Chapter 1 – The Blacksmith

Emma had only been alerted to the situation in the village when Mulan had raised the alarm. "Wait, there's no sentry." When the group had entered the village, they had all been devastated by the destruction. Aurora had looked as though she was going to be sick, Emma was appalled, but Mary Margaret and Mulan had seen this all before, especially when they realized that the villagers had had their hearts taken. That's why it was such a relief when they found a survivor hiding under the bodies.

It was Emma who first saw the hand moving. She shouted so that the rest of the women came and helped her. Mulan and Aurora moved the bodies, desperate to find anyone alive. He was still shading his face from the sun as the bodies were moved off him. He was plainly still terrified. Mary Margaret wanted to comfort the survivor, "Hey we're not going to hurt you."

"Thank you," the grey-cloaked figure managed to whimper. He was covered in debris from the massacre and looked scared.

Once the initial relief had passed and the comfort of the survivor had been seen to, Emma and Mulan had a quick conversation while they were allegedly fetching a drink for the survivor. Both seasoned and perhaps less naïve than the other two, they knew something was off and their walk was because both wanted to talk. "Have you seen him around?" asked Emma.

"I've seen him around. He's a blacksmith. Came to our camp a couple of months ago, said he lost his hand in an ogre attack." Mulan was looking at Emma, but Emma couldn't keep her eyes off the survivor. "Why would Cora leave a survivor? It's messy. It doesn't make sense." Emma's superpower was in full action. The story and the survivor just did not feel right.

"You think he's lying," stated Mulan with some degree of belief.

"I think Cora's tricked us before. I don't want that to happen again."

Emma handed the survivor his drink. If he was lying, she had to give him his due because he was very very convincing. He had held his character for a long time and she hadn't seen any slips yet. She thought that if she put the pressure on then they might see his true colours. "I can't thank you enough for your kindness. Fortune it seems, has shown fit to show me favour" The man said almost pathetic in his gratefulness as he accepted his drink. Emma stood over him, placed both hands on the stable, but to the side of the man so that she was aggressive but not so much that he would be frightened of her. "In an island full of corpses you were the only one to escape – how exactly did that happen?"

The man starred into her brown eyes, then he looked into the distance as if he was reliving the experience, "She attacked at night. Slaughtering everyone in one fell swoop. When she started pulling out people's heart I hid under the pile of bodies of those who had already been killed. " he paused looking to Mary Margaret and Aurora for support. "I pretended to be dead myself." Mary Margaret and Aurora nodded in sympathy and to will him to carry on. "Mercifully the ruse worked."

"So much for fortune favouring the brave." Emma didn't know whether to be appalled with him for being such a coward or being such a liar.

"It was all I could do to survive." Now Emma really wasn't buying the lies. She leaned over to him and looked him straight in the eye, now she wanted to intimidate him. "I'm going to let you into a little secret. I'm pretty good at knowing when someone is lying to me." She lowered her voice so that he had to stay close to hear. "I'm telling you the truth," he replied. A silence grew between them as Emma smiled a smile, know sure that he was definitely lying to her.

Mary Margaret broke the silence when she warned that they needed to leave in case Cora came back. She carried on talking about how they needed to find the portal and get back because she had only managed about five minutes with her husband and her grandson. The survivor was surprised at the fact she had a grandson as he smiled a winsome smile at Mary Margaret hoping to win her over, and perhaps betraying a little of who he really was. "Long story," replied Mary Margaret.

It was then that the survivor made a mistake, "I know this land well. I can guide you." He smile showed Emma that he thought he was in the clear and she reacted. She quickly took her dagger out of her belt, pulled back his hair and held it against his throat ready to cut if he made a move. "You're not going to guide us anywhere until you tell us the truth about who you really are." She looked fierce like the warrior princess she was and she looked ready to protect her mother.

As the survivor was dragged to the tree, he knew that he had a decision to make. He didn't quite know what mistake he had made. He thought that he had been doing quite well. He thought that the pretty one with the short dark hair, Snow White and the lovely young princess with the auburn hair, Aurora, were won. He knew that Mulan was coming over to his side, but that during the discussion between the two warriors the Swan girl had turned her against him with her suspicions. The Swan girl, now she was a fierce one. She would be beautiful when she didn't have a knife against his throat or suspicion in her eyes. Right now though he had to choose between continuing the charade or coming clean. As they tied him to a tree, he decided to continue with the lie. To see if the warrior maidens could be won over and of he could repair the damage to his mission.

As Mulan tightened the bonds, he appealed, "I have already told you. I'm just a blacksmith."

"Sure you are," Emma replied looking rather bored before putting her fingers in her mouth and whistling a very loud whistle.

In the distance, the loud roar of ogres sounded ominous. "You won't talk to us, maybe you'll talk to the ogres as they rip you limb from limb." The ogres roared again, but this time they were definitely nearer. He continued with his looks of abject fear and terror to test whether the other ladies would stand by as an "innocent" was ripped limb from limb. He knew that in this game of chance the first to slip would lose. The ladies started to leave. "You can't just leave me here like this!" he shouted losing some of his "terrified blacksmith" voice.

"What if he's telling the truth?" asked Aurora, the first to break.

"He's not!" replied Emma not even turning around. Only Aurora looked worried.

It was then that he made the decision. He would have to alter his plan. These ladies were fiercesome and perhaps they could help him in his aims rather than his current ally.

"Good for you." He shouted in his normal voice. The blacksmith was gone from his demeanour as was the frightened body language. "You bested me." Emma stopped. She knew that she had won this game of bluff with someone who was really rather good at it. "I can count the number of people who have done that on one hand." His arrogant nature came through as Emma turned, strode towards him and came to face him. The real him.

"Is that supposed to be funny?" Emma wasn't amused and neither was the rest of her party.

"Who are you?" she questioned harshly.

"Killian Jones. But most people have taken to calling me by my more colourful moniker – Hook." He held Emma's eyes as he finally told the truth, letting her see that he wasn't lying.

"Hook!" exclaimed Mary Margaret dismayed, obviously remembering him from their previous encounters.

"Check my satchel" Hook couldn't quite believe that the ladies had made such a school-boy error in not examining his belongings, but at the time he had let their obvious inexperience be his gain. As Mary Margaret went through his satchel, Emma, almost unbelieving exclaimed: "As in Captain Hook?"

He was rather pleased that she had heard of him and it showed on his face. It showed that his reputation had crossed realms. "So you've heard of me." Mary Margaret had found the Hook, but they were all distracted by the roar of the ogres coming nearer.

"We need to hurry up because they are getting closer, so unless you want to be dinner you better start talking."

It was time to come clean and make his bid for new allies. "Cora wanted me to gain your trust so I could learn everything about you and everything there is to know about your Storybrooke." He could only look at her at the end of his little speech. "She didn't want any surprises when she got over there."

"She can't get there; we destroyed the wardrobe!" exclaimed Mary Margaret incredulously.

"Ah, but the enchantment remains. Cora gathered the ashes because she's going to use them to open up a portal. Now if you would kindly cut me loose..." his English accent made the pronouncement of the "s" sound very strong.

"No!" exclaimed Mulan. "We should leave him here to die to pay for all the lives that he took."

"That was Cora, not me." It was obviously true from the look of distaste. It wasn't enough as the ladies turned to go. "Wait. Wait!" he shouted trying not to sound desperate, but knowing that if he didn't convince them then he was likely to become ogre food as he had tested his bond earlier, he didn't have his hook and he didn't have an obviously way to escape. He would be just another dead villain and unable to get his revenge. "You need me alive!" the ladies turned around showing their hero status. Villains would have just walked off. He would have walked off. "Why?" asked Emma.

"Because we both want the same thing. To get back to your land."

"You would say anything to save yourself. Why are we supposed to believe you now?"

"I arranged for transport with Cora, but seeing as how resourceful you are I'll offer you the same deal. I'll help you if you promise to take me along." He could see Emma thinking through his words and knew that he had probably won her. The next problem for him was the princess, Snow White. For one who had been so on his side, she was very definitely not now. "How are you going to help us get home?" she asked.

"The ashes will open a portal. But to find your land she needs more. There's an enchanted compass. Cora seeks it. I help you before she does." He looked directly into Emma's eyes knowing that in this she was the leader and that he would have to convince her. "So Cora won't make it to Storybrooke and we'll be one step closer to getting home." He knew he had Emma convinced. She looked to Mary Margaret for confirmation.

"Sounds too good to be true."

"There's only one way to find out."

There was a loud noise of a roar which showed that the ogres were almost upon them. Emma pulled out her knife ready to make her decision. She held it to Hook's throat. "You tell me one thing and whatever you say, I had better believe it. Why does Captain Hook want to go to Storybrooke?"

That was an easy answer, and one he knew that Snow White already knew, so there was little point in lying. "To exact revenge on the man who took my hand. Rumpelstiltskin." He looked so fierce and full of hatred when he spoke Mr. Gold's name, that Emma knew that he was telling the truth that she cut him loose.

Emma knew that Hook was leading them in to a trap. As they walked through the forest being led by Hook to God-knows-where, she discussed with her mother the fact that because they knew it was a trap they would always remain one step ahead. Hook stopped, the trees had thinned and there was the enormous beanstalk ahead of them in the distance. None of the others were surprised, so Emma took it that this was just another of those Enchanted Forest things and that the compass was definitely up at the top. Hook had reassured her that "it's not the climb you need to worry about, it's the giant at the top." His tone was light and almost joking, so Emma hoped that he was joking, but she had a funny feeling that he wasn't.