So I have never done a OUAT story before and I just had this idea. Depending on how it is received I may or may not continue. *Set after season 3 episode 13*
The darkness was everywhere, but it was welcomed. I remember the basement. The chains. The torment. I don't know how I made it out but I did. One minute I was in the basement, the next I was standing outside surrounded by the woods. Then I remember running.
After that nothing. The darkness is beautiful. Before, I hated the darkness. Now it was a blissful respite. Whatever was to happen, at least I could die freely in the darkness if that was to be my fate.
Robin was hunting in the woods near the Merry men's camp site. Trying to distract himself from the Wicked Witch and Little John's transformation into a flying monkey. His best friend was gone, and he didn't know if they would ever get him back. He was beginning to think life was simpler back in the Enchanted Forest.
The light snowfall from the night before crunched beneath his boots. Turning the corner he spied a deer. He readied his bow and stayed silent so not to spook the creature. A twig snapped beneath his foot. Mentally cursing himself Robin expected the deer to sprint away to safety.
Only it didn't.
The creature was more interested in something else before it. Following the animals line of sight, Robin glanced at what was so captivating.
The breath in his body stuck in his lungs. He saw a body lying on the snow covered ground. The deer fled as Robin ran closer. Burnt copper hair stained with dirt and filth covered the face. Gently he pushed the hair aside. It was a girl, no a woman. But she seemed so young, especially in her present state. Her deathly pale face was marred by bruises of varying colors and dried blood, while harsh red scratches and black bruises formed under her left eye. Her clothes were torn and ragged, almost as dirty as her face.
Robin checked her neck. She was breathing, but she was freezing. He had no idea how long this battered woman had been out here.
"Miss? Miss can you hear me?" Robin called to her.
Nothing.
Not knowing if there were more injuries on her, Robin slowly and carefully picked up the woman cradling her in his arms. Her grime stained long sleeves lifted up revealing deep lacerations on her wrists tinted ugly shades of a reddish-purple.
"Men!" Robin called into the open, hoping the camp would hear him, "Men!" Yelling again, "Help!"
Within a few moments their trusted faces appeared.
"Robin what is it?" Friar Tuck asked as they all ran into the distance stopping when they saw the woman in their leader's arms.
"Someone run and get Emma and David, quickly, tell them to meet us at the hospital." Giving them the order and then watching them disperse.
The woman stirred in his arms.
"Hello, Miss can you hear me?" Asking once again. She gave a pathetic attempt at a push to get out of his arms. Her eyes didn't open.
"No. I won't go back. Kill me here, but I won't go back there." She pleaded in a dry, cracked voice then fell limp again.
His heart lurched at her words, his mind racing as to who could hurt her so.
"Who is she Robin?" Friar Tuck asked him as they made their way out of the woods to the hospital.
"I have no idea." He replied staring at the broken body in his arms, wondering who could harm a human thusly.