I finally plotted out the rest of the story, so hopefully it'll be a smooth ride from here. The action will be picking up really soon, I promise.
In the interest of not leading anyone on, you should all know that there is not going to be Rumbelle in this story. Writing straight couples isn't exactly my comfort zone, so I'm going to limit that to Snowing.
Snow lowered the bow and looked back at the Huntsman. "I can't do this."
He came towards her again, lifting the bow into position and crooking her elbow just so. "It's the order of things," he said simply. "We all need to survive. Just don't take more than you have to."
Snow swallowed thickly, focusing on the target. She did need to know how to survive. How to feed herself and Regina, how to defend them from danger.
She let go, watching as the arrow hummed through the air and sank into the target. It quivered not quite in the center but close enough for the Huntsman to clap a hand on her shoulder. It was all the praise she got from him, but it was enough.
He pointed into the brush, and Snow watched as a rabbit tentatively made its way into the clearing. She shook her head vigorously. She couldn't kill something so innocent and sweet. But the Huntsman held out another arrow for her and she readied herself, reminding herself again that there was no choice. Any life she took was for the benefit of her unborn sister if nothing else.
This time, she closed her eyes as soon as the arrow left her bow.
When she finally let herself look, the Huntsman was crouching down beside the felled animal, and she reluctantly made her way to his side. Tears spilled from her eyes as she watched the rabbit's stomach rise and fall with one final breath. "Thank you," she whispered, "for the sacrifice you have made so that we may live."
The Huntsman picked up the animal and rose to his feet, holding out a hand to help Snow up. They walked in relative silence back towards the cave, but as they neared he stopped abruptly and turned to her. "You're stronger than you know, Snow White."
"Do you really believe that?" Red had been studying the title of Belle's book as they walked side by side. David strode ahead, the ring on his smallest finger, testing different directions and carving out their path.
Belle looked at Red quizzically.
"True love," she clarified, gesturing towards the book.
Belle frowned, thinking. She had, she always had, but her experience with the ring just that morning was making her question the idea. She'd read plenty of stories where the roguish young man won over the lady who had hated him from the start, but she and Gaston were nothing like that. He wasn't a mere annoyance, not when she'd known him since childhood and he had never once shown the ability to change. "As a concept," she finally answered, "yes. But I don't know if I believe I will find it myself."
Red nodded, directing her gaze back towards David. "I always thought David was mine," she said softly, needing someone to confide in. "But he believes he's destined for the Princess. It's ridiculous."
Belle said nothing, tightening her grip on the book. So Red didn't know the nature of the ring she'd given to David.
"I had imagined a whole life for myself, for us, and now it's slipping away from me."
"The life I imagined was like this," Belle replied. "Adventure. Love would be nice, certainly, but I could never be happy staying in one place, being someone's wife. I'd be glad to be in your position rather than having the same boys I've known my whole life constantly vying for my hand."
Red fell silent. She'd always dreamed of an opportunity like this herself, a chance to leave her small town and see the world. But in her dreams, her true love was always with her. "I want it all," she said softly, more to herself than to Belle.
Belle smiled at her. "That would be ideal." She waited to see if Red had anything more to say on the topic, but when the girl was quiet Belle changed the subject. "David said that you gave him that ring. Might I ask where you got it?"
"A man appeared in the woods last night," Red explained. "He told me it would lead us to the Princess, and gave it to me in exchange for us turning the Queen over to him instead of the authorities." She left out the other part, which she felt a vague guilt about. Even so, she was planning to go through with it, but there was no reason to share that particular secret.
Belle watched David hold the ring aloft to see the steadily brightening glow. So this man Red had encountered had a rare and powerful ring in his possession, and somehow knew where exactly it would lead David. "How odd. What was his name?"
Red searched for it, taking a moment to piece the strange syllables together. "Rumplestiltskin."
Snow ran forward, delighted, as she saw Regina step out of the cave with no hint of a limp. "Are you well again?" She threw her arms around her stepmother, and Regina put a hand lightly on her back.
It was still strange, getting used to feeling affection for the girl, and this was the first time they'd been so close without immediate danger to drive them together. Regina slowly brought her other arm around the girl as well, fully allowing the embrace.
"All healed," Regina replied, drawing back to see the Huntsman with a bow and quiver on his back and a rabbit in one hand.
Snow glanced over her shoulder at him. "I killed a rabbit," she said, her tone conveying her conflict between pride and sorrow.
"You must be a natural." Regina let go, stepping back so she could meet Snow's eyes. "We leave at sundown, Snow."
They made camp at sundown, Belle going off in search of fresh water while David collected firewood and Red got out the food she'd bought that morning. David and Red stood silently as David started the fire. He finally made his way around it to Red's side and took her hand.
"I'm sorry," he said softly, surprised when Red looked him in the eye. "I never meant to hurt you."
Red smiled sadly and withdrew her hand. "I'm sorry, too."