Learning Curve
Rumpelstiltskin decided to wait for a little while until things with the Charming family settled down before approaching Emma in her mother's home. He was somewhat surprised when she answered his knock, but he said easily, "Hello, Miss Swan."
"What...are you doing here?" Emma asked.
"I'd just like to talk for a while."
"That doesn't mean anything good."
"If you recall, you owe me a favor." Rumpelstiltskin walked into the room and turned to face her again.
"What sort of favor?"
"I want you to find someone for me."
"Who?"
"My son."
She blinked. "Wait a minute. Since when have you had a son?"
"Since before I became the Dark One. I just recently reconnected with him, but I also just lost him."
"Reconnected how?"
"Through magic."
Emma sighed and stepped back, holding her hands up and closing her eyes. "You're telling me there's some other magical link between the two lands that we could've used?"
"Well, that depends on the connections you have to the other side. My son and I were...quite close before we were parted."
Emma looked at him from behind her eyelashes. "If you were reconnected, then what do you need me for?"
"The connection has recently been severed."
"So he's somewhere without magic. Maybe he's closer than you think."
"Exactly. We can't leave Storybrooke without losing our memories."
"What?"
"Talk to Sleepy if you wish, since he went through the ordeal, but I'm afraid you'll find him as he was before the breaking of the curse. Now, you, on the other hand, are free to come and go as you please, having escaped the curse in the first place. That's why I need you to go out, find my son, and return him to me." Emma eyed Rumpelstiltskin, sensing something just beneath the surface that the Dark One wasn't willing to talk about. "Isn't finding people what you do?"
"Yeah. I'm...I'm just trying to process everything." Rumpelstiltskin nodded. "But you're still sure he can be found?"
"Yes, yes I am. After all, he has to be somewhere, even if he's dropped off the face of the earth."
"Where do I even begin to look for this kid, then?"
"A land without magic."
"Here." Rumpelstiltskin nodded.
OUAT
"How well can you shoot, lad?" one of the men asked after the wine started flowing and the food was prepared and served.
"Me?" Bae asked, gesturing to himself.
"I don't see any other lad in these parts."
"Alright." Bae grabbed his bow and an arrow from his quiver, which luckily hadn't been damaged in the fall, and he shot the man's hat right off his head.
After a tense silence, the man said, "Lucky shot." In response, Bae nocked another arrow and aimed at a bird perched in a branch above them. He fired, and the bird didn't have a chance. It fell out of its perch and landed stiffly in the sod. Bae walked over and retrieved both of his arrows. He cleaned off the one from the bird before returning it to his quiver.
He turned to face his challenger. "Anything else you'd like me to shoot at?"
"Now, Will, that's enough madness," the giant-like man said. "Give the lad a little peace before he faces Nottingham's men."
"When will that be?" Bae asked, but no one needed to answer him. A dark shadow passed over his awareness, and he blanched, eyes wide.
"Too soon. Scatter and man the defenses." The men got to their feet and fled the clearing, and the giant-like one approached Bae. "Lad, are you alright?" Bae hardly heard him. His perception was already occupied with visions of men in black on equally black horses. The one in the lead was the most disturbing of all and made him feel the sickest. Between scenes, he saw that the lead horseman was also half-man, half cloud of pitch.
Bae stumbled and braced himself against a tree. His vision spun, but one detail overshadowed all: black tendrils were creeping across the forest floor. He blinked and looked up at the man. "What's your name?" he asked. "What are you called?"
"John," the man replied. "Why do you ask?"
"I'm afraid I'm going to die without knowing who was so kind to me in my last days."
"We are the Merry Men of the Greenwood Tree and Sherwood Forest." Bae nodded. "Lad, you look very ill."
"I can...I can feel it, and see it."
"Clear your head, boy, because we're going to need all hands to fight."
"Arrows can't stay this creature."
"We've got to try something."
"But if you die in the fight, who's left to carry the torch?"
"We've been fighting the sheriff for years with what we have. Believe me, lad, it can be done."
"Alan told me of a botched rescue mission."
"This isn't rescue. This is defense. Now, stay close and pay attention." John walked out of the clearing, and Bae turned and reluctantly followed.