Chapter Five The Doctor
"I don't know if I can do this," Aurora admitted, looking at all of them, "I'm not a very good liar."
"It's not a lie if you're telling the truth." Ellie reminded her, looking down at the haven. The four of them had been travelling together for a few days, slowly coming to terms with working together. It'd been...tense, to say the least, at first but when you're stuck with three other people for a certain amount of time, you learn to get used to one another.
"Ellie's right, it's not really a lie Aurora. Lancelot did die an honorable death, and Cora did escape. All true. Just leave the particulars to us. There's no reason to cause unnecessary panic amongst your people." Mary Margaret explained.
"See...we got it down. Just state those two facts and no panic will arise." Ellie said with a shrug, ignoring the bruise on her shoulder. Mulan had taught her some defensive moves one night...let's just say that Ellie didn't walk away with just knowledge. The four of them began walking down the path to the haven.
Enchanted Forest, a few nights ago
"Umm...I'm not sure that this is a good idea." Ellie began, looking at the large stick in her hand and then at Mulan, who had a similar stick in her hand. Aurora and Mary Margaret sat to the side, watching the two women.
"You need to learn how to defend yourself. And it's not like we're going to use real swords." Mulan said, getting in her position. Ellie scoffed.
"Course, cause real sword would be..." and she was on her back before she could even finish...or even before she could comprehend what had just happened.
"I wasn't ready!" she exclaimed, getting up on her feet, and letting out a groan at the throbbing of her back.
"That's gonna leave a nasty bruise." Ellie thought, flinching.
"You must always be ready," Mulan stated, getting in her position again, "Now..."She swung and Ellie barely managed to block it with her own stick.
"C'mon Ellie!" Mary Margaret cheered as Ellie stepped to the side, causing Mulan to stumble forward. Ellie was trying to recall everything that she had learned from her days of acting, various weapon training. She swore that a sword was somewhere in her mind.
"Maybe not." Ellie groaned as she was flipped back onto her back.
Enchanted Forest, Now
"I'm not so sure it's unnecessary-"Aurora began before Mulan held up a hand, pausing the princess in mid-sentence.
"Wait," they stop and Mulan gestures to the guard tower, "The tower-we always have sentries guarding the entrance. Stay close." They all remove their weapons, keeping them close in case of an attack. They began walking again, entering the area below the guard tower, where piles of corpses are strewn across the field.
"Oh my God..." Ellie gasped, feeling sick to her stomach at the sight of it all.
"This can't be...our land...we were protected here-hidden. How did the ogres find us?" Mulan asked. Ellie could hear the failure in her voice, she must've felt that she had to protect these people. That is was her duty, and she failed them...by helping Mary Margaret and her.
"Ogres didn't do this." Mary Margaret stated, noticing the bodies have bloody chests. Ellie looked over at her and Mary Margaret pointed at one of the bodies. Ellie leaned forward, mentally freaking out, and noticed the holes where their hearts should be.
"What?" Mulan questioned. Ellie leaned back, shaking a bit.
"Cora did this," Ellie clarified, "Their hearts..." She covered her mouth, fear of throwing up what little food she had in her mouth. She leaned over to a patch of grass that wasn't covered in any body or heart. The scene was almost like the meat factory, on the day she vowed to never eat a piece of meat again. Course back then, it was simply pigs and cows, here...it's people, actual people. Mary Margaret came over, pulled her hair back, and started rubbing her daughter's back.
"They were ripped out. This is her magic, twisted and evil. We have to stop her." Mary Margaret finished, rubbing Ellie's back. After a moment, Ellie nodded, her way of saying that she was okay.
"I'd offer you a mint but they don't make them here." Mary Margaret quietly said and Ellie shrugged, swallowing the upcoming bile.
"I'll be okay." she assured her mother, who gave her a faint smile.
"Too late. She killed them. She killed them all." Mulan stated, gesturing to the group of bodies. Ellie frowned, looking around and trying to ignore all the bodies, seeing a hand waving at them.
"Maybe not..."she muttered, hurrying over to where the hand was. Her three companions followed her.
"There's someone under there." Aurora confirmed, helping Ellie remove some of the bodies and debris...revealing a familiar face to Ellie. Captain Killian Jones...more commonly known as Hook.
"He's alive." Aurora breathed. Though Ellie wasn't quite so sure of what to make of this scene...she'd seen some of the things that Cora could do. Why would she leave someone alive?
"Please." Hook begged, making Ellie narrow her eyes at him. Ellie may not be as good as her sister when it came to spotting liars, but he was acting too desperate. Like he wanted them to find him. This whole thing just screamed: Come in, I'm a trap!
"It's okay." Mary Margaret assured him.
"Please, help me." he begged, looking particularly at Ellie. He could tell that she wasn't buying his act.
"It's okay. You're safe now. We won't hurt you." Mary Margaret assured.
"Thank you. Thank you..." Hook gasped as they helped him out.
Storybrooke, a little bit after the twins arrived
Ellie sat on the bench, looking out at the dock and smiling at the simplicity of it all. She never understood they saying, 'you won't miss it until it's gone', until now. She missed being busy, dancing, singing, acting.
She missed never having a moment's peace. She missed the honks of agitated driver, the yelling, the loud music. Everything here in Storybrooke seemed too quite, she almost wished some teenager would start blaring their music as they drove through town.
Now that she had what seemed to be all the time in the world, Ellie had no idea what to do with herself.
She'd drawn everything that she could, then painted, then threw it all away so she could redo it all. Then when she got tired of drawing it all, she danced. But that soon became useless. In the few days that the two of them had been in Storybrooke, nothing seemed to be working well for her.
She went jogging this morning.
Jogging!?
That is how...bored she was!
"Mind if I join you?" a voice asked her, making her jump. She looked up, seeing a man dressed...well, quite oddly. He reminded her of the Mad Hatter, one of her favorite stories a child. However, Ellie wasn't one to judge, so she smiled and patted the space next to her.
Course, she'd seen some stranger things in New York. Especially on Broadway, no one there was normal...it doesn't matter if it was how they dressed or their background stories. No one was judged.
"Course. I'm Ellie." she introduced, holding out her hand to shake. He smiled and took her hand, bringing it to his lips. Ellie blushed, she was always a sucker for those kinds of acts from men.
"Jefferson," He introduced with a smile on his own face, "Aren't you Emma's sister?"
"Ah, that's how fast word gets around here?"
"Well, it is a small town." Jefferson teased and Ellie did nod.
"Just not used to small towns I suppose." She answered, looking out on the dock.
"You certainly don't dress like you're from a small town." Jefferson commentated, gesturing to her outfit. Ellie looked down, seeing her dress and heels.
"Well," she looked over at Jefferson, "New York is much more different than Maine. Besides, there isn't any sort of book that says how to dress like you're from a small town." Jefferson chuckled and shook his head.
"No there certainly isn't." he agreed.
Enchanted Forest, Now
"And there certainly isn't any book that tells you how to dress in an Enchanted Forest." she muttered, lifting her ankle and rolling it around. She was thankful that she hadn't worn wedges, only her boots. It would be worse it she was wearing heels, she certainly would've kicked them off the minute she got here. Screw protecting her feet for dancing. Heels and forests don't mix.
"From now on, only sneakers. Or maybe flats, depends on the outfit. Doesn't matter where I go, shoes that don't have a heel is all I'm wearing." She thought as she walked over to Mulan, who was watching the lone survivor of Cora's spree. Ellie could tell that Mulan didn't trust the man all that much...there was obviously some part of her that was questioning on why the man was still alive.
"Have you seen him before?" Ellie asked, fiddling with the compass necklace around her neck. Mulan nodded.
"Yes, I've see him around. He's a blacksmith. Came to our camp a couple months ago. Said he lost his hand in an ogre attack. Why would Cora leave a survivor?" Mulan asked, looking at the copper-haired twin. Ellie bit her lip, thinking about what she knew.
"Why would Cora pretend to be Lancelot?" she retaliated after thinking about it. Mulan caught on.
"You think he's lying."
"I think that Cora's tricked us before," she began and picked up a cup filled with some tea that they made for him, "I don't want that to happen again," they walked over to Hook and she handed him the cup, "Here you go.
"I can't thank you enough for your kindness. Fortune, it seems, has seen fit to show me favor." Ellie mentally rolled her eyes, trying to keep her face neutral.
"An island full of corpses," she began, shouldering her crossbow, "You're the only one to escape. How exactly did that happen?"
"She attacked at night-slaughtered everyone in one fell swoop. When she started ripping out people's hearts, I hid under the bodies of those who had already been killed. Pretended to be dead myself. Mercifully, the ruse worked." He explained, looking at each of the women but Ellie. Cora had warned him of the girl, saying that she could see through her magic.
Killian did love a challenge.
"So much for fortune favoring the brave." Ellie commentated.
"It was all I could do to survive." Now, Ellie really rolled her eyes.
"Listen," Hook looked to her, fake confusion written on his face, " I'll admit this. I'm not as good at spotting liars as my sister. But to be frank...you're quite terrible."
"I'm telling the truth." He insisted.
"We should leave here in case Cora decides to come back." Mulan suggested.
"We should start searching for a new portal back to Storybrooke," Mary Margaret corrected, "I only got about five minutes with my husband, not to mention my grandson." Ellie glared at her mother, mentally telling her not to tell this...outsider, about their plans to get back home.
"You have a grandson?" Hook questioned.
"Long story." Mary Margaret answered, waving it off. Ellie was thankful that she didn't mention Emma, unfortunately, Hook might already know about Emma or even Henry.
"Well, I know this land well. I can guide you." He offered. That's when Ellie couldn't take it anymore, she whipped her crossbow off her shoulder and pointed it at Hook's head.
"You're not going to guide us anywhere, until you tell us the truth."
-OUAT-
Mulan tied Hook to a tree while the other three stood to the side, Ellie with her crossbow pointed at Hook's head.
"I already told you. I'm just a blacksmith." He insisted and Ellie rolled her eyes, tired of the lies he was giving them.
"Yeah and I'm Tinker Belle," Ellie snorted and then brought her fingers to her lips, letting out a loud whistle, "You don't want to talk to us? Maybe, you'll talk to the ogres while they rip you limb from limb," the ogres can be heard, stomping towards the group, "Come on," with that the four of them turn to leave, "Guess he doesn't want to talk to us."
"You...You can't just leave me here like this!" he cried.
"Well, then it's quite obvious a girl's never walked away from you before," Ellie thought, "They all just probably throw themselves at you."
"What if he's telling the truth?" Aurora asked, looking over at Ellie.
"He's not." was Ellie's only answer. That much was obvious.
"Good for you! You bested me," Ellie turned around, an eyebrow raised, "I can count the amount of people who've done that on one hand."
"Well you've only got one," Ellie stated with a sly smirk, Hook's eyes went wide, "Nice to meet you Captain Killian Jones," she looked to the other three, "More commonly known as Captain Hook."
"How on earth did you know that?" Mulan asked. Ellie glanced around, finding a satchel, she opened it up, found the hook, and threw it at Mulan. She caught it, turned it around in her hand, and tossed it back to Ellie.
"Him and Cora aren't as good as they think. Now the only reason I'm going to talk quick is because they're gaining on us," she walked up close to the pirate, ignoring every thought that was telling her how amazingly good-looking he was, "Cora wanted you to get close to us, am I correct?" Hook nodded, "She wanted to learn our plans on how to get to Storybrooke, am I correct?" Hook nodded again, "Well, you two are outta luck. I destroyed the wardrobe."
"Ah, but the enchantment remains. Cora gathered the ashes. She's going to use them to open up a portal. Now," he smirked at Ellie, "If you'll kindly let me loose."
"No. We should leave him here to die. To pay for all the lives that he took." Mulan spat.
"That was Cora, not me." Hook argued. Ellie shrugged.
"Okay then, let's go." They turn to leave again.
"Wait. Wait! You need me alive."
"Do tell: why?" Ellie questioned, turning around to face him again.
"Because we both want the same thing-to get back to your land." Hook insisted, reminding Ellie of some kind of salesman. She hated the New York salesmen, they tended to be rich white men with good looks. They batted their eyelashes at their customers and they became obedient to them.
"You would do anything to save yourself," Ellie stated with a scoff, "Why on earth are we supposed to believe you now?"
"I arranged transport with Cora. But, seeing how resourceful you are," he gave Ellie a smirk, though she rolled her eyes on the outside, was giddy as a school girl on the inside, "I'll offer you the same deal. I'll help you, if you promise to take me along." Ellie frowned.
"Not that I'm agreeing but how are you going to help us get home?" She questioned, looking at the pirate.
"The ashes will open a portal, but, to find your land, she needs more. There's an enchanted compass. Cora seeks it. I'll help you obtain it before she does."
"So, Cora won't make it to Storybrooke, and we'll be one step closer to home." Ellie clarified, and then looked over to her mother, who simply shook her head.
"Sounds too good to be true." Mary Margaret stated.
"There's only one way to find out." Hook said, grinning like a fool.
"Why on earth does Captain Hook want to go to Storybrooke? Looking for your crew, perhaps Mr. Smee?" Ellie sarcastically asked, through she was curious. No need for him to know.
"To exact revenge on the man who took my hand...Rumpelstilskin."
-OUAT-
"That's why you kept making Peter Pan jokes." Mary Margaret stated as the two of them sat by each other at the fireplace. It was late at night, they had spent all day burying the people of the haven, deciding to start their journey the next day. Aurora, Mulan, and Hook were sleeping, the two women as far away from Hook as possible.
"Sorry?" Ellie questioned, she was hardly functioning. Lack of sleep, the boiling hot sun, Hook, Cora, everything seemed to be on her mind.
"When we found Hook. And when you asked me about him. That's how you recognized him." Mary Margaret clarified. Ellie nodded, catching on. Mary Margaret yawned, though she tried to cover it up. Ellie chuckled.
"Go get some sleep. You need it," Mary Margaret opened her mouth, most likely to argue but Ellie shook her head, "I can keep watch. Don't worry." She smiled and gave her daughter a side hug.
"Good night." Mary Margaret said and Ellie smiled, giving her a wave. She went over, making a spot by Mulan and Aurora and soon she was fast asleep as well.
"You can quit pretending. I know you're awake." Ellie called to Hook. He lifted his head, giving her a coy smile. Ellie rolled her eyes.
"How can you tell?" he asked, getting up and joining her.
"You were too still." She answered, picking up a stick and poking the fire. The two of them remained quiet, though Ellie could tell that Hook wanted to ask her something. She waited for him to simply man up and ask her, but he didn't and Ellie became frustrated.
"Will you just ask me whatever it is you want?" she snapped, making him jump in surprise.
"Well aren't you a spicy one lass?"Ellie just glared at him, "Alright then...how could you see through Cora's disguise?" Ellie guessed that it should've had something to do with that. Since Hook and Cora were working together, she would've told him about Ellie. Though she was afraid of what Cora had told Killian, there might've been more that she saw that Ellie didn't even know about.
"I...Do you want the truth?" Killian nodded, "I have absolutely no idea. And...it frightens me because I don't even know the extent of my power. And maybe she does."
Killian had nothing to say to that.