Chapter 3

Killian ran through town as fast as he could, ignoring the strange looks he was getting from passing bystanders. The anger coursing through him was relentless. How dare those witches sent those overgrown budgies after Henry. He thanked the stars that he remembered he was supposed to meet Henry at the docks and headed down there when he did. He didn't wish to think about what would have happened if he hadn't got there in time.

Killian ran up the stairs (which proved a challenge as in this form as he had not faced stairs yet) and stood outside the door of the Swan residence. He began to scratch the door with his claws but became satisfied that it was not a big enough noise. Instead he stood on all four paws and he began to bark as loud as he could. It surprised him how loud he could be in this form. He suddenly heard the sound of something being dropped on the floor in fright. He knew he would have to apologise for that later when the door swung open and he saw Emma standing over him in the doorway.

...

Emma stood and looked down at the huge Husky stood at her feet. She knelt down to its level to get a better look at its face. She had always loved big dogs and this one was stunning. It had black fur spreading from its back over the top of its head down its long nose and surrounding its blue eyes. She laughed as it reminded her of Killian with his eyeliner.

Snow could be seen behind Emma cleaning up the mess of what had been dropped at glanced up to see what was going on. Her face went from concerned to adoring...

"Awwwww!" She drew out in her highest tone as she placed her hand over her heart...

"What a little cutie pie!" She continued as Killian cringed. Never in his life had he been called a 'cutie pie' and it didn't seem to sit well with him. Snow and Charming came to stand behind Emma and looked at the dog...

"Who do you think it belongs to? We don't know anyone with a dog like this" Charming spoke to his family.

"We don't know anyone with a dog at all apart from Dr Hopper" Emma said with a thoughtful look on her face.

Charming stepped round where Emma was kneeling and bent down to check if the dog had a collar but was quickly greeted with a low growl. Killian could think of a million punishments he would rather endure than having the prince fondling his neck. Charmings' eyes went wide and he slowly withdrew his hand and stepped out of the way in distaste. As much as he would love to bite the princes' hand, Killian quickly grew worried that his growling might put the whole family off of him so in an attempt to show a softer side, he stepped through the door and began nudging a still kneeling Emma's arm with his nose. Emma took this as a sign of affection and giggled as she began to stroke the dogs head...

"He seems to like me" Emma laughed at her mother's smile and her father's sour expression and continued to stroke the dogs head and began to scratch behind its left ear. Killian couldn't deny how disturbingly nice this felt but there were more important things to worry about. He quickly nudged Emmas' arm again and ran back into the hallway and began to bark. Emma stood up in curiosity as she watched the animal jump and bark at the stairs.

"What's wrong, boy?" She asked and Killian would have given anything to answer her. But had to make the best with what he had.

Emma watched the dog run back in towards her and gently tug on the edge of her boot with its teeth. Killian thought it best to make his movements playful rather than menacing as they might become scared and slam the door on him. Emma was pulled to the stairs and the dog exchanged looks between her and the flight of stairs and continued to bark. She caught a desperate look in the dogs' eyes and she quickly grew worried. She turned back to her parents...

"I think he wants us to follow him" Emma said and Snow looked from her daughter to the dog...

"I think you're right. I've only ever seen animals act this way when there is trouble around" Snow said grabbing her coat from one of the hooks on the wall. Both women turned to Charming who was giving both of them a quizzical look.

"Just because it growled at you, you are going to refuse to see that something is wrong? Maybe its owners in trouble" Emma asked as Snow shot a pleading look to her husband, who then let out a loud sigh and grabbed his own coat. It was difficult to argue with his wife and daughter separately, but together it was next to impossible. But even he could see the animal was in distress. Killian bolted down the stairs as the three of them closed the door behind them. They went after the dog who continued to bark at them and started to run about in circles which indicated them to hurry.

Killian watched them come down the stairs and quickly darted through the door leading outside. He glanced around towards the pier where Henry was and turned back to the Charmings. As they all got outside he began barking in the direction of the rode heading towards the pier. Emma and her parents decided to follow on foot encase wherever the dog was taking them wasn't too far and them and Killian picked up the pace.

...

After a few minutes, the dog broke into a run to which Emma, Snow and Charming followed suit. She managed to catch it up as they both made their way down to the pier. Emma stopped blank as she stepped onto the wooden decking. She watched the dog make its way to Henry who was lying there, bloodied and unconscious. Emma felt her insides compress into a tight painful ball as she took a few more steps to the boy who was now being nudged by the dog to see if it would wake him. However it didn't seem to be doing much good. Henry remained motionless as the dog raised its head towards Emma and her parents who were now stood behind her. Snow covered her hand over her mouth to stop any sort of noise emerging and Charming remained stunned. They were all still for what seemed like an eternity until the dog let out a sharp bark which snapped them out of it. Emma and her parents quickly dashed to the boy and landed on their knees around Him...

"Henry...Henry...?" Emma and Charming gently rolled the boy onto his back and Emma and snow let out a cry. Henry had been scratched and marred with bloody lines of different thickness and length covering his face and leading down towards his neck. Some of the wounds were worse than others with some only being mere scratches that would quickly. However some were deep and seeping blood which had run across his features and had left messy blotches and droplets on the decking of the pier.

"Who do you think could have done this?" Snow spoke through her fright as Charming frantically fumbled with his pockets and managed to retrieve his phone and began to dial Regina's number. Emma raised her head from Henry to her mother...

"I don't know but whoever it was..." Emma seethed through gritted teeth and eyes began to sting with tears brought on by the fear of her sons' fate and the anger she felt coursing through her veins at the thought of what or who could have done this. However she couldn't bring herself to jump to any conclusions. She would always jump in to things too quickly when she was younger and she often regretted acting rashly. Right now it was best to focus on getting Henry back to health. However it didn't stop her motherly instinct going crazy.

Emma's train of thought was quickly snapped with the sound of her son's murmurs and whimpers. Emma bent down over him and desperately tried to keep him awake...

"Henry .. honey .. please .. say something .. please don't go back to sleep .. please .." Emma whispered reassurances to Henry as he began to stir. He managed to open his eyes and gazed up at his mother whose own were now forming tears...

"Mom .. what happened .." Henry tried to get his words out but it took some effort. Emma quickly shushed him and wrapped the sack she found draped over him. She cast her eyes frantically around to find her father still on the phone to Regina and her mother looking at the carnage surrounding them and trying to work out what could have caused this when something else caught her attention. Killian, after sitting still as they assessed the situation, stood up and walked to where Emma was kneeling over Henry. He sat next to Emma and bent his head down to gently nudge Henrys head with his nose. If this had been any other dog, Emma would have shooed it away, but there was something about this creature. He seemed very protective of the boy and there was something in its eyes when it looked down at him. Emma could see something like love in the dogs' eyes as it began to whine as if it was crying. Emma continued to look at the dog with wonder and brought up her hand to place it on the dogs back. Killians' eyes met hers and she smiled down at him. Emma beamed at the dog until she noticed that the black sections of its coat and areas of his nose were stained in blood. Emma was shocked for a moment when she cast her eye to the sea of dead crows surrounding them. She noticed aside from their missing wings and things a little more gruesome, they were wounded with bite marks that appeared to have come from some sort of beast. She looked back into the creatures eyes...

"You saved him didn't you? You weren't going to let anyone hurt him" Emma said both to the animal and herself as the dog brought his head round to the hand that was resting on its back and licked her wrist.

Both Emma and the dog were snatched from their silent conversation when Regina appeared in a cloud of rich purple smoke. She ran towards Henry and fell to her knees and quickly began chanting a spell under her breath. Her gloved hands hovered over him as a warm glow washed over his body. Henry grunted in pain but both Emma and Regina comforted him while Snow and Charming stood over them watching. The worst of the wounds began to fade as the colour returned to Henrys pale face. As the wound faded and skin was slowly knitted back together, Henrys eyes snapped open and he attempted to sit up but his family was quick to step in...

"Oh no you don't" Regina ordered as she rested her hands on his shoulders to keep him still.

"You mustn't move too much for a few moments to give the spell a chance to work properly" When they all looked up they were back in the loft as another cloud of mist dispersed around them. Henry was on the sofa with Regina and Emma kneeling beside him and his grandparents stood over him and the mysterious dog sat next to them. They all quickly went into action with Charming and Snow proceeding to the kitchen to make all sorts of food and drink with medicinal properties and Regina grabbed a blanket of the back of the sofa and draped it over him.

While all of this was going on Emma began to check her phone for any missed calls or messages from her now absent for a while captain. It was strange for him to be gone this long but without any word at all? Emma was getting worried as she began to dial his number and pace the floor. After a few moments it once again went to voice mail and she hung up and threw her phone onto the chair with a huff. This caught the attention of her doting parents...

"Emma, honey what's the matter?" Her mother came to her side and wrapped her arm around her shoulders.

"Still no word from him?" Her father asked with a concerned look that caused Emma to look up and face them.

"I have been trying to call him all morning and now with what has happened to Henry, this means that something is out there trying to come for us and he is out there by himself and..." Emma's speech became frantic with worry and her mother began to stroke her hair in an attempt to calm her daughter...

"Shhhh shhhh Emma it's going to be fine" Snow soothed as Emma rested her head on her mother's shoulder.

"I'll go out and look for him, I'll start by checking his ship then Granny's" Charming proceeded to the door to grab his jacket and keys but was suddenly stopped with the four legged saviour stood in his way.

The dog began to bark up another storm and caught the attention of everyone in the room except Henry who had fallen asleep with the help of another from Regina. They all focused on the dog but Emma couldn't get her head around it. What was this dog trying to tell them?

As Killian could see that he was getting nowhere with just barking he decided to try something else. He quickly looked around the loft and quickly found what he was looking for. His other leather jacket that Henry had picked out for him when he and Emma had took him shopping.

He ran over to the jacket and pulled it onto the floor from the back of the chair it was hanging on and dragged it across the room by its sleeve. He dropped it at Emma's' feet and she knelt down to pick it up but instead of standing back up, stayed at eye level with Killian. She looked from the jacket to those blue eyes that somehow made her feel safe the way Killians' did.

She held the leather jacket as it grew warm in her hands and she brought it up to her face and buried herself in it inhaling the scent of her pirate, rum and cologne.

Emma gasped and her eyes went wide as realisation began to crash into her like a series of tidal waves. The reason that Killian had not been in contact since Henrys' attack, why he had protected him so well, why this dog reminded her so much of him?!

"It can't be" Emma's voice was barely a whisper as she brought her hand slowly to the dogs head...

Killian hoped and prayed that she had worked it out...

"Killian?"

Killian brought his furry head down in a nod.

The air in the room suddenly became very thin as the others put the pieces together themselves and Killian began to whine in a desperate attempt to speak to Emma. She must have got the message as she let out a cry and wrapped her arms around him.

She cried into Killians' fur and Killian began to cry himself as he longed to wrap his arms around Emma but he couldn't. So he settled for resting his head in her shoulder as she cried

TO BE CONTINUED

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