Chapter 4. The River.

The rays of sunlight that filtered through the leaves woke Killian, who covered his eyes with his hand, blinking a couple of times and sighing. He stayed like that for a few moments, until he finally decided to sit down. He turned his face to see Emma, who was soundly asleep, four feet away from him.

He approached her, and then crouched beside her. "Princess, wake up," he softly spoke to her, and the girl let out a grunt. "Come on, beautiful, we still have a long way to go."

Emma muttered something that Killian believed was an "I'm coming", and then with a tired groan she began opening her eyes slowly.

Killian rose up to his feet, grabbing the bag and taking an apple out of it. He turned to see that the blonde was already up.

"Are you hungry?" Killian asked the girl, showing her the apple.

"Actually, I'm not." Emma said, shaking her head.

The response made Killian raise an eyebrow.

"Come on, love, if it is because there's not much food, then don't worry." He told her, "Today we'll take care of looking for food and water."

Emma shook her head once more. "I'm serious, you eat it. I'm not hungry."

"Alright." Killian replied with a shrug, taking a bite of the apple.

"But," Emma continued, standing up. "I'm dying of thirst. Let's find water."

"I think this is the first time I've seen a bird since we entered this woods." The blonde spoke after walking for perhaps two or three hours, and Killian followed the direction of her gaze. In a tree about seven feet away from them, were a couple of birds perched on a branch. Killian smiled.

"Let's go there then, love." Killian told her, beginning to walk in the direction where the tree was.

"What, are we going to eat bird for lunch?" Emma asked in an alarmed tone.

Killian laughed at the innocence of the princess. It was more than clear that she did not know much about survival.

"If there are animals, the most probable thing is that there's some water source nearby. Birds also have to stay hydrated, love." Killian explained to Emma as they walked.

After what might have been half an hour of walking, Killian stopped the girl.

"Do you hear that?" He asked her, not because he needed someone to confirm the sound, but because he wanted to see if the girl was able to tell what it was. Emma remained in silence for a minute, concentrating on the sound.

"Water?" She asked, a little uncertain, and Killian smiled and nodded at her answer.

"Aye."

When they finally reached the river, Emma did not think twice about running towards the water, kneeling and taking a sip of it. Killian approached, crouching beside her. The stream of water was crystal clear, and Killian could even see a few fish swimming around.

With her hands, the girl put some water to her face, washing her sweat away. Killian watched her, smirk on his face as an idea came to his mind.

"What?" Emma asked abruptly, noting the pirate was staring at her.

"I was thinking maybe we could get into the river, and take a swim." Killian said, lips curving upwards, smirk growing as he spoke.

"And to walk out of here with our clothes soaking wet?" The blonde raised an eyebrow at his proposition.

"We can take them off."

Emma's expression was one of disbelief, and Killian let out a laugh. "Not in a million years, Hook," she told him, rolling her eyes at him.

"Come on, love, we both know that deep down you want to," he replied suggestively. It was incredibly fun to mess around with her, watching how her cheeks darkened slightly.

"Sorry to disappoint you but no, I don't.," Emma replied in an annoyed tone, as she stared at the water. "Look, there's fish. Do you think we could...?"

"Aye, lass." Killian replied. "We might get a decent meal now. You think you'll be able to start a fire?"

Emma bit down on her lip. "I can try."

"Good. Go ahead and collect all the branches and dry leaves that you can." He asked her. "Meanwhile, I'll try to get us something to eat."

Half an hour later they had a fire burning -Killian had to teach her how to start it, and Emma had watched with delight-, and a couple of fish ready to be cooked. While Killian kept them on the fire, he saw how Emma, who was sitting beside him, began to nod, eyes fighting to stay open.

"Love, are you feeling alright?" He asked with a frown.

Emma seemed to react, and looked at him. "Yes, yes, I'm fine." She said, blinking rapidly.

She looked tired, the dark circles under her eyes indicating that perhaps she had not slept a lot the previous night.

"Did you sleep well last night?" Killian asked.

"No, I have... nightmares." Emma spoke slowly, staring at the fire.

Killian nodded, understanding. A woman who had had to live alone in the home of a beast for twenty years, who was stolen away from her parents at a young age, it would be a miracle if she didn't have any nightmares.

"I get them too." He wasn't sure why he decided to confess that to her. Perhaps, he wanted her to know she wasn't the only one. "I have learned to live with them, however."

Once the fish had finished cooking, they began to eat.

"Tell me, Swan." Killian began talking, wanting to fill the silence, and Emma's eyes rose to see him. "What did you do to get a witch to hate you that much?"

"I didn't do anything." She replied sharply, looking down and continuing to eat.

"Then, what's the story?" He asked, curious.

"Let me finish this first." Emma said, and she didn't seem to be looking forward to tell him the tale of her imprisonment.

They remained silent for a while after eating, and Killian was almost certain that Emma had forgotten to speak to him about it, however a few moments later she began talking, her brow furrowed:

"I was out on the courtyard, riding on my favorite horse. I was just eight years old. My mom had told me I should not play outside for too long, but I didn't listen. I never did." She spoke, watching the fire as if in a trance. "I heard a voice, in the bushes. She kept saying my name over and over, but she didn't sound scary. It was a friendly voice, so I went ahead to see who it was. The only thing I remember, then, is that I fell off my horse and hit my head. When I woke up, I was already in the tower. The Evil Queen was there, grinning at me. My parents had always told me about her, how she had done everything she could to kill my mother, but the love between my parents was stronger than the queen's hate, and they were able to defeat her. And the queen told me I was the key to her revenge."

Emma let out a sigh, turning to look at Killian.

"She said a few words, I don't remember them exactly. It was about my curse." She continued on talking, "That I would die in twenty years, if not for true love's kiss. A true love that would never come, for the door to the tower would only be opened at the same time that the beast came. And nobody would ever survive facing it."

"I remember how I would wake up in the morning, knowing already that someone had died because of me." A tear escaped her eyes, and she looked away, as if ashamed that Killian would see her cry. She quickly wiped it away as she still spoke, "I would always hear their screams during the time that the door was opened. For nearly twenty years, I heard them."

Killian put his hand on her arm, caressing it gently. She jumped at the touch, not used to having someone to comfort her.

There was something about this woman, so beautiful and yet she had had to endure so much suffering in her life... It made him feel an urge to ensure she would not suffer more.

"Hush, love. You're safe now."

"I still have to break the curse." Emma told him as she shook her head.

Killian realized he did not know how much time was left until the curse came to its end.

"How long before you...?" He was unsure if he should finish the sentence and thankfully, she understood what he meant.

"One month. I'm running out of time." Her voice broke then, and Killian could see that the girl was terrified.

"Let's not waste any more, then." Killian's hand lowered to take Emma's, and they both got up together. He let go of her hand to take out his compass. "We're still on the right track. We can keep on walking along the river, that way we'll have a safe source of food and water."

"I like that idea." Emma told him. "I don't want to leave this place this early. Let's go."

"You have asked so much about me..." Emma began to speak, as they walked side by side. "And I still don't know anything about you."

"Ask away, love." Killian said, his look amused as he already knew very well what it would be the first thing she would ask him.

"What's up with the hook?" Emma asked him.

"Many years ago, a crocodile took my hand. In return, I stabbed this hook into his chest." His face darkened as he shortly explained the story behind his hook to her. "It didn't hurt him as much as I wanted to, but I've used it since then as a reminder."

"Reminder of what?" Emma seemed to be afraid to ask.

"To make the bloody creature pay." He answered in a serious tone, and he wondered if the hatred that oozed from his voice gave away the fact that he was not talking about any animal.

"Okay..." Emma murmured, realizing that perhaps this was not the best topic for a casual conversation. "What if we move on to a less heated question? How old are you?"

"Almost two hundred years, love." Killian replied, letting out a laugh.

Emma snorted, and then rolled her eyes. "Be serious, pirate."

"I am serious." He replied with an amused smile, and Emma's eyes opened widely. "I spent many years of my long life in a realm where time doesn't go on as it normally would."

"Well, aren't you full of surprises." She told him with a sigh.

"Oh, you are surely right about that." He laughed, however the blonde was no longer paying much attention to the conversation. She was staring right in front of them, and Killian decided to do so as well.

"Hook, is that...?"

There was no need for her to finish her sentence, Killian had already seen it. With his hook, he pushed her back.

"Stay behind me."

A dead deer. As he approached, the smell of putrefaction became worse. It had been dead for quite a while. Killian crouched in front of it, watching the tears in the skin of the animal. Pieces of flesh were torn, probably by teeth.

"It'll be better if you don't look, love." He spoke to the girl. She chose to ignore him, because she was in no time kneeling right next to him. That animal had been slaughtered, and Killian tried to decipher what could have done such a thing. Those marks were too large, too deep. What kind of animal would've done something like this?

After staring at it for a few moments, an idea came to his mind. He turned his face towards the girl.

"Swan, was that beast of yours able to leave the tower? Where did it go once the sun came out?"

"Nowhere, it just disappeared. I-It never left the tower." He could sense that Emma was nervous, he could also see that she was pale. "Do you think it did this?"

"Aye." He replied to her question. "No normal animal would've ever done something like this."

A/N: There are a lot of loose ends around here, aren't there? I've been leaving some clues here and there, and some of you are probably starting to guess where this is going! But don't worry, things will get clearer quite soon. Thank you all for reading and reviewing, and I'll see you next sunday as usual! :D