True Love's Kiss
Robin paced around the edge of Sherwood Forest, feeling out the Barrier placed around the forest and finding, disconcertingly, that it was worn and faded. It needed to be recast, which meant he needed to venture into Nottingham and find a wizard. At least he could tell the real thing from the dozens of local charlatans that seemed to flood the town, but avoiding the Sheriff was a whole other matter entirely. So Robin slipped back through the forest to the Greenwood Tree, retrieved his bow and quiver and a purse of gold coins, just in case, and set out on the well-worn path that would lead him right to the village.
Beyond Sherwood proper, he was struck by how quiet the forest was. There was now birdsong or squirrel chatter or even the sounds of hooves on the forest floor. Considering that it was treason to poach the king's game, which was pretty much every animal in England, this development was quite troubling. He crossed the bridge, keeping his steps even, knowing full well that the Sheriff would be paying close attention to his every move. He had to look like he was running errands or doing something equally superficial.
Nottingham was abuzz with activity, moreso than struck Robin as normal, and he instinctively moved toward the source of it. In the town square was the statue of a terrified peasant girl. Robin was instantly struck by her beauty.
"They call her Maid Marian," said a voice behind him. Startled, he turned to face an old man in a cloak. "Don't try to wake her, though. Her true love hasn't yet arrived."
"Excuse me?" Robin asked.
"She's been suspended outside of time and frozen. He has not."
"Who immortalizes a terrified girl?"
"Who else?" Robin blanched. "Something tells me your errand isn't for the girl."
"N-no," he managed. "Sherwood-"
"I know about Sherwood. The time will come soon, however, when such problems will, for want of a better word, disappear."
"Who could..."
"There is another sensitive, in another land. He is seeking something and will try to find it, but sadly, that isn't to be yet."
"Who are you? What are you? How can you speak thusly?"
The figure pulled his hood back, revealing strands of white hair and a rectangular face. "Here I have no name, but I'm not from this land. For your purposes, my identity is irrelevant." The man disappeared, and Robin looked around, peering through the crowd gathered around the sick statue. He truly had vanished, but someone else had appeared.
The black-clad Sheriff and his army of unearthly soldiers. Demons. Wretched creatures. Robin turned and moved through the crowd, glancing at them occasionally but keeping himself as calm as possible. The demons came close to him when he slipped back into the forest, through another well-worn road, but he had escaped them that time.
OUAT
Bae woke Alan in the middle of the night and strapped his quiver to his hips. "What are you doing?" Alan asked.
"I think I know what happened to Morraine," Bae replied, "and I have to go get her."
"In Nottingham? Are you nuts?"
"Get your bow and arrow or whatever you fight with and let's go."
"You're losing your mind, if it was there to begin with."
"I love this girl, and she needs me right now. If you're not coming with me, I'm going by myself." Something flashed in Alan's eyes. "Arm yourself so we can go." Alan struggled to his feet and grabbed a staff resting next to the Greenwood Tree, and he and Bae started for the path to Nottingham.
"How did you come by your plan?" Alan asked at one point.
"In a dream. I recognize the wizard especially. Old, with a long face, balding, wears a cloak."
"He was the wizard that pulled you from the tunnel, or made sure you ended up here. Do you know his name?"
"No. He was a beggar I met in my village once. He said he wasn't from this realm, so they are the same person. I just need to figure out how it's possible."
"They say that when we die, our souls go to Heaven or Hell, based on how well we've behaved in life."
"What are Heaven and Hell?"
"They're different worlds. One is paradise, and the other is, well, Hell." Bae creased his brow. "It's basically a fiery pit of eternal torture."
"Oh. These worlds...are they linked to this one?"
"I don't know. No one's ever come back, not that I know. Sometimes there are ghosts, but they're souls that haven't crossed over."
"So the doors, if they exist and they surely must, are one way."
"Exactly." Bae nodded. Even though this new world worked and thought differently, making sense of it was not impossible. "So what world are you from?"
"We call it the Enchanted Forest or the Enchanted Kingdom. Name a tale you are familiar with."
"The Girl in the Tower."
"I found that tower in the forest, wandering around as a village boy does." Alan blinked at him. "Anything else?"
"I think I've had enough for now." They lapsed into a comfortable silence as they walked.
OUAT
"Here," Bae said, and they stopped in the square of Nottingham, facing the statue of the screaming girl.
"As far as works of art go, wow," Alan replied.
Bae stepped up to the statue and took in her face, but he didn't need to. He knew instinctively that this was Morraine. He wasn't sure if true love's kiss would work in this land, with the magic around him in the state that it was, but he had to try. "Let me know if anyone finds us," he said to Alan, and he leaned closer to the petrified Morraine. "I'm here now," he whispered to her. He released a breath and licked his upper lip, and then he kissed the girl on the cheek.
Magic shot between them, and he felt it run deep into the earth. He stumbled back and stared in awe as the stone cracked in several places. Light shone through the cracks, and as they spread, the glow brightened. A force from within expelled the pieces of stone, and Morraine gasped and collapsed on top of Bae. "Thank you," she said through her breathing. Her voice was ragged, as if she hadn't been breathing for a while. Bae suspected that that was true. He took her into his arms and noticed that the sword was missing. "He...him..." she managed. Bae turned and found himself staring at the Sheriff, who was holding Alan at the point of a sword.