Tangled Up in the Dungeon (f/ff)

[Newdayrocks]

This is a story I previously put up on my Deviantart account, which I'd link to here, but I'm not sure if that's allowed, so I won't. While I work on eventually finishing up my other story, you can enjoy this one:

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Tangled Up in the Dungeon.

This was not the way I was hoping to spend the day!

So thought Rapunzel, the princess of Corona, as she struggled to free herself from her imprisonment.

She twisted her hands in the manacles that held them behind her back, but had made no effort in working free of them. Things were even more complicated by the several lengths of rope tied around her chest, anchoring her arms to her side. Her bare feet were also tied at the ankles.

“Hlllp! Nnnyyynn, wwwrr nnn hhhrrr!” Rapunzel yelled, but the cloth tied over her mouth made her words unintelligible, and not loud enough for anyone nearby to hear, not that there was anyone nearby. The princess shook her head, hoping to dislodge the gag and get someone’s attention.

Thankfully, she wasn’t alone in her captivity; her best friend & lady-in-waiting, Cassandra, was also there, restrained in the same way, save for her cuffs and ropes being secured around the bars of the cell they were currently locked in.

Rapunzel knew that Cass was very strong and tough, and hated being helpless, just as she did, and she suspected her friend was working on a way to free them both.

However, while she did, Rapunzel thought back to earlier in the day and what led to the two of them ending up like this.

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Reports had circulated through the kingdom that Lady Caine, the notorious bandit, had escaped from prison. Since Rapunzel had been instrumental in foiling Caine’s previous plan, it was suspected she would seek revenge, so she had been placed under heavy protection by her father, King Fredric.

Of course, while she understood why he had done that, Rapunzel hated always being watched, even if it was by her father’s guards.

“This is so boring!” she said, laying her head down on her large bed.

“I know your dad went overboard, but he’s just trying to protect you,” Cassandra explained.

“Maybe it’s time he realizes I can take care of myself,” Rapunzel told her “I did stop Lady Caine the first time.”

“Hey, you don’t need to tell me Raps, I was there,” Cassandra reminded her “but you gotta think like your dad; if Caine kidnaps you, he’d do whatever he could to get you back, and he’d give that slimy witch whatever she wanted.”

“That is true,” Rapunzel replied.

“Anyway, I gotta go; my dad’s sending me down to the dungeon to relieve the guards there,” Cassandra explained “I’ll be back as soon as I can. But I wouldn’t worry; with all these guards around, there’s no way she could get in here.”

“I sure hope you’re right Cass,” Rapunzel said.

The black haired girl smirked before leaving the room. A long time passed and she never returned, and Rapunzel was beginning to get worried.

“I shouldn’t be concerned, I mean, Cassandra can take care of herself,” Rapunzel said to her pet chameleon Pascal, “on the other hand though, she certainly has been gone a long time. How long does it take to relive a guard anyway?”

The little chameleon shrugged in return. “I suppose I should go check on her,” she said “oh, but there’s no way the guards are going to let me out of here.”

She looked around at the large balcony outside her room “luckily, I know a few tricks for getting out,” she said.

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Although she wasn’t originally happy when it happened, Rapunzel had to admit that having her long hair back had its’ advantages. For example, it was just perfect for rappelling down the sides of the castle wall, and, since it was now indestructible, that made it even easier.

Making sure she wasn’t noticed, Rapunzel slowly lowered herself to the ground, then made her way across the grounds, making sure to keep to the wall to avoid being noticed.

“Okay, I think I remember how to get into the dungeon from here,” Rapunzel said, and slowly inched her way to one of the outer doors. Waiting until the guards left, she snuck inside.

Using every hiding spot she could, Rapunzel made her way down to the dungeon, which, she was surprised to find, was not being guarded.

“Hmm, this doesn’t make any sense,” she said “if Cassandra was supposed to relive one of the guards, shouldn’t she be here, you know, actually guarding?”

Deciding to find out where her friend was, Rapunzel opened the door that lead into the dungeon, surprised to find it hadn’t been locked.

“Cassandra, are you in here?” Rapunzel asked, but didn’t hear any response, so she began to walk down the rows of cells. The creepy atmosphere of the place filled her with fright, but she took a deep breath and resolved to continue ahead.

“Cassandra, where are you?” she called again, and this time heard a response, though it sounded muffled. “Cass, is that you?”

The muffled response came again, so she rushed to follow it.

“Hang on Cass, I’m coming!” she said, determinedly, following the sound of the muffled noise as it got louder and louder. Then she turned the corner and was shocked by what she saw.

Cassandra was sitting in one of the cells, her hands manacled behind her back through the bars; rope had been tied around her arms, also around the bars, and ankles, and a cloth was secured over her mouth, which explained the muffled noises she’d been hearing.

“Cass, what happened?” Rapunzel asked, but her friend responded with a muffled answer “oh right, let me get that off of you,” she said.

Rapunzel opened the door to the cell and approached her friend, who suddenly began to make loud noises under the gag. “Don’t worry, I’ll get you out of here,” Rapunzel told her, as she bent down to free her friend.

Suddenly, she felt something sharp at her back “I wouldn’t do that if I were you, princess,” a familiar voice said.

“Lady Caine, I should’ve known,” Rapunzel said.

“Nice to see you again too,” Lady Caine said “of course, it would’ve been nicer if I hadn’t spent the last few months in a prison cell.”

“You won’t get away with this!” Rapunzel told her “this palace is swarming with guards, you’ll never get out of here!”

“Oh I don’t know, I got in here okay,” the evil thief said, “and so did you, since I left that door open. Now, put your hands behind your back.”

Rapunzel hesitated, so the villainess pushed her sword ever so slightly into her back “do it!”

Seeing she had no choice, Rapunzel complied and soon felt the cold sensation of metal cuffs tightly clamp around her hands.

“Look, I’m the one you want, at least free Cassandra,” Rapunzel told her.

“Sorry princess, but I’m the one giving the orders now,” Lady Caine told her, and began winding rope around her arms & chest “besides, I don’t like her, and I don’t want her sounding the alarm.”

“Let me guess, you set up this whole thing, luring Cass here because you knew I would come to check on her?” Rapunzel asked.

“Ooh, good guess princess,” Lady Caine replied mockingly “too bad your little friend here almost spoiled everything; I have to admit, she nearly beat me in a fair fight, but then, I don’t always play fair. Now, enough talk.”

Once her arms were secured, the female thief forced Rapunzel to the ground and began to tie her ankles, with Rapunzel wincing as the rope was secured over her bare feet.

“You okay Cass?” she asked.

“Yhhh, bbbtt mmm nnn llltttll ssssrrr,” Cassandra replied, her words muffled by the gag.

“How dare you do this!” Rapunzel shouted at her captor “if you think you’ll be able to sneak me out of here, you’ve got another thing com…mmmmph!” she said, as Lady Caine tied a gag over her mouth as well, securing it tightly under the princess’s long ponytail.

“Man, you’ve got a big mouth princess, just like your friend,” Lady Caine said, standing up to observe her handiwork. Rapunzel simply rolled over and glared at her, her green eyes flashing with anger.

“How about that, the princess of Corona at my mercy,” Lady Caine said “not so tough now, are you? Oh, imagine what I could do to you now.”

She began to walk around Rapunzel, who was struggling against her bonds on the floor, then bent down and cupped her cheeks in her hands “I could take sneak you out of the castle and take you somewhere where your father would never see you again. Bet you wouldn’t like that, would you?”

Upon hearing that, Rapunzel tried to pull her chin from the villainess’ hands and made a series of muffled noises from her gag, while an angry Cassandra pulled against her restraints, trying to loosen them and get at the villain.

“But, I’m not going to do that,” Lady Caine replied “instead, I’ll just leave the two of you like this, and see how you like being locked in a cell. But remember this; I got in here once, and I can do it again. You won’t know when, and you won’t know where, but next time princess, you and I are going on a little trip. And there is absolutely nothing you, or your father, can do to stop it.”

“Yyyyyy vvvvllll wwwwtttccchhh!” Rapunzel yelled, the cloth in her mouth distorting her words.

“I’m sure that would have offended me if I had any idea what you just said,” Lady Caine said, before leaving the cell “don’t worry, someone will come and free you, eventually,” she added, before leaving and locking the door behind her.

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Rapunzel wasn’t sure how long ago that had been, but it felt like hours. The ropes were tight and they began to hurt her bare ankles and forearms; she envied Cassandra for her long sleeves & boots, but figured that, with her hands chained behind her and strung through the cell bars, the woman was probably far more uncomfortable than she was.

Rapunzel couldn’t stand being like this another minute, and knew she and Cass had to come up with a way to get out of there, a task made more difficult due to not being able to communicate. Fortunately, she knew how to fix that.

Pushing off with her bound feet, she managed to inch her way across the floor to her fellow captive. It was slow work, and the rope started to hurt her bare ankles, but she eventually made it. Then, working herself into a sitting position, she maneuvered herself in front of Cassandra’s’ face; since the manacles gave her more purchase than rope, she was able to pull the gag off her friend’s mouth.

“Good work Raps,” Cassandra congratulated her “now, I want you to reach into my left boot, I have a lock pick in there.”

Rapunzel did as her friend said then held the lock pick in her fingers and, holding it as tightly as she could, inched over and stuck her hands through the bars. Cassandra reached out with her fingers, and, after grabbing the lock pick in them, began to pick at the lock at her manacles, eventually being rewarded with their opening.

“Hold on Raps, I’ll have you free in a second,” Cassandra said, as she worked on untying the ropes anchoring her to the cell. Then she untied her ankles and made her way over to Rapunzel, using the lock pick to open her manacles.

Once she was free, Rapunzel rubbed her wrists, then took off her gag.

“Thanks Cass,” she said “are you okay?”

“Well my arms are stinging from being tied up like that, but it’s nothing a little massage wouldn’t fix.”

“Well, come on, we’d better get going, everyone’s probably worried about us,” Rapunzel told her.

“Listen Raps, if people ask what happened to us, I’d prefer you not mention it, especially not to Fitzherbert,” she said “if he hears about this, he’ll never let me live it down.”

“I don’t think Eugene would do that, but okay,” Rapunzel told her “I don’t really want my dad knowing about this either; if he finds out I was this close to being kidnapped, I won’t be able to leave the castle till I’m an old woman.”

“Oh yeah, I could totally see your dad doing that,” Cassandra told her “well come on, we’d better get back up there.”

The two friends made their way out of the dungeon and back up into the main part of the castle, still a little sore from their ordeal. Rapunzel, meanwhile, thought about Lady Caine’s threat to return and kidnap her, taking her away from the palace. But, she was confident that, with the help from her friends, she would be prepared if the bandit leader decided to make good on her warning.

So go ahead and come back she thought confidently because it’ll be you who gets tied up and humiliated next time!

[TamatoaShiny123]

Really awesome!!!! I hope we see more Tangled stories, maybe some w/Varian!

[brashieel]

Fun little adventure. I had a good time reading it,

[Solarbeast]

Interesting take/ new idea on the movie Tangled, and that whole storyline. I'm hoping that there will be more of this storyline down the road that you will be sharing with us.

[Alisonlovesropes]

Do love that story, and the barefoot princess.