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The Carnelian Temple had been designed hundreds of years ago by those who inhabited the Seven Kingdoms long before any of them even had a name. It had been built to house the Carnelian Crystal, an ancient treasure with the ability to repel dark magic, whose beautiful red glow drew in treasure hunters from all across the realm seeking glory and riches. The temple was full of trials, designed to test even the most skillful of treasure seekers, with brain busting puzzles, traps requiring feats of incredible dexterity to avoid, and barricades that only the strongest warriors could ever hope to break.
And Rapunzel and Cassandra were one room away from claiming the Crystal.
“Hold on, Cass, we'll get through this together!”
“Be careful, Raps, I can only hold you up so long, my arms are already worn out from the last room!”
“I just need you to hold me long enough to solve these puzzles on the run!”
Cassandra began a mad dash across the room's tiled floor, with Rapunzel on her shoulders. Rapunzel, who had her hair entirely down, had looped several strands around the hooks dangling from the ceiling to ease Cassandra's burden as she ran and jumped across the floor while supporting Rapunzel's weight. At the same time, Rapunzel had to concentrate intensely on a set of patterns on the floor, quickly figuring out the proper sequence so that Cassandra could jump to the right tiles. One misstep and it was curtains for both of them, as the numerous skeletons of unfortunate treasure hunters piled up in the pit below could attest to.
“What's the next tile?”
“7-C, then 5-E! Take two hops to the right and then a leap forward!”
Following Rapunzel's instructions exactly, Cassandra leaped from one tile to the other, as Rapunzel solved the next two sequences while making sure to keep the strands of hair moving from one hook to the next. If she didn't, and got snagged, Cassandra would trip, they'd hit the wrong tile, and...
“Rapunzel!”
Cassandra felt one of her legs giving out, and she frantically signaled to Rapunzel to lift her up. The princess nodded, and looped two more strands of hair up on the hooks, before grabbing Cassandra as she fell and pulling her up. She then placed Cassandra back down on the correct tile before undoing her hair from the two hooks and continuing along with her.
“Close one...” Cassandra breathed, looking up at Rapunzel. “This is really taking a lot out of me...”
“You and me both, Cass,” Rapunzel replied. Cassandra could hear her voice straining, but the smile hadn't left the princess' face. “But we've got to get to that Crystal before Lady Caine and the Circle do, if they get it...”
“Right,” said Cassandra, talking as she continued to run. “They'll have enough money to raise an army, and Corona's stretched thin enough as it is. We can't let Lady Caine and the Circle invade the kingdom again...”
“It's also rumored that the Crystal can penetrate the veil of darkness surrounding the Moonstone... if Lady Caine was able to get her hands on that, she wouldn't even need an army.”
The last few yards leading to the treasure room were guarded by one final sequence of symbols... and Rapunzel would only have a few seconds to solve it, as Cassandra couldn't slow down even for a moment. Cassandra looked up, trusting Rapunzel to give her the right answer. Rapunzel looked unsure, and Cassandra started to worry. She opened her mouth to speak... then closed it again, instead giving her girlfriend an encouraging smile.
I believe in you completely, Raps. You won't steer us wrong... I'll go wherever you tell me.
Cassandra wasn't always so confident in Rapunzel's actions, and didn't always choose to defer to her, despite the fact that she was indeed Cassandra's princess and Cassandra was her subject. The two were equals, from the very first moment they'd met back in the tower, and Rapunzel had made a vow to Cassandra to trust her judgment and to never use her authority to override that judgment.
In this case, however, Cassandra knew Rapunzel to be the superior puzzle solver. She trusted Rapunzel to solve the puzzle, even with the few seconds she had to do so.
And Rapunzel trusted herself to protect Cassandra. Her eyes rapidly scanned the floor. Her mind raced, considering every possible solution.
“The bird! Then the helix, then the flame, then a flying leap to the other side!”
“I can't make that jump with your weight on my shoulders, Raps... you'll have to jump up to the hook the moment I touch the flame tile.”
Rapunzel knew what that meant... the hook was designed to crumble so that any would-be cheaters couldn't swing their way across without doing the tile puzzle. She would fall...
“You'll fall and I'll catch you when I'm on the other side.”
“Okay,” said Rapunzel, readying herself. “I trust you.”
Cassandra hit the three tiles in order. When she touched the flame tile, Rapunzel leaped up, and Cassandra dove for the other side. Rapunzel could hear a loud crack as the hook immediately gave way. She fell toward the pit below, letting out a gasp and closing her eyes. Cassandra hit the ground and immediately threw her rope toward Rapunzel, who caught it at the last possible moment.
“Oh my gosh!” Rapunzel shouted, looking up at Cassandra, who was grunting as she reeled the princess in. “That was... that was....!”
“Painful...” groaned Cassandra, collapsing after pulling Rapunzel up to the ledge with her. Rapunzel was breathing heavily as well, and she crawled over to Cassandra, before collapsing beside her with several loud breaths and a smile still etched on her face.
“I was thinking... more like... exhilarating...” Rapunzel replied, turning and looking over at Cassandra. “Thanks for pulling me up, by the way...”
Cassandra was sore all over, and her heart was racing after that harrowing rescue, which had been a closer call than she might've liked, but as she saw the excitement in Rapunzel's eyes, she couldn't help but form a smile of her own.
“I'd never let you fall...” Cassandra replied.
Rapunzel smiled, then squirmed closer to Cassandra before leaning in and kissing her deeply. Cassandra reached around and embraced Rapunzel, returning the kiss, which she intensified further as it went on. As she felt the princess' lips parting around hers, she thought about this adventure, and all the other adventures they'd had together over the last few months. She'd always imagined going on adventures alone, or leading the royal guard into dangerous places... she never imagined she'd be able to do any of this with the girl of her dreams at her side, the perfect companion, the perfect partner, the perfect love. Rapunzel was the sunshine to Cassandra's darkness, the brains to her brawn, but for all the ways Rapunzel was different, the two were so very much alike... both strong, both brave, both possessing a love of adventure deep within their hearts, a love that complimented the love they had for each other.
Cassandra didn't want to get up... Rapunzel's lips tasted sweeter than any dessert, and her eyes shined more beautifully than any jewel... but it was the princess who finally took the initiative to break off the kiss and stand up, and she even helped Cassandra up from the temple floor.
“C'mon, Cass! We've got an adventure to finish!”
The two passed through the tall, shimmering doors leading to the treasure room, and there, sitting on a beautiful golden pedestal, was the Carnelian Crystal. Though Cassandra cautiously walked out ahead, there was no need. There were no traps, no tricks, no more challenges to conquer. The Crystal was theirs for the taking, and Rapunzel took the liberty to pick it up.
“It's so beautiful...” she said, admiring the Crystal's shiny red glow.
“Careful, Raps,” Cassandra warned.
“Think it's cursed?” asked Rapunzel.
“No, but it might be breakable,” said Cassandra, looking at it carefully.
“Oh come on, I'm not that clumsy- oh!”
Rapunzel shrieked as she dropped the Crystal, but she had quick enough reflexes to catch it on the top of her foot, and with a motion not unlike that of one playing with a hacky sack, she scooped the Crystal up into the air and caught it in her hands, careful not to drop it a second time.
“See?”
“Good catch,” said Cassandra, breathing a quick sigh of relief. “Now let's get this back to Corona and put it in the vault so the Circle of Thieves can't steal it.”
As Cassandra and Rapunzel left the temple, walking quickly through all the rooms they'd journeyed through, their tricks and traps all disabled now that the Crystal had been claimed, the subject of their conversation drifted away from the Circle of Thieves to the difficulty they'd had in reaching the temple. They'd journeyed through a thick forest, and just getting to the forest had been a challenge, though more of an annoying one than anything dangerous like the temple's trials.
“I just hope we'll be able to get back to Corona tonight,” groaned Cassandra. “I can't believe there's only one boat that comes out here, and that captain has to be the laziest person I've ever met.”
“Cass, be nice...” Rapunzel said, though it was more of a tease than an admonition, considering that the captain wasn't actually around to have his feelings hurt. “He just likes to take long naps, he works so hard ferrying people back and forth I think he's earned it.”
“Four hours, Raps... we had to wait four hours to catch the boat, and he fell asleep right after dropping us off. If we get back to the docks and he's sleeping again, I swear by the sword-”
“Cassandra,” scolded Rapunzel, placing her hand on her girlfriend's shoulder. “It'll be okay.”
“I'm just glad we were able to beat Lady Caine here,” said Cassandra, as she and Rapunzel walked through a puzzle room that had been particularly challenging, and had involved two large rotating stone eggs with multiple segments. “It seems like after beating her and her goons past the first couple of rooms, they disappeared completely.”
“I hope the temple traps didn't get them,” said Rapunzel, as she and Cassandra entered the temple's atrium.
“You're too nice, Raps,” Cassandra replied, rolling her eyes. “...guess I'd feel kinda bad if they ended up getting smashed or impaled or something.”
“Maybe they quit,” said Rapunzel, looking across the atrium at the temple's entrance, a large red door ornately decorated with a painting of the Carnelian Crystal and a warning about the trials within. “All these tricky puzzles and tests of strength were too much for them!”
“Lady Caine doesn't seem like a quitter, but we are tougher and smarter than she is, so it doesn't surprise me that she gave up so quickly,” said Cassandra, allowing herself a confident smirk as she and Rapunzel opened the large doors leading out of the temple. “Bet she took one look at that stone guardian trial and ran home to get another tattoo.”
“Is that so?”
Rapunzel and Cassandra could see Lady Caine standing outside the temple, her hand on her hip, scowling at them. Rapunzel looked slightly startled, but Cassandra continued to smirk, and continued to walk toward her, ready with a taunt.
“I'm glad you stayed, you're just in time to see the Crystal,” said Cassandra, pointing to the stone in Rapunzel's hands.
“Yeah,” Rapunzel added, walking up and leaning on Cassandra as she held the Crystal out to give their rival a closer look. “You're no match for us, so why don't you go back home and steal yourself some dinner?”
“That... that actually was a pretty good taunt coming from you,” said Cassandra quickly.
“I've been practicing.”
“I can tell.”
“Actually, I stayed so I can steal the Crystal from you,” said Lady Caine, taking out her dagger.
Cassandra immediately responded by taking out her sword.
“And just what makes you think-” Cassandra began, before she could hear the sound of multiple crossbows being loaded behind her. Before she could even turn, Rapunzel was tapping her on the shoulder.
“Uh... Cass...?”
Cassandra didn't have to turn to realize that Lady Caine's fellow thieves, all of them armed with crossbows, were right behind her and Rapunzel, ready to fire at a second's notice. Cassandra just glared fiercely at Caine, who walked right up and placed her hand on Cassandra's sword, a smile growing on her face as she pushed it down.
“Thanks for bringing it out of the temple for me.”
O-O-O
A short time later, Rapunzel and Cassandra were back in the temple's atrium. This time, however, they weren't walking... they were dangling, suspended upside down from one of the beams across the ceiling by a long strand of Rapunzel's hair. That same strand had been wrapped around the princess and Cassandra, binding them back to back, winding around their legs and arms to trap the two of them in layer after layer of golden hair, their arms trapped at their sides and their legs pinned together. Their heads dangled about five feet off the ground, just high enough for Lady Caine to be able to face them at eye level... though of course, she looked upside down to the two captives in their current predicament.
“I should've known you'd pull a stunt like this,” grunted Cassandra, struggling as much as she could in Rapunzel's hair but barely able to budge, pinned to the princess as she was. “Let us solve all the puzzles and take the Crystal from us when we came out.”
“And yet, you let it happen,” Caine taunted them, pacing around the two trapped women. “That's the thing about temples like these, you don't have to outsmart the trials, just the poor suckers who managed to solve them.”
“You... you won't get away with this!” shouted Rapunzel, in an overly dramatic tone that made even Cassandra roll her eyes. “We'll get out and stop you!”
“Princess, by the time you manage to get out of this little predicament,” said Caine, before giving one of the strands of hair a harsh tug to make sure it was indeed tightly secured around both Rapunzel and Cassandra, “we'll be long, long gone. By the way, thank you for providing us with such excellent binding material. Saves us the trouble of having to buy more rope.”
Caine's subordinates began to laugh amongst themselves, enjoying the show as their captives continued to struggle. As tightly bound as they were, neither Rapunzel nor Cassandra could loosen any of the hair wrapped around them, nor could they hope to pull their arms or legs free, which were secured in several places each. They looked over their shoulders at each other, exchanging determined looks before continuing to try and free themselves, as the thieves' leader just gave another taunting laugh.
“I'm sure you'll find your way out eventually... you little birdies always do... but by then, we'll have sold the Carnelian Crystal and we'll be well on our way to getting what we so rightfully deserve... revenge on Corona for what your king did to my family.”
“Your dad's in prison because of his own actions, King Frederic was only upholding the laws of Corona,” said Cassandra, glaring fiercely at Caine. “And when we get out of this and catch you, you can share a cell with him.”
Lady Caine walked over to Cassandra, glaring viciously at her. Cassandra, not intimidated despite her helplessness, glared right back at Caine, even attempting to swing herself forward and headbutt her. Caine just smiled and placed her hands on Cassandra's cheeks, prompting the trapped knight to let out a loud growl and try to extricate her head from the lady thief's grip.
“You know, I could have ordered my associates to light both of you up with arrows and leave your bodies in the temple to rot like all the other unlucky treasure hunters who failed to get the Crystal... the only reason you're still alive is so you can both bear witness to my triumph over Corona. Still... I suppose only the princess needs to live... I could stab you in the heart and leave your corpse tied to your princess if that's really what you want. What do you say to that, Cassandra?”
Cassandra continued to glare at Lady Caine, not showing even a tiny bit of fear. Then, she spat in Caine's face, an equally fearless gesture and one that made Rapunzel gasp.
Cass, I know you're upset, but think of the situation we're in...! I don't want to lose you...
But instead of responding with anger, Caine just laughed... she almost sounded impressed with her captive's courage. She wiped the spit from her face with a rag, smiling as she did so... then she roughly shoved the rag into Cassandra's mouth, pushing it in with her fingers until every bit of it was past Cassandra's lips, relishing in her muffled swears and protests as she did so.
“You're lucky I'm in a good mood,” said Caine, before next tearing off a strip of beige-colored sticky paper and pressing it down over Cassandra's stuffed mouth. “Now I'm in an even better mood. Thank you for that.”
In one final taunting gesture, Caine then planted a quick kiss on Cassandra's sealed lips, prompting a loud squeal from Cassandra and an equally furious shriek from Rapunzel.
“How dare you!” Rapunzel cried fiercely, renewing her struggles as Cassandra continued to cry out through her gag. “I swear upon the Sundrop, when I get out of this, I'm going to take my frying pan and- ggggbbbllmmmphh!!!”
Rapunzel's mouth was now being stuffed with a wad of fabric as well, and rather than continue to protest, the princess was mostly squealing, while retching somewhat at the fabric's foul taste. Her mouth was then sealed up with tape like Cassandra's, and Caine then took a chance to taunt the princess as well, placing her hand on Rapunzel's cheek and looking into her eyes.
“You're really brave, little princess, I'll give you that... that's why I'm going to enjoy watching you break when Corona burns.”
Caine then leaned in, and though Rapunzel tried to twist her head away, she too was kissed on her taped lips, a slightly longer kiss than the one Caine had given to Cassandra. Rapunzel shrieked loudly, while Cassandra's eyes grew wide with white-hot rage, and she let her feelings be known even though every word she spoke was completely muffled.
I'm going to kill you! Cassandra shouted through her gag, though there was an extra swear added between the third and fourth words of that threat.
Lady Caine, undeterred, waved goodbye to the trapped princess and her knight, and then she and her band of thieves turned and left the temple with the Carnelian Crystal in hand, leaving the two dangling in the temple's atrium. Their muffled screams and angry protests echoed through the large room as the door closed, leaving them trapped, humiliated, and furious, struggling with everything they had despite their sore bodies, starting to swing back and forth as they twisted and contorted against their bonds.
Don't worry, Cass, I'll get us out of this!
Raps, I'm sorry I couldn't stop them, I'll find a way out!
The two continued to struggle, swinging several inches back and forth as they flexed their legs and tried to slide their arms free of the tightly wrapped strands. Rapunzel had been tied up in her own hair before, and she had been able to get out fairly easy the last time, but this was much more complicated... Lady Caine and her goons were skilled thieves who'd no doubt bound up many a prisoner, and unlike the villain who'd tied up Rapunzel before, they hadn't messed around, adding several layers of redundancy when securing the two.
It's my own hair, so I know how to slip out, but... wow, they are really good at this...!
Cassandra, meanwhile, also had plenty of experience with this kind of thing. Sometimes she'd been able to escape, other times she'd needed rescue... and of course, she too had been tied up in Rapunzel's hair before, the very first time the two had met back in Rapunzel's tower. She hadn't been able to slip out then, and she was no closer to slipping out now, having been bound up more tightly even than Rapunzel had done to her before. In addition, Cassandra was tied back to back with Rapunzel, adding a further obstacle to her plight, and being upside down just made things worse... she knew if she and Rapunzel stayed like this too long, the blood would begin to rush to their heads, causing all sorts of problems. Lady Caine said she hadn't intended for the two of them to die here in this temple, but the more Cassandra struggled, the more she realized that perhaps Caine didn't care what happened to them at all... live or die, it was a win-win for her, and bad news for the two of them.
We have to get out of this somehow... Raps, this isn't good, if we don't get out soon we're in serious trouble!
They continued to struggle for a short while longer, but the trials of the temple had taken their toll, and soon both Cassandra and Rapunzel needed to catch their breath... they'd have to continue struggling after they regained their strength. As the two of them hung there, air slowly passing through their noses, all they could do was think about their situation in enforced silence, unable even to communicate. With both of their mouths fully stuffed, pushing the tape off with their tongues would be impossible... and tied back to back as they were, they couldn't even glimpse at each other's eyes without coordinating their efforts to crane their heads over each other's shoulders.
Cassandra let out a long sigh, her mind racked with guilt. She should've recognized the potential for a trap... she'd been so caught up in having fun with Rapunzel that she hadn't even thought of the potential for an ambush point outside the temple, but now it seemed glaringly obvious, and she cursed herself for missing it.
I should've been so much more cautious, and now I'm trapped... and worse, Rapunzel's trapped. Gods, she must be terrified right now... I know we've been in scrapes like this before, but this time there's no one to come to our rescue, and we've never been THIS tightly tied up... not to mention what Lady Caine shoved into our mouths... this rag tastes awful, I can only imagine what it must be like for Rapunzel... Raps, I'm so sorry, I promise I'll get us out of this or die trying, please just be okay...
Cassandra craned her head, and muffled Rapunzel's name. It came out totally garbled, unrecognizable as anything but a quiet mumbling sound, but Rapunzel seemed to recognize it anyway, and perked up slightly. She looked back toward Cassandra.
“Hmmm?” Rapunzel said, her voice sounding rather light considering their situation. Cass, are you okay back there?
Cassandra continued trying to call to Rapunzel, and let out several groans of sympathy toward her... only to receive another light and upbeat response in return. Cassandra obviously couldn't tell what Rapunzel was saying, but the princess didn't sound scared or sad at all, and when Cassandra continued trying to get her attention, she got another positive response from the princess, who sounded as encouraging as she possibly could.
Cassandra, I'm okay... it's a weird feeling being trapped and upside down like this, but you know, I don't feel so bad at all... are you okay?
Cassandra could then feel the princess' shoulders shrugging against her, and when she was finally able to see the princess' expression out of the corner of her eye, she could almost see a smile through the tightly pressed tape.
She finally realized that Rapunzel's attitude remained positive, and she sighed with relief, only to immediately feel the princess' hand clasp around her own, fingers interlocking with hers. In a small mercy, their position allowed them to hold hands, and Cassandra squeezed one of Rapunzel's hands while scraping her fingers lightly across the palm of the other.
Raps, I'm so glad you're not upset... but why aren't you?
All Cassandra could do was shoot Rapunzel a quizzical expression, but the princess was smart and empathetic enough to understand what Cassandra was trying to ask her, and after a brief moment of thought, she gave her a warm, understanding look, and another squeeze of her hand.
You know, Cass, today's been fun. Even if we got our treasure stolen, even if we're tied up, gagged, hanging upside down inside an ancient temple with no one coming to save us and our enemies having stolen the treasure we came here to get, I'm on an adventure with the woman I love, and that's all I need right now. Yes, I'm scared. Yes, I'm upset. But you're with me, and despite everything, I feel completely safe... when you're here, I know everything going to be okay.
Rapunzel didn't bother trying to speak any of her thoughts... she hoped her eyes and the squeezing of her hand would send the message she was trying to relay to Cassandra, though she could still see the worry in her eyes and knew it hadn't all gotten through. She decided to speak to her, but only three words, hoping Cassandra would at least understand them.
I love you.
She squeezed Cassandra's hand tightly, and Cassandra's expression finally softened. She closed her eyes and let out a long sigh, allowing herself to be relieved that Rapunzel, at least for the moment, felt safe.
I love you too, Raps... but I still wish I could get us out of here.
Rapunzel and Cassandra were still tired, still sore, still too sore for the moment to struggle, and they remained still for a few minutes longer, occasionally stealing glances at each other behind their shoulders, trying their best to keep themselves comfortable and calm. Rapunzel decided to hum softly to Cassandra, trying to cheer her up as best she could, while Cassandra spoke back in growls and muffled snarking, occasionally lightly knocking the back of her head against Rapunzel's. Doing this, the two both managed to get a few laughs out of the other, and though Cassandra still realized that they'd need to get out of this position eventually before the blood began to rush dangerously to their heads, even she had to admit for the moment that there wasn't really a sense of urgency in their situation. Caine and her band of thieves were already long gone, tracking them down would be no easier if they escaped right this moment than if it took several hours.
Guess there's no rush... thought Cassandra, allowing herself a smile under the tape as she closed her eyes and squeezed Rapunzel's hand. Gods help me, this is almost relaxing.
When Cassandra opened her eyes again, however, she could see something scurrying along the floor... several thousand somethings, small but vicious, red with tiny but very sharp pincers. She recognized them immediately, and from the sound of Rapunzel's loud squeal, she could tell that the princess had seen them as well.
Carnelian ripper ants!
A dangerous species of ant that inhabited the area, Carnelian ripper ants were capable of powerful, painful bites, with even a single bite capable of causing tremendous pain and a small but agonizing wound. However, they truly earned their name from when thousands of them got together... forming large masses that were capable of literally stripping the flesh from the bones of any creature unfortunate enough to be caught up in one of their swarms in a matter of minutes... including an adult human being.
The ants hadn't been placed in the temple as a trap by the ancient builders, but had instead taken up residence inside the walls over hundreds of years, and they, not the elements, had been the ones to devour and skeletonize the unfortunate treasure hunters whose bones littered the temple. Now, they were pooling in the area around the two prisoners, who renewed their struggles, both of them thrashing and swinging as hard as they could, screaming out in fear as they watched the ants mass beneath them.
Cass, keep struggling, don't stop!
I'm trying, Raps, I need your help...!
Their eyes wide, the princess and knight continued to strain against the hair wrappings as much as they could, but soon came to a realization.
They couldn't get free, but the ants couldn't reach them. They tried, even leaping up off the ground, but they were small, able to leap only a fraction of an inch, while Rapunzel and Cassandra were several dozen inches off the ground. The swarming ants made for a frightening visual, but they were no threat to the two captives.
That's a relief... thought Rapunzel, allowing herself a sigh.
We should be safe, thought Cassandra, unless they can climb.
And as that thought entered Cassandra's head, the ripper ants began to swarm on top of one another, piling and climbing their way up rapidly to the two of them.
OH, COME ON!!! Cassandra screamed through her gag, a cry of muffled frustration loud enough to echo throughout the large room.
SOMEBODY HELP US!!! shrieked Rapunzel, eyes wide in terror as the ants started to rise up to them, inch by inch. We're doomed, we're doomed, we're doomed!!!
As the ants drew closer, the two clasped each other's hands tightly, looking over each other's shoulder and muffling words of reassurance, even as they continued to struggle against their bonds with all their might.
Raps, I'm sorry, I couldn't get us out of this!
Cass, I'm sorry I got us trapped!
Cassandra then closed her eyes tightly, waiting for the ants to come up to her head and for the biting to begin. Rapunzel looked back at her and shrieked in fear, then looked up at the beam they were suspended from, several feet above their legs. She looked down the strand of hair to her feet, and her mind raced again.
I could pull Gothel up by my hair, maybe I can pull us up too...!
Rapunzel gripped the strand of hair tightly with her feet, and gathering all of her strength, started to climb upward, pulling herself and Cassandra up as the strand began to bend with her motion. Using every muscle in both legs, Rapunzel kept pulling, grunting and straining with exertion, staying just inches ahead of the rapidly climbing ants. Cassandra, surprised to learn she hadn't yet been eaten, looked down to see the distance between her head and the floor rapidly increasing. She then looked up to see Rapunzel somehow pulling both of them up the strand of hair with just her legs, which, considering the position the two of them were tied in, could barely even bend.
How is she doing that... that's not possible!
Cassandra, shocked as she was, didn't question it... after all, Rapunzel had just saved both of their lives. Soon, she had pulled them up enough for her feet to be able to grip the wooden beam they were both suspended from, and as she got a tight grip on it, she then gestured to Cassandra.
Help me swing us up!
Only able to communicate her instruction via a couple of loud grunts, Rapunzel still got her message through, and Cassandra nodded in affirmation. The ants below were still climbing toward them, but Rapunzel was undeterred despite her fear, and as she and Cassandra moved together, they managed to swing themselves around and upward, landing on the narrow beam laying back to back with one another. They looked down and watched as the ant tower stopped about a foot below the beam before there were no longer enough ants to sustain it, and they signaled their surrender to gravity by falling in a large pile to the floor before scurrying back into the holes in the wall from whence they'd come. The princess and her knight then looked at one another, and after a moment of silence, both of them began to laugh.
They laughed for nearly half a minute, their muffled snorting and shrieking causing them to laugh even louder at the absurdity of what they'd just been through. They weren't out of the woods yet... they were still tied up on top of an unstable wooden beam nearly twenty feet off the ground, after all, but for the moment, they were safe, miraculously safe, and together, and all they could do was laugh and lay still on that beam together, not caring about how or when they'd escape.
Then, they looked over their shoulders at each other and nuzzled their cheeks as best they could.
They were still tied together, but they felt completely free.
And after a few minutes of slowly squirming across the beam, Cassandra found a long piece of wood that had splintered off from it, and used it to slowly loosen the strands of hair from around their midsections, and then, after several more minutes of squirming, both of them were actually free.
They sat next to each other on the beam, finally reaching up to remove the tape from their mouths and pull out the stuffing. Cassandra groaned and coughed as she removed a thick white rag from her mouth, looking down at it and marveling at just how Lady Caine had managed to stuff that whole thing in there without her choking on it.
“Ewwww,” Rapunzel groaned. Cassandra looked over to see the princess holding a pair of balled up black stockings in her hand. “I think Lady Caine shoved her socks in my mouth!”
“Were they clean?”
“I don't think they were!”
As if I needed another reason to beat that thief bloody, thought Cassandra, shooting her girlfriend a look of sympathy. “...need something to get that taste out of your mouth, Raps?”
Rapunzel just smiled, before leaning in toward Cassandra. Cassandra leaned back in and closed her eyes... and could soon hear the sound of cracking wood beneath her.
Oh, come on! thought Cassandra as she started to fall. She then felt the princess' arm around her, and looked up to see a strand of hair looped around the remaining segment of the beam, as the two of them swung across the room together. They made a safe landing right in front of the door... and thousands of ripper ants immediately came out of their holes for another chance at supper. “We gotta go!”
Rapunzel and Cassandra rushed out of the temple together with the ants in hot pursuit, fleeing toward the small clearing where they'd left Maximus and Fidella. Thankfully, Caine and her thieves hadn't noticed the two horses, and indeed, they'd fallen asleep together.
“Maximus!” shouted Rapunzel, stirring the horse awake. “Let's get out of here, buddy!”
“Fidella, we have to move!” Cassandra barked, hopping onto her still-groggy horse as thousands of ripper ants gave chase. “Now!”
The two horses let out a loud whinny before dashing off in the opposite direction from the ants, quickly outpacing them as they ran through the forests surrounding the temple. Finally, Rapunzel and Cassandra had a chance to catch their breath, and as they looked at one another, they started laughing again. Even in defeat, Cassandra was having fun... she only needed to see the look of joy in Rapunzel's eyes to forget about the humiliation they'd suffered back at the temple.
And besides... they weren't beaten yet.
“We're still going after them, right, Raps?”
“Oh, you know we are! Faster, Maximus... they've got a head start on us but something tells me they've been held up, and I know just where to find them!”
Rapunzel looked at Cassandra, who gave a nod of her head... and hoped that Lady Caine and her goons were having the same rough luck leaving the area that the princess and her knight had had in arriving.
O-O-O
“I don't care if you're dying, get your lazy ass off the ground and take me and my crew home!”
Lady Caine had been having a good day, but it had gotten quite a bit worse since arriving back at the docks. The captain whose boat represented the fastest way back to Corona had decided to take another long nap, and had kept Lady Caine and her crew waiting so long that three of them had decided to have a drink at the local tavern, while the other two were getting increasingly nervous as their leader's temper threatened to boil over.
“Maybe we can just get a room at the tavern and stay here overnight?” said one of them, scratching the back of his head.
“We don't have time! We've already waited here an hour, I'm not waiting another minute to get out of this stupid down and get this Crystal back to our hideout!”
“Hold your horses, lady, I just need a few more minutes,” groaned the captain, too tired to care that the woman standing over him was one of Corona's most dangerous criminals. “Can't captain a boat when I'm tired.”
Lady Caine clenched her fists, and was ready to steal the captain's boat and take it down the river herself, though she was more used to sailing on the ocean, and didn't have nearly as much practice navigating the tricky rivers and streams between this backwater town and Corona. If she stole the boat, she'd risk ending up miles from her hideout with no way to tell where she was... but the longer it took the captain to wake up, the more she was willing to chance it.
“C'mon, we left those two back at the temple and there's no way they're getting out of that mess we left 'em in, not for at least a day,” said Caine's other subordinate, trying to reassure her boss, if only to keep her from taking her frustrations out on her and the other members of the crew.
“I've seen them escape from more than that,” Caine replied, looking over her shoulder for any sign that the two of them had somehow escaped already. “The sooner we get out of here, the better, so wake up and take us home right now!”
The captain had fallen back asleep, and was no longer responding to Caine's threats. She let out a scream of frustration and started to kick the captain in the side, only for a long strand of hair to loop around her ankle and pull her to the ground. She let out a shriek and looked up to see Rapunzel and Cassandra running toward her.
“How?!” Caine stammered, managing to slip out of the hair around her leg and stumble to her feet.
“You said it yourself, we've escaped from way more than that,” said Rapunzel, pulling out her frying pan and swinging it at Caine, who barely managed to slide out of the way. Nearby, Cassandra was easily holding off the other two thieves, dodging and blocking their strikes even as fatigued as she was. “Now give back the Carnelian Crystal!”
“Not a chance in hell,” said Caine, taking a fighting stance and pulling out her dagger. “Maybe I should've finished you off back there.”
As the princess and the master thief traded strikes, with Rapunzel using her frying pan to parry Caine's dagger, Rapunzel was smirking, clearly having the time of her life.
“Nah... I think you'd miss us too much,” Rapunzel replied, swinging the frying pan at Caine's head, who barely managed to duck under it. Caine didn't dignify Rapunzel's statement with a reply, but the princess could see a spark in the thief's eye, and was able to tell that there was at least a tiny bit of truth to her statement.
“Face it, Caine, you're done,” said Cassandra, just before grabbing the heads of Caine's subordinates and slamming them together to knock them both out. “And don't even think about calling for your reinforcements... we paid a visit to the tavern before coming down here, left 'em tied up in their room for the guards to find.”
“Clever,” said Caine, continuing to clash weapons with Rapunzel.
“They gave up a lot of info too, at least before we got sick of hearing them whine and decided to gag them,” said Cassandra, running over to aid Rapunzel in her fight. “Told us where you'd be, told us what your plans were for the Crystal...”
“Told us you need to wash your socks,” added Rapunzel, before taking a hard swing with her frying pan at Caine's face. “At least that's what I think she said, I couldn't really tell... because of, you know, the socks. That were in her mouth. When she told me.”
“That's enough, Raps,” said Cassandra, rolling her eyes.
“Yes, I think that's quite enough!”
Rapunzel had overextended with her frying pan, and Caine took advantage, surging forward with her dagger and aiming it at Rapunzel's midsection. She wasn't aiming to inflict a fatal wound, but it would be serious nonetheless, and the princess had left herself completely exposed.
Unfortunately for Lady Caine, so did she, and Cassandra made her pay with a brutal punch to the side of the face that knocked her safely away from Rapunzel and nearly knocked her flat on her back. When she stumbled back to a stable position, a small trickle of blood was coming down the side of her lip.
“That's for kissing Rapunzel, and if you ever pull a stunt like that again, I'll kill you,” said Cassandra, looking into Caine's eyes with complete sincerity, assuring her that the threat was serious.
Rapunzel then stepped forward, her eyes narrowed fiercely.
“And if you ever violate Cassandra like that again, you'll wish you were dead,” Rapunzel said, her expression equally serious.
“Now come quietly, you can't take us both,” said Cassandra, taking her place at Rapunzel's side and backing Caine up to the river.
Lady Caine looked back and forth, considering her options... she could swipe the boat, she'd get lost but she didn't have a choice at this point... but she doubted she could get to it before the two caught up to her.
She reached into her bag, her fingers clutched around the one bargaining chip she had left... though she doubted either the princess or her companion cared more about bringing the Crystal back to Corona than they did about bringing her back.
So instead, she'd force them to choose. She took out the Crystal and threw it into the river before either of her pursuers could stop her.
“If you take me, who knows where that thing will wash up,” said Caine with a smirk, backing toward the boat. “Or if.”
Rapunzel and Cassandra looked at each other. Both of them cared more about Caine than the Crystal, but the thief had a point... if they let it wash down the river, it could still end up in the wrong hands... who knew if Caine had anyone else waiting downriver.
“I'll get the Crystal!” shouted Rapunzel, running toward the banks near where Caine had thrown it. At the exact same time, Caine went for the boat, and Cassandra chased after her, watching out of the corner of her eye as Rapunzel grabbed onto a nearby wooden pole with one hand and threw a hair lasso out into the river with the other. “Cass, go after Caine, I'll be all right!”
As Caine unmoored the boat, Cassandra could see Rapunzel start to lose her balance. She trusted that the princess would be safe, but if there was even the slightest chance she could fall...
I trust you, Raps... thought Cassandra, before leaping out onto the boat with Caine, landing across from her on the deck and pointing her sword at the thief. “Lady Caine, you're under-”
With a swift motion, Caine picked up an oar and swung it into Cassandra's face as hard as she could, and Cassandra, distracted only for a split second by Rapunzel's plight, was unable to dodge it. The oar struck her and knocked her off the boat, and Cassandra fell into the river and was washed away from the boat and toward Rapunzel, who had safely secured the Carnelian Crystal but who now had Cassandra to save next.
“Raps!” Cassandra shouted as she was washed toward Rapunzel.
“Cass!”
Without hesitation, Rapunzel looped her hair around Cassandra and pulled her back toward the shore. Cassandra was safe, but Lady Caine had escaped, already nearly out of sight by the time the two were safely back on the shore together. Cassandra groaned, rubbing her bruised cheek where the oar had struck. She was soon wrapped up in a tight hug by Rapunzel, letting out a sigh and bemoaning her failure.
“Lady Caine got away,” muttered Cassandra, a disappointed look in her eyes. Rapunzel just tightened her arms around her, nuzzling their cheeks together as she did so.
“True, but we'll get her next time,” Rapunzel replied. She continued to nuzzle Cassandra's cheek, which had the effect of making her pain subside somewhat. “Besides, we caught all of her flunkies...”
“Mmm... they're just small-timers,” Cassandra said, looking over at the two unconscious thieves on the ground, and thinking back to the three still tied up at the tavern. “None of them in the actual Circle... they don't even know the place where the Circle actually meets, just the place they were gonna lay low until they sold the Crystal.”
Cassandra could hear Rapunzel sigh, and realized that the princess was just trying to cheer her up. She parted from the hug and looked into Rapunzel's eyes, and gave her a grateful smile.
“But... I still had fun today,” said Cassandra.
“Even when we were tied up in my hair and dangling from the ceiling?”
“...especially when we were tied up in your hair and dangling from the ceiling.”
“Yay!” squealed Rapunzel, hugging Cassandra much more tightly this time. Cassandra returned the hug, continuing to hold Rapunzel in her arms as the two looked deeply into each other's eyes. “Because we were together?”
“Because you were happy,” said Cassandra.
For all the trials the two had faced, the spark of sunshine had never left Rapunzel's eyes, and that spark was all Cassandra needed to find joy in her presence. Though Rapunzel could at times be frustratingly silly, obliviously naïve, and hopelessly optimistic, she always managed to break through the pall of darkness that occasionally found its way inside Cassandra's mind, a ray of sunlight breaking through the clouds and illuminating the moon. She would always find joy in protecting Rapunzel and being her savior, and she also knew that Rapunzel would always have her back and come to her rescue whenever she needed it. No matter how dire a predicament the two found themselves in, Cassandra would always feel safe with Rapunzel... and felt her destiny fulfilled whenever she kept Rapunzel safe.
And as Cassandra leaned forward to finish the kiss the two of them had started on that beam, she knew she would never tire of her adventures with Rapunzel.
“Hey!” shouted the captain from his prone position on the ground, as the sounds of Rapunzel and Cassandra's makeout session stirred him from his slumber. “I'm trying to sleep here!”
Without a word, Cassandra stood up, Rapunzel's legs wrapped around her, and began to walk down the street with Rapunzel still in her arms, the two of them still kissing passionately.
Oh, Cassandra... thought Rapunzel, closing her eyes as she felt Cassandra's warm lips and even warmer embrace. Loving you is the greatest adventure of all.