Chapter 9. More Trouble.
It wasn't much of a surprise that he found himself to be completely alone as he woke up. Lying on his back, his face turned back to where he had seen Emma for the last time the previous night, sitting against a tree. Now, however, he felt calmed despite the princess' absence. The mysteries that surrounded the blonde had finally became crystal clear; no longer he believed there were nightmares making her stride off into the woods during the early mornings, no illness making her unable to rest, leading her right into her death. No, it was just Emma, cursed into a monster; doing anything in her power to not to kill him. It was a tad unsettling, but he trusted the lass.
Killian sat up; light began to filter through the trees, so he guessed Emma must've probably already gone back to her usual self, back as a princess. The revelation of the tower's terrible beast's true nature was still something quite difficult to fully digest for him. Everything everyone thought they knew about the princess and her curse had been entirely wrong, and he had still so many questions to ask - yet, he didn't want to force her into speaking about it.
Besides, how was he supposed to ask things like that to her when Emma barely even spoke to him? All because of that brilliant idea of his. With a frown, he thought to himself that he definitely had to stop acting so impulsively. How could he even think such a sudden action would come out right? Kissing her like that, claiming to believe he could save her from the curse.
He had never heard something as foolish as that.
Being entirely honest, he knew she'd been right to reject him. The princess, with her beauty and fiery personality, had placed him under some kind of spell; blinding him as he found himself having feelings for someone for the first time since Milah's death. He'd gotten carried away; how couldn't he, when he'd spent a hundred years drowning in his sorrow and hatred, yet after less than a week of being around the blonde, it all easily faded to the background. It was foolish, indeed, to think the princess could find her love in a pirate. She deserved better than that; and he, he was well aware that starting a romance with royalty couldn't be his priority.
He had just one priority, the reason why he'd came to rescue her. Getting his revenge. And since he'd found himself attracted to Emma, his desire to kill Rumplestilskin had faded into the background - and he couldn't let that princess drive him away from his sole purpose.
Emma was supposed to be only his way of getting to the crocodile, and as soon as he left her in her castle, safe and sound with her prince, he'd be headed to claim his reward to the King and Queen.
Yet, the words 'with her prince' still sounded bitter to him.
And while Killian hoped he could easily listen to himself, leave those stupid feelings behind; he knew was already in too deep. And he'd never been one to give up that easily.
His chest still was hurting; and with his right hand he managed to unbutton his shirt. Looking down at his own torso, the wounds still looked pretty nasty, though they were definitely better than the previous day.
The sun began to slightly warm the morning up, and Killian guessed the princess would be back any moment now. They probably were already pretty close to exiting those woods, which made him feel slightly relieved. They had already wasted too much time.
He put the shirt back on, then with his hook he reached up to take his coat, quickly putting it on. For a second, he thought it felt lighter, slightly different. Yet it wasn't until he decided to have a drink as he waited, that he noticed something was missing; good hand in his pocket, fingers finding just the bottle. He knew, for sure, that he always put his money in that pocket - right with the rum; the two most precious possessions he carried with him.
Bloody Swan.
He didn't have to think it through; he knew it was her. It was impossible to think a thief had appeared in the middle of the night, taking his money and leaving without a trace.
The princess had checked that very pocket the previous day, she surely had noticed the small bag filled with golden coins. And there could only be one reason why she'd be stealing from him like that.
She planned to go on without him.
Once more, he had trusted her, and Emma had proven to be a sneaky and deceiving woman. Rising up to his feet quickly, he knew he couldn't lose any time. He had no idea of how far had the princess gotten already, perhaps she even already had gotten too far from him. It didn't matter, Killian wasn't going to stop going after her. He had no intentions of stopping until he found her.
His steps were long ones, curses leaving his mouth with every step he took. That bloody woman.
How stupid of her! Anyone could easily follow her; figure out who she was and take her. Anything could happen to her, and he wouldn't be around to make sure Emma remained safe.
He felt furious at her. After all; she for sure hadn't hesitated to leave without him, probably to run into the arms of her future prince.
Since when had she intended to leave him? Why? Because of the curse? Because of the kiss? The lass was definitely difficult to decipher.
Just as he had guessed, that afternoon he finally left behind the green sea of trees. Finally, he found a dirt road, one that led him straight to the town. The more he walked, he was surrounded by more and more houses; all sorts of people roaming around the small town, yet there were no trace of those blonde hairs he very much liked.
She was a smart lass, that he knew. She would've easily managed to learn the way to her destination; and anyone she asked for directions, would've surely led her to the port.
The port was a crowded place as usual; people coming and going, walking in and out of the ships. He tried to look around, see if he could find her around there. There was no trace of her; and he wondered if perhaps she had already hopped into a ship, and sailed away.
After a couple of moments of staring around the place, he figured the woman wasn't around there. All he had left was to ask if perhaps someone had seen her.
He noticed, then, a fisherman sitting by the docks. He surely had been sitting there for quite a while now; and maybe, just maybe, he could tell him if he'd seen the princess around there.
"Have you by any chance seen a lass around here today, mate?" Killian asked as he approached him, "Blonde hair, green eyes, about this height," he reached his hand up to the level of his eyebrows. Ridiculously beautiful, he added mentally.
The man shook his head, "D'you think I pay attention to every woman that comes to this place?" he snorted, "Can't help you with that; however, if you're looking for some good fish to cook for dinner, you're in the right place then. Mine are the best around here."
He pointed at the couple of buckets next to him, filled with all sorts of fishes. Killian rolled his eyes, sighing with exasperation. He was about to leave, when the fisherman spoke:
"A lovely young woman did come around here earlier today," he seemed thoughtful, "I believe she asked if there were any ships that were sailing right away to King Edgar's kingdom."
That was Emma, for sure. "And what did you tell her?" Killian asked.
"Well, I told her that yes, there was. It sailed about half an hour ago, perhaps; I have no idea if she managed to leave with 'em."
Killian cursed to his insides. "Thanks, mate."
If she'd left with that ship, then the woman had succeeded in leaving him behind. However, he didn't worry much about that. He'd follow her, he even could easily get there before she did. The Jolly would certainly be faster than the ship she was sailing in.
There were other things that worried him. Like what would happen when midnight struck, and the entire crew of the ship suddenly began to seem awfully tasty to the princess?
Had the woman went completely mad? Or had she figured out a way to avoid eating everyone around her?
There would be only one way to figure that out.
Killian rushed to his ship, looking magnificent in comparison to all the other ships. As he got into the ship, he found a man, of short height, working on moping the deck. Killian smiled; he was just the man he wanted to see.
"Smee!" he called, watching the man turn around quickly, dropping the mop and, as he held his red beanie to his head, rushed to him, "Gather the crew, Smee. We're to part right away."
"Captain, you're here!" Smee exclaimed, stopping in front of Killian, "We've been waiting for you to return for a while, we were starting to worry. Not that we ever thought you'd fail in your task, sir, of course- but wait, where's the girl?"
Killian surely didn't feel like explaining to the man that he had lost the princess – even worse, she had ran away from him.
"Well, aren't you chatty today," Killian rolled his eyes, and then continued to speak, in a stern voice: "I just gave you an order, and if you and the rest of my crew aren't here in half an hour, I will part without all of you."
He didn't need to tell Smee twice, who with an 'aye, captain!' ran off the ship, looking for the others.
And with that, Killian headed off to his cabin. He needed a long bath. And more rum.
The sea was definitely something new for Emma. It took her by surprise, how her stomach turned the moment the ship sailed. Almost immediately, the princess was convinced that the sea wasn't for her. However, as the hours passed, she found the sickening feeling fading to the background as she got used to the ship's swinging motions. And by the moment her journey on the ship was about to end, she actually felt comfortable. Something about the salty smell, the movement of the ship being rocked by the waves felt soothing to her.
She would've liked to be able to say that it wasn't because it reminded her of the pirate.
Part of her, felt upset as well. She couldn't help but remember about their talks; how they'd agreed he'd show her his ship, take her to as many places as she wanted to while they headed towards her parents' kingdom. The idea had completely thrilled her, yet it would stay just like that - an idea, and nothing else.
Part of her wondered if perhaps she had made a mistake by leaving.
No, she hadn't. She'd made up her mind; and time was running out for her. She couldn't afford to keep on wasting time; no, she had to break the curse, and her only way of doing that was going to her prince.
Emma felt relieved when after little more than a day of sailing, the ship was docked. After all, it was a miracle that she had managed to go through the whole trip without any... accidents. Plus, the men on the ship looked at her like she was some piece of meat - it was a good thing she'd bribed the captain into allowing her to sleep in a cabin all by herself.
So, she was the first one to walk out of the ship and step into the firm, steady ground; not wanting to waste any time. Taking a couple of steps as she looked around, she wondered at which direction the castle would be. It wouldn't be too hard to find the way towards the castle; she'd only have to ask...
"Swan!"
Emma froze right where she was as she heard his voice. Before she even turned her head around, she knew perfectly who had spoken that word, that small nickname she'd grown so fond of during the last week.
And there he was, the pirate she'd been sure she wouldn't come across ever again, walking towards her. He looked even better, more rested perhaps. He didn't look too happy, however, brow furrowed to the point his eyebrows seemed to be about to meet.
"Well, you're not that good at escaping from me, huh?" Killian casually spoke as his eyes roamed through her, an eyebrow raising as his eyes went up to meet hers. "And you even got a new dress. You certainly gave my coins a good use."
Oh, you have no idea, Hook.
"I'll pay you back," she quickly responded, her eyes dropping to her own figure. A new, light blue dress had replaced the old one - which after all those days in the woods had turned into a light brownish color, and had been slightly teared up. She'd used one of his coins to buy it; and Emma couldn't help but feel slightly guilty at the fact that she had been stealing from him. Yet her guilt quickly faded to the background, annoyance stepping in because this was completely ruining her plan! "What are you doing here?"
"Followed you right when I figured out you had escaped, and well, here you have me," he shrugged, "Told you, Jolly's a wonder. Faster than any other ship."
How would he say it? Ah, yes. Bloody pirate.
She hadn't considered the possibility that he would be able to get there before her. "Hook, I have to go," Emma spoke with a sigh, "I don't want to lose any more time."
"Let's go, then."
"Actually..." Emma began to speak, annoyance showing in her voice.
"You had planned to continue on with your journey without me?" He finished the sentence, eyebrow raised, "Yeah, I had figured that out already."
"Then why are you here?" She told him with exasperation, "Look, I managed to get here all alone, I don't need your help to find a castle."
"Do you even know which way to go?"
"I can figure it out on my own!" Emma exclaimed, turning around to leave; however, the cold grip of his hook stopped her. Why did he had to be so insistent?
"Whether you like it or not, I'm going with you. I rescued you, I take you to your prince. It's as simple as that," his blue eyes buried into hers, his features stern, "You, princess, should learn a bit about gratitude. The least you owe me is allowing me to come with you."
His tone took her aback; for the first time Emma saw a glimpse of what Killian probably looked like in his role of captain, giving orders no sailor dared to disobey. She knew there was no point in trying to fight him.
And with a deep sigh, she spoke: "Lead the way, then."
"I believe you owe me an explanation."
Emma sighed; she'd honestly had been hoping she could avoid giving him explanations. They had decided to walk, since horses still seemed to be pretty much terrorized at Emma's mere prescense. The castle wasn't that far away, on foot it would be a day away at most. Despite that they had been going for some while already, neither of them had bothered to try and start some conversation up. While the pirate was probably upset over her running away, the princess felt upset over the fact that he had ruined her plans of running away. And neither of them seemed to be feeling too chatty because of that.
But, apparently, curiosity seemed to be stronger than the pirate's will to not to speak to her.
"Ask away," Emma told him.
"Tell me, exactly, why would you even think it was a good idea to leave?" Killian spoke. His face remained straight, yet Emma could sense some bitterness in his voice.
Emma shook her head. What was she supposed to tell him? That she had gotten scared? Or that part of her couldn't help but just be upset at him? Because he shouldn't have been there, rescuing her, in the first place. He was just a pirate looking for revenge; if only she had been rescued by someone who looked for love! She wouldn't be counting the days she had left anymore. She wouldn't have hurt him. He'd screwed up her plans right from the beginning, and he even had the guts now to say he believed he could be the one to save her from the curse!
There had been a certain attraction, and maybe, just maybe, if things had been different, that attraction would've turned into something more. But now, she was running out of time - and he was just a distraction.
"I don't need someone watching over me," she answered effusively, "I'm good on my own."
Not even she would've believed her own words.
And Killian's expression showed he didn't believe her either. However, for some reason, he decided not to insist.
"How did you manage to... not to have any incidents?" Killian carefully asked, and Emma immediately understood what he was referring to, "I had truly believed that ship wouldn't make it back to land."
Emma untied the small bag she had hanging from her belt; throwing it over to Killian, who caught it by the straps with his hook, eyeing the bag with a curious look.
"I spent half of your money buying this. It was expensive, but worth it," she explained to him, staring at the pirate as he opened the bag, looking at the grey dust inside of it, "I wouldn't breathe too close to it if I were you."
A couple of days before, while she ran away from him, terror had invaded her.
She'd finally stumbled upon a village; excitement and curiosity filled her, as she began to explore places unknown to her. But soon enough, reality kicked in - so many lives, innocent ones, surrounded her. Many lives that could fade away as soon as midnight arrived.
With Killian, she'd most times managed to run off, out of his reach, before midnight. As she remained on her own, away from any other living creatures, it was almost as if being in a dream. She could understand what was happening, remember who she was. But it was the hunger... She lost herself in her hunger, her... Her desire to kill. It was a miracle that the pirate had survived that night, a miracle she couldn't understand too well; but Emma knew she couldn't let the lives of anyone surrounding her depend on miracles.
How was she supposed to keep on with her journey, with no wide, empty space to run to as soon as she turned into that terrible version of herself?
Luck, however, seemed to be on her side; as she stopped one of the villagers, asking if there was any place she could get something to eat. The man pointed her to a nearby marketplace, and there, after finding a new dress, Emma stumbled upon a small stand. An old, white-haired woman sat there, beside a small sign that read: 'FORTUNE READING, MAGIC POTIONS AND MORE'.
Magic! That had to be it, right?
"Excuse me," Emma had approached the old lady, speaking in a low tone, so no one else would hear her words, "Would you happen to have anything that could be used to stop... Some sort of dangerous creature. A big one, actually."
"Yes, yes; I have all sorts of potions that could be used against any type of creature! What do you fancy?"
"Anything... Not lethal," Emma had told her, "Preferably something temporary, as well."
The woman hesitated for a moment, to then show her a bag that contained a good amount of what she called 'Ground Poppy Dust'. Very rare, hence very expensive. And while Emma didn't knew if it would work, it's not like she had any other choice.
"Sleeping Powder. It's very rare, apparently. From a land called Oz. Anyone who inhales enough of it will fall into a deep sleep immediately," she continued to explain, as Killian closed up the bag and handed it back to her. She carefully strapped it back to her belt. "It was terrifying, not knowing if it would work. But everything turned out well."
She remembered that first night, sitting on the floor of her cabin; a small amount of the dust in the palms of her hands. One moment she'd reached the supposedly magical powder to her face, and the next thing she knew was that it was early morning, and she was still a princess. If she had changed during the night, she'd been too asleep to notice.
Killian seemed thoughtful, "Having that from the beginning would've saved us quite a few problems, huh?"
The comment had been a light-hearted one, yet Emma glared at him. She didn't need a reminder of what she had done.
"How's your chest?" Emma casually asked, hoping it wasn't too obvious she still felt quite guilty and upset about that.
"I'm better than ever, love," he smirked, "You'll have to try a bit harder if you really want to kill me."
Emma let out a snort, silently cursing that cocky smile of his. She'd missed it, being completely honest.
She didn't like to admit it, but she'd missed him, actually.
As hours passed, their surroundings seemed lonelier, quieter. Most were returning to their homes already, back to their families. Emma could feel herself growing tired, yet as they finally managed to see the castle, not too far away from them, she felt slightly invigorated, excitement and maybe nerves kicking in as she realized it would all be over soon enough.
"We're getting close," Emma said, "Finally. My legs won't resist that much longer."
She heard the pirate chuckling.
"Aye," Killian said, giving her a smile; though said smile didn't actually reach his eyes. "Our journey is nearly over, lass."
The words slightly saddened her for some reason. What was going to happen once they arrived there? Would he really be taking her to see her parents? Or perhaps he would leave right away, to claim his reward.
"Just so you know," Emma told him, "Even though I left, I was still going to make sure you'd get your reward. So, technically you didn't really have to follow me."
"Aye," he replied, blue eyes staring into hers, "But I wanted to make sure you were safe."
"Right, because I need to be safe in order for you to get what you want," she said. She wanted to pretend this was the only reason he was looking after her, though the princess knew better than that.
"Swan–" he began, frowning slightly, just to be interrupted by another voice, a deep one:
"Halt!"
They both quickly turned to where the voice came from; and they saw a tall man, covered up from head to toes by an armor, approaching them.
"What are you folks doing, travelling through this road at these hours?" The man asked as he stopped right in front of them, voice muffled by his helmet.
Confused, Emma stared at him. What could this man possibly want? They hadn't been doing anything wrong, so why stop them?
"Ah, good evening, mate," Killian quickly stepped in, showing off his charming smile. "We're not from around here - we were actually headed off to find someplace to crash in for the night."
Despite that Killian's words came out of his mouth smoothly, the man apparently wasn't too happy with his response.
"Not from here, huh? What are you doing in these lands, then?"
"We're salesmen," Killian answered. The lie took her by surprise, yet she managed to keep a straight face on; and quickly enough, she understood what Killian was doing. He believed they shouldn't reveal who they really were to the man, and Emma could easily see why. They had no idea of what his intentions were, so telling him she was actually the lost, and very precious, princess didn't sound like the greatest of ideas.
Who was this man, really? Did he work for the king? He didn't have anything that could allow them to figure out who he was, or who he worked for. It was a bit intimidating; not being able to even see his face, to see his expression and try to at least read the man.
Even though she couldn't see his face, she figured out that the man was eyeing them both. Did they look like salesmen? She guessed not, and Emma's heart raced at the thought of him discovering the lie.
"What do you sell?" He inquired.
Killian hesitated for a second and, feeling her heart up in her throat, Emma quickly stepped in, exclaiming the first thing that popped into her head:
"Clothes! We sell clothes; dresses of all kinds," she told the man, hoping he'd buy the lie. She had fooled a pirate before, she could fool this man too, right? "Our first day around here, and we already sold all of them out. Who would've thought women around here had such a great taste in clothing!"
The man remained quiet for a few moments, "Alright. Be careful around here."
And with that, the man turned around, walking away from them. Killian and Emma remained there, quiet as they watched until the man was finally out of their sight.
"Put the hood on, love, just in case."
"Why?" Emma asked him, giving the pirate an odd look, still she did as she was told. She felt the soft fabric surrounding her head, covering her blonde locks.
"He was looking a lot at your way," Killian explained to her, as they reassumed their walk, "I didn't like it; it's easy to see you're not a normal lass."
What was this, him being careful because he had sensed some sort of danger? Or was this the pirate being jealous that someone stared too much at her?
"Oh, you're exaggerating, Hook," she replied, rolling her eyes, "I don't think he had any idea of who I was."
"Aye, because you're awfully good at lying," he told her, small smile showing at the corners of his lips, "You're a natural at deceiving, Swan."
"I think maybe we should actually find a place to rest in," Killian said, "It is getting late, and I doubt the King and Prince would be pleased to have their sleep interrupted by us arriving at such hours. We can continue tomorrow morning, we'll..." He trailed off, and Emma followed his gaze, head turning slightly to see what had caught Killian's eye.
Next to her had passed a couple of men; both of them wore a familiar sort of armor. The same the man from before had. Turning her gaze back to Killian, her eyes widened as she noticed that the man had tensed up, good hand resting on his sword; almost like we was already prepared for a fight to come any second now.
"What are you doing?" Emma asked in a hushed tone.
"There's something off, Swan," he replied, voice low as well.
"Wha-"
It all then happened quickly. Killian unsheathed his sword, raising it as he turned around; and it clashed against another armored man's sword. They began to fight; slashing at the other and ducking. Killian seemed to be completely focused on the fight, his movements graceful, showing he'd clearly had way too many years of practice.
Just as they fought, Emma saw the other two men hurrying up to them, swords in hand. "Killian..." she warned the pirate, taking a couple of steps back.
She heard a loud clash - Killian's hook had smashed hardly against the man's helmet, to then kick the man away - who fell to the floor, just in time so Killian could shift his focus on to the other two men.
She should be helping him! She still had Killian's knife, but it wouldn't be of any use against those swords. Yet, she decided, a knife was better than nothing; Emma reached to her belt, where the knife was, just to be interrupted by a couple of strong arms surrounding her, cold steel trying to keep her still as she fidgeted.
"KILLIAN!"
She could hear the fright in her own voice, and almost immediately Emma realized screaming was a terrible mistake. It distracted Killian, only for a brief second, but that was all it took for the two men to overpower him; one of them slamming his fist against the pirate's face.
A/N: I am not dead! Woo!
You're all allowed to hate me for stopping to write this story for so long; I am not going to make any excuses up or anything. I wasn't feeling too good emotionally, so I stopped writing. But seeing that a couple of you were still waiting for me to update, wanting to know what would happen next with this story, gave me the courage to reassume my writing, so I am here and I promise I will do my best to be a better and way more puntual author! Thank you so much to everyone who follows this story and that waited this much for me to update, it means a lot to me.
So, what did you all think about this chapter? Was it good? Bad? What do you think will happen next? :P Please tell me in the reviews! I love reading your opinions and ideas!
I love you all, and see you soon :)