Regina pulled a dejected Emma through the brush. She could hear the sound of moving water, but as they moved through the jungle it didn't sound as if they were getting any closer. Her frustration was mounting and imagining laying waste to this infuriating tract of land was keeping her anger at bay. The rain had finally stopped and as the day progressed the temperature began to fall steadily. Although Regina had ensconced Emma into the protective barrier she had created, the blond was still wet from hours of walking in the rain with no protection. It was then she noticed that the hand she held did not hold the usual warmth; it was balmy and cool. Emma stood there shivering; her clothes dampened against her body, her skin impossibly pale had the beginnings of a slight tinge of blue. Regina frustration was quickly replaced with gut wrenching fear and concern with the current state of the blonde.
"Miss. Swan, were you going to tell me you were freezing or were you going to wait until I had to drag your corpse around?" Regina asked testily.
Emma shied away from the former queen.
"I thought you wanted me to be quiet until I could figure out how we got here," Emma mumbled.
"Well, there is quiet, and then there is dead, both of which achieve the same purpose; I suppose, but I'm sure you should be aiming for the former, not the latter," Regina groused.
"Why on earth would you think I would want you to suffer silently through hypothermia?"
"Well, you are kinda mad at me," said Emma.
Regina huffed and pulled the blonde closer and began to magically dry her off. Regina hadn't noticed before, but as she dried the shivering woman she realized her magic felt different. Not in a bad way, but as if her energy came from somewhere deeper than when she used dark magic. She felt as if she had tapped into a reserve she never knew existed. She had noticed a slight difference in Storybrooke as she began to use the light magic she possessed more readily. However, in the realm they had been transported, she felt her power enhanced exponentially.
Once Emma was dryer, she removed her blazer and placed it on the blonde. She took Emma's now much warmer hand and tugged her forward.
"Let's go, we're almost there," she said quietly. Although she did not believe what she had just told Emma, she knew it would make her feel better. After walking less than a yard through the brush, they came to a rocky clearing.
"Wow, I thought you were lying to me to make me feel better," Emma stated tiredly.
"I was lying to make you feel better. I'm as surprised as you are, dear," she replied.
She scanned the area in the waning light. They were in an enclosed area no larger than the town hall's meeting room. The ground was sparsely covered with grass; a shear rock wall surrounded them, while the darkening forest loomed behind them. Emma led them further into the clearing. She settled the blonde on an outcropping of smooth rocks and looked around again.
"I hear water, but I don't see water. Stay here a moment, Miss. Swan."
"But, who's gonna protect you?" Emma asked petulantly.
She seemed to have gotten some of her fire back, since Regina had dried her off. If they were in decidedly different situation she would has thought the Savior looked adorable in childlike indignation. She looked just like a young Henry; scowling each time she told him it was naptime. She felt her heart warm at the thought of Emma Swan mirroring the love of her life.
"I promised to scream for you to save me. Unless I'm about die, I won't move until you arrive." Regina deadpanned. She raised three of her fingers, "Scouts honor."
Emma chuckled, "You're like no scout I've ever seen."
"Well, then consider me an upgrade," Regina said, as her sauntered toward the rock face.
Regina walked along the rock wall, moving closer to the sound of running water. As the light became dimmer she began to examine the outcropping by sliding her hands against the jagged rock. She winced as the sharper edges bit into her skin. She knew the had to keep going despite her ill advised decision of running her hands along jagged rocks in the dark.
"Do you need saving yet?" Emma's voice boomed through the clearing.
"Maybe in a few minutes," she replied.
"Okay."
Regina might have missed the crevice if her right hand hadn't slipped through the break in wall. Inside the recess there was slight cascade of water that trickled into a small pool. After taking a tentative sip, she determined that the water was fresh. She was about to remove her hand that was wedged inside the nook, when she realized she might not be able to find it again in the ever growing darkness. So she yelled in the highest, girlishly shrill voice she could muster.
"Oh, Emma help, please; I'm stuck!"
Emma came barreling through the clearing, "Don't worry, I'll get you out." She skidded to a stop. "You don't look stuck," the blonde said.
"I'm not, but couldn't risk losing the first sign of water we've seen all day. Come here," Regina command as she tugged Emma by her borrowed blazer.
"Now drink."
Emma drank greedily from the pool, scooping handfuls of water into mouth. When she had all she could take, she finished with lusty groan of satisfaction and slowly slid to sit atop a rock formation sated. Regina, who was just as thirsty as the blonde, carefully cleaned her hands before daintily sipping from the pool.
Emma chuckled, "You're only person I know that could make dying of thirst look elegant."
Regina simply shrugged and continued to quench her thirst. After she finished, she asked Emma to remove the borrowed blazer. She walked over and began to lift the bottom of the blonde's tank top.
"Whoa, hey there, girl likes to at least get dinner first, before she reaches this step," Emma shied away.
Regina huffed and rolled her eyes in impatience, "If you please, Miss. Swan, I'm trying to see to your wound."
"Why? It's just a scratch."
"Knowing you, you could probably have half your arm hanging off and call it "just a scratch," and then complain later when your gangrenous appendage fell off whilst looking at me with big doe eyes, proclaiming how you didn't know that would happen," Regina harrumphed. "It seems with you there is always some price I have to pay. I'm beginning to believe that your existence is my penance for every transgression I've committed. From the day we've met, you Miss. Swan, have been the proverbial bull in the china shop that is my life."
"Wow Regina, harsh much," Emma scoffed, but easily complied by holding up the edge of her shirt to reveal the gash her side. The brunette ripped the sleeve from her white blouse, dipped it in the water and began to clean the wound. Emma smarted from the sting, and let out a hiss.
"This is a lot deeper than a scratch."
"You know, I hadn't really noticed this cut until you started cleaning it. Now it hurts," Emma babbled. "And how is it that I look like I've been trekking through the jungle for 3 hours, all sweaty and dirty, and you look like you've been strolling through the park?" Her brows furrowed further, "How is your blouse still so white?"
"The same reason I make dying of thirst look so elegant, Miss Swan. "
Emma reached out in an attempt to touch the item in question, only to have Regina slap her hand away.
"No, touching."
"But you're touching me," Emma pouted.
"To keep you from dying," Regina huffed.
Emma shrugged. "Semantics."
Regina continued to care for her wound until she felt it was sufficiently clean. After which she began to heal the blonde's side with magic.
"Hey Regina, it's getting light out again. That was like the shortest night ever. It was barely twenty minutes."
"Yes, that is odd," Regina mused, not like liking the situation her brain was forming.
"I'm going to take a look around maybe I can find something to work out just where we are. Then maybe I can figure out how I can get us back," Emma stated eagerly.
"Be careful, I've already patched you up once," she warned.
"That almost sounds like concern," Emma joked.
The look of hurt only lasted a microsecond before Regina's well practiced mask of indifference slid into place.
"Regina I…"
"Go explore, Miss. Swan. It is a far better use of your feet than constantly putting them in your mouth."
Regina turned and began walking in the opposite direction. Emma knew; she had been dismissed by the Queen. With the coming light and Regina's care the blonde's vigor had retuned as well. Her eyes swept the area, determined to find something, determined to do everything to get them home. She had to show Regina she could get them back to their son. She alit from the rocks and began exploring the area at the perimeter of the clearing. Her frustration grew the more she searched. They were seemingly in the middle of nowhere with absolutely no clues, no landmarks, or signs of life. It was like they were in an amorphous glob pretending to be a jungle. Inches away from wail of frustration, Emma saw it, words carved into the rock wall. Their first clue!
"Regina, come quick, I found something!"
The brunette quickly made her way across the clearing to see Emma crouch in front of a carving. Emma's face screwed up in a look of concentration.
"What's Lu..lutheea min eereb hon," Emma said slowly, attempting to sound out the letters.
Regina crouched beside Emma, "It's Elvish, and it's Luithia min ereb hûn."
Emma repeated the phrase mimicking Regina, "What does that mean?"
"It means…"
Before she could finish, they both vanished in a puff of white smoke.