Rapunzel walked up to Hookhand, holding something behind her back. "Recognize this?" She held up an iron hook, the one he wore when she first met him.
He looked over at her. "Ha! That old thing? Yeah. It's what I wore when I was a nobody."
"It's your old hook," she said firmly, "and you wore it when all you had was a dream." She tightened her grip on it. "Of all people, you should know what it feels like to have to hide your dream!" She walked towards him, lowering the hook to her side. "Why would you do that to somebody else?"
He awkwardly fidgeted with his golden, jewel-encrusted hook as she spoke, then glanced at her as she approached him. "'Cause dancing is dumb."
"Wrong answer." Rapunzel said firmly, gripping the front of his shirt.
"Especially since your patron is a world-class dancer." She looked over her shoulder to see Varian, still cloaked, standing in the doorway. Well, leaning against it. It was kind of cute how he did things that made him seem "cool". "I'm guessing you haven't told him about your view on dancing."
Hookhand cringed. "No, I haven't..."
"Just because you're bigger than--uhm, Pascal?" She nodded to a stool and Pascal hopped down and pushed it over so Rapunzel could step on it and look him in the eyes as she spoke. She tried not to react to Varian chuckling at her. "Just because you're bigger than someone, it doesn't mean that you can look down on them! You should support your brother! If it weren't for us supporting your dream, you'd still be wearing this." She held up the old hook.
She handed it to him, then walked over to the door, placing her hand on Varian's shoulder to prompt him to come with her. He stepped away from the doorway and walked out with her.
--
"It just occurred to me," Eugene commented as they ate lunch seperate from Hookhand and Trevor and their group, "if the kid is going to be joining us for this event, he's gonna need a fake name. Eventually, someone's gonna notice that we never call him by a name. How about Artemis?"
Varian raised an eyebrow. "Why?"
"Because of the whole moon thing. It's a Greek goddess, but the name works for guys, too." Eugene nodded. "We can call you 'Arty' for short and people will assume it's short for 'Arthur'!"
"I like it." Lance smiled at him.
Varian shrugged. "Okay, whatever. It's just until we leave this event anyway, right?"
"Alternately," Hector suggested, "we could just not go. Just because the Princess is going--"
"And turn down free food?" Adira looked at him.
"...Fine." Hector glanced away.
Cassandra sighed. "Honestly though, Raps, maybe we should just leave. The longer we stay here, the more miserable Hookfoot is going to be, and--"
"Oh, don't worry!" Hookfoot assured her. "I'm perfectly fine! We talked it out and all, y'know?"
"Foot, I was there when you 'talked it out'." Eugene said flatly. "He mocked you and brushed you aside like you were garbage compared to him."
"Can't imagine how that feels." Varian muttered sarcastically. Eugene winced. "Even so, Hookfoot, maybe it is better for you to not go."
"Come on, the most important performance of my big brother's career? How could I miss it?" Hookfoot grinned. "After all, family is important, right?"
Varian sighed and got up, pulling his hood over his head before he walked out of their caravan.
"It's nice to see Varian making an effort to be friends with you, Hookfoot." Rapunzel smiled at him. "You two have really come a long way!"
Hookfoot nodded, looking over at where Varian left to.
--
That night, the venue was all lit up and Hookhand was at the piano and all the guests, aside from Rapunzel and her group, were Equis Royal Guards and seals. The wedding itself went peacefully, and Varian could swear he saw a tear escape Hector's eye for the happy animal couple, though he was sure he would deny it until he died.
When the ceremony ended and the reception started, Varian saw Hookfoot slip away and got out of his seat to follow him discreetly, the black cloak he wore good for allowing him to blend with the shadows.
Hookfoot crept along secretly with a bucket in his hand, a fish poking out of it. He hid behind a vase with a tree, then looked out at the piano, where Trevor was doing stretches while Hookhand read over his sheet music.
"And now," King Trevor told the guests, "I shall favor the couple with my dance."
"What are you doing, Foot?" Varian asked, coming up behind him.
"Maestro Hookhand?" King Trevor prompted.
"You don't understand, I...he hurt me. Don't I deserve a little payback?" Hookfoot turned to him.
"Enough dawdling, fool! Play!" Trevor snapped.
"He hurt your feelings, but you were the one that took his words to heart and destroyed your own dream." Varian said sternly. "What you are about to do isn't justice, it's petty."
"What about what you did?" Hookfoot turned to him.
"What I did was an act of desperation after weeks of being treated like a criminal, after the Royal Family abandoned us for months to be killed by the rocks." Varian reached out and gripped the bucket. "I can't let Frederic go without suffering for what he did to me, but you can let go of your grudge against your brother just like I'm letting go of my grudge against Rapunzel. And you don't need his permission to have your dream. You don't need his permission...to dance."
Hookfoot pulled the bucket back to him, out of Varian's smaller, weaker grip. "Go back to your aunt and uncle. He needs to know how it feels."
"Hookfoot, you're going to regret this." He said, looking up at him pleadingly. "Don't let him drag you down. You don't know what King Trevor will do to him - or you, if he finds out you're to blame."
"Ladies and gentlemen, and seals," Hookhand spoke up, and they looked over at him, realizing he hadn't started playing yet and had stood up, "I got somethin' to say. Playing the piano for people like you was always my dream. And I'm living my dream, because people that could've laughed at me didn't." He hung his head in shame. "But, the truth is, I haven't always been as supportive of other peoples' dreams as I should have."
Hookfoot loosened his grip on the bucket and Varian gently took it from him before the man walked out to rejoin the party.
"Enough of this sentimental hogwash." King Trevor sighed. "It is time for my dance!"
"Uh, does anyone else smell fish?" Lance asked, and Varian carried the bucket away from the venue, pausing when a man stopped in front of him.
"Hand over the fish, boy." The man said firmly. "I'm going to make that buffoon pay for mistreating me!"
"Sorry, but you'll have to come up with some other scheme." Varian moved past the man and he grabbed the bucket, forcing Varian to try to wrestle it away from him.
"Give me the fish!" The man snapped, then snatched it out of the bucket and ran. Varian tossed the bucket at him and it hit him in the head, but he kept running. "Wow, thick skull." He said, then ran after him.
Hookhand started to play and no one seemed to notice the scuffle going on in the shadows as Varian lunged at the guy and knocked him down, wrestling with him for the fish. Then the man whacked Varian in the head, hard, and he groaned in a woozy way as he fell off him. The man got up and ran off with the fish while Varian recovered.
"Wait..." He pushed himself up, not noticing that his hood had come off as he followed him.
The man slipped the fish into the piano discreetly and the result was a horrid sour note escaping the keys. Varian knocked into the guy and he let out a groan, falling to his knees. Judging by the sloshing sound from inside the piano, Varian realized that this guy must've been discreetly doing this before Hookfoot ever had the chance to.
King Trevor stormed over to the pianist. "You are a failure!" He declared. "And as of this moment, I am revoking my support of your music! Guards!"
"Wait!" Varian cried out, getting to his feet and pulling the guy up with him. "It's not his fault! There was...oof...sabotage!" He pushed the real culprit out where the King could see him, falling to his knees next to him with a groan. He felt so dizzy...
"Whoa, hey!" Hookfoot ran over and knelt next to him since he was closest. "Are you okay?"
"Just a bit woozy, m'fine." Varian shook his head, then looked up at King Trevor. "There was...sabotage. This guy. Don't punish Hookhand for something someone else did."
"I don't care about the circumstances, I said 'one foul note'!" King Trevor turned his nose away snootily.
Hookhand hung his head, leaning it on the piano keys.
"Now, guards, remove this leather-clad, silly mustached gremlin from my sight!"
Hookfoot clenched his fists and stood up. "Hold on! How dare you talk to my brother that way?! He's got more talent in that one hand of his than you got in your entire body!"
"Who are you to judge talent, you chipmunk-faced meat hook?" King Trevor demanded.
"Who is he?" Rapunzel stepped forward with a smile. "Uhh, he just happens to be the best dancer in Corona."
The culprit started to get up and yelped as he found himself being lifted by Hector, while Adira lifted Varian into her arms and they carried both into the shadows.
"He could dance you under the table any day!" Rapunzel said, moving to Hookfoot's side. "Unless you think you don't have what it takes?" She added, examining her nails condescendingly before she leaned on Hookfoot's shoulder.
King Trevor laughed. "This ruffian is the best in Corona? Ha!"
Hookfoot pulled Rapunzel to the side. "Rapunzel, I don't think this is such a great idea."
"You can do this." She assured him.
"It's your dream, isn't it?" Varian asked, and Hookfoot looked over at him resting in Adira's arms. Hector and Varian's assailant had disappeared.
"If it's a dance-off he wants," King Trevor started hopping on one foot, then the other, "it's a dance-off he shall have!" He did the splits on the ground. "The stakes? If I lose," he rose up slightly, then leaped into the air, "I shall double my contributions to this sad sack's piano career." He stood next to Hookhand, pointing a thumb at him. "But, if I win," He jumped off the stage with a twirl and stood with a flourish on the carpet leading up to it, "he'll never play another note," he walked on his toes towards them gracefully, "ever again."
Varian cringed. If rumors were to be believed, he just implied he'd remove the man's fingers.
Hookhand sat up and looked over at Hookfoot to give him a thumbs-up of encouragement.
"Let the dance-off commence!" King Trevor declared, doing a backflip before he started to sway from side to side, two of his guards with him.
"Uhm, a little problem here?" Hookhand spoke up. "My piano is full of fish."
Shorty poked his head out of the piano, knocking several fish bones out as he did. "Problem solved!" He let out a belch.
"When did he...?" Varian sighed. "...Don't question it."
--
Rapunzel felt a little worried about Varian, but she'd worry about it later. Adira had him for now, and Hookfoot needed her support.
"I could use some accompaniment?" Hookhand turned to her.
Rapunzel smiled and went to grab a guitar, coming over to stand next to him. "Ready when you are!"
They started to play while the dancers warmed up.
"Are you sure this is a good idea? I mean, betting Hookhand's entire career on that guy's ability to dance?" Eugene asked, walking over to her. "Also, uh, what happened to Artemis?"
"I'm not sure, I haven't asked. All I know is that he caught a guy sabotaging the piano." She replied. "And you can't achieve a dream without first risking failure." She playfully messed with his nose.
"You shall listen as I proclaim the dance-off rules!" King Trevor declared. "The first dancer goes, and the second dancer shall match and embellish!" He gestured to the seals. "After which Lucille shall choose the winner." He went to her side.
"All these people here and you pick the seal to be the judge?" Cassandra asked.
"Of course!" King Trevor said firmly. "That is, after all, her official title! She is..." She struck a dramatic pose. "The Seal of Approval!"
Everyone in Rapunzel's group groaned at the pun.
--
Hector stopped his rhino and then jumped off it before yanking the unconscious man with him. He was shaken away from the motion and looked around in confusion as he was thrown to the ground. "Oww..." He looked up with fear at the feral man that had taken him away.
"I don't know why you think you can hurt my nephew, but you're not going to get away with it." He cracked his knuckles and then walked towards him.
"W-Wait, what are you talking about? That kid?" The man scrambled to his feet. "Who are you?!"
"Your worst nightmare, and the last thing you'll ever see." Hector said, flicking out his blade from his glove.
"Ahhhhh! Spare meeee!" The man turned and ran and Hector gave chase with his binturongs alongside him.
He would not show mercy to anyone that harmed his family, but especially not the Moonstone's human host. He would enjoy this.
--
Varian tried to focus on the performance, but the blow to his head was really affecting his vision and the sounds and sights were aggravating his senses. Still, he didn't say anything, wanting to be there to support Hookfoot who was following along after the King splendidly. He danced to his brother's music like he was born for it and the stage lit up with their joy.
Then Hookfoot's hook got bent during a dance move and he looked down at it with horror. Trevor started to laugh with delight as he limped over to Rapunzel on his damaged hook.
"Ugh, that's it for me." Hookfoot said regretfully, then sat down holding his head. "I can't do it! Not without my hook. Maybe he's just too good."
"Hookfoot, I--" Rapunzel started.
"Rapunzel, let me talk to him." Hookhand said, walking over to them. He knelt down in front of his little brother with a shaky smile. "Come on, Dazzle. I need you to dig down deep, and find them guts to show this chump what real talent looks like!"
"But, even if I wanted to, my hook..." Hookfoot looked down at it.
"Maybe this'll help." Hookhand took off his jewel-encrusted hook and held it up. "It's only for true artistes." He said, as if it was something Trevor had said before. He handed it to him and smiled brightly, pushing him forward. "Now, get in there and live your dream."
Rapunzel smiled proudly. "Couldn't have said it better myself." She kissed Hookhand's cheek.
He put on his old, iron hook and the dance-off went on. Hookfoot dazzled the crowd with both his performance and his new hook and even King Trevor looked in awe.
Too soon, everyone thought, the song came to an end and the performance with it. Hookfoot struck a pose and a bow and then King Trevor came up. "Okay, that's enough! Lucille shall now choose the winner!"
"Aunt Adira..." Varian moaned softly, and she looked at him, "my head hurts..."
"Do you want to go?" She asked.
He shook his head, watching as the seal moved forward to make her decision. Two horns were put next to her for her to squeeze, and everyone waited with bated breath as she considered the options. To everyone's surprise, especially King Trevor's, she chose Hookfoot instead of her new "father-in-law". Everyone in the audience cheered and Varian finally had enough and his vision went black as he slumped against Adira's chest.
--
"That's my little brother~!" Hookhand said excitedly.
The guards carried Hookfoot over to his brother and Rapunzel while King Trevor protested his loss, which no one cared about.
"Princess!" Adira ran to her carrying Varian, not seeming to care that his face was exposed to the King of Equis. "Princess, we need to get him out of here and find him a doctor."
"What?" King Trevor looked at them and walked over. "What is--isn't this--what happened?"
What, he didn't recognize him when he was talking to him earlier?!
"Uhm, that guy that put the fish in the piano hurt him!" Rapunzel explained, feeling a bit nervous about him knowing.
"Well, why didn't you say so sooner? Come, I have a medic!" He motioned for them to follow him. "We'll be back shortly!" He paused. "Oh, and I suppose I will have to concede that you won and to the victor goes the spoils and all that." He walked off.
Rapunzel and Adira looked at each other and then followed him out.
"Hey, what's going on?" Cassandra asked, coming to join them. Eugene and Lance followed suit, while Shorty and Hookfoot got caught up with Hookhand.
"Has anyone seen Hector?" Eugene asked as they left the wedding venue.