Thank you for your lovely comments and follows and favourites so far! I will keep you waiting no longer :)
Robin refused, point blank, to travel anywhere using magic.
Being entirely willing to cater to this Robin's every whim, Regina complied wholeheartedly. They walked through the forest that lined the seashore at a maddeningly slow pace. Emma snagged her long gown and cape on almost every tree branch they passed, but she had stopped complaining.
"Emma, should anyone see us, you need to look like Princess Emma, not Saviour Emma," Regina had said. "We can't afford to panic people any more than we have already."
"Looking un-queenly didn't stop anyone from recognising you."
They had decided to head inland, to take cover in the heart of the forest where no other unexpected friends would stumble upon them. They needed time to think; they had not only lost the bean, but any chance they might have once had with Rumpelstiltskin was now dashed.
"There's no way we're going back to him again," Emma said. "We know that he can't be trusted, his deals are too pricey – even in a temporary realm, I wouldn't go to him once, let alone twice."
"What other choices do we have? We need a magical object to create a portal and he is certain to have one. Actually, he probably has a dozen to spare, if we ask him nicely enough."
"You know as well as I do that niceties don't factor into it with him," Emma replied. "We'll think of something else."
"Well, think fast. We shouldn't stay here too much longer, who knows what could happen."
Emma could not help but think that they would already be out of here if it weren't for Regina wasting their one bean, but she kept quiet. If she could keep on Regina's good side, then perhaps…
"We could find Hook," Emma said, not quite looking Regina in the eye.
"And why on earth would we want to do that, Emma?"
"He's a pirate! He could have plundered all sorts of magical objects we don't know about."
Emma could sense that Regina was not convinced. As the evening began to dim and dusk enveloped the little sky that was visible through the canopies above them, they decided to make camp. Robin began gathering wood for a fire, but Regina laughed.
"No need for that," she said, conjuring a ball of flame that flickered wildly in her palm. She set a small fire going and Robin chuckled.
"I suppose that renders me rather useless, then," he said. "Remind me exactly why I've been brought along on this little adventure?"
Neither woman responded, but Emma could have sworn she caught Regina smiling bashfully as she turned away to clear a space on the forest floor to sleep.
"You really aren't the Evil Queen, if you're planning to spend the night in the dirt," Robin said, incredulously.
"I'll admit it's not my first choice," Regina said, "but I don't see any other immediate options."
"You'll be picking twigs out of your hair, you know."
The flickering of the small fire and a pale moon shining between the tree trunk was just enough for Emma to see Regina's face as the three of them lay down for the night. Robin – who was evidently used to forest dwelling with his band of marauders – didn't take long to drift off, his soft breathing inaudible over the crackle of the flames.
Emma managed to get Regina's attention before she, too, closed her eyes in earnest. A little rock bounced off Regina's neck, accompanied by a quick, sharp intake of breath.
"What on earth is going on?" Emma whispered frantically.
"What do you mean?" Regina answered, propping her head up with her forearm to shield it from the dirt.
"How did we end up in this situation? We were about to jump through a portal and be done with this mess and now we're with Robin Hood on the floor of a forest in a make-believe realm without a bean and without a plan to get another one."
"Excuse you, Princess, but you would have done the exact same thing if you had been in my place," Regina said. Emma couldn't disagree. "Besides, we have bigger questions about this place. You saw your parents."
"They were so old," Emma said.
"Yes, they were," Regina said, "but Robin hasn't aged a day. In fact, if anything, he looks younger than the last time I… I saw him."
"It must have something to do with the Evil Queen's wish that created this realm," Emma said. "If I'm not the Saviour here, that means that there was no curse here that required one. If there was no curse, and no Evil Queen, a lot of people's lives would have been very different."
"So different that something caused him not to age?"
"It's the only explanation," Emma continued. "He's not aged; Marian died. Everything is completely different for him in this realm. Think – what wouldn't have happened in his life if there was no need for a Saviour?"
"I don't know," Regina admitted after a few moments. "It's so complicated, it could be anything, but maybe-"
"Shhh!"
The voice was neither Emma's nor Regina's; it was Robin's. He was sitting up in his makeshift bed, staring deeply into the surrounding forest.
"Robin, what-"
"Stay quiet," he warned. "Someone's here."
Regina flicked her wrist, dousing the flames quickly and smokelessly as Emma searched the dark shadows around them. The three of them had collectively risen to their feet without deciding to do so, alert, eyes narrowed. Emma could see Robin's hand itching to reach an invisible sheath behind his back, and quickly she cast her hand forward to summon it in a cloud of white smoke. As soon as it reached his hand and he loaded his bow, they were bombarded with figures charging from the trees.
On every side they were surrounded, each of them darting around hopelessly to find some escape. The moonlight hung down from above them and glinted off the armour of the intruding group – the crest of the Enchanted Forest kingdom was a silhouette against their chests. The realisation dawned on Emma.
These were the Kings' Guard, and they were looking for her. She was, after all, a meek and missing princess.
"Hands in the air!" one of them shouted. Emma looked sideways at Robin as she did so, and saw his hand still resolutely straining back the string of his bow. Regina looked worried.
"Hood! We finally meet in the flesh," said one Guard, stepping forward and removing his helmet. Emma gasped audibly.
"Graham?"
It was undeniably him, though the scruff of his beard was greying against his chiselled jaw, making him look more like the wolves he had lived with. He still had that distant look in his eyes, and Emma wondered whether this realm had granted him back his heart.
"I'm sorry, Your Highness," Graham said. "Who?"
"You – Hunstman… Graham?" Emma said, foolishly.
"Come here, Your Highness. You're confused. No doubt your captors have cast a spell over you."
"No, Huntsman, I'm fine."
"But Your Highness-"
"Enough of the 'Your Highness,' please," Emma said. She turned her wrist to cloak herself in white haze that dissipated to reveal a red leather jacket and black jeans. She was satisfied by the confused looks of her father's Guard.
"Princess Emma!"
"Look, if your name's not Graham, what do I call you?"
"I am Humbert, Your H- Princess."
"Humbert?" Emma said. "Really? Huntsman Humbert. Okay, I can roll with that."
"Emma," Regina said, her hands still in the air, "will you stop making conversation and sort out this mess?"
"Right. Sorry. Humbert, we've got to go."
"You know I can't allow that, Your Majesty." The Guards drew in tighter, their swords readying, forcing the three renegades closer enough to be within Regina's reach.
"Enough of this," she said. Her hands still raised, she summoned a swirling purple cloud that covered the three of them, shielding them from the Guards' view. Emma felt that familiar pull of magic, the feeling of a different ground being placed under her feet, and when the smoke wisped away, they were standing near the docks, which was teeming with drunken sailors.
Robin furiously turned to Regina.
"I thought I said no magic!"
"Well, excuse me for getting us out of there alive," Regina said. "Perhaps if Emma hadn't stopped to have a nice little catch up with her former fling, we would have been able to outrun them."
"Perhaps if you two hadn't been having a nice little discussion about my history, you would have been more alert and we wouldn't have had that confrontation at all," Robin seethed.
"Wait!" Emma interrupted them. "That's it – that's his ship, The Jolly Roger!"
Not stopping to explain, Emma began to sprint across the crowded dock, where sailors were gathered in merry drinking groups, loud and raucous and cheering. She didn't spot, in her hurry, the Wanted posters peeling from the window of a tavern, Regina's heavily-made-up face glaring out from the portrait.
Emma hurried to the ship's gangway, knocking drinks from the hands of the ship's crew and their guests. There was obviously a celebration happening on board; the deck was teeming with music and laughter, kegs flowing and busty companions willing.
"Hook!" Emma called. "Hook!"
She was stared at by a few, but ignored by most. She approached a half-drunken man who was singing loudly and slopping his mead.
"Where's Captain Hook?" she asked. "I need to speak with the Captain."
"Don't know what yer talkin about, love," he slurred. "Captain who?"
"Captain Ho-" She stopped, realising her mistake. "Jones. Captain Jones."
The drunken pirate was looking over her shoulder. The voice she heard from behind her sent a shiver of recognition up her spine.
"Well, lass, you've found the Gods-given gift you were searching for."
Ahhhhhhhh Captain Killian! Honestly, I really hope Emma and Regina find him in the Wish!Realm on the show! It would be for exciting!
Also, I never knew that Humbert was The Huntsman's name in the original fairytale - I has a bit of a laugh about that one when I looked it up. I much prefer Graham haha!
Next chapter is already written, so it won't be too long! :)
Emily x
