What comes next?

Questions with No Answers

It was the middle of the night when Varian felt a person kick him in the gut to urge the boy to wake up. His eyes opened to look up at the curly haired woman. "Get up you worthless twit." She growled, pulling on a chain he just noticed was in her hands. It was then when he found his hands were chained together as he was forced up onto his feet.

"Where- Where are we going?" He followed her guidance willingly, not wanting to put up a fight. Not yet. She still had his bag, or at least he thought she did. It wasn't on her shoulder. Crap. He looked back to find it sitting in a corner before he was pulled out the door. "You're leaving my bag behind?!"

She stared at him with a nasty grin, pulling a torch off the outside of the cottage. "Of course. You won't need it anymore where we're going." The torch she held was placed against the cottage and the fire spread onto what was left of the building. Varian watched as the fire spread until he felt the tug of those dreaded chains on his wrists and was forced to follow Gothel to who knows where.

The two walked for what felt like days to Varian. They stayed within the shelter of the forest where she would attach his chains to tree branches or other means to ensure he would not escape. His legs hurt from the consistent traveling. "Hi- uh. It's been a while now and I was hoping that maaybe you could finally tell me where we are going." Varian would attempt to ask, hoping for an answer.

Gothal turned to him for a moment, her dark eyes focusing on his bright blue ones before she scoffed and kept moving. "We're almost there. Then we can begin my attempts and unlocking what I need. Then.. the sun drop will be mine again."

"But even if. What you say about it being able to be restored is true. I doubt that it will be that easy. There has to be some kind of plan and I'm sure.. That you have one but. I do have to say that it's probably very dangerous and should be avoided-" Before he could say anything else, he quickly found himself facing the sharp end of her knife yet again.

"I would say it would be very wise of you to silence yourself." She gave one sharp tug before she continued on with walking.

Finally, after hours more of moving, they reached their destination. "A.. cave. So wait. We're going to hide. In a cave...?" Varian questioned, looking around. The forest seemed dense. Waterfall making a lot of noise and a cave that could quite possibly have dangerous animals in it. "Guess you thought.. Of everything that could hide us, huh?"

"Oh, you think we're staying in the cave?" She let out an amused laugh. "Oh, that's rich. No, my boy. We're staying..behind the waterfall. Come on, we shouldn't be dawdling out here." She pulled him along behind the waterfall and revealed a door hidden behind it. "No one will find us here. I meant to bring Rapunzel here ages ago after her little adventure. But, it seems I'll be hosting other company here instead."

She pulled Varian inside as hard as she could to cause him to fall onto his feet. Once he was in, she walked over and grabbed hold of his shirt to drag the boy across the hardwood floor. From what he could see, the inside looked like a normal looking house. Well, if you took away the fact it had no other windows. And they were inside of a dense forest and lived next to a cave that had the unknown living in it.

"This all has to be some kind of mistake, miss. Please-" He pleaded with her, trying to struggle until she threw him into a cell he had never seen since they walked into the house. Inside of it was not made of wood but of rock. It was made out of the walls of the cave.

She approached him and would remove the chains on his wrists, but not before placing new ones on to ensure he couldn't move from the middle of the cell. "I can't have you leaving yet. You're going to play a big part in this. Now. To try and draw Rapunzel here."

Varian pulled on the chains uselessly as his cell door shut. Tears building in his eyes as he watched her. Though, the only thing to distract him from his emotions was a simple knock on the door.

"Now. What could that be?" Gothel sneered. No one could have found them yet. Who could have possibly located them? She reached to grab her dagger and slowly approached the door before the sound of a foot kicking it could be heard, causing Gothal to back away slightly.

"Don't think you're going to luck out of this. It seems our guest will want to have some fun. I might as well oblige them." A nasty smirk spread across her lips. "I have a few.. Tricks up my sleeves.

The door finally flew open and in the blink of an eye, a slender figure went racing in, sword poised and ready to strike as she aimed for the lady.

No words were spoken between them. Gothel just dodged every single blow except for one that hit her on the cheek. Her eyes narrowed to get a good look at the stranger's face before she made her next move. A pink orb was pulled from her sleeve and thrown at the intruder that dared attack her.

The first failed as the assailant continued slashing at the woman. "Now now. Is this really how you wish to greet me?" Gothel egged her on before pulling another one from her sleeve. Another dodge attempt was successful as she finally saw another opening.

Watching the stranger's footwork, she found the perfect opportunity and threw the next pink orb. In a flash of smoke, the girl was stuck, frustrated, and glaring at Gothel. "Let me go!"
"Now, is that any way to speak to your mother, Cassandra?" Gothel would step forward with her knife while Cass was distracted and knocked the sword out of her hand with it. "Now. You've been nothing but a useless disappointment. I've heard enough since my return about you. You had the power of the moonstone and you wasted it. What do you have to say before I decide your fate. I can't have you running to your friends to tell them what I've been doing here."

Cass was almost speechless at the sight of Gothel. She'd all but almost forgotten what she looked like, even though she'd seen her in images in the more recent past. "This. This can't be right. You can't be my-"

"Oh. But I can be. Well. I think I know what to do. It's a shame I couldn't catch up with you more."

Those words made Varian's heart race as he pulled on his chains. "CASS!! CASS YOU NEED TO GET OUT!!" He screamed, tears running down his face.

The raven-haired girl looked over to Varian and frowned. "I'm sorry. I tried Varian. I-"

"ENOUGH! This is no time for sentimentals. It's time to die, dear daughter." Gothel gripped Cassandra's hair and raised her blade to stab her. Before the knife got close enough Cassandra did use her hand to grip Gothels own to keep herself safe, but she didn't know for how long.

Varian kept pulling, tears in his eyes. He knew Cassandra couldn't fight back against her forever. He blamed himself. If he had only asked for help to get his bag. Not think that the only dangers were from those that didn't trust him.

"Stop... stop.." His body tensed up as he spoke, wanting them to listen to him. A light glow began to come from the single blue strand in his hair. "STOP!!" His voice rang throughout the building, and the force of what felt like wind would knock Gothel away from Cassandra. Not only that, but mess up the inside of the building as well.

Of course, this didn't free either of them, as it was nothing big or significant. However, it was enough to distract Gothel.

She got back onto her feet and approached the cell, the action causing a physically and mentally exhausted Varian to back away from her as best he could. "Well. It seems my suspicions are correct." She was satisfied to know this.

"The girl can live for now. Perhaps I can use her as bait to draw Rapunzel out. But, she needs to promise to behave. Don't get any ideas. You think even once of escaping and I'll ensure that boy doesn't leave here alive."

Cassandra nodded quickly, her eyes opened wide still from the entire thing. Gothel chose then to leave knowing they were both secured for the night. Deciding she needed to rest and think about her next move.