Killian cursed the sky blue the entire way down the beanstalk, occasionally embedding his hook into the plant harder than strictly necessary to grab hold. She had already bested him once, somehow knowing when he was lying and when he wasn't, forcing him to tell the truth—to always tell the truth, which was not something he particularly cared for. Especially when she asked such personal questions, somehow seeing more about him than she should have been able. Hadn't that been enough? Wasn't it enough that he had no defense against her, had gotten the giant's attention for her, knowing the brute was only seconds away from smelling the blood on her hand, dried as it was. He had risked his life, made a complete fool of himself—
He had trusted her. Would it have bloody killed her to do the same?
Killian sagged against the vine, slack as a sail without wind, his face turned towards the ground a tantalizing twenty feet below. He could see her footprints, scuffs in the dirt as the women had picked up camp and made to the east.
Anger swelled in his chest and he started descending rapidly. He was going to find that contrary lass and knock some sense into that thick skull of hers—
He cried out, his hands slipping as the cuff around his right wrist flared brightly, the flesh beneath burning as he fell.
The woods were unusually quiet as the four women made their way between gnarled tree trunks and low-hanging bows. Mulan had warned them to make as little noise as possible when they had been forced to enter, something about encroaching on the territory of some supposedly horrible ape-men, and while Emma still had some serious doubts, she figured that it was better to be safe than sorry. Especially after what happened with the ogres.
She wasn't used to not knowing the rules, not knowing how to act to get exactly what she wanted, and it was driving her crazy. She had always had an incredible intuition. It wasn't just that she could tell when people were lying to her—she often knew when something was wrong as well, whether that meant the police were lurking around the corner or that someone was armed or on the edge of snapping. With those kinds of skills, navigating a word dominated by people had become easy. This world, though—a world with beasts she couldn't read in the same way lurking around every corner—she felt completely lost.
They made camp in a hollow at the base of an outcrop of rock as the light was failing, their small fire sheltered between the boulders and the thick trunks of a stand of trees. Emma had pushed hard, wanting to get as far away as possible before the giant released Hook, but the others had followed suit without argument, probably not wanting to stay in that particular forest longer than necessary. They were all exhausted, and everyone but Aurora fell soundly asleep after their scant meal.
There were shinies close. He could smell them, drawn out of the dark by the tingling in his nose. He moved slowly, each step a pounding in joints stiff from disuse, until the smell of the gold was so close he could almost taste it, even surrounded by the stench of leather as it was.
It didn't take much once he had gotten to the reeking sack. There wasn't much in there except for the lovely shining trinket. The gold dial spun as he retrieved it, mesmerizing in its beauty.
A slight sob came from one of the dark figures lying near the sack. A girl turned in her sleep, tossing curls more beautiful than the finest spun gold he had ever found. "Arela?" he croaked, his heart springing to life for the first time in years as he took a step towards her.
But her wrist was glowing, a blinding bright light that made him afraid, made him turn and flee back to his dark home, his new trinket in tow.