Once Upon A Time
The screaming was the first thing that hit Rumpelstiltskin when they entered the battlefield. There had been units sent before his unit and they'd easily been dealt with by the ogres. The bodies were…mangled…they didn't look human anymore.
And the screams…oh gods, the screams. They made his hair stand up on the back of his neck as soon as he heard it…and any courage on the rest of the unit's faces was lost as soon as the ogre's laid their eyes on them.
There were far more than that their superiors had said there'd be.
"Rumpelstiltskin!"
He looked over his shoulder and his eyes widened at the familiar face, "Baelfire"
The man quickly left his unit and grabbed his friend's shoulders in greeting, "Thank the gods, have you seen any of the others?"
Rumpelstiltskin shook his head, "No, they separated all of us."
Baelfire's face fell, "I heard they sent Dauis back to be a recruiter. I was hoping it'd be you considering your about to have a family and Dauis is more a warrior than he is a talker. However I suppose social status can certainly get you what you want."
"Well it appears it's not the case," Rumpelstiltskin muttered and swallowed as the Ogres started towards them, "It's what's to be expected."
Baelfire watched them and reached for his sword, "NO matter what happens, brother. Stay with me. I'll look after you."
The months of her husband's absence passed slowly for Dagian.
More recruiters came. They took the elderly, they took the women that they'd left behind before, only those with child were left behind. Pregnant women, children, and those too weak to fight.
There was too much work to be done for her to just sit around staring into space. But she might as well have been.
The house smelled like him and the reminder was too painful for her to sit there all day trying to spin the wool. So she moved the wheel outside, however the red skies also served as a distraction.
He could be lying dead in some field and no one would know who he was. No one would bring his body home and she would…she would never know.
The day the skies seemed redder than usual, her child woke her by kicking her relentlessly. She didn't believe …in things like fairies or godmothers or signs but the child's movement that skies did bother her, and she found she couldn't concentrate on her work.
"Dagian?"
She looked up to see the recruiter that had talked to her several times before standing next to her. He had told her before that her village had suffered the most because they were the closest to the front lands with enough people to recruit and not enough supplies to fight back with. When he was nearby he did everything he could to provide for her village whether it be with money or supplies that he was able to confiscate for the less fortunate.
She didn't even know his name.
"What are you doing?" he asked her.
She looked at the small field of pinkish purple lilies that her husband took her to when they were together. It was a good place to remember him without it being too painful that she couldn't breathe.
And it was a good place to watch the skies.
She felt a tear slip down her face and she pressed her hands on her growing stomach, "I think it's time."
He sat next to her quietly, "May the gods have mercy."
"The gods never show mercy for us," she whispered, "Everything we get it's…it's gone before we can…You never even let us say goodbye to them."
"I had no choice Dagian."
She drew up her knees, "Just go."
No amount of training could've ever prepared Rumpelstiltskin for what he saw and experienced that day.
They came at them hard. They came at them fast. Ogres were naturally larger than humans with thicker flesh and possessed such a strength and stamina that they quickly realized that their weapons were useless in comparison.
Rumpelstiltskin dropped his sword when he saw that the other weapons issued out were making no impact.
An ogre came at him with a club and he tried to move. It was no use and the club collided with his leg. It sent him and several others flying backwards and pain seared down his hip and through his leg.
The same ogre stood over him and raised his club to deliver the final blow. Rumpelstiltskin braced himself for death but the blow never came.
Baelfire stood over him and threw a large axe at the ogre. The thing screamed, grabbed Baelfire and slammed him so hard against the ground that Rumpelstiltskin heard several bones shatter on impact.
The ogre stared at Baelfire's broken body and moved on, leaving Rumpelstiltskin forgotten about.
Rumpelstiltskin tried the weight in his leg and realized that he could at least hold some weight.
He hurried over to his friend's side and grabbed his shoulders, "Bae."
Baelfire coughed up blood, his eyes were glazing over and Rumpelstiltskin knew that he didn't have much time, "You saved my life."
"Listen to me," Baelfire whispered, "You need to run."
"Do you realize what they'd do to me if I did that?" Rumpelstiltskin asked incredulously.
"By king's law you shouldn't even be here right now," Baelfire whispered, "You have a family, Rumpelstiltskin. Go to them."
Rumpelstiltskin felt Baelfire's muscles relax under his touch and he immediately released the body.
He knelt in shocked silence and stared at the battle. The others had moved on and he was left alone.
They were being slaughtered and there was no winning. The way these…brainless things won over them easily was a terrifying sight to watch. He could only imagine that his wife had seen something like this when her village had been massacred by these same beasts.
They could never win this.
He stood and used one of the poles to help hold himself up. He was scared that if he put too much weight into it that he would make the injury worse.
Baelfire was right. He had a child on the way. He wasn't even supposed to be here but the Duke never paid heed to the King's law.
So he did something that he knew he'd regret for the rest of his life.
He ran.
Present Day
The dreams of the battle had always haunted Mr. Gold. They haunted him when he was human, they haunted him as the dark one, and they haunted him now. At this point of his long life he'd come to accept the fact that his past would follow him for the rest of his life.
It didn't make it any less easy to live with though.
His eyes shot open as soon as he dreamed of how the ogre slammed the club against his leg and he forced his eyes open and sat up.
He was safe. He was in his bed in Storybrooke and he was safe.
Dawn sat up next to him with a bewildered look on her face, "Honey?"
He looked at her and flinched when she touched his wrist.
Even though it was dark, he could see the concern on his face, "Are you alright?"
He took a few breaths and waited for his heart to stop pounding in his chest, "I'm alright Dawn. Just a nightmare."
She interlocked her fingers in his, "Do you want to talk about it?"
"No." he lay down with his back facing her, "I don't."
She stayed sitting up for a few seconds and then lay right behind him. Her fingers still interlocked with his.
"It's okay," she whispered, "Whatever it is, you're safe."
He stared at the wall. She meant well but until Regina was removed from her little throne then none of them would be safe.
