Disclaimer: I do not own Once Upon a Time or it's Characters, they belong to their respective owners. I do, however, own Storm and her alter ego as well as Striker and his alter ego and their story line. This has come from the haunted, depraved, tortured darkness that is my mind.
MugglebornPrincesa: Oh my god I laughed so hard when I read that, I'm a fan too but a fan of the original ones but seriously drink all over desk, keyboard and cat (Who was thoroughly unimpressed) at the Level 100 Rumpel with Creepy Giggle.
bookluvr888: You're about to find out who they are and more will be explained through out the story.
shippolove844: Never fear next one is here!
DovieDM-1991-Promised Wings: More background will come in bits and pieces.
Note: And now we fast forward to nearly twenty eight years in the future, this is before Emma comes to town and sets things into motion.
A New Day
=Ms. Star's P.O.V=
I stood in front of the door to my music store and fished out my keys sifting through each of them to find the right one before pushing open the door, the small brass bell tinkling softly as the door hit it. I rubbed at my neck and stretched slightly kicking the door shut with my heel and flipped my sign round before turning on the stereo behind the counter and hit play turning the volume up letting the music play through the store.
I turned getting the daily till balance from the safe in the back room and opened the till quickly putting the money away before heading back to the front door to drag my sign out. I yawned leaning against my sign giving a lazy wave to Archie as he walked past with his Dalmatian, Pongo, and headed back inside ready to restock my shelves and generally wait for the day to progress and hopefully pick up.
I hummed softly placing a box on the counter and grabbed my ticketing gun before taking a seat on the edge of the counter and began to stick a price tag on each of the music books. I wet my lips taking a long drink from my mug of tea and flicked through the book in my lap before placing it down, the school kept me in business; they were constantly buying music books and new instruments from me for the school music program.
"Morning Ms. Star"
I looked up to see Henry in the doorway and grinned lightly. "Mornin' kid, on your way to school?"
He nodded shifting his bag higher, every morning like clockwork he would stop in and say hello, he'd spend a few minutes talking with me before heading off to the bus that picked them up just down the street. "How are you today?"
"Fine kid, you?"
He shrugged. "Fine"
I nodded lightly placing another book down and picked out another before slapping a price tag on the front and putting it into the growing pile. "You sound like you and your Ma had a fight"
"No, she just has a city council meeting this afternoon"
I nodded lightly furrowing my brow slightly. City council meeting? There's no city council meeting this afternoon. "You sure that's what she said?"
He nodded lightly shifting his bag again. "Can I show you something?"
I nodded placing the ticketing gun and books down on the counter. "So what is it?"
He pulled out a thick leather bound book and placed it on the counter beside me before flipping through the pages and tapped a picture. "That's Ms. Blanchard"
I swept my eyes over the picture before looking to him. "You sure?" I remembered telling Mary Margaret about this book, Mr. Gold had been putting it up in his store a few months ago, both Mary and I had thought it would help Henry with whatever parental, life and other issues he was struggling with.
He nodded quickly. "Yeah, see" He held up the book so I could get a better look.
"Well I guess it looks like her" I played idly with the golden star pendant around my neck twirling it around on its leather bound cord as I listened to him.
"What do you think? Does that look like my mum?"
I snapped my attention back to the book and looked to the picture of the evil queen. I couldn't deny it, it did have a striking resemblance to Regina, I snorted lightly trying to keep myself from laughing and failed miserably as I cracked up laughing. "Sure does kid," I chuckled lightly shaking my head looking at the picture. "Best not tell her though yeah?"
He nodded slightly before packing up his book. "I'll see you later Ms. Star"
I gave a nod and stood watching from the doorway as he ran off down the street towards the bus stop, I glanced across the road to find Mr. Gold busy opening his pawn store and threw him a wave before turning and heading back inside to finish pricing and stocking the shelves.
=Mr. Gold's P.O.V=
I watched Ms. Star disappear back into her store, the font windows were decorated with a boarder of Treble cleft's and sheet lines, proudly displays in the centre was 'Ms. Star's Music Store'. I ran my eyes over the old Ford F1 parked in front of her store; she took care of the old truck just as she took care of herself and her stallion although she had admitted at one point in a brief meeting that she much preferred riding to driving.
I glanced down the road before crossing over, music met my ears as I came to rest in the doorway, the woman tending the store was busy stocking shelves and singing along to the music.
"Down a dirt road in southern Louisiana
Flew a white Continental with the top laid back
Pretty blonde sittin' on a seat of red leather
Dust blowin' outta those well wore tracks
She's goin' back
Moss hangin' down like beards in the bayou
Old folks watchin' from a rockin' chair
Ain't no place for a girl of her state
She's gonna ruin her reputation
She don't care cause he's waitin' there
She's gonna say"
I smiled lightly listening to her sing, her back to me completely unaware I was there watching her. I let my eyes wander over her, she wore revealing clothes, tight clothing, every day without fail, skinny jeans, a belt, knee high boots and a tank top, sometimes with a shirt over the top, sometimes with a hoodie or sometimes with a hoodie and denim jacket, in winter at one point I remembered seeing her in a long fitted black leather trench coat. I took in the skin stretching across her back, ink pressed into it in the pattern of a large horse head.
"Tell me you think that I'm pretty
Tell me you think that I'm smart
Tell me anything and I'll believe it
'Cause I'm listening with my heart
Maybe it's wrong but that's the way it goes
When the only love you get is down
Cheater's road"
She glided to the side picking up a new roll for the ticketing gun and slid back into position in front of the box of music books and continued on with ticketing each one with a price.
"Bedsprings rubbin' her back through the blanket
Sweat like a tear rollin' down her neck
Watchin' him pullin' down the shades on the window
She'd rather have him than an empty bed and her self respect
And she says
Tell me you think that I'm pretty
Tell me you think that I'm smart
Tell me anything and I'll believe it
'Cause I'm listening with my heart
Maybe it's wrong but that's the way it goes
When the only love you get is down
Cheater's road"
I couldn't stop her, her voice was too sweet, it was a good thing I couldn't help but listen too. I watched her body sway slightly with the rhythm of the beat, she was indeed a creature drawn to music, it flowed through her body making it move on its own accord, muscles moving to the will of the music, not the will of their owner.
"Old man countin' his money in the city
Nothin' but the bottom dollar on his mind
The whole situation is a downright pity
He didn't even notice when she crossed that line
When she crossed that line
And she said
Tell me you think that I'm pretty
Tell me you think that I'm smart..."
She stopped, voice trailing off as she turned towards me, eyes widening slightly, a light blush dusting her cheeks as she lowered her head.
I smiled to her, not that she could see it with her head down. "You are pretty Ms. Star and very smart as I recall"
"Thank you," She murmured, voice cracking slightly before she cleared her throat still blushing. "And, uh... Good morning Mr. Gold" She finally looked up and brushed back a few loose strands of hair.
I chuckled lightly; she could be such an awkward creature some times. "Good morning Ms. Star" I stepped into the store and looked around, I very rarely ever needed to come in here, Ms. Star always paid on time and never had a complaint about anything, if something went wrong she fixed it herself, she saw no point in bothering me with it.
"Is there something I can help you with Mr. Gold or did you just come in here to spy on my while I restock shelves and set up my shop for the day?" She picked up a stack of books from the counter and headed towards one of the shelves.
"No, no dear, just coming to say hello"
She looked up from putting the books on the shelf before turning back. "I paid this week's rent," A smirk slipped to her lips as she turned back towards me and put her hands on her hips. "So shall we try this again?" The awkwardness had disappeared fast, she was back to her usual self now.
"Can I not just make polite conversation with you?"
She chuckled lightly before taking a seat on the glass top of her counter. "I suppose so" She shrugged lightly, foot constantly moving, tapping, to the rhythm of the music playing through the store.
"How's your stallion?"
"Gunner?" She grinned lightly. "He's good, getting fat," She laughed softly pushing back a few strands of hair and tucked them behind her ear. "We need to start doing some more riding," She shrugged lightly. "Thought I might take him down to the beach, give him a good long gallop"
I nodded lightly watching her pick dirt from under her fingernails. "And how are you?"
She brought tipped her head up and smiled lopsidedly. "Fine, you?"
"Fine, fine" I lowered my head looking to the golden handle of my cane, carved into it was an intricate design of swirls, lines and a single hoof print in a heart, small and mostly unnoticeable unless you knew where to look or really studied the design.
I looked up to find Ms. Star smiling, a bright smile that she gave to very few people, Henry, the Sheriff and I were the only ones that ever saw that smile, the genuine smile of hers that shone through her eyes making her irises look like Emerald's reflecting the sun, the bright, rich vibrant green that was full of life. "I will see you around Ms. Star, I have other things to do today, can't stand around chit chatting all day"
The smile faded ever so slightly, the light leaving her eyes as she nodded and jumped up into a standing position and mocked a salute. "Aye, aye captain," She grinned. "You know where I am if you need me"
I nodded turning and leaving the store before stopping and looking to the piano, I knew she played it when she was alone, the stereo off and just the music of her fingers flowing over the ivory keys played out the shops front door, every day at the same time, 2:43pm, the same time without fail she would play for no one in particular except to content herself.
Now I was planning on posting this yesterday but the sight was being a bitch and wouldn't let me upload docs and I did plan on posting it the day before but my lovely little plot bunny, Anarch, passed away, RIP little girl.
Now for anyone that's wondering the song is Cheater's Road by Lonestar.