"Okay. Carlos, we're gonna do some sprints. Are you ready?" Ryder called out.

Carlos nodded. "Oh! Ah! No, wait!" Carlos started running and screaming but neither Ben nor Ryder realized why.

"Sweet," Ben called stopping the stopwatch, Carlos on the other hand didn't stop; he kept going, past the princes and out of the bounds of the field.

"No Ahh!"

He shot off into the woods leaving Ben and Ryder to look at each other in question for a moment. "Carlos?" Ben called.

Ryder heard a dog bark and only just now realized that Dude was chasing him. It didn't make sense that the son of Cruella De Vil was afraid of dogs but that was the only plausible reason for him to run off into the woods. "Carlos!" The two princes ran after him.

"Carlos!" They yelled out at the same time.

"Ben! Ryder! Help!" He screamed pure fear, lacing his tone. They found him along the hiking trail and a few yards up a tree with dude barking at him.

Ryder raced forward to pick up the Brussels Griffon dog. "Whoa-whoa-whoa," Ryder easily calmed the animal down.

"Ben, Ryder, help me! This thing is a killer! He's gonna chase me down and rip out my throat. This is a vicious, rabid pack animal!" He said pointing at Dude, hugging the tree a little tighter. How he got all the way up there so fast was a mystery.

Ryder looked at him like he was crazy, "Who in the name of the sun gave you that idea."

"My mother," Carlos said in a duh tone.

"Curella?" Ben questioned; Ryder gave him a look letting him know that that was a dumb question.

He didn't have time to correct it though as Carlos rushed out his explanation, "She's a dog expert, a dog whisperer." He only then noticed that Ryder was holding the supposedly rabid animal. "Why are you holding him? He's gonna attack you!" he cried hysterically. It was starting to dawn on Ryder just how bad the isle was. Carlos raised to be a villain like Mal, Jay and maybe even Evie, he wasn't mean spirited. He was raised to be a slave, he was broken. Carlos wasn't an 'I'm Evil and will destroy all you love' Villain. Instead, the message Ryder was getting was, 'I'm evil, don't hurt me!' But Carlos had been hurt. If Curella, a lower-level villain on the isle could do this to her own child, her own flesh and blood what were the more dangerous ones doing?

Ryder let out a pained laugh, "I don't think a dog whisper specifically is a thing. Dude meet Carlos, Carlos this is Dude the campus mutt slash mascot." 

"He doesn't look like a vicious, rabid pack animal," he said slowly climbing down the tree. Ryder held out Dude a little so Carlos could pet him. "Jeez. You're a good boy, aren't you," He handed the dog to Carlos, showing him how to hold him, "You're a good boy."

Ben looked a little sad as he looked over at Ryder who was devastated. The boy was one of the four kingdom heirs; he was just as much in charge as Ben or Ella. He didn't use it often; he preferred to sit back and let his sister handle the life changing decisions. They were all too young to rule but he was the youngest, the least experienced, the least trained. But right now, Ryder was making a decision worthy of a leader, ready to put the good of his people above all else, because these children remembered what their parents had forgotten the people of the isle were their citizens as well. "I guess you guys have it pretty rough on the isle."

"Yeah, let's just say we don't get a lot of belly rubs," Carlos laughed.

"Good boy," Ryder chuckled at Ben's mix up. "I mean, you're a good runner. You're... you're fast, you know."

Carlos nodded, "Oh yeah thank you."

"Yeah. Listen, I'm gonna give you guys some space, yeah? You guys get to know each other and just, you know, come find me when you're done, okay?"

"Okay."

"See you later?"

"See you out there," Ben walked back toward the field looking back for a second, smiling at Carlos and shooting a questioning glance at Ryder. The prince held up a finger telling his friend to give him a moment. "Hi. Hi." Dude licked Carlos' nose, surprising him "Oh! Thank you," he said sitting on a log.

Ryder hadn't left, "I am so glad Ella supported Ben." He said under his breath as he sat next to Carlos. It wasn't meant to be heard, it was his own side thought, he was about to offer Carlos something huge.

"Huh?" Carlos asked.

Ryder winced but answered the boy, "When Ben said he wanted to bring you guys over well Audrey freaked out, his parents weren't too happy either. Ella was supportive and even pulled a file, Jays file actually." Carlos' eyebrows raised a fraction of an inch, they had all been told they were sponsored by the four kingdom heirs, but they weren't told who. "She set up everything so you guys could come and gave Jazzy and Aaron the files to pick you and Evie." 

"Jazzy picked me?" He asked holding dude a little closer. He hadn't spoken to her a lot yet, but she seemed sweet. 

Ryder nodded, "She said when she saw your file she didn't need to look anymore. She said she could just tell that you needed help. She said that she could just tell that you needed her more than anyone else. That you needed an escape." Carlos felt a painful sting in his chest, knowing why he was chosen, that Jazzy could see he needed a safe space just from looking though he very bare information file, and then knowing he could have to betray her, it hurt worse than any pain his mother has ever inflicted on him. 

"Ella started all of that, she gave Ben a lot of courage, without her the relocation program would have been dead on arrival. She's good like that," He smiled fondly thinking of his big sister.

"You think really highly of her," Carlos said almost as if he could imagine someone being so great. But then he realized he didn't have to Imagine, no he didn't know Ella well enough to call her great, but he could call Jazzy great. The girl who saved his life was as great as Ryder thought his sister was. 

"Course I do. She's my big sister. She's been my best friend my whole life."

Carlos looked confused Ryder was taller and looked about the same age as Ella, "You're younger?"

He nodded, "yeah, I'm, Fifteen, your age she's Jays age. Going off to college next year already thinking of shere forest university, that's really far away." He looked rather melancholy, "I'm not ready to let her go, I guess you get it."

He shook his head "No, not really, I never had any siblings."

Ryder bumped his arm good naturedly, "you got Mal, Evie and Jay. Those are, for all intents and purposes, your sisters and brother and even if they don't see you that way Me, Aaron, Ella, and Jazzy, we would all definitely be willing to stand in for you." Carlos smiled at the boy who had just proclaimed himself his brother. Carlos had been alone all his childhood and in the span of two days he had people who wanted to be his family. "The reason I had stayed and sat down with you was because of summer."

Carlos raised an eyebrow, "School just started, isn't summer like 10 months away or is it different over here."

"No, it's the same, but the plans for the summer were to let you guys go back to the isle to see your parents," Carlos' whole body immediately tensed, and fear flooded his features. Ryder quickly placed a hand on his shoulder, "After hearing you talk about you mom, I realized that's probably not the best situation for you. We know some really accepting families or couples, you know people that were really excited for this proclamation. If you wanted to stay with them, it would be no problem, Jazzy can set you up to meet with someone."

Carlos bowed his head, it sounded great, amazing even, to get away from his mother and never see her again, but he knew it was false hope he couldn't lay down roots here. He had a job to do. He had to help Mal get the wand to her mother. Ryder couldn't know that though. "Can I think about it and let you know?"

He nodded, "Of course you don't have to decide right now, meeting with new people so soon can be overwhelming. Just tell me or Jazzy if you decided too, alright?" Carlos nodded at the prince not daring to look up. "But while you think about it, please remember, you don't need to forgive her just because she's your mother." Carlos looked up at him, "You're allowed to be angry; you're allowed to not want to forgive her, you're allowed to never want to see her again. No one will be mad at you, okay?"

He stood up ready to give Carlos some space to think. His phone buzzed, getting both their attention, "Ah towers," he sighed checking it. "Aunt Elsa and Dad got into another argument, and Olaf got involved. Okay, I gotta video chat and sort this out," he grimaced, staring at his phone, "see ya Carlos."

"Bye," He muttered deep in thought. He doesn't have to forgive his mom, those words felt liberating, but if he agreed with Ryder, he was betraying his friends and painting a target on his back.

He heard Ryder shout off in the distance, "Is dad frozen!" 

Published: May 18, 2020
Updated/ Edited: Jan 14, 2023