Another day another deal, frankly Rumple needed an interesting deal not the usual help-us-we're-dying ones. He'd made his latest with a farmer whose daughter was dying, in return for saving young Lucy 's life the farmer would hand over the horseshoe that had been in his family for generations, it seemed useless to the farmer but that was because he had no magic. Unfortunately for the Dark One what ailed the little girl was slightly harder to cure than a flamboyant wave of his hand and a few days in bed, to keep his end of the bargain he had to make a potion, the key ingredient of which w as Lyroot which only grew in Drider Forest. Long ago back when Rumple had been mortal it had been known as Bear Forest on account of how many of the things roamed the wood, but then the Driders had infested the trees and killed all the bears; with that Drider Forest had been born.
Lucy's father knew he stood no chance against the terrifying creatures and had two other daughters to think about, that was the only reason he'd consented to the Dark One's deal at all. No mortal in their right mind entered Drider Forest, and on the off chance that someone did it was highly unlikely they'd come out alive. However, Rumpelstiltskin was no mortal man he was an omnipotent monster and feared no Drider.
Thick canopy high above his head blocked out most of the sunlight keeping everything dark and eerie, occasional whistles reverberated off the trees a hardly there reminder that danger lurked everywhere and rain came down hard. It always rained in Drider Forest so he pulled his hood up . Rumple walked through the forest in search of the Lyroot – a horrid tasting substance that looked rather similar to ginger – while taking care not to step on any silk tripwires hungry Driders may have set.
Lyroot had always been hard to find and even with his magic Rumple found himself struggling to locate any until finally, finally , he came across some nestled in a small clearing surrounded by web; the whole set up screamed trap. Any human would have been stuck in seconds but Rumpelstiltskin found it rather easy to get through even in his thick dragon hide coat. He easily pulled the fowl smelling root from the ground and brushed off the soil, some of which got stuck underneath his sharp black claws. He had the Lyroot and was just about to stand back up when suddenly a gargantuan Drider dropped down from the canopy and knocked him to the ground, Rumpelstiltskin actually found himself a little impressed that it had managed to sneak up on him.
She hissed violently but Rumpelstiltskin knew she couldn't see his unimpressed expression under his hood. There was no way he was going to be eaten by a giant bloody spider, so with a single wave of his hand she went flying across the clearing and into a moss covered tree. Rumple rose to his feet and brushed himself off, he wasn't stupid, he'd heard the painful crack that meant one – possibly even two – broken legs. That Drider wasn't going to launch at him again if she knew what was good for her. The Dark One watched with just a hint of curiosity as she tried to stand but she couldn't support her full weight on only six legs, the creature fell to the ground beside the tree and let out a yelp of pain.
Well, he had things to do, deals to make, but when Rumple raised his hand to kill her and be on his merry way something happened that forced him to a halt.
"Please don't kill me!"
Did she just speak? Driders couldn't speak, they communicated via chirps, hisses and a strange little click noise, they didn't speak.
"You can talk." Stated Rumple in amazement, his eyebrows raised as he pulled the hood down to really look at her.
"Please don't kill me!" She pleaded again and shuffled desperately backwards against the tree. "I know I'm a monster but please don't kill me."
This Drider was afraid of him and that meant she was intelligent; only idiots chose to be unafraid of him . The big powerful Drider was scared of a human, an incredibly powerful human but still. From the waist upwards she was just a terrified young woman with flowing auburn hair, porcelain skin and tears running down her face . Rumpelstiltskin knew all too well what it was like to be a monster and this girl didn't strike him as one despite her eight large black legs that glistened in the rain.
"I'll let you live today, little Drider. I don't usually let anyone live, remember that, dearie."
He gestured towards her broken legs to heal them and then he was gone, vanished in a puff of purple-green smoke.
~X~
Rumple had concluded his deal with the farmer the next day, collected his horseshoe and added it to his collection. He sipped his tea and enjoyed the fact Regina hadn't bothered him in almost two weeks – which meant she was probably gearing up for her usual 'I want Snow dead' speech yet again – clearly she'd not learnt that if she wanted the girl dead she shouldn't have fed her poison apples or sleeping curses or bloody monologuing, she should have just killed her. However, despite all that, the Dark One found his mind constantly returning to the strange little Drider he'd spared in the forest, Rumple was curious about her to say the least. He'd lived a very long time and never heard of a Drider speaking ; t hey weren't like Mermaids. Finding curiosity had gotten the better of him Rumple set aside his half drunk tea and poofed up to his tower to go through his books. He possessed a fairly ancient leather bound book that he'd taken off of the great and powerful Oz, though Rumpelstiltskin wasn't too sure what exactly was so great and powerful about him, he was just a magic-less idiot.
The golden-green skinned man flicked through the thick, off-white pages until he came to an ink drawing of a Drider. The section wasn't that substantial and didn't really contain anything interesting or that he didn't already know, Rumple wanted to know more about the species though. He picked up a small scrap of parchment and scribbled down three words, my castle now, then sent it off to its recipient with a small flourish of his right hand; Rumple knew he'd not be kept waiting long.
Sure enough by the time he'd returned to his cooling tea and his spinning wheel Jefferson appeared dressed in his usual black leather coat and top hat over messy hair.
"You called." Grinned the Mad Hatter. "What can I and my hat do for you, Rumple?"
The younger man waisted no time helping himself to tea while Rumpelstiltskin leaned himself against the large, dark wood table.
"There is a certain book that belongs to the Sultan of Agrabah, all about Driders. He has it in his collection somewhere, fetch it for me."
"Sure, but why not do it yourself?" Asked Jefferson as he gulped down his tea. "It would probably be quicker."
"You're talking yourself out of gold, Jefferson." Grinned Rumpelstiltskin. "And yes, I could get in and out quicker but I have no idea exactly where it is, I also have things to do. You can skulk around Agrabah and search for it."
"Fine, book all about Driders, easy."
"Good, help yourself to as much gold as you deep appropriate upon your return, dearie ." He giggled. "Have fun in Agrabah."
"I hate sand but it's better than bloody Wonderland. I'll be back with your book soon." Jefferson made to walk away but stopped and turned back a few feet from the door. "If I get caught looking for a book-"
"You want me to come sailing to your rescue, I know, dearie. Off you go."
The realm jumper bid Rumple a good-day with one of those scoundrel smiles of his then vanished off into his hat leaving the Dark One to his own thoughts. He'd intended to spin at his wheel but soon found himself back in his chair with a second cup of tea in one hand while the fingers of his other drummed against the hard wood; his mind repeatedly returning to the strange Drider. How had she even heard enough human speech to learn to talk? He'd not even been aware they were capable of communication beyond their chirps and whistles, then again no one had ever studied such the dangerous creatures before. Maybe Driders were more than just mindless beasts, the one he'd come across had managed to sneak up on him with ease and had clearly been intelligent.
Suddenly Rumpelstiltskin shook his head to throw thoughts of the giant spider from his mind, and set back to work. He didn't care about the creature unless she was useful to him... and she wasn't.