Once Upon a Dream:

Page 79: Neal's Cave

"Hook!" Dream called out as the girls looked around the cave. "What is this place?" Dream asked as Hook walked into the cave, following David.

"What are we doing here?" Emma asked as Hook tried to use his hook to light one of the torches when David walked over to light the torch with a lighter. The others watched as Dream walked over, running her fingers over the paintings and drawings on the cave walls. "Neal... This is where he lived." Emma said, looking around with the others.

"Aye. Baelfire spent some time in Neverland as a boy. This was his home." Hook explained as Dream walked over, seeing tally marks on the cave wall. 

"So, you think he may have left a clue as to how he escaped from here?" Dream asked, looking back over to Hook.

"Let's hope so. Or we'll be lost, just like he was." Hook sighed as the group continued to look around.

A few minutes later, they still did not find anything that could tell them how to get off. "Anything important?" Hook asked, walking over to Dream. "I can't tell yet. I didn't know he liked drawing... just like Henry." Dream said, looking at the cave drawings and running her fingers over them since she hoped her power could give them any help.

"He got it from his mother." Hook said, making Dream look at him. Hook looked at her, too, noticing the softened expression that made her look upset, but Hook really could not tell because she tried to mask it. But she looked away first before looking at the others who were looking through the crates and trunks in the cave, then back to the drawings. "I'm hoping he left something useful in the details of one of these. Maybe a map or some kind of clue." Dream said, touching one of the drawings when she gasped, nearly falling back. This caused everyone to stop what they were doing when they rushed to her side. Regina and Hook moved to hold her up until she went back to her normal self. She did not see anything except flashes of a coconut. "Hand me that candle." Dream said, being able to stand up, as David handed her the coconut candle.

"Any luck?" Emma asked Dream, who seemed determined, and Hook, who continued to stay by Dream's side, when Regina went back to looking.

"No potted bean plant or swirling vortex under the rug if that's what you mean." Hook said, looking to Dream, who was looking for something, while she held the coconut candle. "Maybe no rug at all. There are other drawings on the far wall, but... as far as I can tell, that's all they are. Probably just a way to pass the time and keep occupied." Hook said as Dream looked up at him. 

"You knew him pretty well, didn't you?" Dream asked Hook. "We spent some time together... You all right there, love?" Hook asked her as she looked at the half-coconut candle. "I'm fine... Looks like you're right. They're just a bunch of pictures. But I swear I saw another half of this candle." Dream said as Emma watched Hook and Dream before walking over to her mother. 

"What's all this?" Emma asked Mary Margaret.

"Uh, just some cups and bowls he fashioned from things he found here." Mary Margaret shrugged. "I don't know how great a cup this coconut can make. It's filled with holes." David said as Dream looked up and rushed over.

"That's what I'm looking for." Dream said, taking the coconut from David.

"What is it, Dream? It just looks like a tiny colander?" Mary Margaret asked as Dream tried to figure out why she saw these two halves of the coconuts. "Yes, because pre-teen Baelfire probably made lots of pasta." Regina scoffed.

"Hold on." Dream said, seeing that the coconut connected. "Hook, snuff out that torch." Dream said as Hook blew out the torch, leaving the candle in the coconut. Dream put the other part of the coconut on the candle, showing the light shining through the holes in the coconut.

"Dream, am I supposed to be impressed that he made a night light?" Regina furrowed a brow at her daughter.

"Look up." Dream smiled, seeing the coconut make the night sky on the cave ceiling. "Stars..." Dream smiled.

"It's a map." Hook spoke up.

"To where?" David asked as everyone looked at the ceiling. 

"Home." Dream smiled, looking over to Hook.

"How can you be so sure it's a map?" Dream asked Hook, still looking at the ceiling. "There was a short time in Neverland when Baelfire was aboard my ship. I taught him to navigate using the stars. What you're looking at is the fruit of my labors." Hook explained, causing everyone to look at him. 

"Then you can read it," Regina spoke up.

"Sadly, no." Hook sighed, making Dream raise a brow at him. "I thought you just said you taught him how," David added, furrowing his brows. "Yes, but I also taught Neal something else. The key to being a pirate. Secrecy. The best captains conceal their maps in code. And he was an apt pupil." Hook explained as Mary Margaret, David, and Regina scoffed.

"So, you're saying the only person who can read this map is Neal?" Dream asked, looking at Hook.

"Which means the only person who can read it is dead." Emma sighed, walking out of the cave as her parents followed her, while Hook stayed with Regina and Dream. Dream sighed, walking over to her mom, who hugged her. "So, how are we going to figure this out?" Dream asked, looking at Hook. Hook just sighed when Emma came back in, looking very upset, while David and Mary Margaret stayed outside of the cave talking.

~season 3, episode 4: "Nasty Habits"~

~960 words~