Disclaimer: Once Upon a Time does not belong to me nor do the characters. However, I do own any original characters (OC's) that come along in this story.
"Into the darkness they go, the wise and the lovely. "
-Edna St. Vincent Millay
Under The Mask
"So you came!" Rumpelstiltskin cheered. "And right on time too." He jumped up from the bench, staring and smiling intently at the pirate before him.
Captain Hook grimaced at the sickly excited tone of the Dark One, remembering how easily Rumpelstiltskin's mood could be affected. "I want to know where the boy is being held at, Rumpelstiltskin. The Queen refuses to reveal anything."
"You're going to have to do better than that, dearie." The gloomy man rumbled in response at him. "One thing at a time. First, the boy isn't with Regina. The boy is still stuck in Neverland."
The Captain paused before answering. "Where at?"
"I don't know. The trail ends there, Cap'n! There's nothing I can do for you anymore." He toyed with the small lantern set on the table, lifting it up twice and then placing it back down again. A wide grin broke on his face as the being finally directed himself back at the Captain.
"Hm...I may have one thing that can help you. Are you willing to pay the price for it?" The pirate before him reached into his coat for payment until he was stopped by Rumpel's slim finger going back and forth at his face.
The Dark One nodded his head with disinterest. "No, no, no. I don't want payment. I want a favor."
"What favor do you want?"
The cruel being looked away with a cautious look buried deep in his eyes; the twinkle had long faded over the years and was replaced by a stubborn coldness. Captain Hook gripped his wine cup firmly, waiting for an answer. "Tell you what," He finally said, "I go home and think about it while you think about trading me that girl, Eva. She'd be a useful piece to my collection, wouldn't she now?"
'Useful in what way', Hook thought to himself. The broken companion would only vanish from his ship within the next few days, and for what purpose could Eva bid herself useful to him? If that was the case, then she'd be the next bargaining tool in line. The Captain smirked at the coward, placing his cup down the table and chuckling loudly while at it. He leaned himself closer to Rumpelstiltskin with a clear smile on his face.
"Why don't we finish the deal here instead?" Captain Hook asked.
The evident features of Rumpelstiltskin's face darkened immensely. His almost fully dark eyes resembled an endless black pit, and the orbs outwardly bore straight through the pirate; the inauspicious act divulged the notion of Rumpelstiltskin truly living up to his title - The Dark One. And of what was once an afraid, young father became the terrifying beast that many knew present day. The Captain hardened his eyes.
"Don't push me, dearie." Rumpel growled.
"And why not," Captain Hook challenged eagerly. "the girl is worthless to me and it'd be a small achievement to use her in a trade."
"Three days," said Rumpelstiltskin. "I'll give you three days and on the third and final day, the deal will be done."
"Three days for what?"
"For you to say your goodbyes, of course."
Eva strolled herself out of the restaurant, leaving the large and heavy door behind her to swing however it pleased, but unfortunately, Dock was the poor victim of the silly move. The loud thump could instantly be heard as Eva waited for the crew-members to come out, turning around to witness the uncanny expression stamped on Dock's face before settling herself back on the dusty path through the forest.
"I'm so stuffed." Eva groaned as she, Cube, and Dock headed out of the restaurant. After two chicken legs, a large bowl of soup, and four slices of oven-baked bread, Eva could truly say that she was full. Completely full.
"You barely had anything, Eva!" Cube replied hastily, shutting the door in front of Dock's face for the second time that day. Eva and Cube could hear a loud thud behind them, assuming that the dreamy crew-member had been successfully hit by the wooden entry. The poor man came out all scruffy, pausing to fix his thick eye-glasses and grey hat before continuing his path like the aching ordeal had never occurred in the first place. Poor Dock. I hope this doesn't happen too often for him.
"Gee, Cube," Dock said, unaffected. He quickly caught up with the pair. "I guess you'll be paying the next bill we get later then."
"I never agreed to do that!" The latter complained.
"Well, you just did."
Dock unhappily strolled into the front of the line, angry about the door incident. 'He does get mad', Eva thought. She hadn't seen him this miserable since the day she boarded the ship.
"Come on, Dock. I don't have enough for another meal."
"Eva," Dock said, freed from all earlier events. "did you like the restaurant?"
"It was terrific." The girl replied, a little more energetic than how she had wanted to sound. Eva walked in between Dock and Cube, and the trio had a humorous conversation. Cube said something, and she laughed, looking left and right at the two crew-members and pushing her brown hair away from her face. Her hair was freely out and Eva made a mental note to get her hair done or at least trimmed a bit.
The rustling of leaves startled everyone, sending up a signal that something sinister was about to happen. Cube peered cautiously around the surroundings, clutching his axe in case of an ambush and Dock stood still, listening to the environment closely. They stayed in their given positions until all was calm, and the three continued on their way to the next town.
The forest around them was covered by the seemingly peaceful glow of the orange sky filled with tints of a light peach and red. The shadows of the naked trees could still be seen, yet Eva couldn't help but feel like the shadows were moving all around them, darting from tree to tree and bush to bush. She shook her head abruptly, opening her eyes a few times to enhance her vision. It was only hallucinations from her mind playing tricks on her, she made herself believe. It could only be that, or what else? 'I'm not seeing things. It can't be real.'
"Eva, are you okay?" Dock questioned, catching up to walk beside her. It seemed that he had recovered from the door incident.
"I'm fine. I just thought that I saw some shadows moving." She reassured herself, brushing some of her hair behind her ears and shoving her hands into the outer pockets of her green coat. 'Only tricks...'
"If I had heard it correctly, there had been rumors of an outer force living within these forests," Cube began, carrying a large pile of wooden logs he had found earlier on the path. "and many think that it's the Queen doing all of the weird tricks, driving people insane to the point where they're not longer seen around town anymore. Strange, huh?"
'I doubt the Queen would be doing this.'
"You know, I don't think the Queen would be the one responsible for doing all of this, Cube. She's... She's evil, but there has to be another person or people corrupting the forest. Do you really think that a woman like her would actually do this?" Eva walked faster to keep up with the crew-member.
"Absolutely, Eva. You don't know what she's capable of." Cube scoffed, lifting his wood higher into the air.
"Then tell me."
"He can't," Dock suddenly intervened, saddening as he kept his eyes on the ground below. "There's no way to explain it."
"But—"
"We're heading into that town over there. The Captain should have already arrived earlier, and the others should have scattered safely around the area. I'm sure some of them are at the bar." Cube stated.
But he was right. The twinkling town lights could be seen a distance away from where they were, and the townspeople were all about, roaming through the town and sometimes stopping to talk to each other. It wasn't long before they had arrived into town, where some greeted them with kind eyes and small waves. The dim sky above everything was growing darker and darker by the hour, yet the town still found a way to make it as bright as the morning. Foot after foot after foot walking through soon became tired, and Cube had finally stopped to point to a yellow house filled with laughter and loud chatter.
The three made their way into the house - the bar - and Eva glanced at Captain Hook, who was happily talking to members of his crew. He looked more than content, and it was somewhat strange. Had he done something that was enough to make him so...happy?
"Cap'n!" Cube shouted loudly, garnering the attention of the Captain and several curious eyes.
"Dock, Cube, Eva, come join us," Hook called with his hands moving for them to come forth. "there's enough rum to go around to everyone."
Eva planted herself on the bench beside the table, staring at the scene in front of her. "What are you all doing here anyway?"
"Having excellent fun, Eva," The Captain spoke. "come join us!"
"The Cap's usually like this whenever he made himself a good deal." said a round man, another crew-member. He held a mug of rum, and was tastefully chugging it down every few minutes down his throat.
"Eva, this is Snob," Dock cheered, sitting down to wrap an arm around his friend. "he's another one of us!"
Everyone gathered around the Captain lightly as he began telling his usual tales of his adventures, how he traveled all across the land searching or trading mystical items or artifacts. And before they knew it, it was an hour away from midnight, where many peculiar events took place, like that one story of a young beautiful ball girl who had mysteriously vanished after leaving the King's castle when the clock tower's hands struck midnight. Eva thought about the clock tower, not paying much attention to the crew's joyful ratter.
"Men, we had our fun at this bar, but now it is time to go." Hook said.
"Really? So soon too!" said Cube
"We were having a great time." a crew-member yelled out, sipping the last of his drink before setting it back down.
"And with that, we will have more times like this within the near future."
"Come now, we have to go."
"Oh, all right." cried Snob.
The strong waves of the sea crashed rapidly onto the shore as the entire crew made their way across the sandy beach. The dense air was combined with the heavy gusts of wind and the familiar scent of the salty breeze, but this wasn't a breeze. Eva climbed aboard the ship with the help of Dock as her hair flew in all directions from the wind, flowing and landing in her face and then back into the open air. It was deep into the night and the roaring sound of the sea was the most distinctive thing that could be heard.
Eva headed into a nearby cabin, shutting the door behind her before the wind could pull it back open. She looked around the room, noticing that she was the only one inside. A table was placed in the middle of the room with chairs and benches around it, much like the one Eva had seen at the bar from earlier before. She strolled around until a woman came out of the kitchen from the room next door, using a dishcloth to dry her hands.
"Who are you?" The woman demanded, stalking forward to hold a knife against Eva's throat.
"My name is Eva. I'm no threat!"
"You sure don't look like it," The woman said as she lower her weapon, allowing Eva to take a breath of air. "why are you here?"
'Why am I here?'
"I'm a companion," Eva responded nervously, "who are you?"
"The name's Milah. Take a seat here, Eva." Milah sat down on a rusty-brown chair, glancing only for a second out the window to stare at the harsh weather hitting the ship. Her dark hair had decorative beads hanging from some strands, and her attire was much like the Captain's - dark and pirate-like. She waited patiently for Eva to sit down, and the girl did.
"I'm the chef here on the ship." Milah started, getting up to grab a ripe apple from the fruit basket. She tossed it over to Eva and the girl examined the delicious piece. The apple was round and was considerably fitted nicely in Eva's hand. It was like the few apple trees growing near the Queen's castle; the dark fruits hung high in the branches with their blood-red color.
The color of pain.
When the clock tower strikes, something always happens.
Author's Note: As I'm sitting here reading through the large amount of feedback, I can't express how much I love you all. Thank you, every one of you for so dearly taking the time to review, alert, favourite, etc. It almost sounds like I'm making a goodbye message here! *ahem* Away from that, it took me such a while to go through to this chapter. I even go bored with some scenes and deleted them. This and hopefully all the other future deletions will be kept in a deleted scenes chapter, which I will post either in between the story as a bonus or at the end.
I bid all of my readers a happy week. It's was pretty gloomy around my area ever since a hurricane came over and...well...you know the rest.
**Special thanks to blackopalz21 for being my beta**
**Special thanks to TheCynicalCrocodile for being my beta** (Now signing on to beta entire story with opalz)