How Deep Is Your Love
Chapter Six
When Killian reawakened some time later, though how long he's been unconscious for he didn't know, he struggled to sit up from the cold hard ground where he was lying just as he struggled to warm up from having all of his body warmth stripped from him when the Snow Queen had attacked him and Leroy. However, when he was finally able to see more clearly, he looked around him and found that he was somewhere deep within the woods surrounding the town in a place he couldn't recognize as the ground and trees were entirely covered in white. Snow and ice had fallen over the vast area as far as he could see. The villainess had restored his body heat, but the coldness of the winter now blanketing the woods didn't make him feel any warmer and he was weak when he finally managed to sit up. Whatever this woman had in mind for him, it wasn't good.
"I'm very sorry about having to resort to such drastic measures, Captain," Ingrid spoke quietly while she sauntered toward him after she suddenly appeared before him again like she had done before in the alleyway. "But it's time for the Savior's lesson and unfortunately you're a big part of what I have planned in order to force her learn it."
"And what is that?" he questioned as he weakly rose to his feet using his hand and hook to help lift himself from the ground, trying to keep his shivering hidden from her so as to not appear as weak as he felt. "Whatever lesson it is you wan… want to teach Emma, you'll find she'll defy you no matter what… you do to me."
The Snow Queen slowly began to walk around him while she asked callously, "Do you really believe Emma thinks so little of you, that she wouldn't do whatever it takes to save your life? Because I've seen quite the contrary. However, that isn't what me kidnapping you is all about."
Killian smiled and then smugly responded, "You really believe she would risk her life to save mine?"
"Act cheeky all you want," she answered when she stopped moving as she stood in front of him again. "Your bravery won't help you now. In fact, neither can Emma. Her test isn't to see if she can save you before I kill you, Killian. But so that she'll learn that loving you isn't worth losing the beautiful woman she's become and most importantly, not what makes her the Savior. She'll soon see that you will only destroy her if she continues to allow you into her heart and then… she will leave you if you somehow do manage to survive the day."
"Only those I consider my friends call me by my real name," Hook replied angrily. "You're certainly no friend of mine, or anyone else's here in this town. It's obvious that you know Elsa quite well and it appears you may know Emma too, but if you think you'll convince her that I will do like you say I will, then you don't know her as well as you believe you do. And you don't know me very well either. I would give my life a hundred times over in order to keep Emma safe. I love her."
Ingrid glared at him as she sneered, "How very noble of you, Captain. Let's put that to the test, shall we? Just how deep is your love for Emma?"
He responded, "It's certainly stronger than all the magic you possess. As I said, do to me what you will. I won't ever hurt her and you won't convince her that I would. And it will take a lot more than the kiss of death for you to kill me."
"Because you're a survivor?" she stated contemptuously, having seen the moment between them as Hook said this to Emma within her mirror, then leaned in until her face was inches apart from his and lowered her voice to a whisper. "You're going to have to be if you want to live through what I have in store for you."
"It's time to begin your first test, Captain!" the Snow Queen called out after she stepped back and then turned to walk away from him while she raised her hands again as she conjured some kind of large cat made of snow and ice, just like the giant snow monster they fought on the day the heroes first met Elsa, that suddenly formed several feet in front of them. "It'll be a test of endurance."
Killian struggled to remain on his feet as his cold and shivering continued to grow worse, while he glanced between the villainess and the beast she created once it became fully formed, then he cried, "This is ludicrous! How the hell does trying to outrun and survive a snow monster of yours meant to prove anything? You have all the power here. You've even taken my cutlass from me. How am I supposed to fight against your magic?"
Ingrid looked back at him as she sneered, "You still have your hook and your wit. You also have your leather duster that should continue to keep you warm enough to get you through this if you don't take too long."
"And now you have your sword back as well," she added when she swiftly made his blade reappear on the ground at his feet as she blew away the snow that covered it. "First I need to see just how strong you are and if you die now, it will prove that Emma doesn't mean as much to you as you claim she does. But if you survive, we'll be able to continue."
"How bloody fantastic for you," Hook retorted coldly, then started to back away as the leopard slowly began to saunter toward him until it stopped and roared at him loudly.
The evil woman watched as the pirate backed away from her as she continued, "I suggest you get moving, Captain. The snow leopard is a patient creature when it stalks its prey, but if you waste too much time, she will kill you. And it will not be a quick death, or a painless one."
Killian called out to her once more as he asked, "And when will I know that I've beaten your twisted game?"
"Only when you've found a way to conquer my monster, as you so eloquently call her," the Snow Queen snidely answered. "I do certainly wish you luck. It appears that you're going to need it."
"So it would seem," he replied to himself crossly.
Hook started to run to try to get as far away from the beast as he could before it decided to come after him. It wasn't easy at first because he was so cold. But so long as he kept on moving, his lack of warmth didn't seem to bother him so much. When he finally stopped to rest while he struggled to get his breathing under control, he looked around finding that he still couldn't recognize any of his surroundings, nor could he tell what direction he was heading, or which way Storybrooke even was. As far as he could tell, the Snow Queen's magic covered every inch of the woods.
