Short Prologue: As said above, this is a companion piece to Daemons of Another Kind. Scenes from around the seasons will be presented from various points of view (mostly Emma and Killian). The updates/chapters won't be in chronological order, but all stories will be mostly canon-compliant to the show.
You don't need to have read Pullman's books to understand what's happening and you also don't need to have read the main fic (though it would help).
If this is the first time you're reading about this universe, here are a few quick facts about dæmons:
Dæmons are corporeal manifestations of people's souls, taking the form of an animal that can speak with a human voice. Children's dæmons can change shape at will, but they eventually settle on a form when the human reaches puberty, usually symbolizing the human's personality. Since they aren't real living beings, they don't need to eat or drink separately from their humans, but they sleep when their humans do. The mind of a human is connected to their dæmon's, allowing them to feel and think and even dream the same things at the same time. However, a dæmon's personality can be slightly different from their human's.
Dæmons can touch each other, however their humans can feel pain if their dæmon is being hurt. If a dæmon is slapped, the human's skin can go red. It is widely known and considered despicable and a taboo for a person to touch another person's dæmon, as it is literally them touching their soul. In such a case, the human can feel repulsion, upset, pain, or even faint. However, it's fairly common among lovers to touch the other's dæmon, in which case the human feels elated.
Physical contact between a human and their dæmon is part of their life and can bring comfort. Humans need to keep a close distance to their dæmons. Being apart for longer than ~6 meters can cause physical pain, which increases with distance and very long distances can cause death. In Pullman's series the witches had a rite of passage which included the witch walking far from her dæmon. At its completion, the witch and the dæmon were still connected as before but could walk as far from each other as they wished without repercussions.
In most cases, the dæmon's gender is the opposite of the human's, but there are exceptions.
As human and dæmon are connected, the death of one leads to the death of the other. When dæmons die, they turn immediately into Dust and disappear.
List of dæmons in this fusion (more may be added later)
Emma - Addar (white ferret) - not corporeal until 4x08
Killian - Esther (swan)
Henry - Orion (unsettled) - not corporeal until 4x22
Snow - Birch (robin redbreast)
David - Rydel (Welsh sheepdog)
Neal - Celestia (mockingbird)
Rumpelstiltskin - Evaline (ball python)
Regina - Arcon (red-furred monkey)
Zelena - Knox (winged monkey)
Robin - May (fox)
Marian - Noris (squirrel)
Elsa - Kaupi (snow leopard)
Merlin - Nymeria (lynx)
Liam - Alinda (mixed breed dog)
Milah - Macon (racoon)
Emma has always been a heavy sleeper. Growing up in foster homes with many restless children, sleeping in a car with every noise cutting through the window, one gets used to falling asleep even with loud noise around them.
It would have been the same today, if the noise wasn't children crying. It tugs at Emma's heartstrings - how often was it that she cried herself to sleep like that? She's seen how ferociously the Lost Boys fight for Pan, how that boy defended him like he was the best thing to ever happen to him, but still their cries sound so desperate, so pained, so craving for a mother's love…
That's it. She pushes her cover off her body and stares at the trees above her before she raises to her feet. Neal perches his head up at her movement.
"You okay?" he says.
"Yeah, I just need to… go… you know," she lies. With a quick look around she sees her parents, Regina and... Tinkerbell still sleeping, their dæmons curled up next to them. She still knows very little about dæmons besides the taboo of not touching someone else's dæmon, yet it feels weird to see Mary Margaret hug David's sheepdog like she were her own, and David letting her. "Where's Killian?" she asks, trying to take her mind off her parents.
"He was on guard just a while ago. When my time came he excused himself and went into the jungle."
"All alone?"
Neal shrugs. He doesn't seem to care much.
"Whatever," Emma says and walks into the trees, begging for some quiet from those haunting sounds… as she walks she recognizes Esther's distinguishable tracks on the dirt, right next to long tracks, undoubtedly from her human's boots. Before she realizes it, she's near a clearing, the small lake and the rocks visible from the trees… as well as the pirate's sleeping form perched on some of the rocks.
Shit. After their awkwardness in Dark Hollow, the last thing she wants is some alone time with him. She turns hastily back and on her first step, her foot is caught in an upturned root and she falls down with a grunt.
She hears the sound of feathers rustling and someone gasping - him. After a few pants, his breathing goes back to normal. Emma turns her head slightly and looks at him. His shoulders seem to sag with relief as he pets his dæmon's head.
"Was that an animal?" Esther says.
They both look at Emma's direction, but the thick leaves seem to obscure their vision enough for them to not see her. She contemplates asking for help, her foot seems really neatly trapped among the roots, but then he grunts in pain. Emma turns to see him remove the brace holding the hook on his arm and hiss. She's too far to see a lot of detail but winces a little at the redness around the stump.
"That has healed relatively well," Esther says.
"Aye. Must be what they did at the hospital. I have to admit that land has its own miracles."
"You shouldn't have put the hook on so fast."
He sighs and looks ready to snap. "I've seen my fair amount of injuries, I don't need your guidance." Esther shrivels back at that and his face falls. "I'm sorry. I've become so unused to listening to you," he adds in a soft voice.
"It's not that you've never shut me up before," Esther quips, but she stretches a little to rub her head on his chin, both closing their eyes.
Emma looks at her foot helplessly. She can cut around the root with the cutlass, but she'll be heard and letting them know she's been listening - albeit by mistake - would be awkward.
They pull away and look at the wound. His hand goes to hesitantly touch the sensitive skin, trembling and stopping before it does.
"Perhaps you should dip it in saltwater. The cold water may also alleviate the pain," Esther says.
Killian sighs lightly, his shoulders falling. Emma winces, dropping her head. That would sting as hell.
"Perhaps, but the sea is a little too far away. And who knows how long we've actually been sleeping."
"I can go."
He huffs. "The fact that you can fly away from me doesn't mean I want you to." His voice goes softer at the last words, probably softer than Emma has ever heard him. "And how will you carry the water?"
"You may know Neverland better than I do, but I do know one thing. You just think of something you need…" Her voice trails off, and Emma can't help looking out of curiosity. A metal bucket, complete with a handle, has appeared in front of the dæmon.
"You shouldn't abuse this magic like that," he says in a bitter tone. "Who knows if it won't alert Pan?"
"Hey, you're not the only one hurting here."
His face falls and Emma can't help looking away again. "Nothing hurts as much as losing each other, you know that."
After a few moments of silence, Esther speaks again. "Perhaps. But now that bucket is here, so may I go and help a little?"
Emma only hears the rustle of the swan's feathers as she flies away. She keeps her head low and tries to move her feet off the roots without making a noise. She can still hear the children crying, and that along with her effort almost bring tears to her eyes. Damn place.
Esther comes back quickly enough, and curiosity gets the best of her as she turns to see Killian welcome his dæmon back with a tight hug.
"I'm fine," Esther says playfully. "I can handle some flying, you know."
"Aye," he says and sets her down. Carefully, slowly, he dips his arm into the water and hisses, biting his lip in an effort to keep himself from shouting in pain. Esther makes a cooing sound and approaches him, and Emma drops her head. The roots around her foot look a little less tight now, so she tries to move again as slowly and carefully as possible.
"Is it really better that way?"
"We don't have any bloodmoss around, do we? We'll have to make do." His voice sounds strained. "Esther, look at me. Thank you for doing this, you know how I appreciate it, but I mean it when I say I don't want you to fly away from me."
"Noted. Perhaps we shouldn't let it be known that I can."
"Hmm. There may more be people without corporeal dæmons around, but there's no doubt we'll be one of a kind among the others. Perhaps they'll find out eventually."
"Aye, but what if they use that against us? What if someone takes me away again?" Emma shivers at the fear in her voice.
"Hey! Hey, Esther, look at me. I will never, never let anyone touch you again. I will kill them with my bare hands if it means I can stop them or punish them."
"Even Emma?"
Emma freezes. What?
Knowing she probably has a really stupid face, she turns to them. He's glaring at Esther, obviously wanting her to drop the discussion, and that really doesn't help. Emma starts panting.
Esther… someone's else's dæmon wants to touch her?
Shouldn't that… Isn't that…?
As if on cue, the root around her foot loosens completely and she struggles to stay quiet as she raises to her feet and walks away, her hands shaking.
They've only kissed, just once… And yes he admitted what he admitted in the Cave, but still… how…?
She reaches the camp faster than she'd like. Her hands have stopped trembling, luckily, because she couldn't handle Neal peppering her with questions now. He just looks up at her and nods, smiling lightly and she walks back to her sleeping mat.
She plops down, accidentally making more noise than necessary, and Mary Margaret opens her eyes lazily. Emma smiles apologetically at her, and Mary Margaret simply gives her a warm smile, looking at her with… just looking at her.
Emma lies down and closes her eyes.
It's only then she realizes she can't hear the cries anymore.