Cassandra didn't understand why she had to accompany her father as he escorted the king and queen to East Tal. Sure, it was a bit of a long journey, but they were only planning on being gone for about three days... Surely they could've left Cass in Corona under the care of the guards or the maids or somebody...

But here she was, seated awkwardly next to her father as he drove the royal carriage towards East Tal- not enjoying the ride one bit.

Even at age ten, Cass was a restless soul. All she wanted to do was... Well, what she wanted to do, or felt like doing. She wanted her independence and freedom, but her father didn't seem willing- or able- to give it to her.

Anyways, while the ride was quiet and awkward- with Cassandra sitting and pouting, her father occasionally looking at her and debating whether or not to speak- it was also quite peaceful. Watching the countryside of "Beyond Corona" roll by... It had a pretty calming effect on the young girl.

It was, so to speak, the calm before the storm.

"I don't like this," she muttered, crossing her arms, "why couldn't I just stay home?"

Kade looked down at his little girl. "I wanted to spend some more time with my daughter."

Cass rolled her eyes, slumping back in her seat a little bit. "You're probably scared that if you leave me alone for so long, another attack will happen and you'll lose me."

"Well, that, too," Kade agreed, "but still..."

"You know I can handle myself, right? I've been training for four years, if you'd just let me..."

"No. I want to have you right here, at my side."

Cassandra huffed again. As if on cue, the carriage hit a few potholes. It shook and rocked around. And then came the voice.

"Halt!"

Something about that voice irked Cass to no end- the cocky confidence and air of superiority... She immediately hated the guy.

The captain tugged on the reins, successfully stopping the horse.

"Wait here, Cass," he said, starting to get up, "I'm going to assess our situation here, okay?"

She knew better than to argue. With no words, she already knew what would happen if she disobeyed her father. But still... She wanted to know everything. Who was back there? What did he want?

Quietly, she hopped down, still holding the reins in her hand, and went to stand next to the horse. She caught a glimpse of her dad talking to some guy who she assumed was their stranger.

He looked to be about three or four years older than Cassandra, with a broad build and straight, brown hair that went down to his shoulders. His brown eyes and smug expression held the exact same cocky confidence that his voice had boasted. And somehow, just looking at him, she hated him even more.

"What do you think you're doing?" Kade asked the young man, "ordering for us to stop what we're doing? We're on a tight schedule here, and-"

"Hey! Relax, relax," Mr Cocky-Pants said, holding up his hands in mock surrender, "I was just wondering about..."

Cass didn't hear the rest of what he said, but she knew it was all part of some ploy or other. She just hoped that she wasn't the only person who noticed this.

The Captain of the guard said something, and the stranger shook his head adamantly, quickly retorting. His hands moved rapidly while he spoke, imploring, but the Captain held firm with whatever he had said. Cass was proud of her father for doing what he did whenever stuff like this- whatever it was- went down.

The stranger shook his head one last time before heading away, ducking around the back of the carriage. Cassandra knew better than to just let him off the hook like that, but her father seemed like he was going to do just that.

She gently patted the horse's muzzle before ducking down to watch the stranger's shadows. They didn't disappear. Instead, they just hovered behind the carriage.

Cass got down on her knees, crawling underneath the carriage. For the first time in her life, she was glad that she was small in size. Body low to the ground, she made her way to the back of the carriage, where the snobby stranger was.

Looking up from her hiding spot, she saw that her hunch was correct: the man was up to no good, trying to climb onto the top of the carriage.

She had to do something... Now.

Quickly, moved out from her hiding spot, gripping her sword tightly as she confronted the man.

Little did she know that it would be the first of many times she would encounter him.

~-~

"Cassandra, I told you," Kade said, pacing back and forth in front of his daughter, "not to leave your spot. You could've gotten hurt. Or... Or worse."

"But I didn't, Dad!" Cass protested from her spot on the window seat, "I didn't get hurt! And now we've got the stupid guy's name. AND we've got what he looks like... That's enough for a poster."

The captain seemed to contemplate this for a minute. "I guess you're correct... To a certain degree."

The young girl pulled out her sketchbook, showing her father a rough drawing of the mystery man- Flynn Rider. Kade flipped through the pictures, closely examining each one.

"I thought you were getting better at noses," he remarked softly, frowning, "drawing them, I mean."

A smug grin crossed her face. "Oh, I am. Just... Trust me on this one, okay?"

She didn't have the heart to explain to her father that it was her form of revenge on Flynn for attempting to do... Whatever it was he had been trying to do. Whatever could've possibly involved fooling the captain of the Coronan guard. She had to knock him off his pedestal somehow, and she felt that this was the best possible way to do so.

Luckily, Kade didn't question her. The same could be said for all of the citizens of Corona over the course of the next few years. They just let Cass be, free to deface her own drawings of Rider as much as she pleased.

-----

{That... That might've fallen a little short of my normal amount of... Panache. And... Yes, I used that word. I'm busy rewatching "Great Expotations" for the twenty-millionth time in the past week. XD}