Hi, guys! I know it's been a long time since I updated this story, and I'm very sorry about that. I never had time to update it, and I lost all of the planning I had so I could set up the next chapters. But I hope you enjoy this chapter. I'll try to do better, I promise! But I thought I'd give the story a little updating.
Lost Girl
Killian walked behind David through the thick brush of the Neverland forest, doing everything he could to tune out the soft sound of singing that echoed across the forest, the sound they moved closer to with every trekking path they made through the thick foliage. He wanted to rush toward the noise, grab his daughter, and carry her back to the Jolly Roger so they could escape this wretched place. At the same time, he knew better than to try to take on Pan without help. He'd done so before, and it hadn't worked out. Now that he was there with some help, he could convince them to help him save his little Emerlyn. After all, what kind of heroes would they be to only stay to save their own child, and leave another innocent girl to the demon that was Peter Pan.
When he found that monstrous creature of a boy, he was going to rip his heart out with his hook, just like he swore he would so many years ago.
"The ridge is just a few-hundred paces up ahead," Hook informed the others as he lifted a lantern and glanced back at Emma, who almost seemed like a startled deer at the soft sound of the ever-growing melody. It was obvious she was trying to hold herself together, and not rush to find out what the sound was.
"You really think we're going to be able to see Pan's hideout?" Emma asked, shaking off some of her wavering at the sound of music.
"From there, we should be able to see everything," Killian assured, turning slightly to look back at Emma and Regina. "Including where he's keeping your son." And my daughter.
"You know," Regina complained, "I could've just poofed us up here in an instant."
"Where?" Hook scoffed at the Evil Queen. "You don't have any idea what's up here, or anywhere. There are dangers all about, and only I can guide us past them."
"He's right," Emma pointed out as Killian turned back around. "Hook's lived here before. If he says hiking up is the best way, then we listen."
He kept pushing them forward, hoping Charming wouldn't stop any time soon so he could find his daughter and get her off this bloody island where she'd been trapped for two-hundred years, losing faith that he would ever come back for her, where his daughter was becoming another Lost One—the Lost One that Pan favored above all of the others.
David moved to hack at another vine, but Killian stopped him quickly, grabbing his arm to stop the swing of the sword with a quick shout.
He was wildly cursing himself. The singing was strongest here, his little Em was so close now, but… Pan had hidden her behind thick tangles of Dreamshade, knowing Hook wouldn't dare touch it.
Charming looked at him, scowling. "I can handle a couple of thorns."
"That's Dreamshade." Killian found himself staring at the black poison dripping off of the large, sharp thorns. "It's not the thorns you have to worry about, it's the poison they inject you with. This plant is the source of the toxins I used on the Dark One."
"The poison that almost killed Gold?" Emma asked in surprise.
"Indeed," Killian confirmed. "I used a concentrated dose. In its natural form, death would be much slower and far more painful. I suggest we go this way." He motioned down a path free of the dangerous foliage.
"And behind it?" Emma asked suddenly.
Killian stiffened.
"What is it? It sounds like music, and it keeps getting louder. It's loudest here. Whatever it is, it's behind the Dreamshade."
"Emma?" Mary Margaret asked in surprise. "I don't hear anything."
"Neither do I," Regina said with a shrug. "The Savior's crazy."
"Quite the opposite, actually." The captain forced his tone to stay even. "What you're hearing behind those brambles is Pan's most dangerous weapon. That's how he's keeping us away from h—it."
"A weapon?" Charming asked, raising both eyebrows. "If he's using a weapon against us, then shouldn't we destroy it?"
"I can't believe that I agree with Charming," Regina said simply. "Pan doesn't need anything else that he can use to stop us from rescuing Henry. We need to destroy this weapon."
"No!" Hook snarled before he could stop himself. He swallowed hard, and spoke again, calmer, but still tightly-wound, like a coil stretched almost too far—it wouldn't take much more for him to pop. "No. That would only alert Pan that we're here, and possibly put Henry in even more danger. Just wait. Sh—The weapon is not something we need to deal with right now."
David pointed his sword in the opposite direction that Hook had pointed. "Fine. But we'll go this way."
Regina followed, stepping in front of Killian, followed by Snow White, and then Emma.
Killian spoke up as Emma moved forward. "Your father's a distrustful fellow."
Emma looked at him before glancing back to her parents. "He's just not used to working with the bad guys."
"I can assure you, on this island, I am not the bad guy," he replied, shaking his head slightly.
Emma shrugged slightly before she moved forward again. "Well, Pan's not supposed to be one either."
"What could possibly give you that idea?"
"Every story I ever read as a child."
"Well, they all got it wrong," Killian said, his tone a little sharper than he meant for it to be as he moved along behind Emma. "Pan is the most treacherous villain I've ever faced." He grabbed her by the arm, struck by curiosity. "In these stories, what was I like? Other than a villain. Handsome, I gather."
"Sure," Emma said, pushing forward again. "If wax mustaches and perms are your thing."
Hook stood in confusion for a moment. "I take it by your tone that perms are bad?"
"Up here!" David called suddenly, and Emma moved forward a little quicker.
"We made it," Charming continued, looking over the edge of the ridge as the whole group arrived to peer off the side.
They looked over the thickly grown forest, the nearby sound of singing starting to soften again as they reached the cliff.
Killian looked out at the forest. "Pan's lair should be right over—"
"Where?" Regina interrupted. "I don't see anything but overgrown jungle."
"Aye," Hook said, peering over the edge. "The Dark Jungle." He lifted his spyglass and pulled it to its full length with his teeth, placing it over one eye and closing the other. "It's, uh, grown somewhat since I last set foot in Neverland."
Regina huffed, shaking her head. "So this nature hike was for nothing."
"So Hook led us astray, fine," David said, looking down at the vast forest.
Killian rolled his eyes. He was exactly where he needed to be. He thought that they would also be where they needed to be.
"But at least we're in a good position to start combing the jungle."
"Unlikely," the pirate spoke up again. "The dark jungle's the last place you want to set foot. We'll have to go around it. In order to do that we'll need our strength. I suggest we make camp."
"You want to sleep while my son is out there suffering?" Regina asked in frustration.
"If you want to live long enough to save the boy," Killian said simply, "yes." He turned and walked back down the path that had been made on their way up.
The singing was getting louder again, so loud, in fact, Killian was almost willing to start setting up their campsite beside the Dreamshade so he would be closer to his daughter than he had been in more years than he cared to remember.
He wondered if she would hear him if he called out for her, or if Pan devised a way to stop her from hearing him as well. It wouldn't have surprised him if that little demon had done so.
Everyone in the camp was asleep, except Killian. He knew there was no way he could even attempt to rest when his daughter was so close, but still out of his reach. He just rested, relaxing to the sound of her singing that ran constant, soft, and beautiful throughout the night.
Emma seemed to be the only other one having trouble sleeping, tossing and turning restlessly beneath her blankets. Then she jolted awake suddenly, crawling from beneath her blankets and pulling free her curved short sword as she stood, looking around the campsite defensively.
"Guys, wake up," Emma tried in an urgent whisper, but no one moved.
Killian stayed still, acting as though he were asleep to figure out exactly what Emma was up to. But soon Emma was too far away for Killian to hear what was happening.
She inched toward the sound of Emer's singing, stepping just outside the boundaries of their camp when someone spoke.
"You hear that too?"
She whirled around, blonde hair swinging and sword blade up as she turned to face Peter Pan. She looked him up and down warily.
"You're Emma, right?" He asked, lounging in the crook of a y-shaped tree.
She said nothing, still holding out her sword.
"I wonder why they can't hear the singing," Pan said with a small shrug, standing from his place in the tree.
Emma backed up a step as Pan took one toward her. "Who are you?"
"Oh, did I forget to introduce myself?" He asked, looking directly at Emma with no reaction about the sword held toward him. "I'm Peter. Peter Pan."
Emma wasted no time in adjusting her grip on the sword and pinning him back against the tree he had been lounging in. "Where's Henry?"
Pan laughed slightly. "You've got fire. I like fire. You aren't the only one on this island with it, either. I've got a Lost One with more fire than I've seen in ten men, and that's why she's so special to me. I like her fire."
"I don't care," Emma snarled, holding Pan pinned steadily. "Where's my son?"
"Henry's still alive if that's what you're worried about."
"Why'd you take him?"
"He's a very special boy, Emma."
"I know." Emma's tone was cold. "Now answer my question: what do you want with him?"
"I came here to see who I was up against," Pan explained simply. "The Savior. Gotta say I'm not disappointed."
Emma tilted her head slightly. "What are you gonna say now? Tell me how I'm never going to see my son again?"
"No," Pan all but scoffed, "I'm going to help you find him."
Emma looked at him in disbelief.
"I'll give you a map," Pan offered.
Emma lowered her sword and backed off of the lead Lost Boy, but kept the blade pointed toward him.
Pan pulled a sheet of parchment from his clothes. "A map that will lead you straight to your son."
Emma kept her gaze on him steadily. "If this is some kind of trap…"
Pan chuckled slightly. "I may not be the most well-behaved boy on the island, but I always keep my promises. The path to finding Henry is on this parchment."
Emma lowered the sword slowly. "Why are you giving it to me?"
"See, it's not about finding him," Pan corrected. "It's about how you find him."
Emma rolled her eyes.
"And, Emma," Pan said, "you're the only one who can."
Emma never broke the eye contact between them as she took the parchment from his hand. She opened it, only looking away from Pan when she glanced down to see what was on it.
It was blank.
Emma looked back up. "It's blank."
"To be able to read that map," Pan explained, "you must stop denying who you really are."
Emma looked at him in confusion, brow furrowing in confusion as she looked down at the blank map once again. When she looked back up, Pan was gone.
Killian was sitting in deep thought as Regina paced and Emma explained her encounter with Pan, and the map he gave her.
"He so like his games," Killian said harshly, sitting at the edge of their campsite closest to the sound of his daughter's singing.
"What game?" Regina scoffed. "There's nothing there."
Hook looked up and pointed to the blank paper Emma was staring at. "If he says there's a map on this parchment, then there is."
"Great," Emma said bitterly, staring at the blank parchment. "I just have to stop denying who I really am—whatever that means—then we'll be able to read this thing."
"How do we know Pan won't use it to lead us straight into a trap?" Regina asked, turning to look pointedly at the pirate captain who had the most experience with Pan and Neverland.
"Because he doesn't need to," Killian said, rising to his feet. "This whole island's his bloody trap."
David and Mary Margaret returned from the woods at a swift pace.
"There's no sign of him anywhere," David informed them quickly.
"Any luck with the map?" Mary Margaret asked hopefully.
"Don't hold your breath," Regina grumbled.
Emma frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Don't you see what he's doing?" Regina asked again. "Every second we spend talking about this is a second we're not spending looking for my son!"
"You got any better ideas?" Emma asked, her eyes still focused on the blank map.
"Magic," Regina said simply.
Snow White looked up in concern. David sighed and looked down. Emma's expression shifted, and she shook her head slightly.
"If there's a lock on that map, then I can find a way around it." Regina reached for the blank parchment, and Emma snatched it away quickly.
"Pan said it had to be me," the blonde snapped quickly.
Regina looked around for any support.
"I'd listen to Emma." Killian knew that game all too well, and he gave Regina a warning look. "Breaking Pan's rules would be unwise."
Regina rolled her eyes.
"Sadly, I agree with the pirate," David said simply.
Killian turned and smiled at him. "I'm winning you over, I can feel it."
Charming rolled his eyes.
"And your magic doesn't exactly have a gentle touch, Regina," Snow pointed out with a small shrug.
Regina looked at her, almost offended.
"If you use it on the map it might blow up in all our faces," David argued, motioning to the sheet of parchment.
"That's a risk I'm willing to take," Regina snapped at him, one hand on her hip.
"Well I'm not," Emma interrupted, rising to her feet.
Regina looked back at her, expression almost surprised.
"If I'm gonna figure out this thing I need to do what Pan said," Emma finished, holding the map away from Regina.
"Great," the Evil Queen grumbled, walking away.
"She'll get there," Mary Margaret defended.
She and the rest of the group were silent for a long moment before Snow White looked at Emma. "Hey," she started to comfort.
The blonde looked up at her.
Snow smiled reassuringly. "If he's playing a game, you can win."
Emma sat and stared at the blank parchment, trying to give it an answer. "My name is Emma Swan."
Killian meandered over, fingers looked around his belt loop. "I'd wager the solution to Pan's riddle is a bit more complicated than that."
David and Mary Margaret were looking at Emma in anticipation.
"Don't hold anything back," Mary Margaret encouraged.
Emma looked back down at the blank parchment. "I'm Henry's mother. I used to live in Boston, and I was a bail-bondsperson. I'm now the sheriff of Storybrooke."
Regina, who was unhappily leaning against a tree, facing away from the others, spoke up next. "That sheriff's election was a sham. Now, are we really doing this?"
Mary Margaret, ignoring Regina, turned back to her daughter. "Don't you think that maybe… you're leaving some things out?"
Emma looked back down at the supposed map, inhaling deeply and clearing her throat before she spoke again. "I'm the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming, Which apparently makes me the product of true love."
Killian looked away from Emma at the term. His Emerlyn had been a product of true love too. It was why she had such a magnificent and magical voice. Of course Pan had found a way to corrupt that too.
Emma continued, now looking at her parents instead of the parchment. "I was born in the Enchanted Forest, and sent through a portal in a tree so that I could break a curse."
David pushed to his feet, taking a step toward Emma. "And you were able to break the curse because…"
Emma looked up at him, her blue eyes getting a little wider.
"You're the…" David pressed.
Emma rolled her eyes.
Mary Margaret stood up next. "Come on, you don't need to feel embarrassed to say it."
Killian looked a little confused. "Say what?"
Regina rolled her eyes. "The S word."
Emma took a deep breath and sat up as tall as she could, looking back at the blank parchment and finally saying, "I'm the Savior."
Everyone looked at the blank map to see it anything would change.
Nothing did.
Emma looked up in confusion as everyone seemed to slump a little with lost hope.
"No, I don't get it," the blonde argued quickly. "I said I'm the Savior. There's nothing I've denied harder than that."
"No, it's okay," Mary Margaret assured, though she looked more than confused herself. "We'll figure it out."
"No you won't," Regina said firmly as she moved forward like she was in a mission. She snatched the parchment from Emma's hands.
"Regina!"
"But I can," the Evil Queen snapped, beginning to cast her spell on the map. "I'm beginning to think there's not a map on here. But that doesn't mean it can't lead us to Henry."
David was quick to reply. "Whoa, I thought we agreed we weren't using magic."
"For once I agree with the prince," Killian said just as quickly.
David looked at him in surprise.
Killian only shrugged a little. "Well I told you we were getting along."
Charming rolled his eyes as he turned back around.
"What are you doing?" Emma asked Regina, her eyes wide but her tone not demanding.
"A locator spell," Regina said simply. "This parchment belonged to Pan. It'll lead us to him."
The parchment, now glowing golden, floated into the air in front of Regina, and the others watched as it began to float away from their campsite, and toward the Dark Jungle.
Hook motioned with his hand. "So it appears we will be venturing into the Dark Jungle after all."
"You mean the place you told us never to set foot?" Emma asked flatly as she watched the blank map.
"That's the one."
"Well, Emma," Regina said as she stepped up beside the Savior. "You said you wanted to be the leader. Lead."
David looked back at his daughter in concern.
Emma started forward, ready to follow the map.
Killian didn't want to go. He didn't want to go any farther away from his daughter than he already was.
"Ready to thank me?" Regina asked as they followed the map.
"Actually, yeah," Emma replied, walking just behind the Evil Queen.
"If you'd let me do it sooner, maybe we'd have found him by now." They walked a few more steps before Regina held out a hand and stopped the map, her slight smile faded completely.
"He's there," she said simply, "Pan. I can smell his smugness."
Charming stepped forward and pulled out his sword. "Shall we? While we still have the element of surprise on our side?"
He moved forward without waiting on an answer.
Regina followed with little hesitation.
Hook sauntered forward next, giving Emma and Snow White a warning he had learned the hard way. "Careful. He may look like a boy, but he's a bloody demon."
Mary Margaret stepped up beside her daughter. "Hey. We can do this."
The group crept through Pan's encampment, quiet until Mary Margaret burst out with, "No one's here. Maybe your spell was wrong, Regina."
"Yes, blame me," she snapped, turning to look at Snow White with a quieter voice as she added, "again."
David stepped down to look around with his sword ready before the others followed.
There was no one around, not until they reached the other side of the camp, and Emma spotted a dark haired boy in Henry's clothes.
"Is that…?" She slid around her father, moving forward as she called out, "Henry!"
The boy turned, but it wasn't Henry. It was Pan, smiling as he turned around, wearing Henry's clothes. "Hi, Emma."
All of them stopped dead in their tracks, Killian glaring harder than the rest.
"Where the hell is Henry?" Emma demanded.
Pan shook his head as he paced back and forth before them. "You broke the rules. That's not fair." He stepped toward the thicker parts of the jungle. "Bad form." He looked at Killian. "I expect more from you, Captain."
"Aye," Hook replied sharply. "And you'll get it."
"Give Henry to me!" Emma demanded a second time.
"Sorry," Pan said simply, "can't. Don't you know? Cheaters never win."
On cue, Lost Boys began to file from the woods with torches and weapons like spears and bows and arrows, surrounding the camp.
Pan smirked at the group.
"Watch out for their arrows," Hook warned quickly. "They're laced with Dreamshade."
"Oh, and Captain," Pan called suddenly, still smirking. "I've got a surprise for you."
He whistled, and a young girl, about Henry's age, with a tangled mess of black hair was brought forward. She was pretty, surprisingly so for her age, but no one could see what her eye color was. She was blindfolded, with her hands tied together at the wrists.
"Emerlyn!" Killian shouted, but the name was broken into more of a rasping choke at the sight of her.
She flinched, recognizing the voice. "Stop playing games, Pan," she said as firmly as her shaking voice could manage. "I didn't do anything wrong. Call off your shadow!"
"Em," Hook tried again, almost dropping his guard, but catching himself before he did. His tone was clearer, but more desperate this time. "Em, it's me!"
"Stop it!" Emer shouted, the tone making the ground shake a little beneath their feet. "It's not you."
"I told you, Captain," Pan said with a smile. "She's mine."
Killian let out a cry that was almost like a roar, and the Lost Boys began firing their arrows.
The fight ensued.
Regina was blasting Lost Boys with magic while David defended Mary Margaret as she shot.
Killian was charging forward in a rage, only to be intercepted by Felix, who caught his Hook on a sword.
"It's been awhile, Captain."
"Not long enough," Killian growled. "But I'll be happy to give you another scar."
They fought one another quickly, and Killian stopped Felix's blade again. "Remember what I did to Rufio?" The Captain snarled. "Well, it's a far worse fate for you. After everything you've done to my daughter."
Felix let out a cry of anger as he slammed his blade back into Hook's.
Pan let out a whistle, and all the Lost Boys retreated back to his side.
"Remember what I told you," Pan said to Emma simply. "That map will show you where Henry is, but only when you stop denying who you really are." He stepped back with the rest of his Lost Boys, taking Emer's scarred hand to lead the blindfolded girl away. "I'll make sure to send Henry your regards."
"Emerlyn!" Killian called one more time, his tone growing more desperate every time he said her name. "Em, please. It's me."
Her steps faltered, not because she believed him, but because of the pang of sadness she felt when he spoke.
In one final effort before she was gone with Pan, Killian rushed forward, and pulled out the journal that was in his jacket.
When it landed at her feet, the blindfolded girl paused, pulling her hand free from Pan's with more effort than it should've taken unless Pan was gripping her far too tight.
She knelt, feeling around on the ground until she felt the worn leather cover of the journal until she found the engraved initials in the bottom corner. EMJ. Her initials.
"Papa?" She called, clutching the book in her tied-together hands.
Pan snarled and tried to haul her away, but Emer let out a scream so loud and so powerful that Pan collapsed at the sound, and so did the group of adults, except for Killian, who willed himself to stay standing.
Felix rushed back toward Pan as Emerlyn pushed her blindfold off, revealing blue eyes that were identical to Hook's.
Felix helped Pan back to his feet before he rushed at Emer with his sword out to stop her.
She was almost to her father, who had moved to meet her halfway as the others still recovered from the scream, when Felix's blade parted them.
Emer, on instinct, thrust out her bound hands to stop the blade from hitting anywhere more vital, dropping the journal in the process.
It sliced both palms wide open.
She cried out in pain, closing her fists tightly, which only made the pain worse.
Killian practically threw Felix backward, pushing Emer behind him as he and Pan retreated.
But the pirate knew this wasn't the end of it. He knew Pan would do anything to keep Emer all to himself.
He cut Emer's wrists free and pulled her close before he saw the tears she was trying to hide and remembered her injuries.
"Come on," he told the other adults quickly, picking up Emer's journal. "We have to go."
"I think someone has some explaining to do," Regina said, breaking the silence through their camp as Killian tended to his daughter's wounded hands and Emma stared at the blank parchment again.
Hook looked up, trying to play off what had happened at Pan's campsite nonchalantly. "I don't know what you're talking about."
Regina actually laughed a little. "Really? Because we just added a new member to our camp that used to work for Pan."
Killian scowled at her as David turned around, obviously with questions of his own.
"She didn't have a choice," Killian said simply, tugging his daughter closer to his side.
"And what exactly is the relationship here?" David asked, crossing his arms. "Because I thought I heard her say papa. As in dad."
"I did," Emer said simply, finally speaking up to defend herself. "He's my father."
Hook nodded.
Everyone else that was paying attention looked startled.
"So that's why you agreed to take us here," Regina said like the whole world suddenly made sense. "So you could save your daughter."
"Yes," The pirate said simply. There was no point in denying it. "She's spent two-hundred bloody years on this island. That's long enough, but I still plan on helping you save Henry. I don't want any other child to suffer the same fate."
Emer slid into his side, her hands still throbbing. "I know where they're keeping Henry."
Emma and Mary Margaret rushed over almost as if on cue. "So do we."
Emma held out the map, which now showed Henry's location.
It wasn't going to be an easy trek, but now they had two people that knew the island.
Hope was starting to return to the group. Maybe the really could find Henry.