It had been the third- no, the fourth time this week, that she had been out drowning her system with alcohol. The Rabbit Hole was such an eerie spot – and to Mulan, eerie nowadays was the best place to just let herself go.
It had been over around three weeks since the second curse was enacted, and though they couldn't remember the past year they had spent in the Enchanted Forest, the newcomers seemed to adapt well to their alien surroundings – with the help of course, from the people who've been living in Storybrooke for the past twenty-nine years.
It was one of the Charmings, Snow White, who had enough heart to show her around town, not leaving out a single detail about what the foreign-looking infrastructures were for. Some were healing centers which were called clinics, another was a very polished shop, ground made out of marble tiles – a convenience store. Snow pointed out the restaurants, which Mulan insisted to call eateries. And of course, The Rabbit Hole, which was not a restaurant, but a place one can drink and dine - at their own risk. Needless to say, Snow White did not fail to mention that it was actually just this world's version of a pub full of rowdy people.
By the time the tour was over, Mulan's interest was piqued enough to go to this Rabbit Hole that Snow White had warned her about. The music's too loud, she said. And the counter is a bit too sticky for my liking, Snow's voice bounced around the warrior's mind.
After much speculation, she decided to go anyway. And some few days after. And then again.
And now here she was, leaving the bar at three A.M., exerting great effort to walk back – or rather crawl back – to the local evacuation center, where all the newcomers stayed while the Savior's men figured out how to lift the curse. The center wasn't much, but each family got a separate room. And since she lived alone, she was allocated a room with a single bed space. It was a far cry from sleeping in unsturdy huts or on the cold soil in a rainforest, to which she was grateful to the Charmings for. It was after all, still their kingdom and they didn't so much as overlook the needs of their people: needs, which included steady-paying jobs.
She was given the task of guarding the town line, along with Robin Hood's Merry Men and sometimes the queen. Except for the occasional slaying of flying primates, the job had been relatively easy due to their strength in number. Every once in a while she would stare into space as she eats pancakes or waffles at Granny's, thinking about what more life has to offer than just swords and body armour.
Today was an exception. She had chosen not to think the entire day and simply live in the present – to get to know the people around, make alliances.
Going home with quite a lot of alcohol in her system, she stumbled on her toes, and should she have been sober, she would've cursed at herself for losing her balance so easily. But she wasn't. That was why at the sight of a massive grey wolf, the only action she came up with was to pick up the nearest rock – well, pebble – she saw and hurl it at the canine. It was the closest thing next to logical. Plus, she carried neither weapon nor armor, and there wasn't anything around that closely resembled something to fend off a rabid beast. And she was drunk so if all else failed, she thought maybe throwing up on the wolf might scare it off.
"What dishonor," her speech slurred, "to attack an unarmed opponent."
The wolf exhaled through its mouth, as though scoffing.
"You dare challenge a warrior such as myself?" Mulan spoke again, this time putting on a fighting stance that would have looked ridiculous to anyone watching because a.) she was drunk off of her ass and no way could she beat a large ferocious hound with her bare hands; and b.) most of the people in Storybrooke knew that it was just Ruby doing her routine run around the town.
Ruby turned her back to the seemingly self-righteous woman, heading towards the diner where she would phase back to her human form.
"You're a problem for anoth-" the warrior was cut off by her own stomach betraying her, letting loose the pints of alcohol she had downed earlier.
With the sound of retching and grunting (and of course her extremely heightened sense of hearing), Ruby failed to put up with leaving the helpless "warrior" to her lonesome. Which was why she sauntered back to her, somewhat pitying the girl for looking so… vulnerable.
The wolf stepped from Mulan's side, and cautiously pressed her muzzle against the woman's leg. She was very careful not to bare her teeth so as not to provoke the vomiting stranger.
Eventually Mulan settled, barely being able to stand.
"You're not evil, are you?" Mulan challenged, crouching down to pet the hound. "You smell like Cinnamon and maple syrup."