"Oh my Demanitus!! Andrew, look!!", Cass shouted in surprise and pleasure, pointing to the cliffs above them.

Andrew rushed outside and shielded his eyes from the blinding sun, seeing what Cassandra was so excited about.

Up above them on top of the spiraling cliffs, was the dark silhouette of some tower... which he presumed must be..

"It's The Spire isn't it?", he asked smiling as she nodded, "Even after that storm we still end up where we need to be!", he laughed incredulously.

Cass pushed a hand through her dark hair and sighed, "Raps had a way of making that happen a lot- we just got very lucky."

"Lucky?!", he laughed even more, "Cassandra, not everything boils down to luck alright; and really, you need to stop comparing everything to Rapunzel.", he finished seriously putting a hand on her shoulder, "Be proud of how far you come Alright? And just be your best possible self."

"Easy for you to say... you weren't with Raps and the rest of us when we were on that whole journey."

"Why does it matter so much though? Why are you always comparing yourself to Princess Rapunzel??", he asked trying to help figure out the core of the problem.

Cass groaned, "I don't really know, okay!! So just drop it!", she snapped.

Awkward silence filled the sunlit air around them as he just stared at her.

Her eyes then widened as she realized her actions and took a deep breath in. Looking back at him, she tried again, "Listen... I don't really want to talk about it right now, Alright? I understand you're trying to help, but it's kinda only making me frustrated.
"What I need you to do is help me figure out a way to get Diverion/Varian/whoever the heck he is, up there. Can you do that?"

Her words were still sharp but her face was softer as she spoke.

Andrew could tell she was trying to fix her behavior toward him and he deeply appreciated the effort; smiling at Cassandra he nodded, "I understand, I'll give you some space on that."

"Thanks.."

"And we'll figure out a way to get him up there too in one piece."

She raised an eyebrow, "I sure hope so."

Andrew looked back up at the cliffs and at the wrecked caravan, "Well I can only really see two options here. One: we take the time to try to rebuild the caravan and get the balloon working, or two: we take the horses and build some makeshift wagon and make our way up-
"Either way, it involves building.. and I know the option I'd choose.., but this is YOUR JOURNEY, so I'll let you make that call."

Cass looked at the beat up caravan, it's usually gentle sloped shape sagging down precariously. Dents and wooden splinters covered the smashed in back end.

"I mean... building a cart would be a LOT faster..", she started but then hesitated, looking back at it, "but he's injured pretty bad. So I guess we'll try to rebuild it instead."

Andrew nodded, "Sounds good."

"Will you like check on him while I go chop up us some wood? He probably needs some water or something.", she said as she hefted up a halberd and jerked a thumb towards the trees, "Also do we need any specific wood?"

"I don't know...", he smiled sheepishly, "..any wood sounds just fine. And yeah, I'll look after the kid.", he reassured.

She smiled at him before turning, "Thanks Hubert, appreciate it."

Cass then put the halberd over her shoulder and set off at a brisk pace into the trees, looking for sturdy and strong wood to help rebuild their transportation.

Tall oak and fir towered over her as she walked under their giant branches.

Spotty sunlight filtered through the crisp red and orange leaves, filling the air with the sweet scent of fall.

Cass took a deep breath in, enjoying the warmth and energy that radiated from the area. More then ever, she was glad that she had brought Andrew along on the trip.

He was willing to put up with her, stay behind and look after someone instead of letting the 'woman' do the work and admittingly, thought ahead when she didn't.

He also knew when to give her space..

She thought about how much he had grown from their very first meeting to now; from a manipulative, spiteful charmer to a caring and smart man.

Cass came out of her train of thought as she came across a great oak and sauntered up her halberd, ready to strike it against the thick bark.

As Cass took care of supplies, Andrew headed back into the surviving portion of the caravan.

He blinked as his eyes readjusted from the bright sunlight to the cool shade of the interior.

He then grabbed a canteen of water from a cabinet and pushed open the door to where Diverion lay on a makeshift bed on the floor.

The smell of wet wood still filled the air inside as Andrew approached the pale teen boy and knelt down beside him, holding a hand against his forehead to check his temperature.

The unmasked teen groaned and twitched his mouth before cracking open a startling amber eye.

Andrew's heart suddenly seemed to stop as he dropped the canteen and felt the blood drain from his face.

What the..?!?

Memories flooded through him as his heart ached and started to speed up without warning.

"WHO THE HELL..?! WHY DO YOU... why do you..?", he yelled, losing control before dropping to a whisper, "What... what are you??"

Diverion's eyes were only open half-way and he didn't quite seem to register the angry and scared voice in front of him. Reaching out with a limp arm, he grabbed the canteen and fumbled with the lid with clumsy fingers as sweat started to cover his forehead.

Andrew watched as the teen struggled with the canteen for a few minutes as he willed his heart to slow down.

He was just seeing things...

The sunlight must have played tricks in his eyes and reflected... Andrew shook himself and gave a mental slap.

"Here.. let me help.", he offered gently as his voice shook slightly, taking it from Diverion's weak grip, "You're still pretty weak from the injury and shock."

He unscrewed the lid and helped the freckles teen drink from it, supporting his head gently as he thirstily drank it dry.

After he finished he lay back down on the pillow and closed his eyes for a moment, before opening them up again and focusing on Andrew's bearded face.

"W-Where am I?", Diverion asked hoarsely, the strain of speaking making his face go pink.

He then felt his face and flinched, his eyes shooting sparks of anger.

"You're in the caravan you tried to rob... and we are near The Spire in the middle of the woods..", Andrew answered as he put the lid back on the canteen.

"Where is my mask?!", he half-yelled as he tried to sit up and immediately fell back down and glared at him, "What are you going to do with me?!? Why am I injured?!!"

He swallowed as he stared into his face,  his eyes really were amber now, "We ran into a storm and crashed.. which is why you're hurting right now. And Cassandra only wants you to see someone so she can see if you're..."

"See if I'm that bloody Varian kid?! I already told you I'm not!"

"It still wouldn't hurt to prove you aren't..", he tried.

Diverion looked at him with disgust, "It wouldn't hurt?!? I've got a broken or fractured rib because of that!!"

Andrew tried to calm him down, "I know.. and I give my most sincere apologies for that! You really need to calm down before you get hu-,"

"Where is my mask!?", he broke over him angrily.

Did this kid really need his mask that bad?? And why did he feel that way?

Andrew shook his head in bewilderment as he stood up and walked over to actual bed in the corner of the room and picked up the dark mask from the sheets. He set it down in front of him gently as Diverion quickly placed it over his face.

"Listen, I needed the mask off so we could treat you when you were injured. I didn't want or mean to invade your privacy.", he explained feeling bad as guilt and unexplainable sadness rolled over him, "And I promise I'll make sure you can go after it's proven you're not Varian."

The masked teen's chest was rising and falling fast, his anger and fear coursing through him as he was fully aware again.

"Just stay away from me!!!", Diverion yelled before coughing and turning his head away from Andrew, "Just go."

Andrew could hear his voice was laced with the threat of tears but he nodded, "I'll let you rest, please don't move or you'll only hurt yourself.", he told him stepping out of the room.

As he closed the door behind him he felt like he could finally breathe...

Why did his throat seem to be choked up and his heart heavy?? He wasn't quite sure why he felt that way.

No- he did.

Andrew thought about the bright amber eyes flecked with emerald green that had pierced right into his soul.

He felt his heart grow with even more sadness, seeing to weigh him down with incredible sorrow.

Running a hand over his face he looked outside and tried to calm himself down, whatever that was happening would pass.

"Hey Hubert! Got the wood!", Cass suddenly called, rolling and carrying huge pieces of chopped up trees.

He swallowed, "Yeah, got it! Coming!!", he called stepping out of the caravan and picking up a saw and approaching her.

Cass stopped and saw his face.

It was full of grief.

"Hey... i-is everything alright?", she asked alarmed, "What happened? He didn't die did he?!"

"What? No!!", Andrew sighed, "Just... it's nothing.", he decided helping take some of the wood out of her arms and setting it on the ground.

Cass crossed her arms, "Nothing? Do you really expect me to buy that?"

He smiled at her, "Listen Cassandra, I'm fine alright? And so is Diverion. I just had a.. a memory."

She hesitated before giving in, "Alright, whatever. Let's get this done already."

Surprise guys!! So I just had a burst of inspiration after forever! You're kind words and support has helped me a lot, so thank you all!
I'll keep updating but idk if it'll be monthly or who knows? Weekly?
I'll try my best guys! ☕️