chapter 11. history
warnings: light violence, like half edited.
♥
"NOW, just think how happy Emma and Snow will be when they come home to find that you've become a proper knight," said David, patting Henry on the back as he led Max and him through the stables. "Say hello to your steed."
They had stopped in front of the first stall in the building, which contained a white, brown-speckled horse. Both Max and David reached out to pet it, Henry hesitatingly following their lead.
"Is he really mine?" he asked.
David nodded. "Yep, this one's yours."
"So... how do I get on him?"
"Oh, you're not riding today."
Henry frowned. "I'm not?"
"No," David shook his head, "there's much to learn before you hop in the saddle."
"Like what?"
"Well, every morning you'll have to muck out his stall," he informed. "Then you'll brush him and feed him. After school, you'll do it again. Every day, twice a day."
Max's eyebrows rose, though she kept her eyes on the horse. "Did Prince Charming really muck out his own stables?" she asked, adding a mocking regal accent when pronouncing his nickname.
David hesitated. "No... but I did back when I was a shepherd."
"I thought you were teaching Henry how to be a prince, not a shepherd."
David took a deep breath, most likely trying to maintain his patience. "Taking care of the horse builds an essential bond, the trust between knight and steed," he said.
Max rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I know. I've ridden horses before. Calm down, I'm just teasing."
"You have?" Henry's voice echoed from beside her.
She turned to him, nodding. "Yeah, and I can sword fight, too. So rest assured that you'll be hearing my snarky commentary during all of this."
Henry's brows rose all the way to meet his bangs. "You can sword fight too?!"
"Yeah, though I always preferred using daggers."
David frowned, confused. "Daggers?"
She nodded once more. "Yeah. Not a knife, not a sword, but they can do the job of either."
"You're so young," said the prince quietly. "How did you learn all of this?"
Max simply shrugged. "I was taught."
"By who?" asked Henry.
Everything about the girl's body language suddenly changed. She tensed, eyes casting down to look at the ground instead of either of her companion's faces. "No one important," she dismissed.
Even as she stepped away to get him the supplies he needed, Henry kept his eyes on his best friend, not really listening to David giving him more detailed instructions.
When they had first become friends, Max was very reserved. But after a while, she had begun to open up to him and he to her, until it became normal for them to confide in each other. But ever since Max got her memories back, she had been pulling away from him again.
He wanted to go back to how things were, but he didn't know how to move forward when Max wouldn't talk to him. He couldn't push her either, that would just take her further away. There was nothing he could do right now except wait for Max to come to him, and that knowledge made him feel utterly helpless.
♥
"I already told you, I'm just a blacksmith," said the dark-haired man as Mulan tied him to the tree. Emma stood watching him with a steely gaze. He was a good liar — the way his voice quivered and eyes dotted around the place — but he wasn't good enough to fool her.
"Sure you are," she said, turning around and whistling, revealing their location to the ogres, whose roars soon echoed in the distance. "You don't want to talk to us? Maybe you'll talk to the ogres while they rip you limb from limb."
The roaring got louder.
"Come on," said Emma, gesturing for the rest of the group to follow her.
"What?" exclaimed the man. "You can't just leave me here like this!"
Aurora stopped to look back at him. "What if he's telling the truth?"
"He's not," said Emma, then she counted in her head. One. Two. Three–
"Good for you!"
Emma stopped walking, a smirk pulling at her lips.
"You bested me. I can count the amount of people who've done that on one hand," the man said.
"That supposed to be funny?" she asked, turning back and walking towards him. "Who are you?"
The man released a breath. "Killian Jones. But most people have taken to calling me by my more colourful moniker," he said, rather suspensefully. Emma tilted her head. "Hook."
Mary Margret's eyes widened in recognition. "Hook."
"Check me satchel."
Emma sighed. This was too much. "As in Captain Hook?"
He smirked. "Ah, so you've heard of me."
Just as Mary Margret pulled Hook's hook out of his satchel, the ogres' roars sounded again, and the entire atmosphere turned serious once more.
"You better hurry up. They're getting closer. So unless you wanna be dinner, you better stop talking."
Hook gave a humorless chuckle. "Cora wanted me to gain your trust so I could learn everything there is to know about your Storybrooke. She didn't want any surprises when she finally got over there."
"She can't get there. We destroyed the wardrobe," said Mary Margret.
"Ah, but the enchantment remains. Cora gathered the ashes. She's gonna use them to open up a portal."
The ogres roared again, getting closer still.
"Now, if you'll kindly cut me loose–"
"No," said Mulan. "We should leave him here to die, to pay for all the lives that he took."
"That was Cora, not me."
Emma wasn't persuaded. "Let's go," she said.
"Wait. Wait! You need me alive!"
Emma rolled her eyes. "Why?"
"Because we both want the same thing. To get back to your land."
"You will say anything to save yourself," said Emma, "why are we supposed to believe you now?"
"I arranged for transport with Cora, but seeing how resourceful you are, I'll offer you the same deal. I'll help you if you... promise to take me along."
"How are you going to help us get home?" asked Mary Margret.
"The ashes will open a portal, but to find your land, she needs more. There's an enchanted compass. Cora seeks it. I'll help you obtain it before she does."
"So Cora won't make it to Storybrooke, and we'll be one step closer to getting home," Emma finished.
Mary Margret shook her head. "Sounds too good to be true."
Hook glared at her. "There's only one way to find out."
The ogres were so close now that their roars shook the trees where they stood. Emma pulled out the dagger from her boot and pointed it at Hook's throat. "You tell me one thing. And whatever you say, I better believe it... Why does Captain Hook wanna go to Storybrooke?"
Hook looked directly into Emma's eyes. His gaze was unyielding, filled with a quiet rage. He wasn't lying.
"To exact revenge on the man who took my hand. Rumpelstiltskin."
♥
CLIMBING the beanstalk was a challenge — a challenge Emma wasn't close to failing, but a challenge nonetheless. They had been climbing for a long time now, and she was struggling. She had fallen behind Captain Hook (she still couldn't really believe that's who she was joined on this adventure with) quite a bit at this point, who, despite only having one hand, was doing considerably better than her.
"First beanstalk?" the pirate's voice echoed from above her. He was truly very annoying. When he wasn't lying, he always sounded like he was either mocking you or flirting. It didn't seem he had any other emotions.
She didn't answer.
"Well, you never forget your first."
Emma rolled her eyes, still not dignifying him with a response.
She was getting closer to him now, but not because she had picked up her pace. Hook had stopped his climbing altogether to talk to her. "You know," he said, "most men would take your silence as off-putting, but..." the man leaned down towards her ever so slightly, "I love a challenge," he said, a stupid grin pulling at his lips.
"I'm concentrating," she said, tone unimpressed.
"No," he said, "you're afraid. Afraid to talk. To reveal yourself. To trust me. Things would be a lot smoother if you do."
"You should be used to people not trusting you." She sassed, now having gotten ahead of him.
"Ah, the pirate thing. Well," he said, continuing his climbing of the beanstalk, "I don't need you to share. You're something of an open book."
These words made Emma still, looking down at Hook. "Am I?" she challenged.
"Quite," said Hook, sounding sincere, catching up to her so they were face to face once more. "Let's see... you volunteered to come up here because you were the most motivated. You have the most to lose."
She scoffed, looking away from the man. "I need to get back to my son. Not that you would understand that."
"You have no idea of what I do or do not understand."
Emma turned back towards him, face contorted in shock. "You have a kid?"
Hook chuckled. "Ah, no. But biology ain't the only thing that makes family. I know how it feels to care for someone in that way."
♥
DAVID had left sometime ago to go check on the dwarves, leaving Max and Henry alone. The boy was currently bushing his horse, while Max stood to the side, only helping by occasionally giving him instructions. She had insisted that if Henry wanted to build a proper bond with his horse; he was going to have to brush him alone. Though Henry believed she was being sincere, he suspected it was also an excuse for her not to do any work.
Wanting to fill the current silence with something, Henry addressed the horse. "Gramps says that you'll tell me when I'm ready to ride you. So... anytime. Like, soon?"
The horse's response was to neigh loudly. Guess it wasn't so keen on having Henry ride it. Henry muttered an "okay" under his breath and went back to brushing, but it kept on neighing like crazy. Max stood up, alarmed, and suddenly every horse in the stall joined in, sounding absolutely crazed. It wasn't long before Henry's horse reared back, knocking off of the stool and into the wall, and ran off.
Max rushed to check on him. She scanned his face to check if he was in pain, but Henry didn't meet her gaze. He was staring at something past her shoulder, looking terrified as holy hell. Max turned around and spotted the cause of the commotion in the stall doorway: a man she had never seen before. She was standing in milliseconds, pulling Henry behind her.
"You– you– you gotta stop. Listen, y–you're scaring the horses." Henry addressed the man, as Max kept on cautiously examining him. The enchanted forest clothes he was wearing, the crazed distant look in his eyes — she didn't trust him one bit. She took her eyes off his and they quickly landed on his hands, which were dripping with a red liquid, and she immediately pulled out her dagger, holding it out in front of her.
Henry seemed to have noticed this, too. "Are you hurt?" he asked, still shaking.
"Henry," she said sternly, "I don't think he's hurt. Stay behind me."
Suddenly, the man lunged towards them. Max tossed Henry out of the way, ducked away from the attack, got up behind him and sliced him across his leg. The man fell over, gripping his leg in pain. Just as Max had grabbed Henry again, Regina and David showed up.
"Daniel! Daniel!"
Her shouting distracted the man, and the kids took the chance to run out of the stall.
David turned to them. "Are you okay?!"
"Yeah," they both said.
David nodded. "Go!" he shouted, and they did as he said, rushing out of the stables.
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