When Hansel came to, the first thing he felt was an incessant pounding. His view was hazy, everything bathed in a distorted light as he blinked. Groaning, he pushed himself away from the well, hanging his head between his knees.

The last thin he remembered was being thrown backwards by the witch. The last thing he heard? Probably Gretel as she tried to wake him up. The last thing he saw?

Blackness.

Lifting his head, he turned to look over his shoulder. He was still at the well, and where his head had been resting was a patch of deep crimson.

Blood.

Getting up, he grabbed his gun, only to experience a momentary lapse in balance. Swaying, he held his hands out, blinding rapidly to get rid of any dots of color. His hand was loosely wrapped around the barrel of his weapon, and he let it fall to the dirt with a soft thud.

"Hey!"

Hansel looked around wildly, the momentum causing him to twist his ankle. He crashed alongside his gun. The voice came again. Everything was on a tilt, as if people were walking unsteadily on a pair of stilts.

"Hey, you okay?!" yelled the voice- a woman's voice, he realized, and the owner appeared a distance away, her feet getting larger as she approached him. Son he was eye to eye with a pair of brown leather boots, the heels and toe caked with dirt and mud. Hansel felt a twinge o pain as the woman grabbed his arm, pulling him to his knees.

"Sir, are you alright?" the woman asked, and Hansel lifted his head to find himself looking at a young woman with long black hair. Her skin was pale as freshly fallen snow, the fur lining of her coat making it look even paler. Her lips were painted a venomously bright red.

It sort of reminded him of red apples.

The woman lifted her hands to his face, and the leather of her gloves was rough against Hansel's cheeks.

"Sir…?" she tried getting his attention, "Can you speak? Say 'yes' if you're alright!" Hansel heaved his chest as he opened his mouth, letting out a low groan.

"…..The well…." he managed to get out, the woman's brown eyes filled with concern.

"You hit your head on the well?" she guessed. Hansel nodded, cringing as a new wave of pain itched through this head, ad he lifted his hand to touch the spot. He heard the woman gasp as his fingers came away red.

"You're bleeding!" she cried, her hands abandoning Hansel to rip open a satchel that hung across her body. Pulling out a rag, she reached around and pressed it gently to Hansel's wound. The witch hunter was acutely aware of faint hoof sounds in the distance, and he pulled away, crawling over to his gun. It was still lying net to the stones, the silver barrel dented slightly from the attack.

"Wait-!" the woman protested as Hansel pulled himself up, positioning his gun so it was pointed at her, sitting in his lap.

He spit at the ground, sending a stream of red at the dirt.

"Please… please don't shoot!" the woman pleaded. Hansel jutted his chin at her, motioning to the ground. He could hear the water moving around inside the well.

"Duck." was all he said, and the woman obliged. The air whistled in her ears as the bullet sailed past her. Hansel saw her jump as the wailing screech sounded, ringing in their ears.

The woman raised her head, glancing over her shoulder.

A woman was writhing on the ground, her arms and legs flailing underneath black clothes. It looked as if she were making snow angels, although from the looks of the woman herself, she was far from any angel you'd read about in books.

"What did you do?!" the woman yelled at hansel, her face etched with horror.

"Killed her." Hansel said through clenched teeth. The woman got up, hesitating before running back to him.

"But why?" she asked, eyeing the other woman tentatively. She was still screaming, a bloodcurdling howl that would have put a banshee to shame.

"Bitch deserved it," Hansel said, then motioning toward the well, "Did they get a troll to build this thing?"

"What?" the woman asked, raising an eyebrow in confusion. Hansel could hear the hoof prints getting louder, followed by the distant whinny of horses. Whoever it was was bound to be at the town entrance by now. The witch had stopped screaming, her body lying still in the dirt.

"A troll," Hansel said, "Did you guys get a troll to build this well?"

"I don't understand," the woman shook her head.

"That's what Gretel said anyway," Hansel shrugged, looking around.

"Who's Gretel?" the woman asked. The horses were now in the town, Hansel peering over the woman's shoulder to see a cluster of them standing at the gate. Atop them were men in shining silver armor, one of them wearing a bright red cape.

"My sister," Hansel replied, looking around a it suddenly occurred to him, "Hey, have you seen her anywhere? Last I saw she was trying to wake me up." Hansel tried replaying the events in his head.

First he had been thrown backwards by the witch.

Then, Gretel had tried getting him back up, and from what he could remember, she was definitely panicking. hansel hung his head, fingers curling into fists as he pounded them repeatedly into the ground.

"Hey! Hey!" the woman said, "What's wrong?!"

"Those bitches!" Hansel yelled, catching the attention of the group on the horses.

"Stay calm! What happened?" the woman tried, but hansel ignored her.

"Shit…" he muttered angrily, passing his forehead into the stone wall of the well, "shit…."

He really hoped the witches hadn't got to her after all.

There was a whinny as a horse approached them, the rider clearing his throat. The woman looked up, and out of the corner of his eye, Hansel could see the woman break into a broad grin.

"Charming!" she said, "What a surprise!"

"Same to you, Snow," the man said almost affectionately, grunting as he combed off his horse, "What seems to be the problem?" Hansel peeled his head off the well to meet eyes with this 'Charming' guy.

In Hansel's opinion, he looked like a yuppie. And that was putting it kindly.

"That woman over there?" Hansel jutted his chin at the woman lying by the gates, "That's a witch. Attacked me and my sister."

Charming nodded, pondering the predicament. He ran a hand through his ash brown hair awkwardly as he said, "I'm sorry, but I've never seen a witch that looked like that. Perhaps it's a shapeshifter." Hansel shook his head, the woman (known now as 'Snow') glared at him.

"Nope," Hansel disagreed, "That's a witch. And the other one possibly killed my sister." The man's face fell as he knelt down.

"I'm sorry…." he said, "I, uh…. how can I help?" Snow smiled at him, folding her hand against his own.

"Help me find her," Hansel said, "What, are you an idiot?"

"No," Charming said, his face turning red, "I'm a prince. And I won't be spoken to in that way." Hansel rolled his eyes.

Fat lot of good this guy was going to do.

"Charming!" Snow scolded him, and Hansel smirked, using the well to push himself up. The town looked completely deserted, every having gone inside to protect themselves. The only sound Hansel could hear was the water swirling around inside the well, along with…. was it a thumping sound?

Snow noticed Hansel looking around suspiciously, eyeing him warily as she and Charming got off the ground. "Is something wrong?" Hansel raised a finger, shushing her.

Then it came again. Something was hitting the wall, but it was obviously not one of them. Hansel turned his attention to the well, circling git like a lion cornering a gazelle.

"Sir….?" Snow asked again. Hansel ignored her, inspecting the stones piled up on one another.

He froze as he heard it again.

Thump…

Thump….

Thump….

"This well," Hansel said, "Do people draw water from it?" Snow and Charming exchanged glances.

"I think so," Snow said, "I mean, I never really spend time in a place for too long, so I really don't really know. I'm actually just passing trough here, to be honest." Hansel nodded. of course, he should have known she was a nomad type of person, judging from her choice of wardrobe.

Hansel leaned over the edge of the well, the stone hot against his palms. He let his gun hang by his side, the strap heavy on his shoulder as he bent forward. The water looked murky black in door, the sun having started to set on the horizon.

And up came Gretel's silver gun, bubbling as it reached the surface.

"Shit!" Hansel shouted, leaning and grabbing git, the metal slick and cold against his fingers.

"What is that?" Charming asked, pointing the weapon as Hansel dropped it on the ground, lying on the edge of the well, plunging his hands into the cold water. He splashed around, unable to find anything.

"Gretel!" Hansel shouted into the well, ignoring Charming's question. His voice echoed in the cavernous hole. "Gretel!"

No answer.

"Charming…." Snow tapped the man, "Charming-"

"Why does a peasant have a gun of this caliber?" the prime asked, "This is something that gets issued to knights and are only used if necessary-" Snow punched him in the arm, cutting him off.

"Charming!" she cried, "She's in there!" Charming glanced confusedly at Hansel as he was leaning over the edge, legs lifted in the air as he lowered his head.

"In the well?" he clarified. Snow groaned, rolling her eyes as she went to pull Hansel back up-

-only to see him dive headfirst into the water, landing with a loud splash.

"Hey!" Snow yelled after him, "Get back up here!" He resurfaced a minute later, glaring at the two of them.

"Not without my sister," he deadpanned, his voice cold a he took a deep breath, going back down.

The two watched as he went under once more. Snow creased her brow, Charming eyeing the waters tentatively.

The water was silent for a good five minutes. People were still in their houses, despite the amount of screaming and crashing that had gone on earlier. Thats strange, Snow thought, you'd think these people would come out and help….

A low snarling broke her out of her concentration.

"Was that you?" Snow asked Charming who raised his hands in defense.

Then it came again.

Snow quickly pulled out her dagger, holding it at the ready as Charming drew his sword. Snow knew that while Hansel was fishing for his sister, someone would have to protect them. She just wasn't sure of how to do it.

"Any suggestions?" Charming said, his breath ht on Snow's skin as he whispered in her ear. The womb shook her head, fear freezing her bones. She could feel her knees start to buckle. The with was getting up, taking shaky, jerky steps towards them. Her mouth was bared, long white teeth poking between disgustingly black lips. Her eyes were an intense shade of blue, almost icy, hiding behind curtains of long black hair. Her dress was in tatters, and her skin was as pale as Snow's own, possibly stark white, covers in fragmented cracks.

All in all, neither Snow or Charming had seen a witch such as this.

"Not really, no," Snow replied softly, "shall we?"

Chrming had already charged the beast, however, screaming at the top of his lungs as he waved his sword. Snow rolled her eyes, muttering under her breath, "He's bonn ager himself killed one day…" and running after him.

All actions were for naught, the witch raising a hand and sending them backwards, a few feet away from the well. She advanced them, blue light crackling at her fingertips.

"Hey, Mister!" Snow yelled for Hansel, "Get your butt out of that well now!" Charming had gotten back up and tried again to swing at the witch. Her black gown was in tatters, trailing behind dyer as she stalked through the dirt.

And then Charming was down, the with pummeling him to the earth with a flick of her wrist. Snow let out a curse, immediately clapping a hand to her mouth. The witch cocked her head at her, reaching into the folds of her skirt to pull out a strange looking instrument. It was a stick of some sort, made of gnarled black wood. a glowing red orange orb rested in the center, making the wood bulge around it until it came to a point at the other end.

A wand, Snow realized.

She looked back at the well. No sound was coming out except for hansel's grunting.

"Mister!" Snow screeched, "Anyone! Help us!"

Before the witch could do anything, there was a loud ruck coming from inside the well. Snow turned to see the nomad burst from the surface, gasping desperately lungfuls of air. A body was slumped over his shoulder, and Snow took the opportunity to get away from the witch and pull him out, helping him lower the other to the ground.

"Bitch let Gretel drown," Hansel glared at the witch, who stared at them with wonderful curiosity.

"Oh…." Snow trailed, unable to say anything as she knelt down to tend to Gretel. Her brown hair was wet and slicked to her skin. Her clothes were damp and soggy, clinging to every contour and curve of her body. Her skin was a pallid gray- lack of oxygen, Snow presumed.

"I heard you and your prince yelling while I went for a swim," Hansel joked, "How's everything holding up?"

"Um, not good!" Snow admitted, wincing as she heard Charming emit a battle cry- no doubt he was waving his sword at the witch, getting thrown around like a rag doll. She didn't even want to look.

Hansel looked for her, shaking his head in disdain.

The way Charming was going about it was all wrong. He was going head on, and his yelling attracted the witch's attention, let her know what was coming. Hansel bent down and picked up his gun, nodding to his sister.

"Watch my sister for me," he said, raising his gun and heading towards Charming.

"Wait- what?!" Snow called after him. Hansel ignored her, pulling the trigger. He managed to miss Charming every time, something that left Snow thoroughly impressed. The witch obviously noticed Hansel getting closer, for she turned on him, crouching down like a tiger. Hansel simply raised his gun, watching as the witch then charge at him on all fours, kicking up rocks and dirt, saliva flinging from her lips as she bared her teeth.

"Hey Charming!" Hansel yelled at the prince. Charming raised his head, unaware that he was actually in the line of fire.

"Yeah?" the prince called.

"Duck."

And duck he did, moments before the witch jumped over him.

Hansel's bullet decided to meet her halfway, Charming yelling as he rolled out from under the woman. Hansel then ran, pumping his legs to the point of his muscles screaming in protest.

He was going to kill the bitch that drowned his sister. Even if he had to do it in front of a prince.