"No, no, no. This is bad. This is very, very bad," Branch panicked, as the three trolls ran from the entire armed guard.  "They just can't get my colors right," he finished, holding up a wanted poster of himself where he was green.

     "Who cares!?" Creek yelled, frustrated that Branch got them into this mess in the first place.

     "Well that's easy for you to say," Branch objected, rolling his eyes. "You guys look amazing." He held up another wanted poster of Creek and the third troll who is currently unnamed.

     As they ran, a cliff suddenly blocked their path.

     "All right. Give me a boost, and I'll pull you up," Branch instructed the two other trolls. "Give us the satchel first, mate," Creek said firmly, not trusting the little blue troll.

     "Wha..? I just... I am offended," Branch said in fake shock. "I can't believe, that after all we've been through together, you don't trust me." They both glared at him, and he glared right back.

     The guards got closer, one of them shooting an arrow at the three trolls.

     Luckily, though... it missed sticking into the wall of the cliff.

     "Fine. Whatever. Take it," Branch finally said, rolling his eyes, as he handed them the satchel which had the crown inside of it.

     Creek and the other troll gave him a boost up onto the cliff, looking up at him, once he was safely up.

     "Now help us up, pretty boy," Creek said.
"Sorry, my hands are full," Branch said with a smug grin, holding up the satchel.

     "What!?" Creek yelled out in shock, noticing he no longer had the satchel hanging on his shoulder. Branch shrugged, waving tauntingly, as he ran off, leaving the two of them behind to be captured by the guards.

"BRAAAAAAAANCH!!!!" Creek yelled out in pure rage as the guards quickly surrounded the two trolls, who instantly put their hands up into the air, scowling.

     "Retrieve that crown with any force necessary," the head guard stated, as the rest of the guards took Creek and the other thief into custody. "We got him this time, Maximus." He looked to a white horse, who whinnied, before taking off after Branch.

—————

     Maximus gained on Branch, who looked back, still running.

"Go away!" he yelled, but the horse just bit at him, trying to grab onto his vest.

     "No. No. Stop it," Branch said sternly, but the horse kept on chasing him down.

     Quickly, he took a sharp left, stumbling upon a tall tower.

     He quickly began climbing up the tower, placing his hands and feet in the cracks of the rocks.

     Finally, he reached the top, climbing inside to safety.

     Once Branch was safe, he looked out the window, seeing that he had lost the guards, and Maximus.

     "Alone at last," he mumbled to himself, looking into the satchel to see the stolen crown.

'CLANG!'

     Branch fell to the ground, completely unconscious, as Rapunztroll stood behind him with a frying pan.

     She looked down at the unconscious troll on her floor, and then slowly pushed back a corner of his mouth, checking for fangs.

     "Hmm... his teeth aren't pointy..."

"Ugh..." Branch groaned, slowly beginning to wake up. "Huh? Wha... what happened?"

'CLANG!!'

Rapunztroll hit him again, and he fell unconscious immediately.

She looked at him for a moment, and then quickly dragged him to the closet and shoved him inside.

"Okay... okay... I've got a person in my closet," she said to herself. "Oh god... I've got a person in the closet!"

She began to panic, pacing back and forth.

"It's ok. I'm ok. I'm fine." She smiled, thinking about how proud her mom would be that she protected herself.

"Too weak to handle myself out there, huh Mother? Well, tell that to my frying pan!"
'CLANG!' She accidentally whacked herself in the head with her frying pan.

"Ow..." she groaned, rubbing the newly formed lump on her head.

"Rapunztroll! Let down your ha-air!" she suddenly heard from outside her tower window.

     "One moment, Mother!" she yelled back, running to the window and whipping down her hair for her mother to climb.

"I have a big surprise," Gothel said, climbing in through the window.
"Uh... I do too, actually," Rapunztroll said, as she smiled.
"Oh, I bet my surprise is bigger."
"I seriously doubt it..."

"Well... I brought back parsnips! I'm going to make hazelnut soup for dinner, your favorite. Surprise!" Mother Gothel said excitedly.
"Well mother, there's something I want to tell you," Rapunztroll said.

"Oh Rapunztroll, you know I hate leaving you after a fight. Especially when I've done absolutely nothing wrong."
"Okay, but I've been thinking a lot about what you said earlier."
"I hope you're not still talking about those stars."
"Floating lights, actually... and yes. I'm leading up to that."

Mother Gothel sighed, rolling her eyes, becoming rather annoyed with the subject.

"Because I really thought we dropped this issue, sweetheart," she said angrily.
"No Mother. I'm just saying, you think I'm not strong enough to handle myself out there..."
"Oh darling. I know you're not strong enough to handle yourself out there."
"But if you just..."
"Rapunztroll, we're done talking about this."
"But trust me, I..."
"Rapunztroll!"

Rapunztroll flinched at her mother's stern voice.

"Oh, come on, Mother. I can handle myself. I..."
"ENOUGH WITH THE LIGHTS, RAPUNZTROLL! YOU ARE NOT LEAVING THIS TOWER, EVER!"

Rapunztroll's ears drooped, as she lowered her head in sadness.

"Oh, great... now I'm the bad guy," Gothel said, sitting down, as she rubbed the bridge of her nose.

"All I was gonna say, mother... is that..." She looked at the closet Branch was currently in, and then back at her mother, faking a smile. "I know what I want for my birthday now."

"And what is that?" Gothel asked, still annoyed.
"New paint," Rapunztroll replied. "That paint made from the white shells you once brought me."
"Well that is a very long trip, Rapunztroll. Almost three day's time."
"I... I just... thought it was a better idea than... the stars..."

—————

"You're sure you'll be all right, on your own?" Gothel asked, as she began to climb out the window. "I know I'm safe as long as I'm here," Rapunztroll replied.

"I'll be back in three days time. I love you very much, flower."
"I love you more."
"And I love you most."