Chapter 7
Cassandra chops her sword through the various branches that hang down in her path. She feels the leaves getting tangled in her hair as she marches through the brush, stepping over fallen logs and stones with the usual scowl on her face.
She slashes her blade through another branch, and it falls at her feet with a snap. Cassandra freezes when she finds herself now facing a clearing within the forest.
There's a small, shallow pond in the distance, covered in lily pads. There's someone sitting at the edge of it - a small hunched over figure with their back turned.
The calming sound of splashing water can be heard along with birds chirping somewhere in the leaning trees.
After a second glance, Cassandra recognizes the short brown hair to be Rapunzel's, almost forgetting that she isn't blonde anymore.
Rapunzel is too preoccupied to notice her, cupping water in her hands and splashing it over her face.
There's a tan horse wearing a leather saddle standing at the opposite edge of the small pond, drinking from it and also oblivious to Cassandra in the distance.
Cass had assumed the princess would have fled by now, after discovering about the hunt for her and Flynn. Though, Cass isn't at all surprised no one has found her yet. Evading guards seems to be Rapunzel's specialty.
Cass thinks about turning around and forgetting she never saw her at all. But after a while, she sighs to herself, hoping she won't regret this.
Cassandra sheathes her sword. She steps out of the brush, walking into the clearing and towards the pond. "Rapunzel?"
At the sound of the voice behind her, Rapunzel bolts to her feet and whips around. She grabs the sword that had been on the ground next to her, aiming it up at Cassandra. "Stay back! I don't wanna hurt you."
"Whoa, hey! I don't wanna hurt you either." Cass stops in her tracks and raises her hands defensively, not meaning to startle her so much. Clearly, Rapunzel is still mad at her. "I just wanted to talk."
"About what?" Rapunzel asks, glowering and still holding out her weapon cautiously.
"About… all of this."
Honestly, Cass doesn't entirely know what she'd planned to say. She tells herself she's here because she feels bad, or maybe it's only because she misses Rapunzel. Either way, she won't admit to it, but Cass hasn't stopped thinking about their argument in the woods since it happened three days ago.
She doesn't even need to be here right now. She definitely shouldn't be, but for some reason, Cassandra wants to be.
"I know we kind of got off on the wrong foot back there, but… I've been thinking a lot about what you said." Cass sighs, not believing she is suggesting this right now. "If you wanna escape the guards, you need to get out of this place. Go somewhere far away where they won't find you again because they're not gonna stop until they do."
Rapunzel lowers her sword slightly, the tension in her shoulders deflating at that information. "What are you talking about?" she asks, confused.
"Both you and Flynn need to leave before they find out that you talked to me or we're all dead," advises Cass, hoping that the very same guards aren't somehow listening in on their conversation right now.
Rapunzel scoffs. "Flynn? Flynn Rider?" She shakes her head, laughing briefly with an annoyed eyeroll, "I am not going anywhere with that thief."
Cass only stares at her dumbfounded. What?
Come to think of it, Cass still hasn't run into him yet. She'd imagined him and Rapunzel would have been inseparable out here, but apparently not.
What, did they get in an argument or something? And that's why they aren't together? Cass thinks about it for a second only to remember that she doesn't much care.
"Look, I don't know who's after me or why, but I can find my own way around," Rapunzel shoves her sword into her hip holster and marches toward her horse. "So, if you'll excuse me…"
What is she talking about? How does she not know? They literally had a conversation about the royal guard just a few days ago.
"Rapunzel, wait," says Cass.
Rapunzel stops in front of her horse before she can get on it, turning over her shoulder at the other girl.
Then Cassandra realizes - Rapunzel is still upset with her, and now she's in denial that that conversation even happened. She's pretending that the royal guard isn't after her because she doesn't want to believe that any of it is true. She doesn't want to face the fact that Cassandra was willing to give her up.
Or maybe she thinks that Cassandra was lying to her about all of it from the start, though even Cass can't think of a reason why she would do that. Unless Rapunzel truly believes she is that messed up.
"I'm just trying to help," says Cassandra, her shoulders drooping.
For a while, Rapunzel only stares at her apologetically. She shakes her head as she says, "I'm sorry, but… I can't trust you. I have no idea who you are."
Cassandra feels her own heart flinch at that.
Initially, her eyes widen in shock and her expression completely falls, heartbroken to hear those words coming from her of all people.
Then a sudden anger flashes across Cassandra's face and she resists clenching her fists at her sides.
She can't believe this. Just when she thought they were maybe able to come back from this, Rapunzel chooses to treat her like a complete stranger for something that Cassandra wasn't even able to prevent.
After twenty years of friendship, Rapunzel is choosing not to trust her ever again, despite everything they've been through together.
Sure, they haven't spoken for two of those years, but Cassandra wasn't aware that entirely erased the first eighteen.
Does becoming a royal guard really make her such a monster in Rapunzel's eyes?
And now Cassandra is trying to help her by not turning her in, and Rapunzel can't even say thank you?
"Are you serious?" Cassandra scoffs, her voice soft despite the bitterness in her eyes. "I came all the way back to tell you this, and you're just gonna pretend like you don't know me? Is that where we're at now?"
Rapunzel only stares at her, wide-eyed and entirely at a loss for words. "I…"
"You know what? Fine," Cass interrupts, yielding with her hands. Why does she even bother? "Go ahead and get yourself captured for all I care." She turns away and begins marching back into the woods. "Just don't pretend that I'm the only one who changed here, princess."
She disappears before Rapunzel can say anything more.
Eugene wakes to the sight of a wooden ceiling.
Initially, he doesn't have a clue of where he is or how he got here. After blinking into consciousness, he suddenly remembers Rapunzel and he bolts upright in a panic.
He winces from the sharp pain in his head, stopping himself and falling back down on his elbows. His hand comes up to his hair as he remembers that Rapunzel had tried to attack him, for whatever reason.
When he pulls his fingers away, he doesn't see any blood, though it's very painful.
Well… Eugene can't exactly say he'd ever imagined his girlfriend would knock him out with a frying pan. She does have quite the strength, though. That much he already knew.
The memories rush back to him as he peers around the interior of the cabin.
Rapunzel had fought him as soon as he came in, went on about her not trusting him and telling him to leave, then the next thing Eugene knew, everything went black.
He thought he'd be able to stop her, but then again, he shouldn't be entirely surprised she'd beat him in a fight. She usually does. He curses her for that in this moment.
After Eugene pulls himself to his feet, the first thing he notices is the broken window next to the door, the glass shards shattered beneath the windowsill.
He can already see from where he's standing that their horse is no longer standing outside the cabin where he had found it.
Great. Rapunzel's gone.
Now how on earth is he going to find her again?
The sun is still high in the sky, which means he couldn't have been knocked out for too long. But with the horse, she could be anywhere by now. There's no telling how far she's gone, or which direction she was headed.
Whatever was going on in Rapunzel's head, she clearly did not want anything to do with him. The idea of Eugene doing something wrong to upset her doesn't even remotely make sense to him. There's no way she would react that way toward him, over anything.
He briefly wonders if it wasn't her at all, but rather some weird doppelganger that just looks and sounds exactly like her. But that would be ridiculous. He knows it was her.
It was as if she didn't even remember him, and all Eugene can wonder is – what the hell happened while they were separated that would make her act that way?
Since he's here, he searches every room in the cabin, hoping to find some answers.
It's completely empty of people, but it's clear someone had been living in here recently, or currently is, judging by the dishes in the kitchen and the burning candle on the table.
Was somebody else here with her?
Eugene scours every surface and opens every drawer, desperately searching for anything that would help him understand what's going on or give him some sort of clue on Rapunzel.
He finds his own satchel on the desk by the fireplace. Rapunzel had been wearing it the last time they were together, and for whatever reason, she didn't take it with her.
Among the scattered pile of books and papers next to it, Eugene recognizes his own wanted poster, splayed out and creased at the edges. Whether that had been here before or after Rapunzel arrived, he isn't sure.
He flips it over, hoping to find something written on the back. Nothing.
Eugene grabs the satchel and wraps it around his torso.
Just as he is about to give up and storm outside, he notices something on the counter in the kitchen.
Next to the kettle on the stovetop, peeking out from behind a teapot, is a small and nearly empty vial with a bubbling golden liquid, practically glowing and shimmering in the light.
Eugene holds it between his two fingers, finding it to be entirely out of place among everything else. He turns it over in his hand, noticing a tiny piece of parchment tied around the neck of the bottle with twine.
There's a symbol of a diamond on it, with a line extending from two of the opposite points. When Eugene flips the tag over, he sees the letter 'V' written in cursive, smudged in charcoal.
