"First Mate, turn the sails!" The captain called, his shouts struggling to be heard against the roaring winds and crashing waves.
Emma quickly did as she was told, grabbing the slippery rope in her hands and pulling. It took all of her strength to not let go of it, and she held so tight that she felt the ridges of it burn into her palms. Frantically turning her head to whip her long, wet hair out of her face, Emma strained to see anything in sight, but all that surrounded them was the merciless ocean.
"I told you this was a bad idea coming here, Captain!" Smee yelled furiously, "We're going to drown, I tell ya!"
"Don't question me, fool!" Hook bellowed back, "Do you wish to walk the plank?"
Emma chuckled, saying quietly to herself, "If he doesn't die first." A pirate near her heard and sniggered. That abruptly stopped when a particularly strong wave bashed against the ship, throwing everyone off balance. The last thing Emma heard was the terrified cries of her crew before she too lost her footing and fell to the floor, her head banging painfully against the soggy floorboards.
The crash of the ocean and her surroundings slowly started to faded to black. And yet before Emma closed her eyes, she could've sworn she'd heard a voice, singing a beautiful melody that sent shivers down her spine.
…
Scratchy. Wet. Rum.
Air suddenly burst into her lungs and Emma bolted upright, coughing and spluttering. Ugh, what was that?
Her question was instantly answered by the pirate knelt in front of her, smirking.
"Knew if anyone could bring you back to life, it would be me, love." Hook teased, a smug smile on his face. "Perhaps you could return the favour?"
Emma wrinkled her nose in disgust as he not so subtly tapped his lips, "Not in your dreams, Captain." She suddenly noticed their surroundings. They were no longer on the ship, out at sea. It seemed like her and Hook were stranded on some sort of beach, the sun beginning to set. Only a few hours had passed then. "Where are we? What happened?"
"Shipwreck." The captain said grimly, all humour gone. "That storm overpowered us and now The Jolly Rodger's gone, bless her soul." Emma sighed, slowly standing up and scanning the ocean. Though definitely not tame, it was a lot calmer than she'd remembered it being.
"And the crew?" Hook stood up with her, a mournful whistle escaping his lips.
"Looks like it's just me and you, lass. We washed up 'ere and of course, me being my heroic self, saved your life." He puffed his chest out proudly but seeing that Emma's worried frown hadn't disappeared, quickly slumped back down. He turned his blue gaze to the horizon, his voice wavering, "I'm not sure where we are."
Emma swallowed, refusing to let his dejected tone get her down, "Well, we need to try and search for the others, yeah? They can't all be…" Dead. "... gone, surely."
The captain nodded, before pulling out his flask and taking several gulps. Emma rolled her eyes. Of course that thing hadn't been lost to sea. He noticed her looking and grinned, offering it, "Fancy a few sips, love?"
"I think I can manage." She deadpanned, already turning away from him to walk towards the jungle that lay out before them. Thick green foliage, dark canopies of trees… Anything could be out there. Frowning to herself, Emma desperately tried to shake off that thought. Her main worry had to be for the crew, that's what she had to focus on. Not horror stories, and myths and legends, that suddenly seemed incredibly too real.
Hook's shouts of "Swan! Wait!" pulled her out of her fearful thoughts, his bejewelled hand coming to rest heavily on her shoulder. "Where are you going?"
"To find the crew. You know, by actually looking for them?" The captain raised an eyebrow, that infuriating smirk never leaving his face.
"In case you haven't noticed, lass, it's getting dark. And heading into an even darker jungle probably isn't the best idea." Exasperated, Emma looked up to the sky, huffing in annoyance when she saw that Hook was right.
"Alright then. What do you suppose we do?" Her fellow pirate wrapped his arm firmly around her waist, guiding her back to the beach.
"Set up camp. Build a fire. You know some survival skills, right Swan?" She nodded, half in a daze, allowing Hook to prattle on while her mind swam.
Emma hated waiting around. She didn't want to rest and set up camp or anything like that. She needed to do something productive, important. Because truth be told, this mysterious island set her on edge and every moment she spent not doing something, was a moment of weakness and vulnerability.
"We'll most definitely have to huddle close together, love. Don't want to be getting pneumonia or anything like that... "
Stay calm, she chided herself. Everything's going to be fine.
But no matter how hard she tried, Emma couldn't quite get herself to believe it.
…
They were asleep, calm but not content. She could smell the sweat of their skin, hear the beat of their blood. Healthy.
A dark-haired man, swathed in leather and extravagant red material. Tidy stubble dusted his fine jawline, the jewels on his fingers glistening in the moonlight. He was a pretty mortal.
And then her gaze was drawn to the woman, blonde hair faintly glowing. Scruffy, and yet so tempting. She narrowed her eyes, drinking them both in. Perhaps it was fate that they'd survived the storm, that they'd outlived the others.
She gave them one last look, before wiping the blood from her lips and slipping back into the ocean. Soon.
So this story might be a bit CaptainSwan-ish at first, but I can promise you that the deeper the story goes, the more the SwanQueen. Just be prepared to bare a bit of Hook flirting with Emma - but SwanQueen is the ship I'm writing this for.
This was just an opening, so not that much of Regina yet, but please don't be perturbed :)
Opinions so far? I'm kind of scared about this because my inspiration tends to burn out so quick but I feel really confident about this idea in general. Just thought I'd take a break from writing comfort-zone one-shots and throwing myself in the deep end a bit ;)
Also, the rating may change as more chapters are added.