A Cassarian Story
Varian always knew that he cared for Cassandra. But he didn't realize how much until she was gone.
Six long years after Cassandra leaves Corona, she finally returns. Varian is overjoyed, but she comes bearing terrible news. A stran...
Hugo pulls out a piece of cloth, tears it in half, and shoves the two halves behind the lenses of his glasses. "Never know when you'll need a random piece of cloth!"
Abhu uses his armband as a blindfold. "This had better work..."
Varian pulls out a red scarf, and approaches Cassandra. "You can use this," he tells her, gesturing for her to turn around. She does so, and allows him to tie the scarf around her eyes. The gentle brushing of his fingers against the back of her head causes a pleasant shiver to go down her spine. Absentmindedly, she clutches the pendant of her necklace.
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Once Varian has tied his own bandana around his eyes, he reaches out for Ruddiger's paw. "Alright Ruddiger, lead the way!"
Ruddiger grabs Varian's hand, and begins leading him around the corner. Varian reaches his other hand out, and takes the first hand he feels... Cassandra's. She is surprised for a moment, until she realizes what she needs to do. She reaches out and grabs a hand that she unfortunately recognizes as Abhu's. Abhu reaches out and grabs Hugo's hand.
Now that they are all connected, Ruddiger leads them through a maze of twists, turns, and climbing. Lots of climbing. It is strenuous, and the trek takes quite a while as they stumble their way through. Cassandra catches a faded glimpse of red, orange, and green lights through the scarf, but to her relief she never feels any hypnotic sensations.
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However, she does feel a measure of enjoyment at the thought of Varian's scarf over her eyes. It is well-worn, but it is soft and it smells like him. She is glad he cannot see the smile that is on her face because of it. For the first time since admitting her feelings for him to herself, she actually looks forward to the moment she confesses to him... whenever that may be.
Finally, Ruddiger chitters enthusiastically, and they take this as a sign to remove their blindfolds. As they do, they realize that they are outside once again, but they are now on top of the cliff. The tunnel they traversed is behind them, the hint of the illuminated crystals' lights leaking out of the darkness.
"Thanks, bud," Varian says, giving his raccoon a loving pat on the head. "I'll be sure to give you all the apples you want once we're done with this mission."
