Cassandra's Betrayal Rewritten

Holding On

Cassandra slumped onto a large root of the tree, not ready to face Rapunzel. She knew she had done something wrong, but felt like she couldn't speak about her feelings as it was her job to help the princess. It was always about the princess,  never her.

All of a sudden, two wolverines came crawling onto the tree root behind Cassandra. And then, Hector appeared. He grabbed Cassandra.

"You guys couldn't take a hint, now I gotta finish you." He reached for his sword, ready to strike her, when all of a sudden...

"Let her go Hector!" Adira had overheard some commotion and left the group to find out what it was.

Hector threw Cassandra to the ground, knocking her unconscious, and drew his sword.

"And just so we won't be interrupted." He slashed the same tree root Cassandra had been waiting at, trapping the rest of the group and preventing them from helping Adira. His wolverines climbed this new wall to ensure this.

Adira and Hector fought, both equally skilled with neither one prevailing in the battle, but eventually he overpowered her, sending her crashing into another tree root. He climbed the barrier between him and Rapunzel's group, ready to finish them off.

"And now - for the so-called Sundrop." He approached Rapunzel. Eugene held onto her, wanting to protect her from whatever Hector was scheming.

"Leave her alone!" Cassandra rose from the ground, sword at the ready. She lunged for Hector, only to be pushed away. Again, she went for him, but he dodged the attack. One last time, she went in with her sword, but he punched her onto the floor, inches away from a ledge, with her sword falling out of her grasp. Hector walked around her as she reached for it, taunting her as she struggled.

"So tell me, Lady-in-Waiting? What are you waiting for?" He sneered just as he smashed his foot onto her hand.

Cassandra cried in pain, but knowing she had to save Rapunzel from whatever he was planning, she persevered. Using her other arm , she grabbed Hector's leg to hoist herself up, then shoved him with all her remaining strength over the ledge. Just as he began to fall, he latched his hand onto her ankle, attempting to bring her with him.

"Let go of me!"

"If I fall, you fall with me!"

Cassandra grabbed onto the ledge, using as much force as she could to try to shake Hector off. But it was no use, he only held on tighter. Her fingers began slipping and she realized she might not make it out this time.

"CASS!!!" Rapunzel was unravelling her hair as she ran towards her friend, determined to not lose her forever. She flung it over to Cassandra, just as her final finger fell off the ledge.

Closing her eyes as she fell, she thought about everything she would miss. She would never be able to apologize to Rapunzel, never see her dad again, and would never stop waiting. It was the end of her journey. But she wasn't ready to say goodbye. Suddenly, the falling stopped.

Had she hit the floor and died? It didn't feel like she had, but maybe you're not supposed to feel it when you die. She opened her eyes to see golden hair wrapped around her. Rapunzel's golden hair.

"Raps! You saved me?!"

Rapunzel lifted her up, wrapping her arms around the girl who she hoped would still want to be friends.

"You saved me even after I acted like a total idiot?" She was crying.

"Of course I would Cass. I'd never let a friend die." She hesitated for a moment. "And I'm sorry I didn't listen to you more."

The pair sat and hugged for a while, neither wanting to let go. Rapunzel had come so close to losing her best friend, that she felt she could never let go of her again.

"Thank you. Now let's get out of here before anything else happens." Cassandra got up and picked up her sword. She began walking away, and the group followed, all forgetting to check if Hector had survived.

While the duo had been hugging, Hector had landed at the bottom of the tree. Somehow, he was still alive, but badly injured. As he moved his head to familiarize himself with the setting, he noticed a green glow coming from nearby. He dragged his body, following the light, and arrived at what legends called the Heart of Zhan Tiri. Emerging from the heart was a magical spear. He pulled it out of the heart, not realizing its vines were coming to life.

They reached for Hector, but he cut them with his new weapon. He thought he was in control, but soon enough, a vine wrapped around his arm, then another on his leg, and more wrapped around until he was trapped. The vines were now controlling him, turning his eyes into glowing white orbs. The plant grew and began rapidly rising back to the surface, preparing to attack the unknowing group.

"Uh, guys do you hear that?" Eugene looked back to the ledge as the ground rumbled.

Cassandra and Rapunzel rushed back to the edge, and saw a a dim green glow rapidly growing brighter.

"I don't think we're done the battle yet. Raps, get your hair ready."