Good or Bad (A Tangled: The Series Fiction)

13

"What?" I looked over to see her walking toward Varian and I. Eugene and Lance were close behind her.

"I really shouldn't condone your thieving, but if Quaid knows you to be trouble, he might be spurred into action," She said. I gave her a half confused, half judgemental look. Varian looked annoyed, too, but probably not for the same reason. He glared at Rapunzel.

"Y-you know, I'm trying to discourage that behavior, a-and you're not helping," He told them.

"Don't worry, I'm not doing it," I said, crossing my arms. Rapunzel stared at me in disbelief. "Trust me, I bugged that guy for months when I was here. He's hopeless. Totally desensitized to crime, and unwilling to be a hero."

"Please, at least just try," She begged. I shrugged, and she sighed unhappily. "Is there anything I can do to convince you?"

"Well, I suppose if you're desperate, you could get me the meal and clothing you promised two days ago," I growled. She cringed slightly, but Varian laughed.

"You should try waiting months for her to keep a promise, and having it only be filled because you forced her to," He added, his humorous tone mixed with bitterness. Rapunzel stepped back a couple of paces.

"Yeah, sorry about that Varian. I know you probably still want me to help, and I will. Whatever we find while following the rocks, I'm sure it'll be beneficial to you," She said sheepishly. Then she perked up and reach out to take me by the arm. I instinctively cringed away, protecting the bruised spot. Rapunzel immediately pulled her hand back. "Right, sorry. Come on, let's get some new clothes. We can make a meal here."

We went into town, with Varian tagging along as well, and after a while, found someone selling various clothing items from around the world. Rapunzel smiled when she saw my amazed expression.

"Pick whatever you want," She told us. Varian walked between each clothing rack, carefully selecting items. I looked at absolutely everything with no particular patter of where I went. I ducked between racks and pulled random things off to view before putting them back.

Eventually, I grabbed a practical, button-up, long sleeved top. It was a deep blue, and on the wrist of each sleeve, carefully embroidered, there was an electric blue circle with three scores through the lower right part of it. It was an interesting design, and as I traced it, I felt almost like I had some connection to it. I took it and kept looking.

Next, I found simple black leggings that felt thick enough to keep out cold, and were made of soft material. As I looked over them, I found they had pockets that were big enough to fit a small book in. I decided to keep these as well.

Then I tripped over a pair of boots. I crashed to the ground, and looked back at them in frustration. They were made of cloth, but the entire foot of it, all the way up the heel and over the toes, was covered in a soft but strong leather. When I picked one up and bent it, it moved easily and didn't make a single squeak. Good for sneaking around. I grabbed them and kept walking.

The last item was a black hooded cloak, which went over the shoulders and fell down just far enough to cover my entire torso, but the hem wasn't low enough to affect my movements. It was warm and perfect for me.

"Alright, I'm done," I called to Rapunzel. She nodded, smiling, and came over to look at my choices. Then she noticed the symbol on the sleeves of the shirt.

"Hey, I saw something else with that on it. Give me a minute," She said. She went off and rummaged through the clothes, then pulled something out and walked over. It was a brown vest made of soft leather, with the same circle and three lines carved and carefully painted onto the right breast. "Do you want this, too?"

"Um, sure," I told her. She took all the clothes from me and went to the man that was selling them. She turned to look over the racks.

"Varian!" She said. The boy quickly jumped up from between the racks and raced over with his choice of clothing, but tripped at the last second and faceplanted into his clothes. Rapunzel and I laughed as he stood up sheepishly and handed them to her.

Once the princess had paid for it all, I changed into my clothes. It fit fairly well, except for the shirt and vest being just a bit loose. I put on the cloak and buttoned it into place before stepping into sight. Rapunzel clapped, and I looked away in slight embarrassment.

When Varian came into view, he was wearing something similar to what he had before, but now he wore a faded, sky blue vest with a pocket over a long sleeved off-white shirt. He'd picked out new, brown leather gloves. He wore lighter brown pants than before, and now had black boots, but he kept his goggles.

"Great, now your hair, eyes, and clothes match," I joked, poking the vest. He pushed me away, grinning. Rapunzel giggled at the teasing.

By the time we got back, the food was nearly done cooking. Varia and I were both more than happy for a full meal for the first time in days, or in my case, weeks. The food tasted good, and it was fun to watch everyone laugh and joke around. After I finished eating and took care of my own dish, I walked off to where I typically slept.

"Get some rest everyone," I said as I sat back against the tree. Several people looked at me as I folded my hands behind my head. "Tomorrow, we piss off the authorities."