Fey

Wendy ducked and whirled on her opponent, her cutlass leading. The man ducked out of the way and then moved to slice at her. She had her second sword ready to block, and then she prepared to strike again. "Good blow," the pirate said when she blocked.

"I'd be better if you weren't just getting by," Wendy replied. He gave a much harder blow, which she felt with the block. "There you go. Now, let's see more of the same."

"You're getting good at this," Smee said from his place at the hearth warming the lobby.

Wendy crossed her swords against her opponent's and then tossed the weapon to one side, wherein it clattered harmlessly on the floor. Then she turned to Smee and said, "Thank you." She sat beside Smee at the fire.

"Reckon it'll be a few months before they finish the boat that's supposed to take us away," a man sitting across from them said, taking a swig from a bottle.

Wendy ignored him. Instead, her gaze had drifted to the door, and soon, the other pirates had followed her gaze. Footsteps could be heard approaching them.

"Could be Peter," Michael said.

But as the footsteps drew closer, it was clear that this was not Peter. Wendy stood.

Tinker Bell walked over toward them. "I remembered you to be smaller," Wendy said.

"Had my wings clipped," Tink replied. "Captain's summons."

"What?"

"Something must've happened," Michael said.

"Exactly," Tink said. "C'mon. Follow me." She turned and flew back the way she had come. Wendy shrugged and took off after her. Soon, the rest of the pirates and Darling brothers had walked out of the inn.

OUAT

When the group walked into the square, Hook took only a moment to take in Wendy's change of clothes: in place of her nightgown was a simple brown dress with a strapped corset, worn over a white shirt with puffy sleeves that passed only to her elbows. A belt around her waist had two swords strapped to it. He reflected only on the fact that that was what seemed to have happened to the two pieces of weaponry that Smee had found. "Alright," he said, "this way," and he led his crew to the square where the body lay, undisturbed.

"Male or female?" Wendy asked.

"Indeterminate."

"Manner of death?"

"Judging by the pool of blood, I'd say a major artery's been severed and the person bled out."

She turned to face the captain. "Did the killer leave any messages?"

Hook held up the bottle and the scroll. "We believe this may be it."

He handed her the scroll, and after she read the message, she looked up at him. "New game? He's killed before...unless... Do you know if there's another body somewhere?"

"No, but I suspect there might be."

Wendy nodded and handed the scroll back to Hook, and then she looked at the body. Smee had already shielded the boys' eyes. Much of the pool of drying blood was focused on the head, neck, and upper torso, corroborating Hook's testimony. She gently touched the body's arm with her toe; the flesh was cold and barely moved. "This person's been dead awhile, it seems."

"I see."

Wendy continued around the body and knelt by the head. A wound on the head was marked by a fully-formed clot of blood in the hair. "Knocked out before death, perhaps to subdue."

"Power and control," Hook said, kneeling next to Wendy, over the body.

She gently pulled the hair away from the victim's ears, exposing them to view by all. "He does it to people he can't seduce to follow him," Tink said. "He does it to fey."

OUAT

Emma and two guards had removed the body from the well and set her on the paving stones next to it. The hair fell away from her face, revealing a deep gash with dried blood trailing down her face. Emma knelt next to the girl's head to examine the wound when she noticed the girl's pointed ears. "What the..."

"What do you see, milady?" one of the guards asked.

"It looks like...an elf."

"An elf, milady?"

"Look at the ears." She stepped back and allowed the guard to do as she said. The head wound indicated an effort to at least daze the victim, giving the perpetrator enough time to slice the victim's throat. He only dumped her head-first into a well to make sure she bled out quickly.

"She certainly does look like an elf, milady," said the guard, standing.

"So who killed her, and why?"

OUAT

Rumpelstiltskin walked into the great hall of his castle. His son was resting in his room, having recently recovered from the return of his sensitivity. Belle walked to the table after him and took a seat on it. "You're a good father," she said.

"Well, thank you," he replied. "I pride myself on it."

She chuckled. "As well you should." She looked down at her feet, swinging back and forth under the table, and then she directed her gaze up to the far wall.

"Is something on your mind?"

She hopped off the table and said, "Here, let me show you." He followed her out to the rear garden. "There." She pointed to the paving stones, across which red streaks ran toward the gate.

"Come on," Rumpelstiltskin said quickly, rushing toward the gate. Belle ran up behind him.

Two young people were engaged in a fight, but while she appeared to be the aggressor, he was armed. "Jesse?" Rumpelstiltskin asked.