The Moon Calls

44

"Lombard's Pass." Rapunzel said, looking through her spyglass. "Looks like it'll be rough. Especially with those swaying towers of rock...Varian, do you think you could...make the trip easier?" She looked at him.

He looked at it thoughtfully. "Oh, definitely. Just build a bridge between here and there, skip the whole thing." He nodded, pointing to the cliff that was at the end of the pass.

"Right." Rapunzel nodded. "Sounds like a plan, then."

He walked over and took off his gloves, handing them to Hugo, before he knelt down and placed his hands on the ground and focused, his hair and eyes glowing brightly as black rocks started to come out of the ground and form together.

"Gotta say, those rocks may be terrifying when the Moonstone uses them, and sometimes when he uses them, but they sure do come in handy." Eugene said as he leaned against the caravan.

Varian got up and started to walk along the black-rock bridge, building it slowly as he crossed it and creating walls on each side. "Seriously, though, can you imagine actually trying to cross this madness?" Hugo looked over at the actual trail. "There's no way the caravan would make it through safely, we'd have to go on foot for the rest of the trip!"

"Eh, take it fast enough, it's possible." Eugene shrugged.

"Slow might be better." Donella remarked.

"Well, luckily, we don't have to try it." Rapunzel smiled.

"While we wait, let's work on lunch! I bet he'll be hungry when he gets done!" Lance said cheerfully, going to the food box.

"Let's start a fire, then." Eugene said, nudging Hugo, and he nodded and then went to get firewood they'd bought while in the last town.

"We're getting closer and closer to that Great Tree that Adira told us about." Cassandra said, walking over to Rapunzel with the map. "No sign of her, though."

"She'll show up." Rapunzel smiled. "For all we know, she's already there waiting for us. We did waste a lot of time on the island."

"Oh, I wouldn't say we wasted time." Donella said with a sly smile. "We had fun, didn't we, Pascal?"

"I think Varian had the most fun." Cassandra smirked. "He really got into the role of the 'dark king'."

"And Varian and Hugo started dating~!" Rapunzel squealed. "So adorable!"

"Heh, yeah." Cassandra sighed. "...I never could've known that Hugo had such a dark past, though. He seems so...happy."

"I do my best to help him move past it." Donella nodded, clutching at her necklace under her shirt. "We all have our dark, mysterious pasts, though."

"Hah, yeah." Cassandra nodded. "Well, maybe not all of us."

"Mmm, let me think." Donella tapped herfinger on her cheek. "A lifelong kidnapping victim and slave, a kidnapping victim that has the worst luck with mother-figures—"

"Heeey, my birth mother was a great mother-figure." Rapunzel smirked.

"True, true. Arianna is a rose among dandelions in the 'mother-figure' department." Donella smirked. "Two ex-criminals, one of which spent...how long in prison?"

"Uh..." Rapunzel looked thoughtful.

"...Eight years, he said." Eugene said quietly.

"And then there's your lady-in-waiting with her own baggage, I'm sure." Donella chuckled.

"A little." Cassandra nodded.

"And then there's Hugo and myself." Donella finished,

"We're a tagtag motley crew." Hugo nodded as he walked over and set the firewood up.