A/N: I'm still collecting myself after that last BEAUTIFUL SwanQueen fanfiction that passed as the last episode of Once. I hardly noticed the OutlawQueen if I'm honest, which is definitely a good thing! This won't compare, but hopefully will tide you over until it becomes inevitably endgame.
I've upped the rating because I've decided that I may need it in the future, if there's sufficient interest.
DISCLAIMER: Don't own it. If I did, every episode would be like Witch Hunt.
Please leave a review!
Chapter 9
"This is Emma and Regina, they won't be here for long, but while they are here, I want everyone to remain civil." Hook addressed his crew. "If I suspect anyone's intentions are anything less that pristine, I will personally see to it that you are punished." His tone was light but from the shuffling on deck, Regina supposed he was not a particularly complacent captain.
"Right ladies, how about you two go down to my cabin? I have some spare clothes if you wish to wash your own, since it's unlikely they'll be a similar opportunity for a while. I'll brief my crew on what to do when I'm gone."
Emma nodded. "Thank you, Killian. Come on, princess."
Regina was getting sick of being ordered about, but she wasn't in a position to argue.
The floor swayed slightly with the gentle waves as the two women made their way below deck, leaving Hook to talk to his crew above. The ship was, as most ships; unclean and cramped, but after they passed the crew cabin and the saloon, the smell lessened slightly.
Regina chose not to comment on the fact that Emma knew the way to the captain's quarters with an apparent lack of thought.
Pushing open double doors, the blonde, in her usual manner, made herself at home immediately. She threw herself down in the chair at the captain's desk, swinging booted legs onto the worn wooden surface as Regina hovered awkwardly in the threshold, unsure of what to do.
"He'll have a washroom behind the screen." Emma said after a moment of silence, indicating to the section of the room partitioned off by an oriental-looking screen.
"So why are you still here?" Asked Regina suspiciously.
Emma looked affronted. "I'm letting you go first, I'm being polite." She explained.
"Oh, that would explain why I was confused at the unusual occurrence." Said Regina flippantly. If Emma took the prod to heart, she didn't show it.
The brunette took advantage of the facilities, washing her entire body and soaking her dress clean. She decided to do the same with her undergarments so called out.
"Miss Swan?"
Emma snorted and replied in a mocking tone. "Yes, ma'am, what is it that you require from me?"
She didn't fully process that this was the kind of address Regina was used to.
"Is there anything for me to change into? Just while my clothes dry." She called from behind the screen.
Emma was shocked at the change in attitude, but said nothing and searched for some of Hook's more ordinary garments.
"He doesn't have any silk-trimmed gowns I'm afraid, princess." She said, tossing a shirt and trousers over the screen to Regina, who donned them quickly and without thought.
She felt uncomfortably plain when she emerged, clean, into the main section of the room. She'd washed, combed through and tied back her hair and the male clothes hung off her curvaceous frame in an oddly distorting way. She wasn't like Emma, she could never look wholly comfortable in men's clothes as the blonde could, but Emma realized she'd seen many people look much worse than Regina did then.
She smirked and stifled laughter all the same at the clearly aggravated expression that her companion wore. Regina scowled and stalked over to the other side of the room, sitting heavily in the armchair by the large windows overlooking the sea and trying hard not to think about what had happened in that room, and indeed in that chair, previously. Emma heaved herself up and went to clean herself up while Regina took the opportunity to look around the cabin. Hook was evidently a collector of numerous interesting things. He had a glass-fronted cupboard dedicated entirely to a display of delicate-looking equipment that on closer inspection, Regina assumed were for navigation, judging by all the spindles, dials and lenses. The desk that Emma had recently vacated had several maps spread out on it, overlapping each other, with a complex compass and a letter written in a symbol language she didn't understand on top of them. His wardrobe was tucked away in a corner, grand and ornate, but the thin layer of dust coating it implied that it hadn't been opened in a while, something Regina didn't find surprising.
She found a certain thrill in exploring the cabin of a pirate captain; an experience she had entertained the idea of in her childhood, but had soon dismissed once she came of age. He had his own miniature armoury in a chest, containing a plethora of swords, daggers and pistols. He had keys hanging on a hook by the door that had no labels and could feasibly open anything. His bed was large and unmade and, despite telling herself she was being ridiculous, she steered clear of it. She heard Emma splashing water over herself behind the screen, and felt oddly comforted at this one growing familiarity in an otherwise completely alien environment.
"Finished snooping around yet, princess?" asked Emma, returning into view wearing her own selection of Hook's spare clothes, which, as predicted, looked much better on her than they would have done on Regina.
"Almost." Answered Regina, opening the drawers of his desk and observing the stacks of papers and various stationary. Hook seemed like an oddly organised pirate.
"Well once you've amused yourself sufficiently, we should go and find Hook and he can show us this map. The sooner we leave, the better." She said, drying her hair off with a newly acquired cloth. Her curls now hung in damp limp tendrils, almost brown in colour.
Regina sighed and looked down at her attire with a grim expression. She hardly knew the man and was already wary of him, yet was wearing his clothes and washing in his quarters.
Emma noticed the hesitance and rolled her eyes. "Honestly, stop worrying. No one gives a shit about how you look here."
"I know that!" Snapped Regina. I care, however.
Emma guessed what she was thinking. "You're a vision, my dear, an angel of such beauty they shall have to avert their eyes." She said with a flourish, before heading for the door. Regina scoffed at the dry tone, but followed nonetheless.
On deck, several glances were cast their way and many members of the crew hurriedly approached to greet Emma and ask how she was faring, all of whom she greeted by name. Hook stood by the wheel, discussing something with a member of his crew who wore a red woollen hat and looked obscenely nervous. Emma showed no hesitance in climbing the stairs and approaching the captain in his own clothes. He caught sight of them and smirked and Regina realized that such an expression would have been repulsive had it not been on such a good-looking face.
"What a treat! I can't decide if I want you to keep my clothes or if I want them back afterwards."
Emma was having none of it.
"Look, Killian, we're here for a reason, and we'd rather get going as soon as possible, so could we see this map now?" She said.
Hook glanced at the sailor next to him "That's all, Smee. Just make sure we have sold plenty of it before our next voyage." Smee nodded his head and scuttled off.
"I suppose you had better follow me then, ladies."
Hook led them to a small door below deck that they hadn't even registered on passing the first time. He pulled a key out of his pocket and slid it into the lock, twisting it and pushing the door open. The room was stuffy and the air tasted stale, unoccupied, he struck a match and lit the gas lamp perched precariously on a trunk. It was made up almost entirely of shelves and boxes, stuffed to the brim with a myriad of seemingly useless objects, although Emma suspected Hook would never keep anything unnecessary on his ship. He picked his way over to a chest at the very back of the room that required another key. Having unlocked and opened it, he began to rifle through the contents; predominantly leafs of paper and leather bound books. Finding what he was looking for, he pulled out a piece of yellowing parchment and handed it to Emma before re-locking the chest.
"There's your map, love. It's old, you may need my assistance."
"I'm sure we can manage." Said Emma, but on opening out the parchment, furrowed her brow in confusion at what she saw.
Hook laughed, the sound echoing round the small room.
"Confusing, isn't it? Come on, we'll go back to my cabin, I'll talk you through it."
Gathered round his desk in the captain's cabin, Emma and Regina squinted in confusion at what was apparently a map in front of them. Hook sat in the chair, spreading the parchment out and examining lines and drawings he'd furiously poured over again and again until he'd made sense of them and had them practically memorised. He had decided that, if he couldn't physically kill the crocodile, he could at least learn the location that he'd been trying to keep a secret.
"Wait, it doesn't make any sense?" Said Emma, missing the way Hook tensed as she leaned over his shoulder to get a closer look.
Regina was equally puzzled. As a well-educated individual, she had expected this part of their quest to be the easiest for her to follow. The map was oddly set out: as opposed to the usual bird's eye view of the land, it had fold markings crisscrossing it and distorted images that Regina thought she would have been able to understand if they had been of normal proportions.
"You're not looking at it from the right angle." Remarked Hook, and began to fold edges of the map over, twisting it round and folding it again and again over some lines, completely ignoring others. Regina felt sudden respect for the man; it was a highly complicated map and he'd evidently learnt how to read it, which would definitely take a certain level of determination and intelligence.
Once he had finished, he spun the map around and leaned back in his seat so the two women could get a better look.
The folding of the parchment had rendered the map slightly more legible. Trees depicting the forest that had been disproportionally tall before now looked normal, and the hills appeared raised from the page. Regina still struggled to completely comprehend it, but at least it appeared more like a real landscape now.
"He lives here." Proclaimed Hook, pointing to a black dot drawn on top of a hill. "…And…we are…here." He said, pointing to a section of the coast. Even on the map, the distance between the two points looked sizeable.
Emma sighed. "How long will that take?"
"It depends which route we take. If we cut across the hills, which will be more exposed and potentially more dangerous for outlaws like you and I, lass, I'd say just over a week, maybe two. If we go round the hills, through the forest, round the lake, past the marshland and through those villages there, a lot longer, but would be safer and there'd be more opportunity for food and shelter and information and the like." He explained.
Unexpectedly, Emma glanced up and locked eyes with Regina. She was evidently debating with herself, and for some reason, staring at a silent Regina helped her to reach it.
"No, the hills are too risky. If we get caught in a storm out there with no shelter, we'll be in serious danger. Besides, if exhaustion from climbing doesn't kill us then the animals out there will, even with protection. We'll go through the forest." She decided.
Hook nodded, though whether he approved of her decision or not wasn't clear. Emma had clearly established herself as the leader and this remained unchallenged.
"Ok. Then we'll need to take supplies…"
"We needn't take much; extra baggage will just slow us down."
"We can't go wandering of without any food or money-"
"I manage every day. We'll take money, and if there's nowhere to get food from, we'll forage and hunt for it. You may be the navigator, but when it comes to living in the wild, I have the most experience. I bet this is the longest you've ever been away from home, isn't it princess?" The last jab received only a mildly scathing look in return.
"Fine, you're the boss. We'll take gold and weapons and only the bare essentials otherwise. Should we have someone accompany us? Smee's pretty much useless in a fight but he could help with carrying things." Hook offered.
Emma shook her head. "Having a pirate, a runaway and an outlaw in the same group is a risk already, I have no intention of increasing the number of people on the guard's Wanted List."
"If you're sure…"
"I am."
"Good. We'll leave tomorrow."
"We'll leave now."
"I can't leave my crew-"
"You were eager enough to leave them when you signed up for this."
"There are beds and food here, rest for the night, we'll leave tomorrow."
"Then that's another day lost and another day longer the journey will take."
"You might as well make use of what I have on board before we go gallivanting off into the wilderness."
Emma turned to glare at him. "You know what, Killian, I don't—"
The rest of her sentence was cut of by an almighty bang, and the entire boat was thrown to one side, causing the three people in the cabin to grab onto what they could to steady themselves. Hook was immediately on his feet as the sound of gunshots and panicked shouting came from above. They exchanged second-long, terrified glances before rushing on to deck one after the other to view the carnage that had erupted.
