Today was the day where Killian Jones exacted his revenge on that bloody crocodile once and for all.
He had finally made his return from Neverland equipped with squid ink and a barrel full of dreamshade and no sooner than he stepped into his first tavern in centuries did he hear tales of the dark ones disappearance. From his knowledge- or rather, the poor souls he had strung up and tortured for information - there was supposed to be a dark curse cast on this whole miserable kingdom but it was stopped by a strong force of light magic. No one had any clue how it happened. All they knew was that it had scared off the evil queen - who hadn't been seen since then - and that the kingdom was saved. Rumour has it that the dark one had been freed from his prison and retreated back to his castle where he spent the rest of his days. That had been exactly twenty-eight years ago.
Hook was especially delighted to hear that last part. So, he mused, the crocodiles plan had been foiled so he spent decades wallowing in his own defeat. The thought practically made his heart sing. However, he thought, it still wasn't as cruel or tortuous as he deserved. He deserved pain, death, despair - everything he put Milah through.
From that moment, he hunted down the dark one's lair to finally complete his destiny in killing that monster.
It took weeks. He had to ditch his crew and trek through the woods alone,with nothing but his chosen weapons,but he finally reached the front of the worn down castle. From the outside, it looked grim and bleak but as soon as he snuck his way instead, he could see it was falling apart. The whole interior of the hallways and most of the rooms he darted by looked like they had been hit by Zeus's most fearsome storms. It gave him hope that the crocodile was more weak than the rumours portrayed. It was clear from his home and absence that he had given up. Hook was all too willing to put him out of his misery.
After minutes of searching as stealthily as he could, he finally heard movement in a nearby room. He crept up to the heavy door that was already cracked open and peered through. There he could see him. The Dark One. The bastards back was facing the door but that definitely had to be him. He was wearing a brown cloak with a hood covering his head as he fiddled around with a spinning wheel, working away rhythmically .
Hook briefly closed his eyes and sent a prayer to Milah, telling her that she was about to be avenged, before clutching his vial full of squid ink. He would freeze the bastard with this before running him through with his dreamshade-soaked hook. That would be sure to kill him.
Without wasting another second, he jumped into the room and splashed the figure with the ink before he had a chance to react. "Didn't think I'd ever best you, did you, Dark One?" He asked mockingly with a cruel laugh. He was running on a high now that he finally had an upperhand on Rumplestitlskin. "I told you I'd find a way to kill you." He gloated as he strutted up to him, hook raised at the ready to strike. "Any last words, crocodile?" He asked before grabbing the hood and snatching it away down.
What he expected was to see a weak, old man with eyes that begged for death. What he seen was waves of diamond white hair spilling out from the cloak and a beautiful face staring back at him stoically .
"How about, who the hell are you?" The woman sassed at him with a low, husky voice. Now he was in front of her, he could see what was clearly a goddess dressed in rags. Her cheekbones were high like a royals, her chin strong and defined, her lips full even when stretched into a scowl, her hair was unearthly, long and soft, so white it looked like it was shining - as did the rest of her face. She just seemed to radiate light. Her eyes, green and stormy, seemed to stare into his very soul, taking him apart piece by piece.
For the first time in centuries, Hook was genuinely taken aback. He shook his head slightly to rid himself of this sirens facade. Whoever this woman was, she was in the Dark One's castle. She had to know of his whereabouts.
"I think," He started again smoothly, as if he'd never stopped in the first place, He slipped back into his cocky exterior and waved the hook in front of her to intimate her into talking. "I should be asking you that, lass. After all, you did just waste my squid ink." He said with a dangerous, almost playful, tone to his voice.
Once again, the woman did not seem to be fazed or impressed by him whatsoever. "I must have missed the sign in front of the castle that tells strangers to sneak in here and splash me with their magical freezing potions." She retorted as sarcastically as humanly possible. This lass had a spark and while it amused him, it got him no closer to the crocodile.
"Funny." He commented dryly. "But unfortunately for you, I'm running on a time schedule. Tell me where the Dark One is and I'll spare your life." He offered her as his hand went to the belt of his sheath for his cutlass. He never could kill women or children even while bloodthirsty for his revenge and there was no difference now. However, there was no way the lass could know his bluff and he could rough her up a little until she was scared enough to tell him what he wanted to know.
Her eyebrow's furrowed together in what looked like confusion, not the initial reaction he expected from his threat, before she spoke again. "You mean Rumplestiltskin?" She questioned almost incredulously. He gave a huff and shot her an irritated look.
"Who else?" He questioned rhetorically. It seemed that for all the wit this woman seemed to have, her intelligence was to be questioned. Why the bloody hell else would he be in the Dark One's castle?
She remained quiet for an uncomfortable few seconds, glancing down at the spinning wheel before meeting his eyes again. "Rumplestiltskin hasn't been in this castle for almost thirty years and I sincerely doubt he ever will." She answered truthfully.
A red mist of anger clouded Hook's vision and he immediately kicked the spinning wheel so hard it broke upon impact to the floor. "Damn!" He cursed, turning to pace back and forth as he thought out his next move. Every time he thought he had that crocodile in his grasp, something like this happened. Now he was back to square one with no way how to track this bastard apart from a mystery woman who had more sass than sense.
Once he finally calmed down enough to string together a cohesive sentence, He knelt down until their faces were level with each other. "You're a very beautiful woman, you know." He started slowly, his words low and threatening, as he tracked his hook along her arm and up to her swan-like neck. "I'd hate to ruin such a pretty face..." He trailed off, holding the curve of his hook under her chin even though she couldn't look away even if she wanted to. It was just a show of power and dominance. "But I will if I don't get the answers I want." He promised darkly.
Her lips curled with disdain and the defiance in her eyes was stronger than ever. For a moment, he could swear that she was about to pounce on him - and not in the fun way either. Still, she never gave a witty reply so he started with his interrogation with something simple. "What's your name?" He asked with a self-satisfied smirk. He was so sure he had her right where he wanted her.
However he was starting to learn with this woman, she would always do the unexpected.
She spat at him.
He growled at her as he wiped the spit from his cheek. Brave lass, he couldn't help but think, lesser men had crumbled before him even with their mobility in tact.
He was in for a long night.