Collin stared out his car window, his eyes fixing on the dark scenery outside. The moon hung low in the sky, like a glowing blowing ball about to drop down on earth's surface, unable to keep itself in the sky any longer. A long sigh escaped his lips. For some reason the stars seemed painfully bright tonight.

I don't know how much longer I can do this.

The thought entered Collin's mind before he could stop it and a pang of guilt immediately struck his gut. What was he talking about, "he couldn't do it anymore?" He wasn't even the one suffering in the hospital.

Collin pushed open his car door and stepped out into the night air, the darkness engulfing him as he left his thoughts in the car. He glanced down at the notepad in his hand, the writing unreadable due to the lack of light. He didn't need to be able to read it though, he already knew what it said.

1. Revise Essay
2. Research
3. Finish Math
4. Come up with a fundraiser idea for student council

He had read over the list so many times, he didn't even know why he still kept the paper. Maybe to keep his mind off of other things. Collin glanced up at his compact two story house, that seemed just too empty, now that only two people lived in it. With a tired shrug he made his way to the front door slipping into the house and throwing his jacket on the coat hanger. His mother sat hunched over at the kitchen table squinting through her reading glasses at the bills that littered the table.

"Where have you been?" She asked looking up briefly to catch Collin's eye. "I thought you said you would be home early today. Your dinner's cold now."

"I'm sorry I didn't know I would be gone so long." Collin answered brushing his hair out of his eyes to look at the plate of chicken and peas that sat wrapped in plastic wrap on the counter.

"You could have called me. Geez where were you anyway?"

"I decided to go the hospital." Collin whispered cautiously, knowing how touchy of a subject that was with his mother.

The bills in her hand began to shake and she didn't reply for a while before finally nodding. "Okay." She simply said before getting up and trudging towards the living room where he could hear the faint sound of the television. Collin watched her leave before trudging up the stairs and entering his room. He knew how stressful all this had been on his mother, and he couldn't blame her for any of her crabbiness. He dropped his backpack on his bed before opening his laptop and pulling up his essay. He had only got through half of it before his phone rang. He picked it up a female voice greeting his ears.

"Hey Collin, this is Sarah the student council vice-president." A cheerful voice said.

"Hello Sarah." Collin replied trapping the phone between his ear and his shoulder as he continued to type.

"I and the board were just wondering if you happened to have come up with a fundraiser idea."

"Oh ummm..." Collin mumbled pulling out his check list and running a hand through his brown hair. "Not yet." He finally said wincing slightly at his words. Oh how he hated to say that, but the hospital visit had gotten him behind schedule.

"Collin we really need that, I know your going through a tough time right now, but you really have been slacking with your duties as president lately. I'm sorry to say this but the board has come to an anonymous decision to remove you from your position. Sorry, but it has to be done. "

Collin stared wordlessly at his computer screen. Of course he knew he was slacking but he wasn't doing that bad of a job, and he had been president since freshmen year, how could they just throw him out like that.

"I understand don't worry. Tell Michael he finally has my job." Collin glared at his wall his words coming out harsher than he intended. Sarah didn't seem to notice as she quickly hung up. Damn it. How ridiculous would this look on his college application fired from job as president. Collin quickly stood almost slipping on a coloring book his sister had left in his rooms months ago, he picked it up examining the messily colored picture.

Rapunzel stood smiling happily on the page, a frying pan in her hand. Her long blonde hair flowing down the page and ending in puddles of hair at the bottom. Collin swore his jaw clenching as he noticed the word Melanie signed at the bottom in crooked letters, he threw the book across the room, turning away and leaning against his desk as he watched it slide under his bed.



Aladdin watched desperately as jafar snapped his fingers and Jasmine was suddenly trapped in an hour glass. The powers that he possessed in his serpent carved cane causing mayhem. Sand instantly began to pour from the top, knocking the golden crown that the princess wore from her head.

"Jasmine." Aladdin shouted reaching out towards the giant hourglass from the position where he was knocked down. She shook her head her black ponytail dancing behind her as she pointed towards the lamp. Aladdin nodded he would save her after he regained the lamp again. He turned towards it watching as his dear friend Abu ran for the shiny golden lamp his tiny hat bouncing on his head.

"Don't toy with me boy." Jafar laughed flicking his staff towards toward the small oblivious money turning him into a clapping money toy, symbols clasped in his hand ready to smash together once he was whined up.

"Abu." Aladdin cried helplessness beginning to fill his chest and press against his lungs. The purple magic carpet swooped down picking up Abu and bringing him out of danger.

"Things are beginning to unravel." Jafar pointed his golden serpent at the carpet instantly making it unravel.

For some reason this all felt so familiar to Aladdin like this had happened a thousand times, the words dejavu almost left Aladdin's mouth as he took in the sight of everyone he held dearest being trapped. Why did it feel like he had already been here before and endured this before? Aladdin quickly shook the thoughts from his head as jumped to his feet racing towards the genie lamp that still rested on the floor.

"Not so fast." Jafar tsked forming a barrier of swords between Aladdin and them lamp. Aladdin glared at Jafar picking up one of the swords. He was going to end this right here and now.

Suddenly a ring of fire surrounded Aladdin the only sound he could make out over the crackle of the fire was jafar's mad laugh.

"Don't be a coward!" Aladdin yelled turning in a circle watching as the flames grew higher. "Come out an fight me!" He continued the flames rising so high they blocked his view of anything else. Sweat began to trickle down his back and he worried he might die here. But no he wouldn't, for some reason he knew clear as day he wouldn't die here. "Fight me Jafar!" Aladdin tried again clutching the sword he held tighter. The light began to become too blinding and Aladdin brought an arm up to cover his eyes. Suddenly everything around him went quiet, no more crackling of fire or Jafar's menacing laugh. Then he was falling Aladdin felt his feet slip from under him as the ground disappeared. A bright light surrounded him and a sick feeling entered his stomach.

It was a normal day for Rapunzel. Now that she was free from the tower she spent most of her days in a series of classes in the castle. She was training to be queen after all. She had an entire country to learn about, especially since she had spent most of her life in solitude. The classes seemed to go on for ages and there was a bunch of important stuff she was supposed to remember that left her memory as soon as it entered it. Her mind was in other places today.

"Rapunzel, is something wrong?" her mother asked as she looked up from a rather large book. Rapunzel was playing with a half asleep Pascal and barely heard her mother speak to her.

"I'm sorry mother, what was the question?" She asked absently.

"I asked if you were alright," her mother repeated, a worried expression on her face. "I hope this isn't too much all at once." Rapunzel shook her head.

"It's not your fault at all, I am just daydreaming I guess," She responded. Her mother came and sat next to her, a comforting hand on her shoulder. She stroked Rapunzel's hair, and the princess had to keep from flinching. Any time someone touched her hair it brought back awful memories of her time stuck in the tower. How she had been abused for her power.

"I know what it is, you are worried about Flynn, aren't you?" her mother said knowingly. "He will be back soon."

"I hope so!" the princess replied. "I don't mean to be so absent minded, but I have a hard time focusing when he is away. You never know what kind of trouble he can get into."

"That's not it at all," the queen retorted. "You just miss being out there with him." It was true. Rapunzel found herself often dreaming of adventures. Not that she wasn't grateful to finally be with her family, but her mind was often with Flynn envious of all the sights he got to see. Rapunzel feared she was missing out on a lot being stuck in the castle.

"Why don't you go take a walk," the doting mother offered, "...clear your head, maybe you will feel better." Rapunzel nodded, leaving Pascal to sleep in the window. Maybe a walk would do her some good. As she walked the halls Rapunzel felt a bit funny. Like she hadn't eaten in a while. Her head grew hot and fuzzy, her vision tunneled and she assumed she passed out on the castle floor.

When she came to, she wasn't surrounded by guards as she expected, she wasn't even anywhere she recognized at all. In fact she was pretty sure she didn't recognize anything around her. The walls around her weren't stone, she couldn't quite decide what they were made of in fact. She looked around wildly, attempting to decipher where she was, the only thing that came into focus was someone sitting at a desk. All she could see was the back of a head. A brunette head.

"...Flynn?" she asked weakly before she passed out again, falling onto a soft carpeted floor."

Rowan Cross

Rowan sneezed and blew his nose with a tissue. Jared was right; I shouldn't have gone out to the park right after I'd taken a bath. he thought irritatedly, blowing his nose. He added the used tissue to the small pile beside him and shivered, drawing the blanket closer around him. He reached for another tissue, scowling. The others had wanted to stay, but he had managed to get them to go to school after he reassured them that no, he wasn't an invalid, it was just a cold and all he needed to do was sleep it off, go to school already before you're all late. And now he was at home alone since they all had something to do for the whole day, which was fine by Rowan.

In retrospect, maybe Rowan should have asked Fin where the sleeping pills were. He already tried counting sheep and even tried playing soothing lullabies on his phone, but it just wouldn't work. Which was why he had currently migrated to the living room with his blankets and a veritable amount of tissues and was currently trying to find the remote. Rowan figured that since he couldn't sleep, maybe watching his favorite movie might help. Others might say it was a bad decision since his favorite movie(Brave) was an action movie and was therefore more likely to keep him awake, but Rowan's feverish, sleep deprived mind said screw them, they didn't know what they were talking about, movies always help with sleep.

Aha. Rowan allowed himself a small, victorious grin as he pulled the remote out of the sofa. Now he just had to make sure that everything was in place before he started the movie. He mentally recited the list of items he needed, ticking them off with his fingers. Blanket, fever patch, tissues, large cup of honeyed lemon tea, remote, dustbin close enough to throw tissues in, all checked. that done, he went to grab the CD waiting on the table.

Rowan placed the CD inside the VCR, sneezing into another tissue as he did so, then went back to his spot on the sofa and huddled grouchily in his blankets, shivering. He sipped his tea, which did wonders to stop the shivering. Rowan absently noted that it tasted like the brew Da - Prof. Smitherson had made every time one of them was sick. Maybe he taught it to Jared, he thought, sneezing. He took another sip, the warm, sweet tea going smoothly down his throat.

As the movie played, he continued to watch, sneezing and coughing at regular intervals. Gradually, he grew sleepy. The mixture of the tea and warmth from the blankets, as well as the movie being played on low volume was enough to send his already tired mind into a trance. The fact that he had a slight fever helped, too. By the middle of the movie, he was already fast asleep; head lying back on the sofa and curled up in his blanket, the half-full mug of tea on the table.

---

---

They were ready for the attack. Peter sat hunched, his lost boys huddled around him, their excitement obvious in the air. They were going to going to raid the ship again. These attacks were always fun, there was nothing quite like messing with Hook and he was lucky enough to have his boys to join him in the merriment.

"Alright boys! Are you ready?" Perter called. His boys responded with a loud yell. That was all the encouragement that Peter needed. He was int he air, his favorite place in all of Neverland. He loved the way the air ran through his hair, and the weightlessness of his body. He could see all of Neverland's wonders from up here. He could see the mermaids bathing on the beaches, and the liveliness of the woods below. But best of all he could see Hook's ship in the distance.

With a signal to his Lost Boys, Peter swooped down, heading down to the ship. He let out his mighty cry, his boys following in suit.

"Cockadoodledoo!" With that they were on the ship causing mayhem. They tripped the shipmates, knocking some overboard. They pulled hats down over their heads, blinding them.

"Pan!" a familiar voice called to him. Peter turned with child-like glee.

"Hiya Hook!" Peter greeted him, standing tall and firm, hovering above the ship.

"What is the meaning of this!?" the captain shouted in disbelief.

"Meaning?" Peter asked with a sarcastic laugh. "Why, this is fun!" Peter charged with his dagger, fighting with the pirate. Their steel clanged but Peter, as usual, was faster, cutting the feather from the captain's hat. Hook let out a cry of outrage.

"Pan! You deviant! You scoundrel!" He shouted in outrage. "Smee! You won't stop me this time! I'll kill him!" Hook came back with fever, ready to go for the kill. Peter only laughed as he blocked the oncoming attacks. However, he was caught off guard. Out of no where, Smee hit him across the back of the head with something heavy. Peter's vision blurred and he was forced to kneel on the ground.

"Well done Smee," Hook said with devilish delight. "Throw that menace overboard." Peter was having trouble seeing, let alone fighting. He could barely resist as he was thrown over the railing and into the icy water below. He felt like he was falling for an eternity. The water's cold embrace a deadly reminder of the peril that awaited him if he didn't get to the surface. Then all at once he was warm and realized he could breathe. He opened his eyes and was in shock. Where had he gotten to?

He had been in this world before, once with Wendy, and again to gather some of his lost boys. Why was he here now. He most certainly hadn't flown here. The room he was in was well organized and he saw a sleeping form on the bed. Peter leaned in to investigate. A sleeping girl, was all he could make out, most of her form was covered in blankets. He didn't recognize her. All he knew was that he needed to return to Neverland and help his boys. He went to fly and realized he couldn't. Out of fairy dust maybe?

"Tink?" he called softly, looking about the girls room. "Tink where are you? We need to go!" he said in a rather loud whisper.

Harmony in her family was finally restored after the spell had been broken, the bond between mother and daughter finally restored. Merida lived a much happier life now that her and her mother saw on the same level, now that she was free to be herself. Her mother still tried to teach her lessons from time to time, but Merida didn't feel so overwhelmed as she did before.

Today, Merida was out with Angus, roaming the fields and exploring, while firing off arrows at any target that caught her eye. She often loved to explore the lands around the kingdom, looking for any sign of more mythical beasts, all while improving her archery skills. She rode hard and fast through the forest, pushing Angus to run faster and faster as she fired off arrows at tree knots and high-hanging pieces of fruit.

Angus skidded to a stop suddenly, knocking Merida off his back. She braced herself for the fall, expecting to hit the hard ground, but instead she just kept on falling. The feeling surprised her and her head spun for a moment until she felt herself land, surprisingly soft, on a cold floor.

She looked around her, springing to her feet quickly to get a good look at her surroundings. The room was strange, filled with objects she didn't recognize. A box showed images that quickly changed from one moment to the next. Surely this was witchcraft. A light haired boy lay on a couch, apparently sleeping. Merida looked around for Angus, and when she did not find him, she grew the courage to speak to the boy.

"You, what is this sorcery?"

Collin pressed his forehead to the desk trying to let the coolness of the surface calm him. His jaw clenched slightly the desk doing nothing for his nerves.

"Flynn?"

Collin froze his breath catching in his throat. Did he just hear a voice? There was no way he could have. He was in his room alone. Collin's ears perked up as the hair on the back of his neck began to stand. He could suddenly make out the soft sound of breathing, and he knew for a fact that it wasn't his own. He hadn't had any oxygen since he heard the voice.

Swiveling around quickly in his chair his eyes instantly locked on a girl. One who seemed to be unconscious. His blue eyes quickly darted to the two windows in his room, seeing that they were still locked and hadn't been opened.

Then how did she get here?

Collin slowly rose from his chair making his steps light and cautious as he made his way to the sleeping stranger. He quickly sized her up, she looked innocent enough, and if she was some kind of murder or something he didn't understand her sleeping tactic and he was pretty sure he could take the petite girl.

He bent down over her running a hand through his hair. "Hello?" He whispered. He tried not to step on her long blonde hair, that was splayed around her, as he scooted closer to her. He gently shook her, his mind deciding to leave all rational thoughts about how this stranger had magically appeared in his room behind. Glancing up at his bed he nodded to himself. He didn't know how long it would be until she woke up, or how long it would be until he could get some answers from her, she also looked rather uncomfortable on the floor.

Collin reached out towards the girl his hands hovering over her hesitantly. Maybe he should just leaver her on the floor. No, if he passed out he would want someone to help him. Then again he doubted he would ever pass out in a strangers bedroom. With a final nod he scooped her up into his arms and stood. Her soft skin rubbed against his bare skin due to his short sleeve shirt. Collin looked down at the girl as he made his way to the bed, the closeness of her making his heart beat increase slightly. Setting her down on the bed he immediately stepped back.

What was he doing? He had a stranger in his room on his bed. Fiddling slightly he decided to exit the room. Making his way down the stairs he began to formulate a plan. Okay when she wakes up he would question her and then send her on her way. That's it. Easy and simple, then he could get back to his homework. Grabbing a glass out of the cabinet he poured cold water in it before heading back up the stairs and setting the glass next to the sleeping girl on his bed-side table. He brought his chair up next to the bed and sat down.

---

And then suddenly he wasn't falling.

Everything was black. Aladdin blinked, his eyes adjusting to the sudden drastic change in lighting. His head felt dizzy and he brought a hand to it, his five senses slowly coming back one by one.

He noticed at once that he was no longer carrying the sword he had picked up, in an attempt to slay the villain Jafar.

"Jasmine?! Abu!? Genie?!?" Aladdin yelled his dark oak brown hair falling into his eyes as he looked around wildly. He was no longer in the throne room or even anywhere close to the place where he grew up.

Aladdin was suddenly aware of voices and turned to see a wide screen with images playing on it. "Abu?" Aladdin whispered confused his eyebrows furrowing as he watched the animal who had become his best friend and an animated character that looked similar to himself and the clothes he was wearing, race through the city doing flips as guards chased after him. A girl was also there, dressed in brown. Jasmine. He watched as they were all cornered and the men tried to take them away. The woman suddenly threw off the brown ragged cloak she wore and revealed that she was a princess. The princess.

Aladdin shook his head. He remembered that, he was there. He remembered the slight feeling of betrayal from the stranger he had saved and the feeling of sadness that he wouldn't never see this girl who he had taken a liking to again. Why was this on this screen?

Aladdin ran a hand through his long slightly wavy hair and balled his hands into the carpet where he sat. It didn't matter. All that mattered was that he needed to get out of here and back to the palace to save his friends. He stood trying to fulfill his wish only to stagger due to the pain in his head. Aladdin looked down letting his hair form a curtain around his face as he tried to clear his blurry vision. Only looking up in time to see a head pop into the room from around a wall.

The first thing he noticed about the head was hypnotizing hazel eyes that captured his attention immediately.

"Who are you, and where am I?" Aladdin got out, his voice weak at first but slowly becoming stronger.

Rowan Cross

A loud thump on the floor woke Rowan from his slumber, and he shifted slightly, still half asleep. He felt better and more refreshed now that he had some sleep, although the blankets he was cocooned in made Rowan feel as though he were encased in a furnace at high blast. He threw the blankets off him onto the floor and turned, eyes still closed and trying to get back to sleep. Then Rowan heard a voice, and his half asleep mind suddenly became very awake.

Wait, what?! Rowan's eyes cracked half open, and he winced at the bright lights, squeezing them shut again. Rowan slowly went into a seating position, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes with his hand while his mind raced trying to figure out what was going on. He had seen a girl with what seemed like red hair standing near him, and his brother and the others didn't seem to be home yet, so what was she doing here?! What should he do? Stall her? Find out what she wanted? And how on earth did she even get in here? His brain jumbled up with questions, Rowan finished seating up on the sofa and coughed harshly, staring at her in the now bearable light; irritation and confusion on his face.

"Huh? What do you mean?" He asked her hoarsely after his coughing fit had stopped. Rowan winced at how scratchy and rough his voice sounded, reaching for his now cold mug of tea and sipping it, wetting his throat. "I have no idea what you're going on about." He stated, voice now sounding more normal, albeit still a bit bad. He nursed the cup of tea in his hands as he sat there, wary and confused.

She stared as the figure started to stir within its nest of blankets. Merida stood on edge, watching the boy carefully and examining his bright eyes and dark blonde hair. The boy began to cough, and she flinched and stepped back. Sickness was never a good thing, and she had no idea what kind of diseases this stranger may have or if her clan would even be able to treat her.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

She could not place his accent. He didn't sound like her, nor did he sound like the invaders from the North that had attacked her home and force the alliance of the clans.

"I have no idea what you're going on about."

"This, here." She said, making a motion towards the television with her hand. "What sorcery traps these people?" She moved towards the television, always the curious one. She reaches behind the screen, moving the television to get a look behind and see if there are any people. Perhaps it was all just a puppet show. But she finds nothing and convinces herself that the screen with the moving pictures must be magic, poor souls trapped inside a box, forever doomed to play out the same scenes over and over again. This broke her heart as she wondered if they had made a deal with some witch as well that they now regretted.

She continued to poke at the television a bit more, still curious. After one poke too many, the set came crashing to the ground, causing a crack in the screen and the picture to go out. Merida beamed. She had just saved those poor people from eternity repeating the same scenes and actions! But her heart raced as she realized the witch who put them there would want a replacement.

"Are you the witch that put them there?" She raised an eyebrow questioningly, a bit surprised that she had the courage to stand up to a witch herself. She had never seen a male witch, but she supposed there was a first time for everything and who was she to judge his Fate? "I'll not let you have me too!" She reaches behind her back for her bow, only to grasp at air. She must have dropped it when Angus threw her off his back, and now she didn't have it in this strange place. She looks up, certain she must have fallen through a hole into a witch's lair. "Angus! Angus!" She shouts, hoping to capture the horse's attention and convince him to come forward.

Rowan Cross

Rowan raised an eyebrow as she gestured to the television. "...It's a TV," he said, confused. "You know, a television? People act, the camera catches it all on tape, and we get a show. No sorcery is involved, unless you consider electricity and pixels magic."

He frowned, taking another drink of tea and placing the now almost empty mug on the table. Now that Rowan was feeling less sick (only the cough and sneezing remained) and surprised, he was wondering how the strange girl got in. And why she didn't know what a television was, and why she looked vaguely familiar, among other things. He sneezed and reached for a tissue, glancing around the room as he did so, ignoring her poking of the television. Nothing seemed to be out of place. The windows were closed, so was the door, and everything seemed untouched... It was almost like she had appeared out of thin air. Which was impossible, since magic shouldn't exist...

But what if it did? the tiny part of his brain which still believed in Santa Claus and magic and innocence with a stubborn, childish will that he had thought died years ago said. That's ridiculous, the rest of him scoffed. Magic doesn't exist. If it did, we would have known, somehow. the small side continued stubbornly, undeterred But what if it did exist? What if it did, and you're just now seeing it? Blowing his nose, Rowan was interrupted out of his musings when he heard a crash. Startled, he look up just in time to see the strange girl beaming and... the television... on the floor... broken...

For a moment, Rowan just stared in disbelief. Then... "AAGH!!" Rowan yelled, leaping out of the sofa. The yell triggered a coughing fit, and he covered his mouth with his hand, running to the television and examining it anxiously. Ignoring the girl (why on earth did she do that?!), Rowan groaned when he found the crack on the screen. Sure, they were planning on replacing it anyway, but they didn't have enough money to pay for a new one so soon! And did she just call him a witch?! What the hell?!

Suddenly angry, Rowan whirled around, glaring at the girl. First she had broke into his home for seemingly no reason, then she destroyed their television, and now she was calling him a witch when she was the one who had appeared out of nowhere. Really, Rowan should be the one complaining, since he was the one who sick and suffering property damage. Also, her constant yelling for someone called Angus was getting on his nerves and was beginning to give Rowan a headache. Actually, the whole situation was starting to make his head hurt, and that; in combination with him being sick, the trouble of how he was going to explain this to people and the confusion and mild fear over how she got here and what she was going to do (rob the house? Kill someone?) made his already thinly stretched temper snap.

"Shut up!" He yelled at the red headed girl, beginning yet another coughing fit again. Rowan glared at her, coughing into his hand. "I'm not a witch or a warlock or anything like that," he said angrily between coughs, still crouched beside the cracked TV. Rowan's voice rose as he continued, growing more indignant with each word, "If anything, I should be asking you if you're one, since you suddenly appeared in my living room out of nowhere!" Rowan meant to continue on about how on earth did she not know what a television was and what on earth was she trying to pull, but his coughing fit overwhelmed him and Rowan bent over; unable to do anything except wait for the harsh, deep coughs he was making to stop.

When she realized she was asleep, Rapunzel felt a sense of relief wash over her. She had probably gone a little bonkers from the heat and passed out in the castle. If she had to guess she was lying in her bed right now and would wake to find someone caring for her, maybe if she was lucky Flynn would be back.

She opened her eyes and stretched. Mid stretch she stopped short, quickly realizing this was not her room at all. In fact she wasn't entirely sure where she was at all. There was in fact someone sitting by her bedside but she didn't recognize him at all.

It all started to come back in pieces. This was the room she had passed out in. This person was the one she had seen sitting at the desk, the one that for a second she thought was Flynn. Where was she? Was this some kind of magic?

She hadn't heard of any kind of magic existing since Gothel was destroyed, but that didn't mean it didn't exist.

“Excuse me?” Rapunzel asked hesitantly. “I think I'm lost or something. This is not my castle, or any part of the woods I recognize, and I really need to get home. My mother must be worried sick.” She held out her hand to introduce herself.

“I'm princess Rapunzel,” she said with a warm smile. She immediately regretted it. What if she had been kidnapped? She didn't need to be giving them any more incentive to keep her and ransom her. Her parents had just recently gotten her back, and she knew they would go to any extreme to keep her.

"...It's a TV," he said, confused. "You know, a television? People act, the camera catches it all on tape, and we get a show. No sorcery is involved, unless you consider electricity and pixels magic."

Television? Camera? Tape? Electricity? Pixels? Yes, she did indeed consider all those strange words, whatever they meant, to be sorcery! She had never heard of anything like this, and her mother had made sure her schooling was quite intensive. Even if Merida seldom listened, she would have remembered the mention of something so interesting and mystical as the television.

"AAGH!!"

The yell from the boy after the thing called a television falls to the floor startles her and she instantly springs into a defensive position. Without her bow, she feels quite vulnerable and defenseless, so she looks around the room for something to use as a weapon. She eyes a strange stick illuminating a glow, almost like a torch, but the light does not dance as if caused by fire. She grabs the lamp from the coffee table and pulls hard, able to yank the cord from its tether and holds the lamp out in front of her. The glow has now disappeared from it, but she can still use it to strike the angry boy if he comes closer to her.

"Shut up!"

The ferocity and finality of this shout causes Merida to pause for a moment. She can feel the frustration coming from the other boy, but then, why shouldn't she be frustrated as well? She had been thrown from Angus' back, only to land in a strange place like this with a not-so-friendly stranger. She holds the lamp out in front of her again, ready to make a move should the boy attack her.

"I'm not a witch or a warlock or anything like that."

He claims not to be a witch, but isn't that what most witches claim? That's certainly what the old woman from the glen had said before Merida caught her in the act of using magic. How can he believe this boy, especially when he is surrounded by so many strange things she has never seen before?

"If anything, I should be asking you if you're one, since you suddenly appeared in my living room out of nowhere!"

The yell and effort has thrown him into a coughing fit again and she backs away, not wanting to catch what he has. Who knows how sick he is? His words sting her for some reason, and she throws the lamp to the floor, shattering the bulb and causing the lamp shade to roll away, before bolting for the door. She feels the need to get away from this angry boy. She reaches the door and turns the knob, throws the door open, and runs out into the backyard.

Rowan Cross

Rowan looked up, still coughing, when he heard something crash onto the floor with a loud shatter. He stared in disbelief at the red headed girl as she ran for the door, lamp shattered on the floor. Did she just break my lamp?! he thought, cough finally receding as the crazy girl wretched the door open and ran into the backyard. For a moment, he just stood there, staring at the lamp, getting his breath back. His throat felt hoarse from coughing so much (that crazy girl was probably the cause), but Rowan was too angry and confused to care right now.

As Rowan was getting his breath back, a thought struck him, and he moved from a crouching position to a standing position. He had no proof that she was the cause for the broken tv and lamp, which meant that they wouldn't believe Rowan even if he said that a crazy red headed girl had done it. They'd be disappointed and make him pay for the damages she had caused instead, and Prof Smith would be disappointed in him for breaking the stuff even though it wasn't his fault and crud, they might even make him pay up for the rest of the money for the new tv! Add that to the lamp, and Rowan's savings would be emptier than a black hole.

Unless Rowan catch that crazy girl, and forced her to wait until his brothers had come home and made her admit that she was the one who broke the lamp and the television, in which case they could get her to cough up the money for a new tv and lamp... And Rowan could still run pretty well even with the sickness he had...

Rowan walked purposefully to the door, avoiding the shattered glass. He could clean it up later. First, he had a certain someone to catch. And yell at for causing so much property damage and lock away until his brothers came back. Also, she had, in order - break into his house, called him a witch, broke his tv, broke his lamp, and run out of the house. Like hell Rowan was letting her get away without an explanation. The backyard was enclosed within a white fence which reached his shoulder and was currently locked; she was trapped and Rowan could use that to his advantage. And he also wanted to know why the redhead had sounded and looked so familiar. It was kind of freaky, since Rowan couldn't remember ever having seen her in his life

Hurriedly pulling on a pair of slippers and quietly locking his door behind him, Rowan took a deep breath and began to run towards her, yelling "come back here, you crazy redhead! You still need to pay for the stuff you've broken!"

In the backyard, Merida looked around her for a way to escape. The yard was lined with a tall fence that seemed to have no footholds she could use to propel herself over. Her eyes darted around, searching for a way to escape. She ran to the fence and looked up, but the top was too tall for her to reach, even when jumping. Anxiety and panic rose in her chest, her heart betting faster and faster as the seconds ticked by and she couldn't get away from this crazy place.

"Like hell you're getting away."

The sound of the boy yelling only strains her more, making her wildly search about for an escape route. She needs to get out of here, get away from this boy and this crazy situation and get back to Angus and her family. How did she come to find herself in such a situation? There was no way that she could have fallen through a hole, because after going through the house she ended up on ground level, but there was no change in elevation. So what exactly happened?

"Get back here, you crazy redhead! You need to pay for the stuff you've broken!"

She hears the yells getting closer and decides to run over to the side of the house, looking for a door or some kind of break in the fence. There's a door, but when she pushes it, it doesn't open. She throws her entire weight against the door, but it still doesn't budge. She looks through the cracks in the fencing to see a pad lock on the other side and sighs. Of course it would never be this easy.

She doubles back to the other side of the house, hoping that there is some way that another door would be open. The other side of the house proves to be a bust, however, and there's no door and no foot holds to help her climb over the fence. She goes back to the middle of the yard, wondering if she should risk going back through the house and possible confronting the boy in order to escape.

“Excuse me? I think I'm lost or something. This is not my castle, or any part of the woods I recognize, and I really need to get home. My mother must be worried sick. I'm princess Rapunzel."

Collin had had his eyes closed and his head bent as he waited for the girl to awaken. The sound of her voice making him rise his head slowly. He looked up only for his eyes to meet an outstretched hand.

Castle. Woods. Princess. Rapunzel.

All of these words swirled through Collin's head, as his eyes flickered from the girl's hand to her face. Was this girl really serious? There was no way she could have called herself Rapunzel. He was pretty sure the blonde headed princess only existed in fairy tales.

Taking the hand politely, Collin shook it, his eyes narrowing slightly. "Its nice to meet you....princess Rapunzel," he said his eyes searching her blue ones. "I'm Collin." He chose his words carefully as he continued to try and read what lie behind her delicate features. Could she really be some crazy nutter?

"Not to be rude, but how did you get in my room? Also when you say this isn't your castle or any part of the woods you recognize, your castle doesn't happen to have gates and bars around it, does it? With a whole bunch of nice people who sometimes put you in a jacket so you can't hurt yourself?" By the end of his sentence Collin was leaning back in his chair watching her carefully, his usual serious expression on his face, only a the slight furrow of his eyebrows making it that much more serious.

"Water?" He asked after a moment reaching to pick up the water before reaching to give it to the girl. As he did so, he gave her a once over searching for any possible spots she might have hid a weapon.