Chapter I

Nearly nineteen years ago I escaped from Neverland. It had already been about twenty years since I'd seen my father when I landed in the Enchanted Forest. The woman who greeted me and my friends when we arrived would rue the day she'd sent us off in the opposite direction of where I needed to be.

"What do you mean he's not here? Louis, you told me he'd be here!" The woman, who called herself Cora, had informed us that my daddy, Captain Hook, had left only days before. He was out searching the forest again for any sign of life. There had been rumblings that there was another encampment on the other side of the forest. Time had been standing still for five years.

"Is there any food here? I'm starving." Isaac had been whining about food since we landed faces first on a beach in the Enchanted Forest. His brother had been doing his best to keep him quiet while I questioned the woman who greeted us about my daddy.

"Isaac, shut up, we'll get food later." Louis shoved his younger brother into the sand to shut him up.

"Come along children, there's plenty of food in the camp; you three must be famished. Come and tell me all about why you're here."

We walked towards the woods following the woman. There was a narrow path that led us through the woods for about a mile. It twisted around pine and maple trees. The forest here smelled so much better than the jungle in Neverland. It smelled cleaner, rather than musty like damp soil it smelled like a fresh rain and pine needles.

The trees slowly began to thin and the sounds of metal clashing and people talked drifted to our ears. Some of the villagers stood up and stared at us as we entered the camp. They were sitting around tables outside of their huts; smoke wafted from their cook fires. I could hear Isaac's mouth watering behind me as the smell of cooking food reached our noses.

"So, tell me children, how on earth did you get here?" The woman asked as we approached a particularly large hut.

I turned to Louis, not sure how to answer. I didn't think I fully trusted this woman. Louis nodded his head at me, trying to assure me that it was okay to trust her. We stopped momentarily at the door of the woman's hut before entering it. There were two young women in the hut preparing bread. The woman waved them off and they ducked into another room. We could hear pots and pans clanging as the two girls began cooking. We all sat around a wooden table, much like the ones outside only this one was much better done. The chairs had cushions on them and were incredibly comfortable.

"A magic bean. I found one a few years ago, I've been waiting for my father to leave my brother and I long enough to be able to use it to go get Mara. She's been waiting on me for almost twenty years."

"Neither of you look twenty years old." The woman's tone was incredibly condescending. She eyed both of us suspiciously before settling her gaze on me. "And your father has never once mentioned having a daughter. So why should I believe any of you?"

My heart sank. Why hadn't daddy mentioned me before?

"He probably just has a hard time thinking about me. I was kidnapped after all." It was the only explanation I could think of. She nodded thoughtfully was I went on. "When did you say he was going to be back? I wanna see him."

"Oh, sweetheart, I don't expect him back for another month at least. He was going to the whole other side of the Forest. I don't think he'll have even arrived there yet."

I didn't know what to think. I came all this, had waited all this time and now I was going to have to wait even longer before I got to see him again. I felt tears welling up in my eyes. The woman looked on at me indifferently.

"So we'll have to stay here for a whole month before I get to see him?" My voice cracked as I spoke.

"Well you've already waited all this time, what's another month?" She paused for a moment, thinking. "But, if you wanted to see him sooner you could always head out yourselves. There's only one tail that goes all the way from here to there so you wouldn't be able to miss each other."

I looked at Louis; he looked excited at the prospect of an adventure. I turned to Isaac to see his reaction but he was just staring off into space. Bae and I had had lots of adventures in Neverland, but there were only so many dangers there. I didn't know what was out in this Forest. We were still only kids. I looked back to Louis; he was begging me to say yes.

"Will you supply us with everything we'll need before we go? It's not like there will be many other villages along the way."

"Of course. Whatever we can spare will be yours to take." I nodded softly. I heard Louis softly say 'yes' under his breathe. I was scared about going off on our own.

The two girls who had scurried off to the kitchen when we came in returned with four plates, steaming with food. They had prepared some sort of stew, full of potatoes, carrots and meat. After twenty years of eating whatever bird or rabbit we could hunt, it was the best thing I'd ever eaten. The girls sliced and buttered bread for us before scurrying back to the kitchen. The boys and I ate like animals. I hadn't realized how hungry I was until the food had been set out in front of me. I shoved the stew into my mouth like I hadn't eaten in weeks. Even after I started feeling full I kept eating.

The sun had set by the time we finished eating. Both boys and I had had three helpings of the stew. And the woman ensured that she would have some sent with us. She allowed us to spend the night in her hut, but she insisted that we had best be off early the next morning so we could get a good full day of travelling in. She told us we would be traveling for several weeks before we made it to the other side of the Forest, or met my father, whichever came first.

The woman's servants prepared pallets for us on the floor of the main room in the hut. I slept in between the two boys. Isaac fell asleep immediately, but I tossed and turned and could hear Louis doing the same.

"I'm too excited to sleep, you?" He asked, finally turning to face me.

"No, I'm nervous. We don't know what's out there. How can we even really trust this woman? You said yourself back on Neverland that she's scarier than the Evil Queen; why do you trust her?" I turned to face him as I spoke. He was lying on his side with his head in his hand, staring at me. Even in the dark I could see the excitement in his eyes.

"I never said I did trust her. But the Enchanted Forest is only so big. We'll be able to find our way back here if we can't find your dad. Don't worry about it. I told Bae I would take care of you, and I'm going to. Even from Cora."

I turned back onto my back and stared up at the ceiling. I thought about my daddy, as my eyes grew heavy. I willed morning to come so we could head off and finally, hopefully get to see him.

"Goodnight Mara." Louis whispered as I drifted off to sleep.

Killian

I was so tired I thought I would drop. I had been traveling for weeks and finally I could smell the smoke amongst the trees from the safe haven. We crew and I had been walking along the beach for at least a mile, the Jolly Roger could only be anchored at one spot on the beach, and that spot was quite a ways off. Cora was waiting for us as we approached the trail that would lead us to the camp.

"Welcome back. We've been waiting for you all for quite a while."

"Yes, well there are only so many people left in the Enchanted Forest, we have to go out to the far corners of the realm to get the supplies." I pushed past her, longing for my bed. When I had agreed to work with her, and stay with her in the Enchanted Forest I hadn't anticipated becoming her hound. She would only let me leave when there were supplies needed, any other time I was there for discipline. If someone acted out in a way she didn't approve of, I was to take care of them. I hated her.

"I met your daughter." She called from behind me. I stopped dead in my tracks. I hadn't told anyone of her. It had been twenty years. When the curse struck, most of my crew and been taken with it. I was the only one left in the Enchanted Forest who knew. I turned slowly, letting the other crew pass by as I made my way back to where Cora was standing smugly.

"I don't have a daughter, so I don't know what you're talking about." I would lie. I would lie until I could get more information out of her.

"Oh please. Why didn't you tell me? She's lovely. Her hair is so long. She has your eyes. Who's the mother, if you don't mind my asking? I never realized you had been that serious with a woman. I always thought you were a one night type of man."

I felt my blood boiling. She sounded so smug. If she had done anything to hurt Mara I would murder her. I would murder her and I would enjoy every second of it.

"Oh calm down, Hook. She's fine! She's not here, but she's fine."

"What do you mean she's not here? How do you even know all of this?"

"Now there we go, that's the answer I was looking for. So she is your daughter. I wasn't sure I could truly believe her. What was I to think when three children show up out of the blue, and one of them says the belong to you? You've never said anything of a daughter before."

"Because I assumed she was dead. They took her to Neverland and I haven't been able to get there since. Where is she?"

"Out looking for you. She was a liability to me. If she was here you wouldn't want to work anymore and I would lose my best man." She reached up and caressed my cheek affectionately as she spoke. I shook my head away from it. I had waited twenty years to see my daughter again and this witch had sent her off in the opposite direction. Set her off into a dangerous forest filled with ogres, wild animals and maybe even bandits. She may not have been killed on Neverland, but I would be lucky if she made it out of there alive.

"You're a witch. An awful, horrid witch. How could you send a small child out on her own like that!? How could you send my child out on her own like that?"

"Oh please. I already explained to you why I sent her away. And she's not alone. She had two boys with her. A big one, probably around 16, and another one about her age who only seemed to care about food. He's really going to get them far." She chuckled. I couldn't believe she was talking so nonchalantly about my child.

"When did they leave? Where were they headed?" I turned my back to her and stomped toward the village. Mara could have been out in these forests for weeks. She could be starving, or injured. I didn't dare think that she might be dead.

"They left four days ago. There's no way you could possibly catch up to them. So just stay here. If they make it to where I told them you were, they'll be back." She called from where she still stood on the beach. I turned and went back, getting as up in her face as I could.

"Oh, they'll be back, of course. And if I'm not here you'll just send them right on back into the Forest! No. I'm going to find her." I turned back towards the forest but she caught my arm.

"Killian, dear, you're staying right here. You are going to continue doing as I say, or I will make sure that the worst thing that could possibly happen to her in that Forest does. Am I understood?"

It took every ounce of self-control I could muster to not tear her throat out with my hook. She now knew my biggest weakness. A weakness I'd kept hidden from anyone and everyone. A weakness I had tried to drown in rum for decades. I didn't say anything. I just stood there trying my hardest not to go on a murderous rampage.

"Come dear. The girls have some bread baking. I'll open up a bottle of wine. You must be exhausted." She shouldered past me, walking towards the camp. I stood for a moment, looking out at the sea. Mara was still alive, and she was here. I would see her again.