At the Beginning With You

Chapter Three

"Be careful to watch your step and stay close to me, Swan," Killian said worryingly as soon as he stepped foot on land, then helped Emma out of the lifeboat they used to get from the Jolly Roger to the island on.

"You do realize that I can take care of myself just fine, as well as you, right?" she responded as she put her hand on his shoulder for support until she regained her balance from her sea legs. "I have before."

Hook smiled and then replied, "Aye, that you can, but call me old fashioned. I prefer to protect you so long as I am able."

Emma nodded, then answered, "Fair enough. You know, I can't believe we've only been gone from Storybrooke for half a day, and trouble has already found us. It's like it follows me around no matter where I am."

"Perhaps so, but we always manage to defeat whatever comes our way, so long as you stick with me, your dashing rapscallion," Hook spoke again smugly, making her smile. "Just stay on your guard. I don't know who these pirates are, nor what it is they've come for. I don't wish to take any unnecessary risks. For now, I think it best if we find the high ground and see if we can't get a better look at who we're dealing with. If we can find this place, then so will they. The Jolly Roger should be safe here on the cape of the island, I hope."

"That sounds like a good plan to me," she responded as she followed behind him. "One thing I want to know, why hasn't this place been found before? It's not like we've passed through some mystical portal or something, at least not that I'm aware of."

Killian looked around him cautiously while he replied, "Perhaps it is now. I found those maps in Gold's shop, after… And well we both know that everything he ever collected was an antique. The point is, who knows how old they are. This island could be well known by now."

Emma shrugged and added, "At least it still appears to be uninhabited, for now."

"Yes, until we came along," Hook stated in frustration, then suddenly swung around in panic as he pulled his cutlass with his one hand, while keeping his hook raised upon hearing the sound of a stick cracking on the ground behind them, finding it was only a small branch the fell down from one of the trees surrounding them. "Bloody hell, all these years of fighting monsters have made me nothing, but paranoid."

"You've been through a lot more than fighting just monsters, Killian," his wife answered sadly as she took his hook within her hand so that he could continue to hold onto his weapon. "I don't think any less of you, and I never will."

It was then that they found themselves unexpectedly surrounded by several heavily armed pirates, while their captain stepped out from among them with a smug look on his face as he spoke up saying, "Isn't that sweet, and proof that Captain Hook has indeed gone soft, just as the rumors claimed."

Hook glared at the man before him while keeping his firm stance between his enemy and his wife to protect her as he responded coldly, "Blackbeard. Why am I not surprised that you're the one behind this attack?"

"Hook is anything, but soft," Emma retorted angrily as she raised her hands and showed the men her magic in hope of keeping them back. "He's no longer a villain, but he's got plenty of fight in him to be able to defeat the likes of you. How the hell did you find us already? We were far ahead of you."

"Just as you appear to have magic, we have a little magic of our own to help us track what it is we want, beautiful," the dreaded pirate replied as he looked around at his men. "We have a very powerful ally."

Killian raised his blade up to Blackbeard's throat and continued as he asked, "And what is it that you want, my ship? You can forget it, she belongs to me. And I won't allow you to harm my wife. I would sooner die than allow her to fall into your hands."

Blackbeard laughed as he kept his eyes trained on the other Captain who had once bested him and then answered, "It's funny that you should use those words, Hook. However, we'll have plenty of time for all explanations later. Soon enough, I'll have everything I want and so will my employer. She's paying me plenty for what I'm about to bring her. What do you say? Shall we both fight one another once more like we began onboard your beloved ship?"

"If fighting you in another duel means that we both get to go free when I win, then I accept," Hook responded as Blackbeard made the first strike of his own cutlass when he forced Hook's blade away from his throat, while Killian forced Emma back behind him, keeping an eye on the other men around them as well to make sure they don't attempt to hurt her.

The two pirate captains clashed swords and were both evenly matched in skill and in strength. Blackbeard's men cheered, especially when the man who better fit the Captain Hook persona that the world knew, minus the hook, managed to knock the real villain turned hero onto his back, while he kept his blade and hook up to defend himself. Emma attempted to rush to his aid until Killian shouted for her to stay back, then managed to raise his legs high enough to be able to thrust Blackbeard off of him with a firm kick to his stomach.

Hook immediately got back to his feet and while Blackbeard was winded, he was able to disarm the ruthless man, then Killian raised his cutlass to his throat once more. However, Blackbeard seemed unworried by his defeat and simply laughed again, when all of a sudden, the fallen sword rose up from the ground on its own, magic now wielding it as the blade swiftly flew at Hook and slashed him deep across his left arm, causing him to cry out as he dropped his own cutlass.

"Killian!" Emma cried until she charged forward and forced all of the men backward with her own powers by conjuring up the roots and branches of the forest around them as they wrapped themselves around the pirates as well as the hilt of the sword to keep it from striking her husband again.

Blackbeard shouted out, "That's not in the rules of a duel between pirates, Savior!"

The blonde pulled her husband away while he gripped his bleeding arm tightly as she replied angrily, "As far as I'm concerned, you cheated first by using a magic blade to defeat Hook when you couldn't do it yourself. Come on, Killian. We need to get out of here."

"You won't be able to escape us so easily, Hook!" the villain called after them as they fled. "And you either, girly! My sword will break free. We will find you!"

"Captain Blackbeard, Sir," another man stepped forward a few minutes later after the pirates' prey had escaped, having not been around when the Savior's magic ensnared the rest of them. "Are you okay? I warned you about her, Sir. She's dangerous."

Blackbeard glared at the man wearing a wool kit cap as he answered, "Yes, indeed you did, Mr. Smee. I underestimated her, as well as Hook, but I won't make that same mistake when we find them again. Cut me loose. Did you find his ship?"

Smee nodded, then responded smugly, "Aye, Captain. I was just about to board her until I heard your men crying out for help. But don't you worry, by the time you return with our employer's prize, she'll be ready to sail back to our own realm. Are you sure that you really want to go through with this, Sir? I mean, what it is she wants us to do? Taking back the Jolly Roger is great and all, but the rest of the deal…?"

"Of course I'm sure," the Captain replied when he was freed. "Soon, we'll all be the richest band of pirates throughout the known seas, the grandest ship will be once again be in my possession, and then I will finally have my revenge on my greatest enemy. Why would I not risk everything I have, if not for that?"

"You're right," the once first mate under a different pirate captain answered nervously. "I mean, of course you're right."