Chapter Text
Cassandra always did as her Mother's said, she heed her words without question and sometimes she was rewarded with an hug, a soft pat on her head or a simple I love you.
Those rewards were precious to Cassandra, eager as she was to make her mother happy and to be at the receiving end of loving gesture.
Nothing else mattered in her live but her Mother.
When she outgrew her childhood bed Mother had her move to a tattered blanket on the kitchen floor with a single pillow, claiming she was too big to keep sleeping in her Mother's room.
Cassandra took a while to get used to floor, but she did it, Mother said there was no other choice unless she wanted to kick her own mother out her warm bed.
Everyday she was to do chores around the house and make dinner, Mother never did, but Cassandra accepted it because she didn't have any money and she had a roof on her head.
Where else would she go?
Mother made her sew gloves everyday, she told her it was to keep her hands occupied so that she wouldn't get bored.
The gloves also disappeared everyday, Cassandra never questioned it, she was just glad they were gone.
She hated sewing, but Mother got upset if she doesn't make any so she keeps sewing.
Cassandra was also to take care of their garden, to sow the land and plant the vegetables, to harvest them and the peaches on their trees when the time was right.
She also was in charge of getting firewood, it was by far the most grueling work as Mother wanted her to go far in the forest to gather berries and hazelnuts, even with the cart it was heavy work.
Mother never helped, she had other stuff to think about and Cassandra never wanted to bother her.
The big meals Cassandra prepared everyday were all for Mother, since Mother was the bigger one it stood true that she needed more food.
Cassandra was allowed some bread and water, they couldn't afford more and she didn't want to make Mother suffer hunger for her.
The table was too small for both to eat here at once, so Cassandra patiently waited for Mother to eat before cleaning the kitchen and eating her own meal.
Sometimes Mother would allow her some jam.
Mother had some books and Cassandra remembered asking to be taught how to read them, but Mother had just said reading was a waste of time and there was to much too be done in the house to bother with it.
Her loyalty to Mother was so true that one day she was rewarded an big secret.
"Mama, why do you always look sick when you leave the house?" it had been an innocent question spoken through Dinner, a roast with mushrooms and steamed potatoes, Cassandra wasn't even expecting Mother to answer her
"You see my dear, I have found a special flower it keeps me healthy and strong when I sing a song to it"
"So you are not sick anymore?"
"Yes and no, unfortunately your dearest Mother has an incurable sickness, if it weren't for my wonderful flower I would have been in the ground long before you were born"
Knowing her mother was sick just made Cassandra work harder.
Cassandra was fourteen, dressed in a ragged green dress, her shoes consisting of rags wrapped around her feet.
Her curled dark hair was a long tangled mess that reached a little over her shoulders.
She was filthy with grime and sweat.
She was in the woods on her way back to her house after filling the cart with wood, which she would chop into firewood later, berries and hazelnuts.
The cart moved slowly as she pushed it, it's a wonder it could move at all full as it was.
Mother would be disappointed if it wasn't.
Cassandra pushed and pushed, ignoring her screaming muscles and bleeding feet, focused as she was to complete what was expected from her.
Then she stopped.
The sound of feeble desperate chirps had broke her focus, she let go of the cart and looked for the source.
It wasn't hard to find and when she did, Cassandra's eyes widened in horror.
There was fallen down nest, an owl laid dead with an arrow in it's neck, the remains of their last prey in their berk.
The sound came from under the nest, Cassandra picked it up and discarded it to the side revealing an hungry and desperate owlet.
Their mother must have got shot just as she was about to feed them, accidentally taking down the nest as she fell down dead.
It must have been horrible for the owlet to witness their own mother die, to stay so close with her corpse.
Cassandra couldn't just leave it here.
Mother didn't want animals.
It was the first time she disobeyed one of Mother's wishes and gained a friend.
Her first friend.
She called him Owl, Mother doesn't know about him, she kept him hidden as on owlet in her little chest and when he grew up he went to live in a tree near the cottage.
Owl knew to not interact with Cassandra when Mother was home, and Mother had no idea the owl she sometimes saw near her house was anything more then a wild animal.
The owl wasn't stupid and quickly understood Cassandra's mother for the vile snake she was, so he hoped to make Cassandra see it as well.
When Mother was home Owl would fly away and look for a nicer nest for him and his friend, he then lead Cassandra here hoping she would like it enough to leave the snake behind.
Cassandra hated to admit it, but she looked forward to her Mother leaving so that she could see what other place Owl had found.
Sure she still did her chores for the day, but instead of resting at home or doing more she entertained herself with those little excursions.
There were so many wonderful places to see so close to her, what else she missed out?
Mother did point out Cassandra was slacking off, and while the comment hurt her, Cassandra simply couldn't devote all of her to Mother anymore.
She craved those moments away the cottage.
Owl also hunted an extra mice for Cassandra as he could tell the human needed extra food, but to his frustration she never ate them.
Till one day Mother saw the dead mice by Cassandra's nest
"Well little pest, I assume that would be good to eat once cleaned and cooked" Owl could tell Mother was making fun of his human and his feathers ruffed
"You want to roasted mice?" Cassandra had asked completely confused by her Mother's words and oblivious to malice behind them
"of course not, but if you can't catch something better I guess you can eat that, just do it outside the house I don't want my food to be next such thing, let alone prepared with the same tools" Mother didn't realize her words had spurred Cassandra to attempt hunting for her food.
While her Mother was just referring to the mice, Cassandra understood it as a blessing to eat whatever animal she could catch.
This in Cassandra's eyes was huge, all of this time she was only allowed bread, now she could be eating a roast like Mother as long as she was able to catch it!
So the next time she left with Owl Cassandra tried to hunt, her prey was a rabbit.
She didn't think it would be so hard to get a simple rabbit, she had been running after it and falling on her face for hours.
She tried again and again to jump at it and kill it with a sharp rock, she couldn't possibly risk breaking Mother's axe for such thing, but the rabbit always dodged her attack at the last minute making her hurt herself as she crashed on the ground and against trees.
At some point Cassandra was sure she got a mouthful of dirt.
The Rabbit was mocking her, the demonic critter was moving in a circle and pausing in its steps instead of escaping.
It was overconfident that this tiny starved human would never be able to catch it and it was fun to watch the human continuously slam into things.
Unfortunately the Rabbit had gotten so used to their the pattern it didn't expect the human to throw the sharp rock it was holding.
It was dead before the surprise registered in its eyes.
Cassandra collapsed on the ground trying to catch her breath, unable to stop the smile on her face as her opponent was defeated.
She let out a laugh
"Owl did you see that!? I did it!"
Her laugh was cut short by a clapping noise
Owl had watched the whole thing, while he wanted to help his human he also understood that this was her first prey and he had no business butting in.
How was she going to lean how to hunt if she relied on him?
Still he did notice some other human was watching the whole thing and readied himself to attack the possible threat if needed.
"Congratulations, I didn't expect you to make it, Stripes" a big woman with white hair, her face half painted in red came in her vision.
"Stripes!?" Cassandra instantaneously hated being called such way.
"I can't be bothered to learn names so I just give people nicknames"
"and who are you supposed to be, Two faces? what do you want from me?" Mother had warned her about strangers and if she weren't so tired she would have tried to run off.
Did this woman want to steal her rabbit!?
"Ah I was merely watching your horrible attempt at hunting, I suggest you either use a bow or put a trap next time, not all rabbits will be so stupid to play around" and just like that the woman was gone.
A single sharp knife left in her place, which Cassandra ended up picking up.
How was she supposed to prepare the rabbit with her bare hands?
It wouldn't be the first time Cassandra was interrupted by the woman she called Two faces.
Two faces would arrive tell her what she did wrong, and give a suggestion.
Cassandra didn't like Two faces, but redundantly followed the hints.
Those weren't just about her method of hunting, but also on how she skinned the animal and instructions on how to cure the pelts.
This had lasted for about month, till one day she found a short sword, a bow and a quiver.
Two faces was nowhere to be seen, but Cassandra knew it was a gift from her.
Didn't Mother practically say that anything she caught was hers? she just had to keep it outside.
Cassandra did just that, she make her own little storage in a hollow truck and hid it.
The pelts and Two faces's gift was safe here.
She knew she was probably stretching Mother's words, but the mere concept of having something just hers made her look for a loophole to get it.
Three years have passed since Owl became her friend.
Cassandra was content with her life even if it was hard.
Owl was taking her to a new place, it was bit far, but Cassandra was confident she would be able to get back before Mother noticed her absence.
She found herself at some ruins and a big dead tree, which disappointed her as she didn't find it interesting, but Owl was urging her to follow her still, curious about what her friend wanted to show her, she followed.
Cassandra mouth fell open as she saw a lake so big she couldn't see the end of it, in her shock she would have probably fall off the ledge if two little hands didn't catch her dress and pulled her back
"Be careful!" a soft small voice had called out in worry
"eh?" Cassandra turned and saw no one
"I am down here silly" the voice giggled, she lowered her gaze and saw a little girl with chocolate hair and vibrant green eyes, dressed in a fine pastel green dress.
"Rapunzel! I told you to not run off!" a woman, carrying a big basket, dressed in a purple dress with chocolate hair and a the same eyes reached up to them as the girl clasped Cassandra's hand and run to meet with her dragging the older girl along.
"Mom! look who I found! she was about to fall off the cliff like a dum dum!" she had said as went to hug her mother.
"hey, it's not my fault I have never seen a lake so big!" Cassandra was embarrassed
"lake? that's the sea! you are really a dum dum!" and the embarrassment just grew as the girl, Rapunzel, just laughed in her face
"Dear, it's not nice to laugh at people" at that Rapunzel tried to make an effort to not laugh "so what your name? I have never seen you in the city"
"I live in the forest"
"is that so? your name, and where are your parents?"
"I am...Stripes, I live with my mother" Cassandra didn't feel comfortable sharing her name with strangers, if anything she had the urge to just run back in the forest.
"Stripes?" Rapunzel seemed confused by the odd name
"Alright Stripes" the way the woman said it made Cassandra understand she knew that wasn't her name "want to join us on our picnic?"
"My Mother is waiting for me" Cassandra just didn't trust them so she fled.
"Hey wait!" Rapunzel's voice called out to her, but she didn't hear anyone follwing her.
Owl was disappointed, he hoped meeting nicer humans would make his friend leave Mother.
Still there was still hope, as Cassandra got enamoured with the sight of the sea and those two humans came to that spot often.