Darkness is a Funny Thing… It Creeps Up in You
Chapter One
In Storybrooke…
After staying in their small, yet beautiful town for several weeks longer than she intended to thanks to the Snow Queen's arrival and havoc, and then wanting to stay in order to make sure that the man who had quickly and easily become a dear friend of hers was finally going to be all right again after all that Mr. Gold had done to him, Ruby walked alongside her grandmother down to the harbor arm in arm as she prepared herself to say her goodbyes to Granny and all of their closest friends before leaving on her long journey at long last.
In between listening to Granny ask her question after question just to make sure her granddaughter had everything she needed, Ruby's mind wandered back to the night she had run freely in her wolf form with her mother's wolf pack so many years ago, and she couldn't help but smile since it was the first time she had felt truly free to be who she really was.
Once nighttime had fallen over the forest and the full moon shined beyond the clouds in the sky, the wolves of the den where the pack lived to keep hidden from the humans, transformed into their wolf states, then swiftly began to run through the woods as a pack with Ruby now among them, but not before Anita had spoken to her daughter serenely saying, "It'll be like nothing you've ever felt before… The pine needles underfoot, the air rushing over your fur, your brothers and sisters at your side. Your mind won't want to believe it. It will tell you a wolf is invading your body, trying to take over, and if you believe that for even a moment, you'll black out… and lose control. Like you have every other night you've turned. But… if you give in to the wolf, you'll realize the truth. You are the wolf. And when you accept that, you will finally be in control."
When Ruby had awakened later that night back inside the den, then stood up once again within her human form, she remembered finding herself surrounded by Anita and the rest of the pack, then her mother gently questioned her, "How much do you remember?"
"All of it," Red replied to her, then exhaled upon feeling relief unlike she had ever felt before.
"You finally became the wolf," her mother proudly responded.
Red then smiled at Anita while she said with confidence, "I don't have to be afraid anymore."
However, one of the few fond memories Ruby had of her mother and of being with Anita's pack for that brief time didn't stay long inside of her head, as she couldn't stop from falling back to the tragic moment of her mother's death, when Ruby fearfully remembered her mother pushing her away after she had knelt down over Anita in an effort to try to help her upon Anita becoming impaled during their brief fight to protect Snow from Anita killing her.
Later that same night, Red and the others had been asleep inside the den until they were suddenly awakened by a sound, then the newest of the pack questioned worryingly, "What is it?"
"Hunters," Quinn darkly answered her, as everyone swiftly moved to a hiding position while an intruder could be heard slowly walking down the stairs, before Quinn then ambushed the invader, only for Red to be shocked upon discovering it was her dearest friend, Snow White and Red quickly protested Snow's apprehension.
"No!" Red had cried fearfully as she immediately ran out from behind the curtains she had hid behind moments ago to stop Quinn from hurting her friend. "Don't! She's not here to hurt us!"
However, Quinn didn't let the intruder go, as his grip around Snow's throat only tightened while he replied coldly, "What other reason do humans have for entering our den?"
Red struggled to pull him away from her while she pleaded, "She's a friend. Who stood by me after she learned the truth… after I killed. Without her, I never would've escaped my village alive!"
"Let her go," Anita commanded at last once she too came out from hiding, then walked towards her daughter and the woman Red said to be her friend.
"Oh… I'm sorry Snow!" Red had cried out after Snow had suddenly collapsed and struggled to breathe once Quinn finally released her and allowed her to fall to floor, then she knelt down beside her friend to help her.
When the Princess could speak again, she looked at Red with concern for her in her eyes while she responded apprehensively, "When you didn't show up at the stream this morning, I thought the Queen's men had killed you."
Snow then rose back to her feet as she looked nervously around at those Red was currently staying with and asked, "So… Who are your friends?"
"We're her pack," Quinn sternly answered her.
"Are they…?" her friend uneasily questioned once more.
Red kept her eyes on Snow with assurance in her eyes as she replied, "Yes. They're like me. But you don't have to fear them."
Without really believing it, Snow quickly stated, "Of course not."
"How did you find us?" Anita then demanded of the invader.
"I tracked wolf prints here… like you taught me," she responded as she first looked at the pack's leader, then again at her friend.
Red spoke to her again with concern saying, "You could've been caught by the Queen's men."
Snow immediately whispered back, "I wasn't going to leave without you. Why don't we go find that cabin we talked about, okay?"
She started to leave while she tried to pull Red along with her until she felt her friend's resistance, so she turned back around to look at her once more and when it dawned on her why Red wasn't following her, she asked sadly, "You're not coming with me, are you?"
"I don't have to be ashamed of who I am here," the girl who was newest to the pack sadly answered her, and then chuckled as she looked back towards Anita. "I found my home. I found my mother."
"But I thought…" Snow started to ask again until Red swiftly cut her off.
"Granny lied," she crossly retorted in anger towards her grandmother for lying to her all this time. "I'm sorry, Snow. I know you risked your life to come back here for me."
Snow shook her head as she replied, "No. I understand. I would do anything to be with my mother again."
Red continued sadly, "I know we planned on leaving the kingdom together…"
"I'll be alright," the Princess finally assured her, then pulled her friend close so she could hug her. "You've taught me enough already. I'll manage. Bye, Red. Thank you."
"No, thank you," the younger woman responded again, until all of a sudden, an arrow swiftly flew through the air and immediately struck Quinn in the chest as Red's newest friend collapsed to the ground and struggled to breathe through the pain from being shot.
The pack's leader firmly cried out, "Quinn!"
When the Evil Queen's Black Knights then appeared among them upon walking down into the den, Snow stared at them fearfully as she whispered to Red, "They found me."
"Stand down or die at the hands of the…" one of the soldiers started to demand, until he was swiftly attacked by Anita who charged him as she easily snapped his neck, when all the rest of the wolves then attacked the Queen's guards to kill them as well before any more of their kind could be killed like Quinn had been, and Red knelt down to tend to her friend who lay dying.
"Quinn… no!" she pleaded once Quinn drew his last breath, then fell limp. "He's gone."
After the threats to her wolf pack were taken care of, Anita walked over to kneel down next to Quinn's body and closed his eyes with her hand, then tenderly caressed his cheek while she whispered, "May you always run free beneath the moon's pale light."
Snow White sadly looked down upon them as she apologized remorsefully, "Red, I'm so sorry."
"You," Anita then stated angrily, as she looked up coldly at the Princess still standing among them. "You did this."
"What?" Snow uttered in shock at the woman's sudden accusation as Anita and Red both rose back to their feet to face the first of the intruders. "No."
Red's mother continued harshly, "You brought the Queen's men into our den."
The innocent woman answered pleadingly, "You have to believe me. I had no idea they followed me."
"Mother, she didn't," Red swiftly defended her friend.
"It doesn't matter," Anita brusquely replied again, not willing to listen to the intruder's excuse or even her daughter's plea. "Wherever humans go, death follows. The only way to stop them… is to kill them first."
Two of the wolves suddenly grabbed Snow White in order to bind her as the pack's leader then commanded, "Tie her up."
Snow fearfully cried out, "No!"
"When the moon rises, we'll feast on a princess," Anita said cruelly.
"What are you doing?" her daughter worryingly asked of her mother.
Anita's cold eyes remained on the Princess as she responded darkly, "She'll pay for the life that we lost."
However, Red continued to plead with her as she said apprehensively, "Mother, you're not making any sense."
"You already made your choice, Red," her mother coldly answered her and then made her demands known. "You're one of us now. Act like it. Kill her."
"No," Red then steadfastly replied against her mother's wishes. "I won't kill my friend."
Feeling disappointed by her daughter's decision, Anita glared at her as she responded bitterly, "Then I will."
Anita moved around Red as she started towards Snow whose wrists were now bound while she stood with her back against one of the den's stone columns, until Red immediately cried out again, "No. Mother, stop!"
"Sorry, my daughter," the older woman crossly answered her as she turned back once more to face her daughter again. "This is what it means to be a wolf."
"Please…" Snow White pleaded and whimpered in fear as she watched Anita transform into her wolf form and slowly approach her with darkness and a hungry look in her eyes, while the wolf growled at her prey, then she screamed out when the wolf attacked.
However, in the moment that Anita charged Snow, Red who had also swiftly transformed into her wolf form, suddenly attacked Anita first in order to protect her friend and then upon hearing a whimper immediately after they struck one another and began to fight, the Princess fearfully cried out for her, "Red!"
Snow quickly walked around the other columns standing between her and her friend, as well as Anita just in time to witness Red's mother transform back into a human after she had become impaled by the spike from the fireplace now protruding out of her chest after she had fought with her daughter. Snow then grabbed hold of Red's hood and threw it over her so that it would revert her back into her human state.
Then, upon falling into shock over what had happened, Red fearfully approached her mother now lying wounded on the floor before her while she cried and pleaded, "I didn't mean to. I'm… I'm sorry, mother."
"You chose her," Anita weakly, yet cruelly replied, as she pushed her daughter away from her as much as she could in order to keep Red from trying to help her.
"No," Red at last defended herself with the strength she couldn't show within herself to her mother before, despite continuing to cry over her as she was forced to watch her die. "I chose me. I'm not a killer."
At last, Ruby felt her grandmother's hand tighten over her own, then once she broke free from her thoughts as she raised her head so she could look into the old woman's eyes and saw the gentleness within them, she knew that Granny had sensed her uneasiness and lovingly squeezed her hand to offer her granddaughter comfort.
Granny then spoke softly saying, "A penny for your thoughts? If you're worried about me once you're gone, don't be. You know darn well I can handle myself just fine against any trouble that might arise next."
Ruby smiled sadly as she responded assuredly, "I'm not worried about you, Granny. I mean… of course I am, but… Well, that's not what I was thinking about just now. I'm wondering… Am I really doing the right thing? I want to go. More than anything I've ever wanted to do in my life. I'm going to miss you like crazy, as well as everyone else here. But I have to do this. I have to find myself again and I can't do that here, as much as I wish I could stay. I'm lost here, Granny. I have been ever since we've come back from the Enchanted Forest in Snow's curse she cast to bring us all back here. I've realized since then that I need to find my pack in order to find out if I belong with them. I have to know and yet, I'm also scared. The last time I was among the pack… my mother died. They won't just accept me as one of them like they did back then. Or… what if there's something else out there, and it's just waiting for me to find it? What if there's someone else?"
"You're doing the right thing, Red," Granny finally answered her granddaughter. "You're right that there's nothing more for you here in Storybrooke. I had hoped you would take over my diner for me when I finally retire. And maybe one day, you still will if you come back to stay once you've found what you've been searching for. But more than anything… I want you to be happy. And I know you. You're not happy here anymore. And I sure as hell won't hold you back any longer."
"You've never held me back, Granny," Red sincerely replied, as she gripped her grandmother's hand tighter to comfort her like she had done for her moments ago as they at last arrived on the docks within the harbor where their friends were already waiting for them despite the earliness of the morning. "Even when I thought you were holding me back, both when we were all still trapped under Regina's curse and shortly afterwards, you were only trying to protect me. Thank you for being so understanding now. I am going to miss you. So much."
She then turned to Mary Margaret when her closest friend approached her as the Princess responded sadly, "Just promise me that you will find some way of letting us all know that you're safe wherever you find yourself after you leave us."
Ruby moved away from her grandmother and then immediately embraced her friend tightly before she finally turned to the rest of those who also came out so they could wish her well on her journey. David, Emma, Killian, Henry, Archie, Grumpy, and all the rest of the dwarfs as well.
As she then began to hug each of them, Ruby spoke again sadly saying, "I'm really going to miss all of you. I don't know what I would have done were it not for each of you helping me in one way or another. David… you helped me to see that I wasn't a monster back when King George tried to turn everyone in this town against me in order to turn them all against you too. I almost completely lost myself to the wolf inside of me. Snow… you've done the same for me too. You were the only one who protected me other than Granny, even though you saw all those men I killed before I knew I was the wolf. Even after you saw I had killed… Peter."
Ruby continued to speak with each one of her friends when she embraced them, and thanked them all for helping her in some way or another while she said her goodbyes. Emma and Killian were the last among them and when she pulled Killian close to hug him, she moved a little too quickly and embraced him too tightly, unwillingly causing him to wince as he stumbled and let out a sudden gasp when pain in his side flared up again where he had been impaled by the metal railing weeks earlier because of Gold.
"Oh… I'm so sorry!" she fearfully apologized as she quickly backed away from him enough to give him some space, but stayed close enough to help him while Emma also immediately moved close to him out of worry so she could keep him from collapsing. "I didn't mean to… Are you okay?"
In spite of still feeling the lingering pain, Killian lied to the young woman wearing her long red cloak, in order to help Ruby feel less guilty for hurting him as he answered softly, "I'm fine, love. It's nothing. I'm mostly healed. I scarcely remember the wound's still there."
"You're sweet to try to make me feel better," she kindly replied, then backed away even further so that only Emma remained with him. "Thank you both. For helping me to realize that I need to leave Storybrooke so I can find my happy ending. You've been such good friends. I'm happy you've found one another too."
"Thank you," the Savior sincerely responded to her, then Ruby pulled out the magic bean Tiny had given to her awhile back so she could open up a portal that would soon take her back to the Enchanted Forest. "Be safe out there. Wherever you wind up."
"And have hope," Snow quickly added, as her friend smiled at her, then looked over at her grandmother once more before she suddenly embraced her one last time. "You will find what you're looking for, Ruby. I know it."
After Ruby pulled away from Granny and wiped the tears from her eyes, she finally tossed the magic bean out into the ocean and watched as a glowing green portal opened up before her. She looked one last time at each of her friends who waved to her, or simply smiled at her, then without further hesitation, she jumped into the portal and vanished, leaving Storybrooke for what would come to be for many years.