Once upon a time, there was an enchanted forest filled with all the classic characters we know, or think we know. One day, they found themselves trapped in a place where all of their happy endings were stolen: Thedas. This is how it happened...
The odd, scaly man sat, cloaked in the shadows within his magically binding cell. He was powerless here, but he had planned on that. The guardsmen stationed within the dungeon cavern which housed his cell were forbid from speaking to him. He was one of the most powerful wizards in this realm after all, and they had finally captured him. Of course, he had planned on that, too. Everything was going according to his plan. Now all he had to do was wait for…
"Rumplestiltskin!" shouted one of the guards.
… this.
Dirt shuffled footsteps echoed within the long cavern. Two hooded figures walked alongside the armored guard. Hoods, like that would hide their identities from him.
The guardsman spoke up again. "Rumplestiltskin, I have a question for you."
"I believe not, dearie," Rumplestiltskin replied, stepping into the torchlight at the edge of his cell, "However, they do."
The hooded figures halted their approach apprehensively, glancing in each other's direction.
"Come closer dearies. I would not be foolish enough to harm Prince Charming and Snow White in such well-armed company," he continued.
Snow White was the first to pull back her hood. Her long, wavy black hair fell about her shoulders. Concern flashed in her green eyes when she asked, "How did you know..."
"I know all, your majesty. You have come to ask me about the curse."
Prince Charming now removed his hood. The sandy blonde man willfully approached the cell bars, "Then tell us what we need to know. Tell us, how do we stop the Evil Queen?"
Rumplestiltskin let out a manic laugh. "You of all people should know I'm not in the business of giving things for free, dearie," he replied.
This had been a last stitch attempt to escape the effects of the curse, and Charming's frustration showed. "I told you consulting the Dark One was a waste of time," the Prince said to his wife, taking her hand as they turned to leave.
"Prince Charming would walk away from the answer he seeks when all the answer will cost you are a few teensy, weensy drops of blood from each of you?"
"What would the Dark One want with our blood?"
"What does it matter to you once it has left your body?"
Charming pondered the consequences. He and Snow White had each made many deals with Rumplestiltskin over the years, many of which seemed fair enough, and none presenting overtly obvious danger to anyone. But blood?
Snow having obviously been wonder what the true cost of this deal might be and said, "What choice do we have? What are a few drops of blood when it could save our kingdom? Our friends?"
Silence fell over the cavern momentarily. As Snow and Charming locked glances all that could be heard was the crackle of the burning torches.
"We don't have all night. So... do we have a deal?
Snow White approached the bars and extended her hand to the man behind them, "Deal."
Rumplestiltskin extended his own rough, scaly hand just beyond the bars, and hummed a laugh as he gave hers a firm shake. With a sudden jolt, he grabbed her wrist pricking her finger with a small sewing needle he had hidden away in his pocket.
With Snow's cry of shock, Charming whipped out his blade and batted the flat side on top of the prisoner's wrist. "If you dare try something like that again, I'll cut it off."
The Dark One coddled his beaten wrist for a moment before presenting Snow with a small swatch of fabric that had also been tucked away. "You might want to put some pressure on that dearie.
"You have Snow's blood. Now tell us how to stop the Queen's curse.
"You cannot stop it. But all curses can be broken," Rumplestiltskin added.
Snow White stared intently at the impish man. "Then how do we break it."
"In this new land, there is a darker force than anything our realm has ever seen. Tainted creatures destroy the land as they erupt from beneath the ground. They are lead by a fearsome creature, a dragon, corrupted by the taint of the beasts it leads. A hero must seek out the order called the Grey Wardens. Only they know how to end the chaos brought about from the rise of this dragon."
"But what does that have to do with the curse?" Prince Charming interjected.
Rage washed over Rumplestiltskin's brown scaly face as he clung to his cell bars; his large, amber eyes looked as if they would vaporized Charming right on the spot. "IT HAS EVERYTHING TO DO WITH ENDING THE CURSE!" he wailed, startling Snow enough for her to take a few steps back. "The slaying of the dragon, or as these Grey Wardens call it, the Archdemon, will lead to the end of the curse."
Snow White took a few cautious steps towards the Dark One, "How do we find these Grey Wardens?"
Again, he let out an eerie, manic laugh. "Oh, don't worry dearie. They'll find you," he replied with a twitchy grin.
"What does that m-"
"It's all part of the Evil Queen's curse," Rumplestiltskin replied, nearly dancing with anticipation in his cell. "Best say your goodbye's dearies. Once the curse hits," he added in a sing-song voice, "you won't remember who you are."
"Wait, if we don't remember who we are, how are we supposed to end the curse?!" Snow White asked.
"I'm sure you and your Prince Charming will think of something."
Snow White said to her husband as they turned to leave, "We must call a meeting with the Counsel. We must find some way to get around Regina's curse."
"Hey! Hey! Don't you walk away from me, we had a deal! What about our DEAL?!" Rumplestiltskin bellowed down the long cavern after the disheartened couple.
Charming stopped, taking the fabric bit from Snow White and motioning for her to stay up the path. As he again approached the cell of Rumplestiltskin, he pulled out his dagger and firmly pressed the tip against the top of his finger. As his blood slowly started to pool around the short blade, he again questioned to himself if they had made the right decision. He pressed the fabric against the top of his finger and watched as his body fluid rippled outward on the woven swatch. Apprehensively, he handed the cloth to the greedy hand frantically waving about at the end of its reach.
The Dark One clutched the swatch to his chest as if it were a long lost childhood treasure, and he watched as Charming quickly marched back to his wife's side and they took their leave.
Rumplestiltskin once again retreated to the shadows of his cell. He hummed a twittering laugh to himself as he settled back into his hay bed he had fashioned on the floor. In a few hours they would all be ripped from their homes, their lives, their loved ones. They would all have new identities with no memory of their former lives, and a new land full of dangers the likes of which none of them had seen before.
But, again, he had planned for that.