UNDERNEATH THE SURFACE, CHAPTER 2
By Carolyn McBride
There was a pounding in her head that would not go away.
Regina opened one brown eye and instantly regretted it. Her picnic lunch threatened to come back up, but she breathe through it and managed to keep lunch where it was supposed to be. She opened one eye again, and found the pain a little less. She was confused, she knew she was lying down, but why? She let both eyes open and saw a bright blue sky on an odd angle.
Then she realized it was her head on an odd angle.
Resting on something soft, in fact.
Emma Swan's thigh.
Emma...the portal...
Regina tried to sit up quickly, but that only made her stomach lurch again. She propped herself on one elbow and looked up at Emma, who was still unconscious. Regina could see no blood, and took that as a good sign.
"Emma..." Regina's voice came out as a croak. She cleared her throat and wished they still had water. "Emma, wake up."
Regina pulled herself with her elbows up the length of Emma's still form and eventually came to crouch beside the blonde. She brushed a length of hair away from those still-closed eyes and wondered what it would be like to kiss those thin lips.
But she dragged her eyes away and forced herself to focus on their surroundings instead. They were in a forest, but not the one she was used to. This one was populated by birch, oak and maples, instead of pine trees. They seemed to be alone, which could be a good thing or not, depending on one's viewpoint. She couldn't smell any sign of a village or town, so there was no way to know exactly where they were.
She looked back at Emma, who was still out like a light.
Regina chewed on her own bottom lip, torn between curiosity and concern. "Oh what the hell." She muttered and leaned forward.
The kiss was nothing like she had expected, albeit, once sided.
Emma Swan's lips were soft and tasted slightly of cinnamon.
Deep inside of Regina, something long-sleeping stirred and stretched.
Emma Swan let out a gasp and a moan. Regina put a hand on her shoulder.
"Don't get up yet, Miss Swan. Just lie still for a minute."
"You just kissed me, Regina, you can probably go back to using my first name, don't you think?" Emma groaned, but stayed where she was. "I need..."
"Yes? What can I do?" Regina leaned forward and placed a light hand on Emma's forehead.
"Kiss me again?"
"Honestly, Emma, I hardly think this is the time..."
Emma Swan went with impulse again and lifted her right arm, swept it behind Regina's neck and pulled the other woman's head gently down.
This kiss was a dance of cinnamon, apples and magic. Regina felt a wave of white light race through her veins and explode with little bursts of fire behind her eyes.
Emma felt it too, but instead of pulling away, she craned her neck forward and closer. She felt something inside herself pop and flood through her like a tsunami of gentle heat.
Regina pulled away first. "Did you feel that?"
Emma lowered herself to the ground, her head whirling. "Yeah. Was that magic?"
"Of a sort." Regina peered into the other woman's eyes. "Do you hurt anywhere?"
"Not now." Emma gave a half-hearted chuckle.
"Do you think you can stand?"
"I'm ok, I think. Are you?"
"I'll survive."
They struggled to stand, leaning against each other for a few moments for stability.
Finally, Regina said, "Do you see anything that looks familiar?"
Emma looked around slowly. The view was the same from every angle.
Trees, trees and more trees.
"Nope. Any idea where we are?"
Regina shook her head. "As near as I can tell, we're in a different forest than our own."
"Ever been camping before, Regina?" Emma asked.
"No. Mother thought it was uncivilized."
"Of course." Emma shot Regina a look and said, "Good thing for us I had a foster family who believed roughing it was a chance to bond. First, we need to find water."
"How do we do that?"
"Do you know what a river smells like? Or just before it rains? That's what we want." She lifted her nose slightly and began to sniff the air. Regina sniffed as well.
Emma looked at the trees again, only with a different intent. She spotted a sturdy tall one whose branches were spaced just right for climbing.
"I'm going to climb up that tree and see if I can get a better idea of where we are."
Regina spun around. "You're going to what?"
Emma didn't hear Regina's protests, she was already half way up the big maple.
The tree she had chosen to climb was taller and older than the others that surrounded it. Very quickly Emma was able to learn quite a bit. She stayed up in the tree, watching the surrounding tree tops, learning which way the wind blew, and catching the glint of a stream not too far off. She wanted to stop on reflect on the kiss they shared, but that would have to wait for later. Right now, their survival depended on her. Carefully, she backed down the tree, being sure of every step before she moved.
Once her feet were on the ground, she brushed her hands off on her jeans and turned to find Regina waiting. "Well, the good news is that there is a stream not too far off. We're in a valley, pretty wide, really, and there's a road not too far beyond the stream. The bad news is that I didn't see any sign of a town. But one thing at a time, right?"
"Indeed. Which direction was the water?"
Emma pointed.
"Let's find this stream of yours, then." Regina said and headed off in the direction Emma had indicated.
They walked along in silence for quite a while, each of them wrapped in their own uncertainties. Emma felt a chill and zipped up her leather jacket, glad she had put it back on after lunch. She was watching the forest floor as they strode under the trees, unaware that Regina was watching her.
"What are you looking for?" Regina finally asked.
"Edible plants I recognize. We have to assume we're going to spend the night out here, and we'll need nourishment. I'm not into eating crickets or grubs unless they're the only thing between me and starvation. So we may have to go vegetarian for a bit."
"I would help you, but I have no idea what to look for. I'm afraid my skill set is not going to be useful this time." Regina replied a little sadly.
"We don't know that yet."
Regina didn't reply. She was glad she had chosen such sensible footwear and clothing that morning. While Emma looked for plants, she watched for the stream. Gradually, she began to feel a breeze blowing on her face, and not long after that, she began to smell a change in the air.
"Emma, I smell the water!"
"Good, it's not far now then."
Only a few minutes more walking brought them to the banks of a wide stream.
Regina cast a wary glance at the water. "Do you think it's safe to drink?"
"Well, we should really boil it before drinking, but unless you brought a kettle we'll need to find some kind of container that we can put in a fire."
Regina made a face but slowly scanned the bank for something they could use. After long minutes of futile searching, she came to a realization. "This is so not the time." she muttered.
"What's that, Regina?" Emma called out.
"I have to...go."
"Oh, well, just watch for poison ivy and use a bush, I guess."
"What does it look like?"
Emma came over and looked around a little bit. "See this plant here? That's it. Don't touch it and definitely don't squat on it. You'll get a rash like you've never had before in a place you really don't want one!"
Regina studied the clustered leaves on a red stem carefully, nodded and went off to follow nature's urges.
As she was doing her belt back up, her gaze fell on a shape that seemed out of place for the woods. After ensuring she wasn't sticking hand into anything dangerous, she reached under the leaves and grasped the unknown object and pulled.
"Emma! I found it!" She followed the sounds of Emma's shouts back to the stream, smiling at such a small contribution. A juice can should work, don't you think, after a wash?"
Emma was nodding and smiling. "That's great! Well done!"
Regina didn't hesitate to bend and wash out the large tomato juice can below a small gathering of rocks. The water riffled away the spider nest and debris, and soon enough the can was as clean as it was ever going to be. When she turned her back to the water, Emma had already started gathering wood.
"I think it's best if we make camp here, and set out tomorrow. We'll need to be well rested if we're going to be walking any great distance."
Regina nodded, set the can on a flat spot and headed further into the forest to help gather wood.
When they had amassed quite a large pile of dry wood, Emma dug around in her pocket and pulled out a small metal tube.
"Knowing you, I'm guessing that's not lipstick." The brunette quipped.
"Nope." Emma shook her head and dug around in her other pocket, this time pulling out a small red penknife. From one of her jacket pockets she pulled out a dried birds nest she had found under a tree. Close to the bank of the river there was a sandy spot, and it was here she set the nest, and over that a pile of small twigs. Around those she built a scaffolding of larger branches, with dried pine boughs interlaced among them.
"Make sure you have a supply of larger branches handy, but not too big. We want to build up gradually." Emma advised her dark-haired companion.
Settling next to the carefully constructed pile of wood, Emma quickly drew her penknife down the metal tube, creating sparks that fell into the dried nest. At first, none of them caught, but she repeated her actions, encouraged when a few sparks landed and glowed. She gently blew on these, and her heart leapt when they ignited. She blew again gently and watched as the small twigs also caught the flame. It didn't take long to get a nice fire going and settle the can of water at the side of the flames.
Once the water had boiled for a couple of minutes, Emma dropped the wild peppermint leaves in and let them twist and turn in the bubbling water. After a minute or so, she pulled the sleeve of her jacket down so she could grasp the top of the can without burning herself.
"We'll have to share it straight from the can once the metal cools, I'm afraid."
Regina nodded and put her hands in her coat pockets. "Where will we sleep?"
"I have a plan for that too. After we've had our tea, we'll make a small shelter."
"Really? Out of what? Wishes and dreams?" Regina allowed some of her old snark to slip back.
Emma ignored it, knowing Regina was out of her element here, and probably afraid. "Out of boughs, bark and whatever else we find. It won't be your bed back home, but we'll do the best we can." Emma sat on the ground beside Regina as they waited for the can to cool.
She watched Regina flex her fingers, relax them and flex them again.
"No magic here?"
"There is, but ... it's like I can't tap into it. It's elusive."
"Well, keep trying, you might catch it yet." Emma gave her a small smile. She reached toward the can gingerly and was relieved to find that it had cooled enough to be picked up. She picked it up between her hands and offered it to the former Queen with a smile.
"Your Majesty."
Regina smiled back, knowing Emma had meant it as a term of fondness. She took a mouthful of the tea, found it to be tasty and took another.
She passed the can back to her blonde haired saviour and said, "It's quite good."
"Thanks."
They listened to the sound of birds call to each other and the fire popping as they shared the can between them. When all the tea was gone, Emma stood.
"I'm going to get more water and get it boiling. We need water more than food to stay alive. While I'm doing that, do you think you could look for vines that we can twist together as a rope?"
Regina nodded. "Be careful. Between us, you're the only one that knows how to do all this."
Emma nodded. "I know, but this won't be permanent. We'll get out of here and back to civilization, and then somehow, home."
Regina nodded and turned towards the forest.
"Regina? You be careful too. No matter what you might think, I need you too." Emma turned toward the river quickly to hide the blush she felt spreading.
"You do?" Regina whispered.