Hello, my lovely readers. Since I can't update a lot of my Klaroline fics this week there is some Klaroline in this chapter so I hope that you enjoy. On with show…

Chapter 4: Shiver My Timbers

Somewhere in the Forest:

Caroline was shivering badly at this point. She was tired and hungry and freakin' Klaus had disappeared and did she mention that she was hungry. Touching her grumbling stomach, Caroline was so sick of all this. She just wanted to go home. If Klaus ever came back she was going to kick his ass so hard. There was a sudden sound behind her and Caroline jumped, backward falling and twisting her ankle badly. "Ow," she whimpered.

Then there was another sound and Caroline felt afraid. 'What if it was Mikael?' "Klaus!" Caroline screamed at the top her lungs, getting up and beginning to run as fast she could. She was hit in the face with tree branches. Then she found herself tumbling down a hill. Opening her mouth, she felt it fill with dirt and leaves. Gagging, she ran into a large rock and that was the last thing Caroline was aware of before everything went black.

A man on a horse, who was delivering notices to the young ladies of the area had heard a woman screaming in fear in the forest. By the time he found her she was laying at the bottom of a hill and she had a head wound. Carefully, sliding down the hill he picked her up and carried her back up. Placing her carefully on his horse he took her back to the kingdom to be attended by the court doctor, Meredith Fell.

"Will she be alright?" Galen asked the doctor. The young woman looked like she had been badly hurt and was he worried that she would not recover.

"The cut was shallow," Meredith told him. "She was lucky you found her in time. Do you know if she has family here in the kingdom?"

Galen shook his head. "I have never come upon her in my travels."

"Well, maybe if she recovers she can go to the ball tonight." Meredith said with a slight shrug.

"Will you be attending the ball, Dr. Fell?" Galen asked hopefully.

Meredith didn't seem to notice his attitude. "No. I've got some research to do. We've got that disease that's invading the kingdom. Besides, I'm not really the type to get all dolled up." Pushing her glasses up on her nose, Meredith walked out the door.

Galen blew out a breath. Looking down at the blonde girl, he noticed her begin to stir. Sitting down beside her, he took her hand. "Hello, Miss. How are you feeling?"

Caroline tried to sit up but Galen restrained her. "Like my head hurts. Did I fall down?"

Galen nodded. "Yes, Miss, you did. You were out in the forest when I found you and you seemed to have hit your head."

"Oh," Caroline touched the bandage tentatively. "Ouch. I guess I'm clutzy."

"Do you know who you are or who your family is?" Galen asked Caroline.

Thinking about the question, Caroline came up with a blank. "No. I don't know who I am."

Neverland:

"Kol. Henrick." Klaus could not wrap his head around the fact that his dead brothers were staring back at him. "How are you here?"

Henrick laughed. "I've been here for a long time. I was just waiting for you and Bekah, Elijah and Kol. Kol came first. Now, I guess we wait. But's it's okay because there is plenty of company so I'm never lonely."

Klaus turned to stare at Kol. "What are you wearing?" He asked chuckling.

Kol looked offended. "I like these clothes."

"You're wearing tights," Klaus pointed out to his younger brother.

Kol just stared at him. "And?"

"Oh, never mind," Klaus shook his head. "I'm just so glad to see you again."

"Did you bring Bekah and Lijah with you, Nik?" Henrick asked, his eyes bright with hope and Klaus hated to tell him the truth.

"They really wanted to come with me but they were… umm… They wanted to get you a present before they came." Klaus kicked himself for the lie. He may never see his brothers again if he ever left.

"Well, I hope they show up soon." Kol told him before he started to head off. "I have to get back to the other lost children now."

"Wait!" Klaus called as Henrick began to leave, too. "Take me with you."

Kol grinned. "Come on then." He waved for his brother and then Klaus remembered something.

"I have to get Caroline." Klaus told his brothers.

"Why? She's not one of the lost children, Nik," Kol told him.

"What?" Klaus blinked at his brother. "But I left her behind."

Kol crossed his arms. "Sorry, Nik, only lost children may come to Neverland. Caroline still has her mother."

"So, what? You have to be an orphan to gain entrance. Isn't that a bit of a high price even for you, Kol?" Klaus challenged his brother, his eyes narrowing.

Kol shrugged, "You killed our parents. That's why we're lost children. So, come or don't the choice is yours." With that he disappeared into the forest.

Klaus could only blink at the spot where his brother had been. Then he saw Henrick. "I'll come with you, Nik." The boy told him brightly.

"Really?" Klaus asked hopefully. His brother took his hand and they began to run through the forest in search of the clearing where he had left Caroline. When they arrived, Klaus felt his jaw set in a rigid line as he noticed that Caroline was missing. 'How long had he been gone?' he wondered. 'Did her friends find her and she just went with them? That sounded like something she would do. Just go off and leave him behind. Maybe they were hoping he would be stuck here forever.'

Glowering at the scene before him, Klaus noticed that there was a trail like someone had moved in a hurry. Lots of broken twigs like someone had been running. Now, his thoughts turned in a different direction. 'What if Mikael had found her alone?' Taking off in the direction of the trail he smelled her scent in the air. 'Yes, it was Caroline. And she fell there. Got back up there. Good girl.' She did not go down without a fight and he hoped not at all.

Feeling Henrick behind him Klaus paused throwing a hand out at the top of hill. Jumping down the side of the hill, he found Caroline's blood on a rock. Klaus looked around spinning on his heel in a circle. "Car-o-line!" He bellowed. "Car-o-line." He kept calling her name until his brother climbed down to hold his brother who was on his knees once more.

"We'll find her, Nik." Henrick told him quietly and Klaus hoped his brother was right as he looked around once more to find nothing. Caroline had disappeared.

About Ten Yards Away from the Hill:

"Did you hear that?" Bonnie asked, listening for it again.

"What?" Stefan asked, feeling odd that the former witch had better hearing than he did.

"Someone was screaming someone's name." Bonnie said, listening for the call again. She shook her head. "Whoever it was they stopped."

"I'll fly ahead and see if I can find whoever it is," Lexi told them and flew off.

"Well, that was nice of her," Stefan said.

"Yeah, now the only creature who knows their way around has left. That's really helpful, Stef." Bonnie rolled her eyes and kept walking. "When was the last time you ate?"

"Don't know. It's been awhile though." Stefan replied, feeling his stomach grumble.

"Maybe we could take a rest and find something to eat." Bonnie suggested as they both stopped walking.

Suddenly there was noise from the woods and then Mikael appeared with his axe. Bonnie and Stefan looked at each other and then screamed. Grabbing each other's hands, they began to run as fast as they could into the woods and through the trees.

Yards away they found a dismembered version of Bambi and Thumper and screamed again. "I didn't do it." Stefan shouted, before they ran right past Klaus and Caroline's clearing, not realizing they had turned in a circle. They nearly ran back into Mikael screaming the whole time and then kept running until neither could breathe.

Suddenly they were flying through the air and hit the ground hard. "Ow," They both yelled.

"Stefan. Bonnie." Klaus exclaimed looking down at the two.

"Ouch," Bonnie yelped when Klaus hugged her.

"Ow," Stefan whined when Klaus hugged him too.

"Do you two know how relieved I am to see you?" Klaus told them. Before they could respond Klaus began to question them. "Have you seen Caroline? Is she alright? I left to get wood. When I came back she was gone and is apparently injured." He pointed at the blood on the rock.

"No," Bonnie shook her head. "You were with Caroline this whole time?"

Klaus glared at Bonnie. "That is not important, sweetheart, what is important is where in hell she is?"

"We don't know, Klaus." Stefan told him coming to stand in front of Bonnie. Klaus strode over and glared at Stefan.

"Well, then, mate, I would suggest you help me find her." Klaus snarled, his eyes glowing yellow.

"We'll help you. But it will be for Caroline's sake, not for yours." Bonnie snapped dusting herself off.

Smirking at the two, Klaus took a step back. "After you."

Back at the Little Cottage:

Elena was kicking straw about the room. "Freakin' straw. Turn to gold." She yelled, kicking it some more. "Lockwood. Mayor. Hand rubby, freaky guy." She yelled, jumping up and down in frustration. "Come on, we had deal."

The Mayor appeared. "You called, de- Elena."

"This spindle is not working." Elena pointed an accusatory finger at the defective tool.

"Well, let's see what we can do about that." The Mayor winked and Elena shuddered. The guy was seriously creepy. But she needed him to show her how to make the golden straw so she could go to the ball.

"You know what, forget it. I'll find another way to get to the stupid ball." Walking out the door and into the forest, Elena sat down on the log. She began to cry frustrated tears. Gulping, Elena felt like she had done something really stupid. She had signed a contract with the Mayor to give him her child. It wasn't like it mattered. She was never going to have the child anyway.

Crying bitterly, she closed her eyes. All she wanted was to be in Damon's arms again. "Are you okay, young lady?" a woman asked and Elena's eyes snapped open. Her jaw dropped as she gazed at Esther Mikaelson. If seeing Richard Lockwood was scary to Elena, seeing Esther was ten times worse. She got up to run when the woman appeared in front of her.

"What… what do you want?" Elena moaned as she backed away from the woman, who obviously was more than a woman.

"Don't be afraid, Elena. I'm your fairy godmother," Esther told her quietly, raising a wand and waving it with slight smile.

Elena began to laugh. "You? You're my Fairy Godmother?" She began to wipe her tears away. "You're ridiculous." Shaking her head, Elena began to walk away. Sure, Cinderella was a close second to her favorite childhood story and when she was sick she used to ask her mother to read it to her. Come to think of it, it was probably her favorite, after all.

Turning back to Esther slowly, Elena folded her arms. "Okay. So, what do you want me to do?"

Esther shook her head. "You don't have to anything, dear. That's all me." Grinning, Esther waved her wand. "Now, I hear that there is a ball that you should be off to and it's getting a bit late." Waving the wand lightly at Elena's dress it became a long ball gown and her hair was suddenly swept up above her head. Pulling up the skirt, she found her feet encased in surprisingly comfortable glass slippers.

"Awesome." Elena grinned. "Now, where's the coach." She giddily linked arms with Esther and they walked out to the road where there was a pumpkin that had not been there before. Waving her wand, the pumpkin became a coach and then footmen appeared. Elena was happy she not had noticed the mice. She hated mice.

"Now, go, dear, and have a good time. Just remember the time." Elena hugged Esther and then allowed a footman to help her into the coach. She couldn't wait to tell Bonnie and Caroline about this. She just hoped they were having an easier time.

At a Tavern:

Damon and Ric found the tavern easily enough and after Damon convinced Ric to have a beer they were now quite drunk. Looking around, Damon was laughing when Mason Lockwood plopped down next to him on a stool. "Hey there, Mason." Damon greeted him forgetting that Mason probably didn't know who he was.

Then Damon spat up some beer, when Katherine Pierce appeared at Mason's side. "Get me a beer, Mason," she demanded. Then she looked at Damon. "Hello, there. You look a bit out your kingdom, Princy boy." She smirked at him.

"The prince is here?" Isobel Flemming inquired, wrapping an arm around Katherine's shoulders. Soon Damon and Ric were surrounded by John Gilbert, Jules and that guy of hers Brody, Brady, whatever his name was and their little werewolf friends.

"I told you this was a bad idea." Ric whispered to Damon.

Damon just shrugged. He had been in much worse situations. He would just rip their hearts out and then get the hell out of here. Getting off the stool, he almost fell down. Katherine began to laugh. "Someone doesn't know his limit," she commented, making her cronies laugh.

"Yeah, coming from someone with no limits." Damon snarled at her, breathing beer breath into her face. She just stared at him with that smirk he wanted to smack off her face. Trying to move with his vamp speed again he only staggered.

'Oh, this is not a good thing at all. Not at all.' Damon thought as he stared at the angry pirates. Leaning closer to Ric Damon whispered. "On the count of three."

"What?" Ric replied.

Damon ignored him. "One. Two. THREE!" Grabbing Ric by a fist full of his jacket, Damon shot forward at good old fashioned human speed but he managed to shock a few of Katherine's lackeys. Now, they were dodging their way through the crowd in the tavern as angry pirates followed them. Damon grinned. Things had finally gotten interesting as he and Ric jumped onto the backs off two horses. They took off toward the palace.

Riding faster and faster Damon couldn't get over the fact that he could actually have an adventure in a fairy tale. Maybe there was hope that he would meet Elena at the ball tonight after all. He and Alaric were laughing as they arrived at the gates of the palace. "Home, sweet, home," He said.

When they dismounted, he walked into the palace and bounced up the stairs. Whistling as he made his way down the hall down to his room, he saw a familiar blonde head in one of the extra bedrooms. "Caroline?" Damon muttered. He came to stand in the doorway, watching the blonde, who was taking in her appearance in a long blue ball gown.

"Hey, Blondie. Nice dress." Damon walked further into the room and came to stand beside Caroline, who looked confused.

"Do I know you?" Caroline asked him and Damon's shoulders slumped.

'Of course she didn't know him, what else was new,' he thought.

"Do you like my dress?" Caroline twirled in front him. "They told me that I would be introduced to the prince tonight."

"I am the prince," Damon told her duly.

"Oh," Caroline curtsied low. "Your majesty, it's wonderful to meet you-"

Damon waved her greeting away. "Whatever, Blondie. I'll see you at the ball. I'll be the one in the pretentious suit. Hopefully, I'll be very drunk." Walking out the door, he didn't hear Caroline's reply.

"It was nice to meet you, too, Prince Not So Charming." Caroline snapped before plopping down on her guest bed. She wondered if she had a prince of her own and if he would rescue her from this fancy prison.