Magic is Really Hard, Okay?

[Rapunzel]

January 23rd, Year 1

The wound was slight, barely warranting a medic's attention. That made it perfect for Rapunzel to practice on. She laid her small hands delicately around the wound and closed her eyes. Rapunzel's brow furrowed and she really tried to focus. To chase that feeling of magic she had once felt.

"Flower gleam and- ," She stopped the incantation, and chewed her lip. It was such a deeply ingrained habit. A life time taught to sing the same tune again and again for her 'mother'. She still struggled to keep from reciting it under her breath.

The drop of sunlight that had fallen to the earth was still inside Rapunzel. It was an integral part of her. It hadn't been inside her hair, it had been inside her. Rapunzel discovered that her hair had been a conduit for the magic. A way to summon and channel the force. It hadn't been the source of it. But with that conduit gone, Rapunzel needed to learn how to tap that power alone, with out that tool.

And it was really hard, okay?

She sighed, and stopped chewing her lip, "One second, I'm sorry."

Rapunzel apologized to her 'patient' the Freedom Fighter that had volunteered their wound for her to practice on. She needed to gather herself again. Rapunzel shook her head a bit, then her shoulders and arms. Loosen up, Rapunzel! You can do this!

'Please Rapunzel, you've never been able to do something like this. It was your hair, flower. That was always the only thing magical or special about you. With out it, you're just a foolish and naive little girl.'

A familiar voice echoed in her head. A mix of her own, and her mother's -no, not her mother-, Gothel's. Words she had heard over a life time repeated to her so often she took them as truth. As fact. Gullible. Naive. Immature. Clumsy. Ditzy.

Rapunzel felt a lump in her throat and heat rising in her eyes. She swallowed hard. The lump wouldn't go down. The lump wouldn't go down and her chest got tighter.

You're in over your head, Rapunzel. You're a little girl that, up until recently, had never even seen real blood. No, the worst thing you ever had to deal with was the time you burned yourself cooking, or the time you cut your foot stepping on a broken piece of glass. That hadn't even needed stitches, you idiot.

You stupid, naive, idiot.

Mother was right. She was always right.

"I'm sorry!" Rapunzel shoved herself to her feet and then barreled out of the tent as fast as her feet could take her. Tears were already pouring down her cheeks.

[Zamora]

Okay, no more escapades. That's fine. At least they'd let Zamora wander as long as someone knew where she was. No more scaring Rapunzel. In fact, that was something Zamora had felt bad about. She hadn't expected such a flurry of panic... At least now, Zamora could help get supplies, like water! And while the tiny wound the 'patient' had come in with for Rapunzel to practice on was.. well, tiny, it was always good to keep these sorts of things clean. No need for infection--

Zamora's ears flop upwards as Rapunzel blows past her at the medical tent's door. There's a soft whine as she smells something..else on the air. Salt. Saline... tears?

The Pit Beast forgets to even put the bucket down, lightly trotting in an attempt to keep up, "Ah'punzah?"

'Rapunzel' was a hard name.

[Shani]

Shani had been in the medic tent, working on sorting herbs into piles. Her attention had been divided between her task, and Rapunzel attending a patient behind her.

The cub could hear the change in infliction and tone in her fellow medic's voice, she was having trouble. Shani turned to offer assistance, but Rapunzel had got up and run out of the tent before she could say anything. Frowning, she turned to the patient,
"Sorry, I'll be right back."
She quickly ran out of the tent after Rapunzel, but not before leaving a small bandage for the patient if they needed it.

Shani noticed quickly that she wasn't the only one chasing after Rapunzel, she heard Zamora's familiar footfalls, and her particular way of saying names.
She caught up behind the two of them, not having the advantage of longer legs like those of the human and alien. Once she grew up she wouldn't have a problem keeping up, but for the time being...
"Rapunzel..." She panted, "Slow *huff* down. What's wrong?"

[Rapunzel]

Sniffles escaped the girl as she tried to stop her crying. She had dashed for a while, looking for a little hidey hole she could squeeze into. She soon found one behind a few piles of crates and had squeezed in besides them. She wished she had the comforting curtain of gold to draw around herself. She wished she had her hair to help her tap into her magic. She would have been able to do more for this army than just... just...

Rapunzel hiccupped and buried her face in her knees that were drawn up against her chest. What was she doing here!?

She hadn't noticed the 9 foot tall alien following after her, much less the small cub. Rapunzel had been too distracted with the desire to just hide. So she hadn't expected to hear Shani's voice asking her what's wrong. Oh, no, now she had Shani worried. She had pulled her away from her work.

Stupid. Stupid! Not only did Rapunzel mess up trying to heal the freedom fighter that had come to the medic tent, she had drawn away another medic that had could have actually helped them.

Rapunzel peeked her head up from her knees and saw not only Shani but also Zamora. She felt even worse now. Had everyone seen her run away to cry?

"I'm sorry," she wiped at her tears with one hand and took a breath, "I'm okay, I just... I just need a moment."

[Zamora]

"Ah'punzah..." comes the word again, strange legs folding to lower Zamora down to Rapunzel's level. One ear flicks lightly in Shani's direction, and the large creature can't help but curl her tail, as if to guide the lion cub into a safe position. Five-pointed gaze shifts back in Rapunzel's general direction and a large hand is extended carefully. It seems, while she is very much blind, she can tell that the other is not 'okay'. She may not understand what's happening, but it's in her to care for her friend and ally.

There's a low, gentle noise here, one of concern. It seems she wants to offer help.

[Rapunzel]

Rapunzel cleared her throat, her eyes and nose already runny. She counted herself a little lucky that the two people who chased after her couldn't see well enough to see what a snot-monster she has become. She moved to wipe her face with her bare forearm, then paused and thought better of it. Luckily, she did have a handkerchief in her pocket and pulled it out to wipe her face and blow her nose.

"I, uhm," he brow furrowed as she tried to explain with out embarrassing herself. It was obvious neither Shani or Zamora would accept any dismissive platitudes. But Rapunzel didn't know how to explain how... frustrated she felt. There were so many thoughts swirling in her head, and she couldn't make sense enough to say them. And even if she did, what was the point? Why bother Zamora and Shani about this? Neither of them could help her with her magic. This was something only she could do.

"I'm just tired and it got to me a little bit," Rapunzel shook her head, already berating herself. She was tired? Really? The blind lion cub had been working just as hard as her and she hasn't run away crying. Shani was an orphan, a child in a war, and she showed so much strength. She was a good medic and a good person. And here she was comforting Rapunzel when she couldn't hack it.

Rapunzel closed her eyes and sucked in a deep breath, "Go back guys, I'll catch up..."

[Shani]

Shani blinked, a small frown creasing her muzzle as Rapunzel explained what was going on. The cub could tell she wasn't telling the whole truth, but she wasn't going to press for information, especially if she was still so high strung.
However, she didn't want to leave just yet either, much like Zamora, Shani wanted to help, she was concerned for her colleague.

Instead, she walked over and plopped herself down next to Rapunzel, resting her head on the girl's lap. An attempt to provide some comfort, even if she wasn't sure what the real problem was.
"If you ever wanna talk, about anything, you can. You don't have to hide from us, Punzie."

[Zamora]

When told to go back, a brow ridge raises, an obvious complaint derailed by Shani’s support. There’s a hang of thought here, before.. What one can only describe as a short, determined grunt.

Hands carefully set the bucket down, and then open towards Rapunzel expectantly. There’s a chatter here, one of seemingly sassy defiance.

She’s not going anywhere while Rapunzel is sad, let alone without an explanation. Not today, Princess.

[Rapunzel]

Rapunzel sighed. She hadn't expected anything less of these two, but she had hoped.

Shani's head in her lap was a welcome warmth, and Zamora's firm defiance pretty much guaranteed that Rapunzel wouldn't be going anywhere till the giant woman was satisfied. She took another breath and blew her nose one more time before folding the handkerchief. Rapunzel glanced about wondering what to do with the thoroughly sullied cloth. With a resigned wrinkle of her nose Rapunzel pocketed it with a mental note to make sure to wash up when she got back to her tent.

"It's a long story, guys," she offered an awkward laugh and moved her hand to brush back her hair, only to find the gold locks missing. She still had that habit. Normally she didn't think much of it. Now she felt an odd sort of pang of dismay. A mixture of emotions swirled within her. Dismay at the loss of her security blanket.  More crushing self-doubt at the loss of the one thing that made her unique. Frustration that she still kept up the habits born from a life time of this chain that had tied her to her tower. A curse and a blessing. Her hair had made her special, but it was also why she had been trapped her whole life.

Rapunzel took a steadying breath and shook her head to clear the influx of emotions.

"Gosh, where to start..." she didn't want to go into the whole story about the drop of sunlight, her hair, her lifetime of imprisonment. It was just too much. So she decided to focus on the immediate frustration, "I'm supposed to have this magic inside me. It's there! ...I think."

She chewed her lip anxiously and looked to the dusty floor. Even though Shani and Zamora were both near blind, she still couldn't bear to meet either of their eyes.

"It's a sort of... healing magic. But I can't reach it. I can't get it to work beyond just a little itty bitty bit," her frustration bled through a little bit, "It used to be so powerful, it could save LIVES. It could make people young again. It could do so much good for everyone here!"

It could do so much good. But not her.

"But it's gone."

[Flynn Rider]

Flynn had been taking it easy today. All of his duties done, he was content to strolling around camp. Particularly strolling with a decent pace, as to have no one stop him for random conversation. Other humans, sure why not, but the last time a large woodland animal like, say, a deer or a giant bear approached him, it wasn't to ask, "So, what inspires you to fight in the Freedom Fighters?" Pretty sure last time Flynn saw a bear, he ran away. Because the bear wasn't his boss, it was trying to eat him. Maybe that's why he was... a little nervous around camp.

Of course, he's not necessarily thinking about if his boss needs to hibernate in the winter (although here in Africa, the heat's hot enough that Flynn's pretty sure no one needs to sleep for the winter), but rather about Corona. Home for him was incredibly far from him now, and even though he was an outcast for the longest time, now he lives in peace with the Kingdom. It was an odd feeling to live so far away from it now, fighting a war he didn't understand on any level, and somehow figure out a way to be useful.

That's when he heard her.

"It used to be so powerful, it could save LIVES. It could make people young again. It could do so much good for everyone here! But it's gone."

Flynn recognized the voice and the issue almost instinctively. Rapunzel? Why was she talking about her pow-

Oh. Riiiiiight. Those powers left when he literally cut her hair.

Flynn couldn't see her out in the open, but what he DID see was a giant...person-thing (later found out the word he was looking for was "alien") crouching on the ground around some crates, intently listening to someone. Now, normally Flynn would steer FAR AWAY from things he didn't understand, but this? The sound of that beautiful, yet now sadly tragic voice was coming from those crates. Flynn-

No no no. Eugene considered his options, shrugged, and walked over, pushing aside the fact he might be talking to something that looked like it didn't come from this world in favor of reaching out to his best friend, his dream. Summoning as much charisma as he could, he leaned his elbow on the crate above the alien and waved. Right eyebrow raised, eyes slightly narrowed, the smile curving upward towards the left side of his face. The Ladykiller, worked 99% of the time.

"Hi, how ya doing? Name's Flynn Rider. How's your day going? Hate to bother you, but have you seen a girl about this high, shortish brunette hair, eyes as green as a forest, probably wearing some kind of purple dress, irresistible charisma and incredible healing abilities? Been looking for her for the last hour and haven't seen her."