Destined Couple

Brave

There was a new event in Corona, one that would involve people from all over the Seven Kingdoms. The Challenge of the Brave, the test to see who the greatest fighter in ALL the Seven Kingdoms would be. And Cassandra was bound and determined for it to be her.

She trained daily, from the moment it was announced, with her sword. She trained in the woods, she trained at home, she trained at night and sacrificed sleep.

One night, she was training under the moonlight and heard something nearby. Gasping, she held her sword at the ready and saw a short, armored stranger enter the clearing she was training in. "Who are you?" She demanded.

"Who are you?" The stranger replied calmly. He held a spear in one hand and had a cape attached to his armor and a helmet on his head that obscured most of his face.

"No one. I'm training, can you go away?" She frowned.

"It's not your woods." He shrugged.

"Ugh." She sheathed her sword. "It's not yours, either."

"No, but this is my usual training spot." He shrugged.

"So, what, you're from around here?" She asked.

He shrugged again. "You're training for the Challenge of the Brave, aren't you?"

She tensed. "...Are you?"

"Possibly." He said cryptically.

She headed out of the clearing. "Then, I'm done talking to you."

"Another time, then." He said as she left.

--

Since the night training was now out of the question, because she didn't want competition to be spying on her, she had to fit more day training into her schedule, around all the Lady-in-Waiting work she had to do. But, she would overcome this! She'd train and get that victory she yearned for!

She had just finished an obstacle course with her Owl and cut off the head of her dummy before striking a pose when she heard kids saying "Whoa..." .She thought it was about her, at first, but it was clear it was about Rapunzel, who had come up behind her and she took no time at all to invite the children into a group hug with her.

"Wow, Cass," Rapunzel said, standing up, "what is all this?"

"Nothing." Cassandra assured her with a chuckle. "I'm warming up for the Challenge of the Brave this morning." She sheathed her sword. "It's just a competition to find the toughest warrior in all Corona." She shrugged. "No big deal."

"Ohh! Sounds exciting! Where can I sign up?" Rapunzel asked eagerly.

"Yeah, like I said, no big—oh, sorry, what?" Cassandra looked at her.

"I wanna sign up!" Rapunzel said eagerly.

"You mean compete?" Cassandra asked, confused. Did she...not get what this was about?

"Let's do it together!" Rapunzel said eagerly.

Cassandra was about to inform her that this wasn't a 'together', thing, but the kids spoke over her and drowned her out with encouragement.

"You could be princess and the most 'reveredest' warrior!" A boy said at the end.

Okay. No. This wasn't a game. She had to keep her out of it, or she'd get herself hurt.

"That would be fun, but I'm not so sure that's the best idea." She tried to reason with her.

"I'm brave." Rapunzel insisted.