Unexpected Results

Bae groaned and forced his eyes open. When they focused, he realized he was surrounded by people he didn't know from a hole in the wall. "Where am I?" he slurred.

"Why, you're in Sherwood Forest, laddie," the man to his right replied. He reminded Bae of a giant.

"Is it a land without magic?"

"I'm afraid not, boy. Even the last untouched part of Nottinghamshire still feels it."

"Excuse me?"

"You're in England," another man, this one on his other side, said, "in the Year of Grace Eleven Forty-Five."

"The Year of Disgrace is more like it," the first man shot back.

"Where's...where's Morraine?" Bae asked.

"Who?"

"The girl who fell through the portal with me. Where is she?"

"If she came with you, and she's not here, then I hate to say it, but she's with the sheriff." Bae tried to sit up, eyes wide, but the man pressed a hand to his chest and gently pushed him back down. "You need to rest, boy. I don't know what happened to you, but you were under for three days."

"What?"

"We thought we'd have to send for a doctor," said the man on his left, "and you know how dangerous that can be."

"Actually, no, I don't."

"The doctors are paid murderers," explained the giant-like one. He stood over Bae now. "And the worst part is they make you do what they say."

"How?"

"He gave them that power. So long as they serve him, they keep it." Finally, a concept Bae understood.

The giant-like man walked away, and Bae sat up gingerly and looked to his other companion. "Does anyone know about this?"

"Nottinghamshire is as isolated as it gets. No news comes in, no news gets out, and no news is hardly ever good news," the man said.

"Who controls this place?"

"The sheriff, with his army of devils."

"The...the sheriff who has Morraine."

"She must be quite the lady. If that's so, you may never see her again."

"Why not?"

"The sheriff's conquests are his prisoners." Bae creased his brow. "Sorry, lad, but a rescue is nigh impossible."

"Haven't you tried? Surely you had to have gone to rescue someone, or you wouldn't know that."

The man's face darkened, and he simply said, "Yes, we tried."

"I take it you didn't succeed, then." The man shook his head. Bae nodded and asked, "Who are you?"

"Alan. What do they call you?"

Bae recognized that using his real name would be too dangerous, so he said simply, "I'm not sure yet."

Alan nodded in concession and asked, "Where are you from?"

"Not here."

"Which realm? The talk is you fell through a portal from another world."

"Do you believe in magic?"

"I suppose I must now."

"The Enchanted Forest."

"Sounds like an alright place."

"Not anymore. It was ravaged by a curse. Only a few of us remain, and if not for what was saved, there would be no Enchanted Forest left." Alan whistled. "Actually, it's not much to be impressed with, unless you've never seen an ogre or troll before. Those are some impressive beasts."

"I'm sure, though I'm not familiar with anything that could be described as such."

Bae nodded. "I understand."

Alan stood and offered Bae his hand, which the latter used to help pull himself up. "Come," he said. "You should probably eat something." Bae nodded and followed Alan into the forest.

OUAT

Peter blinked and pushed himself up onto his elbows. Gradually, he managed to open both of his eyes, and he looked up and around. Five strange people were walking away from a well, and he recognized two from the other side. So far as he knew, he was the only one out of himself and the two Long Lost Children who successfully completed the crossing. Gradually, he stood and took in the unfamiliar forest in which he found himself. Even the magic here felt different. He didn't even recognize its base. This would be tough to get used to and even more tough to figure out how to use to find the lost ones.

One of the strange people walked toward him. "Who are you?" he asked. Peter felt his signature and recognized the Dark One.

"I'm from the other side," he whispered.

"You're not Bae."

"Something happened, something evil."

"Evil?"

"Worse than anything from the Enchanted Forest. It must've pulled them away, the people I tried to cross with. They're not here."

"Well, I can see that. What I can't see is how you are here."

"He passed out and she let me go, probably to go with him wherever he disappeared to."

"Bae? I mean, Weirdo?"

"Yeah, and the girl, the Seer."

Morraine, Rumpelstiltskin thought. Well, this was certainly an interesting turn of events. "So do you know where they are now?" Peter shook his head. "Where in the vortex did the Seer release your hand?"

"Somewhere near the middle. They could be anywhere." Rumpelstiltskin nodded, filed the boy's face away for future reference, and bid farewell. Peter watched him leave, somehow overcome with relief.