Advice
Robin Hood drew an arrow and waited in silence, watching the deer lazily graze on what it could find on the forest floor. He fired, and the arrow struck the deer in the side. The deer stumbled and then fell, and he walked over and plucked the arrow from the carcass's side, cleaning it on the grass. Arrangements for the body would have to be made; it was a sizable beast, by any account. He whistled three times, and Will Scarlet emerged from the forest. In spite of his color choice, he had managed to stay well-hidden. Together, they hauled the deer back to the Greenwood Tree.
"See anything unusual?" John asked when they returned.
"Not a thing," Robin replied.
"Me, neither," Will added.
"If you ask me, the sheriff's cowardice is a crying shame."
"He's not a coward, he's a plotter," John said. "You can't really tell me you want to see him plotting in front of you."
"He spends a lot of time plotting. He should start acting on all the things he comes with him. A man with that much time spent thinking is bound to come up with at least one good idea."
"If you ask me, the longer he stays away from Sherwood, the better."
"Amen to that," Alan said, raising his glass in a toast. The others chuckled and made sounds of agreement, also raising their glasses, if they had them. Alan and Robin set the carcass down and began to butcher it out. "Who wants to bet it's a week before they notice?"
"We don't have the funds," Robin replied. "I still need to remind you of this, Alan?" Alan shook his head but continued to smile jovially as they worked.
"Which of you lads wants to bet a drink?" John asked. Robin closed his eyes and sighed, and he restricted his focus to the skinning of the venison. John clapped him on the shoulder. "Come on, lad, buck up, will ya."
"Incredibly lame joke aside, I'm afraid I can't stop focusing on the fact that we're strapped, the sheriff is waiting for us, and no one else knows what we're facing, what that wretch is." Robin was now standing and pointing in the direction of the town of Nottingham. Nearly every other Merry Man was staring at him in shock, except a few who were winking and sniggering amongst themselves. Robin took a deep breath and lowered his hand to his side. "Don't deny it," he said coldly. "We're facing a devil, and we all know it."
"Don't say we don't."
Robin gestured to Alan. "This idiot is acting like it. How can you stand for this, John?"
"What're you so worried about?" Will asked. "That bastard hasn't found this place yet, and odds are good that he won't. Not now, not the way he's operating. Sure, he's powerful, but he's not that good."
"He gets better every day, and I'm the only one that feels it, and none of you have any idea how much this frustrates me."
"You wanna be a cocky, self-centered son of a bitch, be my guest, but be sure you get your sorry ass out."
Robin scoffed. "Why would I do that, when without me, you can't track the sheriff's movements? You said it yourself. You need me. If that's changed, all you need to do is let me know, not play this game with me."
"What're you going to do when this threat passes?"
"How do you know it will? I doubt I'm the only cocky one in this group. I'm just the only one with the will to do anything." John punched Robin across the temple, and Robin responded in kind. The brawl continued for several moments before Will and Alan separated them.
"That's enough for one day," Alan said. "Obviously what we have are two hotheads and not enough space to contain their tempers." Several Merry Men laughed at his jest. John and Robin separated themselves for the moment, and only after several stiff drinks did they begin speaking to each other again.
OUAT
"...and so begins the tale of the Thief," Mary Margaret said, marking the page in a book Henry had checked out from the library. She had only hesitated to censor one sentence.
Instantly hands in the class went up and questions were asked. "Please, please, one at a time," she said.
One kid asked, "Was the sheriff really that bad?"
"I don't know. I'm afraid that's been...lost to time."
Another asked, "Was Nottinghamshire sealed off at one point like the book claims?"
"Again, I can't be sure. These are very, very good questions. What do you think about the Robin Hood character? He's not usually this angry, is he?" This raised even more discussion. Mary Margaret couldn't help but give a proud smile.
OUAT
Emma studied the portrait of Rumpelstiltskin's son that the imp had handed over. According to the imp in question, the boy's name was Baelfire, though Rumpelstiltskin expressed doubt that that would be what he would presently be going by, wherever he was. She took a sip of some hot chocolate with cinnamon and lay the charcoal sketch on the table in front of her. "Got a new case, I see," Granny said when she came by Emma's table.
"Yep, and I don't even know where, when, or how to start," Emma replied. "I am dealing with inter-dimensional travel here."
"You're better qualified than most of the rest of us, that's for sure."
"But I grew up here. Here magic's not supposed to exist. Here, fairy tales are fairy tales. They're not real. Here, things like this don't happen. Sure, kids go missing all the time, but they're easy to find. They don't travel across realms to parts unknown. That's not how things work here, in my world."
Granny sat down across from her and folded her hands on the table. "It sounds like, in spite of all your experiences, you still have problem with seeing beyond what's in front of you. Do you believe in magic?"
"It exists."
"No. Do you believe in magic? Do you honestly believe in magic? Can you see and understand everything all at once? If you can, then you believe."
"I thought we solved that question a long time ago."
"You at least opened yourself up to the possibility. Now you have to open your mind some more and start truly seeing how magic weaves everything together." Emma knit her brow. "All it takes is a little relaxation. Sometimes we see it in our dreams."
"We as in you, the fairy tale characters."
Granny nodded. "Get some rest, take a little break, revisit this after a few days, after you've calmed down after everything that happened. Maybe take up meditation, whatever works for you. Then see what happens."
"You think that'll work?" Granny smiled and nodded, and then she got out of the booth and went about the rest of her workday. Emma chewed her lip and stared at the sketch of Baelfire, digesting what Granny had said.