In a village about a day way from
the tower sat a man at the local pub. He was rugged and gave off an aura of
daring. He had long brown hair and whiskey brown eyes. He was enjoying the
revelry in the pub, where everyone was in a jubilant mood and enjoying the
night. He looked the part of a regular patron, but he was here for a completely
different reason. He had been traveling nomadically and searching for any
glimmer of news about the person he was looking for. He had been led here
because of rumors of someone trapped in a tower.
“Have you heard anything about a person trapped in a tower?”
He slid a coin over to the bartender discretely.
“There have been tales for many years of a woman trapped in
a tower by a witch. This tower is said to be about a day away from here in the
deepest part of the woods. The entrance is hidden, but most people are too
afraid to even venture out towards there to know if that is the truth. Most are
too afraid of what the witch might do to them if they were caught out there.
She is a terror around here with people going missing, flying monkeys, and
more. Beware of the dangers.” The bartender warned him, but he knew that it was
a lost cause. This man in front of him would not listen to reason and would
charge directly into the line of fire.
“Thank you my good man” He tipped his glass at the man and
disappeared within the crowd. Blending in so if anyone was working against him
he would go unnoticed.
He rode through the night, the
seriousness of his mission urging him on. He slowed his horse to a stop in a
heavily wooded area and dismounted. The area felt just as Ariel said it would
and his talisman shined brightly, so it was a big indicator that he was in the
right place. He felt along the stone and when his hand hit a snag, and he
pulled. There opened a crevice in the rock-face large enough to fit one person
through. He carefully walked through the tunnel and it eventually began to
widen. It widened out and light flooded out into a hidden valley and with
sounds of rushing water. In the middle of the lush grass stood an almost
picturesque tower with a beautiful waterfall flowing behind it. Ivy was
healthily growing up the side of the tower. As Gwaine was walking towards the
tower he could feel this darkness wash over him. It made him recoil and shiver
in repulsion. The talisman glowed and allowed him to continue on towards the
tower. As finally reached the tower, he was puzzled on how to reach the top. A
perimeter check showed no door anywhere, no ladder to climb up to the window,
so he would have to get creative.
He tugged
on the ivy and noticed that thick vines where hidden in them. The ivy was a
clever cover for the vines. Never one to back down from a challenge, he grabbed
a vine and began to climb. Whoever grew these plants had made them to be
supernaturally strong. It took him a few minutes to reach the end of the vines
and unfortunately they were not long enough to reach the top. It was only just
a little bit off from being a safe distance, but he knew that he had to somehow
get in there. Even if the person trapped in there wasn’t who he was looking for
they still needed help. He took a deep breath before beginning to swing his
body until he was able to vault into the window.
He landed
on the edge of the window sill and everything inside seemed dark and dreary. It
looked as if no one was living there, but looks can be deceiving. The place
looked as it does because whoever was living here was fearful of who could be
entering their home. He looked around trying to see if that person was in the
room, but there was not much lighting to help him.
“Gene?” He whispered into the darkness. He heard a shuffle
and the noise of someone bumping into something, but no one appeared. “Gene is
that you?” He asked again louder, his curiosity beginning to get the better of
him.
“Gwaine?” The familiar voice inquired softly as if they were
afraid this is all a trick.
“Yes” He answered hoping they would come out.
“Tell me the first thing I ever said to you.” The voice
demanded giving him a test.
“Well you asked me to buy you a drink after putting up with
quote my terrible flirting unquote.” He sassed back.
A laugh could be heard and then the door opened. Out walked
a Gene, a little more haggard than normal, but it was him all the same. “I have
missed your sense of humor…and your unending flirting with anything that
moves.” He came closer and his green eyes shined brighter at just being around
a familiar person. Especially one that will bring no harm to him.
“So…” Gwaine dragged his sentence along purposely, “You
ready to get out of this place?”
“Just give me a minute.” Gene disappeared into the other
room and the sounds of rustling could be heard before he returned with a bag in
his hands. “Before we go, she’ll know that I am not here any longer.”
Gwaine went into the other room and out of curiosity Gene
followed. “Not with this.” He stated as he brought an object out of his pocket.
It seemed like an ordinary necklace, but when he put it on the pillow, it
changed the pillow into a copy of him.
“How?” Gene was gob smacked at his exact copy staring back
at them
“It is something Ariel cooked up just in case anyone needed
it. It works by the user concentrating on what they want the object to become.
In this case, you! Now let’s get out of here.” They exited the room and walked
over to the window. Instead of climbing down the vines again, Gene brought out
a rope that looped through a hook in the ceiling. They then used this to get
out of the tower and far away from it. Once they were back in the forest, they
noticed that Gwaine’s horse was just where he left it and contently on munching
on apples. They both mounted on the horse and rode further into the forest.
“I’m pretty sure that this is not that way to civilization.”
Gene snarked from the back of the horse.
“Who said we’re going to that civilization.” Gwaine laughed and the talisman he had been
wearing started to glow again and a portal opened up to a new world.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was a small seaside town filled
with noise and various people. Though being small stopped no one from
compressing into the town. Sitting at a table outside a restaurant sat two
people. One was a red head whose eyes has not left the water in minutes as if
it was telling her something. The other was a dark haired man who had the same
thoughtful expression but was fixated at her.
“Anything interesting?” He inquired.
“Nothing yet, but there are suspicions.” She answered
finally turning away from the water and focusing on him.
“So where do you think they are?” They had gotten a message
the other day that Gwaine had thought he had found Gene, and would come back
with or without finding him to report in.
“Knowing Gwaine, probably stopped at a pub.” They both
laughed at this statement. When their laughter died down they heard someone
having a loud conversation.
“It’s always an adventure with me.” A male voice stated.
“That’s one way of putting it” Another male voice shot back.
“So now that you’re out what is the first thing you’re going
to do?” The first voice questioned the second.
“Well a haircut sounds like an apt decision.”
“Yeah well with that hair.” The other voice joked before
they came into view. There stood two familiar men and they were just the ones
that they had been waiting for. They both stood up and waited for the others to
notice.
“Took you long enough.” The female told the familiar men.
“Sorry Ariel, I saw a pretty lady and just had to follow
her. Merlin you look exactly the same, I thought being tree would have changed
a man.”
“Then I had to pull Gwaine away so we could meet you guys
here.” The second interrupted the first before he was wrapped in a tight hug
from Ariel.
“I’m so glad you’re okay, Gene.” She told him as they
disconnected from the hug.
“We best be getting out of here and out of plain sight. Good
news while I was searching for Rapunzel here,” Gwaine wrapped an arm around
Gene’s shoulders and squeezed, “I heard rumors of a bear who was once a woman
in another realm.” Gwaine though fun-loving had given them another clue on how
to find one of the others.
“A bear?” Merlin questioned the group.
“Merida” was Gwaine’s answer and they slowly walked out of
town.
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