The Archer

"You want to tell her?" Belle asked.

"Well, of course. With what I'm getting into, I figure it benefits me to be as open as possible," Rumpelstiltskin replied.

"So it makes you look good."

"In all honesty, yes. You can never be too prepared, Belle, especially in troubled times."

"Oh, times are troubled, alright."

"Yes. Hook and Cora are about to dock in Storybrooke, bringing their own set of problems, and Emma has no idea what kind of magical power she has. Quite frankly I'm not sure I want to be present if she turns evil and decides to destroy the town."

"What are the odds of that?"

"Right now, quite slim."

"Thank goodness."

"Very much agreed, Belle."

"And, um, your son?"

"In this realm, possibly, but the time period is off."

"So...do you know when he is?"

"Not exactly, not yet."

"You'll find him."

"I won't stop until I do."

OUAT

Bae, Morraine, and the Merry Men lined the inside of the fading Sherwood Barrier. Bae kept both his bow and arrow and his mind ready, and he was alert to the slightest change in the position of the Sheriff and his men. He shuddered to think of the possibilities, but he knew they existed.

He glanced at Morraine, the blade at her side, tip touching the earth. Rumpelstiltskin had given her the means to protect him if she found him, disregarding the fact that Bae had learned to take care of himself. He shook these thoughts off and refocused his mind.

The Sheriff and his devils were moving swiftly and showing no signs of stopping. "Ready," Bae called, and then several moments later, "Aim if you can." The Sheriff was directly in front of him. Bae took a few deep breaths, drawing on his energy and channeling it deep into the shaft of the arrow, forcing as much of it into that single length of narrow wood as possible and only stopping when the shaft sizzled and cracked against his skin. By this point, though, the Sheriff was in plain view, sword raised and roaring with his charge. A small smile played on Bae's lips, and he fired.

On his signal, several other arrows plunged into the cloud, but, just as Bae suspected, there was return fire.

A figure stepped out of the shadows, a blond, black-eyed man in tattered Lincoln Green, his face all but cut to ribbon, possibly multiple times. He had yet another arrow ready, pointed directly at Bae's head. He spared a glance at the Sheriff, run through with an arrow and writhing in agony, calling on the shadows to come to his aid. He turned his full attention to the archer approaching him. "It's you," he said. The man's eyes widened, and he stopped his advance.

Morraine looked from Bae to the man and back again, debating whether or not she needed to plunge the blade in her hand deep into his chest. Bae and the archer continued to watch each other over the shaft of the latter's arrow. Bae purposefully kept his bow and arrow low, waiting for the other archer to relax.

The archer didn't lower his bow, but he did ask, "What's your name?"

"What do I call myself?" Bae asked to clarify. He knew too well how much power names had.

"What's your name?" Bae glanced at Morraine, who eyed the archer for a moment and then shook her head no. "You're going to take her advice?"

"I love her and value her opinion. Is that a problem?"

"I just asked for your name."

"I don't want to give it to you."

"How about I shoot you instead?"

"I know something has corrupted your mind. The Sheriff, perhaps?"

"You know nothing. You're a naive little boy that's barely sixteen. You've barely come of age, and what do you know of the world outside whatever poor village you came from?"

"I've been around. You'd be surprised at what I've seen, I think."

"Why do you say that?"

"I come from a land where legends abound, part of everyday life. I've been to a land where you can live forever and never age. To me, magic is a part of life."

"Join the club."

"I can see that, but you've been taken by wicked forces, against your will."

"How do you know that?"

"That's my business." He couldn't be too careful. The archer loosed the arrow. Bae ducked, and the arrow thunked harmlessly into a tree. He glanced at the Sheriff, who had gotten to his feet and was pulling the arrow from his chest. Bae didn't turn enough of the Sheriff's energy against him, but even the prospect of repeating the feat made him weary to his bones.

"Alright, young sensitive," the archer said, drawing another arrow. Bae still kept his weapons low. Names had power, perhaps more than weapons alone. The Sheriff and several of his devils moved toward him, the Sheriff staggering. Bae knew he had to time this perfectly.

Morraine cast an uncertain glance in his direction and then looked at the Sheriff.

Bae took a deep breath, keenly aware of the Sheriff's coming, and kept his gaze even, watching the archer's every move. After a long moment, he said, "Robin Hood."

"No, you foolish boy," the Sheriff shouted, lunging for them. Robin turned and loosed his arrow in the Sheriff's direction. The Sheriff ducked but continued his progress. Bae turned to Morraine and wrapped his fingers around the hand that held the sword.

"What are you thinking?" she asked.

"I'll need a little extra help if my plan for stopping him is going to work."

Robin Hood had aimed another arrow at the Sheriff, who paid it no heed, instead choosing to charge Bae and Morraine. Bae took a deep breath and focused on the blade the same way he did the arrows that did any meaningful damage to the Sheriff, pulling the Sheriff's own energy into the metal and waiting for the sting. Morraine inhaled sharply but held her ground. "This'll all be over soon," he whispered to her. Together, they raised the sword, swirling with black smoke. The denser the smoke became, the more Bae felt the sting. Morraine glanced at him and then looked at the Sheriff.

"You cannot kill me," the Sheriff roared.

"I have better ideas," Bae said. He and Morraine pulled the Sheriff into the blade, which ran straight through his chest. They tore the blade out of his body and stumbled back and to opposite sides of him. Robin loosed an arrow into the back of his skull. "I hope that does it."

The shadows rushed the couple and their fallen leader, sweeping past Robin as he turned to face his rescuer. "You really want to survive this?" he asked Bae. "Run." Bae and Morraine shrank back and watched Robin position himself between the Sheriff and the shadows, but they didn't run.

Robin kept a foot firmly planted on the Sheriff's back, keeping him on the ground in case he ever woke up. Bae personally doubted that would happen.

Morraine stepped even further back, her grip on the sword tightening. Bae pulled the arrow back to his full draw, watching Robin chant to himself, or rather, feeling it, as the energy of the situation built to levels he wondered whether or not the world could tolerate.

The shadows shrank back, and when Bae looked around, he noticed that several Merry Men were visibly relieved. Possibly they had run low on arms. If whatever Robin was doing failed, they were all screwed, Bae realized. If you want to survive this, he thought, remembering the archer's words, then run. He scanned the shadows, searching for their weakness. They were all rushing toward the wounded Sheriff, called to him to help him recover from what was otherwise a life-threatening wound, if not one that would kill immediately. "Run," he yelled. "Go south. Leave while you still can."

The Merry Men all looked at him, and after a tense moment when anything could have happened, John called, "You heard the boy. Fly, Merry Men. Fly." So they fled south, weapons and whatever else they could grab in tow. Bae noticed that John, Alan, and Will were the last to leave. He turned back to the archer, the Sheriff, and the shadows. Morraine touched him on the arm.

"We should go with them," she said. Bae shook his head. The changes he felt were profound now. Whatever Robin was doing, he was planning something big, and dangerous.

The shadows suddenly rushed him.