Part Of Your World

two

THIRTEEN YEARS LATER

"Come on, Y/N! You're eighteen now. Surely your father can't be too mad at you for going outside the palace boundaries," Clint was annoyed.

"You know the rules, Clint," you told your friend kindly. "I'm not allowed—"

"Past the fence," he mocked. "It's never too late to break the rule. Besides, how can the King even know? He has all the guards doing some training of some kind."

"Natasha, tell Clint that this is a bad idea. I would love to go to shipwreck cove, but I can't."

"Honestly, Y/N, I'm with Clint on this one," Natasha admitted. "You need to live a little. You're old enough now, your father should trust you."

"You know it's not about trust, he trusts me. He just doesn't trust what's out there."

"Yes, but how do we even know what's still out there—or even near the surface—when we aren't allowed to go out there?!" Clint exclaimed. He swam closer to you, grabbed your hand, and began pulling you toward the large fence surrounding your palace and the town around it. "Let's go!"

"Clint! Please!"

You tried to get out of your friend's grip, but it was really no use. Before you knew it, Clint had pulled you through the gate with Natasha close behind. Strangely, no sudden panic took over you as you look around at the surroundings outside of the gate. Instead of the panic you expected, you felt... free.

You couldn't help the smile that formed on your face and the giddiness that bubbled through you. Clint kept guiding you further away from the fence and you let him. The world outside of the fence was foreign to you, yet it seemed so much more beautiful than the life you had behind the fence. Your eyes kept moving from place to place, taking in the new environment. It wasn't that different from inside the fence. The plants were basically the same, just able to grow bigger, there were fewer homes than inside the fence, and—the most important thing—there was no fence. Just open water. Clint finally dropped your hand and you paused so that you could study your new surroundings.

"What do you think?" Natasha asked you.

"It's wonderful," you breathed out.

"I knew you would think so."

"Come on, girls!" Clint shouted from where he had swum ahead. "We need to get further from the fence line!"

"Clint's right." Natasha grabbed your hand with an excited smile. "Let's go!"

~~~

Shipwreck Cove was the most amazing place you had ever been to. There were a variety of ships in various conditions scattered around the large area. Natasha, Clint, and yourself swam in and out of the ships. As you explored each ship, you noticed that there were human treasures left behind. Each item was so interesting to you and made you want to learn more about the creatures at the surface. By the time you and your friends decided to head back, your hands were full of items you had picked up.

"What are you going to do with all of those, Y/N?" Clint asked as the three of you swam back. "You can't have the King seeing you with them."

"Good point," you noted. You stopped your swimming to look around. "There," you motioned to a cave inside a large rock formation.

The three of you swam toward the cave. When you entered the cave, there was a dark hallway for a bit until it opened up to a large cavern. It was beautiful, with shelves seemingly carved out into the rock at the sides. There was a hole at the top of the cavern, allowing the sun from the surface to trickle in and light up the place.