Romance Fan Fiction / Other Fan Fiction ❯ Stars Above - A Cassunzel Fanfic ❯ Chapter: Poisoned ( Chapter 7 )

It had been nearly three weeks since they left Corona. And, as always, they found themselves in a predicament. “I told you we shouldn’t have taken that shortcut, Cass.” Rapunzel looked at her best friend with her arms crossed as she leaned against a rock.

Cassandra turned to her with a glare. “Who’s the export explorer here?”

“Alright, Miss. ‘Export Explorer’, who’s the one who got us stuck in a deep endless cave with no way out?”

Cassandra rolled her eyes. “There has to be a way out. We just got to,” Cassandra looked around; hoping she could spot a way out. No luck. The seemingly endless cave was 200 feet tall and the walls were much too thick to cut or punch out of. “....find it.”

“Mhm.” Rapunzel responded as she pushed herself off of the rock to stand next to her frustrated best friend. She placed a hand on her shoulder and smiled. “Looks like we have a lot of walking to do then, hm?”

Cassandra pouted as she crossed her arms. “Fine.” Rapunzel giggled as she started walking forward, Cassandra following close behind.

Cassandra walked faster so she could be next to Rapunzel. “Still not admitting you were right, though.” Cassandra stated.

“Never asked you too.” Rapunzel looked up at her and gave her a sly smile. Cassandra rolled her eyes but gently elbowed the younger girl in the side with a smile, causing her to giggle. Both women could agree that they missed their playful banter.

They had been walking for a good hour. Or was it 20 minutes? It was unknown. But they weren’t any closer to getting out. Rapunzel and Cassandra eventually walked into a clearing. Instead of narrow walls, the place was huge. It was so spaced out, the walls could not even be seen. Both the walls on the roof. Spotting the opening to the other side into another set of narrow walls, both of them started walking towards it. The faster they left this portion of the cave, the better. Cassandra didn’t like the fact that she couldn’t see, meaning her guard was down, and that anything could sneak up on them.

Cassandra suddenly stopped and placed a protective arm in front of Rapunzel. “Cass, what is it?” Rapunzel asked worriedly. Cass didn’t respond. She couldn’t explain but she felt as if something was off. The room suddenly got very cold and it was too quiet for her liking. She gazed at the dark room with her forest-green eyes, a determined look on her face. That’s when she felt it.

“Raps, get down!” She yelled, pulling the younger girl to the floor with her as she laid a protective arm over her. As soon as Cassandra took them both to the ground, 4 daggers came flying through the air, right where they were just standing 2 seconds prior, and planted themselves into the wall behind them.

“Phew,” Rapunzel let out a breath as Cassandra pulled them both to their feet. “That was close.”

“I don’t think the surprises are ending yet.” Cassandra stated as she slowly backed up, arm in front of Rapunzel. Cassandra noticed the subtle movement in the darkness. “I know you’re there,” Cassandra shouted. “Show yourself!”

Dark laughter suddenly rang out. “You’re not as stupid as you look.”

“Hey, what is that supposed to- woah.” Cassandra said, eyes wide as the mysterious voice showed himself. He was huge. Not as big as Zhan Tiri in her demon form, but big. He was dark blue with horns sprouting on top of his head. He was a demon.

“Oh great,” She heard Rapunzel say from behind her with an exasperated sounding voice. “Can we just have an actual vacation without some demon-lord showing up?” Cassandra would have laughed at how annoyed she sounded if the situation weren’t so dire.

“Who are you?” Cassandra asked.

“Me?” The demon asked.

“No, I’m talking to myself.” Cassandra responded sarcastically. “Yes, you!”

“I am the great ruler Sasuke!” The demon struck a pose while smirking. They could already tell that this guy’s ego was huge. Cassandra took note of that.

“Who?” Both women said at the same time.

The demon snapped his head back at them and narrowed his eyes. “I was Zhan Tiri’s second in command because my strength was unending.”

“Ooooh, that makes sense!” Rapunzel said while nodding her head. Pascal, on her shoulder, nodded as well.

“Yeah, next time start off with that.” Cassandra deadpanned.

“You’re not scared?” The demon asked.

Rapunzel shook her head and Cassandra answered. “Should we be? We’ve dealt with worse.”

“Oh, I promise you my dear, you haven’t dealt with anyone like me.” He smirked.

“I seriously doubt that.” Rapunzel responded and Cassandra nodded.

“Enough!” Sasuke raged, his patience had run out. “Enough chit-chat, let’s get this over with.” He flexed his claws.

“Get over with what, exactly?” Cassandra asked as she started backing up slowly, arm still protectively in front of Rapunzel. She was starting to grow nervous.

“Get over with killing the murderer’s of Zhan Tiri!” The monster charged suddenly and Cassandra and Rapunzel jumped out of the way just at the right second.

“Go!” Cassandra yelled. “Get to the other side, he’s too big to fit!”

Rapunzel responded. “Right!” Then the two of them took off running towards the only plan they had for not dying.

“Oh, no you don’t!” The monster snarled and tried to grab them. Luckily, both women had fast reflexes. They were nearly at the opening. Running with all they had, they slid under the monster’s gigantic claw and finally made it to the other side. Cassandra, having made sure Rapunzel got there first, didn’t leave unscathed. The monster, as a last resort of grabbing them, grazed deeply into Cassandra’s side.

Cassandra let out a pained gasp as she growled and clutched her side. Rapunzel turned back to her in worry. “Cass?”

Cassandra clenched her jaw and stood up. “I’m fine. Just go!” She grabbed the younger girl's hand and started racing to god knows where. They suddenly halted to a stop as a wall stood in their way. Cassandra turned around to run back in the other direction, but she could see the shadow of the demon coming closer.

“We’re trapped!” Rapunzel frantically tried to look for a way out. Cassandra bit her lip in concentration then her face lit up in realization. Rapunzel knew that look. Cass had an idea.

Cassandra suddenly snapped her head towards Rapunzel. “I have an idea. But whatever happens, I need you to trust me, okay?”

“With my life.” Rapunzel whispered. Cassandra gave her a quick smile before turning her attention back to the approaching demon.

“Thought you could get away?” The demon laughed and raised his gigantic fist. “Say your prayers!” Rapunzel backed up slightly.

Both the demon and Rapunzel were interrupted by slow clapping. They both turned their heads to the source. Cassandra, clapped slowly, with an evil smirk on her face. “Bravo, you’ve got us cornered. But you know what I find funny?”

The demon turned to her with his eyes narrowed as Cassandra walked forward a bit. “What?”

“That you think you’re Zhan Tiri’s greatest and strongest pupil.”

The demon suddenly stopped, his eyes filled with rage. “What the hell do you mean? Of course I was-”

“Were you though?” Cassandra crossed her arms, the cocky smirk never leaving her face. “I did what all of you ‘followers’ failed to do.” She pointed behind her to the confused princess. “I successively destroyed Corona and trapped the princess. I had both the moondrop and sundrop in my possession. I did all of those things with just a flick of my wrist.”

“Ha! A puny mortal like yourself? Don’t make me laugh. If you were so ‘powerful’, why isn’t the princess dead?”

“Oh, I like to play with my prey before I end it.” Cassandra responded. Rapunzel gave her a confused look, a little hurt there too. Remembering what Cassandra asked of her earlier, she reminded herself this was all fake. Or at least, she hoped.

“Hm, maybe you really are evil. But still - no one is more powerful than me!” Once more, the demon struck a pose.

“If you were so powerful, why are you stuck in this cave?”

The demon snapped his head back to her. “I could leave if I wanted too!”

“Then prove it.”

“Fine!” The demon snarled and turned his head to one of the walls. He suddenly stopped and narrowed his eyes, turning back towards Cassandra. “I see what you’re doing. Though I was stupid, eh?”

“Tsch, Tsch, Tsch,” Cassandra said, shaking her head. “Guess you’re not as stupid as you look.” She smirked, using his phrase from earlier. “How about this?” She suddenly grabbed Rapunzel and held her in front of her as she tightly, but still gently, gripped the princess’s shoulders. “You prove to me that you are as strong as you say and I will give you the princess. Future queen of Corona and murderer of Zhan Tiri.” The demon seemed to stare into Rapunzel’s soul as Rapunzel gulped. She really hoped this was all fake.

“Fine, deal!” The demon smirked as winded up his fist to punch through the wall. 

“Get ready to run.” Cassandra whispered in Rapunzel’s ear as Rapunzel nodded.

Then the demon, with a triumphant laugh, brought his huge fist down on to the wall. The wall burst open as light shone through. “Ha! See, I said-” He suddenly realized they were gone.

“Thanks for the help, pal!” Cassandra responded with a smirk as her and Rapunzel stood on the outside of the cave. “Really appreciated.”

“You tricked me!”

“Duh.”

“Why you little-” The monster surged forward and Cassandra put the last part of her plan into motion. Kicking one of the rocks, she made a rockslide. The gigantic rocks blocked the cave entrance but also successively crushed Sasuke. She snickered.

“Time to go!” She yelled to Rapunzel as she whistled for Fidella. Fidella, as well as a black spotted horse, came rushing towards them. Rapunzel decided to take one of the horses from the stables instead of Max, who was stuck to Coronan law. Cassandra and Rapunzel both mounted their horses and rode off.

Rapunzel laughed as she turned towards Cassandra. “You’re a good actor! For a while there, you even had me convinced!”

Cassandra turned to her with a cheeky smile and winked. “It comes with the job.” Rapunzel giggled.

The triumph smirk was wiped off her face as she suddenly felt a piercing, blinding pain in her side. She gripped it instinctively. “Ah!”

“Cass?” Rapunzel suddenly turned to her worried. Cassandra didn’t respond. It was when she almost fell off Fidella that Rapunzel stopped both horses. She jumped down and helped her best friend down. Cassandra, being in a serious amount of pain, could barely comprehend what was happening. “Cass, are you okay? What’s wrong?”

Cassandra looked up at her worried best friend with unfocused eyes as she removed her hand from her side, revealing her hand covered in blood and her side had a huge gash, in the shape of 4 gigantic claws, and it was cut deeply into her skin. It was gushing blood, fast. Right away though, it could be noticed that was not the only problem. Around the gash, basically the entire left side of her body, was a ghastly green color. So on top of dying from possible blood loss, she was poisoned.

Rapunzel gasped. “She’s hurt!” She exclaimed as she tore a large portion of her dress and placed it over the gushing wound. Cassandra laid in her arms as the world sounded fuzzy. “Fidela, we gotta get her help, now!” The horse nodded as she mounted it, Cassandra still tucked in her arms. “Go!” She urged the horse. Fidela took off running as the second horse followed close behind.

Rapunzel brought the dying girl close to her chest as she held back tears. “Hold on Cass,” Cassandra’s vision started to blur.

“...Hold on..” Was all she heard before everything went black.

Cassandra’s senses were the first to wake up. Her eyes were heavy and she found it hard to open them. The first things the came to her thoughts were: Was she dead? Was Rapunzel’s safe? Where was she?

Cassandra let out a groaning sound as she struggled to open her eyes. Finally, they slowly opened. As her vision unblurred, she took in her surroundings. She was in some kind of room. Quickly realizing the medical supplies that filled the room, she guessed it was a hospital. She was covered in medical supplies and was hooked up to a machine. Her side was wrapped in a tight bandage. She must have been on a serious amount of painkillers due to the fact she wasn't in immense pain at the moment. But that didn't mean it didn't hurt like hell. 

That’s when everything hit her. She remembered the demon. She remembered the searing pain. She remembered the confusion. She remembered Rapunzel’s worried voice. Starting to panic, she searched the room for the princess. Her breathing settled as she noticed the girl laying her head on Cassandra's bed; seemingly sleeping in her arms. She looked exhausted. How long had she been out?

Cassandra tried to raise her arm but found herself unable to do so. Damn, she's never felt more weak in her life. Trying again, she slowly raised it and placed it gently on top of her sleeping best friend's head. "Raps?"

"Hm?" Rapunzel groaned sleepily as her eyes slowly opened. As she wiped the sleep out of her eyes, her sleep-dazed mind slowly started to awaken. She let out a gasp. "Cass!" She launched herself forward and enveloped the girl into a hug. Cassandra winced and Rapunzel quickly pulled back. "S-Sorry!" Before Cassandra could respond, Rapunzel started firing questions at her left and right. "How are you feeling? Are you hungry? Tired? Do you need anything? Ar-" 

"Raps," Cassandra interrupted, exasperated. "I'm okay."

Cassandra quickly realized that wasn't the right thing to say as Rapunzel's eyes filled up with tears. "But you weren't! W-When I found this village, you weren't breathing! You weren't responding to any of the medical treatment, nothing was working! I had to watch as they tried everything to try and bring you back to the living world!" Rapunzel was full on bawling now. "Once you were what they considered 'stable', they told me you might never wake up! It's been a week, Cass, a week! W-What were you thinking?!" 

"Oh, yeah, like I tried to get attacked by some demon." She responded sarcastically. She looked up into Rapunzel's eyes and realized for a second time, that was the wrong thing to say. Cassandra sighed and gently reached up to wipe the tears from Rapunzel's eyes. She let her hand linger on her cheek as Rapunzel leaned into the warmth. "I'm sorry I scared you, Raps, I'm okay now.."

Rapunzel quickly pulled away from her touch. "You didn't just scare me, Cass, you terrified me! I-I thought I lost you.. You can't do that to me! I've already lost you once, I can't bear to lose you again!" Rapunzel was breathing hard and she had her arms wrapped around her body. The tears never stopped. Cassandra's eyes softened. She's never seen Rapunzel like this. Ever. She must've really scared her. Cassandra slowly opened her arms and gave her best friend an inviting smile. Rapunzel sniffed and slowly climbed onto the bed. She then nuzzled herself into Cassandra's arms; her face digging into her chest as she wrapped her arms, gently, around Cassandra's stomach. Cassandra blushed but wrapped her arms around the princess and pulled her closer.

"I'm sorry I scared you," Cassandra whispered as she placed a soft kiss on Rapunzel's forehead. "But I'm here now. And I'm okay and alive. Thanks to you." 

Rapunzel shook her head as she dug closer. "You fought on your own." She mumbled into Cassandra's chest. "You brought yourself back. You fought so strongly, as always.."

Cassandra's heart warmed as she gave Rapunzel a sweet smile. "But you got me here. Call it a.. team-effort." Cassandra joked as she tried to make Rapunzel laugh, to lighten the mood. It worked. Rapunzel let out a watery giggle as she nuzzled Cassandra. Rapunzel looked up and gave Cassandra a smile as she pushed Cassandra's hair from out of her eyes. Both got lost in each other's eyes. They both started to lean close, lips slightly parted. They were just an inch from...

"Excuse me?" Both women snapped their eyes open as Rapunzel quickly pulled back and doing so, made her fall out of the bed. She quickly stood back up as both women's faces were as red as a tomato and they tried to avoid eye contact.

Trying to act casual, Rapunzel placed her hands behind her back and tried to steady her voice and pounding heart. "Y-Yes?" She cleared her throat. "How can we help you?"

"I hope I wasn't.. interrupting anything." The nurse looked between the two of them skeptically. 

"No, no! You weren't!" Rapunzel quickly responded as Cassandra frantically nodded her head. 

"Well, if you say so," The nurse smiled sweetly. "Anyway, I'm here to inform you that your friend here will need to stay another three weeks to a month to make sure her wounds heal properly and to make sure all the poison was successively removed."

"Poison?" Cassandra asked in confusion as she looked at Rapunzel for answers. Rapunzel kept her eyes on the nurse. 

"Whatever it takes." Rapunzel responded. 

"Alright," The nurse took out a piece of paper and started writing on a clipboard. "There will have to be someone watching over her constantly, so we'll get a nurse right away. I'll have you set up in a room-"

"No!" Rapunzel shouted. The nurse looked at her with a raised eyebrow. Rapunzel cleared her throat a second time. "I-I mean, no thanks. That won't be necessary. I'll stay here with Cassandra. I'm trained medically." 

"You are?? Since when?" Cassandra asked in confusion. That was new. 

Rapunzel shot her a look. "Since someone kept getting hurt and wouldn't let me ever help." 

"Raps, you don't have to stay here with-"

"Shush, I'm staying. Besides, I don't think you would be very comfortable with a stranger watching you, would you?" Cassandra quickly shut her mouth. Damn, Rapunzel knew her way too well.

"Alright, then it's settled. We'll get a bed set up here right away. Make sure she stays in bed for a week and make sure she doesn't move much unless you want her wounds to open up again. Make sure she gets plenty of rest, fluids and nourishment. Also, she will need to take the medication placed next to her bed every night at around 8. But, uh, the medication can cause patients to be a little.. loopy." 

Rapunzel glared at Cassandra, knowing what she was going to stay. With her stubborn, impatient and restless nature Rapunzel responded: "Oh, I'll make sure she stays in bed and takes the medication." Cassandra snapped her mouth shut and groaned. Again, Rapunzel knew her too well. 

"Alright then, I'll be on my way then. We will occasionally pop in every now and then." With that, the nurse turned around and left and shut the door behind her.

"Raps-"

"Don't you dare."

"But Raps-" Cassandra whined. 

"No."

"I don't want to be stuck in this small room, in this small bed, for a week!"

"I don't care." 

"Rapunzel!"

"You are staying in this bed until you properly heal, got it? Or I will tie you to this bed!" 

"Kinky," Cassandra thought with a snicker.

Rapunzel crossed her arms and glared at Cassandra; daring her to argue. Even Cassandra knew not to mess with Rapunzel when her mind was made up, especially where it considered someone's health. She knew she was 100% serious when she threatened to tie her up. Cassandra had to admit though, she looked absolutely hot when she was pissed off like this.

Cassandra groaned and crossed her arms. She pouted while slowly sinking down into the bed. "Fine."

Rapunzel groaned, exasperated as she placed a hand on her head. "Finally! You are one stubborn patient."

"And you are a terrible doctor."

"Haha, very funny." Rapunzel said sarcastically as she rolled her eyes and she sat on the edge of Cassandra's bed. 

"So, when did you suddenly decide to be a doctor?"

"I didn't decide to be a doctor, Cass, I just took some classes, that's all."

"Same thing."

Rapunzel groaned. "I took the classes because you and Eugene always tend to get hurt and I always felt so useless because I couldn't do anything to help. Amongst other things. So I took some classes in Corona. There was nothing better to do anyway. Besides, I wanted to be ready in case another demon-lord decided to pop in. I never thought I would have to use it though. It was just a safety precaution." Rapunzel then hugged herself. "When you blacked out, if I hadn't done something, you wouldn't have made it. The nearest village was nearly 45 miles away."

"Hold on a second, you kept me alive for 45 miles?? Did you even eat? Or sleep? What about when I got here? That's why you look so tired!"

Rapunzel turned to look at her. "I had no choice, Cass. I didn't want to eat or rest until I knew you were gonna be okay."

Cassandra looked away and mumbled: "I don't think I'm worth all this trouble." 

"Cass-"

"Seriously, Raps, even after everything, I still find ways to hurt you. I promised myself I would never, ever, hurt you again, but.. I still find ways to keep making the same mistake over and over again. I'm not worth all this trouble, especially if it means that your health is at stake, and I'm most certainly... not worthy enough to even be alive at this point."

"Cass, look at me." Cassandra slowly turned her gaze to meet Rapunzel's. Cassandra nearly gasped at what she saw. Rapunzel wore the most serious, sorta pissed off, expression she had ever seen on her. If she wasn't condemned to a bed, she might have even cowered a bit. Might have. "I am only gonna say this once, and once only, to make you realize your importance to me, got it?" Cassandra's mouth felt dry and all she could do was nod. "You. Are. Worth. EVERYTHING. To me." Rapunzel, eyes narrowed, said each word slowly and harshly. "So I don't want to hear all this crap about how 'you're not worthy', 'you're a terrible person', or that 'you're not worthy enough to be alive' because none of it's true and you know I will fight you and anyone else who thinks so until they understand how wrong they are; how wrong YOU are. I will go to the ends of the Earth for you, Cass, because you're my best friend and I love you and you mean EVERYTHING to me. And always will. You could loose everything you have been working for these last couple years all because you saw how unhappy I was. And you went as far as taking me with you even though you knew that if we are caught, it's the end of everything you've worked for."

"Of course I did! You're my best friend and-"

"You love me, right?"

"Well, duh."

"And you would never purposely hurt me again, right?"

"Of course not! I-"

"You will, have, protected me?"

"Yeah, but-"

"So why do you think I wouldn't risk everything to save you from dying? You forget, Cassandra, I'm not some 'damsel in distress'. Just like you protect me, I protect you, whether you want me to or not. When you need me, I'll be right there by your side as I know you will be there when I need you." All anger faded from Rapunzel's eyes as she gently grabbed Cassandra's hand and stroked her thumb over her knuckles. "We're in this together." She whispered.

Cassandra was seriously glad Rapunzel wasn't looking at her face for she would see the tears gathering there. Cassandra bit them back and responded: "God, what did I ever do to deserve a friend like you?"

Rapunzel looked up and smiled. "You were yourself." She said simply. "And the feelings are mutual." She leaned forward and moved her bangs aside so she could gently kiss Cassandra's forehead. Cassandra blushed deeply. "Get some rest, okay?" Rapunzel stood up and walked towards the door. 

"Where are you going?" Cassandra asked after she escaped her daze-filled mind that was filled with everything Rapunzel. 

"I'm gonna go ask around to see if anyone has any information on where we are. Also, I'm gonna bring back food for the both of us." Cassandra nodded slowly.

"Be careful." Cassandra stated. Rapunzel turned and gave Cassandra a brilliant smile.

"Always am. I'll be back soon." With that, Rapunzel left the room, shutting the door with a gentle click. "And you better be sleeping by the time I get back!" She heard Rapunzel shout from the other side. Cassandra chuckled. 

Cassandra then let out a big yawn. "Hm, maybe taking a little nap isn't gonna kill me.." Cassandra said to herself then snickered. "No pun intended." She was exhausted anyway. As Cassandra's eyes drifted shut and her body slowly succumbed to sleep, she thought she saw a cloaked shadow leap out of the window. She came to the conclusion it was her drug-filled mind messing with her. With that conclusion, she fell soundly asleep quicker than she normally ever has. 

She smiled in her sleep as a certain free-spirited princess came to her dream-filled mind.