Sunlit Moon (Varian x OC. Complete! [sequel cancelled for now.])

Beyond Corona Walls.

"Like you care." The Princess' expression softened, "I know we have our differences, but I'm sure that whenever we get back to Corona, he'd want to see that you were taking care of yourself." The princess set a basket down in front of the younger girl. Artemis ignored the food basket as Rapunzel left the carriage.

Her brooding was brought to a screeching halt by something actually screeching outside, carefully she went to poke her head out the door,

"What was tha—oh..." it was just shorty...

"Shorty?"

"How did you get here?"

"How indeed. The circumstances which led to my unexpected departure from Corona make for a long, yet fascinating tale..." Artemis groaned as she stumbled out of the carriage,

"The idiot must have fallen asleep in the food compartment...obviously." She rolled her eyes. Short was always causing problems.

"Look, if you guys even want to have the slightest chance of surviving out here...ditch him."

"No, no, no, no, no, the food. He ate all the food"

"Glad to see Strongbow has his priorities straight." As Lance carried on with the theatrics Artemis made her way back to the carriage.

"Nope, Uh-uh, you're coming into town with me to replenish supplies."

"Get your hands off me, Fitzherbert!" the former thief backed away as her blue eye started to glow.

"Ack! Okay...let's go...you." He plastered on a fake smile as he tried to play nice.

"Okay, enough! We're taking the caravan into Vardaros." Sighing, everyone piled back into the carriage.

--

The young blonde started laughing as they all filed back out of the carriage and into the city of Vardaros.

"This is your city of fun and games?!" she continued laughing, "This place is as desolate as a wasteland now."

"Artemis." The teen wanted to give the princess a middle finger and go back to her sulking but instead walked towards an abandoned shop.

"What's first, matching face tattoos? Or see if we can get a good deal on a rusty hatchet?"

"Your enthusiasm is noted."

"Your enthusiasm is noted." She mimicked as she stepped further into town. Several pairs of eyes narrowed at her attitude.

"Here's an idea, let's see which of us catches the plague first. I hope it's me." She gave a sadistic smile as she rattle doff her ideas.

"I think you need a nap, young lady." She rolled her eyes at him, "And I think you need a better personality." Cassandra bit back a laugh as Eugene turned back to the deserted city.

"I don't understand. What happened?"

"Come on, guys...maybe it's not exactly as you remembered it, but that doesn't mean it's not a fun loving city."

"Okay, I retract my previous statement, I hope she catches the plague first...or maybe Dysentery."

"Hello there." The group watched as Rapunzel stepped up to the knife stall, "We're new in town, my name's Rapunzel"

"Get lost." Cass put a hand on her friends' shoulder, "Maybe you should hold off on the introductions. Something tells me that if words got out that actual royalty were in town, we could be in trouble."

"You know I hate saying this, but she's right. Let's keep a low profile princess, we'll go get the supplies, you guys take the caravan back up to the camp. The last thing you need is for someone to recognize you."