Tangled - l.s

Chapter 4

Harry took a deep breath to steady himself. It was time to confront the stranger who'd broken in. It might even become an opportunity to prove himself to his mother, to show her what he could do on his own. He grabbed the satchel again and slipped it into an empty pot before taking the chair away from the closet doors, letting them swing open freely.

The man's unconscious body tumbled onto the floor, smacking his head on the stone floor. He groaned.

Harry bit his lip. This was going to be a bit harder than he thought. If he could just get the man in a stable position... maybe tied down to a chair or something... like... that chair over there... That could work.

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He woke up tied down. His head hurt.

What... had happened?

There was someone... and they hit him on the head... and then he was in a chair.

Tommo looked down at the ropes holding him down.

"Hair...?" He pulled against it, slowly beginning to panic. "Why is it hair why is there so much hair-"

"S-Strugg... Struggling is pointless!" a meek voice called from above.

He jumped. "What-"

Up in the rafters, there was a person. A tall figure mostly obscured by shadows. It called again,

"I know why you're here... and I'm not... a-afraid of you."

He squinted up at them, trying to get out of the.. hair rope again. "What is going on? What kind of soldier..."

The figure leapt lithely from the rafters and padded softly on the stone floor, slowly revealing itself. It- he was a young man dressed in purple with dazzling green eyes and golden hair. He held up a frying pan as a weapon. He asked, "Who are you and how did you find me?"

He just laughed nervously, staring at him.

"Who are you and how did you find me?!"

Tommo cleared his throat, trying to look put together even though he was tied up with hair. "I don't know who you are, or how I got here. But may I just say: The name's Tommo Rider, how ya doin'?"

The man squinted at him for a moment before moving closer with his frying pan brandished threateningly. "Who else knows where I am, Tommo Rider?"

"Hopefully no one, wouldn't wish to be tied down by hair on my worst enemy."

"...No one else knows this location, then?"

"No, Blondie, they don't."

"Harry," he corrected.

"Gesundheit." Tommo sighed. "Here's the situation. I was running around in the woods, came across this place-" He looked down to gesture at his satchel. It wasn't there.

"Oh no, where is my satchel?!"

"I've hidden it," Harry gloated, crossing his arms and puffing out his chest. "Somewhere you'll never find it."

Tommo raised an eyebrow. "It's in the pot, isn't it?"

Harry pursed his lips.

CLANG!

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Tommo groaned in pain, going to rub his head before he realized he was still tied down.

"Would you stop doing that? You're going to kill me soon enough..."

"Now it's hidden where you'll never find it," Harry declared, staring worriedly at Tommo's head. He didn't really mean to hit him that hard, but he couldn't risk showing weakness to this stranger.

Harry circled Tommo with an eyebrow raised in suspicion, holding out his frying pan as a warning. "So... what do you want with my hair, huh? To cut it? Sell it?"

"Want with your hair- what kind of creep wants to buy and sell hair? That's so gross." He made a face.

"Wait- You... don't want my hair...?"

"No! The only thing I want with your hair is to get out of it!"

"Oh... But Mother said-" He put his head in his hands. "This doesn't make any sense..." He picked up the chameleon that was perched on his shoulder and held it in his cupped hands, turning away from Tommo as if he couldn't hear him speaking if he couldn't see his lips moving.

"Dusty, what do I do?" he hissed.

"Are you talking to a frog?"

"Be quiet." Harry turned back and looked at Dusty, pleading with his eyes. "Do you think I can trust him?"

Dusty squeaked, looking at Tommo skeptically. He hopped slightly and pointed at the window.

"I know, I need someone to take me, and I... I kind of trust him."

Dusty squeaked again, prioritizing getting out of the tower first, figuring this guy out later.

"And he doesn't have pointy teeth like Mother said they had, which is... weird, but what choice do I have? I have to get out, don't I?"

Dusty nodded, squeaking again.

Harry nodded back. He turned back to the man in his chair and started waking in circles with his hands clasped behind his back, trying to appear authoritative like his mother, Dusty perched on his shoulder again. "Ok, Tommo Rider, I'm prepared to offer you a deal."

He raised an eyebrow. "Deal?"

"Yes, a deal."

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