Convergence

Following the first figure were several others, and soon after them enough to complete a score. Both Hook and Peter discerned that the hare had scurried off, leaving them outnumbered ten to one. "Put the weapon down," the first man said, holding his arms up in a pacifying gesture. "We just wanna talk."

"You want to take me to your queen, and I will be decapitated," Hook retorted.

"What if I told you we could get you safely out of the country before she had the chance?"

"Doubt that would work."

"Yeah, you're right. You're very likely to die at the end of this. I...I'm not gonna lie."

"Honesty. Good form."

"Uh, thanks."

"Of course. So, you score of men are here to arrest us, a father and son? We're only trying to return home. Surely our personal problems, which we will work out, by the way, don't merit the attention of the queen of a far-off and exotic land."

"Under ordinary circumstances, yes, but you two are tresspassers."

"Yes, we are." Hook buried the sword in the dirt between himself and the guard speaking to him.

"Dad," Peter whined.

"It's the truth, boy."

Four guards walked around the first and grabbed them both at the elbows. Peter immediately began to fight, but the captain seemed to resign himself to his fate. A man had to knock Peter near unconscious before he, too, did the same.

OUAT

"Well, this is certainly a strange matter," Morraine said after Bae finished explaining what had occurred between himself and his father. "Perhaps it has something to do with the wall of soldiers."

"I thought that, too," Bae replied. "The question is, what exactly is happening?"

She shrugged. "Beats the hell out of me, as Emma would say."

He turned his eyes toward the northwest. The after-effects of the pulse could still be felt. Bae feared that his father might be right.

OUAT

"So, do we get a one call from jail?" Peter asked as the jailer turned the key in the lock. For want of space, he was cellmate to his father and a crazy old coot chained to the wall.

"Sorry, kid, but good try," the jailer replied.

Peter stood and walked over to the cell door. "I said, do we get one call from jail?"

The jailer, now forced to stare directly into Peter's eyes, said softly, "I'll see what I can do," before retreating.

Peter turned to face the cell and sank into a seated position, rubbing his eyes. "I hate being out of it," he murmured. "This is usually so easy."

"Well, how long have you spent in a blend of hallucination and reality?" Hook replied.

"How'd you know about that?"

Hook smirked as if to say, "I have my ways." Peter eyed the pirate for a moment before leaning against the wall and staring at the corner between the wall and the floor, his arms wrapped around his knees.

OUAT

Rufio and Slightly landed the Lost Boys near a dry river bed far deeper into Wonderland than they'd come originally. The Twins began to run off toward a mammoth green mushroom; two other Lost Boys grabbed them and pulled them back. Rufio looked up at the sun and then to his the east, in the direction of the Human Wall, and then he took in his surroundings, desperately hoping he had them right. On impulse, he moved toward a small, ramshackle wood house, and the others followed uncertainly.

The closer they got to the house, the more it seemed deserted. Finally, Rufio stopped, siezed by a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach. "Be still," he whispered, sensing that the boys immediately froze. Perhaps they felt it, too.

Something rustled some ten yards in front of them, paused, and went on its way. The noise was between the Lost Boys and the house.

Finally, when he was absolutely certain the perpetrator of the noise was long gone, he said, "Go west, young men."

"We're not men," a Lost Boy said.

"Hush. We're going." With that, he set off away from the Human Wall and toward the capital of Wonderland.

OUAT

The entire group of Merry Men gathered around the greenwood tree. Bae and Morraine sat close together, he gently stroking her arm. The afternoon was mild in the forest, so no one in the group felt much like moving. Besides, for almost a week there hadn't been any news other than an unknown event stirring from the direction of Wonderland.

"There you guys are."

Bae looked up at the speaker, the black-leather-clad human-sized puppet that anyone would recognize should they see him again. "Oh, hello, August," Bae replied. "Are you here to stop by?"

"Yeah, yeah, I am." August took a seat on Bae's other side. "Looks like life is pretty good here."

Bae chuckled. "It's quite a life, I'll tell you what."

"I bet it is."

"So, how're things?"

"Well, the bridge is holding up pretty well, the bike's still in good shape, I haven't seen speck of dust or wing of the Blue Fairy or any fairy for almost a month, and rumor about the forest is that something is stirring beyond the Soldiers' Brigade."

"That's no rumor. I felt it. But that's all the news anyone seems to have, unless Papa knows something he's not telling me."

"Wouldn't surprise me. Seems like he'd do anything to protect you."

Bae blushed and bowed his head. "You haven't heard about the snail, have you?" Morraine asked.

"What snail?"

"So, Bae's playing about with some friends and a ball near the street, the ball goes wide, in front of a cart. Bae runs to get it, scrapes his knee, pisses off the merchant before the merchant realizes Bae is Rumpelstiltskin's son, Rumpelstiltskin appears and turns the merchant into a snail before promptly stomping on him, all before the events can be adequately explained."

"Thank you for making that as painless as possible," Bae said, lifting his head again.

"Of course."

"Your dad turned a random dude into a snail because you scraped your knee?" August asked. "I'd hate to live in that household."

"Now you're old enough that you don't have to." August laughed and ruffled Bae's hair.

"Well," he said as he stood, "suppose I should be off."

"You can stay, if you like."

August nodded and pursed his lips. "I'll be around."

"You're not crossing the bridge again, are you?"

"Maybe in a while, but you know I won't be gone long."

"I know."

August turned to walk out of the clearing, but before he could take a single step, the pulse of evil could be felt again.