Chapter 12

The next morning, Cassandra rises with the sun.

After a few hours of solitude and silence, occupying herself in whatever way that she can like she usually does in the mornings, she finds herself wanting to check on Rapunzel, who hasn't yet emerged from the bedroom of the cabin.

The princess usually sleeps in late, always the second one to rise between the two of them. It's been that way since they were kids, so Cassandra is used to it.

The door is ajar as Cass had left it earlier. She gently pushes it open the rest of the way, finding Rapunzel still asleep just as she had expected to. She's curled up into a ball on the bed, with the blanket pulled over her and her chin tucked to her chest. Her hands are curled up beneath her cheek, eyes closed and body entirely still.

Cassandra doesn't know what compels her to come in here, knowing that Rapunzel has not yet risen for the morning, yet having no intention to wake her. The thought of it does cross her mind, then she realizes that between the two of them, Rapunzel probably could use the extra rest.

It'd been a tough day for Rapunzel yesterday. A tough couple months, in fact. She looks absolutely freezing. Her cheeks and her freckled nose have turned pink. Her breath appears in white clouds of cold air between her lips. Her body is shivering even beneath the blanket and her multiple layers of clothing.

Despite it, she looks peaceful at the same time. The last thing Cassandra wants to do is interrupt that.

She finds herself wandering into the room and sitting on the edge of the bed. She looks over at Rapunzel's sleeping figure next to her in thought. Hoping to warm her somewhat, Cassandra reaches out and pulls the blanket up over Rapunzel's shoulder.

Just having Rapunzel in her sight right now gives Cass a sense of reassurance, knowing that she is safe and sound, and far from danger.

Maybe she finds herself checking on Rapunzel more often than not because having another person with her gives Cassandra comfort. Maybe it eases her paranoid mind that something bad is going to happen. Maybe it's another reason entirely.

The freezing temperature inside the cabin bites Cassandra's skin too, though she's grown so used to it now that it doesn't bother her as much as it should. A lifetime of brutal training and less than comfortable survival lessons in all kinds of weather will do that to a person.

Still, a shiver trails up her spine. Finding not much else to do at the moment, Cassandra slowly slithers underneath the blanket too. She curls up onto her side in a similar way, facing Rapunzel.

As Cassandra settles next to her, the princess doesn't stir. If she is awake, her eyes remain closed and she doesn't seem to be bothered by Cassandra's movement, or the feeling of the mattress dipping down next to her.

As Cassandra stares at Rapunzel's face so close to her own, her mind spirals into an endless array of thoughts.

She thinks about everything that happened yesterday – the skinning of the fox, Rapunzel becoming sick soon afterward and sleeping the rest of the day away. She thinks about their argument from the night before, and the fact that they didn't speak again after Cassandra had stormed out of the house.

She replays it all in her head, realizing they'd both said some things to each other that they probably shouldn't have. Cassandra had said that Rapunzel wouldn't survive without her, and that Cass would leave whether Rapunzel wanted to come or not.

But Cass would never actually do it. She'd just been so angry that it felt like the right thing to say at the time. She would never go anywhere without Rapunzel, not when everything she does is to ensure the princess' safety. It's the whole reason Cassandra wanted to leave in the first place. It was never about herself, only Rapunzel.

But she understands now why Rapunzel feels like she is being controlled, when being a princess has naturally done that to her her whole life, despite the fact that all Cassandra is trying to do is protect her.

She thinks about how cold Rapunzel looks right now. Even with her dry lips, slightly disheveled hair, and skin paler than usual, she still looks just as beautiful. Cassandra doesn't know how anyone could look so breathtaking, being in a situation as dire as their own.

The days are only seeming to get colder, as much as Cassandra doesn't want to face the fact. Because it hurts her seeing Rapunzel this way - on the brink of starvation and slowly freezing to death, yet not being able to do anything about it.

Rapunzel doesn't deserve this. She doesn't deserve to have had her home and her family taken away so brutally. She doesn't deserve to be stuck out here with nothing, barely surviving, not ever knowing whether she's going to make it to another day. Rapunzel deserves the world. Cassandra wishes she could give it to her.

Maybe Rapunzel is right in wanting to stay here at the cabin. She'd been right when she'd said they'd freeze out there, Cassandra can't deny that. It just comes down to what's more important – staying here and surviving the winter, or running in order to evade the bandits, and whatever repercussions come with it.

As Cassandra lays there, reflecting on everything that has happened to them, she wonders to herself – how did it come to this? She wishes that none of it had to happen. She wishes they could go back to the castle, to the way things used to be. She wishes their parents were still alive. She wishes they were kids again, because everything seemed so much simpler when they were. Because Cassandra had been too young and naïve at the time to even comprehend the numbing feeling of loneliness and depression that has haunted her at night for years.

Now, they're only orphans. Wandering. Surviving. With no where to call home, and nothing left but each other.

Cassandra wishes she could tell Rapunzel everything – that somehow, the thought of being without her leaves a hopeless black pit in Cassandra's stomach, one that aches deep within her and has been for as long as she can remember. Even when Cassandra is with her, as physically close to Rapunzel as she is now, that ache still remains, because Cassandra is so scared of losing her that she'd rather die than see that happen.

She fears for Rapunzel's life. She fears for her own life solely because she won't know what will happen to Rapunzel if Cassandra were to ever die. She fears that Rapunzel won't feel the same way if Cass ever told her any of this, even though she isn't sure she understands it herself. Because Cassandra knows she feels too much, as much as she pretends that she doesn't.

She'd rather feel nothing at all.

As Cassandra loses herself in her own thoughts, she absentmindedly reaches her hand out from beneath the blanket and toward Rapunzel's face. She slowly brushes a strand of hair away from Rapunzel's eyes, tucking it behind her ear.

She thinks about the kiss that they'd shared, all that time ago. She wonders if Rapunzel thinks about it too.

Rapunzel stirs at Cassandra's touch. Her eyelids flicker. Her brow twitches. She inhales a soft breath through her nose. Her eyes only peek open for a moment before closing again, and Cassandra knows that she's awake. Just tired and half asleep.

Rapunzel nuzzles closer, causing Cassandra to do the same. Rapunzel's face burrows into Cassandra's neck, so close that Cass can feel the other girl's hair tickling her chin. Cassandra's hand rests on the dip of Rapunzel's waist because it feels like the only natural place for it to go.

The warmth of their bodies together remedies the cold somewhat.

Cassandra lets her eyelids fall closed too. They stay that way for a while, breathing steadily into one another, until she too feels herself drifting into sleep.

When Cassandra opens her eyes again, a muffled voice from outside startles her back into consciousness.

She doesn't know how much time has passed since she'd closed her eyes. She doesn't even know whether she'd fallen asleep or not, but she knows she heard something, and it springs her to her feet.

She hops out of bed, rushes to the opposite side of the room and peers out the small bedroom window. The glass is murky with dirt and frost, making it difficult to see through. But she notices when a shadow appears on the other side of the glass – like the silhouette of a person moving directly past the window.

Her stomach sinks with dread.

"Rapunzel," Cassandra frantically faces the bed again, shaking her awake. "Rapunzel, wake up."

The princess stirs, eyelids flickering open and meeting the sunlight. "Wh-why? What's happening?" She slowly rises to a sitting position, taken aback by the panic in Cassandra's voice.

"Someone's here," Cass tells her, keeping her voice hushed.

"What?" Rapunzel's eyes are suddenly struck with fear, entirely awake now. She glances around themselves worriedly, "Is it them?"

"I don't know." Cassandra is already urging Rapunzel to her feet and guiding her out of the bedroom.

As they rush through the house together and into the main room of the cabin, they hear deep voices shouting at them to open the door. There's more than one, and judging by how loud they are, it sounds like they're right outside, and definitely not friendly.

Cassandra wastes no time in crouching down to a certain spot in the wooden floor. She flicks over the rug to reveal the outline of a hatch in the ground, hardly visible if it weren't for the wooden handle protruding from one side of it.

"Get in here," she quickly lifts the door, revealing a dark and shallow space hidden beneath the cabin. She urges Rapunzel down into it, who is so panicked that she finds no choice but to follow Cassandra's instructions.

All the while, a heavy banging can be heard from somewhere above Rapunzel, and she realizes it to be a rhythmic pounding against the front door.

Rapunzel turns and looks up at the opening from where she came, beaming down sunlight onto her. She expects to see Cassandra coming down after her. But she doesn't. She stays crouched on the surface, with her one hand still holding open the hatch.

"Whatever happens, don't come out until I tell you to. You stay down there no matter what, do you hear me?" demands Cass, her voice stern.

Rapunzel's eyes are wide with terror. With her heart in her throat, she nods up at Cass frantically, and manages to utter in a quivering voice, "Yes."

Without another word, Cassandra hurriedly shuts the hatch and conceals it once more beneath the rug.

Just like that, Rapunzel is left alone, encased in darkness.

Cassandra bolts to her feet and scrambles to the other side of the room where she stores her weapons. The repeated banging is getting louder. Just as she retrieves her sword and holds it out in front of her, the door bursts open.

Two figures appear on the other side of it. Men in black clothing and black masks covering their mouths, one of them with a sword held by his side. They have slender builds, slightly taller than Cassandra. It's difficult to decipher their age or features with their concealed faces.

But Cassandra recognizes them immediately. It leaves an anxious feeling in her chest just from the sight of them, reminding her of how she felt that night. They'd all worn similar clothing at the time of the raid – the same group of bandits that had burned down all of Corona, and murdered the king and queen. The same bandits that her and Rapunzel have been evading ever since.

The two men stop upon meeting Cassandra's eyes, as if surprised to see her standing in front of them pointing a sword at them. A brief silence fills the cabin, though thick with tension. Then their looks of shock turn into something twisted, something that looks more like amusement.

"Well, well… look who we have here," one of them smirks, sauntering casually inside. He peers around the empty house observantly. "We're looking for a princess. Young, brown hair, beautiful… I don't imagine you've seen her, have you?"

Cassandra's ready stance doesn't falter. She keeps her feet planted, knees bent, and her sword pointed in front of herself. Her heart jumps in her throat at the man's taunting words, not to mention the fact that there is two of them and only one of her. She tries not to react so as not to give herself away, but the angry expression on her face hardens at the predatory way he says 'beautiful'.

They know Rapunzel is here. They know Cassandra knows where she is and there's no telling what else they may already know, how long they've been here, how long they've been watching her and Rapunzel. But Cassandra knows just from the tone of his voice that they're playing with her, and enjoying it. Considering what they did to the kingdom, she knows all too well what they're capable of, and their lust for violence that is sure to be unleashed if she doesn't choose her words carefully.

"She was seen travelling with a girl… about the same age," he continues, eyeing Cassandra curiously. "A girl who looks an awful lot like you."

"Must be a coincidence," she sneers, though her words are loaded with venom. Her hard eyes glare from beneath heavy brows, warning them to back off.

The two men exchange unimpressed glances with each other.

"We figured you'd say that." The second bandit, the one with the sword speaks up, his blade glistening by his side, "The thing is… boss won't be too happy to hear it." A dark determination overcomes his voice. "We know she's here. And we're gonna find her, whether you stand in our way or not. So, just tell us the truth and this won't have to get ugly for either of us." He steps forward, too quickly for Cassandra's liking.

But Cassandra's feet don't move. She raises her sword until the tip of it is pressed against his chest. "I'd think twice about taking another step," she threatens in a low voice.

He snickers, raising a brow as if impressed rather than intimidated. "A fighter... I like that."

His amused expression immediately turns to one of fiery rage as he raises his arm, swinging his sword down toward her.

Metal rings out within the cabin as Cassandra stops his blade with her own, reacting immediately. He strikes at her again, throwing his arm back, but she dodges it easily. She swings her sword across the man's chest, slashing it directly across his torso.

There's a crisp slicing sound as Cassandra's blade collides with his flesh, and a red streak of blood appears through his ripped shirt. As he stumbles back, Cassandra jabs her sword directly through his stomach, and viciously yanks it out of him in one swift motion.

His body lurches forward from the force. His throat gurgles on blood. He freezes up like a statue, before his lifeless body plummets forward onto his knees.

Before his face is even able to hit the ground, the second bandit lunges himself at Cassandra, throwing her off balance.

The strength of his arms grabbing her is so forceful that she finds herself stumbling into the wooden table behind her. There's a loud crash as her side collides with the edge of it, with every object on the table's surface clattering to the floor.

The bandit throws himself on top of her, pinning her down onto the table. Her back collides roughly with the surface of it, the two of them fighting against each other and thrashing side to side.

With all of his weight, he presses Cassandra's sword down horizontally across her throat. As she strenuously grips the sword to push up against him, she ignores the sting of the blade piercing her palm. The more he presses down, the more it digs into her skin. It coats both her hand and the sword in blood, but she continues to push up against it with all that she has, her arms shaking. She sees the blade drawing closer toward her chin, inches away from slicing into her neck.

Then Cassandra manages to free her legs from beneath him, and kicks both of them into his groin.

With a grunt, he jumps off of her, finally releasing his grip on the sword and stumbling away. Cassandra wastes no time in rolling over onto her side until she falls off the edge of the table.

As her feet meet the ground again, she takes that opportunity to swing her weapon at him, though her stance is so wobbly that she doesn't quite regain her footing.

The bandit ducks down, dodging her attempted strike. He swings his arm across his chest to counter it. His fist collides with Cassandra's face, knocking her to the ground.

Cassandra grunts.

Her blood-stained sword slips from her grasp. It clatters loudly to the ground, sliding away from her across the floor. The next thing she knows, she's laying on the hardwood floor with a throbbing pain in her nose and a sudden ache behind her eyes.

She lays there for a few moments, disoriented. Her nose feels hot. There's a wetness oozing into her mouth. She tastes copper between her lips. Strenuously rolling over onto her stomach, she slowly lifts her head to spit a heap of blood onto the floor.

The cabin seems to turn silent around her. Then she hears the heavy footsteps of boots somewhere next to her ear, tauntingly. He steps one foot over her. She feels a weight hovering behind her.

Cassandra grunts as a hand grabs the back of her hair, lifting her chin from the ground and pulling her head back.

She feels the bandit's breath on her neck, hears his voice growling next to her ear saying, "Now, tell me the truth… Where is she?!"

Cassandra only squeezes her eyes shut, panting for breath.

When she doesn't answer, he shoves her head forward into the floor. Her brow bangs against the hardwood.

Then the bandit grabs her from behind and forces her to roll over onto her back. She thrashes against him at a pathetic attempt to fight back, though she's so weak that her strength is no match for his own. She feels his hands grabbing her by the neck and lifting her chin, pinning her down.

Cassandra whimpers as he slams the back of her head down into the ground once more, harder this time. Tears prickle at the corners of her eyes. She coughs. A strangled cry escapes her throat, and she manages to croak through the pain, "Please stop…"

But her vision is already going blurry. Her entire face is numb, head pounding and feeling like it weighs a ton. She sees the hazy silhouette of a person on top of her, feels his body pressing so hard against her that it seems she can no longer move beneath him.

His hands wrap around Cassandra's throat, tighter and tighter until she can no longer breathe. She tells herself to fight back with every remnant of strength that she has left, but she's so exhausted and lightheaded that all she can do is lay there, gasping for air that never reaches her lungs.

He chokes her until she can't hear anything anymore. She can't see. She can't feel. No sound can escape her lips anymore. Everything starts to fade into blackness. She tells herself that she's going to die, and all Cassandra can seem to think about anymore is Rapunzel.

Then the weight of the man against her suddenly disappears as Rapunzel lunges on top of the bandit with an enraged scream, stabbing a knife into the side of his neck.

The crushing pressure against Cassandra's throat releases, and she desperately gasps for air. Coughing repeatedly, she slowly rolls over onto her side, finally able to breathe again.

The bandit jerks away and falls over onto the floor, crying out and clutching his bleeding neck in pain. But his screams are cut short as Rapunzel throws herself on top of him and violently jams the blade into his throat once more. Her eyes are boiling with fury and she's screaming the entire time. Blood splatters onto her face as she yanks the weapon from his flesh for the third time.

Then the writhing man beneath her freezes into nothing but a lifeless body. Suddenly, the room goes quiet.

Rapunzel stays on her knees for a few disorienting moments, her eyes still on fire as she stares down at the dead body laying beneath her. Then she sees the blood pouring out of the large gash in the man's neck, just inches away from her face.

Her expression softens in slow realization, and she bolts to her feet.

Rapunzel staggers away, holding out the blood-stained knife in front of her with both hands and pointing it down at the body near her feet. Watching him warily, she expects him to start moving again, to make a sound, to do anything… but he doesn't.

When Rapunzel looks down at her hands, they're covered in blood.

Absolute horror strikes within her. Her stomach churns with dread. Her heart is pounding with adrenaline. She's panting for air, chest heaving and breath quivering with fright at the brutal realization of what she's just done.

"Rapunzel."

Startled, the princess whips around at the sound of the tender voice behind her. She whimpers in fear at the feeling of somebody suddenly in front of her, grabbing her wrist, stopping her from making any further movements with the knife. She jerks her hands away in a failed attempt to break free.

"Stop… Stop," Cassandra tells her.

The knife is held up between their faces, clutched within Rapunzel's bloody fingers, whose wrist is still being held captive by Cassandra.

It isn't until then that Rapunzel realizes the person grabbing her isn't a threat, an enemy, or somebody else trying to hurt her. It's Cassandra. Her sweet, comforting, familiar Cassandra, whose face is now bleeding when it hadn't been before.

It makes Rapunzel panic all over again.

Beginning to hyperventilate, Rapunzel peers over at the dead body laying near their feet. Her voice is trembling with terror, "I… I killed him."

Her legs are suddenly weak, as if her muscles have become paralyzed. Rapunzel stumbles backward. Her knees give in beneath her, and she falls to the ground, bringing Cassandra down with her.

The knife slips from Rapunzel's grasp and clatters to the floor as they both lower to their knees.

Cassandra dips her head down and grips Rapunzel by the arms, refusing to let go of her. "Look at me," she murmurs, keeping her gaze fixed on the princess.

With a gasp, Rapunzel's gaze snaps forward again at the sound of Cassandra's voice, as if finally noticing the girl in front of her. When she does, Rapunzel's chest crumples at the sight before her, just staring back at her with the most broken eyes. Never has she seen Cassandra look so beaten and weak.

Blood drips from Cassandra's nose and into her mouth, staining her teeth red. There's a crimson gash on her forehead, and her eyelashes are wet with tears, though they don't quite fall down her cheeks. The sight of her breaks Rapunzel's heart to pieces.

The princess slowly raises her hands to Cassandra's face. She tenderly cups her jaw in her hands, smearing blood onto Cassandra's cheeks. "Oh, Cass…" Rapunzel whispers, her voice breaking.

But the rest of her words are trapped on her tongue, for the tightening of Rapunzel's throat prevents her from saying anything more - that she hadn't meant for any of this to happen. That she is so very sorry.

A/N: Did I lie when I said this was going to be violent? ;D