Of Tainted Stars
Chapter 1:
Unknown Realm: Unknown Time
"...No. That can't...be...but he's..." The fair-haired woman stammered, her eyes wide. They widened further, and flitted from the man, who cowered in pain on the cobblestone, to the hooded figure holding the former's heart.
The figure stared at the heart, squeezing it lightly just to hear the man whimper.
"Stop it! You'll kill him!" The woman demanded, readying her magic when the figure ignored her. She swallowed, her heart racing and her stomach clenched. "I said stop!"
The heart went flying as she used her magic, as did the hooded figure.
Storybrooke:
The chirping of birds amid the green pines and towering oaks welcomed a pair of dark hazelnut eyes as they fluttered open. Their owner, lying curled up beneath a sable-hued blanket, slowly stretched out her arms in response to the bright sun peering down through the greenery.
"Hm?" She turned, lying now on her back as she stared up at the sun. It was so bright, so warm, and the blanket around her so comfortable, that a strange thought occurred to her. Existence was nice.
A twig snapped loudly to her right and she jolted, scrambling to her feet to meet whatever threat approached. Her hand was already grasping for the dagger sheathed at her side when she paused, her eyes widening. She swallowed, her eyes darting around at her surroundings as she thought.
"Hey! Hey. It's all right." A voice reassured her, familiar yet not. It did sound warm though, and nonthreatening. The true kind of nonthreatening, unlike the kind meant simply to disarm. "I don't mean any harm. You're not hurt, are you?"
"I..." She shook her head, allowing the man to help her up. Her sable blanket fell as she did so, revealing a tattered shirt and trousers, whose thin fabric did little to protect against the early morning air.
"You must be freezing! Here." The man picked up her blanket and hesitated, noting that this too was thin and of little use against the approaching autumn. She took the blanket from the man abruptly and wrapped it around herself. The man flinched at the action, his eyes widening from surprise and self-reproach. "Sorry. I shouldn't've...here. You should wear my jacket, that blanket can't possibly be warm enough."
Her hazel gaze studied the man silently as he spoke. It took a moment, sorting through her thoughts that seemed so much like a smog-choked mire, before realization dawned on her. "Oh. I...thank you." She replied, accepting the jacket. The coolness of the air just starting to chill her. It felt...it felt...
She chewed on her lip, and pulled both the blanket and the jacket even tighter around herself.
"It's all right. Why don't we get you to Granny's and you can warm up with some new clothes and hot chocolate." The man smiled, motioning to a road nearby with a truck parked on the side. His smile wavered when he heard the quick gasp of pain coming from her lips after just two steps. He gaped in concern when he noticed that all that covered her feet were thin scraps of fabric. "Are you all right?! Let me help."
"I..." She started to shake her head again, but flinched as a stone dug into her foot. Instead she allowed the man to help her, which entailed him carrying her until they reached the less hazardous asphalt. "Thank you."
"No problem. It's my job as sheriff to help the people of this town. The name's David. And you are?"
"I...a...Al...le...Al..." She mumbled as she climbed into the passenger side of the truck, the chilly air causing her to shiver. Her teeth chattered, interrupting her attempt to answer succinctly.
"...Alex?" David asked, turning up the heater after getting into the driver's seat.
"Nn...no...Al...hm." She shook her head, her eyes fluttering close. "...Tired..."
"Hey! Ale..." David started to speak, but she didn't catch what he said as she drifted back into the arms of slumber.
0
"Well, who is she?" Regina asked or rather demanded. A few hours had passed since David found the strange young woman in the woods near the edge of town. In a small alcove just a stone's throw away from a cabin that had caught fire the night before.
"No idea. We thought maybe you did. Perhaps she's in the town records..."
"That's only if she was brought over during the first curse. And I doubt it." Regina replied, her crisp tone irritating David and Snow who stood before her. They seemed about to object, when she continued. "I know the layout of Storybrooke. I designed it. And that cabin that burned down last night, was not part of the original design. So if this stranger has any connection to it, she won't be in any of the town records. Not the original ones anyway."
Snow opened her mouth, staring askance at Regina as she thought. "She could be from the Land of Untold Stories. Maybe she came over and just remained living in the woods."
"That is possible. Though that doesn't explain how that cabin suddenly appeared. Or how it burned down."
"...Maybe she built it?" David offered, only for both women to give him a look, though Regina's was the more judgmental.
"She built an entire cabin but didn't mend her clothes? Or find some sort of decent foot wear?" Regina scoffed, though she halted the rest of her snarky comment from leaving her lips.
Snow gave Regina a look, a bit irritated at the tone directed towards her husband. Though, she did agree with the other woman, that it was unlikely that someone who could build a cabin wouldn't do something about finding better clothing. Besides, the strange woman's hands and feet were smooth, showing no sign of the callouses one would expect a carpenter to bear. Especially one who could skillfully build a cabin.
"Look. After everything that's happened recently, I really don't want to argue. I'm sure you two don't either." Regina spoke, while Snow and David sighed and agreed.
"We should wait until she wakes up. Once she's rested and recovered, we can ask her her name and figure things out from there." David conceded, mulling over things. "Until then...we should investigate the fire like we were before she appeared."
"You're right." Snow replied, smiling though it was more a brave face smile rather than a happy one. "I'm going to go check on Neal." She started to walk away, her face faltering slightly when out of view.
Unknown Realm: Unknown Time
The fair-haired woman watched in horror as both the heart and the hooded figure went flying, her eyes wide. Without a thought, she rushed forward, trying to use her magic to stop the heart's descent and bring it towards her.
It was a struggle, her magic wavering - bending to some law or force that was foreign to her. She managed, however, to slow the heart's descent enough that it landed with a soft thud rather than smashed into pieces. Her chest heaving from adrenaline and the effort it took to use her magic, she glanced at the cowering man. He no longer seemed in pain, at least not as much as before, though he was clearly exhausted.
"...are you okay? I'll be back with your heart in..." She reassured the man while heading towards where the crystallized red organ had landed. As she hurried, she glanced at the hooded figure and paused. It was brief, barely lasting a few moments, but long enough for the man to grab her leg.
"No! Don't you hurt..." The man wheezed and hissed, his fingers wrapped firmly around her ankle. His eyes flitted from her to the hooded figure who was slowly recovering. "Don't..."
"I'm not. I won't." She cried, tempted to use her magic to get the man to let go.
"...she's the only one I have left. Please." The man pleaded, his voice pitiful and ragged. His eyes stared up into hers. "Don't."
"I..."
Storybrooke: Present
Hazelnut eyes opened abruptly to a quiet room, lit only by the glow of the stars through the window. They stared at the ceiling, studying it before realizing what it was.
"Ah." The eyes' owner, the young woman David had found, mouthed. She took in a deep breath, then another, her gaze shifting to the starry sky. It took a moment longer for her to realize that her clothing had been changed, and her bruised feet bandaged. "Huh?"
Tossing off the blanket, she inspected her new clothing. It was nothing special, just a shirt and pajama bottoms, but they felt warm. Much more comfortable than the raggedy shirt and trousers she had on earlier. Her feet felt even better, having been cleaned and bandaged.
Her lips twitched, the next second her jaw tightening. Her eyes shot open and she searched around the room with them.
"Where is it?" She muttered, getting to her feet and heading to the dresser. Throwing open the drawers, she rummaged through its contents, mumbling to herself. Not finding what she was searching for there, she switched to the chest at the foot of her bed. Then the wardrobe.
Her frantic movements carried through the quiet of the night, and it didn't take long for someone to knock at her door.
"Are you all right? Is something wrong?" Ruby asked, opening the door.
"Where is it? Where did it go? Did you do something with it? Where..." The unnamed woman demanded, her voice becoming increasingly agitated.
"Where is what? What are you looking for?"
"It was with me. When I got here. It was..." The woman muttered, pulling away when Ruby approached to try to calm her.
"Calm down. All right. What are you looking for?"
"M...the..." She froze, her expression changing as her brain caught up with her surroundings. Her hazelnut eyes quickly turned stoic and she shook her head. "Nothing. It's nothing."
"It doesn't look like it was nothing." Ruby scoffed, shaking her head. Her gaze taking in the haphazard state of the room.
"It...sorry. It must've been left behind. It's...I just..." The woman sat down, thinking, her eyes drifting around the room. "Sorry. I'll straighten up." She mumbled, and started to tidy up the dresser drawers, her lips twitching.
Ruby smiled, not mirthfully, but rather in part relief and part disbelief. "It's late so you should wait until morning to..." She groaned when she heard footsteps and Granny called out, asking about the unnamed woman.
"Is she awake? If she is, tell her we have some leftover pie and soup if she's hungry."
"Yes, Granny." Ruby called back, grimacing. She turned back towards the stranger. "You probably heard that, but anyway if you're hungry there's food downstairs."
"I'm good, I..." The unnamed woman muttered, flashing a masking smile. The furtive way she darted her eyes around and then chewed on her inner cheek, it was clear her mind was still on the item from earlier.
"Are you sure you don't need help...If this item is that important perhaps..."
The stranger shook her head and interrupted Ruby before she could finish her suggestion. "No. It's fine. It...it can wait until I eat. I probably should eat." She mumbled the last bit more to herself than to Ruby. A slightly more mirthful smile graced her lips as she faced Ruby and her eyes took the other woman fully for the first time. "Y...you...you are?"
"Ruby. In the Enchanted Forest I was known as Red. I..."
"...this isn't the Enchanted Forest?"
"No." Ruby shook her head. "Storybrooke."
"Ah...ok." The stranger paused and mulled over Ruby's response. It seemed that she wanted to ask another question, but she pursed her lips and remained quiet a moment.
"...I'll show you where the kitchen is, um...?" Ruby said, her tone hinting towards her question though it took a few moments longer than she expected for the stranger to respond.
"I k...oh, I...yeah." The stranger mumbled, smiling slightly. She grimaced, her brain whirling with how to answer. "I'm Al...um...Alessia... Nice to meet you." She absentmindedly rubbed her wrist before picking at her fingernails, and only stopped her fidgeting when she followed Ruby downstairs.