Snow White's wanted poster remained firmly clasped in her hand as she continued to walk, crumpled and tattered after so many hours in Caroline's possession. Their journey had fallen silent after the dismay of witnessing the carnage of the smoldering village- even Will seemed out of snarky remarks. The reality of the situation set in as the light dimmed around them. Even their nighttime routine was detached of any true conversation; everyone was too burnt out emotionally for anything genuine. Caroline no longer thought much about spending the night in a forest, the three of them circled around a small fire she constructed herself. Although they still had no idea where exactly they were, sleep came easily, even with all of the trouble existing around them. A chaotic and evil version of her mother was out there in the darkness, yet the ten year old closed her eyes anyways.
The next thing Caroline remembered was the whirring of insects against the stillness of the early morning. It was already starting to heat up, even within the shade of trees. She soon felt the crinkle of the wanted flyer beneath her, sending a spark of fear through her as she awoke. Will continued to snore loudly from behind, and in her direct line of vision, Zelena was up and running her fingers through her hair, trying to tame the unruly mess. Caroline embraced the calmness of the woman's nature, all of her defenses down and not an aggressive tendency detected. Having time to breathe was something everyone had to do at some point, whether they wanted to or not. Caroline forgot all about the flyer as she watched her- for a moment or two, things were at peace.
Catching her glance, Zelena finished pulling her hair back, her eyes never faltering from hers.
"Something on your mind?"
Beside her, Will stirred suddenly, somewhere between asleep and awake. The girl slowly rose to a sitting position, inching away from her uncle and slipping the wanted flyer in her pocket in the process.
"I... did have weird dream- at least I think I did."
Her words seemed to strike interest in Zelena's demeanor. "What kind of dream?"
Caroline was cautious to put her mixed thoughts into words, taking a moment to sort everything properly. "There was this field- it was so beautiful and endless. Horses were grazing... it seemed perfect. Then this person wearing a cape appeared and cast some spell... I got this horrible feeling."
"That was it? Who was the person in the cape?"
Shrugging, Caroline smoothed out her dress. "I think I just miss the horses back at home. Mom and I would go all the time."
Will then stood up and stretched, forcing himself awake. "Nothing about a house in that dream of yours, a big, three story one out in the middle of nowhere?"
Giving him a look of alarm, Zelena let her surprise show true. "That's exactly what I dreamt of- some lonely looking mansion."
She quickly rose to a stand, pacing back in forth to better control her thoughts. "Who do you think did this? And why?"
Caroline watched the two adults tackle the sudden surge of new information, still unsure of what the big deal was. "I don't remember seeing a house in my dream. You think someone did this to us?"
To her, the idea seemed crazy. The dream she had did leave her shaken, but not to the point where she felt particularly changed. Will and Zelena, however, both appeared as if their world had collapsed inwards on them.
"It can't be a coincidence that something like this happened after we got separated from the others," Zelena said, "this house has to be important for us- problem is, we have no idea how to find this place."
As if on queue, something sparked into her mind, something that eased out all of her uncertainties about the whole ordeal. "We should go north, alongside the canyon."
Will sent her a surprised glance, rapidly finding amusement in her response.
"Alright then- you heard the little lady, off we go!"
Zelena could only stand in a stupor for a moment as Caroline rushed to gather their belongings. However her certainty came to her, it provided a huge sense of relief- instead of wandering aimless, they had a purpose and a plan, whatever that entailed. Whether or not it was a plan that would get them back to the present day or a fast approach to their demise was beyond her. For the sake of their livelihoods, Zelena hoped it wasn't the latter.
The Enchanted Forest had really become intolerable over the past few weeks- Robin wouldn't wait to be rid of it completely and resume his life in Storybrooke. He remembered when he first came to the realm, things couldn't have been more different and unusual from what he was used to. At first, electricity seemed frivolous and unnecessary. Roland spent the first four years of his life undoubtedly happy- they were content with their small cottage and circle of friends. Returning to the Enchanted Forest caused Robin to think about what life would've been like if the two of them had stayed, if Regina had never crossed their paths. It was nearly impossible to think of a life without his wife; the last three weeks had been the longest he had spent away from her and Roland. Pieces of himself felt lost due to the separation.
"Why would we both be given the same dream? Who would do this?"
He and Ruby had woken up to the same confusion that the other half of their group experienced. The mystery of it all only added to the stress of the day- Robin was done with surprises.
"It's probably safe to assume that Caroline and Will have the same feeling about this house. I can't explain it, but this place has such a hold on me, like a magnetic pull almost."
Their pace had quickened since they began that morning, Ruby initiating the journey with her usual unparalleled energy. Robin was motivated by the thought of being reunited with his family, yet with Zelena still involved, everything seemed slightly off.
"Can you tell now far away this place is? Our food supply is nonexistent... and I can't stand being in this realm anymore. It's far too exhausting."
He already found it hard to keep up with Ruby despite the early start to the day. With moving forward being the only option, Robin put all of his remaining energy in every step forward.
"It shouldn't be too far- hopefully just a few hours," she replied, keeping her focus on what was ahead, "and as far as food is concerned, give me a few minutes and I'll find something to kill."
Robin had no doubt in her superhuman abilities, but he quickly grew tired of her showing off. The cracked bow had been discarded miles back; with it lay bits of his pride, the remnants of his heyday seemingly gone forever.
The two of them walked in a strained silence for a while, with Robin stuck in his bleak thoughts hanging around him like a dark cloud. When he wasn't fixated on the doom surrounding his family, his attention shifted to the many aches and pains crushing him physically. It was easy to think back to the days when he was last in the Enchanted Forest, running errands for the Dark One. Sure it was tough to be out enduring the elements for as long as he did, but he knew that he would return back to Regina if he did what he was supposed to. This time, hope continued to dwindle within him. For a man who relied on optimism to get him through each day, his current emotional state was remarkably dismal.
"There's something nearby," Ruby said, halting her pace and honing in on the sound.
Instinctively, Robin reached for his arrow satchel that was no longer there, his hand falling through the air. Ruby's pace quickened, causing her companion to reach out a hand to slow her down.
"You can't just result to charging into an unknown situation," he said in a hushed voice, "we have no idea who or what's out there."
Ruby glanced over her shoulder and gave him a menacing look, her eyes brimming with ferocity. "Do you really think whatever's out there is a threat to me?"
Before Robin could respond, she disappeared into the trees in the blink of an eye, leaving him standing alone in the wilderness. Suppressing his frustration, he started off in the direction she went, intrinsically preparing himself for the worst.
The immediate silence was terrifying. With each second that passed, Robin grew more and more worried. Then, as Robin was searching for where Ruby had gone off to, a sharp cry ensued, followed by sounds of a struggle.
He found himself relying on sound alone to locate his friend, dashing through the forest in a tightened panic. He froze in his tracks when he came face to face with a monstrous wolf reaching four feet tall, fangs bared and eyes a deep shade of red, ones that locked right onto his. Pulling out a sparing knife from his back pocket, Robin glanced around his parameters for any sign of his friend. As the tension grew, he used all of his remaining willpower to get through that moment- it couldn't end there.
The beast crept closer, carefully devising how to annihilate its prey. Before it could strike, however, a flash of brown fur raced towards it, instantly tussling on the ground in a ferocious fight. Robin stepped back until his back pressed up against the bark of a tree, frozen in shock at what he was witnessing.
Ruby fought with all she had, but it was clear that her opponent was far stronger than she was. Knowing that he had to do something, Robin began searching rapidly for anything of use. His mind set on a torn tree branch dangling a few feet to his left, and things clicked into place- tearing the branch with his hands, he used an unearthed energy to tackle the beast from behind, pressing the branch against the wolf's throat. The distraction gave Ruby the opportunity to break free.
Knowing Robin couldn't hold the creature down for long, Ruby shifted back to her human form, grabbing Robin's knife and aiming it at the wolf, preparing to strike.
"Show us who you are, or I'll kill you, I swear."
Blood glistened from a gash on her shoulder, fresh and deep. Still, that didn't stop Ruby from exhibiting a threatening and tenacious aura, seconds away from taking the life of a creature much like herself.
Robin felt the weight above him lessen- arms were soon flailing in his vision, feebly attempting to grasp air. Allowing the branch to drop to the ground, the man quickly broke free, gasping for air. Both Robin and Ruby glanced warily at one another, unsure of what to do next.
"Who are you?" Ruby demanded, surprisingly steadfast considering her current physical state. "And why do you want to kill me?"
Once the man regained his breath, he locked eyes with Ruby, amusement flickering in his expression. "I should be asking you the same question- you're not from around here. I know every wolf on this end of the forest."
Her thoughts were reeling at the sight of another werewolf in her midst. "How many of you are there?"
"Depends on how closely you want to look," the man replied, "why are you two out in this end of the forest? It isn't safe."
"Obviously it isn't!" Robin stated, "whatever you're protecting out here must be worth attacking us in broad daylight. My brother is supposed to be meeting us around here... you haven't seen anyone else today, have you?"
The man responded by giving him a cold stare. "There are things out here that prefer to stay hidden, and I'm not just talking about us werewolves."
Ruby then broke her silence, her face lighting up in a sudden realization. "Do you happen to know Widow Lucas?"
Robin couldn't help but feel a surge of discontentment upon hearing her request, knowing that revealing more truths about who they were would only get them into trouble. To his surprise, however, the last bit of malice dissolved in the man's expression.
"Of course, Widow is the strongest werewolf I've ever met! How do you know her exactly?"
Ruby was half a second away from blurting out the truth, the thought automatic and welcoming. "She's, uh- an old family friend. We go way back."
"I'm shocked, Widow can be pretty selective when it comes to her friends."
There was no longer any evidence of contention between them, not even a hint.
"Tell you what, I'll tell her you said hi," he said, "clearly I can't stop you two from wandering around here. Don't say I didn't warn you- I'll tell the wolves to keep their distance."
Still shocked by the shift in conversation, Robin hesitated before asking the question that was weighing on him. "What's out there exactly? What are we getting ourselves into?"
The man gave the two of them a skeptical look. "Something the Queen wants hidden from the public eye."
With that, he began towards the trees, turning around to say one final thing. "I hope you find those people you're looking for."
He was gone a moment later, slipping away without a sound. Giving Ruby a cautious glance, Robin turned his focus on the blood that stained her shoulder.
"That looks like it hurts," he said, not sure where to begin. Ruby turned her attention to the wound, clearly shocked at how bad it appeared.
"I hardly noticed, maybe it's a wolf thing," she replied, gingerly examining the gash with two fingers.
"It could get infected," Robin told her, "let's hope we get to this place by sundown so we can get it cleaned... you know where to go from here, right?"
Nodding, Ruby tore a piece of her cloak with her teeth and wrapped it around the wound. "My instincts have gotten us this far, let's hope it gets us all the way."
The two of them restarted their journey, taking it one step at a time. "Who the hell goes from trying to kill someone to talking about their grandmother?"
Breaking into a laugh, Ruby shook her head. "I have no idea what all of that was about- let's just find everyone and get out of here."
After two hours in the pursuit of just that, with the sun hanging low on the horizon, Ruby and Robin both realized that the ground beneath them had become more of a set path, the wildness of the forest pushed back more than before. The energy seemed to reanimate around them, stirring up the excitement of change. Despite the quietness, the two of them pressed on, soon coming upon an open field, the trees rapidly dwindling around them. As soon as their surroundings cleared, the gaudy, three tiered mansion centered their vision, looking eerily out of place against the emptiness of the forest.
"Robin, look." Ruby whispered, pointing towards the end of the clearing. Though far away, three individuals stood closer to the house, surveying the scene just as they were.
Robin found himself bolting across the field, feeling like he could touch the sky with all the sudden happiness he was feeling. Fate had brought them back together, wherever it was they were. Every answer to how they were getting home had to reside in that mysterious house.