Varian's eyes began to open, and his vision was blurred for a moment. Then, his vision was clear, and he noticed that he was sitting in his lab, with Ruddiger in his arms. The raccoon in question was still asleep, and Varian gently pet his back. He usually couldn't tell if it was day or night in his lab, but he presumed it was day. Varian looked over to the rocks, and remembered what happened yesterday.
Varian knew that he had to go see if it was day or night. If it was day, he should probably head over to the castle so that he could tell Rapunzel about all of this. He still didn't want to, but he knew it had to be done. One problem though. Ruddiger was on him. And he was still asleep. Great. He didn't want to move, not wanting to wake him up, but ya know, he had stuff to do.
Varian heard a rustling and looked down to notice Ruddiger moving around. Please wake up. The raccoon just stopped moving and continued to sleep. Varian sighed. He wouldn't mind staying here and letting his legs fall asleep, but he actually had something to do today. Wait... How did he even fall asleep sitting?
Then he remembered, and cursed himself for not even bothering to lay down before going to sleep. Either way, the ground of his lab was not very comfy. Although, when was the last time he hadn't slept in his lab? Dear god, why was he like this. He was getting off topic, he had to figure out what to do
Ruddiger started moving again except he didn't exactly do what Varian thought he would. The raccoon in question rolled off of him and onto the floor and still was asleep. Well, I guess that's one way to solve this. Once Ruddiger was off of him, he quietly pushed him off the ground, brushing his apron off as if dust was on it. Then, Varian tried to make the noise of his boots against the ground as noiseless as he could. Then, once he got to the door, he opened it and closed it slowly in an attempt to make as little noise as possible.
As he walked into the sunlight, he was reminded how much time he spent his lab. The sunlight hit his eyes immediately and he shut his eyes for a moment. It was times like this when he was reminded just how bright sunlight was. Then he opened his eyes, knowing that having them shut wouldn't help him. Why did it have to be so bright! Varian made sure to look away from the sun and get his eyes more used to this lighting. After a bit, he was sure he'd be fine.
Okay, he could do this. I mean, it had to be better than traveling there in the snow, right? As he readied himself to make the journey, he thought of one thing. He should probably tell his dad he was heading out. Ya know, just in case his dad came looking for him and couldn't find him in his lab. So, Varian left him a note telling him what he was doing, and left it where his dad would hopefully notice it. And, on his way he was!
As he made the trip, he could appreciate some things about it not being cold and snowy. For one, the grass was a lot less slippery than the snow. And another thing was, well, it not being cold. He didn't exactly like the cold, and it being associated with that didn't help. Although, that didn't mean he liked this at all. The journey was long and tiring, and Varian figured that it didn't feel this long and tiring when he had adrenaline pumping through his veins. Plus it was hot. He didn't like the cold, but that didn't mean he liked the heat either. And it didn't help that he wore gloves, pants, and a for the most part long sleeve shirt. At one point, he took off his gloves, and rolled up his pants and sleeves just to not be so hot. The goggles on his head and the apron in front of his legs probably didn't help either.
Varian wasn't an idiot, so he had brought water with him in a canteen. He was trying not to drink it all too quickly, but also not deprive himself of it. So, throughout the trip, he stopped walking for a bit to drink some water from the canteen, each time just wanted to drink the whole thing. One place he took a bit of a longer break in was that one cave that was on the trail. It just provided so much shade from the sun that he just couldn't resist. Once he got there, he was so glad that it was finally over. Varian took a deep breath and made it to the castle doors.
