A girl far away from home (1)

Chapter 5 - Ariel

At their camp, Emma was concentrating by the campfire as she stood, to unlit the campfire, while Regina sat on a rock. Evelynn was concentrating on something else. David and Mary Margaret were watching Emma while Hook was away to collect wood. Emma had trouble to light the campfire as Regina said to her. "Focus." Then Regina stood up. "Concentrate."

"It's kind of hard when you're talking in my ear."

"And when the wind blows or it's raining, or someone's shooting arrows at you. Yes, concentration's hard. That's the point. Find your anger and use it to focus."

"No. There has to be a way without going dark."

"You're such a pathetic waste of ability." Evelynn laughed at that.

"And you're a monster."

"Smell that?" Regina asked as she sniffed the air.

"What?"

"Smoke." Regina said while she pointed at the campfire. Emma turned around to see the campfire while David and Margaret were talking.

"This is a bad idea." David said softly.

"She has it in her. She should learn to use it. We just have to trust her." Mary Margaret replied to David.

"Yeah, it's not Emma I don't trust."

Hook walked into the camp without the wood, he walked directly to David and Margaret.

"We need to talk." He whispered to them. "Pan paid me a visit. He, uh, He told me that Neal is alive, that he's on this very island."

"Emma saw him. He was shot. He fell through a portal. No one could survive that." Mary Margaret said alarmed.

"Well, he did, and now he's here. He said he took him from this very camp while we were off in his cave...."

Mary Margaret cut him off and said. "According to Pan, if he's telling the truth."

"And, uh, why would he tell you? What does he hope to gain?" David asked to Hook.

"Who knows why he does anything? He has his reasons, but it's a sure bet they're not good ones."

While Hook was talking Mary Margaret saw something and stood op, she walked over to the broken sapling, she saw also on the ground tracks of someone. "He's telling the truth. Tracks and a scuffle. Someone was here while we were gone. We have to tell her."

Mary Margaret was ready to walk over to Emma but then David held her up. "No, no, no. She already lost Neal once. And if this is a game, we can't put her through losing him again."

"He's right. Either way, telling her is what Pan wants, which is why we shouldn't do it." Hook agreed with David.

"You want to find him without letting her know? Why hurt her unnecessarily? I've never lied to her before." Mary Margaret asked.

"You're not lying. You're just keeping a secret until confirmation." David replied to Mary Margaret as he held her by her shoulders.

"Secrets always seem to keep us from the people we really care about."

"And sometimes secrets protect the people we love."

~-0-~

"If we're gonna hide this, we need a good cover story." Mary Margaret said while helping David to put something on.

"Done." David comment.

"That's not a problem." Hook said.

Just then Regina, Emma and Evelynn walked to them and Emma asked. "Where you guys going?"