As promised, here's chapter 2! Once again, sorry for any mistakes I may have made. Check my profile page if you want updates as to when I'll be posting new chapters. Reviews are highly encouraged.

CHAPTER TWO: THE NEW DARK ONE

"This better be well worth it", Hook told Smee as they trekked through a deep forest, using their swords here and there to strike down branches that got in the way of where they were walking. Mosquitoes surrounded them, biting at their skin every chance they got.

"I promise, Captain, he'll be there," Smee told him nervously, almost tripping over a root. Hook caught his arm just in time, and pulled him up roughly.

"Watch where you're stepping, lad," Hook cautioned him.

"Y-yes, Captain. S-sorry," Smee stuttered.

Hook and Smee had been traveling through this forest for about a week and a half. Hook wanted to go alone to face the crocodile, but Smee had insisted that he come along, just in case. He couldn't bear the thought of his Captain doing this alone. So Hook had let him come, not knowing what else to do. It was July 10th, the exact day the crocodile was planning on attacking The Royal Castle. Hook was sure he'd be at the farm house right now, finalizing his plans.

"There's a clearing just up ahead, Captain!" Smee exclaimed, pointing. They walked towards it and out of the mosquito-ridden forest. They came upon a large field and looked around. There were white, pink, orange, and blue wild flowers everywhere and the grass was lustrous and bright green. The farmhouse wasn't too hard to spot and it was a short walk. When they reached the front gate, Hook extended his hooked hand in front of Smee and stopped him in his path.

"You stay out front and keep watch in case someone comes along. If the crocodile ends up killing me, find a worthy Captain to operate the Jolly Roger," he said with a serious tone.

A worried look crossed Smee's face. "W-what? No, nothing will happen to you, I know-" he began expressing.

"Smee, just do as I say," Hook cut him off, placed his good hand on his shoulder and gave him a small, genuine smile.

Smee looked down. "Yes, Captain," he said quietly.

Hook stepped away from Smee and strolled towards the front door. As he got closer to the entrance, he noticed that the windows were covered up with black curtains. He grabbed the golden door handle and tried pushing it open, but it was locked, just as he had expected. He walked around the back of the farmhouse to check if there was a rear door. There was, so he walked up to it and to his surprise it was unlocked. He walked inside cautiously, trying not to make any noise. It was a bit dark inside. Hook fumbled around his pocket to find matches and then lit one. He made his way to the main room and looked for candles to light. He picked one up and looked around the tiny room. It was practically scarce except for a small wooden bed in the left corner, and an ancient looking, large red-brown oak desk with many drawers in the right corner. Hook went up the windows and tore the black curtains away. The windows were covered with dust, so that it was near impossible to see outside. He walked back over to the desk and noticed there were pieces of parchment scattered on top. He picked some up at random and examined them, not recognizing the language of the words written upon them. Frustrated, he threw them back down on the desk, causing some of them to fly to the floor. He started searching through the drawers. Most of the contents consisted of vials of all shapes and sizes that had different coloured liquids in them, and knowing the crocodile, they most likely contained deadly potions and elixirs. One particular vial containing a liquid as black as the night sky caught his eye. It had a piece of tape wrapped around it and the word "Emma" written on it. It was the same messy writing that had been written on the note he had received from Tobias. Hook looked through the rest of the drawers and found more vials with liquids that had this "Emma" person's name on it. What on earth is the crocodile up to? Hook wondered. Could Emma be the name of Prince Charming's and Snow White's daughter?

Hook was disappointed to not find the crocodile inside, but maybe it was a good thing because he didn't have much of a plan on how he was going to kill him anyway. He figured he'd just swing at him with his hook and hope for the best. Or he could try stealing his dagger and killing him that way, but he had not the slightest clue of where that bloody bastard kept it hidden. If the crocodile didn't have magical powers, Hook could easily beat him in a sword fight and finally be rid of him, but no, of course he just had to be the Dark One.

There was nothing else in the room to investigate, annoyed, Hook went back outside and found Smee waiting for him.

"He wasn't inside. There's hardly anything inside that damn house! It's more like a shack," Hook spat, throwing his arms up in frustration.

"He may come back later, after he's done with The Charmings," Smee told him, trying to sound hopeful and positive. "C'mon, Captain, don't just give up hope like that. He'll be back, you'll see!"

Hook got close to Smee's face. "You better be right, Smee. I didn't come all this way for nothing," he said menancily.

Smee gulped.

Hook started walking back towards the forest. "Let's make camp inside the forest. We'll find a spot where we can spy on the farm," he said, his demeanor suddenly changing.

"Aye, aye, Captain!" Smee responded with enthusiasm, recovering quickly from Hook's previous words.

They found a good spot not too far from the farm, near a lake with a small waterfall. Hook could easily see the farm through his spyglass from their spot. They decided to split up and gather wood for a campfire. Hook made a small circle pit out of stones, cut the wood into smaller pieces with his cutlass, and stacked the sticks against each other. He got up, wiped his brow and told Smee he was going to take a bath in the lake.

When he arrived at the lake, he peeled off his heavy coat, and hung it up on a tree branch nearby, closed his eyes and rolled back his shoulders. A small moan of relief escaped his lips. He took off the rest of his clothes along with his hook, and plunged head first into the lake. He was pleasantly surprised at how warm the water was. He swam a few laps before he began washing his body and hair with soap. After doing that, he floated on his back and enjoyed the peaceful sound of the waterfall, trying to relax and not think about anything but this moment. The sun was beginning to set, when Hook heard a sound.

Snap.

What was that? he thought, startled out of his relaxation. He got off his back and got low into the water, so only half his head showed. He looked around, trying to locate the source of the sound, but couldn't see anything or anyone.

Snap.

There it was again. He quickly swerved his head to the sound of the noise, and spotted what looked like a woman dressed in black. She had a startled look on her face when she spotted him looking at her and quickly disappeared towards the forest.

"Strange. Wonder who that was," Hook muttered aloud to himself. He got out of the water quickly, dressed himself, and hurried back to Smee.

"Did you happen to see a woman dressed in all black walk by?" Hook interrogated.

"A woman? No, Captain, why?" Smee asked, swatting at pesky mosquitoes buzzing around his face.

Hook shook his head. "I saw a woman when I was bathing, she looked frightened when she saw me," he explained, going over to his backpack to take out a piece of cheese and stale bread; the only food he and Smee had. He split the bread and cheese in half and shared it with Smee.

"I'm sure she lives nearby somewhere," Smee mumbled, mouth now full of bread. "Probably just going home."

"Maybe," Hook said, feeling doubtful.

"Should I start the fire?" Smee asked, stuffing the last of the bread in his mouth.

"Yes, that would be a good idea," Hook said, leaning back against a big rock and taking out his flask full of rum. He took a large swig, enjoying the burning sensation of it going down his throat and into his belly, warming him to his very core. He wasn't planning on drinking a lot tonight, he needed to keep his head straight guard up in case the crocodile turned up in the middle of the night.

Smee took the first watch. Every two hours they would switch and take turns. It was around three in the morning when Smee awakened Hook to take the next watch. Yawning, Hook got up and took his spyglass back from Smee. He had been watching for about twenty minutes when he saw lights turn on inside the farmhouse. He put the spyglass down and hurried over to where Smee was passed out, snoring.

"Smee, wake up!" he called out, kicking him lightly to get him up.

"Huh?" Smee asked, confused as to why he had been woken up so abruptly.

"There's lights shining in the farm, the crocodiles back. Let's go!" He exclaimed excitedly, as he hurriedly strapped his cutlass to his hip and off towards the farm, leather coat swishing behind him.

He reached the farm and went to the back door. He pressed his ear against it to see if he could hear any movement inside. Smee caught up to him a minute later, panting and sweating.

"What's the plan, Captain?" he asked breathlessly, keeping his voice down.

"Same as last time. Wait here and keep watch," he told him and turned the door knob carefully and stepped inside before Smee could say anything.

There was probably no way he could sneak up on the crocodile, and he wasn't going to bother searching for the dagger. He doubted the crocodile would bring it with him everywhere he went, so he abandoned all caution and walked towards the main room, boots loudly thumping against the creaky wooden floor.

"Crocodile! Im here to end you!" He yelled out threateningly, only to be met with silence. There was no one in the room, but he saw floating candles burning. He figured the crocodile had to be here somewhere, hiding like the coward he was.

"Show yourself, crocodile! Fight me, you coward!" He yelled to the empty room, looking around. There was no response, so he tried again. "I know you're here, you bloody bastard. Just come out already and let's end this!" Nothing but silence. Hook lashed out in anger and thrust his hook into the closest thing next to him, which happened to be the wooden desk. When he removed his hook, he started kicking the desk forcefully, trying to get all his rage out.

"My, my, what's gotten you so angry?" An unfamiliar voice said from behind him. He spun around and was taken aback by what he saw. A woman was leaning against the ledge of the now open front door, arms crossed over her chest with the moon shining brightly behind her. She didn't look like any regular woman though. She was dressed in a black outfit that appeared to be made out of some bird's feathers. Her white-blonde hair was slicked back in an intricate bun, and her skin was pale as a ghost.

"Who the bloody hell are you?" he asked her rudely. Then something dawned on him. A woman. Dressed in black. Was she the same woman he saw earlier at the lake? He couldn't really tell.

"I could ask you the same question," she replied, sauntering over to him slowly like a feline predator about to pounce on its prey.

He stood still and watched her for a bit before saying anything. "I'm no one, just a man looking to find The Dark One," he told her as she stopped a few inches in front of his face. Now that she was closer to him, he noticed that her skin shimmered in the candlelight. He found himself strangely attracted to her, even though something about her seemed...off. What human's skin shimmered like that? "Do you happen to know where he might be, lass?" he asked, trying to sound polite now.

"Right in front of you, except he's a she," the strange woman said.

"Right in front of me? What are you talking about, woman? And what do you mean he's a she?" he asked with blatant confusion painted on his handsome face.

She rolled her eyes and a small sigh escaped her lips. "Me. I'm The Dark One," she said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world and he was too simple to understand.

"You...? What?" Hook couldn't believe what this woman was saying. Was she insane? He shook his head, "stop playing around and tell me where Rumpelstiltskin is. I'm not in the mood for games."

She let out a laugh. "I can tell. That desk must've gotten you pretty angry, huh?" she asked rhetorically, eyes glowing with amusement as she nodded towards the desk behind Hook. He clenched his jaw, trying to remain placid. Normally he'd enjoy bantering with such a beautiful woman, but all his mind could focus on right now was finding the crocodile.

"Look, lass, I'd love to continue chatting with you, but if you know where he is, I need to know. Right now," he stressed, determined to find out.

"He's six feet under the ground right now. I'm afraid he'd prove to be quite useless to you, unless you intend on doing something with his dead body, which would be pretty creepy," she told him, walking over to the desk. She began fumbling through papers that were on top of the desk. Hook just stood there, shocked at what he was hearing.

"I'm sorry...but are you telling me he's dead?" Hook asked, flabbergasted. He walked over slowly to a chair that stood in the left corner of the room and sat down heavily, leaning over and resting his hand on his forehead. He couldn't believe that his revenge had been stolen just like that, and he didn't even know who had killed the crocodile. There was no way this woman was telling the truth, was there? He turned his head towards the woman and asked weakly, "Just tell me the truth. Who killed him?"

Emma was now searching through the desk drawers, just as Hook had when he first explored the tiny farmhouse. Without turning around she said coldly, "I already told you, I killed him. He attacked my kingdom and ripped my fiance's heart out, so I killed him. Now excuse me, while I look for something," she said impatiently.

"You...?" Hook couldn't finish his sentence.

Did she say kingdom? Wait a minute... she's the princess? The Charming's daughter is the new Dark One? He thought, flabbergasted.

"I thought he was supposed to attack your kingdom tonight. At your engagement party," he said with no emotion behind his voice.

"He was?" She asked unperturbed, still not turning around, "well he decided to do it a week ago instead. It would've been foolish to do it on the night of my engagement party. We were planning on having lots of guards protect our cas-" she stopped talking and twirled around, "why am I telling a pirate all of this?" she asked more to herself than him, "but more importantly, how do you know he was planning on attacking tonight?" She looked at him with a quizzical expression.

"How do you know I'm a pirate?" he asked. He realized too late what a stupid question that was.

"The hook and get-up you've got going on kind of gives it away, genius," she said smirking, pointing at his hook and clothes with her finger.

He stared down at himself, unsmiling. "You stole my revenge, you know," he told her blatantly. He got up off the chair and walked towards her, trying to look intimidating. "I've been chasing Rumpelstiltskin for years, dreaming for the day I'd get to plunge my hook into his chest and crush his heart just as he had Milah's," he continued in a hushed voice, "now I have nothing left. I can't get any closure because of you."

She raised her eyebrow. "What was I supposed to do? Let him kill everyone?" she asked, daring him to try and argue against that. "I didn't steal your revenge. I protected my people. I did what I had to do, and now I'm stuck with this horrible curse." She looked like she was about to make an exit through the front door, so Hook got in her way and stopped her.

"Where are you going?" he demanded.

"To the only person who can help me now - Merlin. Now get out of my way, pirate, unless you want me to hurt you," she said with an edge to her voice, a dark look in her eyes. She wasn't kidding around. Hook stepped out of her way and mockingly bowed down to her. "Whatever you say, Princess." He wasn't about to mess with this new Dark One, especially if what Tobias said had been true about her being taught magic by Merlin all her life. That would mean she had double the powers now.

She rolled her eyes and walked towards the front door. She was about to step out, but hesitated. She turned around and said, "you know, my fiance was killed exactly the same way as your lover was, and I killed Rumpelstiltskin out of anger just as you would've done, and if I had failed I'd probably swear revenge on him too, and go after him just like you. We're quite alike, pirate." She gave him a flirtatious smile and finally walked out the door. Hook followed her to see where she was going, but the minute he stepped outside, all he was saw was a puff of dark smoke left behind. She was gone, and he was left standing there, puzzled by her comment and behaviour.