Varian and the Seven Kingdoms (Varian's Seven Trials)

Kojot

It had been another few days since the group had met Cass and Mira, and the Dark Kingdom drew ever nearer.
One morning while Hugo and Varian reloaded on chemical bombs and pellets, and Nuru worked on her star-chart-skirt, the caravan came to a halt and Yong disappeared through the door. Nuru followed and Hugo pulled Varian away from the desk, dragging him along, outside.
"Woah..." Yong stared down over the cliff, into the pit they had stopped at. There were ruins and branches scattered at the bottom of the ditch.
"What happened here?" Nuru asked, curiously. Hugo walked to the edge and crossed his arms, looking down at the ruins, "Whatever it was, it was big."
Varian joined them by the edge and scanned the remains,
"I...I think this used to be the Great Tree. Rapunzel really did a number on this place." Varian laughed and Hugo stared.
"Your Princess did this?"
"Oh, yeah- there were these incantations which allowed her to use the power of the moonstone and sundrop. She completely totalled this place." Varian placed his hands on his hips, impressed by the damage.
"Y'know, I've changed my mind. I'd love to meet her." Hugo grinned and Varian chuckled.
"This should be the quickest way through the mountains...but I don't see how we can get across." Nuru said, puzzled.
"We might be able to find a safe way down- I'd love to see what kinds of scrolls we can find down there." Varian's eyes glistened.
"Not to take charge here, but we already spent a lot of time in Aardeterre...I don't think we should stop any longer than we have to. We need to complete these trials." Nuru frowned.
"You're right." Varian nodded, bringing his attention back to the problem at hand.
"Even if we make our way to the other side, we'll have to leave the caravan." Hugo said.
"We could always come back to it." Nuru suggested.
"I'm more worried about someone stealing from us again." Hugo looked to Nuru, and she nodded.
"What if we could bring the caravan across with us?" Yong asked.
"That's..." Nuru sighed and forced a smile, "And how might we do that, Yong?" Nuru questioned and Varian laughed.
"Duh, so dumb." He said to himself, "I know how to make a hot air balloon." He looked to the others, "If I attach the burners, propane tanks, and balloon to the caravan, as if it were the basket of a balloon-"
"Then we can fly over to the other side!" Yong appeared to be very excited by this.
"Exactly!" Varian grinned.
Nuru and Hugo exchanged looks, then the blonde looked to Varian,
"And how long is this balloon gonna take to build?" He asked.
"Not long. With you guys helping out, maybe an hour- I have the supplies in the trunk."
"You brought supplies for a hot air balloon with you?" Nuru raised an eyebrow.
"Well, yeah. Never know when you'll need to balloon across a ditch, right?" Varian disappeared into the camper.

And so the group got to work on the balloon, Varian instructing each of them on what to do. It was coming together well and it had only been forty minutes. Another twenty, and they'd be ready to sail. Varian and Hugo were securing the parachute valve cord and rigging, while Nuru and Yong attached the panels to the body of the balloon.
When a patch on the balloon suddenly burst into spontaneous flames while Yong was working on it, Nuru stomped out the fire and Varian instructed that Yong take a 'well-earned' break.
"Are you sure this whole 'hot air balloon caravan' thing'll work?" Hugo questioned.
"As long as we stick to my plans, we should be good." Varian hammered a hook into the side of the caravan and Hugo handed him a cord.
"Where'd you come up with the idea, anyway?"
"In Corona, the Saporian's used a hot air balloon ship to, uh..." He trailed off, realising what he was saying.
"To, uh...?" Hugo narrowed his eyes.
"To sail over the kingdom."
"Right. For a sec I thought you were gonna open up to me." Hugo smirked.
"Hey, we've got plenty of time for that." Varian joked.

"Ready?" Varian asked, placing his hand on the wheel attached to the burners. After confirmation from everyone, the boy took a deep breath and turned the wheel. The balloon slowly filled with air and the caravan rised from the ground.
"Woo!" Nuru and Yong cheered and Hugo grinned.
"Nice work, everyone!" Varian smiled widely. The balloon didn't rise high above the ground, but high enough to drift over the pit.
"This is great!" Yong yelled and Nuru pulled him from the side. When they reached the other side of the ditch, they kept floating along, and in the distance they could see a tall, dark castle.
"That must be it." Nuru pointed.
"Huh...I would've thought it'd be more welcoming after two years...they had to rebuild after the black rocks disappeared; they were the root of most of the structural integrity, so I'm told." Varian smiled.
"I heard the place was lined with booby traps." Hugo smirked, "Sounds fun."
"I'm sure there're no more booby traps." Varian laughed.