A hanging tale Chapter 7: I meet August and the crocodile (again), an once upon a time fanfic

Hello Little Owls! I'm sorry its been so long! I have been MEGA busy with school work and so I am going to have to put both my stories on an official hiatus. But fear not because they will be returning!

Killian Jones

Three days had passed in succession without an incident- well apart from the lady Snow white from discovering that I no longer had a voice. Regina had been sent in under cover to work with the Queens of darkness and to discover what they were planning. During this time I had managed to work with Will to get Ursula her happy ending- something that I had stolen from her many years ago; her singing voice. Once I had helped her to get her happiness back, she had told Will and I exactly what the dark clan were planning, and it was something more unsavoury than I could ever have imagined.

They were going to turn Emma dark and get her to help them to destroy our happy endings (well… those that had them) and gain theirs in the process. Will had managed to get the message to David when everything went dark.

The gentle smell of the salted sea had been replaced by the strong the forest. I was tied down to a chair in what looked to be a small wooden lodge, with a fire opposite the door, and another man tied up in the other corner. Even though I had never met the man before, I had quickly pieced together that he was August Booth, also known as the grown up version of Pinocchio. His blue eyes stared right at me, in waves of confusion and worry- for he had known me (from the book of course) as a villain, and the worry… well I could only hazard a guess as to what he had been through since he had been captured.

"Well isn't this just lovely. We have the saviours pet pirate and the one who knows the most about the author- and both are just deliciously handsome; You know Rumple, I could get used to this" Cruella's voice was arrogant and accented, not too far from his own when he was a villain- she looked down on August with a feeling in her eyes which I couldn't place. Perhaps it was lust, or scheming, or if we were really unlucky she may have been planning to change our forms. Oh as though having your hands bound and being a mute wasn't good enough you had to think of that didn't you? I have to get out of here- and there is no way in hell that I am leaving August here with these cronies.

"Well Cruella, you're just going to have to enjoy this while you can, for I have plans for the pirate. Or more accurately, I have plans for what I am going to do as the pirate. As for Pinocchio… Well you can just leave him where he is for the moment; although I do have a feeling that we may not have to deal with him much for longer till we find the author and these two are out of our problems."

"So what am I supposed to do when you are prancing around town a few inches taller than you're used to?"

"Put them in the basement. You will find that there are adequate places for you to tie them to opposite walls so they cannot escape- so you may as well just take of their gags and soundproof the place before coming back into town"

And so Cruella did as her master asked of her. She had tied August closer to the door, with me directly opposite from him, our ankles touching in the confined space.

"However tempting it is to keep you both locked up to the walls in here, I must say I'm rather partial to allowing you some breathing room. Of course you can't leave this room even if you tried but seeing as you will probably never move or see the light of day again I would make the most of it" Cruella had used her magic to remove all our bindings before she turned and left. August was the first to move.

"You know… when I read your story- well what was in the book, I'd always imagine that you'd be more talkative. And more desperate to escape"

You have no idea the signing had become almost as natural as speaking had once been now that I was close to fluent in the language.

"Wait… are you signing?" I nodded, grateful that he had caught on so quickly.

"I thought you had a voice- the stories said you could bellow across a deck and be heard a mile away"
When I had my voice, that was indeed the case. But since I have lost it I am more or less a waste of space. I can only talk to those who know how to sign and even then it's not as detailed as I would wish. I just have to come to terms with the fact my 350 years of being a pirate has finally come to bite me in the ass in the form of "Karma" as Henry calls it.

"Okay I got all of that but the fifth last word, could you write it down?" When I showed August what that symbol meant, he laughed at the entire meaning.

"Well I can most certainly agree- Karma is most certainly a bitch"

August and I were able to continue chatting for the most part of the morning and part of the afternoon, our topics ranging between our pasts and people we knew. He had learned how to do sign language when he was in high school (god knows how old he was when he was there), and he had kept practising for years after in case it ever became useful. I told him in return about everything that had happened in Storybrooke lately (between me and Emma especially) since he had been a boy, for even though he had been here he hadn't been able to keep up with how she was doing. They had been having a discussions about motorcycles when the crocodile walked in to find us slouched against the wall, with August in mid-sentence and me… well I wasn't bound or in pain which displeased the crocodile to no end.

"You are coming with me, and this time? There won't be a single type of pain that you aren't feeling by the time I am finished with you" August looked at me apologetically and almost looked concerned for what was about to happen to me. For unlike him, if the crocodile tried to get me to answer questions, I wouldn't be able to communicate for he had bound my hands and being a mute pretty much does as it says on the tin.

"So you got your hand back in my absence. I do not recall giving anyone permission to do that" I simply glared back at him, knowing that he probably wouldn't bother to see my facial expressions during this hell- meaning there would be a lot of pain before he stopped.

"Oh so you're giving me the silent treatment are you Captain? Let's see if that is still intact when I start inflicting pain" and pain he gave, wave after wave; getting progressively more and more painful with each wave. He tortured me till the night fell, and it was then that he made a shocking discovery about me. Of course to most of Storybrooke it was old knowledge but he had been away for quite some time.

"We've been at this for nearly five hours Hook, and still you say nothing. It's almost like you're a mu…." The dark one turned to stare at me as he almost said the "M" word- even though I use the word a lot in my mind I know that it is bad form in this realm to call someone by it. In his eyes I could see curiosity, and what almost looked like…Shock? He promptly left to retrieve a dream catcher- and what he would see would trigger something that not even I could have predicted.

For as the crocodile began to look through my memories, he also started to remember things from the dark one before Zozo, a man named Ramonic- the dark one who had tortured my brother and I all those years ago…

The past

The cells in the dark one's castle were dark and damp and filled with every kind of fear imaginable. In the cell opposite Killian and Liam was a beggar from another land who had attempted to find the dark one and instead became one of his prisoners. Zozo couldn't see much of the two boys in the cell, but he could pick out the smaller ones piercing blue eyes staring at him, with what looked to be his mothers and brothers body at his feet- but he didn't cry, at least not out loud. For a child so young he was incredibly brave; not to mention he had probably been in more pain in his short few years than most would ever feel in their entire lives. It was then that the dark one came back into the room, sending the child to the back of the cell in fear.

"Well, well, well. Look who's finally awake- I didn't put you in too much pain did I? For if I did this next part would be no fun!" He grabbed the small boy by his left hand and dragged him to a room at the end of the dungeon, and within minutes, and ear piercing scream could be heard from there to the end the world.

Rumple almost fell backwards, at what I do not know, but when his eyes finally met mine again, all that filled them was pain, sorrow and remorse. He had looked back too far and found out about what one of the previous dark ones had done to me and was either feeling my pain or was remembering Ramonic's memories of the entire procedure.

"All this time… you sat by and watched as I became the dark one… fearing that I would become like Ramonic" I nodded "Why was he so lonely? Did he not have a family" a desk appeared with a pen and paper in front of me as my hands, apparently he wanted an answer and he couldn't be bothered to attempt signing.

Would be easier if I could sign it to you

I wrote, and immediately he understood what I was getting at- he could look through my memories from the previous few months and learn every sign that I knew, allowing him to understand me.

Well now that business is over, Ramonic didn't have any family because he murdered them after he thought his wife was having an affair with him when in fact she was just terrified of him, and it's because of that bloodshed that no dark one after him has been able to love anyone- whether they be family or lovers- because of Ramonic no dark one can ever experience love.

"So… the reason I cannot keep those I love close is because I can't love them as much as I should"

Basically

"But why isn't Miss Swan coming to get you? When I left you both you were incredibly close"

Why do you want to know all this? Leverage? Blackmail? Because if you wanted to destroy me you're a bit late- Emma has already broken me.

"I want to know because I now know why my heart feels wrong; and I want it gone"

You want to rid yourself of the dagger and all its power? Well I did say to you that it was power or love, and now I need to know if you're not going to screw me over when this is all over

"I swear I won't, just please help me and then I will help you in return"

The plan perhaps? The reason why they are here in Storybrooke because it most certainly isn't for a second chance

"Deal. They want their happy endings. Now you have to help me get rid of the dagger"

The basement of the sorcerer's house. I found an area that would have been suitable for this kind of thing when I was helping Henry with something. Get us there and we can continue.

I could see the dark red smoke of his magic surround me, and just through the small gaps of the magic I could see that we were in the great hall of the mansion- apparently he didn't know how to get into the basement.

I led him through the passages that took us to the basement, but the sight that awaited us was far from what I had been expecting. Somebody had already set up the ritual necessary and laid out the ingredients. Upon a table by the entrance, I noticed a small note with my name on it, on unfolding it, all I could see was a blank page, but then words started to appear;

To Killian Jones,

I am aware that you are going to be removing the dark curse from Rumpelstiltskin and I figured that you could probably do with some help setting up- so I have laid all you should need out on the tables and have drawn the sigils necessary. If something is missing I have placed a cupboard which can locate any spell ingredients on your command, nobody else's however. I am aware that you do not have a voice to explain to him what he needs to say so I have left the ritual in the circle for him.

Good luck.

The Sorcerer.

Looking around the room I could see everything that the Sorcerer had mentioned, and quickly set up the final preparations for the ritual I had known since I was young, but never actually cast for otherwise there would be no dark one.

Stand in the centre of the sigils. Now read out the parchment in front of you.

As Rumpelstiltskin began to read the words on the parchment, a strange gold glow began to emanate from the sigils on the floor and walls, and through the ever increasing light I could see him standing the circle, doubled over, and what looked to be… bleeding- the was a thick red substance running down his face and I was just hoping that was the curse rather than actual blood

A mangled scream sounded from the centre of the circle as the light faded, and once cleared, I could see the unconscious body of the crocodile, and the dagger next to him, slowly turning to dust.

"Ah… Wha… Did it work?"

I would say so yes. I'm going to contact David and pass on their plan. Let's get you above ground and away from this place.

K: David, come to the Sorcerers house, I have had a development.

D: You're alive! We were really worried!

D: Ok, me and the guys are at yours, we may of found a plan of action through your notes

K: Notes? And is August with you?

D: Yes August is here, and your notes from the Navy- there a quite a few good battle plans here and one will work against the queens of darkness and Gold

K: You can take Gold off your list of problems

D: WHAT!

K: Just get here quickly and it will all make sense.

David Nolan

It had been 36 hours since anyone had last seen Killian, and when we had found August, we had found out why. He had been captured and had been with him for a short time until Gold had taken him away. Thankfully he could understand sign language and didn't tell Emma about Killian's predicament. Seems Killian was adamant in his secret staying that way.

"Thank you August"

"What for David?"

"Not telling Emma"

"Well he said not to and I wasn't about to break his trust. I must say it was a surprise to see him, and the lack of a voice just added to it."

"How long since he had arrived?"

"Somewhere over 30 hours for sure I know- but I'm not exactly sure about anything else for there wasn't exactly a clock for me to tell the time with"

"Do you know what happened to him when he was here?"

"Well about 10 hours of being in the basement Gold came and took him away, saying something about putting him in every type of pain possible"

We had pulled up outside of Killian's apartment when August said the last words he had heard from Gold. Had he really taken Killian away and tortured him? Was he still alive for that matter?

"Oi! Dave! Did you find him?" Scarlett shouted from the apartment's door- in comparison to everyone else in the rom he was by far the most agitated and worried over his friends disappearance

"Well we know where he was. As for where he is know we have no idea."

"What do you mean where he was?"

"He was a prisoner with me at the log cabin that Gold owns. He and I were together for a space of time, but then Gold took him away to torture him" August cut in. There wasn't a single face that wasn't filled with shock or fear

"But without a voice… He won't be able to tell Gold to stop! He could kill him!"

"I know Belle, and we are doing everything that we can. But for now we need to find a battle plan for the battle that is inevitably coming now that they are here and Gold is in the picture."

Three hours later and thanks to Belle's expert level of researching abilities, we had found a suitable battle plan in Killian's old naval notes that were cleverly hidden away in places no one would think to look.

*Beep Beep*

"Who's phone is that?"

"It's yours David…. It's Killian! Killian sent you a message!"