Arthur

He stood in by his horse and stroked her mane. She was a beautiful beast, his Llamrei, and he was going to take her out for a morning jaunt. He wanted to joust with the other knights but ever since he became king, they were skittish about harming him. Sure they humored him at first but slowly the refusals came in. Not clear refusals, oh no. He was a king. They would never tell him no. They made up excuses and claimed chores to be done. Arthur may not be the smartest man in the kingdom, but he wasn't completely dense either.

He hopped up into his saddle, his blade snug at his side. His great shame.

Arthur trotted Llamrei out of the sables and into the morning sunshine. She snorted when she reached the fields and began to prance. She was happy to be out and so was he. They didn't get out as much as they once did. He had been king for… how long had it been? A long, long time? He couldn't be sure of the time line anymore.

Llamrei broke through the dew covered grass and huffed out in pleasure. Arthur took in a deep breath to take in the day.

No sooner had he exhaled, he heard a shout from behind them, "Your majesty! Sir! Quick!"

He didn't need to signal his steed, she turned quickly to face the yelling. It was a few footmen riding hell for leather towards him. Both of them were attempting to wave while their horses galloped, but they had trouble keeping steady. They were clearly young, that's why they had the early shift. None of the older knights got up before mid morning unless there was a war.

The two boys skid to a halt in front of him and started jabbering at once. Arthur held his hand up and said calmly, "One at a time." He pointed at the blonde of the two, "You. Go."

The boy's eyes widened and he tried to calm himself. "Sir, the ones you waited for are here."

"What? I wasn't expecting anyone."

"You said to tell you when they were here!"

"Who?"

"Them!"

Arthur looked to the freckle face brunet boy and gestured for him to clarify. The boy looked him in the eyes and said simply, "The Hill of Stones."

He wasn't sure if he waited for the lad to get the word "stones" completely out before Arthur himself was tearing through the fields and testing Llamrei's legs. He was anxious and his mind was racing. His horse whinnied and snorted as she bolted.

At the stables several of his knights gathered, waiting for him. They looked at him with grave resolve and in spite of it all, he grinned. The knights had long assumed they prophecy would not come to fruition. So many other things had not played out, they had become cynical. Arthur still believed. He knew the Savior was here and she would save the kingdom. He knew they would know how to solve his greatest problem. Well, two greatest problems, but Arthur assumed one would not be possible without the other.

"My good men! Today is a good day!"

The men cheered.

"Today we will get our answers and fix this kingdom!"

And then, Arthur, King of Camelot, held aloft his broken sword named Excalibur and shouted, "Today we free Merlin! Today we finish what we started!"

Hook

They landed in the Enchanted Forest with a thud. That blasted green witch insisted on traveling in a tornado. Everyone landed on their backs except for Zelena. Of course, she was used to getting around that way. "I still think taking the Jolly Rodger would have been a better plan. At least we would have had shelter and maybe some food."

"No one wants to be cooped up on that splinter factory," the witch quipped. "Plus my way is much more dramatic and exciting."

Regina slowly stood up and dusted off her pants. She had come a long way from the evil queen but dirt was still not her style. When she was finished she reached for Robin to help him to his feet. Robin didn't seem to mind the dirt, but Regina dusted his shoulders off.

Snow and Charming were on their feet quickly and assessing the situation. Those two were endlessly amusing to him. Together for so long, it seemed like they were one person. The boy, Henry was bounding around taking everything in. Ah, the eyes of a young man.

"So how do we figure out where she is?" Snow asked.

"Did someone grab something of hers? We can use a locator spell," Regina said.

"I think we may be over thinking this," Hook said, brandishing the Dark One dagger, "We can find Emma with this." Saying her name made the dagger pulse.

There were a few mumbles before Snow said, "I don't like this. Summoning her makes her seem…"

"...not human," Charming finished.

Hook didn't disagree, but he needed to find her. He closed his eyes and thought about Emma. The dagger pulsed. He could almost see her standing before him. The more he thought about her the clearer the image became.

She was standing on a hill. There were tall stones and a woman with fiery hair. Emma looked desperate and confused.

"I see her!" Hook shouted. He kept his eyes closed and began describing the scenery to everyone. No sooner had he mentioned the hill and the stones did he hear Snow exclaim, "We are so close! It's right there!"

Hook's eyes opened and he saw Snow pointing. He didn't wait. He was running towards the hill. As he ran he knew he could save her. She was too strong to let this take her quickly. The darkness was powerful but she would fight it. Maybe she wasn't just the Savior to break the curse of Storybrooke. Maybe she was also the Savior who would defeat the Dark One curse. He wondered what it must be like to go through all of this and still be normal at the end of the day. As Hook ran he knew Emma wouldn't be the same after whatever was happening to her. He just hoped the Emma that survived would still love him.

The whole earth shifted below his feet and Hook stumbled. A dark cloud settled over the area and he could hear a growling shout from the hill top.

Swan.

He thought he had been running as fast as he could before, but hearing the demonic way Emma's voice sounded, he began sprinting. He was up the hill in nearly three strides and came to a screeching halt at the sight.

She had a heart in her hand and the lass with the fiery hair was clutching her chest. The poor thing was on her knees and sobbing. Her hands where on her chest in pain, her knuckles white gripping her clothing.

His voice escaped him before he knew what he would do when she turned her attention to him, whatever she was right now. "SWAN!"

In that moment the darkness melted out of everything; the sky, the air, and the presence in Emma just vanished. She caught eyes with him and looked around. When she saw Henry she fell to her knees beside the red haired lass and sobbed loudly.

It took Hook three strides to made it to the top of the hill, it only took two to close the gap between he and Emma. He wrapped his arms around her and squeezed as hard as he could. Her body felt different. She used to be warm, like a belly full of rum. Now she felt cold, like a wintery morning on the sea. The air around her seemed frosty as well. She was rigid in his embrace. This was not his Emma anymore. His resolve to save her increased.

When he let go she looked up at him with big, glassy eyes. Her appearance was very different, too. Her hair was in a braided mess above her head. Her eyes were ice and that matched her fierce cheekbones. They looked like they could cut glass now. And her skin..

Crocodile skin.

Not gold, but silver. It glinted in the morning light in a very unsettling way.

"What's happened to me?" Emma whispered to him.

Hook swallowed and did the only thing he knew how to do, "Suffering a little amnesia are we, luv?" Make a joke.

It didn't work. She ignored his comment and looked around to the rest of the group. She seemed to be trying to come up with words, but nothing was coming to her.

The boy approached her and hugged her gently. "It's okay, mom. We are here now. You won't be alone in this. We are going to save you."

Snow and Charming looked distressed. They were trying to hide it but they were failing spectacularly.

It was unsurprising to Hook that Regina looked the most settled out of the crew. Even Robin and Zelena seemed curious and mildly empathetic to the scene. Regina had an eyebrow cocked. It was as if this was something she'd seen a thousand times before. He had no idea how a single person could be so put together after what they just witnessed.

As Emma and Henry embraced, Robin and Hook turned their attention to the red haired lass. Hook reached to check her pulse and her eyes shot open. She quickly assessed the situation and was scrambling to get to her feet as fast as she could. Snow's attention was caught by the scene and she raced to the girl's side. "No no no! We are here to help! We won't hurt you!"

Before anyone blinked the lass had her bow loaded and drawn. "Aye, that's what the Dark One said. Anyone running along this amount of evil cannot be right in the head. I don't need anyone's help."

"I'm sure that's not true," Regina said lightly. She held up the lass's heart in her hand. She was holding in her hand so gingerly, it almost looked like she would drop it. Hook had to remember that at one point Regina had hearts in her hand on a daily basis. "Would you like be to put this back in for you or can I add this to my collection."

The lass pulled her bow string back farther and aimed at Regina. Hook stepped in between them and waved his arms, "Whoa whoa whoa, lets all calm down. Regina, the last thing she needs is to be more afraid. Let's put the Evil Queen away for a bit. And lass, put the bow down. You are clearly outnumbered. There is no way you are using a bow and arrow to neutralize all of us."

"I wouldn't be so sure of that," she said, speaking into the arrow against her cheek.

"Hey!" Regina said. "How is that any better than what I said to her?"

Hand in the air, Snow intervened. "You are all terrible at comforting a girl who just stared death in the face and is surrounded by strangers. Hi. I'm Snow White and this is my husband, Prince Charming." Snow gestured to Regina, "That's Regina and her boyfriend Robin Hood. Over there is Captain Hook. Oh, and that's Zelena."

"I'm Merida," she responded, not lowering her arrow. "So I come to this area of the Enchanted forest and get the all-star welcoming crew? The Dark One, three legendary heroes, three villains, and whoever the boy is?" No one said anything and Merida loosened her bow arm only slightly. She glanced at Hook and said, "Do ya have anymore heroes in the crew or will they be arriving late?"

Over their shoulder they heard horns and a man call out, "Make way for the crowned King of Camelot, King Arthur!"

"Oy, already!" Merida shouted putting her bow down.

Merlin

(Sang to the tune of Look at Me I'm Sandra Dee from Grease)

(Don't question a great wizard)

Look at me, I'm just a tree

Brimming with great greenery!

Won't end up freed til a few tears are shed

But right now I'm just a tree!