#❀ v; next stop - anywhere. (OUAT)

[solheira]

🌸 * ( @stilzchen​​​ )

❝i’ve got to admit, you are really frustrating, you know?❞

"Thanks. I’m glad it does; the feeling mutual.” The sneer in her voice echoed in the chamber giving strength to her conviction. The steadfast iron extended towards the imp does not falter as she takes a step forward, the threatening gesture admittedly comical when looked from an outside point of view.

Rapunzel, a princess gifted with the powers of the sun who had not yet unlocked the fullness of her magical potential, facing off against The Dark One, an immortal being with 300 years of wickedness under his belt, with only a frying pan and the gusto to see his reign of terror ended.

“I don’t care what you have to say. I don’t care what kind of deal you think you can trick out of me again. You either leave with your head attached to your neck or knocked seventy feet behind you.”

[solheira]

🌸  * ( @piraticalwit ) / didn’t ask for anything but I was inspired. 

There was something obviously on her mind. 

Granted, there was always something buzzing around in there. A queen bee did not stop busying herself because the worker bees were on duty and neither did Rapunzel stop questioning and questioning and questioning even though she had been travelling for many months now. She knew much of the world now but there were still mysteries great and small yet to be uncovered. 

One such mystery that had been plaguing her curiosity was sitting right across from her right at that moment. Pushing her half eaten meal to the side she dabs the corners of her mouth with the hem of her skirt and lifts herself off the ground.  Rapunzel makes her way around gradient of orange and red dancing on the burning wood that was their campsite and plops right beside the object of her attention.

“Can I ask you a personal question? And after you answer -- if you want to answer --- I’ll allow you to ask one personal question of yours.” There was an almost unspoken rule shared between them (mostly upheld to keep her secrets in the dark)  but Rapunzel was willing to bend it if it sated her curiosity for the night. 

“Why did you decide to help me? I mean, I don’t really have anything to offer in a monetary sense and I don’t think my companionship is worth the trouble I’ve caused you. It’s not that I don’t appreciate it but if I can be honest? You don’t strike me as the type of person to do stuff out of kindness. I think you have it in you to do so but not right after meeting a stranger. You’re smart. You assess the pros and cons. So I guess what I really want to ask are what were the pros that bent you in my favor?”

[solheira]

@piraticalwit​​​  / original

Their whole entire venture has been bloody daft from one moment to the next - and not for the first time Killian finds himself pausing in thought, wondering why in the bloody hell he had agreed to take her along in the first place. Aye, says the voice in his head. The treasure. Lips twitch in the corners as if the pirate is holding back a smile, one brow quirking upwards as he follows his blonde companion out of their temporary prison.

He’s prepared to shush her, to quietly yell in the case she get overly excited and give away their position - but instead Rapunzel pushes on, determination on her face as she focuses on the path before them, as if she knows where they are going. “ Do you - “ The puzzled question is there on his lips, breaking off as the lass speaks first. He’s surprised, aye … an emotion that seems to flair up whenever he is around her - and for a moment something else sparks in his breast … admiration, maybe .. or respect. “Tell me something, love … are you always this.. astonishing?” The question is out before the pirate can stop it, and cheeks flush the palest shade of red.

How is he supposed to turn his back on the woman who has started to make his heart do a steady thump? The woman who refuses to turn her own no matter how aggressive he might seem. .. “Rapunzel - “ What does he say now? More stammering over how she’s remarkably efficient? Something daft such as how does a woman stuck in a tower learn things such as this? But instead he pulls her close, ring laden fingers pressing her against him in the shadows, instinct warning him that danger lurks ahead.

Steps can be heard coming from around the corner and Killian places a finger against Rapunzel’s lips, breath ghosting across her ear in a near whisper. “Quiet, love … “ The heavy boots come closer and the pirate breathes a soft exhale, words quiet and low in the lass’s ear. “I’ll grab his sword - you prepare to run for it. Don’t look back, aye?”

The sconces on the stone walls -- whose flames are all but dying and gasping for life -- are the only audience his flush cheeks perform for. It is the greatest shame in all of history that her focus is on recalling their captor’s steps and not on the dreaded pirate captain following close behind her. Was she aware, she may have stumbled herself; flushed herself. She may have given him a way to turn the tables on her but alas, alas, alas... A lass she is! Yes! Soft, youthful and bright. She is the billowing silhouette of skirt layers and cloak that leads him to near salvation. The personification of spring that misses the clumsy compliment he sputters as it takes another fifteen steps to the left. She’s not listening, not really, but hums a little noise anyway to acknowledge the noises he makes rather than the meaning behind them.

‘HERE! Another ten steps to the right.’ Steady fast. Confident. ‘Just a little more. We’re almost there.’ She would have made a wonderful treasure map navigator in another life, don’t you think? Just imagine her, aboard a ship with black sails, having hoisted herself up with the length of her hair alone Rapunzel stands at the top of mast. Known. Seen. The chameleon on her shoulder sports the most handsome little hat and her crew, burdened by a society that deemed them unwanted, cheers her on as she holds a frying pan out into the sky and claims the sea as her own. She promises them a dream, a redemption.

Next stop, Anywhere! Her bright voice exclaims; the cheering crescendos! She grins and joins. Among them another voice beacons her, and her meadow gaze link with eyes clearer and bluer than any ocean ever described or seen. Again, he calls her: Rapunzel, Rapunzel “Rapunzel --”

                        !!

Arms envelop her and she responds in a squeak as the shadows darken around them and a hard wall presses against her back. Her heart mimics the wing speed of a hummingbird as adrenaline kicks back into high. Rapunzel can hear the blood run through her veins and pool right on the apples of her cheeks. Could he hear it all? Her heat thumping madly in her chest? Her breathing catching and shaking as his hands holds her closer than ever?

“Killian, I--”

A finger presses against her mouth and the lips part, gasping softly as a pleasant warmth blows against her ear. His voice is familiar --- like that of a daydream that beacons her to follow. Every nerve in her body tingles with anticipation for what’s to come next. Her eyes try to look towards him but she gets just barest glimpse of his profile. The close proximity makes her head dizzy for something else but she can neither place or name that something just yet. So she doesn’t, she gets annoyed instead.

He wants her to run away? Ha! Good luck stopping her.

“No. Way.” In a flash! The finger on her mouth is pulled down and away. Rapunzel squirms in his arms with every intention of breaking the intimate hold he has on her. The steps (she hears them now) grow closer so she ducks, unclasps her cloak and uses the momentum for when they thugs cut the corner to attack. The cloak is thrown around and over her head. It knocking back one of the assailants to the floor.

She misses the swing of a sword by a hair, but grins triumphantly anyway. “Ya missed!”

[solheira]

🌸  * ( @piraticalwit​​​​ )

❝I’ll have to pick up the pieces somehow, and figure out how to go on with my existence.❞

The bar below her apartment was lively on Friday nights and she had dragged him down in an effort to calm his concerns over her living arrangement. The place was frequent by a large group of motorcyclist who each had at some point in their lives had a run-in or two with the law. Now, they spend their energy helping protect the youth from falling into the same habits that lead them to those bad decisions. It was their work with her place of employment that had found her this gem of a place (in her budget.) More importantly, she liked those guys a lot and what Claire wanted the most was for her friends and her boyfriend to get along. 

Getting a couple of drinks in him helped calm the tension in his shoulders and beating him in a game of darts had gained her high points in the Cool department. Currently, she was swaying to the music playing in a busted speaker overhead, her arms swung over his loose shoulders as she mostly took the lead. “What are you gonna do now that I’ve bested you in your own game?” 

❝I’ll have to pick up the pieces somehow, and figure out how to go on with my existence.❞

He earns a laugh from her, bright and airy just like the rest of her. The twinkle in her eyes only brighten as he takes the lead and the song on the speaker goes right into the next one. “How about you go on with your existing here tonight and I make you eggs in the morning?”

[solheira]

🌸  * ( @piraticalwit​​​​​ )

❝What’s the worst that could happen?❞

She presses a hand to his mouth as her knee knocks a coat from where it hung on the rod above them. The wardrobe barely fit one person let alone two but the added challenge of trying to fit in between rows of dresses and robes made the whole thing practically impossible. Still, she managed enough by pressing close to him body and praying he didn’t make any other noise than the soft exhale of his breath as he laughed at her.

Her own breathing stills as the maids shuffle around her new room and she could hear the faint questions regarding her and her disappearance. They make the round relatively quickly and only once she hears the clicking of her door does exhales and her hand fall to her side.

“Your beheading for one. My broken heart for two.”

Fitting into the role of a princess was easier said than done when the current focus of your affections was a wanted criminal; issued pardon aside. He had brought her home and had been rewarded for it but the newly restored princess had not been included in that transaction. Neither have they had the talk on what to do now that their lives were being pulled in different directions. Sneaking around was fun but realistically how long could it last? His ship was docked at port but for how long?

They had to talk about it but a closet wasn’t the place, so she was safe from that heartbreak for now. “Try not to get caught on your way out, alright?”

[solheira]

🌸  * ( @piraticalwit​​​​ )

❝Absolute silence is my general preference. It may not be yours.❞

The soft head of a pink rose is tapped against the pirate’s mouth four times and then tapped against his cheek three. “Killian Jones, you are a liar,” she accuses in a tone that’s pulled from her birthright. It’s unarguable in its delivery but lifted in how her mouth curls into a pleased smile as the petals run along the underside of his jaw. If she was holding any other old thing (the sharp end of a dagger or the round edge of a frying pan for example) the motion could be considered threatening and dangerous. Instead, the teasing gesture is finalized by the slightest lifting of his chin.

He’s tied up, in hair no less, and she revels in having the upper hand for once. “Last time I stopped speaking you lasted seventeen seconds before you found another topic of conversation to entertain me with.” Her counter argument is peppered in deathly kisses, each one more potent than the last. 

“Absolute silence might have been your general preference but I think it’s safe to say that you would much rather hear me speak than not. If I’m wrong curse me to never speak again. I dare you.”

[solheira]

@piraticalwit // original

Blue eyes study her as if trying to pierce the wall she’s suddenly built as well as she does his. Head cocks to the side, tongue pressing to the inside of one cheek as the pirate finds himself momentarily taken aback - he should press, should coax the truth out of her … but Killian Jones is well aware of skeletons that might lie in one’s closet, so shoulders decide to shrug instead.

Gaze finally tears away from her, studying the horizon instead as if getting the bearings of where they are - but still he watches, aware of her presence at his side. Their whole venture has been something he doesn’t quite understand - the reasons for her leaving have yet to be shared with him .. but any pirate worth his rum knows a yearning heart when he sees one, and he can understand that, can feel the own longing in his own chest. The sea is out there somewhere, and not for the first time he entertains the idea of leaving his companion to her fate. of letting her see the damn bloody lights herself - but something stops him each every time. The gold that had been promised on her safe return, aye, that was it. He would accompany her on whatever travel she wished - but at the end, fingers will be full of the treasure promised him - for something as simple as delivering Rapunzel to the older woman’s hands.

A swallow from his flask gives him a moment to recover his discomfiture - again he wonders if he should press further, dig into the source of secrecy she’s suddenly confronted him with… but Captain Hook has never been fond of the effort required to climb walls, so thoughts turn away from the question, looking for their next distraction. A few of her words so strike a chord with him, however, so gaze turns once more to settle on blonde hair as a smile threatens to play across salt flavored lips. “ For me to find out, is it?” The smile comes full force now, eyes flashing in amusement as one brow quirks. “Aye, I’ve always loved a challenge.”

Brow stays cocked as he glances at the sun, huff of breath meant to disguise a laugh at Rapunzel’s desperation to change the subject. Dark , as she called it, was still a few hours off yet - but Killian just nods in feigned seriousness as if taking her suggestion to heart. “You’re right, love - after all we wouldn’t want to run into brigands.” As if he wasn’t already one of the few she loathed to run into. Silence stretches between them for a while, the only sound the breaking of twigs under their feet, and the occasional stumble from the pirate as he trips over a root .. and despite his best intentions, the pirate finds he misses his companion’s endless chatter .. so he does something he’s never thought himself capable of doing - he starts a conversation with a question that, if someone looked closely enough, could almost make it seem as if he cared.

“Why the lights?” It wasn’t any of his business, aye, even in his daftest moments the pirate captain knew that to be true - but there was an insatiable curiosity there, a sudden urge to make the blonde’s voice chatter incessantly into his ear once more. “If one is so interested in glowing things against the night sky - there’s always the bloody stars.” Black boots stop where they stand, head turning to the woman at his side, not trying to hide the smile that etches itself across features. This time. “I’ve heard others say they’re damn near beautiful.”

The distance between them wax and wain as they walk through the forest. She sticks to the areas with the most sun, sometimes jumping from one beam of light to another. When she speaks, it’s to the chameleon on her shoulder who seemed to be magical in how it can appear and disappear at a moments notice. When Killian trips she pauses and looks back, preparing to apologize for… or rather if, her playful trot was at all the cause of his balancing issues on dry land.

However, for whatever reason, he asks her a question and she debates on whether to take the bait or not. It is the searching look in his sky-blue gaze that breaks down those flimsy walls she keeps trying to build around herself. The not yet found and still unrevealed princess slows her speed just enough to let him catch up and then falls into step at his side. When he stops she does as well.

“Stars are constant,” she hears herself explain over the sound of branches rustling in the breeze. “I spent years charting them, naming them, making up stories for the shape I found in them. I thought I was so smart and creative but apparently people have been doing that for years. I know the stars as well as I know the freckles on my face, the creases in my palms, and even the ratio of how often your smile goes to the left in comparison to the right. I could even tell you what date it is with a single glance up at the sky. They are beautiful and yes, glowing, but that’s just it they don’t change.”

Her bright green eyes, reminiscent of a summer’s day, shone gently as Rapunzel spoke. It seemed like his plan, if there was a plan, to get her to open up was working and she was relieved when he didn’t belittle her thoughts or dismissed her feelings on a matter that meant the world to her. There wasn’t much that she held dear to herself but her dreams seeing the lights were as tangible as the braid of hair at her back.

“There was another constant in my life, you know, like one more in the thousand or so that made up my days, and those were the lights. Every year on my birthday, all these lights would come from beyond the trees, all sporadic. They would fly up into the sky like a billow of fabric and hover and go off whichever way they wanted. Studying the movements I noticed they moved a lot like leaves but instead of moving down it moved up? And although I’m still not sure how they go up I know it has something to do with the wind; at least in a directional sense. The more I thought about it the more I knew they just weren’t stars. So what were they and why did they only appear on my birthday? I just couldn’t shake the feeling, and it might seem stupid to someone who’s known more of the world than I could ever begin to understand but… they’re meant for me. I need to see them in person. I need to know where they come from because maybe that’s where I came from too.”