Being powerless in an unfamiliar realm was the worst possible fate she could think of. Everything that was once effortless now took work- painstaking work, and it left her aching and exhausted, the loneliness intensifying so much Zelena feared it would overcome her completely. She had planned so many different scenarios in her head of how her violent escapade would turn out, yet nothing could have prepared her for the truth she fought so hard to deny- she feared for Caroline's life. It was what she thought about every second since they had left her alone in that maze of a forest.

That's why Zelena found herself trudging in the direction of the castle, the very top of the daunting structure looming above the trees. Being powerless, she knew there was little she could do to stop the dark events from transpiring. Still, she continued on, cursing herself for how much she cared about the girl. Caroline despised her for what she had done. Regina would hate her even more, if she could be saved from the hell she had put her in. All nonsensical ideas of getting to know her sister and niece were squandered just as quickly as they appeared in her mind.

The absence of her magic seemed to allow these odious thoughts to flow freely as she walked. It was all new to her, the dependency on other people and things. She had tried to block off all feelings of sadness towards Cora and Regina, using only the anger to give her what she needed. But, eventually she gave into the loneliness, desperately searching for a way to change fate. Being around Caroline made the loneliness subside, even if it were only for a moment. She wanted nothing more than to feel whole again.

The sun was high in the air above her, making the cold seem hardly as daunting. Everything around her was quiet, making Zelena believe that she was the only person around for miles. When she was met with a woman in a blue dress and perfectly braided blonde hair, she realized just how wrong she was.

"I figured you'd be dead," Elsa said, amusement drenched in her voice, "but this is way more exciting. How long have you been wandering around out here?"

Her initial thought was to throw a fireball straight at her head to show the bitch who was in charge. Dominance had been the only tool she knew, ever since she could remember. Now that she was without magic, Zelena truly felt out of her element.

"Does it matter?" She finally replied, giving her a harsh look. "Why are you here, haven't you already become the most powerful being in existence?"

When the Ice Queen's expression broke away from its previous gaudiness, she took her opportunity.

"She used her magic against you, didn't she?" Her smile only grew wider as she knew the wild accusation was correct. "You were outmatched by a ten year old child? God, that's a new one."

The blonde scowled back at her, walking towards her with a driving fire blazing in her eyes. "You were right about her magic. that's why we're meeting again in the castle- with all the residual power abandoned by the Dark One, she'll stand no chance."

Before Zelena had a chance to react, the black box containing the items needed to create the time travel portal was in the woman's hands. "This is what they're so desperate for. They don't even care that they could change any course of existence- only that it'll get them back to their normal life. Can you imagine, the first means of time travel being used for something so mundane?"

Zelena couldn't take her eyes off of the box, soon becoming lost in her own thoughts. For months, achieving the goal of time travel had been the only thought in her mind. Months ago, she didn't have a care in the world about trading Caroline's life in for a chance at a better one for herself.

"Are portals really so hard to come by in this realm?"

Elsa let out a small laugh. "I suppose so- doesn't matter to me. Once I get her power, I'll have everything I need."

With a flick of her wrist, the two of them were back in Rumplestiltskin's castle, surrounded suddenly by grand structures. The Crocodile hardly had a sense for interior decorating- clutter was everywhere, trinkets from his many successes, rewards for all the lives he had ruined for his own gain.

"So we're... going to wait here until they show up?"

Elsa rolled her eyes, already growing tired of the other woman's presence. Within seconds, the redhead was sprawled on the floor, knocked out cold.


Despite the sun beaming above them, the frigid air only grew colder. Will regretted not bringing a bigger jacket; he jammed his hands into his pockets as they walked onward, a biting feeling of worry creating a lump in the pit of his stomach. The thought of his niece up against yet another power hungry villain made him so mad he almost forgot about the cold.

Beside him, his girlfriend opted for walking on all fours, a fur coat providing warmth that Will envied immensely. He was gradually getting used to seeing Ruby in such a different form, knowing that she could be trusted even in such a carnal state. The silence was quickly getting to him though- he brought things up here and there, speaking his sporadic thoughts out loud as he often did.

"Hopefully we'll get to this damn castle by sunset," he muttered, the exhaustion only making the situation worse. Why everything had to be so far away was beyond him.

Ruby responded by lowering her snout to the ground, her body stiffening with a sense of urgency.

"What's up?" Will asked, stopping in his tracks to watch her continue to sniff the ground like a dog catching hint of a scent. Instead of giving him any context, she plunged forward through the trees, leaving Will with a stunned look on his face.

Ruby only had one thing on her mind as she charged onward, and that was Caroline. Whatever her Werewolf senses were picking up, it undoubtedly belonged to the ten year old.


Her thoughts had become a whirlwind of paranoia and fear. Everything in the forest that used to be new and exciting was now causing her breath to catch in her throat, prepared for the worst thing imaginable to spring out from behind each bend in the path. She found herself checking to see if her dad was still walking behind her, terrified that he would vanish in thin air at any moment. Unexpectedly, Caroline felt his hands on her shoulders, bringing them both to an abrupt halt.

"There's something out there." He whispered, eyes turned towards a slight rustling of trees beside them . The suspense exploded like wildfire within her, the next few moments filled with dread. Her eyes widened as a dark creature slowly emerged from the camouflage of the forest- it was the biggest wolf she had ever seen, standing even taller than her on four legs.

Robin had an arrow drawn and pointed towards the beast within seconds, perplexed at the calmness of its demeanor.

"Don't shoot!" Abruptly shouted a familiar voice from within the forest. Will came running from behind the wolf, completely out of breath when he got there. Robin and Caroline stared with absolute shock in their eyes.

"It's Ruby," Will eventually managed to say, "she figured out the whole Werewolf thing."

The fear gripping her slowly relaxed- the girl found herself slowly walking towards the wolf, her fascination growing with each step. The eyes were unmistakably Ruby's, a light brown that sent warmness flooding through her veins. Caroline found herself smiling for the first time in what seemed like forever.

"It really is you," she whispered, reaching out and touching her surprisingly soft fur. Her eyes then shifted to the man standing behind the beast. "And you!"

Will felt a rush of relief as soon as his niece collided into his embrace- finally, something was going right. Still, he noted how tightly she held onto him.

"I can't believe you're actually here, Uncle Will!"

"Yeah, me neither. You've managed to get into a whole heap of trouble, haven't you?"

Robin soon came over and put a hand on his brother's shoulder. "Those survival instincts coming back fast?"

"It's like nothing's changed- you know, except for the fact that a crazed ice witch is after my family."

Eyes turned back to the werewolf standing beside them. Even though Ruby obviously inhabited the beast, it was still shocking to see. "I feel a lot better with her on our side," Robin admitted, directing a sly smile towards her. It quickly faded as he prepared himself for his next question. "Are things... the same, with Regina?"

Will's expression saddened at the mention of her name. They all began walking down the path, knowing that time was not on their side. "Emma and Tink have been researching day and night on a way to bring her back. They're bound to find some sort of loophole to the spell Zelena cast, I know it."

The air thinned around him right as he heard his brother's hesitant reply. Since their initial arrival to the Enchanted Forest, each morning began with a flash of her lying lifeless in his arms. The memory was burned in his mind, both a hapless blur and achingly definite all at once.

"That's what Snow and David would say," Caroline's voice cut through his whirlwind of thoughts, causing his surroundings to sharpen back into focus. "Emma can do it though, when she gets stuck on something it always gets done. She was the hero in all the stories you all told me."

Robin admired her resilience. After everything she had been through, a light was still shining at the end of the tunnel. His daughter believed that their family would be together again, and he had no choice but to hold onto that faith with all he had.

"You're absolutely right," Robin said as they continued down the path, slowly walking closer and closer to the fear that had been plaguing them since the start of their journey.

"Anyone have a plan for the mess we're walking towards?"

There was a moment of uneasy silence between them.

"Caroline is more powerful than this Ice Queen, right?" Will asked warily, knowing already what the response would be.

"We're not putting her in danger," Robin answered abruptly, "She wants to steal her magic- we're not going to dangle my child in front of her like bait."

Caroline gave him an audacious look. "I did beat her earlier, Dad-"

"You did, but that's was one time- I'm not having you go near that lunatic. We'll find another way."

He could sense her frustration beside him, the magic already filling her head with a false confidence that made her feel larger than life.

"Besides, we have a Werewolf on our side. The Ice Queen will have no idea you two are with us- it could give us some advantage."

Will almost felt himself smile at the thought of him and his brother storming Malificent's castle with the rest of the Merry Men.

"So, what, we manage to find some sort of portal amongst Rumple's things while trying to not get blasted by ice magic?" Will asked, finding the situation so bleak it was almost hilarious, "she knows we're coming, she'll be ready to hit us with everything she's got. Are you sure there's nowhere else we can go to find a portal?"

"That could take months to find," Robin signed, "magic is hardly as abundant as it used to be."

Abruptly stopping in his tracks, Will began fishing through his pockets. He then pulled out a bean from the bottom and held it proudly between two fingers, everyone's eyes widening.

"You're just showing us this now?" Robin exclaimed, "let's get the hell out of here!"

Nobody had to think twice about leaving. Will threw the bean onto the ground in front of them, waiting for the green swirling to appear. When nothing happened, everyone reluctantly focused their eyes back to one another, the air so thick with tension no one dared to move.

"Well shit," Will breathed out, continuing to stare down the bean before reluctantly picking it up. "Guess we're back to facing this Ice Queen."

"Let's just get it over with," Caroline exclaimed, letting her frustration show, "I'm sick of having to think about all the bad things that could happen. You two were both thieves for a living, Ruby has fangs now, and I have magic! We got this!"

Robin hesitated to answer. She had a point, but the risks were too high for his liking. Their family had been through too much to have it all come crashing down. "Do you still have magic? If the portal doesn't work, who knows what else she's done to make sure she gets what she wants."

Leaning forward, Caroline gingerly took one of the arrows that hung loosely from her fathers knapsack and held it in her hands, closing her eyes tightly. Seconds later, the tip of the arrow became illuminated with a burst of purple color.

"She wants a fight, I know it." She stated, almost too fervently for a ten year old. "I enchanted it to hit your target no matter what. You won't miss."

Handing it back to her father, Caroline started back down the path without another word, leaving Will behind with traces of shock still looming in his eyes at what he had just witnessed.

"Last time I saw her do magic, she was in diapers," he told Robin, continuing after the girl, "if she has this much confidence about this, then so should we. The Ice Queen might not know we're together, so we can use that to our advantage. I can sneak around and look for a halfway decent ticket outta this place while you and Caroline keep her distracted. And Ruby can... be your guard dog."

Immediately, Ruby turned her head and gave him a glare.

"Are you sure I can't just poof is to the castle? I think I could do it." Caroline called from up ahead, tossing her head back in frustration.

"We need the element of surprise," Robin said, "it's our main advantage at the moment. Shouldn't be more than an hours walk from here."

Although the sun up above still shone brightly, Robin noticed clouds beginning to spot the sky, growing darker as they drew closer to the looming spires of the castle, circling maliciously as if to warn every civilian against the evil that resided there. The wind grew more cold and foreboding, too. Yet still, they marched on.