A/N: Little warning for some violence to come :( Manhandling, unwanted sort of touching/searching, and wounds :(

~8~

Rise of the Piper

Rose Red tried her best not to yawn as she stumbled down the dark roads of Derba, a random town along her wandering way. Well, all the towns were random when you had no destination. She was just…trying to keep ahead of the Black Knights, keep ahead of the Queen, and keep out of the way of her cousin, while still trying to keep alive. Something that was, admittedly, harder than she thought it would be. It had been…many months since her kingdom had been targeted by the Queen, she honestly couldn't say if it had even been a year or more at this point she'd been so thrown off. The days bled into nights which fed into days over and over and over and she'd stopped keeping track. She was just thinking day by day, one day at a time, trying to find a way to keep afloat, keep living. She honestly wasn't sure why she bothered at times, her mother was dead, her father had his heart crushed to dust, her uncle had been poisoned, her kingdom was burned to the ground, her people massacred, she was as good as dead if the Queen caught her…

She shook her head, no, there was one reason, one reason alone to keep fighting and pushing and surviving, Snow White.

Her cousin was still alive and so long as Snow lived, she would too. It was a small comfort, one that was only for her instead of Snow, she knew, to know her cousin was alive when Snow didn't know the same. But it was a comfort nonetheless that she was not alone in the world, that there was someone out there facing the same odds as her, her family killed, her kingdom taken, hunted by the Queen. She wasn't exactly being hunted, but she didn't doubt that the second Regina found out she was still alive and hadn't fallen during the attack she would be hunted.

She had to keep living, for Snow, because one day she might find her cousin and be with her again, she might be able to find some way to protect her.

She winced at that thought, moving to the side of an alley way that seemed relatively clear and clean, and sunk down the wall at the back of it, rubbing her leg. How would she possibly be able to help keep her cousin safe if she could barely do the same for herself? She'd been in another town, she didn't even know the name of it, it had been raining and she'd been so cold she'd just tried to find somewhere, anywhere, to sleep for the night and found a little barn. She'd snuck in and fallen asleep among the hay…and woken to the sharpest, most stinging pain in her leg that she'd ever felt and spotted an old man brandishing a fire poker at her, shouting and raging at how she'd snuck into his barn and property. She'd just barely gotten out of there before he'd hit her somewhere else with the poker. She'd run, as fast and as far as she could before she'd needed to stop and catch her breath. And from there she'd just…wandered, walked aimlessly, trying to avoid the sharper branches of the forest paths so as not to scratch her legs more and failed miserably at that, earning her more nicks and cuts as she went.

Now she was here, in Derba. She only knew the name of it due to the signage near the pathway to the town. It had been easy to sneak in past the gates, the town was so small and unassuming there wasn't much by way of guards and the gates seemed more to make the town seem more extravagant than it was instead of for actual guarding purposes. Really though, what was the point of guards, they were useless when it counted, either that or her family's guards had been taken in by Regina and let the woman into the castle.

She let out a breath, letting her head fall back against the wall behind her, looking up at the twinkling stars. She and Snow would do that, sometimes, camp outside in the summer months where they could see the stars and talk into the night, going over the names for the constellations, making up their own stories for how they came to be, the tales behind the names.

She closed her eyes at that, holding back the tears that wanted to form, she wasn't with Snow any longer. She was alone, wandering, poor and wretched, there was nothing in her possession save the pipe in her boot and the bag she'd nicked from a rubbish pile and stitched and patched together to hold the small, likely useless, objects she'd collected from the pile as well. She'd managed to trade a few of those objects to rather gullible buyers for a coin or two, enough to be able to afford food here and there, not as much as she would have liked, not enough that would sustain her for much longer. She had nothing left in her bag either but a scrap of three day old bread and a meager handful of berries she'd found on her way to the town. For all she knew they could be poisonous.

For all she knew, she wouldn't care if they happened to be.

She took a breath, not opening her eyes as she settled more in the alley, shifting so her cloak was not resting on her too much as it was summer and the air was still warm. It was late, dark with the moon high above, and she had walked so long and so far, she was exhausted. She just…needed a rest, just a little rest and she'd get up and see if she could find somewhere better to rest. The town was small, and she'd passed a tavern before, perhaps they could do with some entertainment? She did have her pipe, it could prove useful.

She felt bile rise at the thought though. The very last thing she ever wanted to do was use her music to make a profit. Her music was special to her, it was infused with her magic, not that she couldn't control it and keep the magic separate, but it was just so synonymous to her by now. Her music was something she had trained nearly her entire life to perfect, to help her control her magic. The thought of playing it for others, for them to jeer at her and demand songs from her…it felt like it would cheapen the music that was meant to be beautiful. She did not want to have to resort to that, she did not want to have to resort to begging for food or shelter though either…

She would have to make a choice.

But…in the morning, yes, in the morning she would decide what to do, were her last thoughts before she drifted to sleep…

~8~

Rose was jarred awake with a sharp gasp as something grabbed her arm and hauled her to her feet, shoving her hard into the wall behind her.

"Well, well, well, look what we have here," a man sneered, tall and thin, with greasy hair pulled back into a sloppy ponytail, his clothing disheveled, his breath reeking of ale.

"Looks ta me like a little chit," a second man beside him leered at her, more portly than the one that had grabbed her and was holding her shoulders into the wall, his fingers digging into her skin strong enough to leave a bruise.

"Nah," the third man, shorter than the other two with a scar above his eye, "Look at her," he scoffed, eyeing her up and down, "Right grimy street rat she is. Diseased no doubt. Too small, even for me. She'll break and scream I'd wager. Not worth it."

Rose was almost thankful that she had journeyed through the forest instead of on the roads if it had made her dirty and disgusting enough for the men to find her unappealing.

"Maybe," the man holding her smirked, "But could be worth it in other ways," he reached down to grab her bag.

"Please," she breathed, "No…"

Her mind was racing, so startled out of dreams and into this…this nightmare, it was struggling to catch up, to think of what to do. She tried to move, tried to break away from the man's grip, but he shifted, turning his arm to brace it across her, forcing his arm against her neck, making her gasp and reach for it, trying to pry it off her so she could breathe. But she was small, she'd been walking for so long, she hadn't eaten or had a proper drink in too long, she was just…weak, she was so weak, her body, her mind, her grip, the man was larger and stronger, and he clearly knew what he was doing…

"Take a gander boys," he ripped the bag off her arm and threw it behind him, leaving it to one of his associates to catch it, "I got me a feeling about this one," he eyed her, "Seems regal to me. I'd bet my horse she's got some treasures in there…"

"Then fork the horse over," the third, short man huffed, throwing the bag back at Rose's feet, "Stale bread and berries."

"Check HER then," he ordered, nodding his head at her, "She's gotta be hiding something then. I just know it…"

The second man stepped up, moving beside his partner and reached out for her.

"No!" she cried as the man began to touch her, feeling up and down her body, patting it, looking for something, she kicked and squirmed and tried to shy away from his hands, but the first man returned his hand to her, grabbing the arm she'd tried to swing at them and shoving it roughly to the wall, holding her back, "Stop!"

She was panting now, she…she had to do something, she needed to stop them, but she could barely breathe, she could barely move…

"A ha!" the second man cheered, plucking her pipe right out of her boot.

Rose gasped at the sight, her mind both springing into action and coming to a grinding halt as she saw the pipe in the man's hand.

"Told you," the first man grinned, "That'll fetch a price…"

"NO!" Rose struggled even more, kicking out, managing to get the man in the knee, sending him stumbling back. She lunged forward and grabbed the pipe, not about to let them take it, NOT that pipe, not the last thing she had of her cousin. They could NOT have it!

"Wrong move princess," the man growled, grabbing her as she tried to flee and yanking her back, pulling her so harshly that she fell over his foot and landed on the ground in a heap. She looked up, rolling on her side to try and get up, but the man kicked her and pulled something out from behind him…a knife.

"Please…" she begged, unable to believe she was actually begging.

She should be DOING something, stopping them! She'd stopped people in the past from harming Snow…but she knew, there had always been a reason to attack others before, because it was Snow, she would do anything to keep Snow safe. It was different when it was Snow. When it came to her…there was always something keeping it from happening, keeping her from really doing damage to anyone else that threatened HER.

She blamed the damned fairies for it, that witch of a Blue Fairy in specific.

But this…this was real and serious and if she didn't DO something, they would…

Her thought was cut off by another kick to her gut, causing her to curl up in a ball. But that wasn't the end of it. The second man lashed out at her, trying to cut her arm, to pry the pipe from her fingers, but her movement led to him cutting her with his sharp blade, making her cry out in pain.

The fact that the men seemed unperturbed that she'd been so loud told her that they doubted anyone would come running to see what as happening.

And then it began. She could hardly process what was happening, all she felt was shooting pain through her body, from her shoulder to her knee, her gut, her hands…ooh her hands…she could feel them trying to pull the pipe from her but she would NOT let it happen!

She screamed again when the third man sliced her on the thigh just as the other man had, his knife serrated unlike the smooth other one. It felt like her leg was on fire and she let go of the pipe with one hand to try and stop them, to cover her leg, to do anything to stop it…but it didn't stop, the man with the serrated knife just did it again and again, cutting at her leg, seeing that it had gotten her to let go of the pipe before…

"Enough of this!" the first man snarled, flipping his blade in his hand and bringing it down to stab her right in the leg this time, no cutting, no torturing her, but stabbing her fully in the leg.

Whatever the man had been thinking, whether it was that to do such a thing with such a dull blade would cause her enough pain to release her pipe or that it would be a deep enough found to kill her by bleeding out…he was deadly wrong.

She could feel it, something inside her snapping as she let out the loudest scream of her life, so shrill and so full of unbridled rage and pain, that the men stumbled back, dropping their knives as they pressed their hands over their ears, trying to keep the sound out.

She panted for only a moment, rolling onto her stomach, her hands on the ground as she looked at them through her tears, seeing them so affected. She knew it would happen, she'd seen it happen before, when men would threaten Snow, she'd driven them to their knees, tormented them…but she had done it on instinct, it was a reaction to seeing her cousin in danger. It had happened now, she had screamed and her magic had reacted to her pain. The men were away from her, backed away, she could run…she could TRY to right now, but…how far would she get? How fast could she move? How long would these effects last?

…did she even want to flee?

Her eyes narrowed as she saw the first man recover and move to pick up his knife once more, her hands curled around her pipe and she shoved herself up, ignoring the pain in her thigh as she brought the wooden pipe to her lips and let out an equally shrill note. She watched as the men fell backwards again at the ringing sound, pouring her magic and anger and…hatred into the song, watching them fall to their knees. She change the tune, making the melody as chaotic as she could, making the notes as sharp and straining to hear as possible, she could see them now, she could see it in their eyes as the music and magic hit them, sending them falling to the ground, writhing in pain, before turning and curling in on themselves. And still she didn't stop. She would have, she should have, she had in the past, she had played enough for them to not get up swiftly…but this was different.

This was so very, very different.

She forced herself to stand, nearly sagging back to the ground as she tried to use her injured leg, but balanced more on the other, glaring down at the men as she played on, and on and on and on, not stopping till the men were nothing more than babbling, witless messes, their eyes vacant and crazed, their words meaningless, unintelligible chatter about noises in their head. She dropped her arm, panting as she looked upon them, three men, curled up and mad, their mind shattered…by HER magic.

She looked up, looking around, knowing that there was no way others hadn't heard the men screaming and would rush to see what was going on. She moved as quickly as she could, using the wall to brace her efforts, and grabbed her bag, stumbling and limping towards the main street, needing to get out of there, needing to get out of the town entirely and so she limped on, biting her tongue at the pain that raced through her with every move, trying to press her cloak to her thigh as she went, not wanting to leave a trail of blood that others could follow.

~8~

Rose wouldn't even begin to recall how she had managed to make it out of the town without anyone spotting her or following her, she truly couldn't. It was all a blur of pain and walls and stumbling and breathing and then trees and dirt and bushes and agonizing pain in her wound as she made it through the unlevel lands.

Even now she wasn't entirely sure what was happening as she sat on a small log, looking at the little fire she'd managed to make. She hated fire, but she needed it right now and it was a small one. It was manageable and, after the night she had had…she doubted she'd even notice if the fire caught elsewhere and consumed the woods around her. She just…stared into the flames, her eyes blank, her face expressionless, only the throbbing and pain racing up her side from her leg reminding her that she was still conscious. Her other wounds, the bruises and cuts she'd sustained from her beating, she was sure, should hurt but compared to her leg they were nothing.

Her hands were resting on her knees, her palms facing up, fingers slightly curled, her pipe just beside her, the bag on the ground, but she was motionless besides that, just trying to focus on breathing.

She should have killed them.

That was the dark thought in her mind, the one thought repeating over and over.

She should have killed them.

She shook her head and looked down at the fire, at a small handle sticking out from the side of it and swallowed hard. She turned slightly, lifting the side of her dress to reveal her thigh, her wound still bleeding, something she knew she had to see to now before she bled out or before infection set in. She took a deep, shaking breath and reached out to the handle, pulling the first man's dull knife out of it, the blade white hot. She hadn't even realized she'd picked it up as she left, but she had, and it was a good thing too.

She leaned over swiftly, grabbing her pipe and bringing it to her mouth, setting it between her teeth and biting down as she quickly pressed the knife's bald to her wounds, letting out a strangled scream at the searing pain that raced through her as she attempted to cauterize the wound. She held on as long as she could, before dropping the knife to the ground, her hands shaking as she fell to her knees, panting, tears in her eyes, her hand curling into fists.

Why hadn't she killed them!?

Why hadn't she stopped them before they'd hurt her?!

Why hadn't she lashed out sooner, used her magic, done SOMETHING to stop them?!

She closed her eyes, she knew why. All her life, all her life since she was a child, she had been taught to control her magic, to control it for the sole purpose of not hurting anyone else around her. The one time she had actually hurt someone, hurt them badly, for something done against her…

She opened her eyes, spitting the pipe from her mouth though not moving and risk moving her leg, not wanting to recall that moment or the horror that had come from it for her, but knowing that that moment had left a lasting impression on her. Ever since her mother had started to teach her how to control her magic, it was always emphasized that it was so others would not be harmed, so others wouldn't know she had magic, so others wouldn't hurt her. It had been so ingrained in her, just from being around her people, that if she didn't attack back when they threw barbs at her, they could not attack her physically. If they dared harm Snow that was an entirely different matter and she just…reacted.

But SHE had to be more controlled when it was just her. SHE had to be the cautious one, the one in control, the one that couldn't lash back. Years and years, more than a decade's worth, of being told that she shouldn't attack others, that her magic should not be used to harm…that she should not consciously hurt other people or use her magic to influence them…all it had done was lead to this moment, this moment where she should have acted quicker, used her magic instead of hesitating.

And she had hesitated.

Because they were humans, and she was not to harm the humans, harm the humans and they would attack her, hunt her, hurt her, threaten her family…that was how it always happened. The humans always went after the sirens. And if anyone found out that she was there, that she was Rose Red, that she was alive…if she used her magic and people realized she was Rose Red…Snow would be in danger.

She took a deep breath at that, grimacing and biting her lip tightly as she tried to move, to sit back on the log, only managing to get a hand on it as a brace, a new thought striking her, a thought that she should have considered ages ago when her kingdom had fallen.

She couldn't be Rose Red any longer.

WAS she even still Rose Red?

Rose Red was a princess, Rose Red had a family and kingdom, Rose Red had to care about the people…

SHE didn't. Not anymore. She wasn't a princess, her kingdom was destroyed, her family was as good as gone, and the people? She let out a bitter breath, why should she care about them? Why should she care about any of the…the humans after how they had treated her.

And not just the men in the alley, they were scum, yes, they deserved a worse hell than she had given them. But it really wasn't just them, was it? There had been…so many people, SO many in her life that had looked at her with distrust, with disgust, with fear and condescension and hatred. There had been too many to name that had been cruel to her, spiteful, bitter, antagonistic, insulting…many, many other things. And she had endured it, for her father, for her kingdom, for her family, she had kept a rein on her magic, she had kept it controlled, bottled it despite the words and the whispers and the looks she received.

For what?!

She panted, letting out a fierce breath through her nose, shifting to push herself back onto the log, looking over as she tried to glimpse her leg, it was an angry, blistering red, but the sound was closed. That wound, that was all she had to show for her control.

What had that ever given her? What fruits had it ever born her? Even now three men that would have killed her lived, because she hadn't even considered really killing them. She hadn't even thought about what she was doing, she had wanted to do it, wanted them to suffer, and she'd played. She had controlled the music and the magic, but she hadn't killed them.

And she really should have.

She closed her eyes, trying to stem off the black spots in her vision at the pain that was still flooding through her, her hands curling into fists at that reminder, she was WEAK. She was weak if she couldn't end the lives of three despicable men that had harmed her. That would not do, ever again, that would NOT do. She would NOT let this happen, not just letting anyone close enough to harm her, but not retaliating to her fullest. The next person that gravely wounded or insulted or betrayed her she would end them. She could not afford to take any chances. Her magic alone made her a threat, just being what she was made her a target to those that despised people with magic. She could not afford to let them go, she could not afford to be weak again.

She couldn't afford to hesitate.

She had to be better than this, stronger than this.

She would be, she swore, she would practice her music, the tunes she could feel lingering in her soul and her heart. She would use everything she had to her advantage from this moment on. No more hiding, no more moving in the shadows, no more being walked over or taken advantage of. No more using her patience on others. It was going to be what SHE wanted or nothing at all. She had been able to break the minds of men, she had been able to torture them in the past, she had been able to sway animals to her will, humans could not be much different.

THAT was what Sirens did, wasn't it? They manipulated, they got what they wanted, they used the humans to do it.

Her eyes opened as that thought hit her, SIRENS did that.

Rose Red was half human.

Rose Red was dead, as of this moment, Rose Red was dead, there was no half-human left, there couldn't be. She needed to be stronger, colder, harder, to survive in this world.

She could not be Rose Red.

She could not be human.

She took a deep breath at that as that realization sunk into her mind. She truly couldn't. Everything that Rose Red was, everything she represented had to go. For so much of her life she had tried to be human, be like the other children. It hadn't always worked, had rarely ever worked, her siren half always came out. But she'd tried to ignore it, tried to push it down, tried to learn the music and the magic without letting it consuming her.

And now it had to.

Rose Red had tried so hard not to become more siren-like as the years went by, hadn't managed it effectively, but she had TRIED. That had to stop. Being human, trying to be, was what was getting her into trouble, was what was making her weaker and more vulnerable and she refused, refused to EVER be that again.

Was there even a good point to being human? Was there? It had to be Snow talking, in her mind, all these years, her hopeful sonnets about how humans were inherently good people and worth fighting for. Clearly Snow had not seen the people SHE had, had not experienced how cruel they could be to a mere child simply because she was different, had never seen how vicious and dangerous they were when they were scared of others. No, humans were not good, goodness was made, it had to be taught, which meant that humans could just as easily be evil and dark and she would never fall for the ruse that someone was a good person just because they were human ever again.

Her mother had been a Siren, and had been a good and just Queen.

Her people had been human, and had suspected her and whispered about her, tormented her and her mother, humans…humans were the vulnerable weak ones, and she would NOT be that.

She let out a breath at that, reaching up to rest her hand on her chest, rubbing where her heart was as she felt…a coldness settle in her, a firmness…a…relief. She could feel it, her heart, beating in her chest, hardening at that thought, at the memory of every single slight that had been done to her by the humans, slights she had tried to justify and explain and logic in her mind. Slights she was now realize had no reason behind them, no logic, no justification, slights that were just that…attacks against her, attacks she should never have allowed and would never allow again.

She didn't have to be afraid, she didn't have to hide, she didn't have to flee instead of fight.

Her mother had told her that, so long ago, their very first lesson about her magic.

You must always remember that, if all else fails, you will ALWAYS have your voice. Your voice is your most powerful weapon. If ever someone tries to harm you, you possess within you the power to stop them, to escape. If someone tries to hurt you, you are allowed to fight back.

She glanced down at the pipe lying on the ground and struggled to pick it up, running a hand along it, the pipe...it had always been her favorite instrument, the one that worked best with her magic. Perhaps that was what she should be from now on. Rose Red no longer...but...the piper? Yes, she nodded, that was fitting, and it was stronger than Rose Red. The Piper would be stronger than Rose Red could ever be.

SHE didn't have to fear anyone anymore, no, it should be the others that feared HER.

Her magic, her music, could just as easily be a weapon.

And a weapon it would be.

A/N: I really wanted this to be the flashback just after the Shattered Sight hit. In the last chapter we saw Piper choose to become like a full Siren, here we see her choosing to stop being half-human, here we see her consciously choosing how she would use her magic from now on.

I can say there IS a reason why Piper didn't automatically attack the men when they started to hurt her, and it will go back to a point in her childhood. For Snow, for anyone else but herself, she would attack with no qualms, because she is defending her cousin...but there was something in her past that kept her from truly attacking in her own defense :'(

Some notes on reviews...

Piper's condition is reversible when the curse ends yup, but the moment of reversal...it won't be pretty :(

I can say Piper will be in quite a few places...and there will be some murderous thoughts, but we'll have to see if it qualifies as a rampage or not ;)

Piper will come across some people, one or two might surprise you with what they want to do under the curse, there'll definitely be a twist for Piper's adventures through town though ;)

I think Gold would have definitely needed measures to protect the people important to him and Piper, Piper would definitely kill him if he'd let the curse come without plotting how her family would be safe through it ;) And thanks! I try to edit as much as I can, about 4-5 times before posting, but I always seem to miss something lol :) I agree the show is sort of losing it's logic and 'reality' I mean I get it's about fairytales, but there was a sense of realism in earlier seasons that just makes the more recent ones seem convoluted at times :/ There are some plots that serve absolutely 0 purpose and are really just completely pointless to have been put in and the 'shock value' I think they were meant to get ended up backfiring big time on the writers which will probably just make it even more confusing and unrealistic in Season 5 :/ Eventually Emma will be able to talk to Henry about Hook and discuss Neal with others yup ;)