The Shepherd

The Enchanted Forest
Many Years Ago

Princess Gwenevere sat next to her father, King George, and watched as her younger brother, James fought against a very large man. The fight was a test for James. King George's kingdom was running low on gold and King Midas was looking for someone to slay a dragon.

Gwenevere smiled as her brother easily defended himself against the larger man. At one point the man shoved his very sharp spear into James' shield and used it to throw the prince over his head and throw him a few feet away. James didn't move. The man moved in for the death blow. He raised his spear and prepared to shove it into the prince. But, at the last moment, James moved out of the way, kicked the spear from the man's hands, slashed him across the chest, then stabbed him in the chest. James looked at the man and said, "Next time, make sure I'm really dead." Then, he pushed them man away with his foot, allowing the sword to come out of his chest. Then, the man fell to the ground.

The Jewel Riders, knights and other high-ranking members of both courts, all applauded, "Well done!" said King Midas, as he stood and walked over to James.

"Well done?" said King George, as he stood, "There's an understatement. Did you see what my son did to that brute? He just killed the unkillable." George then patted his son on the back.

"A valiant feat, for sure, but it is still just a man. Can he do the same with a dragon?"

"Do fairies sprinkle dust? Do trolls live under bridges?"

James patted his father on the back, "Father, relax." He looked at Midas, "I can kill whatever beast you set after me."

"My kingdom is plagued by a dragon like nothing you've ever faced before," said Midas, "He has killed every warrior that's tried to slay him."

"Well, he's yet to face me."

"My kingdom needs this threat vanquished."

"And my kingdom needs gold," said George, "I'm sure we can work something out."

King Midas raised his right hand. It had a metal gauntlet covering it. A man came up and started to take it off of Midas' hand. Midas looked at him and said, "Careful. Remember what happened to Frederick." The man removed the gauntlet, and everyone could see Midas' hand glowing with golden magic. He looked at James, "Your sword."

James raised his sword and Midas touched it. Then the sword turned to gold, "Consider it a down payment. You'll get the rest when you deliver the dragon's head to me."

"It's a deal," said James, "Forgive me if I refuse to shake on it, King Midas."

Midas laughed then looked at George, "Come. Let's discuss the details…"

Midas and George stepped away. Midas's knights and members of his court followed the two kings. Gwenevere stepped forward and said, "A toast to my fearless brother."

The Jewel Riders and George's knights cheered, "No, there's no celebrating today," said James, "This was but a simple test. The task before us is too big, too important to make light of. Just because I was easily able to kill this brute, doesn't mean…" James was cut off as the man that James was fighting came back to life and stabbed the prince through his chest.

"James!" shouted Gwenevere, as her brother fell to the ground dead.

A short time later, James' body was lying on an altar. King George, Princess Gwenevere, The Jewel Riders and several knights were there.

"Goodbye, my son," said George. He nodded, then several knights carried the body away.

Fallon and Tamara walked up to the grieving monarchs and Fallon said, "Your Majesty… Your Highness… there is no time to grieve. If Midas learns he is dead, he will find another warrior to slay his dragon, and we will never see an ounce of his gold."

"Yes, yes. The kingdom must survive," said George.

"Father," said Gwenevere, "Let me take the Jewel Riders and a few other knights. Our magic will protect us enough to defeat the dragon."

"Normally, I would… but Midas is looking for more than just a dragon slayer. He's looking for a man to marry his daughter Abigail."

"So, what are we to do?" asked Tamara.

"I have asked for help," said King George, "It should be here soon."

"Oh, it's here," said a voice behind them. They all turned and saw Rumplestiltskin behind them.

"Leave us," said the King. The knights and the Jewel Riders left George and the Dark One to talk.

Gwenevere always knew her brother James was adopted. But she didn't care. She loved him anyway. But she was shocked when her father told her that James had a twin brother named David. David had agreed to take James' place. The Jewel Riders would slay the dragon, George's knights would keep David out of harm's way and David would present the dragon's head to King Midas.

George's knights made camp below the mountains were the dragon lived. David was looking at his reflection in a shield. King Midas walked up to him and said, "There he is. Our savior! The man who is going to tear the dragon limb from limb." David pulled James' gold sword out of it sheath. Then, he nodded. David started to put the sword away when Midas stopped him, "You do this, and you'll be a legend."

Midas walked away. Then, Gwenevere, Fallon and Tamara walked up to him. Tamara noticed his armor was loose, "Here... let me. You fastened it wrong."

Tamara fixed it then Fallon took David's sword, "Here… give me that," she said.

"How will I fight?" asked David, "How will I protect myself?"

"You won't," said Gwenevere, "You will stay outside the cave while we kill the dragon."

"If you don't come out of this alive, Midas won't give our kingdom any gold," said Fallon.

"You might have the title of hero, but not the job," said Tamara.

Just then they heard the dragon roar from the mountains.

The Jewel Riders lead David and a group of knights along a narrow mountain trail. As they walked, they saw the remnants of previous knights who had tried to slay the dragon. Soon, they arrived at the dragon's cave. Gwenevere looked at David, "The dragon's lair is through there. You stay here. We'll be back."

Gwenevere, Fallon and Tamara each took the Enchanted Jewels they wore on the belt around their waist off and held it up to the sky. Gwenevere had a sun shaped jewel, Fallon's was shaped like a crescent moon, and Tamara's was shaped like a heart. "By the Magic of the Sun Stone," said Gwenevere.

"By the Magic of the Moon Stone," said Fallon.

"By the Magic of the Heart Stone," said Tamara.

Then, Gwenevere was surrounded by yellow magic, Fallon was surrounded by blue magic and Tamara was surrounded by red magic. When the magic cleared the armor that each woman was wearing had changed to match the color of the magic that surrounded them. Then, the Jewel Riders and a some of the knights drew their weapons and entered the cave while two knights stayed behind with David.

They entered the cave and almost instantly they ran right into the dragon. Before they could even get a chance to fight the dragon it blew fire at them. The knights that were with the Jewel Riders were burned alive but the magic the Jewel Riders had protected them. They weren't burned by the fire, but they were knocked back and blown out of the cave knocking their swords from their hands. They were knocked out for a moment but when Gwenevere came to she felt David pulling her away from the cave. "Where's your sword?" he asked.

Before Gwenevere could answer the dragon came out of the cave they were able to get behind a rock as the dragon blew fire at them, as it flew away. "Stay here," said David. David left her behind and grabbed a sword from one of the fallen knights. But the sword was still hot, and he burned his hand. The dragon flew toward David and blew fire at him. But David was able to move out of the way of the blast, as the dragon flew up into the sky again to prepare for another attack. David looked back at the way he and the others came and saw a small crevice he and the others had to walk through to get to the dragon's cave.

He started to run to it and picked up the golden sword that Fallon had taken from him. The dragon landed and started to follow him. Gwenevere sat up and watched as the dragon followed him and then got stuck in the small space. Then a few moments later, the dragon stopped moving. Then, David walked around the body of the dragon and Gwenevere, Tamara and Fallon got to their feet and walked over to David. "What happened?" asked Gwenevere.

"I killed the dragon…" said David a little stunned, "He got stuck between the rocks and I cut its head off."

Storybrooke
Present Day

Starla was in her classroom, packing up to go home for the day, when Mary Margaret came in, "Starla… He left his wife. David… He left her. He left Kathryn."

"Wait. What?" asked Starla.

Mary Margaret pulled up a chair and sat down next to her friend, "He did it for me. He wants me to be with him. He wants me to meet him tonight."

"That's, uh…"

"I mean, I'm trying so hard to be strong, but he just keeps coming. I mean, how do I stop it? You know, how do I let him down? What would you do?"

"I'd go."

"What?"

Starla smiled, "Mare… He left her. It's one thing to say that he wants you, but it's another to actually make a choice and now, he has. That's all you can ask for."

"Given her new friendship with Kathryn, I don't think Regina would be happy."

Starla rolled her eyes, "Whose happiness is more important? Yours or Regina's?"

"Good Lord, is this really happening?" asked Mary Margaret

"You tell me?" asked Starla with a smile.

Mary Margaret smiled.

The Enchanted Forest
Many Years Ago

Midas, George, David and Gwenevere were in George's council chambers looking at the dragon's head that Midas had turned to gold. "He has done it," said George, "Everything you asked for and more. My son battled the dragon and prevailed."

"Bring it to the palace," said Midas to a couple of his guards, "Put it between the chimera and the mapinguary."

George whispered to David, "We did it. We pulled it off."

"Yes," whispered David, "Now how much longer before I can return home?"

"That's a discussion not for now."

Midas turned and looked at the other three nobles in the room, "From this day forth, may that beast's head be a reminder to us of the valiant warrior who killed it. The bravest, most noble prince I have ever met. You have earned my utmost respect." Midas bowed his head.

"We treasure that respect, King Midas," said Gwenevere, "Just as we respect your treasure."

"Yes, yes. You were promised gold and gold you shall have. But I did not get to where I am by thinking small. I stand before you now because I dared to dream big. I was not just looking for a dragon slayer. I was looking for the strongest warrior in the land. A hero. Someone who could unite the kingdoms. Someone I would be proud to call family. Bring her!" The door opened and a blond woman in a blue dress walked in flanked by two of Midas' guards. "Lady, Gentlemen. May I present my daughter, Abigail. Beyond gold – beyond anything – I value her most. I promised her I would only give her hand in marriage when I could find a companion worthy of her. And now, I have."

Abigail looked David up and down, "He killed the dragon?" she asked. Midas nodded, then she said, "I guess he'll do."

"And so, Prince James, I offer you my daughter's hand in marriage," said Midas.

David was taken aback, "King Midas, I am humbled by your generous offer, but I cannot honestly say…"

George cut him off, "My son… always so humble." He pulled David into a hug. Gwenevere couldn't hear what her father was saying. Then George broke the hug and put his hands on either side of David's face, "I will take your silence for wisdom. Follow it. I know you'll make the right decision."

A short time later, David and Abigail walked toward Midas, George and Gwenevere, hand in hand, "Let this mark the beginning of a new era – of a new kingdom. United and strong," said Midas.

"An era of mutual prosperity," said George.

"Abigail. James," said Midas, "As I stay to work out the particulars of our new land with King George and Princess Gwenevere, go to your new home at my palace. We'll be along shortly, and the celebration will be beyond your dreams."

"Thank you, Daddy," said Abigail, "I trust that you know best."

George took David aside, "I'm glad you made the right decision, son."

"Thank you…father," said David.

They shook hands and Abigail walked over to them, "Come… I'm tired of waiting," she said.

"Well then, our journey shall begin! I'd thought we might take the scenic route."

Abigail didn't say anything. She just walked toward their carriage. George looked at David and said, "Smile, son. You're on the road to true love."

Gwenevere noted the sad smile and David's face.

Storybrooke
Present Day

The next day before school started Starla went to Mary Margaret's classroom. Starla and Archie had a date that night and she got home kind of late, and she didn't want to wake Mary Margaret to find out what happened at the Toll Bridge. Starla was smiling when she walked in the room and saw Mary Margaret setting up her room for the day. She looked kind of sad. "Mare?" asked Starla, as her smile went away, "What's wrong?"

Mary Margaret just sighed, "Nothing."

"It doesn't sound like nothing," said Starla, as she walked up to her friend, "Did didn't David show up at the Toll Bridge last night?"

"Yeah," said Mary Margaret, "He did..."

Starla was confused, "Then, what's wrong?"

"He told me that he got his memory back… He remembered how he felt about Kathryn, and he wanted to go back to her to give her a second chance."

"What?" asked Starla, "You told me that he wanted you to be with him?"

"He told me that he had feelings for me that he didn't understand but he wanted to go back to her because 'it's the right thing to do'"

"That's crazy. So, what did you do?"

"I pretty much just left him there and then went to Granny's… Where I met Dr. Whale."

"Dr. Whale?"

"Yeah… He came up to me as I sat at the bar at Granny's. We talked a little and had a couple of drinks and then we went back to his place…"

Starla was shocked, "Mary Margaret Blanchard. Are you telling me you had a one-night stand with Dr. Whale?" Mary Margaret nodded.

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