A/N So here's the next chapter. I hope you all like it. Please review. Also I just wanted to give you all a little heads up, I am going on a trip next week so there won't be an update next Saturday. I might post something next Sunday but not sure.
Disclaimer- They finally sold Once Upon a Time to me! No I'm just kidding, I DON'T OWN ANYTHING!
Chapter 12
...
It had been a couple of days since the whole problem with Emma and Richard. Richard was being kept in the brig, where he would stay until they docked, then he would be kicked off the ship.
Graham and Hook sat alone in the kitchen playing some sort of card game. Hook set down his cards then picked up his rum and took a large drink. Graham seemed to be contemplating his next move then set down his card.
"Is it just me or has the princess been acting... odd lately?" Hook asked, not looking up from his cards.
"If by odd you mean avoiding you, then yes she has." Graham said bluntly.
"Why do you think that is?"
"When I talked to her the other day she said it's because you keep carrying that pouch with you." Now Hook looked up, raising his eyebrow in question. "She isn't too fond of magic, apparently had some bad experiences with it in the past."
"Really? She told you all of this?" Hook asked.
Graham nodded as he looked down at his cards, trying to figure out what move to make. Graham was to focused on the game to notice the wary look Hook was giving him. Graham set down his card, bringing Hooks attention back to the game. Hook looked at the card Graham had played then at his own deck and smiled.
"I think I've won." Hook said with a grin as he put down his last card. Graham let out a defeated sigh and placed all of his cards down.
"Good game, captain."
...
One week later the ship docked. Emma was sitting in her cabin thinking about nothing in particular. She had decided to stay in her cabin that day, Hook didn't have any work for her and she knew that she wasn't coming with them to whatever they were doing. At least this time Hook didn't feel the need to handcuff her below deck, nope she just got to stay on the ship.
She stood up and went over to the little port hole on her wall and looked out to see where they were. It wasn't a very pretty place, everything looked sort of dull and brown and dry. Then she got the feeling again, Hook was coming. Just a second later Emma's door opened and Hook was standing there. Emma turned and looked at him. Hook took a second to look at her before saying something.
"Why aren't you ready?" He asked.
"Ready for what?" Emma asked, completely confused.
"Well, you're always saying how much you want to come with us when we go on our little adventures... So, do you want to come or not?" Emma's eyes lit up and she couldn't help but smile.
"I thought they were too dangerous for a princess." She said.
"Well if you think you can't handle it then you don't have to come," Hook said teasingly.
"No, I can handle it. Just give me a second and I'll be there."
Hook gave a slight nod and left the room. Emma quickly closed the door and began to change into something better. She packed a small bag with a change of clothes just in case. Then she grabbed her dagger, hid it in her boot and left the room.
...
Emma walked onto the deck and stopped to look around. Hook seemed to be busy talking to some crew members so Emma decided to find Graham instead. He was sitting on top of a barrel not to far from the gangplank lacing up one of his boots. Emma made her way through the men and sat down next to him.
"So, you're coming with us?" Graham asked after looking at what Emma was wearing.
She was dressed in a green tunic and brown pants, both perfect attire for anything outdoors. The only thing that wasn't quite right were her fancy brown riding boots. Graham noticed them and couldn't help but chuckle a bit.
"What?" Emma asks defensively.
"Your boots are going to get ruined." He stated.
"Yeah, well they are the only somewhat suitable shoes I have. I had other ones but they got ruined from..." Emma trailed off.
Her other shoes had gotten worn out after all the running she had done before she got on the ship... But if course she couldn't tell Graham that because like everyone else on the ship, he thought she was a princess.
"From?" He asked. Emma was thinking about what to say but luckily for her, Hook chose that moment to come over.
"Ah, you clean up nice Swan." He said as he took in Emma outfit. "Don't look like much of a princess now."
"I'm going to take that as a complement and say thank you." Emma said with a little grin.
"You two ready to go?" He asked, turning his attention to Graham.
They both nodded and stood up. There were two other men coming with them. Emma didn't recognize them to much, but she had seen them before. The group started towards the gangplank, Hook in the lead, then Graham, then the two men and of course Emma was pushed to the back. She sped up a bit, pushing past the others so that she could talk to Hook.
"So, where exactly are we?" Emma asked as they made there way down the gangplank.
"This is the green kingdom... or rather what's left of it." Hook said with an exaggerated arm gesture like he was presenting something amazing.
However what lied before them was anything but amazing. As Hook said, this was what was left of the kingdom. Nothing more than a few old, broken down buildings and lots of ruins. The dock they stood on was clearly very old and hadn't been fixed in years. There were planks missing, some where broken, some were rotting and others looked as if someone had tried to steal them. The city looked desolate, like no one had been there in years.
There were very few people walking around on the streets and most of them seemed depressed. Their clothes were old and tattered. A lot of them didn't have shoes. They were all very thin and looked as if they hadn't eaten in weeks.
As Emma looked around she couldn't help but feel sad. She also had a strange sense of feeling like a stranger here. Emma had been to this kingdom before when she was a child. But it was not at all like it was now. It used to be a rich kingdom, full of wealthy people.
"This is the green kingdom? What happened here?" Emma asked quietly.
"It's sad isn't it... Well you probably know that they made all their money from the beans that the giants grew..." Emma nodded, so Hook continued to tell the story. "The king got greedy and stopped paying the giants, so the giants stopped giving them beans. A war broke out and they killed nearly all of the giants, but before they died the giants destroyed their beans... now they have nothing to sell, and no more money coming in." Hook explained, he gave her a look that seemed to say 'shouldn't you know about this?' But Emma just ignored it.
"I see... So, why are we here?" Emma asked.
"We are here to get an invisibility potion." Hook said.
"Hmmm" Emma hummed with a fake smile. "More magic... fun. So, how are we going to get this potion?"
"You'll see." He said with a mischievous grin.
...
The walk to wherever they were going was a long one. It lasted nearly all day even though they only took one break. By the time they neared the end of it Emma was exhausted. Now all that was left was one little hill and they'd be there.
They reached the top of the hill and then Emma saw it. It was huge. The biggest thing that Emma had ever seen in her life. A giant beanstalk that went high above the clouds. It stood alone in a dried up field. Emma's jaw dropped open as she lifted her head to get a better look at it. The other men did the same, staring up at the giant plant before them. Hook seemed top be the only one that wasn't at all phased by the beanstalk. He just went on as usual, setting down his bag as if the huge plant on the background was completely normal.
"You tired lass?" Hook asked turning to look at Emma. It took her a second to stop gawking at the beanstalk long enough to realize he was talking to her.
"Huh?.. Oh, um. Yeah, a little." Emma said, pulling her attention back to him. Every once in awhile glancing back up at the plant.
"Alright, we'll rest here for the night..." Hook said to the small group, then turned to Emma. "We can start climbing in the morning."
Graham and the two other men nodded and began setting down their things. Emma, however, stared blankly at Hook for a while and he did the same. Finally she realized he was waiting for her to respond... which meant he had been talking to her when he said 'we can start climbing in the morning.' Emma's eyes widened at this realization and she started to shake her head.
"We climb? Who climb? Who's the other part of we? You mean they climb?" She asked pointing at the men behind her. "Not me climb. Cause I... I don't climb." Emma said in a rush. A smug little grin slowly grew on Hooks face as he took a step towards her.
"I distinctly remember you telling me that you could... hmmm, What were your words exactly? Oh, yes... 'handle it'." Hook said raising an eyebrow.
"Okay, yeah. But to be fair I didn't exactly know that what I was handling was a giant beanstalk!" Emma said gesturing up at the plant. She spoke in almost a whisper as if she would be embarrassed if the other men heard them.
"Well, princess, if you've decided that you in fact can't handle it. Then I'll just send you back to the ship with Graham and climb this with one of these men." He said with a look that was somewhere in between smug and fake disappointment.
It only took Emma a second to see that he wasn't joking about sending her back to the ship. That was the last thing she wanted. She knew what game Hook was playing. This was a test, and if she didn't climb it, that was the end. Emma would be sentenced to staying behind on the ship for the rest of the journey. Which would mean that Hook certainly wouldn't think she could help him capture Regina. The only reason why she was there. So she needed to do this, she had to prove that she could do this.
"No... I can climb it."
