Puss In Boots: The Last Wish (OC Insert)

Chapter 13

(Third Person POV)

Puss and Kitty climb up a tall tree filled with pink leaves, hoping to get a clear view of where they are. They hope to also find Goldi and the three bears, who currently hold the map.

From below, Perrito sits on the ground safely. "How's it going? Can you see anything up there?" he shouts up to the two.

Puss glances down at Perrito before continuing his climb. "Not yet, Perrito..." Puss yells all of a sudden when the stick he placed his foot on snaps off, causing him to slip up. But extends his claws and clings to the tree trunk desperately.

"You okay?" Kitty asks, looking down at him.

"Si, I am good. So good," Puss says, casually resting his arm on a branch next to him. But that branch breaks off as well and sends him falling once again.

Kitty is able to reach him in time and grabs him by the wrist. "If you wanted to hold my hand, all you had to do was ask."

Puss dangles off the side of the tree and says, "Uh, just feel free to pull me up whenever you get a chance."

"Oh, I was just remembering the last time I offered you my hand. Only, that time, I believe you had cold feet," Kitty says to mess with him.

Puss' face goes blank for a few seconds before laughing sheepishly.

Kitty eventually pulls him up on the branch she is standing on and goes to climb up the tree trunk.

But Puss gets her attention. "Kitty...About that day. Puss in Boots is not supposed to be afraid. But outside that church in Santa Coloma, that was the first time I ever felt fear. So I ran." His expression is filled with sorrow as he looks at Kitty. "It was a mistake, Kitty."

"It's okay," Kitty responds.

Puss shakes his head. "No, no. It was cowardly."

"It's okay," she says again.

"You alone at the alter..." Puss continues.

Kitty tries to get his attention. "Puss."

"In your beautiful, poofy wedding dress..."

"Puss! It's okay." Kitty turns and starts to climb up. "I didn't show up, either."

"Wait, what?" Puss asks in surprise before following her, popping up from a bush of pink leaves. "What do you mean, you didn't show up?"

Kitty leans out while holding onto the trunk of the tree. "Well, I knew I could never compete with your one true love," she says with a smirk.

"Who?" Puss questions.

"Yourself, the legend," Kitty answers, pushing his hat down.

Puss groans, his hat now covering his eyes.

Kitty hangs on a branch above Puss. "I wasn't gonna show up for that guy." She lands in front of him and lifts his hat, a soft smile on her face. "But you don't seem like that guy anymore." Taking the opportunity, she takes his hat and places it on her head before jumping up to another branch.

"Everything okay up there?" Perrito asks from down below.

Puss responds by giving him a thumbs-up.

"I'm giving you a thumbs-up, just so you know," Perrito says afterward.

"Puss!" Kitty calls out to him, "Look."

Puss climbs up and stands next to Kitty at the top of the tree.

A distance away is a forest covered in snow. And at the center of the forest is a small cabin, smoke coming out of the chimney. This hints that Goldi and the three bears are residing there for the time being.

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Looking through the crystal ball, Jack Horner watches Puss and Kitty standing on the tree. "What do you think, bug? Do I wait for the cats to steal the map and then kill them, or do I just kill everybody all at once?"

The cricket on Jack's left shoulder flutters over to his right. "You know, I'm starting to think you don't appreciate the value of a life."

Jack glances over at the cricket. "What? No. I mean, I love these guys." He looks down at the bakers, who are used as a human bridge. Despite their screams and groans of pain, Jack continues to walk along them. "Flex the glutes. I need a solid surface."

The cricket takes a minute to think to himself, softly muttering, "There's good in all people. There's good in all people." He brings his attention back to Jack and says, "You know, Jack, maybe we need to dig a little deeper. T-tell me about your childhood."

Jack sighs once he finally makes it to the other side of the cliff. "You know, I never had much as a kid. Just loving parents and stability and a mansion and a thriving baked goods enterprise for me to inherit. Useless crap like that."

The cricket face palms after hearing that.

"But once I get my wish, I'll finally have the one thing that will make me happy," Jack says with a bright smile on his face.

This seems to interest the cricket. "Oh, well, what's that?"

"All of the magic in the world." Jack lifts up the crystal ball and looks through it. Inside depicts an image of Jack laughing evilly as he stands on the crumbling earth. "For me. And no one else gets any. Is that so much?"

With a look of terror, the cricket says, "Yes!"

Jack just shrugs that off. "Agree to disagree." He looks back at the carriage that's on the other side of the cliff and motions to the one baker holding onto the reins. "All right, bring it over."

Beside the baker is Val, her wrist still tied. And the only reason why she hasn't made her escape yet is because the baker is also pointing a kitchen knife to her throat.

Val looks down at the cliff nervously. Judging by how unsteady the "bridge" looks, she knows that this plan is not going to work. So to prepare, she places one of her feet on the railing just in case she needs to jump over to the other side before the whole thing falls.

The carriage only makes it halfway, and sure enough, the bakers forming the bridge fall down to their doom. The only ones making it across are the unicorns, who run off, and Val, who is able to grab onto the side of the cliff just in time.

Looking down at the damaged carriage at the bottom of the cliff, the cricket shouts, "Sweet Mother of Goose, Jack!"

"Well, you know what they say. Can't bake a pie without losing a dozen men," Jack says before chuckling to himself.

Standing on Jack's right shoulder, the cricket starts to freak out. "Oh. Oh! That was horrible. Your wish is horrible." Now filled with rage, the cricket points accusingly at Jack. "You're horrible! You're an irredeemable monster!"

Jack gives him a smug grin before saying, "Oh, what took you so long, idiot?" Without a second thought, Jack flicks the cricket off his shoulder.

Catching his attention is Val, who has been trying to climb up the cliff by getting her footing on the side of it. But her hands tied together is what's making this more difficult for her. She stops what she's doing and looks up at him when she notices how quiet it's gotten.

"You're not chatty, are you?" Jack asks.

Val shakes her head no, being the one vulnerable in the situation.

Jack grabs Val by the wrists and lifts her up. "Yeah, I didn't think so," he says.

Val's heart quickens as she dangles over the side of the cliff. The last thing she wants is for him to let go of her, and she falls to her death.