andres ♔ sometimes we don't learn from our mistakes

[behindcloseddoors]

♬ the end where i begin - the script

WHO || Emma, ??. [closed]
WHAT || Emma tracks down the mysterious figure causing trouble on Andres Isle
WHERE || Andres
WHEN || After this
HOW || Actionspam

[Emma runs off after the figure, who she can catch a few glimpses of as she moves through the trees - enough to see that they are, in fact, wearing a hood.  And that they disappear into a ramshackle, seriously questionable looking shack up ahead. ]

Comments

[uncurse]

[ Watching them vanish into the shack means that Emma can at least rest assured that she'll be able to corner them. She slows to a jog in the clearing, weapon at the ready, moving around the shack to try and check for exits. Get an idea of what she's really dealing with here. While she checks it out, she peeks through windows to try and get an idea if she's walking into an ambush (spot 19, listen 14) but she's in a hurry. ]

[behindcloseddoors]

[ she just barely catches a glimpse of movement inside, someone darting from one room to another on the opposite side. but other than that, it looks totally empty. ]

[uncurse]

[ Ok good to know. She moves back around the front, lowering her gun in one hand and pulling the door open. Sliding in a narrow crack, she brings her gun up at the ready, trying to get a look at where the hooded wonder has slunk off to (spot 28). ]

[behindcloseddoors]

[The contents of the shack are incredibly sparse, and what is there happens to be noticeably singed. Emma would catch a glimpse of the figure turning to the left, down a very small hall to the left and out of view. There's the sound of a door closing soon after.]

[uncurse]

Hey! Don't move!

[ Shutting the door behind her (as if that will somehow keep her from getting surrounded by idk cohorts ?? who can't open doors ?? ?), Emma darts down the hall, following the hooded figure around the corner and trying to figure out which door they took.

But she crit failed her wis check so she'll just


try every door. ]

[behindcloseddoors]

[it's a small shack, so there's really only two doors to try before she finds one that's locked. and strangely, it's got the newest looking knob out of all of them. inside, there's some hurried, rustling noises.]

[uncurse]

[ Oh cool she's totally got something for this.


They're called lock picks. In case you were expecting magic. (Disable device 19.) ]

[behindcloseddoors]

[back turned to the door, the hooded figure is crouched, moving some random belongings until he seems to find what he's looking for and stills.

half turning, his face remains obscured before he speaks gruffly:]

You need to get out of here.

[uncurse]

Yeah, that's the plan.

[ Emma pulls her gun up, gesturing to the crouched figure with the barrel. ]

You're coming with me. Hood off. We've got some questions, and I have a feeling you're the only one who can answer them.

1/2

[behindcloseddoors]

[ ♬ i'm a mess - ed sheeran

slowly, he stands and pulls back the hood, back still mostly facing her. he holds one hand up to keep her from shooting, but the other is pulled tight against his chest, holding onto something wrapped in a dirty sheet.

he finally turns and lets out a long exhale, bringing his eyes up to meet hers before he speaks:]

[fuckingneal]

You don't know the half of it.

[uncurse]

[ It's only through great power of will (16) and knight training (ref 23) that she keeps hold of her gun at all. Everything in Emma's expression shifts, steady, firm resolve turning to floundering dread. One foot shifts back a single step, but her heel only nudges the door shut behind her. Whipping her head around, she glances at it, a brief panic even though it's obvious she'd done it herself.

Words fail her as she looks back up at him, and she keeps the gun leveled between them as some kind of barrier to keep her being as vulnerable as she feels, seeing him for the first time in— in— ]

Neal?!

[ More than a decade disappears in a heartbeat. ]

[fuckingneal]

Emma. [At first, all he can manage is her name. It's been awhile for him, a long time to be alone on this island. But it's clear that he remembers her, that he would recognize her anywhere.

He takes a half step forward, his free hand still raised.]

Just... put the gun away. Let me explain.

& hasmed

[uncurse]

[ After she's checked around the Shadow Village to learn if anyone knows the house belonged to Neal (thank god, no one seems to have a real description of him going for them), Emma makes her way back to the castle to track down Hasmed. The dagger is heavy inside her jacket, and she's eager to find something to do with it so she doesn't have to keep hiding it from her mother.

She finds him after a short time searching, shutting the door behind her before she announces her presence with a clear, distinct: ] We've got a problem.

[eldritchweaver]

[ hasmed looks up from where he's leafing through a volume found in the palace library. ] Sir Swan.

Please. Have a seat.

[uncurse]

Not really a sitting kind of conversation.

[ But she will stand over a chair, hovering uncomfortably. One more shady glance around to make sure no one's listening in (spot 28), and she pulls the dagger from her jacket, setting it down on the table between them. ]

[eldritchweaver]

[ ahahah with a nat 20, hasmed is immediately shifting into not fucking around posture, leaning over to look at the dagger, without touching it, looking up at her incredulously, deeply concerned ] ... Where did you find this?

[uncurse]

It was given to me. By someone who says it was using him to channel the Dark One's magic. That's why people have been getting hurt in the Shadow Village. [ And she doesn't trust him, not in the slightest, so she tacks on the real reason she came readily: ] I need to know if it's possible he was telling the truth, or if he was the one taking that magic for himself.

[eldritchweaver]

This blade is marked with the name of the one who is bound to it. [ he gestures to the name there, one emma knows well ] Anyone who sought to wield Dark Magic by controlling the Blade could only do so by controlling the named one, not channeling it directly.

At least, not purposefully.

[uncurse]

What about unintentionally? Like a ... an infection, or something?

[ That tells you everything you need to know about how Emma views her magic, tbh. ]

[eldritchweaver]

[ if he takes note of the connotations, he chooses not to remark on them. ] I would say such a thing were impossible.

[ a beat ] Unless...

[uncurse]

Unless what?

[ stoP FUCKING AROUND AND SAY IT, HASMED. ]

[eldritchweaver]

Unless there were a connection between this Rumplestiltskin and the one wielding it. One forged of blood.

[uncurse]

So it's true.

[ yeah, she needs to sit the fuck down. she does that now, dragging her hands over her mouth and finally accepting the reality of where neal came from. ]

He's from that world. He's Gold's son.

[eldritchweaver]

[ he just stares at her for a long da fuq moment before he says quietly ] It sounds as though this is part of a much larger conversation we should be having.