Chapter 8

Cassandra and Rapunzel strap their sacks of supplies to Maximus' saddlebags just outside the front of Willow's house. It's early morning, with the air crisp and ringing with distant birds, and the snow shimmering from bright rays of sunlight.

Unlike the first time they had left home, back in Corona, they're now equipped with bed rolls, coins, whatever weapons Cassandra can carry on her, as well as plenty of food and supplies – with much thanks to Willow and her cooking. The woman had practically forced them to take as much with them as they could for the journey.

As Cassandra ties down the last bag, Rapunzel turns to face Willow standing nearby.

For a while, the two of them only gaze at each other with unspoken words. Lingering between them is a mix of sorrow, hope and uncertainty for what is about to come.

The princess wears woolen gloves and a cloak that drapes around her dress, with her long brown hair tied into a braid over her shoulder. Her new sword is strapped to her hip, as unnatural and heavy as it feels. But Cass tells her to keep it on her at all times, in case they ever get separated again. Rapunzel isn't sure she's skilled enough yet to use it.

"Are you sure about this?" Willow eventually asks. It wouldn't be the first time.

"More than anything," assures Rapunzel.

After resolving their previous conversation regarding Rapunzel's powers, Rapunzel had told her aunt everything – about the cave, the decaying plants, and her determination to find out what it all means.

Willow had taken the news better than Rapunzel had expected. Maybe because Willow knew that something like this would be inevitable. The guilty part of her also feels that she owes it to Rapunzel to let her go, if it might somehow make up for the lifetime a secrecy Willow had been partially responsible for.

But understanding doesn't make saying goodbye any easier. Not after they'd grown so used to living together here. But Willow reminds herself that they'll see each other again. This is important to Rapunzel, and that alone is enough for her.

"It won't be forever. Just think of this as us going away on a little trip," Rapunzel reminds Willow with a reassuring grin. "We'll be back as soon as we can."

With her lips tugging into a fond smile, Willow lovingly touches her palm to Rapunzel's shoulder. Tears begin to glisten in her eyes before they pull each other into a tight, desperate embrace.

"I love you," Willow mumbles into her niece's shoulder.

Rapunzel squeezes her eyes shut as she burrows closer. The feeling of it reminds her of her mother. "I love you too."

When they pull apart, Cassandra is walking up to them wearing an armoured chest plate, a fur-lined cloak and brown leather gloves. Her palm rests on the hilt of her sword holstered to her hip, admirable eyes fixed on the woman who had given them more than they could've asked for in the past six months.

They both share a look of understanding – gazes soft, grinning weakly, until Willow pulls Cassandra to her chest too.

"You take care of each other out there," Willow tells her. It isn't a request, but a demand given with nothing but love. Their previous conversation regarding Rapunzel's safety lingers unspoken between them.

"We will," Cassandra reassures.

After saying their last goodbyes, Cassandra hops onto the front of Maximus' saddle. She reaches a hand down to Rapunzel, who uses it to haul herself up. She settles on the horse's back, wrapping her arms around Cassandra's waist from behind.

As Cass gives a shout and whips the reigns, Willow watches them from the front yard of the house, galloping off along the path.

A few hours later, they dismount the horse along a snowy path in the woods outside the village of Fairview, deciding to take a break from riding.

Nothing but pine trees surround them for miles. The forest is quiet and peaceful in a way. The sun has reached its peak in the pale sky. The mountains appear smaller on the horizon now, reminding them of how far they've strayed from home already.

They're idling on the path when Rapunzel begins rummaging through Max's saddlebags for something. Cassandra's eyes are drawn toward a particular tree trunk along the edge of the road. Her boots crunch in the snow as she wanders toward it.

From this distance, she notices a small symbol carved into the bark. A circle with three slashes through it.

Cassandra stops in front of it.

She squints at it quizzically, wondering who could have left that there or why. Then she reminds herself that all kinds of travelers have probably passed through these woods recently, and she should've expected to find other signs of life out here.

"It mentions the kingdom of Celest being somewhere in the Southern region..."

Rapunzel's voice from somewhere behind her snaps Cass to attention again.

As she turns over her shoulder, she sees Rapunzel slowly pacing a distance away, holding an open book a little too close to her face and trailing her finger along the page.

"Maybe if we keep heading in that direction, eventually we'll find something or someone that can tell us where to find it," continues the princess with determination.

Cass begins to make her way back toward Rapunzel and the horse, forgetting about the carving. "Let's just hope your mysterious bird friend will make an appearance again."

They find a fallen log to have a moment's rest and a bite to eat until Cassandra reminds Rapunzel they're losing daylight. Eventually, they continue along the path again.

They travel this way for the next two days, alternating between walking on horseback and on foot. They stop at every pond and river they encounter to fill their waterskins. Cassandra builds fires when the sun goes down and they take shelter in whatever caves they can find, which happen to be plentiful being so close to the mountains. With the bed rolls, blankets, and proper winter attire that they have now, the weather is bearable enough at night, and even more so in the day. It all feels reminiscent of those months they'd spent on the road after leaving Corona, only the reasoning behind it this time is much less dire.

In the morning one day, Cassandra is guiding Maximus by the reigns while Rapunzel trails a few paces behind them.

All that can be heard are their own footsteps and Max's saddle rattling. Neither of them can remember a day this warm. It's silent between them for so long that Cassandra finds her thoughts inevitably spiraling into everything and nothing at once.

Suddenly, Rapunzel squeaks from behind her.

Startled, Cass whips around. "What?" she gasps with concern.

Instead of whatever danger Cass had naturally expected, she instead finds Rapunzel halted in her tracks, gaping up at the sky in bewilderment with a slight grin on her lips. "Look!" She exclaims excitedly, pointing up at the trees.

Her gaze slowly trails downward. She raises her hand above her, then pulls it closer to her face. She's holding out one finger, staring at it with pure fascination. "I can't believe it. I wasn't imagining it."

For a few moments, Cassandra only stares at her with a disturbed expression on her face, wondering what on earth the girl seems to be so enchanted by.

Rapunzel doesn't notice.

"Raps… There's nothing there," Cass tells her.

As if falling out of a trance, Rapunzel blinks in surprise. She meets Cass' eyes from a distance, her smile instantly fading. When she looks to her own hand again, she sees the electric blue feathers of a bird perched directly on her finger, its small body holding a faint glow.

It's cocking its head at her, just as it had that day they'd found the cave. Only now, Rapunzel's expression is a mixture of confusion and disappointment as she realizes, "You really don't see it?"

Cassandra's silence is enough of an answer. She shakes her head, faintly.

Rapunzel peers from her to the bird again, gazing into its black eyes. "I guess I'm the only one who can."

As crazy as this is, it almost doesn't surprise her, with everything else that's been happening lately. It's clearly no ordinary bird, though she'd tried to convince herself of it at first. And now that she's seen it twice, this just proves that it really does mean something.

"It must have something to do with my powers. Like the plants," she wonders aloud.

"I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing," comments Cass. Unlike how Rapunzel seems to feel, there's nothing exciting about this to her. If anything, it just makes her uneasy.

But Rapunzel can't take her eyes off it. Something about this bird is just so… hypnotic. Even if she is imagining it, everything about it looks so real. It's radiating a sort of warmth onto her hand. She can even feel its tiny talons poking into her skin.

"This is so weird," gapes Rapunzel. There's a chuckle beneath her words. "I wish you could see it, Cass. It's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen."

"You haven't seen anything else strange that you may have forgotten to mention, have you?" Cassandra presses. She's peering around the forest warily though she's not quite sure why.

"Not that I can think of. I would've told you," says Rapunzel.

Well, Cassandra supposes this is just another one of those surprises that comes with being Rapunzel's appointed knight - healing powers, dying plants, and now glowing birds that only Rapunzel can see. Cass just hopes it won't get any weirder than this.

As hesitant as she is to trust some strange bird, she reminds herself it's the closest lead they've got to getting where they need to go. And Rapunzel's voice in her head tells her they'll never find out what it means if they don't go along with it. Cassandra can't argue with that.

So, Cass sighs, hoping she won't regret this later. "Well. Looks like you're our new navigator." She steps aside, gesturing to the winding road ahead. "Lead the way, princess."

The bird soars from Rapunzel's finger, fluttering into the trees.

They chase after it on horseback with Rapunzel now at the front of the saddle. The weave around trees and off the path, galloping at top speed. The entire time, Rapunzel keeps her eyes on the blue blur darting between branches overhead.

Eventually, she pulls on the reigns. Maximus skids to a stop. She's peering upward expectantly, listening, though nothing comes.

"Do you see it?" Cassandra asks from behind her on the horse.

After a few moments of silence, Rapunzel shakes her head. "I think it's gone. I don't wanna say it, but… it's like it disappeared."

Cassandra presses her lips together in thought. At a loss of what to do now, she peers around them, although she's unsure what she's searching for. It isn't like she could find it herself if she looked.

Then her wandering eyes catch sight of a plume of smoke between the trees.

Without looking away, she swings her leg over the saddle and dismounts the horse.

There isn't just one, but many plumes of smoke, all emitting from a cluster of buildings far off in the distance. Beyond the edge of the forest and beneath a bright clear sky are the pointed rooftops of a large village. Surrounding it are hills of dried grass beneath melting snow.

"Any chance it wants us to go there?" asks Cassandra with dread. She hears Rapunzel hopping down from the horse behind her.

The princess appears next to her, following her gaze. They both stand there for a moment, staring at it through the trees.

"Huh," says Rapunzel. "Do you recognize it?" Cassandra has been known to study the maps of the kingdoms, and everything in between.

"I knew there were a few towns outside of Fairview. I guess we were bound to come across one eventually. The question is, why would the bird lead you to one?"

They're thinking the same thing - It can't be a coincidence that the bird decided to vanish right near a town. Why else would it have stopped here?

"Maybe it wants us to go through it?" Rapunzel thinks about her own theory for a moment. Then she shrugs, decidedly walking forward. "Guess we'll just have to go there and find out."

"Whoa—wait a minute, princess," Cassandra pulls her back, her voice intensifying, "We don't know what's in there. The last time you followed that bird, bad things happened. What if it's just leading us into another trap?"

"Then we find our way out of it like we always do," answers Rapunzel, as if it is the easiest thing in the world. "Besides, this is why we left home, isn't it? To find answers?"

Cass glances uneasily at the distant smoke again, brows creased with dissatisfaction.

"Think about it," continues Rapunzel, "That town is probably full of people, so it'll be easy to blend in. They'll most likely have an inn there too, and I don't know about you, but it would be nice to sleep in a real bed tonight. And we might as well stock up on some extra supplies while we're there."

Cassandra just stares at her for a few moments, hands planted on her hips, lips twisting in thought. Even if there were no bird, they'd probably stop at that town anyway.

"All right, fine," Cass groans. "But if anything goes wrong, we're leaving." She stalks back toward Maximus before stopping herself, turning to face Rapunzel, "Oh, and try not to, you know… touch any plants or anything." She walks a few more steps before abruptly stopping again. "In fact, let's just try to keep your identity a secret. If anyone finds out about your powers or that you're the princess of Corona, things could get dangerous. Just pretend you're…"

Rapunzel raises an eyebrow. "Normal?"

Cass nod once, inhaling deeply. "Yeah."

"Soooo, no talking to anybody. Got it," Rapunzel states with a smugness to her tone.

"Just stay close to me," Cass tells her, unenthused.

With that, Rapunzel follows her to the horse.

The village ends up being full of people as Rapunzel predicted. In fact, there's so many of them that it's actually overwhelming after living in isolation for so long.

The streets are bustling with vendors, donkeys pulling wagons, wandering villagers and children running through the crowd. The roads are lined with shops, taverns, houses, and blacksmiths. Chatter and laughter fills the air in a way that Rapunzel and Cass haven't heard in a long time. It all reminds them of Corona in a way, only much less pristine, and without the castle at the top of a hill.

They hitch Maximus at a stable near the gates of town within a row of other horses. After exploring town for a while, they realize nothing seems to be out of the ordinary. Everything feels almost too normal, despite what Cassandra had expected, and they almost forget what led them here in the first place.

Rapunzel doesn't see the bird again, not that she would with how distracted everything makes her.

They find themselves stalled in the middle of a busy marketplace almost an hour after entering town. Vendors shout their prices to passing customers beneath the striped awnings of their stalls.

Rapunzel hovers near Cassandra's shoulder the entire time as she was told.

As Cass is preoccupied with making a purchase in the market, Rapunzel rocks on her toes next to her with her arms clasped behind her back, waiting.

Eventually, her gaze wanders naturally, causing her feet to do the same. She slowly makes her way down a few of the stalls, admiring all the jewelry and silks on display.

She gasps softly when she feels herself colliding into someone else.

"Oh! Sorry," Rapunzel apologizes awkwardly, instinctively. She doesn't quite meet the person's eyes. All she sees at first are black boots in her peripheral vision, shuffling near her own.

At the sound of her voice, Cassandra looks up.

She notices the burly man now standing directly next to Rapunzel a distance away, dressed in black armour with slicked brown hair and a stubbled chin. His palm lingers on the hilt of his sword.

As Cass' eyes are drawn to it, she spots the black tattoo of a symbol on his hand. A circle with three slashes through it. The same one she had seen carved into the bark of a tree.

His dark eyes glance uneasily across the crowd, meeting those of somebody else from afar, like a signal.

Cassandra follows his gaze.

Another man with a large scar across the bridge of his nose is now making his way through everybody. Directly toward Rapunzel. Closing in on her.

A panic ignites in Cassandra's chest. She snaps her head back to the princess, shouting suddenly without thinking, "Rapunzel, run!"

Rapunzel meets her gaze from a distance then, wide eyes instantly struck with fear. Though she doesn't know why Cassandra says it, Rapunzel's trust in her causes her to react immediately.

At that moment, the burly man swings his arm toward Rapunzel.

She ducks away just in time to evade his grasp, immediately darting through a wall of people that are pushed aside.

With a growl of frustration, his other arm then pulls at the sword on his hip, metal scraping loudly.

Cassandra draws her blade just as quickly.

A chorus of gasps breaks out amongst the crowd that she pays no attention to.

Before anyone knows it, Cassandra is lunging toward him, her blade roughly colliding against that of the man's. He reacts to her with a parry, sparks erupting from metal. People around them are shrieking in fear. He swings. She evades. His sword misses, swiping at a market stall and sending its contents clattering to the ground. Cass strikes again with enough force that it manages to stun him for a moment.

He stumbles back, the tip of his sword falling to the ground.

Cassandra takes that opportunity to scan the crowd for Rapunzel's head of brown hair.

Over the heads of faceless people, she spots the princess far ahead darting through the streets. Following behind her is the man with the scar, close in pursuit.

As much as Cassandra wants to continue to fight, Rapunzel won't outrun him on her own and there's no telling how many more of them there are.

"Hey! Stop right there!" A town guard shouts from somewhere nearby, also drawing his sword.

While her opponent regains his footing, Cass bolts in the opposite direction.

Her heart pounds with adrenaline. She's running so fast yet manages to swiftly evade every villager that stands in her path if they don't jump out of her way first. Everything appears as a mere blur to her because all she's focused on is Rapunzel running ahead of her in the distance, and the scarred man continuing to chase her.

She has to catch up to them somehow.

Struck with an idea, Cassandra cuts through the alleyway between two buildings, with Rapunzel's whereabouts on her mind the entire time. She races out the other side, emerging between them.

She feels his presence trailing behind her, hears him running on her heels. Rapunzel is right in front of her now, but the guards are on their trail too along with their attackers.

"Keep going, I'm right behind you!" Cassandra shouts to Rapunzel's backside, who doesn't dare look back.

They dart around corners and down the narrow streets between buildings, beneath clothing lines strung overhead, dodging stacks of barrels and crates.

Cassandra follows her around another building and into a shadowed alleyway.

Once sheltered from view, they come to a sudden stop, pressing their backs against a tall wooden fence separating the alley from the street.

Cassandra's chest is heaving for breath, her pulse racing. She expects to hear footsteps running right past them, but nothing comes. All she hears anymore are the distant noises of chatter and horses neighing, as if everything is calm again.

She pokes her head out around the corner after a while, discovering the men are now nowhere to be found. Just as she had hoped, they must've trailed behind and lost sight of them around one of the corners.

"I think we lost them," Cassandra pants, though still wary. "You okay?" She turns around.

Instead of finding Rapunzel standing there with her like she had expected, all she finds instead is an empty alleyway with distant people crossing the street at the opposite end.

Her stomach drops. She takes a step forward. "Rapunzel?"

Suddenly, she feels a hand clamp over her mouth.

Her entire body seizes. A muffled noise escapes her throat. By the time she comprehends the warmth of a person pressed against her back, she's already shot her elbow backward and directly into their face.

"Ow!" her captor shrieks, immediately releasing her.

In an instant, she's pinning him hard against the wall with her sword pressed across his throat, all before even looking at his face. "Lay a hand on me again and I swear it'll be the last time you use it," she growls.

"Okay—okay!" he yields with his hands, panicked.

"Cass, wait!" Rapunzel shouts from somewhere nearby.

Cassandra doesn't take her eyes off him. "Stay back, Rapunzel." The few inches of height he has on her does nothing to intimidate her. Instead, she glares up into his eyes mere inches from her face with a deadly scowl.

He isn't one of the two men she'd seen in the marketplace. But she doesn't let her guard down. She knew there had to be more of them.

"Who are you people and what do you want?" She presses the blade further against his throat.

"Ah!" He briefly hisses in pain, stammering, "I swear, I'm not with those guys! I just saw them chasing you through town—you looked like you could use some help!"

"Why should I believe you?"

"I haven't seen you around here before. You guys are new, I get it." His hands are still raised by his face, back pressed hard into the wall. "If you follow me, I know a place we can lie low, just until the heat dies down and those guys get off your back."

Voices of men begin shouting from the streets, faded yet very near.

"Maybe we should listen to him!" Rapunzel exclaims, panicked.

"And how do I know you won't turn on me as soon as I let you go?" Cassandra had noticed he doesn't have a sword. But that doesn't mean he doesn't have another weapon hiding somewhere else on him, or that he's leading them into a trap.

"Well, you're just gonna have to trust me on that one. Either that or they catch us both, then we're all screwed," he points out.

Rapunzel peers nervously down the street they had come from. In the distance, she sees the same man she had bumped into earlier, along with his friend. Their eyes are on her. They're heading this way. "Guys… They're coming!"

Cassandra slightly lowers her blade beneath the man's chin. She takes his eyes off him for a moment, just to peer in Rapunzel's direction, allowing him to slip out from beneath her. She doesn't stop him when he does.

The pounding footsteps of their pursuers are shuffling closer.

He bolts down the alleyway, stumbling briefly. Rapunzel follows him.

Cassandra watches them both run further away from her, before she realizes she shouldn't just stand here for much longer. She releases an annoyed groan. Finding no other choice, she takes off after them.

The man leads Cass and Rapunzel further through town, ducking into places that Cass probably wouldn't have noticed on her own. None of them are sure anymore whether the aggressive shouting behind them belongs to their attackers or the town guards, but it sounds like it's coming from all directions.

They follow him toward what looks to be an abandoned shack made of wood, tucked away from the rets of town. He swiftly vaults over one of the open windows, disappearing into the darkness inside.

Rapunzel takes a few extra moments to haul herself up onto the ledge after him, grunting softly. Once she's inside, Cass easily jumps in behind her.

They all end up crouched beneath the window, with their backs pressed against the wall, the three of them shoulder to shoulder.

A few moments later, they hear rattling armour and shuffling footsteps sprinting directly past the window above them. Their figures create shadows as they pass. Their voices eventually fade into nothing.

Everything goes quiet again.

The shack they're in appears to be some sort of storage house. It's dark inside aside from the sunlight shining through the cracks of the ceiling and walls, and the single window they'd just crawled through. There are piles of crates, wooden barrels and burlap sacks cluttered amongst a gravel floor.

Once it's clear that they're gone, the man they're with begins chuckling to himself, breaking a tense silence. "I gotta admit, that was a close one! For a second there I thought we were all goners." He pushes himself to a stand, sweeping the gravel from his clothing.

Cassandra does the same, though she can't imagine why he would be laughing right now.

"I tell you what though, there truly is nothing quite like the thrill of running from your own death, am I right?" He plants his hands on his hips as he stands triumphantly, before lowering his attention to Rapunzel still on the ground. "Hey. You all right there, sunshine? Hope they didn't scare you too bad back there." He holds a hand down to her.

Rapunzel lets him help her to her feet, chuckling awkwardly. "Oh. Yeah. I'm fine." Their hands linger within each other's for a second too long, before Rapunzel pulls hers away. She busies herself with brushing off the back of her skirt.

Cassandra notices it.

"Rapunzel, is it?" he asks.

The princess looks hesitantly in Cass' direction. They lock eyes. So much for keeping her identity a secret. Cassandra hadn't realized she'd used her name earlier in front of him.

However, he's so preoccupied with his own words that he doesn't notice their hesitation. "Can't say I've ever heard a name quite like that before. But I could get used to it." He leans his palm against the wall, looming far too close to Rapunzel for Cassandra's liking. His opposite thumb hooks on his belt, ankles crossed beneath himself as he purrs at her, "The name's Rider. Flynn Rider. How ya doin'?"

Cassandra almost physically gags. She doesn't even try to hide her eyeroll, or the faint scoff that sounds at the back of her throat.

Somehow, she literally just met him and she already hates him.

She'd been so blinded by her own anger in that alleyway that she hadn't realized until now - he doesn't look at all like those two men from the marketplace. Now that she gets a good look at him, she notices he's much younger than them, probably around her own age, and lacking any armour or weapons. He looks quite ordinary, in fact – brown hair, leather jacket, brown boots - aside from the goatee on his face, and that sly smirk he can't seem to stop aiming at Rapunzel.

"Surprisingly… We've survived worse," Rapunzel tells him.

"What'd you do to stir up so much trouble, anyway?" he plants his hands on his hips, peering between the two women. He sounds impressed rather than concerned.

Cassandra sheathes her sword, blade ringing out. "Your guess is as good as ours." Technically, she hadn't been the first one to draw her weapon.

Flynn raises an eyebrow. "You guys sound like you've been around."

"Speaking of, we have somewhere we need to be, so if you'll excuse us…" Cassandra gives an expectant look in Rapunzel's direction.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Flynn chuckles, "I didn't get your very charming non-violent friend's name before she elbowed me in the face." He steps toward Cass and holds a hand out to her.

She does nothing but stand there with her arms crossed and an unamused expression on her face, never once looking down at his hand.

"And you are…?" he asks.

"Leaving. Come on, Rapunzel." She brushes directly past him and towards the door. "Let's just get out of here."

She realizes she could ask him about whoever was just chasing them, since he seems to be so familiar with this place, but he's already made it clear that he doesn't know. Hiding out in here for a while longer is also an option, but she'd rather get as far away from this town as possible, as soon as possible. Before anything else bad happens.

Besides, just being in the same room as this guy is already annoying her.

Rapunzel finds no choice but to follow Cassandra. She does so hurriedly, lifting the skirt of her long dress. "Uh… Thank you very much for your help, Flynn Rider." She forces a polite smile at him as she passes, to make up for her guilt of leaving so suddenly.

Flynn's feet remains planted, but he watches them from across the room. "Hey, where're you two headed, anyway? Maybe I can help you get where you're going."

Cassandra pokes her head outside the door to the storage house, warily scanning the streets for an opening. "We don't need your help," she says without looking back at him.

It seems the rest of town has already returned to their preoccupations after that brief scuffle earlier. The villagers are milling about across her vision, oblivious to her eyes. After essentially causing a fight in the streets, there's no doubt the town guards will be after her now. They have to get out of here unseen.

"It looked like you did when I saved you just now," comments Flynn.

Cass glares at him over her shoulder, "You did not save us back there. I had it under control."

He raises his hands defensively, taking a step back. "All right, just trying to help. But hey, word of advice: Try not to draw any more unwanted attention to yourselves by, you know… starting fights with people," he shrugs. "Just a thought."

Cassandra rolls her eyes again, though Flynn doesn't see it.

When she spots an opening, she places a hand on Rapunzel's back to usher her out the door. Hurriedly, they both duck outside, disappearing into the streets.