Dawn

Chapter 2

Homeward Bound

"You and Taka. That is home."

Rumplestiltskin didn't know how long he had been propped up against the tree, and quite frankly he didn't care. His life was over the moment his father flew away to Neverland. What was he going to do now? True, he had always taken care of himself. He had never even seen his mother and his father had never been there for him. He usually spent the money for food at the pub or gambling with the other street urchins. Rumple should have known that he was looking at his future. He had always had to support himself, and in some ways he had always been alone. So what now? What was left to do than to be one of those steer urchins, forgotten by the world and by their parents? He'd never go to the orphanage. It would be worse than living on the street. The children there were meal tickets, nothing else.

There was one more option. The spinster woman who had always shown him kindness when the rest of the town ignored him. Living in his father's shadow, she had been the only one who had ever noticed or cared about the poor son of the coward. But he wondered if he would be welcome. He couldn't just walk into her house and ask to stay. If there was one thing his father had taught him was that he was just a burden on society, on his father, and on all of those around him. He had to support himself as he had always done, and like many times before just go it alone.

Rumplestiltskin however was still a child. As much as he tried to fight the tears welling in his eyes, he could no longer hold them steady. Malcolm has always shouted at him whenever he shed tears. That wasn't how a man was supposed to act. His father was gone now. And if he was to be on his own at eight years old, than he'd make his own rules. He began to sob into his hands, not caring if anyone heard him. He doubted if anyone noticed or cared anyway. He let loose every tear he held back from his old man.

There was one last desperate attempt to rely on the same thing that had taken his father from him: Magick. He had heard as most children did of Rheul Ghorm, or the Blue Fairy, a powerful fairy who granted children's wishes. Yet however much he begged and cried towards the blue light that shone even in the afternoon sky, the autumn wind seemed to blow even colder. It was as if the light in the sky was glaring coldly down at him as his father had often done. A sense of dread and panic began to wash over the boy as the afternoon went on. Night would fall in only a few hours. These woods were dangerous. He had to keep moving and find somewhere to hide.

The young boy was ready to finally rise to his feet when he saw a strange shape forming in the mists. At first, he saw what looked like the shape in the mist of a girl, a teenager about six or eight winters older than him. The mists changed, the fog shifting shape as it always did around this enchanted land. It was hard to know what was real and what wasn't. The shape had changed to one of the species of big cats said to roam the Highlands and the forests. His heart started to thud against his chest as the mist formed the shape of what was unmistakeably a lynx. Big cats were predators, and a young boy all alone in the wild probably seemed like supper. Perhaps it was just the fog playing tricks on him again.

The cat continued to pace forward. Out of the mist indeed came a lynx. Her fur was an unusual golden color, and her spots seemed to sparkle in the early evening light. The female lynx was padding right towards him with determination, her amber eyes focused right on his. He began to shake as she seemed to be focused on him. He was being hunted. The scar running across her eye made him shiver. Somehow, her unsteady limp and that scar made her more terrifying. As she opened her mouth to vocalize, he tried to scramble up his feet but he was frozen in fear. "No…no…no! Please! Get!" He waved his cloak at her and the instead of charging, the she lynx flinched, ears flattening in fear. But she wasn't backing away. She moved slowly…almost cautiously…towards him. His breathing quickened as she sat not even a few inches away from him. Neither one of them moved a muscle.

She wasn't attacking him. She looked right into his eyes, ear twitching. She raised her paw and he threw his arms over his head in defense. But the touch he felt wasn't savage. It was gentle. She was pawing at his arm with a gentle touch, claws sheathed. He heard a chirp in her throat. Perhaps it was his own imagination but he thought he heard a Scottish accented voice like his own coming from the leather collar around her neck. "No. Don't be afraid. See? Good cat." His breath caught in his throat as he saw her do something unexpected. She rolled into her back in front of him and exposed her fluffy lighter underbelly, paws held up in submission like a housecat as she rolled on her back from side to side. Despite himself and his misery, the sight made him giggle. She wasn't going to hurt him. She was being playful. She was acting just like any other cat.

"Nice…kitty…" the boy murmured tentatively as he held his hand above the lynx's head once she stopped flopping around. She flinched at first as if she was used to being struck. But then she arched up against his hand and started loudly purring. The boy gently brushed his fingers over her forehead to watch her arch up again and again. He smiled as he kept petting her head. He had always loved animals. They were the only ones who seemed to want his company. Rumple had always gotten along better with the sheepdogs in the village than his own father. He smiled at her despite the heartbreak that still stung like an open wound. "My name's Rumplestiltskin." He spoke as if speaking to another person, not a strange lynx who seemed to be more domesticated than wild.

The hoot of an owl spooked him and the cold wind blew again. She came closer to him and nuzzled him, standing in front of him in a protective stance. She stood over him as well, like he had seen stray cats standing over kittens in the village to protect them from people like his father. He heard a low growl rumble in her throat, her amber eyes focused on the sky. She bared her teeth and hissed, and her focus seemed to be right in the sky at an unseen enemy. It made him realize that he was lost in these woods. The reality of his father's abandonment came crashing over him again, harsher than any rock slide. Cold dread swept over him and the tears of a lost little boy sprung up in his eyes again. He could no longer stop them. He began sobbing once again and without even thinking he wrapped his arms around her, burying his face in her fur. She sat there still and not only let him, but one paw drew him in close to her chest and neck. He felt her scratchy tongue lick at his hair and his face. Her teeth lightly grazed over his soft brown hair. She was grooming him.

He sobbed into her fur for what seemed like an eternity, his breathing finally eased after a while. The creature took the corn husk doll his father had given him in her mouth and placed it in his hands with her teeth. He sighed, looking over what was once his favorite and only toy in his hands. His father had left him alone with no help. No one to help him but a wild animal and nothing to his name but the horn husk doll. Rumple sat in silence for moment before standing up and looking over the ravine that had flown down from Splash Mountain, one of the tallest mountains and falls in the forest. "Peter Pan's gone." He told the she cat with a sad sigh. The young boy in one swift motion tossed the doll over the falls. The lynx stared at him, her amber eyes going wide as she watched the doll crash into the rocks and flowing water below. "But I don't need him anymore." The boy sniffled and wiped his tears with his sleeves.

After she pressed himself against her in silence for a moment, the lynx chirped and flicked her tail as she began to walk away. She kept looking back over her shoulder and meowing. Did she want him to follow her? Perhaps she had a den where he could hide until he could find a safe place to live. It was better than nothing. She made her way through the forest, and his curiosity grew as he followed closely behind her. To keep himself occupied and his mind off his abandonment, he talked to her as if she was another person. That was another complaint of his father's. He talked too much. At least there was nothing to lose now. The boy continued talking as she padded her way along the forest floor. "Oi, what happened to your leg?" Rumple asked noticing that the lynx was limping from an old injury. The leg looked like it had been previously broken, right on the knee. She didn't seem to mind his question. The lynx chirped at him in amusement. At least…he thought she was amused?

"When I become a papa and have a family of my own, I'll never ever leave my son. When I'm all grown up I'm never gonna be like him. That's right. I'll be brave and never leave the people I love. When I'm big I'll be much better than him." He nodded in determination. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to turn his back on his father. After all, Malcolm had turned his back on him. He must have been distracted. He hadn't noticed that she had brought him right to the door of the spinner woman who had always looked after him. He shook his head and tears came to his eyes. "No. I can't. I can't just ask someone for help like that." She seemed to huff at him, as almost in annoyance and rolled her amber eyes before she pawed on the door. The door began to creak open.

The older spinner had a kind and sad look in her eyes as the young boy flung his arms around her. "I know wee one. I know." Agatha spoke in a soothing whisper. The boy in between shedding tears looked back over his shoulder for his furry new friend. She was nowhere to be seen. In the distance all he could hear was the pegging of arm crutches. After Agatha bid him to go have himself a lie down, he gladly obliged. The scent of meat pie drifted through the hovel. The boy lay back and looked out of the window into the outside world. He kept wondering about the strange lynx with the scarred eye that had cared enough to bring him to his new home. She must have ran away. He wondered if she was fearful of humans or if they were the cause of those scars. He wondered if she'd be back, of if she was truly gone forever much like his father. One day he would repay her kindness. And one day he'd be a much better man than his father.