Child of the Moon.

~Chapter Four~

Everyone sighed and groaned heavily.

"Great!" Eugene huffed, throwing his hands up in the air. "Now we're stuck in the middle of nowhere, the food supply is running low, it's too dangerous out there to set up camp, we don't know how long this storm will last, and of all the people in the world to be screwed over with, it has to be you all!"

"I suppose we'll all just have to try and get along," Adira said calmly.

"That's easy for you to say!" Cassandra spat. "All you've been doing this whole time is reading fairy tales!"

"Those are the only kind of books you people seem to carry."

"Whatever! I guess we'll all just have to survive the storm in here!

"Actually," Hector interjected from where he was standing by a large window. "Maybe we won't."

"What are you talking about?" Cassandra sighed, but still walked over to look out the window.

Down a dirt road, about a hundred feet from where the caravan was stuck, was a gigantic, muti-story, pink, orange, purple, and white mansion with several towers. The mansion was oddly shaped.  It jutted out at random angles and some of the walls were curved, while others had  sharp corners with no apparent purpose. The roofs of the towers and main building were all of different sizes and shapes. A few towers were painted.  Some were rounded and some were square. Some parts of the exterior walls were painted with stripes, while others were solid colored and even floral designs decorated a few walls. There were many windows of varying sizes spread all over the mansion. But by far, the house's most noticeable trait was the large dark purple crest rising above the rest of the mansion. It looked like a dark wave about to drown the whole building and yet it was a part of the mansion, complete with walls, windows and color just like the rest of the odd home. In many ways, the mansion seemed to resemble a house of colorful shells.

Rapunzel joined Casandra by the window in awe. Cassandra sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Raps," She said exasperatedly. "I know what you're thinking, but that place creeps me out!"

"Hang on," Eugene said, pushing past the others to look out the window as well. "I wanna get a look."

"Could you be more annoying?!" Cassandra snapped.

"Hm, let me see..."

Eugene pulled on Casandra's hair with a smirk and laughed when she screeched and growled at him.

"Must you two bicker all the time?" Hector sighed, but didn't try to separate the two. "Honestly, where I'm from, our children are better behaved than you."

"Must you always bring up the Dark Kingdom?!" Cassandra questioned angrily.

"Yeah," Eugene joined. "We get it, you're from a kingdom of stiffs. We don't need to hear more."

"Call us 'stiffs' all you want. My home and my people will always be more noble than anything your cowardly kingdom has to offer!"

"Play nice, Hector," Adira interrupted, walking up in between Hector and the others.

"What makes you think I'm playing?"

"Look, Raps," Cassandra said, turning everyone's attention back to the princess. "I know you like to think that everyone everywhere is super nice and welcoming, but that's just not how the world works. We should take things slow if we go at all. Now I say that we wait out the storm and be on our merry way without walking into the creepy.... Aaaand she's gone."

"Maybe you should follow her," Hector said with a smirk, crossing his arms. "Aren't you supposed to be her bodyguard or something?"

"Shut up!" Cassandra growled as she walked out into the cold downpour to join Rapunzel and the others.