The thundering of hooves filled his ears as he rode out towards the sea, leaving behind the reminders of the things he had lost. Combined with the whistling of the wind, he didn't even hear anyone calling after him until he slowed, and then, with a start, pulled up on the reigns so suddenly the horse neighed with contempt.

"Bloody hell, lass! You trying to get yourself trampled?"

A smiled stretched on her crimson lips, and she gave a derisive snort of laughter at the thought. "Please, you and that horse of yours couldn't trample me if you were trying." Killian's brow furrowed as he watched the red-cloaked woman approach, the she-wolf from Storybrooke, his eyes gliding over her curvaceous form appreciatively as she drew near his steed. "You sure didn't waste any time getting away."

"What is it, someone stubbed their toe and they need me to come running to the rescue? As I said, love, I tried the hero thing, it's just-" Ruby raised a hand, shaking her head slightly.

"That's not why I'm here… although from what I heard you didn't muck it up too badly." She said, reaching out her hand towards the horse's muzzle as she approached, giving him an affectionate rub. Killian wasn't sure if he should be offended or not, but her next words stopped him from worrying about that. "I want to go with you."

The look that crossed Killian's face then was one of disbelief and even a little dismay as he looked down at her, still patting the horse's nose. "We've met what, once? What would make a lady like yourself want to abscond with a pirate she doesn't even know?"

"That's the thing, isn't it? I'm not a lady," she shrugged, she was many things, but she'd never felt like she belonged at Snow's lavish balls, wining and dining with those who had known privilege all their lives. "And I've never done well inside stone walls. I want to see the world!" She smiled, and Killian couldn't help but be reminded of another dark haired beauty who had asked him to show her the world.

Killian glanced up, clearing his head of damsels looking for adventure on the high sea, looking for an excuse to send her on her way. "Snow and the prince are planning to take back their kingdom… don't you want to stay with your family? What about your Gran? Don't you want to build a life for yourself, instead of just… gallivanting around with a known brigand?"

She looked up at him, a light in her eyes, something like hope as she took a deep breath. "I've lived that life for longer than I ever planned to… I've wanted to run away for a long time ago, but I've stayed because they needed me to. And I'll always be there when they need me, but the thing is… they don't anymore. I can finally start living… for me." She smiled, but Killian frowned.

"The life of a pirate isn't exactly suitable for everyone. I know, I make it look easy, but it's a hard life, and it requires a certain…" he paused, looking for the word. "…amorality that you seem to lack."

Ruby lifted an eyebrow, the hope in her eyes quickly replaced by incredulity. "This coming from the guy who gave up his aspirations of revenge and risked his life to save a little boy?" Killian shifted uncomfortably, as though the memory of doing 'the right thing' stung. "I'm not as innocent as you might think, Captain."

He sighed, looking for a way out. "Have you even ever been on a ship before? What if you get seasick?"

"I guess then I'll have to give up and go home. But until then… admit it, you could use some company." Something in her eyes… he knew she was right. He didn't want to spend more time with David and the others, they reminded him too much of Emma, but looking down at her, he was reminded of something else… of a hunger he'd felt long ago.

Killian was known for his ruthlessness on the high seas, he was the infamous Captain Hook, he showed no quarter to his enemies and felt no remorse for his misdeeds, and yet, looking down into those big, bright eyes, shimmering with hope, it kindled something in him he hadn't felt in some time, and before he was quite sure what he wanted, he was reaching down his hand toward her. "All right, I don't suppose having you along could hurt… but you'd best make yourself useful, or I'll toss you over the side of the ship without a moment's hesitation."

The smile he received in return was among the brightest he had ever seen, and she nodded, taking the offered hand and letting him help her climb up behind him on the horse. He waited until she was settled, her hands light on his waist, before he nudged the horse forward with his heels.

"See? Already making myself useful." She boasted with a toss of her thick curls, turning one of the rabbits she had caught over the fire, and he had to admit that roasting meat had never smelled so good.

"It does smell good… what was that you put on it?" He asked, reaching out towards the spit only to receive a sharp rap on the wrist and withdraw his hand with an indignant glare.

"It's just an herbal rub, Granny taught me how to make it." She was surprised she still remembered it, after twenty-eight years in Storybrooke, but she supposed you just never forgot the things you learned when you were young. Lucky for her, since she doubted there'd be many grocery stores from here on out. "So… any idea where your boat might be?"

"Ship." He corrected her, sighing when she looked at him with confusion. "She's a ship, not a boat. And I thought we'd start in the last place I saw her in this world, and go from there." He shrugged, they'd return to where he and Cora had left through the portal, and hope that the ship had gone back there… and was safely anchored in place, not set adrift on the oceans of the world.

Ruby nodded, watching the rabbits roast for a while longer, before she pulled them free and gave him one of the two. He nodded gratefully, tearing off a bit of flesh with his teeth. It was good, apparently the wench knew what she was doing. At least he'd be able to eat well on this journey, since she'd proven she could hunt too, when she'd caught the rabbits to begin with. He should have expected as much of a wolf. He was just thinking how she might come in handy on the journey, when his head started spinning. He blinked, shaking his head slightly as though to clear it, but his vision only seemed to get increasingly blurry as the fingers trembled, the rabbit falling to the ground. He heard his name before shadows swam in front of his eyes, and it all went dark.

"Killian?" Ruby watched the pirate captain slump over, and it was only by virtue of her wolf speed that she managed to catch him before he went face-first into the fire. "Killian?" She repeated, easing him down onto the ground. He was sweating and his breathing was laboured, and Ruby looked around, eyes frantic. She hadn't taken a bite of her rabbit yet, but now she picked it up, sniffing it quickly, she winced, suddenly brought back to Granny's lectures about herbs.

There was a type of herb that had two varieties… one of them was great for cooking. The other, more uncommon variety, was great for making corpses out of your dinner guests. Ruby swore under her breath, this was not a great way to start her grand adventure. Killian was wheezing on the ground now, and Ruby was panicking, trying to remember what else Granny had said about that herb. There had to be a way to reverse the effect! Think, Ruby, think… and it struck her.

There was an herb that could counter the poisonous effects, and it grew on riverbanks. Without a second more of hesitation, she bolted with wolf speed to the river where she had collected water earlier, hunting along the river bank for the small, yellow-leafed herb that would save Killian's life.

She did manage to find it… sitting pretty on the opposite bank, with only the furiously rushing water standing between her and it. She glanced up and down the banks, wondering if there was anywhere else she might cross where the water wasn't so fast, and then ruling it out because Killian could be dead by the time she got back. Finally steeling herself, she decided that if anyone could do this, it was probably a werewolf, and so she pulled off her boots and plunged her foot into the icy water, cringing only slightly.

By the time she reached the middle of the river, the current would have been strong enough to pull anyone off their feet… anyone who didn't possess both Ruby's strength and speed, at least. At least the water was shallow here, although her skirts were completely submerged now, she trekked onward, until she reached the other side, snagged a handful of the plant, and turned around, pausing only to suck in a deep breath before she hurried back the way she'd come. Leaving her boots on the riverbank, she ran at full out wolf speed back to camp, where Killian was, fortunately, still gasping for air.

She wasted no time mashing the plant into pulp between two stones, then mixing it into his water. "C'mon, Killian, drink," she murmured, lifting his head into her lap so she could tilt the life-saving mixture down his throat. He coughed some of it back up, but most of it went down… or so she thought. His breathing calmed, and Ruby breathed a sigh of relief.

For about two seconds, before she realized that his breathing wasn't calm. It had stopped.

Killian Jones was dead.