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INDIANA JONES
xi. RUM, REALLY?
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1800s
THE ENCHANTED FOREST.
15-YEAR-OLD INDIANA JONES ROLLED her eyes as she stared up at the tower before her. She stood there, dumbfounded as to how her only friend managed to get herself stuck in there for the night. Three years had passed since Indiana was introduced to the Miller's daughter, Cora. She gave her a temporary home and food, not caring that the girl was considered a criminal. Hell, Cora even cheered Indiana on as she became a well-known bandit, stealing for her own personal gain, along with Cora's. Indiana's name and every horrible thing she's done was known all over, and it wasn't just because she killed several members of the Royal Guard.
Nonetheless, Indiana thought Cora was an absolute idiot for managing to get herself trapped in a tower. Just a few hours before, her friend managed to sneak into a ball with Indiana as her own personal bodyguard. This lasted up until Cora got caught for sneaking into the ball. She would've been murdered, but then she told the world that she knew how to spin regular straw into gold, thus delaying her inevitable death by a few hours.
Sticking her fingers into her mouth, Indiana let out a loud whistle. This seemed to do the trick of gaining the guards outside the tower's attention. The three guards gasped and grunted when they spotted the young teenager. They seemed to immediately recognize her as Indiana, for they called out her name, along with, "get her!"
As the guards ran at her, Indiana merely strolled toward them. Suddenly, she kicked the first guard's knees so that he cowered down. Indiana jumped onto his shoulders, twisting his head harshly. As the first guard fell to the floor, dead, Indiana boosted herself off of him to attack the second guard. He attempted to jab his sword at her. The girl slid between his legs, hopping up and using the dagger she stole forever ago to slit his throat open.
The sound of running filled her ears, causing Indiana to smirk. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, buddy," Indiana called out. She stuck her dagger back in her boot, pulling out her whip at the same time. The whip was the only weapon Indiana owned that she didn't steal. The cracking sound of the weapon filled the air as she used the whip to grab the third guard by her neck, dragging him back to her. "Where were you running off to, hm?"
"Pl-Please! Don't—"
The man's sentence was interrupted by the poison working its way throughout his body. He was dead within seconds. Indiana made a clicking sound with her mouth. "Pathetic," Indiana spat. "You're all grown men and you couldn't handle a 15-year-old kid? Tch."
With that being said, Indiana placed her whip back at her hip and strolled into the tower. She rapidly climbed up the staircase. By the time she arrived at the room Cora was being kept in, she could hear Cora groaning in annoyance. "It's not happening," Cora complained.
"You just need to stop thinking about it," a familiar voice told her. Rumplestiltskin. Indiana knew that voice anywhere. "Magic is about emotion. Summon up that moment that made you so angry, you would've killed."
"You do that?" Cora's voice asked softly.
"I do," the same voice answered.
"What's your moment?" Cora wondered.
Rumplestiltskin put a bitter smile on his face. "Once... a man made me kiss his boots in front of my son and his best friend," the Dark One began. "Now, in my mind, I go back and I rip out that man's throat and I crunch his veins with my teeth. And that dearie, is how magic is made."
"Blood-lust," Cora summarized.
Indiana found herself wanting to gag at the two. She could almost feel the weird sexual tension. The girl busted in through the front door with a cocky smile on her face. "Well, I hate to break up this love-fest, but I think we should get out of here," Indiana called out to the Miller's daughter. She looked over, spotting a familiar man with scaly skin. "Rumplestiltskin, pleased to see you again."
She hadn't seen him since Baelfire disappeared four years ago. "And I, you, bandit," Rumplestiltskin sarcastically responded, giving her the stink eye.
Indiana scoffed. "I've seen that look enough times from Lucy. It doesn't work on me anymore," Indiana told him.
Cora looked between them in surprise as she sat at the spinning wheel. She still wore her dress from earlier that day. "Wait... You never told me you knew the Dark One," Cora said to Indiana.
"I didn't deem it important," Indiana shrugged. "Now, are we leaving, or what? Because I saw the creepiest-looking rat back there and I'm not willing to stick around to see it again."
Rumplestiltskin snorted. "It seems that our little bandit in fact is afraid of something! A rat," the man taunted.
"First of all, I'm not afraid of rats. I've seen you enough times to realize that rats are beautiful in comparison," Indiana insulted. "Second of all, I just needed a good excuse to get Cora to leave, thank you very much."
Cora merely chuckled at her friend, who was far younger than her. It was a surprise to many that they were friends. "Actually, Indiana, I've decided to stay and prove that little Princess Eva and her kingdom wrong," Cora informed her with a gleam of determination in her eye. "I'm going to turn this straw into gold."
Indiana stared at her before shifting her gaze to Rumplestiltskin and back to Cora. "Yeah, I'm sure that's the only reason why you want to stay," Indiana mused. "Hm... Alright. I'll see you tomorrow morning then." She looked back at Rumplestiltskin. "If you try anything, I'll skin you alive, Alligator."
"Sounds delightful," Rumplestiltskin fired back.
It seemed as though Indiana Jones was the only person in the realms that didn't have magic and wasn't necessarily afraid of Rumplestiltskin. This was most likely because Indiana knew Rumplestiltskin before he ever became a Dark One. She even knew Milah, his wife. Indiana often wondered what happened to her, but according to Baelfire, a pirate murdered her. It seemed as though both he and her were having quite the trouble with pirates.
For the past three years, Indiana had been begging Rumplestiltskin to tell her something about her family. She often thought about how her Aunt Lucy told her that someone was out to get them right before she died. Indiana had yet to find out the truth, but something told her that she wouldn't need to worry about that. Indiana would find out... in time, at least.
As Indiana Jones made her way back to the farm that she lived in at Cora's home, the girl decided to take a walk. She found herself walking toward the docks. Indiana spent a lot of her free time at the docks, finding peace and calamity there, especially at night. Not a lot happened there at night, not unless someone was docking their ship.
Indiana wasn't sure of what it was, but she felt as though someone was watching her. She had the strangest feeling that someone was stalking her as she walked around. Indiana had a rule. She only fought or killed if someone was in her way or someone was attacking her. She didn't kill for no reason. That went against everything she knew as a child, considering she fought countless bullies at a young age.
The teenager continued to walk along the dock. The smell of salt filled her nose, along with something else that the girl was unable to put her finger on. She took the time to think about just what it was, listening to the person's footsteps behind her. Suddenly, she stopped and pointed her finger into the air.
"Oh! I know what it is now," Indiana realized, stopping to turn and face the person behind her. "Rum, really? What are you—a pirate?" The man's eyes widened with fear once he realized that she knew he was there the entire time. However, before he could attack, a blade went directly through his chest, causing him to fall to the ground. Indiana raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Well, it was nice meeting you."
A new voice speaking out grasped her attention. "Don't you know better than to talk to strangers, lass?" the voice questioned. Indiana looked over to see a man wearing black leather staring at her. "That man was going to kill you and you didn't even react. Why?"
Indiana merely smiled at him mischievously. "You clearly have no idea who I am," the brunette mused.
"This is my first time in this village. I haven't had much to look around or become acquainted with the people here," the man elucidated. Indiana nodded her head slowly.
"That's nice, but I'm known in a lot more places than just this village," Indiana revealed.
The stranger cocked an eyebrow at the sound of this. "I also haven't been in any kingdom or this realm in a few years," the man added.
She hummed at the sound of this, thinking for a short moment. Then, she pulled out the Wanted poster that was always found in her back pocket for some reason. She unfolded it and pointed to it as she spoke. "Indiana Jones. It's not a pleasure to meet you," Indiana arrogantly introduced.
The man's smile faltered as he glanced down at the poster. Nonetheless, he regained his composure and responded. "You must be fun at parties," the man commented. Indiana stiffed a laugh at the sound of this. "Are you sure that's you, lass? The caricature artist got your nose completely wrong."
"I know! You're the first person to agree with me!" Indiana exclaimed. She paused, waiting for him to introduce himself. When he didn't, Indiana pouted slightly. "What—you're not going to tell me your name? What am I supposed to call you, then?"
"My name... isn't important," the man declared. "I have a feeling we'll see each other again in the future. If we do, then I'll tell you."
Before Indiana could protest, the man turned on his heel and walked away. Indiana's eye twitched with slight annoyance.
"What a weirdo."