Emma walked into the abandoned cottage she had left Ruby in. She was confused about the events that had occurred that evening and was grateful to see that Ruby had fallen asleep already. She grabbed the food from her pack and began to put it away. With a quiet house and nothing left to do, there was nothing left to distract her from the thoughts racing through her mind.

What did that man mean by saying no one else could see her? Then he went on to say that she was an amateur. How did those two statements even correlate? She had been so sure that she had mastered her skills.

She did a quick search of the area around the cottage to make sure nobody had followed her. Deciding they were in the clear, Emma went inside and locked everything up. As she prepared her bed, she saw that Ruby was awake watching her fret about the cottage.

"What has you all wound up, Buttercup?"

"It was just a hard night Ruby. Go back to sleep."

Looking at her dubiously, Ruby kept prodding her. "You have never been antsy like this. Did something bad happen?"

Sighing, Emma decided to give her some kind of an answer. "No, nothing bad happened. I just ran into someone at the festival."

"Really? Who was it?"

"I don't know… I didn't catch his name. But he was the only one to see me. He said that no one else could see me, that I just disappeared whenever I was going up to anyone."

"Well I guess that explains why I can't even see you when you're out doing jobs. I just thought you were really good at it."

"I thought so too. But then he proceeded to call me an amateur! What does he know?! He only has one hand! If anything, I would be the expert because I never had to pay a crime with a body part."

A laugh burst from Ruby's chest. "Emma! This gentleman must have gotten under your skin! He had to have been very handsome to fluster you so much. I keep telling you to talk to more people but you never listen to me."

"Ruby, you know very well why I can't talk to people. We've argued this over and over. You know I'm right. I will admit, however, that he's very handsome in a devilish manner."

"Oooohh, tell me more! Don't keep the juicy details to yourself. I've been trapped inside this cottage all week! I deserve that much."

Struggling to remain calm and push down the blush that she knew was creeping up her neck, Emma tried to figure out the best way to describe the man without giving away how much he truly affected her.

"His hair is a mess! Like he keeps running his fingers through it. And he has the bluest eyes." Then that smirk came to her mind and her hands started to tingle again. "His smirk, though, takes away from any attractive quality he might have."

"Oh, Emma, you're no fun."

Shrugging, Emma went on. "It doesn't matter. We need to leave soon anyway."

Sobering up, Ruby asked, "Were you able to get all the supplies? I know you ventured out to get a lot. What were you able to get?"

"Well, I got all the food I wanted to get. But ol' blue eyes distracted me before I could get all of the money we needed."

"Oh well, at least we have a little while longer to get everything we need before we head out. Good night, Buttercup. Sweet dreams."

"Night Ruby."

As her mind began to drift to sleep, blue eyes and a sly smirk flashed behind her eyelids before falling into a deep sleep filled with pirates and dungeons.

She woke up the next morning startled. The dream that had woken her felt so real. The panic was still bubbling in her chest, like she was running from something dark and horrible. Right before the dream ended an all too familiar voice filled her dream and a bright light that felt as if it were burning through her hands.

Shaking the dream from her mind, Emma went in search of Ruby. She had to head to town again today to collect more supplies and wanted to make sure Ruby wasn't in need of anything extra. She found her down by the river washing her hair.

Memories started to creep into Emma's thoughts of times when washing by the river didn't raise questions, when it was safe to be close to water before creatures of the night started to roam during the day. Before Emma could shout out to Ruby, she heard a twig snap to her left.

Holding her breath, Emma stopped mid-step hoping to find what was intruding on her space. She heard more movement so she jumped behind a bush hoping to keep her location hidden so she had the advantage over the intruder. Looking around, she could see nothing unusual. All of the birds were still chirping, her sister remained peaceful and oblivious by the river.

Thinking it was just her imagination, Emma stepped out quietly keeping an eye out for anything suspicious. After looking around she decided that all was well and stepped towards the river. As she passed a tree, someone jumped out from behind it and captured her mouth under their hand before she could scream to Ruby to run.

Her offender pulled her behind the tree before she could blink and they pushed her against the trunk. Once she caught sight of who it was anger filled her veins. What was he doing here?!

Before she could scream through his hand, he leaned close and pleaded for her to be quiet. Raising her leg, she kneed him right in the gut causing him to lose his grip giving her the space she needed to run away.

After running a couple of steps, she heard a louder crunch from a different direction. Freezing, she turned to Ruby screaming in her head. As if Ruby had actually heard her, she turned around and started walking toward her with a look of panic on her face. Maybe she had heard the noise too. But whatever it was, they both heard the disturbance and knew it was bad.

Blue Eyes came up behind her carefully. "Las, I think our best bet is in the house."

Without thinking to argue, they all turned towards the house and began to run. This wasn't a thief or crazy axe murder behind them or even the law. This was something dark that would swallow them whole.

The cottage finally came into view. Emma sprinted as fast as she could so she could open the door for Ruby and Blue Eyes. Grabbing the handle, she swung the door open as wide as it would go. With the other two inside the cottage, Emma looked where they had been running from. She saw the flash of a beast running along the edge of the woods before she shut the door.

"What the hell was that?!" Emma shouted. Before Blue Eyes could answer, she went on. "What are you even doing here? Did you bring that monster with you? What are we supposed to do now?"

"Lass, calm down before you break something."

Emma finally looked up and saw that Ruby was looking at her slightly bewildered and terrified. Even Blue Eyes, the king of invading personal space, was keeping his distance. She looked down and started panicking even more.

"Ahhh! What the fuck is going on with my hands?!" And as her panic grew, so did the light coming from her palms.

"Love, I do believe that is magic. Now take a deep breath before you actually use it."

As she looked into his eyes, she started to calm down and the light, or the so called magic, started to fade away. Emma turned to Ruby to examine her and make sure she didn't have any cuts or scrapes.

"Ruby, are you ok? Did you get hurt at all?"

"No, I'm fine. Calm down, Emma. You need to sit down. I'll be ok."

"The lass is right, you need to sit down."

Emma turned to her bed and sat down with her head on her knees. As she was trying to catch her breath, Blue Eyes turned to Ruby and asked if she could get a glass of water for Emma and then one for herself. After Ruby went off to find some water for them, he turned to Emma and knelt down in front of her.

"Emma, love, I need you to look at me."

She raised her head to look into his eyes. Looking right back at her, it seemed as if he was searching for something. Once he found it or saw the lack of it, Emma couldn't tell, his shoulders seemed to sag in relief.

"It's going to be ok. You just need to calm down and drink some water."

Hearing him say that, anger started to rise to the surface again. "Ok? You think it's going to be ok? You need to start talking. What came after us and why? Better yet, who are you and why are you here?"

"I will answer your questions to the best of my knowledge and anymore you may have. Just give me a moment to collect myself."

"Fine, but at least give me a name first. It's the least you could do considering you are in my home."

Shaking his head, he raised what would have been his left hand and brought up a hook instead. "What a demanding lass, considering you are on my property. Either way, you are right. My name is Killian Jones, but most people have taken to calling me by my more colorful moniker- Hook."

"Well then, Hook, why don't you take a seat and get comfortable. I have a feeling we're going to be here a while."

Ruby returned with water for all of them. When she turned to give Hook his water, she gasped when she saw a hook instead of a hand. Looking back and forth between Emma and Hook, Ruby started to make the connection. A smile started to cross her lips as she looked at Hooks eyes. She turned to Emma and exclaimed, "This is what had you all worked up last night? I remember you saying devilishly handsome, but I don't think that covers all of what you described. You were holding out on me, Buttercup!"

"Ruby!", Emma snapped. "Not now." She was so embarrassed.

"Devilishly handsome, you say?"

Turning back to Hook, Ruby shut her mouth. Emma just shook her head and hid her eyes. "This is why I don't take you anywhere Ruby."

Hook let out a big laugh. "It's quite alright love. Always nice to make an impression" he said with his signature smirk.

"Alright that's enough!" Emma got up to put the cups away. As Hook leaned forward, she saw a shimmer coming from his black vest. She paused half way to grabbing his goblet. "What is that under your vest?"

Confused, Hook looked down at his chest to see that his pendant had fallen out. "Oh, this treasure?" He pulled it out and showed it to her. Grabbing it to get a closer look at it, Emma saw the hat on the emblem and the letters JC inscribed onto it. Shocked, Emma sent an accusing glare his way.

"You were the guest of honor last night?"

"I would hardly say a guest but yes, it was my celebration. Although it was thrown for me out of guilt rather than an actual celebration."

"And you didn't tell me?!"

"Like I said love, the guest of honor can become quite determined."

"And is that why you are here? Because you have become quite deteremined?"

"No, it was just happy circumstance that I came upon you before that beast did."

Grabbing his goblet, Emma walked away to return it to it's place.

She could hear Hook and Ruby in the background talking and by the time she got back to them, Ruby had Hook laughing at a story of one of Emma's first attempts at pickpocketing.

"She had to make herself fall into a pile of horse shit so she could pull it off! Nobody would come near her after that!"

"Oh lass, who knew you could be so creative" Hook said with tears in his eyes he was laughing so hard.

"Well, when it's just you providing for you and your sister at the age of 13, you really have to go with everything you have."

That sobered everyone up quickly. Hook looked at her with knowing eyes. Emma went on, "Now I believe you have some explaining to do Hook."

"Aye. Where would you like me to begin lass?"