A/N: TW for disturbing images of animals/animal related gore.
Chapter 10
Maximus trots at a steady pace through the frozen woods, with Cassandra perched atop his saddle. She pulls on his reigns as they reach a particular spot within the trees, slowing him to a stop.
She swings her leg over the saddle, dismounting the horse in one swift motion. Max's bridle rattles audibly as he shakes out his mane.
Cassandra steps around to the front of him to briefly stroke her palm down his snout, the corners of her lips lifting in admiration for her lifelong companion. Then she ducks her head beneath a branch and treks further into the narrow trees.
Birds are tweeting distantly within the canvas of dead branches above her, belonging to the endless white birch forest that surrounds her. Nothing else can be heard aside from Cassandra's own boots crunching in the snow with every rhythmic step.
She doesn't mind her freezing fingertips and the biting cold that numbs her cheeks. With the sky clear of falling snow and clouds for the time being, an array of afternoon sunlight instead shines down onto the forest floor, leaving the cold of the daytime more bearable than the nights.
It only takes her a few moments to spot the particular tree she had been searching for, with the rope currently strung from a high branch, and the dead body of a red fox dangling from the other end of it.
The rope had managed to snag its front legs, suspending the animal above the ground. It sways gently in the breeze, with thin specks of frost beginning to cling to its fur coat.
Cassandra approaches it, eyeing it as it hangs there pathetically with little emotion in her eyes, confirming it to be very dead.
A soft crease forms in her brows as she reaches up to begin untying the rope around the fox's legs, concentrating on what she's doing. When its completely free from its bounds, she eyes the dead animal in her hand for a moment, then crouches down at the base of the tree.
Setting the carcass down in the snow, she begins to reassemble the makeshift trap that she had placed here weeks ago, and hopes to catch something else with it tomorrow. The second trap on the opposite side of the forest happened to be empty when she'd checked it earlier, but this should provide a couple meals for the time being. Cassandra hopes she can find use for the fur, too.
She reties a noose in the rope and places it in the snow, forming a circle on the ground, then repositions the trigger stick in the centre of it. Lastly, she reaches into the small pouch on her belt and pulls out something wrapped in a small brown cloth. She unfolds it in her palm, revealing a handful of walnuts wrapped inside. Careful not to set off the trigger, she places a few of them in the centre of the noose.
With that, Cassandra rises to a stand, taking the fox with her. She saunters through the trees and back towards Maximus, whose tail is flickering as he stands stationary in the snow.
She walks to the side of him and begins tying down the fox with the leather straps at the back of Max's saddle. Her hands come to an abrupt stop as she glances away for a moment, catching sight of something peculiar in the distance.
After a moment, she cautiously wanders away from Max and approaches the set of tracks among the snow, its trail seeming to weave endlessly through the trees.
As she steps closer, she attempts to decipher what kind of animal may have left them, and how long ago that may have been. Her first thought is that if she's able to follow the trail, maybe she could find whatever left it and hopefully get another meal out of it.
However, as Cassandra crouches down to get a better look, she abruptly realizes that the tracks aren't animal tracks at all, but rather footprints – human footprints.
An uneasiness settles in her stomach at the possibilities of what this may mean.
Her and Rapunzel have lived out here for months, and haven't seen anyone in the area since arriving. They'd thought they'd been alone this entire time, deeply hidden within the woods. Clearly, they had been wrong, and there's no telling how long this person has been out here too, living among them without Cass or Rapunzel even knowing it.
It's difficult to decipher how long ago they'd been made. They're partially buried, but there had been a light snowfall just last night, meaning they're most likely only a day old.
The tracks are too far off the path that Cassandra usually takes when coming here, so they couldn't belong to her. In fact, these prints are way too large to be hers or Rapunzel's. The hefty boots that left them most likely belonged to a man – a man that may well be a part of the very bandits they've been evading this entire time.
On the other hand, the footprints are just as likely to belong to an unassuming traveller, or a fellow hunter. There's a village a few miles outside of this forest. Anyone could have made the journey from there all the way out here. Maybe they're just passing by.
Cassandra just hopes her own tracks haven't caught anyone's attention.
It isn't until now that the anxious feeling of being watched suddenly begins to taunt her.
She rises to a stand, peering around herself cautiously. Her palm finds the hilt of her sword holstered to her hip, though her gaze remains fixed ahead.
After a few moments, all her eyes are met with are countless white trees, stretching on for miles in every direction. There are no sounds, only birds, and the light whistling of wind.
Deciding she shouldn't stick around here any longer, she drops her hand to her side and makes her way back toward Maximus. She hoists herself up onto his back, grips the reigns, and retreats the way she came.
Cassandra and Maximus make it back to the cabin a couple hours before dusk. The sun has turned a light shade of orange as it begins its descent beneath the horizon. The sight of the cabin in the distance brings a sense of comfort to her, knowing that at least some warmth will meet her inside.
She spots it through the trees – the small wooden house with a stone chimney protruding from the single pointed rooftop, emitting a gray plume of smoke. The roof is covered in a thick layer of snow, with sheer icicles clinging to the edges. There's a small porch in the front, leading up to a single wooden door, neighboured by a small square window white with frost.
Cassandra dismounts Maximus outside the front, tying his reigns to a wooden post attached to the cabin. She unties the dead fox from his saddle, and hauls it over her shoulder with one hand.
A new sense of both warmth and silence envelope her as she steps inside. The door rattles as it slams shut behind her, immediately drowning out the whistling sounds of the wind as well as the cold breeze. A trail of snowy footprints appear beneath her boots, melting into the wooden floor.
Almost immediately after she enters, she sees Rapunzel in her peripheral vision, who hurriedly rises from her seated positioned on the log bench in front of the crackling fireplace.
"You're back," Rapunzel greets cheerfully, sounding relieved at the very fact. She rushes directly over to Cassandra, before stopping herself a distance away.
Cass only meets eyes with her for a moment before she turns her back, facing the wooden table next to the door. "Anything happen while I was gone?" She busies herself with removing the bow and quiver wrapped around her torso and sets them both down onto the surface, relieved to suddenly be carrying significantly less weight.
"Nope," shrugs Rapunzel, "Just… dead silence, as always."
There's a sense of relief for Cassandra after hearing that, even though it's the same answer every time she asks.
It's a usual occurrence for Cassandra to leave Rapunzel here while she goes out to hunt, or scope out the area, or trade at the nearby village. Cass says it's too dangerous for Rapunzel to be outside, in case anyone sees her. She says she's safer in here, but Rapunzel has learned to hate being alone. She likes it better when Cass is here too. It's less quiet, far less boring, and somehow warmer, despite the weather.
The tracks Cassandra had found in the woods earlier linger in the back of her mind. She wonders if she should even tell Rapunzel about them, or if she's just being completely ridiculous and paranoid by thinking they may be a threat. It would probably terrify Rapunzel, anyway. Cassandra would rather not scare the girl any more than she already is, especially if there's absolutely nothing to be scared about. Besides, she's still trying to process the entire concept herself of what exactly she found out there.
As Cassandra turns around again, Rapunzel notices the dead fox currently held in Cass' one hand. It's dangling lifelessly by her side, its body thin and frail, with its coat dirty and wet with snow.
Rapunzel swallows at the unsettling sight of it. Though she has had no choice but to eat countless dead animals in the past three months, it still hasn't become easier for her to see them beforehand. She should be used to it by now, considering it's what their lives have become, but she can't help but feel pity for the poor things, being as much of an animal lover as she is. She reminds herself that it's necessary for their survival, just like Cass always tells her.
"That'll last us a couple days, right?" Rapunzel asks as Cassandra walks directly past her.
"It should." Cass drops the animal on a long wooden table, laying it out on its back. She retrieves the dagger tucked into her belt. "Could've been more if the second trap had worked. Whatever set it off managed to take the bait and get away." The knife rings out audibly as she runs the edge of it along a sharpening stone a few times, the motions of her hands reflecting her own frustration for the very fact. "Let's just hope it comes back for seconds."
She leans forward over the table and lines up the knife above the centre of the fox's throat, just like her father had taught her to do all those years ago. The motions of skinning and butchering animals for resources have grown to become procedure to her, like ballroom dancing is to Rapunzel. Just muscle memory.
The fox's fur merely brushes against the blade, before Cassandra bites her lower lip in thought, and she decidedly pulls her arm away.
She holds the knife out to Rapunzel standing next to her, "You do it."
Rapunzel glances down at it in confusion, then back up to meet Cass' eyes. "What?"
"You've seen me do it plenty of times," says Cass. "You should know how to by now."
Rapunzel looks over at the dead animal laying flat on the table, her brows creasing in distress just from the sight of it. She takes a step back. "But… I don't want to."
"I know you don't."
Rapunzel shakes her head in protest, "I… I really don't think I can—"
"I might not be here one day," Cassandra bites, her voice raising slightly. "You're gonna have to learn how to do these things for yourself and not depend on me to do it for you."
Rapunzel presses her lips together, suddenly silenced.
It's a fear they've both had for a while now, one that neither of them wants to speak about. The possibility that they won't make it to Fairview is something Cassandra has been thinking about a lot lately, considering how long they've been stranded out here, seeming to get further away from their destination, rather than closer. Whether the cause be from the freezing winter or the bandits pursuing them, Cassandra doesn't know.
She's only one person, against an army of them. How much longer until the bandits ultimately catch up to them? Then what will Cassandra do?
A silence falls between them, the same thoughts haunting their minds.
The look of unspoken fear that Rapunzel gives her makes Cassandra regret being so harsh with her. She hadn't meant to snap like that. Taking care of Rapunzel is her duty, it's her purpose in life. It's what was entrusted onto her years ago, and she's more than happy to be the one to do it. She only hopes that by making Rapunzel do this, it will give Cassandra some sort of reassurance that Rapunzel will be okay on her own. She just doesn't know how to say it.
As much as Rapunzel doesn't want to admit it, she knows Cass is right. Rapunzel does depend on her for these things. Without her, she wouldn't have a clue on what to do.
Still, there was a time where Cass said she wasn't going anywhere, and that Rapunzel had nothing to worry about. Rapunzel wonders what changed between then and now.
Without arguing further, the princess steps forward and hesitantly takes the knife from Cassandra's hand.
She replaces Cassandra in centering herself in front of the table, and stares down at the dead animal laying before her. She attempts to swallow down her nerves and the sickly feeling that simmers in her stomach, though it lingers there still.
She takes a deep, steady breath.
After a few moments, Rapunzel presses the blade against the fox's throat, just like she has watched Cassandra do countless times, and slowly cuts down toward its stomach.
She tries to ignore the squelching sound it makes and the sight of the blood oozing out of the animal as she drags the blade downward. The smell makes her cringe, and she tries not to breathe through her nose.
Cassandra guides her through the entire process, murmuring over her shoulder of where to place the knife and where not to place it, warning her to be careful around certain organs, and answering Rapunzel's repeated questions of whether she is doing it right.
Cassandra remembers struggling with her first kill when she was only eight years old, though she'd learned to dissociate her emotions from it years ago. Now, she couldn't be less bothered by it. Which is why she feels awful for making Rapunzel go through the same thing Cassandra's father once forced her to do.
She notices the tears glistening in Rapunzel's eyes and the sheer look of heartbreak behind them as she continues to slice through the animal, though Rapunzel says or does nothing to stop herself. Her shoulders are up to her ears, brows tense with concentration and teeth biting her lower lip.
Eventually, it looks as if Rapunzel might burst into tears or throw up, or do both at the same time. The sight of it is even painful for Cassandra to watch.
Deciding she can't let this go on any longer, Cassandra steps in front of Rapunzel and reaches for the knife, stopping her from continuing. "I'll, uh… I'll take it from here."
As if she had been waiting for years to hear those words, Rapunzel stumbles away from the table immediately, releasing a breath she wasn't aware she'd been holding.
From the sheer relief of it finally being over, tears cling to her eyelashes and silently roll down her cheeks. When she looks down at her hands, they're covered in blood.
"I need a minute," Rapunzel pants, then turns on her heel and rushes toward the door.
It creaks as she pushes it open and steps out onto the porch, the door slamming abruptly behind her.
Cassandra hears her retching all the way from inside.
A/N: I promise there will be action soon! I still just need to set some things up before everything can get *real spicy*.