Reunion at Sea

Mad King

"Maybe we can call the Saporians for a lift." Varian mused as they all sat around trying to think of a way across.

"Nah, there's gotta be some way in. Hector, don't you know?" Eugene looked at him.

"I haven't been back here in two decades." Hector admitted. "The black rocks weren't this bad before, and there was a bridge we could cross."

Adira nodded, looking thoughtful.

"Guys!" Rapunzel walked up to them. "I found a way across!"

They all got up and went to follow her. She smiled and pointed to an old, creaky gondola. "Ta-dah!"

"...Oh no." Hector paled.

"Are you scared?" Adira teased.

"No, absolutely not, I'm sure it is not as terrifyingly about to fall as it was when we were kids! And why it is out so far?!" Hector gestured to it anxiously.

"You're scared." Adira grinned.

Hector stepped back.

"Aw, come on! It's just a gondola!" Rapunzel said encouragingly. "Who's scared of a gondola?"

Something fell off the side and everyone but Adira and Rapunzel raised their hands.

"Yeah, high-fives!" Rapunzel went down the line clapping her hand against their raised ones. "I love these attitudes!"

"Blondie, that thing's a good fifty yards out there." Eugene pointed out.

"I can get it." Adira said, stepping forward. "I'm not afraid of it."

Hector fumed as she walked off to do so. "I'll get across, then wheel it back here for the rest of you." She called back to them.

"If the rhino gets on that thing, it's going to fall." Eugene said nervously.

Hector sighed. "He's right." He turned to Callan. "Wait here for us?"

Callan nuzzled him affectionately.

"Be careful, Adira!" Varian cried.

--

Adira slowly and carefully crossed the thin cable, trying not to think about the sharp rocks down below. She scanned the skies for any sign of the ravens and kept walking forward until she reached the gondola and dropped down into it.

"Okay." She said, going to the wheel. "Let's get you back over there."

It took a bit, thanks to the downhill slope, but she managed to get it back up the cable and docked at the tower where the others waited. Then she opened the door and stepped out. "Right. Let's get going, then."

Rapunzel smiled and led everyone into the gondola with her. Adira hopped on top of it to avoid the crowd and Cassandra and Lance took over wheeling them down.

--

Varian stood at the window, feeling anxious. Rapunzel walked over to him and sighed. "You okay?"

"I'm not sure. I'm happy to be here, but also terrified? I mean...how did it feel for you, when you first came back to the castle after living in the tower for eighteen years?" He looked at her.

"Kind of like that, actually. Like...everything was different, and I was excited but also...scared. Nervous. Afraid I'd be rejected after losing the only mother I'd ever known." She sighed. "It's...it's complicated."

He nodded. "It's complicated."

"Look out!" Adira called as they heard her unsheathing her sword. Then they heard blades clashing together and opened the skylight to see Adira fending off a man with a bear head.