Tricked Into Love (An Encanto AU)

Prologue: Circumstance

'Run.'

That thought is the only one running through my head as I push various things out of the way to make room for my parents. 

We're moving, trying to use whatever cover we can to hide ourselves from the eyes of the raiders running through our village. Many others run in front of us, heading in several different directions to avoid the men trying to murder us. I stifle to keep my coughs down as I try to ignore the horrifying screams of villagers.

Despite how short I am compared to other girls my age, I would like to think I'm tough. That I remain calm in stressful situations. 

However, I am struggling to keep my panic down. Fire has always scared me. The flames look like they could eat everything in their wake and never be satisfied. The new blue dress that my dad bought for me today is now covered in dirt and blood. My hair, which took my mom so long to style, is now messy and frizzy.

My father keeps turning to check if I'm still behind him. I scream at him to keep going, that I'm close by. My mother is injured and my father is carrying her in his arms. 

The day started nicely. Beautiful and sunny. We were having a picnic in the park to celebrate my birthday.

Now, we're running for our lives.

My mother Sofia is struggling to even stay conscious as my father carries her bridal style through the town. Her clothes are ripped and dirty. She looks helpless, grabbing at his shoulders with whatever strength she has. My father Carlos looks exhausted. Still, he doesn't let his exhaustion slow down as he holds my mother closer to him.

I turn around only once and for a few seconds, I memorize the image in front of me. The village I had grown up in, took my first steps in, my...home...is burning. The houses all seem to cry out for help as the fire eats away at the wood planks they were made of. The few soldiers we have for extreme cases of emergency are all lying on the ground, either dead or too injured to run away.

Four men caused all the damage. Men on horses wearing large sombreros came here, asking for help. They had asked someone nearby in the park where they could find the mayor. The family pointed them towards the office where he resides. Next thing we know, the village is on fire. Turns out they had machetes and swords hidden in their belts. They are now looking around, stealing our belongings, and killing anyone they see so that no one would ever be able to warn others of their approach.

Tears slip out of my eyes as I run after my parents.

Staying close to them, I realized that we were heading toward the large mountains that weren't far away from our village. These mountains are unbelievably large, green, and full of vegetation. They have always been there, long before I was even born. No one has ever been able to climb them as they are too steep.

Sometimes...I've wondered if there is a village there as I've seen smoke rising from behind the mountains.

I snap out of my thoughts as everyone around us stops running for the moment. As we're trying to catch our breath, my blood turns cold as I realize that I can hear horses coming. I scream at everyone to run and all the people take off, trying to get away.

My father panics so badly that we end up colliding with another family. As we all scramble to get on our feet, we watch in horror as the raiders approach us. We're cornered at the walls of the mountains. Some behind us try desperately to climb the mountain, crying out in fear as they slide back down to the ground.

The four men are all wearing various colors of buttoned-up shirts with black vests over them. All have black sombreros on, hiding their hair from my sight. Each of them has varying colored headbands to cover their faces. The only thing I can see are their eyes. Two of them have brown eyes while one has green and the other, the leader by what I can tell, has dark blue ones. He studies each of the people here, seeming to wonder which one of us to kill first.