Tangled: Stardust and the 12 Zodiacs (Varian Fanfiction)

Chapter 11: The Crystal Cavern

"Do we really have to cross this bridge?" Lance asked as he stared at the narrow rope bridge in front of him. 

"It's the shortest way to go towards the cave. If we went around it, it would take us even longer to get there." Soul answered as she stood as far as she could from the cliff. Rapunzel took notice of the girl's uncomfortable state. The brunette then remembered something back when they were inside the Jungle of Lion, Soul froze up completely when she saw a cliff and almost fainted when Lance almost fell off the said cliff. Rapunzel put the two pieces together and concluded that the astrologer must be afraid of cliffs. Frowning slightly, she walked towards Soul and placed a hand on the girl's shoulder in a comforting manner.

"It's alright, Soul. No need to be scared." Soul's eyes widen at Rapunzel's statement, a red tint dusted on her cheeks. 

"Oh, um...How did you know?" She asked the older girl shyly. Rapunzel smiled softly towards the lavender haired girl.

"I noticed back when we stopped because of the cliff, you avoided looking at it, and when we were in the jungle, you froze up when you saw the cliff." Soul's cheeks grew a darker red when Rapunzel mentioned what happened, "Plus, now. You're standing so far away from the cliff, instead of checking out the bridge like everyone else." Rapunzel ended. Soul really hoped no one noticed, but alas, the princess was really observant towards everything.

"Yeah. You see, it..it started two years ago during a blizzard." Soul confessed quietly looking down. Rapunzel gasped quietly and stepped back a step. "It's still a pretty sore subject."

"It's alright, you don't have to tell me right now, just know that I'm always ready to listen." Soul smiled at Rapunzel's words, the older girl returning it as she hugged the astrologer. 

"If we go around, how much longer would it take?" Lance asked. Soul let go out of Rapunzel's hug and straightened herself.

"It would take about two weeks at our pace. Normally, I would agree to go around, but the peak is tonight. There's no time left." She answered. Lance sighed disappointedly, groaning loudly.

"I wish some rocks would magically appear again." Eugene stated. Soul coughed violently, as Rapunzel patted the girl's back.

"What happened? Are you alright?"

"Just peachy."

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"What do you mean we'll stay in the caravan?" Kiera shouted as she crossed her arms, her sister nodding beside her.

"Yeah! We want to go too." Catalina protested.

"And I don't want to cross that bridge, but you don't see me complaining. OW!" Soul hissed in pain as Varian nudged the girl harshly. The two glared at each other, silently bickering as Rapunzel shushed them.

"Look, girls. We need someone to look after the caravan since we'll be leaving it out here in the open. Lance would be staying here with you guys, while I, Eugene, Soul, and Varian go get the orb." She explained. The siblings complained and continued to protest, but shut upped as Soul threatened that if the two won't stop complaining, she'll let them come and leave them for the cave creatures to feast on.

"We trust that you can handle everything, Lance?" Rapunzel hesitated as she faced the dark-skinned man. Lance mocked a salute assuring the brunette that he will take care of the girls, the caravan, and their pets. Pascal wanted to come, but Rapunzel didn't want a repeat of last time. She told the chameleon to look after the pets, which Pascal agreed on as he jumped on top of Flick's head.