by an angry guard shouting; "Gunderson!"
"Thanks for everything!" Pidge squealed happily, running to give them a quick hug before she slipped easily down the secret opening. Lance flashed a toothy grin at the trio. "You won't regret helping us out." He promised, winking at them and giving them finger guns. He soon followed after his guide down the tunnel.
But what Lance and Pidge didn't realize, was that Honerva had been watching from the window. She knew Lance had escaped her tower and was not happy about it. Not one bit.
Author's Note:
Oh gosh that was really fun to write, especially because that is one of my favorite scenes from the Tangled Movie. I also got to introduce the others Paladins a little and I'm excited to include them a little bit more later on. Anyway, I didn't really have much to say for this chapter, so I suppose I'll be seeing y'all in the next one! Thank you for reading as always :)
