I couldn't make you wait after that cliffhanger so here you go... some answers.
As always please review
Enjoy
:)
What the hell was Junior yelling about now? Emma chuckled to herself as she pulled herself up intending to go see what the Kid was up to, he was beyond excited about going to school and kept shouting without meaning too. She only got as far as the bottom of the quarterdeck stairs when the door to the lower deck burst open and the kid practically barrelled right into her.
"Whoa" she laughed grabbing him by the shoulders and pushing him back to look at him but the minute her eyes fell on his face the laughter died and she was crouching down in front of him in a second "Junior, what is it? What's wrong?"
His little tear soaked face crumpled and his lip was trembling again as he lifted the mirror and held it out. Emma could now hear a commotion on the other end so she grabbed it and looked but all that she could see was darkness.
She looked back to Junior "What happened Kid?"
"I don't know" he wailed then threw himself into her arms "I was talking to Grandpa then there was a loud noise and everything went dark and he wouldn't answer me anymore"
"Hey it's OK" she soothed pulling him up into her arms and heading back up the steps.
The minute she came back into sight Mary-Margaret was up and running towards her "Emma? What's wrong?"
She just shrugged and spoke to Junior again "Hey Kid, I need you to go to Grandma OK. I need you to be brave so that I can go and find out what's going on with Grandpa and Papa, can you do that?"
He nodded against her neck before simply sitting back and holding his arms out to Mary-Margaret who swiftly pulled him into her embrace, hugging him and P.B. tightly and bouncing him slightly.
"It's alright, come on, let's go sit in the hammock for a while" Mary-Margaret soothed but she gave Emma a worried look that clearly said that she needed to know what was going on.
Regina and Henry were now by their side too both looking equally as worried. Henry gave a thin smile up at Emma but again spoke to Junior.
"Come on, we can read a story while Mom does her savior thing. It'll be OK, honest."
Junior gave a sniff and nodded his head so Mary-Margaret headed off to the hammock that hung across the stern as Regina followed Emma back down into the hold. Emma held the mirror up all the time that she was walking but all she could see was darkness and now she couldn't even hear anything either... apart from... wait, was that the sound someone moaning?
"Dad... Hook... God, will someone please just answer me"
"Swan?" a confused muffled voice replied
"KILLIAN" she yelled out "What's going on? Where's my Dad?"
"I... I don't know" he replied "I can't see a bloody thing and I can't move... hang on Love, I'm going to try and free my legs"
Emma looked to Regina "He's trapped? What the hell happened?"
Regina gave a worried look but when Hook started coughing they both looked back at the mirror. They could hear him grunting and moaning then finally he let out a sigh, he must have freed himself.
"Swan, talk to me... I don't know where you are Love"
"Over here... I'm over here. Talk to me, are you alright?"
"A few more bruises to my collection but I am..." he hissed in a breath then growled "Bloody hell!"
"What?" cried back
"Nothing, I am fine" he replied but the tone of his voice had changed, he now sounded like he was fighting back pain.
"Killian?" she said calmly "Please don't lie to me right now, I'm worried enough"
She heard him let out another long sigh "Before this happened I was sleeping by the fire. I think that the teepee has collapsed upon us... hang on..." the sound of him sucking in some deep breaths came through before he carried on "I... I seem to have put... my hand in the hot remnants of the fire... I'll be fine Love... do not worry."
There was rustling and a lot of heavy breathing then suddenly the mirror was brighter and Hook's face appeared. He looked awful in the dim light and he was breathing harshly as he let his head tip back and his eyes rolled closed.
"Killian? Talk to me"
"Sorry" he mumbled blinking his eyes widely and shaking his head slightly "I think I may have been hit in the head"
"HOOK?" Robin's voice suddenly boomed down the mirror and it was just as well because it looked like Hook was passing out because the mirror was slowly sliding to the floor in his hand.
"ROBIN" Regina yelled "HE'S OVER HERE"
There was a lot more rustling then a ripping sound and suddenly the mirror flared brightly as daylight hit it. Emma could hear worried voices and Hook's mumblings as the mirror was lifted and Robin's face appeared.
"Regina, Emma" he gasped out while obviously starting to move off after her Pirate who was being carried by a very large man.
"What's going on Robin?" Regina asked in concern "Are you alright?"
"I am fine" he replied looking at Regina with a smile before turning to Emma "Your Father is being attended to by Lark, I am fairly certain that he will be fine but he too has sustained a head injury that will require stitching"
"And Hook?" Emma asked in worry
Robin's eyes left the mirror and looked up for a second "He again looks a bit bashed up but nothing too serious, hang on, I'll let him to talk to you"
The mirror moved again and suddenly Hook's pale face appeared, he seemed to be leaning against a log out in the open and he had blood running down the right side of his face. He also had the definite look about him of someone with concussion but he gave her a tired smile anyway.
"Hey beautiful"
"Hey yourself" she smiled back blinking away her tears "What's going on Killian? Junior got the crap scared out of him"
The smile fell from Hook's face in an instant "Is he alright Swan? I could hear him in distress but could nothing to get to him"
"He's fine" she soothed "He's with Mary-Margaret and Henry up on deck, I'll take you up to see him in a sec but tell me what's going on first"
He gave a one shouldered shrug "I'm not sure Love as I said before I was sleeping by the fire but from here I can see that the teepee that I was in is now lying in pieces" his head swivelled and he gave a deep frown as he looked around before looking up at Robin "Mate, what has happened?"
Robin's voice carried through the mirror "It would seem that the island cannot support itself without the Shadow Man... it is still falling into the sea"
"WHAT?" Regina boomed "Are you trying to tell me that after everything that we have been through, after EVERYTHING that has happened I am still going to lose you?"
The mirror swung again and Robin appeared "Not if I can help it Regina but we need to find a way back MUCH sooner than we first thought, the island is disappearing at an alarming rate"
"How long?" Regina asked in a monotone voice
Robin sighed, scratched his head and mumbled "A few days at most"
Emma took a staggering step backwards to sit on the couch "No, this can't be happening. This isn't fair"
"That's what I get" Regina suddenly mused by her side and when Emma turned to look at the former Evil Queen it was to see her just staring into space, she raised an eyebrow and said "I should have known better than to believe that I could find happiness, who was I kidding?"
"Don't you dare give up" Robin suddenly called but right as Regina was about to reply there was a huge rumble and the mirror shook.
"Robin? What's going on?" Regina cried out
"The island, it's..."
There was a blinding light, the sound of thunder then the worse noise Emma had ever heard in her life... the sound of cracking glass... and the mirror went silent.
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"Would you let me up Lark" David grit out once the ground settled again "I need to make sure Hook's alright, my daughter will never speak to me again if something's happened to him"
"You need to stay here Shilah, you are injured... let the others find Apenimon"
David tried to shake his head but suddenly the teepee spun and he clamped his eyes closed as Lark shoved him back down onto the makeshift bed "I did try to warn you, Shilah. You need to rest"
David let out a frustrated groan bringing his arm up and burying his face in the crook of it "Well if I can't go check can someone do it for me? I need to know that he's OK."
"Calm yourself Brother" Hook's voice hit his ears and his arm moved in an instant to see the Pirate being helped through the doorway by Bear and Robin "I am fine, you can stop worrying"
Hook looked to be in one piece and David let his head fall back in relief "Thank God for that"
"We have a problem though" the Pirate said but his words turned into a loud groan as he was lowered down onto the bed next to David
David turned his head in concern but he needed to know what the Pirate was talking about "What problem?"
"This" Robin sighed and David's gaze moved in an instant to see... the mirror broken and Robin looking devastated "I am so sorry David. When the last tremor hit I fell and... well this is the result."
David sighed but didn't say anything, Robin looked like he felt guilty enough and Hook seemed to agree as he mumbled.
"It was an accident Mate... we will just need to call the Mermaid back"
"Yeah" David agreed "I'm sure Ariel will help us again"
"Well in that case perhaps I should go and call her" Robin said dropping his gaze "I am sorry to say that Hook was talking to Emma and Regina at the time that I broke it... they will be worried"
"Crap" David sighed letting his head fall back onto the bed "Might be a good idea then but don't go by yourself"
"I shall accompany him" Bear suddenly said stepping forward but if we are to go we should leave now, it will be dark soon and the Neverbeasts are restless"
David gave Robin a sincere look "It wasn't your fault, it was an accident. I'm surprised the mirror survived the teepee falling on me being honest."
Robin just gave a tight smile and a slight nod before looking to Bear "OK we will go, just let me check on Roland before we head off he was with Tala"
Robin and Bear headed off and David's gaze fell back on Hook when he hissed in a huge breath and ground his teeth together. David was confused why he'd done it until Lark pulled the Pirate's hand up and revealed what looked like a huge blistered burn on his palm.
"Ouch" David winced in sympathy "How did you do that?"
"Crawled into the fire" Hook sighed "Not my best move but it was the only path that was free to reach the mirror, Emma was worried"
"You couldn't have just shouted to her?" David threw back rolling his eyes
"I didn't intentionally do it" Hook defended "It was dark alright"
"So besides crawling through the fire... are you alright?"
"Perfect" Hook replied with a sigh
Lark surprised David by giving a chuckle "Perfect? Perfect for what? To be named most bruised person on the island?"
David chuckled too "I think I could give you a run for your money right now... I feel like I was hit by a freight train"
"I have no idea what that is" Hook chuckled back "But it sounds serious. Are you alright Brother?"
"I'm fine Hook, nothing that another bit of thread won't fix... and maybe a few hours sleep wouldn't go amiss too but besides that I'll maybe just be a bit sore for a few days"
Lark finished wrapping Hook's hand before moving to pull up the Pirate's top and humming loudly as he prodded at his ribs.
"Bloody hell Mate" Hook ground out "Is the bruise not indication enough that they bloody hurt?"
"Sorry" Lark muttered but he didn't stop, he just grabbed a pot of the poultice and slathered it across Hook's chest before moving to his hip and doing the same. David thought that he would stop there but he didn't and David found himself frowning when Lark moved to Hook's legs. The medicine man gave Hook a concerned look before slowly pulling up his pants leg and hissing in sympathy once more.
"What?" David asked in concern actually coming up onto his elbow to look only to see another huge blister just below Hook's knee "Oh my God Hook, you kept crawling?"
"I needed to get to Emma" the Pirate justified but he was obviously losing steam fast as he never even opened his eyes this time.
"Hook?" David asked in concern
"I'm fine David, stop fussing... I'm just sick of this damned place. We need to find a way home sooner rather than later but it's just impossible..." he gave a heavy sigh "And now we have lost our one way of saying goodbye if we needed to"
David wanted to tell Hook that he was being stupid, that they would get home but this time he wasn't so sure that they would. He let out a long sigh too flopping back down onto his bed. His head was throbbing and he closed his eyes against the pulsing pain. He must have drifted off for a few minutes but before too long Lark was back holding up a cup for him to drink from. He accepted it expecting tea but what he got was something entirely different. He swallowed it down then stared into the cup to see a dark liquid inside.
"What's this?" he asked looking up at Lark again
Lark laughed and raised an eyebrow "It is better that you do not know, just drink it, it will help with the pain... the remaining tea is lost so this is his only option now"
Lark had nodded at Hook and David found his gaze moving over to the other bed, he frowned in concern when he saw the sheen of sweat on his Brother's brow.
"Is he really OK?" David asked before taking another gulp from his cup
"Aside from the burns he has aggravated his ribs and hip again but both should be fine"
"And the burns?" David asked not liking how Lark had avoided the issue
He sighed and gave David a worried look "I will bathe them often but he has already developed a fever and I do not know if it is from the burns or the Shadow Man's influence... if it is from the burns hopefully I can stop any infection before it gets too severe and I have just ensured that he drank some more apple juice so try not to worry, I am fairly certain that he will be fine"
David closed his eyes, he brought his hand up and held the bridge of his nose lightly but didn't say anything. None of this was Lark's fault and he didn't want to take his frustration out on the man.
He felt Lark's hand lay on his leg "Get some sleep Shilah, I will watch over him and the others"
David suddenly had a thought and his eyes popped open again "Where's Jensen?"
"He is fine, he was not hurt although he too is fighting a fever" Lark gave a slight smile and glanced back at Hook "Worry not Shilah. You will see your family again. Your Brother will find his answer of that I am sure, it is prophesied"
"What?" David asked with a frown, prophesied?
"There has been a legendary story of a man who leads us all to a new land for as long as I can remember"
"Yeah but that doesn't mean that it's him" David tried to reason
But Lark just smiled wider "The legend tells of a man who is also a boy, we assumed it was a scenario similar to Peter Pan but it would seem we were wrong... Apenimon has a younger version of himself yes?"
"Yeah but..." David started
"The legend is quite clear Shilah... and if it makes you feel better you should know that you play your part. We knew that when Apenimon returned he would not return alone, he would have his protector with him... his Brother"
David's eyes moved back to Hook as he tried to figure out if it could be true...
"You should know, just in case there is any doubt, the legend speaks of a man with no Chah-t'kah"
"Sounds painful" David replied with a sigh, where was this going?
"I'm sure it was at the time but you miss the point Shilah" Lark said seriously "For the longest time that part of the legend was mistranslated, we believed that it said "Chah-t'koo'tah" which means "no seat of honor" but when an ancient scroll was found we realized our mistake and knew exactly who Apenimon was"
"OK, so what's the difference? What does the first one mean then? How do you know that it's him and not somebody else?"
Lark raised his eyebrow higher and smirked looking back to Hook "It means "No left hand" Shilah... so you see your Brother is our savior of that I am sure, he will get us home... you will see"