disclaimer: We do not own any of the OUAT characters. Just our added characters.
Extra info: This story has two writers. One of us writes Helena and the other writes Amy. You will notice a difference in how Helena's and Amy's perspectives are portrayed, we wrote them like we ourselves notice/see things. Fair warning: we are insane. Enjoy!
Chapter Two
Early mornings in the enchanted forest were always a beautiful affair assuming whatever witch, wizard, Dark One, or anyone else, was not using magic to cloud the skies. This particular morning that was not the case. The skies were clear of dark magic clouds and the early morning birds were singing. Somewhere, close to a small cabin on the outskirts of King George's mighty kingdom, a young wolf-girl was, surprisingly, sound asleep. She slept completely ignorant of the beautiful morning around her and the impending rude awakening coming her way. A good thing too. It would be a long time before she slept so soundly again.
"Rieka! Why aren't you awake yet?"
Helena's eyes shot open at the stranger's voice. Jumping up she reached for the knife on her bedside table wondering how she had been deep enough in sleep to have not heard the stranger enter her room. When her hand came back empty of her knife and not having found the table, Helena's brain kicked in. Taking in her surroundings for the first time Helena found not the green walls of her room, but the tall trunks of oak trees, and instead of her bed she found a few furs laid out on the ground. No wonder Helena was so soundly asleep. Helena is outside. Wait, why is Helena outside?
"Rieka?"
Helena turned to take in the woman who woke her up. She was tall, at least as tall as Helena. With dark hair. Her face was admittedly very beautiful. With a sharp jaw, perfect eyebrows, green eyes, and pink lips. At the moment those lips were slightly down turned into a frown. Most notable, however, was the bright red cloak the woman wore.
"Ruby?" The woman before her looked like a character from Once Upon a Time, a TV show Helena watched just last year.
"Rieka," The Once Upon a Time look-alike said hesitantly "Are you feeling alright? Did something happen last night?"
Now thoroughly confused Helena shook her head trying to make sense of what little she knew. Helena is not at Helena's house. Helena is in the woods with a person who looks like Ruby Lucas from a TV show and she keeps calling Helena "Rieka". One, two, find a third thing, Helena. Find a third thing. Air. The air smelled…full. Lots of scents. With her three things, Helena snapped her head back up to a concerned-looking Ruby look-alike.
"No…yes…sorry. I think, uh, last night left me a little disoriented." Helena said, guessing at what would be the most believable. Thankfully, she had a lot of practice.
The Ruby look-alike nodded her brows still furrowed "Who is Ruby? Do I look like her?"
"Just someone I used to know. I was dreaming, and yeah, you do look a little like her. Sorry, I mixed you up…Red." Another guess on Helena's part. One that proved worthwhile when the other woman nodded once again.
"That's alright. Come on, Snow is Expecting us." Red turned around, her red cloak swishing behind her as she made her way back through the trees.
Great. Helena was somehow in Once Upon a Time. With uncertainty knotting in her stomach, Helena followed Red, counting all the way. One, two, three. One, two, three.
It did not take the pair long to exit the forest into a clearing of sorts with a small cabin tucked into the side. A woman who was clearly Snow White already stood outside decked out in the outfit Helena remembered her wearing through the time when she was still a bandit. Light-colored leather trousers, vest of the same coloring with furs around the shoulders, presumably holding up the light greenish-brown cloak she wore. With Red and Snow together and Snow still dressed like that, there could only be one time gap Helena could now be in. which unfortunately still did not help her much because this shoe was horrible at explaining how much time passed between events. She could be here for months before anything interesting happened. That is, assuming this was not a dream.
Helena plastered a smile on her face and forced excitement into her eyes. Whatever Snow had been waiting on them for Helena assumed it was a planned event. Probably one she should be excited for.
Snow smiled and waved as the two approached. "Good morning, Rieka. Did you sleep in?"
Where Ruby's No, Red's, where Red's question stemmed from worry, Snow seemed slightly teasing in her inquiry.
Helena grinned. "A little, I was out late last night." the lie rolling off her tongue as easily as ever.
Snow shook her head, "You wolves always sleep better after a good run. Makes me wonder why you don't run more often, Red."
Helena let her smile take on a teasing tone and turned a raised eyebrow at Red. Hoping the move fit whatever character she was supposed to be. "Yeah, Red, why don't you join me for runs more often?" Helena teased, extremely thankful for the years she spent bluffing her way through conversations she knew nothing about.
Red shook her head "You both know I'm not as connected with my wolf as you are." She said looking at Helena. "I didn't grow up with Mom's help."
Something twisted in Helena's chest. An instinct reaction to Red's words. Something else in her mind seemed to take over and she let words escape her without thinking about them. "We've talked about this. There were advantages to how each of us grew up and we both have to live with the cost of those advantages." Helena had to hide her confusion at her own words. Had she just spoken with a German accent? Where had that come from? One, two, three. Green, red, white. Breathe. Just breathe
Red was already talking again. "I know, and I am very glad you found me outside the den. Your instructions have been so helpful when learning how to live with my wolf." Red suddenly threw her arms around Helena in an enthusiastic hug.
If there was one thing Helena hated above all else, it was not knowing how to feel. When she did not know how to feel she did not know how to act or what to say. And when she did not know how to act or what to say she made mistakes. Helena hated making mistakes. Especially, when it came to handling other people.
Unfortunately, it was a pattern Helena was forever doomed to repeat. So, when Red threw her arms around Helena to hug her, Helena went stiff before shoving her away. The sudden intrusion into her personal space and the conflicting emotions of not knowing this person, not wanting Red to touch her, and something in her screaming that this was normal, telling her that she was used to Red hugging her. They were all too much.
Red held her hands up, backing away quickly. She had forgotten that Rieka often reacted badly to sudden physical contact. An untold number of months alone in the forest would do that to a person. Red and Snow had both suffered from the same issues. When someone went an extended period of time without physical contact, whether they normally liked it or not, it would feel like too much. Both women knew to stand back and give Rieka a moment. Rieka put both hands up to her face, covering any visual reaction that might have been seen. Not even half a minute later, twenty-one seconds to be precise, Rieka's shoulders straightened. Her hands came down revealing a face void of any particular emotions, eyes, somehow a mix between gray and brown.
"Sorry, I just…needed a second."
Snow and Red simply nodded with Red stepping forward to offer her apology. "I'm the one who should be sorry. I forgot you still haven't adjusted yet."
Rieka accepted the apology and that was the end of it.
As it turned out the thing Snow had been waiting on them for was hunting. The three of them had planned to go together. Helena was happy to sit back and watch as Red and Snow used their forestry skills to track prey across and around game trails. Thankfully, it seemed the other two were content to let her. Whoever Rieka was, Snow and Red were evidently used to odd behavior from her. Helena knew she would not have gotten away with a disaster like earlier back home. There had been one time, but the group had not realized she was so close to panicking. Out of all her friends that day Alex was the only one who noticed. Wisely he had not approached her about it, but it still irked Helena that he noticed.
None of this made any sense. Helena was somehow inside Once Upon a Time. She was a character She did not even remember being part of the story. Did that make Helena a new character? Or just someone she forgot? How did these things normally work? Amy would know. Why couldn't this have happened to Amy? She would have actually been excited about this. Not like Helena. Helena had to go and nearly have a panic attack in front of Snow and Red.
One, two, three. breathe. One, two, three. Breathe
She had to get back. Living without her friends, without the people who could keep her controlled, would be too hard. Helena had to find a way home. But until then she would play this character and live their life. She was good at that. She had been doing it for years with her parents.
And there you go. A look into my mind. or more specifically how I think. Let me know what yall think. about the chapter and anything else you guys might have notes on. we would love to hear them