Setting Out Again

Jesse peered through the forest, trying to keep track of her path and watching for a monster that couldn't wait any longer to make its presence known. The latter didn't happen, and she didn't seem to get lost, so she considered the start of that day's leg of the journey a good one.

Most of the people following her, so far as she could tell, were silent or only dared to talk in hushed tones. Perhaps they feared they would attract the attention of another flying lamprey or some such. Jesse smirked. The denizens of the Black Forest weren't that predictable. There was no way of knowing what they were doing or planning on doing, or if they were planning at all. One simply had to be ready at all times.

The cheshire kept appearing and disappearing throughout their walk through, well, whatever the mist concealed, which didn't seem to squish like half-rotted undergrowth. The cat didn't engage anyone in much more than idle chatter, if he engaged anyone at all, and spent some of his time lounging on dead tree limbs and grooming himself, sometimes keeping up the grooming as he moved from limb to limb in puffs of smoke, following the procession.

Jesse watched the cat carefully, making sure he didn't get too close to her. He called her princess, so he knew about her mother, but he didn't bring up the issue since the first meeting, so thus far, Jesse had accepted the cheshire's presence.

Tuck trotted up to her and asked, "Think I can crack a joke in a place like this, lighten things up a little?"

"The sensitive can't feel magic. If there is none, don't chance it," Jesse replied.

"Aww, come on."

"Tuck, don't."

"Okay, if you insist. You're missing out, though."

"If you try anything and there really is no magic to utilize, you'll risk your life, and if it's all for a joke, you could die for nothing."

"Always so serious." Jesse gave him a slug on the shoulder, which Tuck subsequently rubbed. "Okay, okay, I'll stop now."

"Good." Jesse looked over her shoulder at Rumpelstiltskin, August, Bae, and Morraine and then returned her attention to her path.

"Does this place ever end?"

"It should, in a few days, assuming we aren't-" Something shot through the air over their heads. "Attacked," Jesse finished in a small voice. She unsheathed her knives and looked up at the lamprey. "Shit. It's back."

Bae armed his bow and aimed at the head of the beast as it snaked its way back around. Its mouth was closed, giving Bae a clear view of its head. He fired, hitting it square between the eyes. It roared and squirmed about, threatening to take nearly everyone off their feet. Bae nocked another arrow and shot the lamprey in the side of the head. Jesse threw a knife, striking a point just to the side of Bae's second arrow. The lamprey shrieked and writhed as if struck with a branding iron. It struck several trees, knocking them level. Most of the group gathered some distance away from the scuffle.

Finally, the lamprey stopped its struggle. The knife had been shaken loose, at the cost of exacerbating the wound, which resembled a burn more than a cut, and fallen to one of the trees that had been knocked over. Jesse ran to grab it. Bae nocked yet another arrow and followed her to serve as backup. The eel moved toward her, and she slashed at it with her other knife, leaving another burn-like wound. "What are those knives made of?" Bae asked.

"Cold Iron," Jesse replied, plucking her knife from the trunk of the fallen tree. Her eyes were fixed on the lamprey, holding onto the last of its life before finally collapsing and breathing its last. Bae relaxed the string and put the arrow back into his quiver. As they walked back to the group, he put his bow back over his shoulder. "It's okay," Jesse called to the group in general. "Nothing to see here. Let's keep going." She returned to the path and proceeded. The others reluctantly followed.

OUAT

Faery lamprey, Bae thought as they set out. Cold Iron blades killed it with a total of two-count them, two-strokes. The arrows might've been inconsequential, if they did any damage at all. But Jesse knew this world far better than he did, so he trusted her judgement, and she did know how to take down the Black Forest's monsters, so far as he could tell. August had asked about what had happened, and Bae explained as curtly as possible with the expectation that he would ask a slew of questions afterward. When he didn't, Bae raised an eyebrow at him. "What?" August asked.

"I just thought you'd ask a lot of questions, is all," Bae replied.

"Well, it's pretty straightforward, especially the way you explained it."

"Oh, thank you."

"No problem, kid."

Bae smirked. Somehow, in this instance, it was comforting to be called 'kid.' He wasn't an adult yet, and someone, at least, didn't expect him to be. "Hey, maybe when we finish up here, we can go back over the bridge and finish our motorcycling lessons."

"Maybe."

"That'd be fun. I'm starting to miss it already."

August threw an arm around Bae's shoulders. "Look at it this way, kid. The sooner we get done here, the sooner we can go back."

"You read my mind."

August chuckled and ruffled Bae's hair, and Bae looked over his shoulder at Belle, slowly working her way toward them. Personally, he had nothing against the fact that Belle loved Rumpelstiltskin, but his mother had said those same three words, and Bae had lived with the result. He wasn't even sure what his mother looked like or what her voice sounded like. Sometimes he didn't remember having a mother at all. He'd merely grown up with a shaken father and no idea why it was so. His only hope with the relationship was that it would never happen again, whatever drove his parents apart the first time, but he just couldn't be absolutely sure. After all, Rumpelstiltskin had told her how she tried to break his curse, and that very well could be her reason.

He let out a heavy breath and rubbed his eyes. He shouldn't be thinking about these things, he knew, but he didn't want his father to get hurt, though how he could manage that he had no idea, since he was of the school that he really had no right to interfere in the affairs of others.

Bae had mentioned this to his father, but he didn't remmeber having an opportunity to fully discuss it. He decided that at the next available moment, he would correct this.

If he wasn't eaten by something first.

Something about the Black Forest seemed to force that thought to color every other one, but he didn't dwell on that fact very much, since it seemed a little too quiet.

Something about that was unnerving, too, but it would only last as long as it took to get out of there, Bae reminded himself. The forest was getting to him.

Bae looked from August to Rumpelstiltskin, who noticed shortly thereafter and smiled at him, and he reciprocated before looking at the path in front of him. Without warning, Rumpelstiltskin wrapped an arm around Bae's shoulders. "What was that for?" Bae asked.

Rumpelstiltskin laughed and ruffled Bae's hair. "Because you're my son," he replied.

Bae smirked and then drifted closer to his father. "There's something I'd like to discuss with you, on a serious level," he whispered.

"Alright."

"Are you sure about your relationship with Belle?"

"Why do you ask?"

"I don't want a repeat of...last time."

"Ah. Well, she is able to break my curse, and I know you felt it when she kissed me."

"But are you sure?"

Rumpelstiltskin closed his eyes and let out a breath. "No."

"I don't want you to get hurt."

"I know, Bae. I know."

"Love doesn't always last forever," Belle said from behind them, "but if you don't give it a chance, it never will."

Bae smiled at Belle, who, along with Rumpelstiltskin, smiled back. "Alright," Bae said with a curt nod. All three returned their attention to the Merry Men in front of them, and Bae drifted back over to August and Morraine.