Chapter 4: The First Catch
Emma:
She had just reunited with her son, and here she was, separated from him yet again. She kept hold onto Killian's hand as they entered the village.
"Do you see the castle yet?" Emma asked. "I can't see over all these people."
"Yeah, just keep going straight," Killian kept his hand on her shoulder to guide her.
"Please don't let go of me," Emma was actually scared.
"I'll be right behind you," Killian squeezed her shoulder.
They walked at a fairly rapid pace in hopes of getting out of the village as soon as possible. Emma looked around to see what kind of people were in Wonderland. All these people seem…wealthy, Emma examined. Every woman was wearing some type of "elegant" dress and every man was in some sort of suit. They reminded her of people from the medieval times, yet they had a taste of Wonderland in them. There were carts that sold different merchandise. Houses and cottages were on the outskirts of the village. Everyone seemed to get along, as if there was nothing wrong in the world.
"This is so weird," Emma made conversation as they were walking.
"What's so weird?" Killian asked.
"The people, the carts, just Wonderland in general. People actually get along with each other here."
"They do it for the queen; they all obey her. In reality, they all want to escape and the only way out of Wonderland is through Jefferson or the queen. No one's escaped since…I can't even remember the last time someone made it out of Wonderland."
"You made it out of Wonderland, though."
"Yes, but I was with Jefferson at the time."
"Why didn't you take Alice with you?"
"Ah, that's not something to worry about at the moment, Emma."
"Will I ever know about her?"
"Eventually. But for now, we need to hurry because we can't be noticed, remember?"
Emma realized that the guards were still out to get her, so she nodded and they hurried through the village. They weaved in and out of the crowds, carefully going unnoticed while also looking out for castle guards. They made it through most of the village until Emma noticed them.
"Killian, who are those people?" Emma pointed. They were wearing some sort of black suits and carried swords with them. No guns, Emma asked herself. Oh wait, this is Wonderland.
"Let's go," Killian pulled her in another direction.
Killian:
"Where are we going?" Emma looked at him while they were jogging through the crowd.
"We're still going to the castle, but we're just taking the long way," he reassured her as he kept his eyes forward, now leading the way. He never let go of Emma's hand.
"Who are those people?"
"Those are the queen's body guards."
"They carry swords with them? They couldn't have picked a better weapon?"
"If any part of the blade touches you, you're dead in less than a minute."
"Oh," was all Emma could say.
"Come on, we're almost to the gates."
"How much further?"
"I can see them from here."
Emma and Killian moved faster as they moved closer to the black iron gates that separated the village from the castle grounds. He reached his hand out to grab the gate, but instantly pulled it back.
"Emma, you need to open the gate," he looked at her.
"Can't you open it?"
"Besides the queen and her royal court, no one else can open it besides Jefferson, but you can use magic, so you give it a try."
"Alright then," Emma walked up. She looked at the gate up and down to make sure that there was no catch to it. She stretched her arm out and pushed. The gate opened.
They walked out of the village and onto the castle grounds. Killian looked at the castle and heard Emma gasp in wonder. It was almost as beautiful as her parents' castle. The sun gleamed on the white walls and made them glitter with the sunlight. The roofs were all one shade of red and there was more than one tower –there were about seven, one grand tower in the middle. The windows reflected gold light from the sun's radiant rays. A large, open field of grass was spread out before them with a stone walkway cut before them. It went on for about fifty yards before it split into two. The two separate paths led to two separate bridges. The golden fountain was seen in front of the castle that emphasized the organized courtyard.
"Why are there two bridges?" Emma asked him.
"No one knows," Killian admitted. "It's what the queen wanted.
Emma walked forward, but Killian pulled her back. "Jefferson and the kids aren't here yet."
"Where do we go?"
"We hide, love."
"We're not going back to the village, are we?"
"Why would we go back, when we can hide in one of these trees?"
Emma turned around and realized that the black gates stretched for miles, and trees were planted on the castle side of the black gate for some reason.
"Why trees?"
"Like I said," Killian chuckled. "It's what the queen wanted."
The only bare part of the gate was the entrance. "Is this the only entrance to the castle grounds?" Emma asked.
"There's one more entrance, and no one knows where it is, except for the queen herself."
"Alright then. So, how do we hide in these trees?"
Killian walked up to a tree on the right side of the gate. Its trunk was a huge ten feet in diameter. He ran his hand down the trunk as if looking for some kind of door. He stopped at the bottom and put his hand in a crack. He pulled up and instantly, the front side of the trunk flew upward.
"What the fuck?" Emma looked impressed and laughed.
"Jefferson and I built this when we were last here."
"How are we supposed to see outside?"
He stepped in and opened some sort of window from the inside. "Jefferson found a way to enchant them, so the person can't tell from the outside that there's a window."
"So, we watch outside until Jefferson, Henry, and Grace come through the gate."
"Pretty much, but it's going to get dark soon, so hopefully it won't take them too long."
Together, they stepped inside of the tree and waited.
Grace and Henry:
She did as her father instructed and held onto Henry's hand as they walked through the crowd.
"Grace, make sure you keep your hat low enough so your face is barely showing," he told her.
"Henry," Jefferson told him as they entered the village. "Make sure you're ready to draw your sword at any time because you don't know what to expect here. Whatever you do, do not lose sight of me, okay?"
The task was simple enough. Follow Jefferson and keep a low profile.
Grace held tightly onto Henry's hand as she had a fear of being swallowed within the crowd. There are too many people, she thought to herself. She kept taking quick glances in Henry's direction just to make sure he was coping.
"Are you okay?" she'd ask.
"Yeah, just fine," he'd respond.
"Grace, come here," Jefferson said with urgency.
He brought both Grace and Henry in front of him and kept his hands on each of their shoulders. He began walking quickly in a new direction –the same direction as Emma and Killian.
"Dad, where are we going?" Grace looked up at him.
"Grace, Henry, can you see the castle from here?" he looked down at them.
"Yeah," Henry said, staring at it. "Why?"
"If you two get lost, just head in that direction, promise me that."
"Why would we get lost?" Grace asked.
Before Jefferson could say anything, chaos broke out.
"There he is!" one of the guards yelled.
Jefferson looked at the kids again. "Grace, do not lose your hat. Henry, use your sword. Now, go!"
Grace gave her father one last hug before taking off with Henry. She glanced back once more and watched in horror as her father fought, but fell in defeat and was carried away by the guards.
"What are they going to do with him?" Grace asked.
"I don't know, but we have to keep going," Henry urged.
Grace kept up with Henry as they rushed to the gates.
"Henry, there's two guards following us!" Grace cried.
"How'd they find us?"
"Just keep going!"
They were within two feet of the gate and the guards were right at their heels. Grace ran forward and pulled Henry with her. She lunged and pushed the gate open.
"How'd she open the gate?" one of the guards cried.
Henry and Grace ran through the gate, but turned around. The guards were about to grab them, but Henry drew his sword and stood, ready to fight. He did as his grandfather had taught him. The guard took the first jab with the deadly sword, but Henry deflected it easily. Henry went on the offensive and took his turn. He was too fast for the guard. The second guard stepped in to help his partner but it was no use. Henry's mastery was too developed for such a young age. The sword had a slight ruby red glow as Henry banged the edge of the pommel into the first guard's temple and knocked him to the ground. Henry picked up the guard's sword and faced the second one. Within two swords, he easily beat the second one. The second guard left his left side open and Henry used the second sword to create a wound in the guard's left arm. Little did Henry know that he had just killed someone for the first time.
Henry stood in victory, breathless.
"What do we do now?" Grace looked at him.
"I don't know. I don't my mom or Captain Hook anywhere."
"Grace!" she whirled around and saw Killian and Emma standing there with looks of wonder on their faces.
Henry ran and hugged Emma. "You missed it all mom! I beat those two guards!"
"We saw everything," she laughed. "Where did you learn to do all of that?"
"Charming taught me, and then Snow gave me this sword!"
Emma looked at Henry's sword. She leaned over and whispered something to Killian and his eyes grew wide in surprise, nodding in approval.
"Henry, why don't you get rid of the other sword," Emma suggested as he was still holding the guard's sword.
"Okay," he tossed it to the ground next to him.
Killian knelt down and looked at Grace. "Finally. You look just like your mother."
"Captain Hook, why are you saying that?" she cocked her head to the side.
"Call me Killian, or Uncle," he laughed as he watched Grace's eyes grow wide.
"Captain Hook's my uncle? Henry! Captain Hook's my uncle!"
"That's so cool!" Henry laughed.
"Grace," Emma turned to her. "Do you have any sort of weapon with you?"
"No, my father never gave me one."
Emma nodded and conjured a dagger and gave it to Grace. She enchanted it, just like Snow had enchanted Henry's sword. There was a blue glow to it and a sapphire in the pommel with a silver grip. It fit her perfectly and Emma created a sheath and attached to Grace's belt.
"There, you're good to go," Emma patted her shoulder.
"Where's Jefferson?" Killian asked aloud.
"He was captured by the guards back in the village," Henry told him. "We need to get him back."
"Okay, we need to split up again. Emma, take Henry, I'll take Grace," Killian gave instructions. "Emma, if they're keeping Jefferson where I think they're keeping him, take the bridge on the right side. There's a side entrance, but you need to walk the wall of the castle for a while before you reach it. I'll take Grace with me on the left bridge and we'll enter from the front of the castle."
Emma nodded in approval. "Are you ready, kid?" she ruffled Henry's hair.
"Always!" Henry said, excited.
Emma looked at Killian with longing eyes, knowing they couldn't do anything in front of Henry and Grace. Emma nodded and took off with Henry.
Killian knelt and looked at Grace. "Whatever happens Grace, do not lose sight of me, okay? Even if you see things in the castle that you like, do not touch anything."
"Can I call you Uncle?" Grace asked smiling.
"Of course," Killian kissed her forehead. "Can you promise me that? Just be careful when we get in the castle. Don't let anything distract you."
"Okay, I promise," Grace gave Killian her word. "Why can't I touch anything in the castle?"
So curious, just like her mother, Killian thought to himself.
"Don't worry about it right now," Killian told her.
"What are doing though, why are we going to the castle?"
"Grace, that's where your mother is at."
He took Grace's hand and together, they walked to the left bridge.