I own none of the characters. RWBY belongs to Rooster Teeth and Monty Oum (RIP); Once Upon a Time belongs to ABC studios and both Adam Horowitz & Edward Kitsis.

Chapter 1: Revelation

Mr. Gold's Pawnshop

Storybrooke, Maine, Present Day

Legends, stories scattered through time, Mankind has grown quite fond of recounting the exploits of heroes and villains, forgetting so easily that we are remnants, byproducts of a forgotten past. The Dark One knew how true this was as he sat behind the counter of his pawnshop, the dark-suited man closely examining the small Olympian Crystal that he had obtained the day before. He knew that soon he would use the crystal to wake up his beloved wife from the sleeping curse she had put herself under while they were in the Underworld, all he needed was the right opportunity to do so. Mr. Gold knew that he didn't need to worry about whether or not he could wake Belle up; after all, with all the power of previous Dark Ones he was the most powerful Dark One in all of eternity, no one besides the Saviour, Emma Swan, could possible keep the devious man at bay. It was as he thought out this that the Crystal accidentally slipped from his fingers and fell to the carpet below. Sighing in relief that it didn't break - then again, it was an Olympian Crystal, it probably wouldn't break - he bent down to pick up the crystal, only for his fingers to slip around something else.

That's odd, something must've fallen earlier when I was looking for the box, the Dark One thought to himself as he lifted up the object in his hands to see what it was. It was a vial with a mouth smaller than the spherical bottom, like most of the other vials that he used, but what stood out to Mr. Gold was what was contained inside, along with the piece of parchment attached to the cork on the vial. Within the vial was a dark red liquid, so dark that the liquid was almost black in colour. The piece of parchment was attached to the vial by a small piece of rope, but what made him realise where it was from was the symbol drawn onto the parchment itself, an elegantly drawn eye printed with red ink.

"Hmm, so that's were it was all this time," Mr. Gold thought aloud in dark remembrance as he recognised the vial, and what was inside.

How could I forget, the Dark One thought to himself as he examined the vial, there truly is only one who could best me.

Indeed there was, for while Mr. Gold knew that he was one of the most powerful beings in existence, there was one person, just one, who could certainly claim truth that she bested him. Some might believe that said person was Cora, but Mr. Gold knew that neither she nor her two daughters would be able to come that close, the three of them had even admitted that they couldn't. No, there was one who held that title, someone that used to be one of his apprentices, and was now was one of his worst rivals, someone who now despised his very existence.

He could hear her voice now, echoing words that she shouted when he abandoned her all those years ago, the words ringing in his mind, "You can't run from me forever, Dark One...you better be ready for we will meet again, and when that time comes you won't be able to escape defeat like you've done for so long...one day, Dark One, and I can't wait for that day to watch you burn for what you've done!"

Looking back, it would've been better to have never met her, Mr. Gold thought to himself as he picked the Olympian Crystal back up, if I didn't then I would've never created the monster that I did.

Mr. Gold could honestly acknowledge that it was one of few things he regretted doing, one many dangerous enemies that he could've done without, as he looked back to when and where it all began.

Unnamed Nomadic Village

Remnant, Many Years Ago

The young twenty-three year old woman ran through the woods as the cruel men chased her through the darkness. For most of her life she had been an outsider in her own village, ever since her parents died when she was a baby. The villagers that chased her now acted in hatred towards the girl since then, called her bad luck due to her name, which they believed was responsible for the death of her parents. Even the other orphans in the village avoided her, preferring to not be associated with someone who was now accused of being a witch. As the girl ran, she cursed herself for letting her emotions get the better of her earlier that night, causing the semblance that she kept hidden for ten years to lash out and injure one of the men chasing her. She knew that she shouldn't stop running, for if she did they would catch her and have her burned at the stake.

It wasn't like it was extremely rare to have an aura and a semblance, nor did anyone in the village not know about something like that. In fact, the reason why this orphaned woman was being chased down was due to the horrid, unnatural nature of her semblance itself. The brown-haired girl could hear the shouts of the men, indicating that the men were getting close. I must keep running, must keep running, she chanted over and over in her mind as she ran through the trees for her life. She could swear that she could see things out of the corners of her green eyes, eyes of beasts hidden in the woods, moving statues, a man in a red cloak, but she paid them no mind. Must not let them catch me, must not let them catch me, she thought to herself, panic spreading through her as she heard the shouts getting closer.

Without warning a tree stump filled her vision, and before she could react she tripped over the stump. The woman cried out in pain as she landed, glancing down to find her ankle twisted from the fall.

"Over there, I heard someone scream!" she heard one of the villagers cry out, and the girl knew that she was done for.

Before long she was surrounded by the five villagers that were chasing her, five burly men that argued with her at the town pub.

"There she is, the little bitch," the leader growled as two of them yanked her up on her feet, causing her to cry out in pain again.

When one of the men asked what they should do to her now that they had her, the leader chuckled and replied, "Well, the mayor did put a bounty on her after she ran, but that doesn't mean to say that we should bring her back in one piece."

"Yeah, maybe you're right," one of the grunts holding her interjected, "maybe we should have some fun with her first."

The other men whistled in reply, but the leader calmed them down and stated, "Na, she'd probably blast us into oblivion if we tried that; no, I think we should set up a stake and burn her here and now!"

As the men laughed in agreement and proceeded to pull out some rope, childish laughter was suddenly heard from all around them.

"I hate to crash the party, but I couldn't help but ask what you were doing to the poor lady there," a stranger's voice spoke up from behind the villagers.

As the villagers turned to face the newcomer, the girl could make out what she saw in the dark; a short man wearing a blood red cloak with an enormous hood.

There were gasps of shock and surprise, and the young woman heard one of the grunts shout, "It's him, it's the Dark One!"

So the Dark One does exist, the girl thought to herself, but why is he interested in what these men are trying to do?

"Aye, that would be me," the dark One, for it was such, replied in an almost childlike voice, "now if you could answer my question that would be nice."

"This orphan is a witch, a monster like yourself," the leader of the villagers grumbled in reply, "she will be burned at the stake."

"Oh really?" the imp inquired, a curious tone in his voice, "And why is she accused as a witch?"

"She attacked my friend with black magic similar to your own," the leader answered in anger, "she caused dark figures in the pub to strike him down where he stood."

"No need to tell me that, I assure you I was there," the Dark One interjected, "and how do you know that it was indeed black magic, and not something as simple as her semblance; surely there are others in your village that have an aura and a semblance, do they not?"

"Enough, I have had enough bargaining with you devils and witches," the leader growled as he unsheathed his sword, "now stand aside and leave us be, so we can continue our execution!"

"Oh, but I haven't shown you the actual difference between semblances and magic, dearie," the Dark One snarled as he revealed a dagger with many curves in the blade in his hand, "this here, this is black magic."

Before anybody could react there was a puff of black smoke as the Dark One magically teleported behind the two grunts holding the young woman. With a wave of his hand an invisible force pushed them off of her, sending the two men into a nearby tree with a loud crack.

As the two villagers fell to the ground dead, the leader growled at the robed man in disgust and said, "How dare you, Dark One?"

"Really, that's the best you come up with?" the Dark One asked with a hint of darkness in his voice, "It might as well be that I kill you all!"

With that he teleported again, this time in front of another villager, whom he proceeded to slash open their throat before teleporting to do the same elsewhere. Again and again he teleported and either broke the villager's necks or slashed open their throats. Soon the leader of the group was the only one of the villagers left alone, finding himself unable to move due to terror as the Dark One helped the poor young woman to her feet.

As the robed man glanced over to the villager, the two could hear the terrified man ask, "A-are you going to kill me too?"

"Oh, I'm not going to kill you," the Dark One growled, "at least, not yet!"

Before the defenceless man could even move, he cried out in pain as the Dark One ripped out the leader's heart.

"What shall happen, however," the robed man stated as he held the glowing red heart up, "is you're going to walk back to that village now, and you're going to tell them what you saw here tonight; then, you shall get what you deserve."

The man, seemingly unable to control his actions, turned around and started walking back the way they came.

When the villager disappeared, the Dark One turned to the woman and said, "No need for you to return the favour, I'm sure there's nothing you have that I need."

"But I can't go back there, not after what happened," the woman stated in protest, concerned as to what would happen now.

"Exactly, which is why you're coming with me, dearie," the robed man said, and then continued, "so, I'm sure you would like to know my name."

"Yes, that I wouldn't mind," she said as she leaned sideways to read the name on the Dark One's Dagger, "but exactly do I even pronounce that name if it's what's written on the dagger?"

"Allow me to help you with that," the Dark One said as he made an exaggerated bow, "the name's Rumplestiltskin, now I believe you tell me yours."

"I prefer to be called Sally," the woman replied, pain glazing over her eyes, "I hate my actual name, my parents thought it was a lovely name for me to have, but the other villagers said my very name is bad luck, especially after they passed away not long after I was born."

Rumplestiltskin laughed and then asked, "Oh, it can't be that bad; and what, dearie may I ask, is your real name?"

The young woman was silent, and the Dark One was sure she wouldn't answer. When she did, though, the Dark One suddenly got a glimpse into the future, and he could tell that this seemingly innocent girl was destined for darkness, a name that he knew that he must have this girl as an apprentice.

She said, "My last name is Wichita, but my first name, my real first name, is Salem."

A/N: Dun Dun DUN! And that's how you end a chapter.

Hello everybody, my name is Eragon and welcome to my new story, Eye of the Beholder, a crossover of RWBY and Once Upon A Time, featuring everyone's favourite sorcerer, Rumplestiltskin! So, did anybody actually expect the mysterious woman in the chapter to be Salem? Okay, if you did I'm not surprised, but if you didn't, well now you know. If you asked me a month ago who my favourite RWBY villain was, I'd say Neo, but after listening to Divide over and over (to a point of obsession, I'm sure!), along with getting to see her get some plotting done in the beginning of Volume 4, I'd be lying if I didn't say that I find characters like Salem interesting. I always love the villains that are two to three steps ahead of the main characters, the criminal masterminds behind the chaos in any series. Plus there's the air of mystery behind Salem, and the possibility that she is some sort of Hive Queen that makes characters like her interesting.

Speaking of smart villains, is there anyone reading that's a fellow OUAT fan? Now, for those who've got their figurative hands up, who just can't help but love Rumplestiltskin? Yeah, I can't help but love Rumple too, he definitely influences most of the story's within Once, so one day I thought, what if Rumple influenced the history of Remnant, too? Therefore, this little story exists

Anyways, before I go, I'm going to let you guys know that Eye of the Beholder will also be leaving clues for Prophecy until December, like what I'm already doing with the others. So, here's your next clue: the first thing in Prophecy that will be mentioned will be the end of dark times for the White Fang, and the rise of a new organisation known as Horizon, led by a familiar (and obviously bad) Faunus. Go look for the other clues.

As always, thank you so much for reading, and you know what to do. Leave a review, favourite/follow, you know the drill. Also, if anybody is capable of being a Beta Reader and wants to do so for this story, send me a PM and we'll see what we can do. Don't forget to read Eclipse, Team MJJK, and RWBY: HHN, if you haven't already, and go looking for those clues for Prophecy. Thanks again for reading, and God Speed!