A Tale of Two Sisters || Tangled

🌻 The Wrath of Ruthless Ruth 🌻

Walking into the bookshop, I immediately spots my older sister. "A world travel guide." She comments, then picks it up. But as soon as the large book leaves the shelf, it's enormous weight accidentally pulls Rapunzel to the floor.

"Hey, sis!" I greet. "Hi, Y/n. Want to look at this Atlas?" Rapunzel asks. "No, thanks. I want to check out the storybooks." I answer. Rapunzel nods.

[Meanwhile]
I reach the end of the bookshop, in the fiction story section, and spot my best friend browsing the shelves.

"Boo!" I say, tapping his shoulder. Varian gives a startled yell, then turns around to face me. "Hi, Varian!" I greet, with a wave and a smile.

"Y/n!" Varian greets, with a hand on his chest. "Aw, did I scare you?" I tease. Varian scoffs, lowering his hand. "Pfft, scared? No way!" He replies, rather unconvincingly. He looks like he saw a ghost.

"Really? You sounded pretty scared." I tease. "Heh, yeah.. it was.. just this book." Varian says, with an chuckle, gesturing to the red book in his hand. "Quite a scary.. b-book." He adds.

I cross my arms, unconvinced. "Is that right?" I ask, then grab the book. "Hey!" Varian says, trying to snatch it back. "Let me see this 'Scary book'." I giggle, then manage to take it from him. "'Flynnigan Rider: The Earl Strikes Again'?" I read.

"Yeah.. scary book." Varian replies, chuckling with a hand behind his head. This makes me giggle again, as I hand him the book back. "Don't you have the whole collection? Why did you pick that one?" I ask.

"Ah.. well, this will complete the collection. Because I accidentally ruined my old one." Varian admits. "What happened? Experiment gone wrong?" I ask, causing Varian to scoff again. "No." He answers, simply. I raise an eyebrow in disbelief, with a smug smile. "I spilled warm cocoa on it." He confesses, looking down at the floor.

"Only you.." I say, then browse the shelf of fiction stories. I then climb the ladder that's attached to the large bookcase. "Ooh!" I say, spotting a favourite story of mine. I then make the ladder glide across its rails, to the other side of the bookcase. I then grab a dark blue book from the top shelf.

"What book is that?" Varian asks me, curiously. "'The Curse of the Key'. Have you read it?" I ask, with an intrigued smile. Varian shakes his head. "I don't think so.." He replies.

"It's a love story, mostly. A princess is stuck with a cursed key and in the end, she has to choose between the brave prince or the shepherd's kind son. It ends happily, of course and it's one of my favourite stories." I explain, leaning on the bookcase, while still standing on the ladder, holding the book to my chest with a smile.

Varian chuckles. "And let me guess: she chooses the one who isn't a royal?" He assumes, with a grin. "I won't spoil it. You'll have to borrow it from me, when I'm finished with it." I reply.

With a smirk, Varian watches me glide back across to him on the ladder but his eyes widen as it goes too quickly and the sharp thug against the rails makes me let go of the ladder. "Whoa!" I say with wide eyes, as I fall, only to be caught by Varian in bridal position. He quickly dropped the red book he held, which fell to the floor with open covers, and he didn't hesitate to run over and catch me.

Letting out an awkward giggle, I step down.
"Thanks, Var.." I say. He nods, in response.
"Of course, anytime.." He tells me.

"Y/n, I'm heading home. Are you coming, too?" Rapunzel asks, approaching us. "Uh, yes. I'm coming." I reply, and we exit the bookshop after borrowing our books.

"Uhoh.. it looks like it's going to rain." Varian observes, as lightning flashes in the sky. "It sure does.." I agree, with a nod then I pause. "Y/n, what is it?" Rapunzel asks. "Is that Stan up there?" I ask, pointing to a familiar guard standing on top of a tower with a telescope in his right hand.