The next morning, Liam woke up to the sounds of Killian dressing. Liam was surprised that the sunlight streaming in through the window hadn't woken him sooner.

"I was just about to wake you; we should head out."

"Aye, but we should get some provisions first," Liam said as he stretched in bed. Killian went to the window, and Liam saw a smile grow on his face. "What is it?"

"A carriage. Perfect change of plans, don't you think?"

"I doubt Emma's going to like that very much," Liam said with a mischievous smile as he grabbed their jackets. He tossed Killian his and walked out the door. While Liam settled their bill, Killian secured some food to bring with them in their satchel.

Once they walked outside into the dim light of the forest, Emma nearly flew into their heads.

"Are you two finally ready?"

"Lass, relax, it hasn't been long since the sun rose." Killian quickly said.

"It's nearly midday!"

They were taken aback… They never slept that long unless Killian was sick and Liam had covered for him. "Well, maybe they could help us move a bit quicker." Killian pointed with his thumb to the carriage parked just to their left.

"You can't be serious."

"Miss Swan, our feet hurt. We've been walking for days, and surely this must be faster." Liam said.

"We don't even know if he could take us there," Emma mentioned.

"It's worth a shot, my feet are on the verge of getting blisters on my blisters! If we take the carriage we won't tire as quickly or be as hungry." Killian half moaned, giving Emma a pathetic look that most people couldn't say no to. Liam had to stifle the laughter that threatened to come out. Just like old times.

"Fine," Emma relented with a roll of her eyes.

Liam walked over with a skip in his step to the driver tending to his horse. "Good day, sir."

"Good morning, lad," the short man with a peg leg and greying, brown hair replied cheerfully.

"Would you happen to be for hire?"

"That depends on two things: can you pay, and what's your destination?"

"We can certainly pay, as for our destination, do you know where the Blind Witch's cottage is?"

The man closed one eye as he scratched his hairy chin. "Hmm, sounds familiar, just to the north, right?"

Emma, who had been standing next to Liam's right calf piped up, "This is useless. She's to the east."

"Wow! Is that a magic bird you've got there?" The man's eyes widened as he stared at Emma.

"Quite something, isn't she?" Liam responded with a smug smile.

Emma smacked Liam's leg with her wing and gave him and aggravated stare. Killian chuckled next to him.

The man crouched down to look at her. "Ain't that just the bee's knees?"

Liam shot Killian a confused look which he returned. Liam could only wonder how long it would be until Emma pecked him in the face.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked, taken aback.

"It's means amazing, great, take your pick."

"You know what would be the 'bee's knees'? If you knew where the witch's cottage was."

"If you've got the directions, I can take you towards there, but I dare not get too close. You know how witches can be."

"Not all witches are bad," Emma groaned, echoing her words from yesterday.

"Anyways, best not take any chances. I can drive you a good amount east, and then I'd have to drop you off," the man said as he rose from his crouched position and dusted of his pants.

"Great. It's settled then," Liam interjected before Emma could protest.

After paying the driver, who introduced himself as Thurston, the three of them got into the small covered wagon. There were two small crates on one side and a bench on the other. Emma stood on the crate closest to the front so she could see where the driver was taking them. Killian sat across from her and Liam was closest to the back.

"Are you happy now?" Emma looked at them, exasperated. Liam was amused at how emotive she could be.

"Overjoyed, actually," Liam chimed with a cheeky grin. Killian bit on his lip as he shook his head at him.

As soon as the carriage started moving, Thurston started singing. Serenading his horse, to be more exact. Emma eyes widened and both Killian and Liam started laughing.

"Isn't this a nice break, lass?" Killian asked as he stretched his legs out and crossed them at the ankles. Emma didn't respond, she just kept watching out the front of the carriage. "Relax, we'll get there; trust the man."

"Yes, let's trust the man who is singing love songs to his horse," she said under her breath as she looked at the both of them.

"Are you jealous no one's singing love songs to you? I gladly offer my services if that's what you so desire."

Liam shook his head at his brother's antics. It was nice to see him lighter and joking around. It might just be for their attempt to ruffle her feathers, but it was nice to see him having fun nonetheless.

For too long he watched his brother suffer at the hands of their captain and crew. He remembered back to the worst day, not too long ago. They just wanted a little more food. Gods, did Killian need it. He was still seventeen at the time, and they whipped him like he stole the captain's greatest treasure. They made Liam watch. Killian had a brave face on, but it couldn't last through the first swing of the whip. His screams still haunted Liam to this day. Killian drank to numb the pain. Then numbing the pain became numbing his mind. They had actually broken his brother. How could Liam have let that happen? That was when he vowed to find a way out of the servitude their father sentenced them to. That piss-poor excuse of a captain deserved what he got.

"Liam, you all right?" Killian looked at him, concerned.

"Aye, just lost in thought for a moment. Did I miss something?"

"Oh, no. I was just telling Emma about the time Old Man Poe sang to, and danced with, a dead fish."

Killian's smile had Liam praying to all the gods that Emma was trustworthy and they would be out of this forest soon enough.

/-/

Emma was startled awake from a bump in the road. When had she fallen asleep? Although, it shouldn't have come as too much of a surprise, she always passed out when she rode in a carriage. Her father often had to carry her to her bed when they got back to the castle late at night. Other times, her mother would gently wake her, stroking her face. That hadn't crossed Emma's mind in years. She missed her parents so much, she ached for them.

Quickly, Emma leaned her head out the front of the carriage. She had no clue where they were. Great. Just a bunch of trees. Anxiety started to claw at her. Emma looked over to the brothers who were quietly talking amongst themselves.

"Why did you let me fall asleep? I don't know where we are!"

The younger one turned to face her quickly, his face paled at her words. "What?"

"I was supposed to be giving him directions! Why the hell would you let me sleep?"

"I'm sorry, we thought you'd bite our heads off if we woke you," the older brother said defensively.

Emma turned from them to address Thurston. "Where did you take us?"

He turned to her and started to slow down. "Oh, I started to go north a while back you said nothing, so I assumed It was fine."

Emma took a deep breath before answering. It wasn't his fault. Not completely, anyways. "We'll get out here, thanks," she said a little too tersely.

"There is a cottage right through those those trees, about an hours walk along that road," he said as he pointed to the right, bringing the carriage to a stop. There was what looked like an abandoned road through the trees that forked off from the main path. "Lovely people, collectors of rocks. They have quite the nice rock garden. They'd probably be willing to feed you, if not put you up for the night."

Emma's patience wore down as he kept talking. They jumped out of the carriage and Liam shook Thurston's hand. "Thank you for your help. Safe travels."

The driver was on his way again and Emma started to fly south, ignoring Thurston's suggestion.

"Wait, shouldn't we check out the cottage he told us about?" Killian asked. "It's south east; it will be on the way to the witch's instead of just going south."

"If we go just south, then maybe, I can find something that looks familiar," Emma spat, not turning to look at him.

"How? Everything in this bloody forest looks the same!" Killian dragged his hand down his face in frustration.

"Try living here for five years!" Emma seethed. She was pissed. She was so close to getting out of this gods-forsaken forest and now they were lost. She just wanted to get to her family; was that too much to ask?

"Alright!" Liam cut off whatever retort was on the tip of Killian's tongue with his arm braced against Killian's middle, in an attempt to get him to back down. Though to be fair, anger wasn't on his face anymore. Emma wasn't sure what he was thinking, but fighting back seemed to be the last thing on his mind. "Look, we are a little lost. I think it's a good idea to go to the cottage the man spoke of. And as Killian said, we would be traveling south east, which is likely where we need to go. And then once we meet these people we can ask them where we are and readjust our bearings."

Fine, maybe it did make sense, but Emma wouldn't admit it. Instead, her only response was a huff as she took to the air and glided down the road. Besides, she wouldn't win— it was two-against-one. She glanced back quickly to see Liam speaking quietly to a red-faced Killian, but she couldn't make out the words. They followed her immediately after that.

Emma was flying too fast for them; she kept sitting on trees to wait for them to catch up. They were all silent as they walked to the cottage. It wasn't comfortable, the air was tense, but talking to them was the last thing she wanted to do. Emma hoped that the atmosphere could stay like this until she delivered them to the witch. Killian was too endearing with his stupid fish serenading story, she forgot herself for a moment. She had to drop them off. Emma didn't know what the Blind Witch had in store for them, but it was certainly not good.

The hour-long walk Thurston told them about turned into two and a half gruelling hours. No one talked, but they all breathed a sigh of relief when they had finally seen smoke rising from a chimney. The sun was low, the autumn hours not keeping it bright out for too long.

The cottage itself was small and simple nestled next to a little stream. Only a small clearing was around the house. The clearing was littered with rocks. Many of them had faces painted on them with bright and obnoxious colours. It made Emma uncomfortable to look at them, especially knowing that those colours were made from some of the more poisonous fauna of the forest.

"What's the plan?" Liam asked from behind Emma before she could fly into the clearing. Emma landed on a branch to be eye-level with them.

"You two go in, ask for what ever it is you want, and see if they know where the cottage is. Done," Emma instructed with very little emotion behind her words.

"What about you?" Killian asked, his voice wavered, unsure of himself.

"I wait out here." Emma didn't look at him.

"Lass, why don't you come inside; it's already cold out tonight." Killian scratched the back of his neck with his eyes averted to the ground.

"And besides, you know what to ask when it comes to navigating these woods," Liam added cautiously.

Not in the mood to argue, Emma conceded. "Fine."

Emma followed behind them, a feeling of unease settled within her. As they approached the house she landed and walked behind them.

Killian glanced over his shoulder at her before he knocked on the door. There was some commotion from behind the door before it opened to reveal an older woman sporting an eye patch.

"Good evening, miss," Liam chimed, causing the woman to blush. "My brother and I, along with our friend, are lost. We were wondering if you by any chance knew where the Blind Witch's cottage is?"

"Oh, you poor things. Let me ask my husband!" The woman turned around yelling, "Lazlo! Come here, Lazlo!" There was a loud crash before they heard footsteps coming their way.

"What, what's wrong?" the large, bald man said to his wife, his eyes darting around.

"These sweet boys and their friend are looking for the Blind Witch's cottage." At the woman's words, Lazlo looked apprehensive.

"Where's the friend?" Lazlo asked as he appraised the two brothers with one eyebrow up.

"Right here." Liam moved over a little to show Emma to the couple.

Emma wasn't sure what to do, so she awkwardly said, "Hi," and hoped for the best.

The couple went from apprehensive to frightened in less than a second.

"Is there a problem?" Killian asked quickly, taking a half step in front of Emma.

"Get out! Get that thing out of here!" the man howled, reaching back behind him for something.

"She's not a 'thing'!" Killian defended.

The woman looked like she was going to faint, but not before she whipped out a broom and started to swat at Emma and the boys. "Demon! We're cursed! It's a sign! Be gone; into the woods you go!"

They had completely lost their marbles. The couple chased them a good way into the woods before they turned back. After another ten minutes of running, they all slowed down to catch their breath and Emma landed. She wasn't too tired; the one good thing about flying was that she could fly faster than they could run, with ease.

She should have been more upset about that encounter, but that was far from the first time something like that had happened. Emma was just angry the brothers couldn't leave well enough alone.

"My deepest apologies, Emma. I didn't think—" Killian said between breaths.

"No you didn't! That's why I like to stay outside by myself," Emma scolded him.

"But, Thurston didn't care earlier?"

"Like everything, it depends on the person. I'm not surprised two people who live alone in these woods wouldn't take a talking swan well." Emma got up and started to fly again. "Let's just go make a fire somewhere; we can continue in the morning."

They found a nice enough spot to rest by a fallen tree a little while later. They couldn't see well— the thick tree cover blocked out any remaining twilight— but it would have to do. The temperature was dropping, so Killian went to collect more wood while Liam tried to start a fire with the few things they had at their disposal.

"Emma, I'm terribly sorry about before, as well as for the way my brother behaved today. He means well, but he has a temper."

"I hadn't noticed."

"To be fair, and blunt, you seem to have one as well." Emma didn't respond, only looked at him expectantly. "You should be able to forgive him for his actions. I'm afraid they were an attempt at a ploy to find out if you had any ulterior motives in mind for us, as you seemed too eager to help us yesterday in your rush."

"I know."

"Then you should also know that if you do indeed have anything nefarious in store for us, I am very protective of my brother. We have been through much, especially him. Thwarting a swan would not be one of the harder things I've done."

"Aren't you self-righteous?" Emma said in mock surprise.

"When it comes to my brother, I am."

Emma didn't respond; she just watched him light the fire, finally. She wished the Blind Witch was around the corner. Right now, she could drop off those two idiot brothers without many reservations. She should thank them for making her job easier.

/-/

Killian needed a drink, but he didn't have that option. He really mucked it all up today. Not only did they sleep in, but he caused a mess that made Emma agitated. And while they wanted to test her limits and get answers, he was only upsetting her rather than getting anywhere. Liam told him to back off to see if he could try, instead of just making her angry and shut down.

And then the suggestion that they all go to the house. He never felt more ashamed. The way that woman swatted at Emma made his blood boil. He may have only met her the day before, but to treat anyone so awfully before getting to know them was terrible, swan or not.

Killian gazed into the fire from his position leaning against the log. Liam, miraculously fell asleep quickly, though it looked like it was anything but a peaceful rest. Killian was still too wired to attempt sleep. His self-loathing was too loud in the quiet of the woods. He picked at the dried meat from the tavern in his hand.

Emma sat between the fire and Killian. She was still awake, looking up through the trees to catch a glimpse of a star or two.

"Could you just fly out of here if you wanted to?" Killian murmured.

"This forest is cursed; even going up has its obstacles," Emma responded quietly, not looking at him.

"How long have you been a swan?" Killian asked after a beat in a poor attempt at conversation as he poked at the fire with a large stick.

"A while."

"Cryptic as ever," Killian muttered as he dropped his head down to the log he was leaning on. He figured it was a long shot.

"Maybe I wouldn't be so cryptic if you two idiots didn't get us lost," Emma grumbled.

"What's the matter, love? Why should you be in such a hurry to the witch's cottage if we're the ones who want to go there? I don't understand why a bloody swan is in a rush anyways!" Killian spat. His voice had a dark edge to it as his patience disappeared. He was upset that they were lost just as much as she was.

"Because, I'd like to be human again, that's why!" Emma's head whipped around and she stared him down.

Killian was taken aback. What an idiot. Of course she would be asking the Blind Witch to turn back into a human. "I'm sorry, I—"

"It's fine, goodnight." Emma turned away from Killian and waddled closer to the fire before she managed to tuck her head under her wings to go to sleep.

Killian felt like a right arse. Again. Killian thought of how hard Emma's situation must be on her. The food she had to eat, her new mode of transportation, not having hands… He hoped she had only been this way for a few days, but something about the way she held herself made him think, unfortunately, that was not the case. At least Liam was asleep so he couldn't smack Killian upside the head. He had been humiliated enough today.

/-/

Killian woke up to hear Liam yelling for him and Emma. Immediately, Killian jumped up and grabbed the large stick he left next to him. His heart was racing as he trying to get his bearings after being woken so suddenly. Killian saw a giant wolf-like creature staring at Liam.

"What the bloody hell is that thing?" Killian asked in fear.

Emma was up next. She cursed before she flew up in the air and circled the beast. She was the lucky one now; Killian and Liam did not have the luxury of escaping it through the air.

"Liam! Get a branch, something!" Killian yelled. He stuck the large branch in his hand in the fire, ready if the beast charged at him. "Emma distract him, and we can attack!"

"One step ahead of you!" Emma called back as she swooped down to catch the beast's eye. Liam grabbed a big branch he could use almost as a staff and the two brothers ran for the beast. Killian saw the beast swat at Emma and just miss. His heart was in his throat as she swooped down again. She almost made it, but the giant paw smashed into her and she fell through the air and landed on the ground with a thump.

"Emma!" Killian cried, his stomach dropped.

"Killian, now!" Liam shouted. Killian tore his gaze from the motionless swan and jabbed the flaming wooden stick at the beast. It howled in pain and was distracted as Liam brought down his make-shift staff hard upon the beast. It wailed again, and spit out something. It looked like a small little black lizard. Killian quickly stomped on it. The beast suddenly turned into a dog with a bright flash of light. The dog whimpered under Liam's weapon and he quickly removed it. The dog scampered off as soon as it was free.

"Well, wasn't that curious," Liam said, as Killian watched in awe before he remembered Emma lying a few feet away, motionless.

"Bugger," Killian muttered as he ran over to Emma. "Love, are you alright?" he asked softly, leaning over her on his knees.

She groaned in response and relief flooded Killian. He gently picked her up and brought her closer to the fire. She was a bit heavier than he expected her to be with the graceful way she flew.

"How is she?" Liam asked as he met Killian next to the fire.

"She's breathing." Killian sat cross-legged and placed her on his lap. "Hey, Emma," he tried to wake her again, gently cradling her head.

"What?" Emma asked as she slowly lifted her head to look at them.

"You alright?"

"Yeah, just got the wind knocked out of me."

"Maybe we should start walking, just incase there are more." Liam said from his standing position, he was looking around, clearly shaken. It was strange, Liam usually had to calm Killian down.

"Do you really think it's better to wander at night? That thing turned into a dog, I can't see that being a common happening."

"It should be fine to stay," Emma chimed in weakly.

"Are you sure?" Liam asked.

"If someone's keeping watch, it will be. Besides, sunrise isn't too much longer; it will be safer to travel then," Emma murmured.

"Liam, go get some rest. And you, no sudden movements." Killian chided as Emma attempted to stand in his lap.

"I'm fine."

"Aye, I'm sure of it, but I'm also sure my lap is a lot more comfortable than the ground you'd be sleeping on."

Emma grumbled as she sad back down. Her breathing evened out soon after. Killian was pleased with himself. Maybe he could make up for his horrid behaviour and maybe be friends with Emma.

A/N: Thank you Spartanguard on Tumblr for Betaing! Thanks guys for the reviews! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! :D