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Extended Story

Unfortunately, the Princess Rapunzel was not the last to have been stolen from Vledamir. In the lands of the south, he had come across a sleeping beauty that had been put into a deep coma by a cursed spinner. He had heard stories of how to awaken the sleeping princess and fought a dragon to claim what he believed to have been rightfully his. The creature known as Maleficent had taken many forms in combating Vledamir. In the end a dragon lay slain and another Prince claimed his bride while Vledamir returned from victory. The battleworn General was furious but kept his tone and composure long enough to escape the castle. Battered and injured, Vledamir continued on his journey to the next kingdom in hopes she awaited him there.

As he had done for many nights, he made camp shortly after the sun disappeared beyond the horizon and dreamt the dream that comforted him and renewed the faith in the journey. Cries of the heartbroken awoke him just after dawn had broken across the forest. He awoke to find himself in the presence of the forest Dwarves and various animals surrounding the glass covered casket of a beautiful maiden. The Dwarves had told him what had become of the princess and that some old witch had tricked her into taking a bite out of a poisoned apple. Vledamir felt a sorrow in his heart as he looked upon her.

"I'm sorry that we had never the chance to meet, m'lady," Vledamir said as he bent to kiss her. "For you would have made me the happiest man in all the lands."

Just as he bent to place a kiss upon her lips a shadow appeared beside him and quickly knocked Vledamir aside. The General landed on the soft, dew covered grass a few feet away. He heard a dark laugh as he looked upon who had struck him. A man embroidered with that of royalty was hunched over the body of Snow White, pressing his own lips against her cold, lifeless ones. But to his and Vledamir's amazement, the princess' eyes fluttered open. She gazed upon the Prince for a moment and smiled at him. She mouthed the words 'My prince' which made Vledamir's heart sink into the weight that already been occupied by the feeling of emptiness. Vledamir shook his head at the two who once again pressed against each other.

Days would pass by before the wayward general would hear anything about princesses or even kingdoms as he traveled further and further from the reaches of the western kingdoms and into the heart of the desert. He had managed to survive the ocean of sand and heat as he arrived at a kingdom that was hidden behind the highest dunes. It was here that Vledamir, the warrior from the west, found one princess to be to his liking. An adventurous girl who was always getting into mischief with the castle guards and wanted nothing more than individuality. As fate would have it, the day of which the Sultan, the King of the Sands, was to introduce the well-traveled General Vledamir she had ran away from the palace with someone that he had heard a guard call a 'street rat'. He realized that his hope for joy was stolen from him by nothing more than a common thief and left the Palace Guards to their duty. Vledamir was gifted with many exotic gifts by the Sultan himself before heading back through the desert and towards what fate had in store for him in the next kingdom.

'Cinderella!' he heard a bitter, old and yet incredibly classy woman call out to who Vledamir could only assume was her maid. A ragged but youthful and beautiful woman emerged from her house and bowed. He heard her say 'Yes, stepmother' which made Vledamir cast a glare at the dark looking woman with disgust. The stepmother gave Cinderella an order to prepare for someone's arrival. As the older woman walked inside she was followed by two girls that made Vledamir's skin crawl underneath his armor. Vledamir waited outside on a stone bench, thinking of what he could say to someone so beautiful, so breathtaking.

As he sat there in quiet thought, a carriage pulled up. Inside was a tired looking man carrying a pillow with, what appeared to be, a glass slipper resting on top of it. The slipper intrigued Vledamir enough to make him want to watch what was happening inside. A large window gave him full view of the room where the royal messengers were attempting to shove the slipper upon the foot of one of the two girls that had made him flinch. He watched with amusement as they struggled to get the glass slipper over the slightly larger feet. The messengers realized that the slipper didn't fit long after Vledamir had made that observation.

Vledamir was all too eager for the men to leave so that he could talk with the girl inside. His eyes went wide when he realized that she hadn't been present in the fitting. Once again curious sparked his attention as he looked inside the open doorway that the messengers were coming out of. As if on queue, Cinderella was rushing down the stairs. Before he noticed anything else, he heard the crashing sound of shattering glass as the slipper fell to the ground. Vledamir let out a sigh of relief as he watched the room crumble around the shoe. To his horror, and apparently the stepmother's as well, Cinderella pulled out a second glass slipper which fitted perfectly with her own foot. Vledamir knew this meant someone else just found their happily ever after.