He didn't know they were dreams. Each new image played like a piece of theater in his mind. All rumbling in his subconscious like demons stirred by the sight of fire, above the dim he recognized a voice, one he wished had never graced his ears. When he was a child Rumple had know Peter Pan, a vicious boy with little in the way of humanity. Now centuries later, he was the same little boy with immortality and vengeance on his side. Whatever the years had done to Rumple they had hit Pan tenfold. He held love for no one. He saw no reason for mercy or understanding and as Rumple knew all too well, someone with nothing to lose has no boundaries on what they are willing to do to get what they want.

Pan's voice was the sound that echoed above the chaos in Rumple's mind more than anything. It was the solitary sound that would bring him to his knees and whisk him back to his childhood with a single syllable.

"I have something you want Rumplestilskin. I have your magic. I'm willing to give you a chance to fight on an even playing field, if you comply. I hid it where even you can't deny the past. Follow the clues; they'll hang among the stars. Remember Rummie, I hold all the card so play by the rules and you won't get beaten by the house; happy hunting old friend."

Rumple woke in the night to a deserted camp, the fire had gone out and all had gone to sleep. He sat in a cold sweat with his fists clenched and his body shaking head to toe. Pan's man-child voice still rang in his ears. He was covered by a blanket of deer hair and laid on a bed of jungle leaves. He didn't recognize where he was but he had vague memories of a young girl with hair darker than coal, attending to him. It took him only a few minutes to gain his wits and look toward the night sky. He saw Pan's clue almost automatically. A small bottle, one he might use to conjure and store a potion, lingered ten feet above him. Corked and sealed within its walls was a strand of silver and black, woven together and glistening like fairy dust. It was a section of his magic. The bottle floated so high it was out of sight of all other prying eyes, it wouldn't surprise him if Pan had enchanted the bottle so only his eyes could see it. He slinked through the tents and passed numerous slumbering forms. He saw Snow situated next to where his bed had been and passed her without a thought. This was a journey meant for him and him alone.

As he walked forward toward the mysterious bottle, it moved. It seemed to be heading north toward a mountain that looked like the black mountains of his youth. A place Rumple had promised he would never find himself in again. Though so many years had passed, he still became nauseous and weak at the thought of what had happened atop the black mountain ridge.

He couldn't have been more than 12 years at the time, much the same as Henry was now. He was a brave boy, ironic how he would later be known as such a coward. He had ventured out before his parents had the chance to wake and tell him of his daily chores. He grabbed his second-hand coat and put on his ragged shoes. They weren't a rich family by any means but Rumple knew nothing different so the accommodations never bothered him. He had seen other boys with fancy things but he always wanted to be outside among the animals, climbing trees and mountains. He was very careful not to make a sound as the door squeaked open. He turned to close it, satisfied that he had snuck out without waking a soul. As he turned to meet his feet with the trail, he was startled by a young boy, his brother. Rumple jumped back and put his hands over his heart.

"Trey, are you trying to give me a heart attack? What are you doing out here? I thought you were asleep."

The boy was newly six years old but with the curiosity of a teenager. He often accompanied his brother on adventures to different parts of the kingdom; unlike Rumple he was sly. So quiet that he could sneak past anyone without detection. He stood half the height of Rumple but was almost as smart. His cheeks held the rosy red shade of innocence that only comes with the beginning of youth. He was a vivacious boy with a pension for trouble; the perfect partner in crime for a young Rumple. Rumple patted his head and buttoned his jacket closed before starting out on their journey.

"Alright you can come but it promises to be dangerous, so keep your wits about you."

They smiled and followed his big brother as he always did, with his head held high and his every attention solely placed on the trial ahead. The boys walked for a half an hour through the aspens and evergreens. The first snow had fallen upon the land just the night before. It blanketed the area and brought with it such an air of silence. Even the animals knew that the snow meant a death to summer and a new season of hibernation. Their boots crunched as the snow became deeper and the hill steeper.

Rumple had planned on making it to the top of the mountain and back before his parents even woke up. He liked to practice shooting arrow on the highest ridge where he could aim as far as he could see and not worry about hitting a soul. There was also a spring that flowed through the area where even in the dead of winter the animals liked to gather. Today he had planned on trying to snag his first deer. That would be a little more difficult with his brother in tow but he enjoyed the company.

He adjusted the straps on his boots and tucked his pant legs into them, preparing for the snow to become even deeper and harder to wade through. Trey did the same; mimicking every move Rumple made. They were two peas in a pod but would never grow to know just how much they were alike. As the mountain became steeper, a chill settled into the air, biting at the boys faces. Rumple wrapped an extra cape he had in his sack around Trey's shoulders and continued climbing. The sun hid behind a cloud casting the valley in a dark shadow. If it hadn't been for the sudden disappearance of the sun, Rumple never would have notice the strange movement of his shadow. It was twice its normal size despite the lack of sunlight needed to even create a shadow.

The forest became so quiet that he could hear his own labored breath and saw it as the air turned to crystal when it meet the cold wind. Rumple stopped dead in his tracks and put Trey behind him; shielding him with his body. He put his finger up to his mouth and motioned for Trey to be silent and perfectly still. He moved them as one back a few steps and saw that the shadow didn't move with them. He continued to move away from the clump of black at his feet until, the shadow jumped from the snow and floated as a ghost would above the ground. Trey yelped and held on to his brother's arm so tightly his fingernails left marks on Rumple's skin.

The shadow was in the form of a boy; it moved swiftly closer to the boys and then backed off slightly. It studied them for a second before lunging at them, grabbing Trey in the process. The shadow lifted the young boy high into the air. Trey screamed, calling Rumple's name in terror. Rumple pulled an arrow from his sack and shot at the shadow, it sailed straight through him and landed in the snow below. The shadow looked back at Rumple with devious glowing eyes and zoomed off into the distance.

Rumple tried to run after them, pumping his arms and jumping the piles of snow trying to catch a glimpse of the ghostly dark figment. He made it to the ridge just in time to see the shadow take Trey beyond the stars. He fell to his knees and screamed a sob, reaching for his brother. Rumple spent the next few hours frozen in that position. He lost feeling in his legs as the chill of the snow seeped into his bones. He would have to face his parents with a story they would never believe, about how he had lost his brother. When he found the strength to stand it was mid day and his family would no doubt be frantic. He ran down the hill without thinking. He sprinted to the door, knocking the snow off of him as he entered the house with a rage building in his chest. They would blame him, they would chastise him for having taken such a young child out before sunrise and they would hate him for it.

Rumplestilskin spent much of the next week in complete silence. The town people all knew about the disappearance of Trey. They whispered and pointed at him while he walked to the school house and while he went to town to get supplies for his family. No one seemed to understand just how guilty he felt about losing his baby brother, no one except a boy at school named Peter. Rumble sat after his classes on a log in the forest, staring out into the space of the trees; Peter came and sat next to him.

"I know you're telling the truth when you say a shadow took your brother." Peter said.

"I've seen him. I've spoken to him; he comes to me in my dreams at night. He told me of a land far away just past the stars, where children never have to grow up. A place where imagination is the king of all, and boys run the land. He said it was an island and they needed a leader and brave boys. What I wouldn't give to be the lucky boy who gets to run that land. I told the shadow how brave Trey is and that you and he would be great boys for the island. I bet that's where he took your brother."

"You told him to take Trey?!Why are you telling me this?"Rumple questioned.

"The shadow said he would come back for me. Maybe he can take you to your brother?"

"This is all your fault, you have to fix it. Bring him back!"

"Night after tonight, the shadow is supposed to meet me in the old apple orchard." Pan countered.

Rumple's head perked up and he unexpectedly hugged Peter. He jumped to his feet and ran back home yelling behind him "I'll be there at dusk!"

Rumple ran straight to his parents, foolishly thinking that he could convince them to believe him. They scoffed at his tall tale and locked him in the house keeping him from lessons until the day when Peter said the shadow was coming passed. Rumple pleaded with them to let him go and join Peter to save Trey. His mother was inconsolable about the loose of her youngest son and punished Rumple greatly for it, taking a switch to him and locking him in a closet for hours on end. The day came and went until Rumple and his family got word that young Peter Pan had disappeared as well. He had gone out into the old orchard after supper and never returned. Rumple's mother chalked it up to yet another animal attack in the area but Rumple knew that the shadow had taken him to the mysterious island of Neverland.

Rumple shook himself from the memories and continued to follow the bottle. It brought him to a foot bridge that crossed a great expanse. He journeyed across it with his eyes only on the glass bottle. It held the only way he could get Henry back and return to his beloved Belle in Storybrooke.

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Their steps were heavy, weighted with the secret they shared; the loss they couldn't deny. It's one thing to experience death, it's a completely other thing to see the light leave someone's eyes; to watch as they make the final transition. One we all will face one day. Tink didn't look up from her feet for the first two hours of their climb. She focused on the roots, branches, soil and leaves that gathered along their route. She watched as the bugs went about their days, task at hand their only worry. She hadn't known him well or at all but she felt the despair that hung so palpable over their heads. She had lost her temper with Hook at the grave site; taking the only reaction she felt comfortable with, anger, and running with it. She had been alone on this island for longer than her mind could comprehend, no one to disturb her controlled rage or to loosen the deathly grip hopelessness had on her heart. Charming had shown her a piece of what life looked like when happiness hadn't been ripped away from you.

Hook mimicked her guilt ridden silence, not even attempting to make the slightest of eye contact with her; not a look, a sound or a care. He had dragged Charming into the Grotto knowing full well the implications but never told him. Perhaps if he had, there wouldn't be more blood on his hands. But that was a dangerous thought, one he thought best to not entertain. His feet dragged against the soil, with each step he took more of the Earth with him. It was far too much effort for his body to stand straight and carry the worries of the day. How would he explain to Snow how he'd stood by while her husband, her true love, was painfully ripped from this world? Hook had lost many people along the way, good men and women, he mourned them all but only carried a few with him, Milah being the heaviest memory. He knew all too well what it felt like to lose what you hold most precious in all the realms. He knew the searing pain of watching your love take their last breath.

At one time, Hook believed very fiercely in God; an omnipotent being ruling with righteousness and for the glory of his kingdom. He fought to be a man worthy of such a God, but as the years turned to centuries his belief dwindled into nothing more than ritual, a habit he clung to during periods of darkness. Today was one of those days. He carried a rosary in the inner lining of his jacket; it dangled from his hands as he walked; reciting Our Father's as he counted his steps to distract his mind. Tink was the first to break their understanding of silence.

"How are you going to tell his wife?" She was tentative with her tone sensing his inner time bomb. She had at one point known him better than most could ever claim. She stepped closer to him.

Hook turned his head a blank expression firmly placed upon his face. "When we are ready to leave the island, Henry in tow; I will tell her gently and privately."

"You can't expect her to go, what could possibly be weeks, without knowing her husband is dead. It's just cruel!"

"Do not test me Tinkerbell. If she knows before we save the boy, she will be despondent. She will be of little use to anyone; especially to what remains of her family. I know what kind of darkness accompanies that kind of news and all the help in the world can't pry that despair from your bones. She will know when I deem it appropriate, then and only then. I do not want to discuss this again." Hook's face had contorted into rage as the emotions he had been trying to suppress bubbled to the surface.

"Get as angry as you want Killian but when she finds out you kept a secret like that from her, she will never trust you again."

He rushed back at her speaking inches from her face "I'm not worried about whether she trusts me; I'm only concerned with getting everyone back to Storybrooke in one piece. It is the least I can do to honor Charming's memory. He would want Henry to be safe. He said it himself, Snow White is strong. One day. She will find a way to live past this devastation but if we don't find Henry, he might not be so lucky."

"Fine but we need a plan. We can't expect to walk into Pan's camp and casually take Henry without a fight."

"First off, we have to find the others. We'll never be able to take Pan and his midget army without help. Pan has a sick sense of humor and he's overly sentimental in his tortures. I think I know where he would have dropped Rumplestilskin. We are headed for the Guillotine Canyons."

Tink knew all too well the implications that lied in those canyons. Not only had Pan used them to torture countless unwanted visitors or boys who hadn't followed his will; but it was the very place her and Hook had parted ways years prior.

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Snow woke in the same forested camp she had fallen asleep in. The light was an orange hue, an indication of the early hour. Her arms lifted to her eyes and rubbed the sleep from them. She scanned the camp and saw that only one other was awake, Tiger Lily. Without making a sound she sat next to the young girl. Tiger Lily spoke without turning to look at Snow.

"You're healing quickly."

"Yes."

"Ask the question you've been wondering since you woke." Tiger Lily gave no indication as to her intentions.

"My family is on the island, I was hoping you could help me find them?"

"Unfortunately, I cannot. But there is another who can. There is an Oracle in the Dark Forest who can tell you what you need to know. It isn't far from here but to get answers from it you will have to give it something in return."

"What?"

"Something very valuable to you, you'll know when the time comes what to leave. If you head out now, you can make it before night fall. Follow the tree line; it'll lead you straight to the Oracle."

"One last thing, how long has Rumpelstilskin been gone?" Snow questioned having seen that his bed was empty upon her waking.

"Since nightfall. You don't seem surprised he is missing." Tiger Lily didn't look up.

"Abandonment is hardly a new trait for him." She shrugged and considered herself lucky that she was self sufficient.

Snow took in the morning flames from the fire and thanked Tiger Lily for her help. The girl packed her a bag of provisions after breakfast. Before another hour could pass, she headed out for the answers she sought.