Enchanted Forest
"It's a little freakier than I remember from the story," Emma says as we get our first up close look at the beanstalk. It winds its way from the ground all the way through the clouds into the sky, seemingly going on forever with thick vines winding around it. I tilt my head back to take the massive thing in, mouth hanging open slightly.
"Reminds me of death," Mulan adds.
"Aren't you a little ball of sunshine," I quip under my breath, earning a smirk from Hook.
"Well, your compass awaits," Hook says, ready to get down to business. "Shall we?"
"Wait," Emma says as we continue to walk forward," if these beans create portals, then why not just pick one and go home?"
"Because there aren't any more beans. Whatever story you think you know, my dear, is most certainly wrong." I scowl at the constant flirting Hook gives to nearly every woman in our little group, it's annoying and I just wish he would cut the shit out already. I mean, Mary-Margaret's married, Aurora's obsessed with some prince or another, Mulan's playing for the other team, and Emma's obviously not interested in a guy like him.
My other wish is that he would drop the whole Aveena, I am your father routine, but that's not likely to happen either.
"There was a guy named Jack with a cow and something about an evil giant with a treasure and a golden goose." We come to a full stop at the base of the stalk, the brown and green vines making it up still looking strong even after all these years and a curse. I reach out a hand, careful not to actually touch the beanstalk, and watch as protective magic swirls through the air towards my hand, invisible to non-magic users, but a pale gold to my eyes.
"Sounds like a lovely tale, but the truth's a bit more gruesome. The giants grew the beans, but rather than use them for good, they used them to plunder all the lands. Jack was a man who fought a terrible war, defeating all but one of the evil giants. The beans were destroyed by the giants as they died. If they couldn't have their magic, then nobody could. It's very bad form."
"There's a flaw in your tale, Captain," I tell him with a smirk. He raises his brows, gesturing for me to go on. "Jack wasn't the only one who killed giants. One tried to set up shop on Papa's land, but my papa wasn't about to have a giant in his backyard, so he used his magic to turn it into a golden goose. If you don't believe me, it's sitting in the back room of Papa's shop in a glass case."
I drew a mustache on it last week when I was still cursed.
"How many times must I remind you? The Dark One is no more your father than that giant is!" Looks like I struck a nerve, I think with a laugh.
"A father is the man that raises the child, not the one that donated sperm." He makes a choking noise when I use the word sperm and that in turn makes me laugh harder.
"Are you two finished," Emma asks sarcastically. "We do have work to do, don't we?"
"The compass is up there with the treasure," Hook explains, sending me a dark we're having a talk later look. "All we have to do is sneak past the one remaining giant to do it. Cora has the means to open a portal with the sparkly wardrobe ashes, but she can't find your land without the compass." Seriously though, did the writers of Pirates of the Caribbean mooch off this compass idea to create Jack's? "Once we have the compass, we'll only have to worry about stealing the dirt from Cora."
"How do we know you're not just using us to get the compass for Cora," Mulan asks.
"Because you five are far safer company. All I need is a ride back and I'll swear allegiance to whoever gets me there first."
"To kill Rumpelstiltskin," I inquire, watching him nod. "Mm, I'd really like to see you try because his girlfriend's back and she's tougher than she looks." Belle would coldcock this guy before he has time to draw his sword.
"Let's get climbing," Emma says before Hook could respond to me.
"Right," Hook chuckles," I forgot to include that the giant enchanted the beanstalk to repel intruders. You see, you need a special bracelet to climb without being brutally murdered by protective magic."
"Then how do we get up there?"
"I happen to have stolen said bracelet from Cora." He holds up his bound hands. "If you'd be so kind?" Mary-Margaret unties the ropes, making it look easy, though I suppose it was for her since she's the one the tied his hands together in the first place. Hook brings his face close to hers with what I assume is supposed to be a seductive half grin and a wink. "Thank you, Milady." He takes off his ratty outer clothing to reveal the fitted clothing underneath; a dark leather vest, trousers, a black shirt, and a leather cuff around his right wrist. "I've got one more of these, so which one of you four lovelies shall accompany me up the stalk?"
"Hey," I snap when he nudges me to the side to take in the other four women.
"Go on, fight it out." He holds up the other cuff with a grin, watching the women with an expression I'd seen on Eli's face a thousand times when he had me alone in his room. The thought had my stomach aching and I have to pinch myself to make sure I wasn't just having a nightmare, breaking the tenuous connection with the stalk's magic. "Don't be afraid to, you know, really get into it."
Realizing that the women would actually argue until the chosen one stepped forward to volunteer as tribute, I decide to sit down and watch a few more YouTube videos. Hook sits next to me, looking at my phone over my shoulder. "Personal space, dude," I grumble, scooting away to avoid having his breath hit me. I still felt a little sick around men I don't know, Eli's abuse leaving a mark I doubt I'll be able to get away from anytime soon.
"What on earth is that?"
"The miracle of modern technology." And that's the story of how I got Captain Hook addicted to an iPhone and all its wonders, though he took more interest in the camera than anything else. At least good selfies run in the family. He takes my necklace in his good hand once I snatch my phone back, looking it over closely. "Papa said it belonged to my mom."
"It did, she was wearing it on the night we met. She left it behind in case the Dark One needed something to sell in order to feed your brother." I nod, tucking it under my shirt and away from his eyes. He shouldn't know something so personal about my mother, it just didn't feel right especially with the tender note in his voice. Papa said this guy was bad news, but what if Hook was actually just lovesick?
"Anything in that bag that can help me," Emma asks Mulan a few minutes later.
"A hook," Mulan frowns, looking like she'd just taken last place in a fencing competition.
"Hey," Hook calls out, wounded. Mulan ignores him, leading Emma out of hearing range. "Is she always like that?"
"In the few days I've known her, I've never seen her smile," I answer him, standing up and brushing the sand off my jeans with Hook following suit," and I'm funny, so that chick has no sense of humor." Hook scoffs at that, ruffling my hair and laughing when I shove his hand away. His smile almost completely vanishes when he looks back at the others, growing impatient as the minutes wear on and it doesn't look like Mulan's finished talking yet. "Ladies, I'm afraid we don't have all day." Emma walks over to Hook and me, holding up her arm for the black cuff to be slipped on. "I was hoping it'd be you."
"You would've been happy with any of them."
"Hush, you're ruining the moment."
"What moment," Emma demands," we're not having a moment and you can forget about getting in my pants."
"That's not fair, you haven't even given me a chance to really work my charm." He rests her hand on his shoulder, popping the cuff in place around her wrist, the leather glowing a faint gold color that was nearly identical to the beanstalk's magic. "You just wait, you'll be swooning in my arms by the time we make it back to your home."
"Only if it's from your stench."
"Oh come on, that's just rude." He looks my way and gestures at Emma, disbelief coloring his tone when he speaks again. "Can you believe that?"
"Well, you don't exactly smell like roses," I say, stuffing my phone back into my bra where it might be safer.
"I'm surrounded by traitors." He shakes his head, his wounded pride almost a physical wound as he allows Emma to lower her arm again. "The cuff will help you climb without the fear of falling, but there are other dangers. Not to worry, love, you've got me to protect you."
"And who's going to protect me from you?"
"Where's the trust?"
"Sorry, I'm all out." Hook holds up the arm that ends in a stump and points at it expectantly, growing used to Emma remarks. "I don't know about you, but I've never mastered the art of climbing one-handed." With a distrustful look, Emma pulls the silver hook attachment out of Hook's satchel and hands it over to him. Without even glancing down to see what he was doing, Hook slides the attachment home, twisting it into the cover with a faint click.
"Don't think I'm taking my eyes off you for a second."
"It would be a shame if you did as I've been told that I have an ass that was created by the gods."
"Oh, smite me now," I groan, shuffling over to the others. The last thing I need is to hear a stranger bragging about their own ass, let alone a stranger claiming to be my dad. Emma hangs the satchel on his hook, walking over to the beanstalk with Hook right behind her.
"Vee," he calls right before he starts climbing," don't raise too much hell while I'm gone." I don't promise anything, rolling my eyes as he continued to flirt with the blonde. Once they were out of my limited sight, I lay back in the sun-warmed sand and stare up at the sky; Cirrus clouds floated lazily overhead, occasionally blocking out the sun and giving us a respite from the constant heat. I'm brought back to real life by the others talking about keeping time.
"My necklace used to be a pocket watch," I chime in, drawing attention to myself. "I-I could help a little bit."
"You'll have the last watch," Mulan informs me," you're the youngest." I nod, going back to my thoughts as Mulan lays down a few feet away to sleep. "You should get some rest, Morgan. You'll want to be wide awake for your shift." I nod again, rolling onto my side and looking at the trees. After a few minutes of restless tossing and turning I sit up and pull the scarf Hook dropped earlier over to me.
It smelled like him, that cloying scent of Sweet Peas lulling me into a light slumber.
Killian Jones—Past
Killian smirks as Milah walks over to him, a squirming black puppy in her arms and a hopeful light in her eyes. "I know you don't like animals," she starts, seeing his smirk transform into a frown. "But I found him wandering around by himself and he needs a home."
"He can find a home on his own, I won't have that thing aboard my vessel." She pokes her lower lip out in a pout, standing at his side and resting her head on his shoulder. The puppy lets out of small yip, its tail wagging rapidly back and forth. "No, Milah." He was absolute on this one, there's no way he's going to have a dog on his ship, especially since Milah just realized she was pregnant.
"Oh, but Killian, just look into his eyes." She holds the puppy's face close to Killian's, its brown eyes practically daring Killian to turn it down.
"Fine," he snaps, turning away from his lover and the mongrel," but you'll be the one taking care of the thing!" It's going to be a huge dog, he could tell that by its paws, and probably hyper as well. Milah lets out a happy squeal, rushing past him to board the Jolly Roger before Killian had a chance to change his mind about the whole thing.
Enchanted Forest
I wake with a yelp, hearing screaming and looking around for a threat, but only finding Mulan and Mary-Margaret arguing. It's a good thing that there wasn't a threat because I would have been no use in my half-awake state. "Mm, one day without drama would be an amazing thing," I mumble, shaking my head and trying to sit up.
"No," Mary-Margaret screams, sprinting forward as Mulan hacks away at the beanstalk with her sword. "You'll kill her, stop it!" Mary-Margaret tackles Mulan to the ground, the two women rolling around in a fight.
"Good God, Hook would love that." Fighting past the drowsiness, I manage to sit up straight and push away the beanstalk's magic. It wasn't bad when we first got here, but it flared up when Mulan began trying to cut the beanstalk down and now it's nearly overwhelming.
"Stop," Emma shouts, jumping the last few feet to the ground and falling once she gets there.
"Emma!" Mary-Margaret was almost in tears as she runs over to her daughter. I groan, deciding to just stay where I am until the magic finishes sending a warning signal to the giant. Closing my eyes, I fall onto my side and curl into a ball, listening to the others as they calmed down.
"Did you get it," Mulan demands, sheathing her sword.
"Yep," Emma says, bringing out the compass for the others to see. I watch them through barely opened eyes, the world finally stopping its constant spinning and letting me sit up on my own again.
"Where's stupid," I ask just loud enough to be heard
"He's detained. Let's go, get your stuff. We've got ten hours before he follows us." Impressive. I jump, feeling something cold pressing against my neck. I expect to find a sword or a dagger when I turn, but instead I find a large black dog, its head cocked to the side and brown eyes watching me. He looks like he'd stop at my waist on all fours, white spots on his chest and feet standing out in stark relief against the coal black fur.
"Hey, buddy," I smile, reaching out one hand for it to sniff. "You must be the dog Hook told me about last night." The dog, Pup, leans his head into my hand, panting lightly. "Looks like I've got a friend on this journey after all."