Vampires, they are the bane of all witches' existence. Constantly preying on the poor unsupecting humans and trying to up the ranks of their population. A witch's job is simple, to protect her village from the vampires at all costs. The people they protect don't fear vampires, instead they fear witches, burning and drowning any of their own who are suspected of witchcraft. It's ironic really, the villagers fear and try to rid themselves of those that protect them, while their real enemy lurks in the shadows.
Regina Mills watches over the District of Finnmark, with her Mother Cora, stepfather Rumple, and sisters Zelena and Mary Margaret. Normally such a large magical family would be split up. Regina had prayed when she turned 18 to get assigned somewhere else, anywhere else, but luck was not on her side as there was and still is a very active group of vampires in their area that keeps the family together.
The group of vampires is led by Nottingham, a very clever vampire who stole the enchanted mask, allowing him to pose as a human and roam undetected by magic. He passed unnoticed as an advisor to the King, whispering in King Christian's ear the dangers of witchcraft and sorcery. Most of King Christian's speeches denouncing witchcraft came directly from Nottingham.
Their district has been hit especially hard by witchcraft trials, as Nottingham and his men helped to spread the hysteria. Regina hates him and his men with every fiber of her being. She's watched far too many of the people she is sworn to protect become victims to the vampires, after bogus trials that deem them guilty of witchcraft.
Her whole family seems content to sit by and let their people be burned alive. They won't let Regina intervene and save these poor women. Only Mary Margaret stood by her when she begged them to reconsider, but quickly acquiesced to Cora and Rumple leaving Regina to fight alone.
Regina takes small comfort in the fact that they were able to take the mask back from Nottingham. Now he and his men can no longer pose as villagers and roam undetected, immune from tracking spells.
She doesn't understand why they haven't attacked yet. Nottingham and his men cannot hide from them, but her mother and Rumple are biding their time for some reason, and Regina isn't strong enough on her own to fight them all.
So she waits, impatiently, stuck guarding the mask when they should be protecting their district. She doesn't really understand why she has to guard it to begin with, she sealed the area with magic that keeps out anyone who has drank human blood. Human blood takes two weeks to get out of a vampire's system and by that time they'd have starved to death, so no vampire is getting through her spell.
Still, she doesn't totally mind watch duty, because it keeps her away from her family. The mask is kept in their vault, which has a huge library of magical scholarship to keep her entertained.
She's reading up on blood magic when she hears a sound. She looks around, on edge, waiting for one of her idiot sisters to come and bother her, but neither appears. She listens carefully but doesn't hear anything else. She tells herself she imagined it, even though she's fairly confident she did not.
She goes to check on the mask, just to be certain, and what she finds shocks her. There's a man in her vault, or maybe not a man, his skin is greyed like a vampire but he doesn't look quite right, doesn't have that repulsive edge she associates with vampires. He's quite… attractive, with piercing blue eyes. She's never seen a vampire with blue eyes before. They all have red eyes, or so she thought, stained from the blood, but, blue eyes aside, this man is definitely a vampire.
How did this beast break in? Her spell was supposed to keep all of them out. They stare each other down for a second, both unmoving as they asses the situation.
Then she hears a surprisingly gentle voice whisper, "I'm sorry," as her whole world goes black.
He feels bad truly, it's not this witch's fault she had what he needed. She's beautiful, doesn't have that haughty look he's seen plastered on the rest of them. She seems more real, like she might actually have a soul. But no, she's a witch, she's one of them. At first he thought her beauty was a spell, that she had used magic to draw him to her. She is just as gorgeous, if not more, passed out on her floor, so he knows now it wasn't a trick. Of course she would be more beautiful if she and her kind would do what they are supposed to and actually protect their people. Instead of sitting idly by, letting poor innocent people be charged for crimes they did not commit. They don't even have the decency to come and see the suffering. They stay in their castle, doing nothing. It's despicable.
Someone needs to stop the horrible trials, and since the witches aren't doing anything, he needs the mask. He looks fairly human, can pass for one in the dead of night. The problem is he needs to be around in the daylight, to truly make progress, and his grey skin prevents him from doing that without raising suspicion about what he is.
It was surprisingly easy to sneak into the vault. He suspected it would be protected by magic, but if it was, he somehow avoided it. He knows there are no spells that keep all vampires out, and most work on the assumption that they all drink human blood, so it's probable that's how he got in.
Robin and his Merry Men are unique vampires, they do not kill, do not hurt the humans. They live in the forest and subsist on the blood of animals. They kept this area safe, that is until Nottingham showed up.
Now Robin and his men are on the run as Nottingham builds his army to take them out. Before they lived in peace with the other vampires, and vampires knew to avoid targeting people in this area. But Nottingham sees them as a threat to the very existence of vampires as a species and has convinced many that the Merry Men should not be allowed to continue their lifestyle.
That's the reason Robin was willing to take on a witch for this mask. That and his two secret weapons, poppy seeds, which worked and worked well enough he was able to escape without worrying about the cuff.
The cuff is Nottingham's invention, another prize Robin stole. It's supposed to vanquish a witch's magic. Robin doesn't know for sure how it works, but knows that it does because he witnessed Nottingham use it on Maleficent, a witch from another district who he then turned into a vampire.
She is rumored to have escaped Nottingham in early January, and Robin would have offered her a place with the Merry Men but she disappeared. It's a shame because she did her job, and did it well, protecting her district from the vampires right up until Nottingham cuffed her. A couple of the Merry Men are stationed in her district, keeping it safe, awaiting her return. He had thought she would return there as soon as possible, but it's mid-April and there is still no sign of her, in this or that district.
Robin's so set on returning to camp he almost misses the smell. The sweet intoxicating smell of human blood. It used to affect him more, but years of abstaining have helped with the cravings. He takes a deeper breath, trying to determine if this person is in trouble. There's adrenaline for sure, but no fear. He smells anger, annoyance and hatred, but little fear, and something off he can't quite place. He's about to move on when he realizes what that something off is: it's the smell of magic.
He whips around and there she is, the dark haired witch he knocked out earlier. He flies back as she magically ties him to the nearest tree. What she doesn't know is rope is no match for him. He stealthily frees his hands as she approaches him, reaching into his pocket to retrieve the mask, and he feigns being trapped. He's free, could strike, but waits for the perfect moment.
She thinks she's winning, smirks at him and tells him. "And you thought you could outsmart me, vampire. Ha."
He lets her take her moment, basking in her victory and then he strikes, cuffing her and breaking free from the ropes. He can't resist rubbing it in her face.
"As you were saying?"
She snarls, bites back, "I could kill you with my bare hands, rip your still beating heart out. Why are you testing me, vampire? Do you have a death wish?"
She doesn't realize he's suppressed her magic, and well he can't resist taunting her. "Why don't you try?"
She looks incredulous, but then reaches toward his chest and grips, grabs onto him but her hand won't go in.
Now he smells the fear, and sees it across her face, but her voice stays steady as she asks, "How is that possible?"
"I've taken your magic, and good luck getting it back, that cuff can only be removed by the person who put it on, and it's not in my interest to take it off and give your magic back."
Her eyes flash with anger, her tone venomous. "My family will kill you for this vampire."
He smirks holding up the mask. "Ah yes, but only if they find me, and with this, they never will."
"You son of a bitch, I will find you, I will get that back and I will get this cuff off and then I'll make you pay for this."
He just laughs. "I'd like to see you try."
His teasing is interrupted by a silver arrow whizzing by his head, causing him to gasp. It seems Nottingham and his men have found him. He needs to get the hell out of dodge, but he's left this poor woman defenceless and Nottingham will no doubt kill or turn her. Even though she's a witch, Robin doesn't want her death on his conscience.
He offers her his hand, knows a safe place he can take her but she spits on him, and jabs him in the stomach hard with her elbow, then she runs in the wrong direction, toward the ambush.
He tries to warn her but she knocked the wind out of him and all that comes out is a wheeze as he watches her get caught by Nottingham's men. Though he feels bad, he runs off the opposite direction, trying to avoid capture. But luck is not on his side and he is dodging arrows left and right as he zig zags, trying to outrun Nottingham. He knows it's futile, Robin is strong, but human blood makes a vampire faster and that's an advantage Robin doesn't have. He's smarter than Nottingham and that's how he's avoided him, but in a race Nottingham would win everytime.
Robin doesn't give up of course, but Nottingham and his men catch up with him after a while and Nottingham's right hand man, Killian, backhands Robin with his hook, knocking him out.