The palace horse, named Coran, comes upon a tree to which a poster sticks to. Coran is quite intelligent, even among horses, but unfortunately he still can not read. However, the picture looks similar to the man that he is searching for, the man who had taken the satchel and had escaped earlier this morning. Coran remembers his rider saying that they needed to get the satchel back at all costs.

Coran reaches a hoof up and presses it to the nose on the drawing, and his eyes narrow dangerously, yes! That is the man who stole from the palace. The artist obviously just didn't get his nose right.

Coran grabs the page with his mouth and chews it to pieces before spitting it out at the ground.

Once he finds the man who stole from his palace, he'll do the same.

Coran can hear someone approaching from the forest, so he hides behind a rock formation. Once they get close enough, Coran jumps out and neighs loudly at them.

The man yells, but he isn't the one that Coran is looking for, so the horse huffs and flips his orange hair.

"A palace horse." The man rolls his eyes, then gasps, realizing what he's looking at, "Where's your rider? Keith. Keith!"

The man turns around and runs back the way he came, leaving a confused Coran in the dust.

He runs back into the clearing where the tower stands tall, up towards the side of it and yells out,

"Keith! Let down your hair! Keith!"

There is no answer and he panics, moving around the tower, toward the door that is hidden by bricks. He quickly starts pulling them out, not caring where they fall as he dismantles the wall he built. He gets through the door and up the steps of the tower. He roughly pushes the tile hiding this secret passage up and enters the main room. Everything is dark inside and he looks around, alert and terrified.

"Keith! Son!"

Zarkon pulls back the blankets on the beds, throws open closet doors, but finds nothing. He yanks open the curtains, as if light will change the facts in front of him. However, nothing changes, Keith isn't here.

Zarkon clutches at his head, his breathing hard. He's about to lose it when the light from the window catches on something and gleams in his face. He looks over and sees something sparkling from beneath the bottom step. Zarkon moves over to it and lifts the wood panel, pulls out the bag that's hidden there.

With a frown he reaches in and grabs the shining object within. It's a crown, it's the princes crown. Zarkon drops the object as if it's burnt his skin.

He searches through the rest of the bag and finds a flyer, a wanted poster to be precise, sees the image of Tailor Sharpshooter. Zarkon's lip curls and he goes to the night stand in his room, where he extracts a long, wicked blade. He'll find the man who dared take his prize away, and when he does, he won't show any mercy.

"I know it's around here somewhere... Ha! There it is!" Tailor grins and turns Keith toward the building, "The Snuggly Duckling. A very quaint place, perfect for you. Don't want you scaring and giving up on this whole endeavor now do we?"

Keith narrows his eyes at Tailor, "Well... I actually do like ducklings."

"Yay!" Tailor smiles. Then he throws open the door, "Your finest table please!"

Keith can't help his gasp. The place is full of the exact kind of people he was afraid would be out here in the world. They look like the ruffians and thugs that his father has always warned him about. They have hooks for hands, they're huge and buff, covered in spikes and armor. One guy has the largest cross bow Keith has ever seen (well it's the first he's seen in person) and even though he doesn't look threatening he knows you need serious power to use those things. Keith holds his frying pan in front of him. It's not much of a weapon, but it's something.

"You smell that?" Tailor grins, pushing Keith inside, "Take a deep breath through the nose. What are you getting? Because to me it's part bad man smell, and the other part is really bad man smell! I don't know why, but overall it just smells like the color brown. Your thoughts?"

Keith screams as one of the men touch his hair. He pulls it into his arms and runs as far as he can away from the guy.

"That a lot of hair." He notes.

Tailor laughs, "He's growing it out. Is that blood in your mustache? Silver, look at this! Good sir that's a lot of blood!"

Keith bumps into a man as he's backing up. The guy growls at him and Keith holds the frying pan in his direction. Tailor smiles, "You don't look so good, Silver. Maybe we should get you home, call it a day. Probably better off. This is a five star joint after all."

Tailor starts pulling Keith back towards the door, still prattling on, "If you can't handle this place maybe you should be back in your tower."

The door slams closed right as they're about to reach it, and Keith jumps a foot into the air. The man who shut it is holding a wanted poster, "Is this you?"

Tailor frowns and moves his finger, revealing a horrible attempt at drawing his nose, "Now they're just being mean!"

"Oh, it's him, alright." The guy with the cross bow smirks, stepping in closer to Tailor. "Someone go find some guards." He grabs Tailors jacket and hauls him in close, Keith gets pulled along too as he's still clinging to Tailor, "That reward is going to buy me a new bow."

Another man grabs Tailor from his grasp, "No. I could use the money!" "What about me?! I'm broke!" Cries another, grabbing Tailor.

The men start arguing among each other, all fighting and pulling on some part of Tailor, attempting to get the upper hand, "Hey!" Tailor cries, "Guys, we can work this out!"

"Leave him alone!" Keith yells, smacking the men closest to him with his frying pan, "Give me back my guide!"

"Hey, please! Not the nose!"

The big guy is about to punch Tailor, and Keith loops his hair around a branch that has come into the roof of the building. He yanks it back hard and then lets it go. The branch snaps down and hits the guy on the head sharply, "Put him down!" Everyone freezes then they turn toward Keith, who huffs, "Okay. I don't know where I am and I need him to take me to see the lanterns because I've been dreaming about them my entire life! Find your humanity! Haven't any of you ever had a dream?!"

The man pulls out his cross bow and stalks toward Keith, who is already regretting his outburst as he backs as far as he can against the bar. "I had a dream once." He sighs in Keith's face, then he shoots his cross bow, nearly hitting the man in the corner who instantly starts playing his accordion, "I'm malicious, mean and scary. My sneer could curdle dairy, and violence-wise, my hands are not the cleanest. But despite my evil look, and my temper, and my bow..."

The man smiles, his face softening, and Keith realizes that he was right earlier, this guy isn't that scary at all.

He vaults himself over the counter and starts wiping together ingredients faster than Keith can follow, "I've always yearned to be a gourmet chef, can'tcha see me in the kitchen preparing dishes? Chopping and cooking glamorous meals?" The smile on his face widens, "Yep, I'd rather be called deadly for my killer vegetable medley."

He sets the, frankly, beautiful looking dish in front of Keith, who claps in appreciation, and continues, "Thank you! 'Cause way down deep inside I've got a dream!"

"He's got a dream!" The other people in the tavern are joining in now, and Keith turns around to see, "He's got a dream!"

"See, I ain't as cruel and vicious as I seem!" The apparent chef speaks again, "Though I do like breaking femurs, you can count me with the dreamers! Like everybody else, I've got a dream!"

Another man plucks Keith from the bar stool, he's much scarier looking than any of the other people in the tavern, serious and sharp, but when he opens his mouth Keith smiles, "I've got scars and lumps and bruises, plus something here that oozes, and let's not even mention my complexion." He sighs dramatically, "But despite my yellow eyes, and my purple hair, and my nose... I really want to make a love connection!"

Keith laughs softly as the man hands him a flower, "Can't you see me with a special someone? Rowin' in a rowboat down the stream? Though I'm one disgusting blighter I'm a lover, not a fighter!"

He comes back over and gently pokes Keith's cheek, "'Cause way down deep inside, I've got a dream!"

"He's got a dream!" The others cheer.

"I've got a dream!" He laughs back.

"He's got a dream!"

"And I know one day romance will reign supreme!" His smile doesn't do much to help his face, but it's nice all the same, "Though my face leaves people screaming, there's a child behind it dreaming. Like everybody else I've got a dream!"

"Ulaz would like to quit and be a florist," the first man gestures to another, who quickly puts together a bouquet for Keith to admire.

"Antok does interior design," Offers the man who dreams of romance.

The first laughs, "Kolivan is into mime!"

"Rolo's piano skills are sublime!" They point to the man playing at the piano.

"Shay knits, Nyma sews, Rax does little puppet shows, and Lotor collects ceramic unicorns!" The pair announce together, gesturing to each individual as they go.

After a brief moment, the first man goes over to Tailor, "What about you?"

"I'm sorry, me?" Tailor laughs, hanging from the hook where they left him.

"What's your dream? I'm Thace by the way, this guy here is Hunk." Thace questions, lifting him and setting him back onto the ground.

"No, no, no. Sorry, boys" Tailor pats Hunk and Thace's arms, "I don't sing."

In a flash, they all have a sword pointed directly at Tailor's face, so he decides to cut his losses and just sing along, "I have dreams, like you, no, really! Just much less touchy-feely they mainly happen somewhere warm and sunny!"

Tailor snatches a unicorn figurine out of Lotor's hand and brings it over to a small pile of sand, or dirt, on the counter, "On an island that I own! Tanned and rested and alone, surrounded by enormous piles of money!"

"I've got a dream!" Keith announces.

"He's got a dream!" The whole tavern yells back.

"I've got a dream!"

"He's got a dream!"

Keith is smiling wider than he thinks he ever has in his life, "I just want to see the floating lanterns gleam! And with every passing hour I'm so glad I left my tower! Like all you lovely folks, I've got a dream!"

The people in the tavern laugh, "He's got a dream! They've got a dream! We've got a dream! So our difference ain't really that extreme! We're one big team!" "Call us brutal," Hunk grins, elbowing Thace beside him.

"Sick," Thace points out.

"Sadistic!"

"And grotesquely optimistic!"

They both laugh, "'Cause way down deep inside, we've got a dream!"

Keith joins in with them, the whole building full of their voices, "Yes way down deep inside, I've got a dream!"

They all collapse into laughter, but in a spilt second the moment is gone. The man who went for the guards bursts through the door, "I found the guards!"

Tailor grabs Keith's wrist and yanks him behind the bar counter, swearing under his breath.

"Where's Sharpshooter? Where is he?" The commander growls, stepping into the tavern, "I know he's in here somewhere. Find him! Turn the place upside down if you have to!"

Tailor peeks over the bar just as the guards haul Sendak and Haxus into the building. He curses again and drops back down. He has no idea how they're going to get out of this one.

Hunk rests a hand on his shoulder. Tailor turns to him and he glances toward the other side of the bar. They follow him over, and he pulls a lever to open a secret passage way. "Go," Hunk smiles, "Live your dream."

"I will." Tailor grins.

Hunk glares at him, "Your dream stinks. I was talking to him."

"Thanks for everything." Keith smiles, and hugs him before he can lose the nerve. Hunk softens and pats his back gently. Keith lets go then crawls after Tailor into the tunnel. 

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Hello Paladins!!!

Hope you are liking the story. Hope you vote and comment ^^ And thank you everyone that reads my fanfic it mean a lot for me ^^

~Pam