Caged-(Once Upon a Time)

Chapter 8 (part one)

A/N: I'm proud to present yet another chapter of Caged! I checked out the read count for the story, and it has 100 reads! It's so exciting! I'll take a moment to thank everyone for reading the story and sticking with it. It's also come to mind that I've never put a disclaimer in here, so: I do not own OUAT or any of it's characters in any way, shape or form. If I did, Captain Swan would already have gone canon. Without further ado, chapter 8!

Chapter Eight: Take a Long Walk Off a Short Pier or I always Knew I'd be the Death of Me

So a good thirty minutes later, I was standing outside of Rumplestiltskin's stupid pawn shop, holding my own in a debate against the Evil Queen. Huh. There's a sentence you don't say everyday.

Needless to say, I wasn't a happy camper.

"No way jose! I wouldn't go in there if it were the last place of shelter on Earth during the zombie apocalypse! I prefer to stay outside two hundred feet of the perimeter! I'll send the place a restraining order to make it official!" I yelled, making outraged hand movements to emphasize my point.

 "It'll only take a minute,"' Regina began, pausing as I snorted, "It won't be that bad." I gave her an eyeroll.

   "Oh please. That's a lie, if I ever heard one. That's like you saying Snow White is the most innocent person you've ever seen."

"Fine, it'll be horrible, you might not make it out alive! Happy now?" Regina grumbled, throwing her hands up in exasperation. "Will you just do it?"

"No." I said before I turned and ran, even though I knew it was useless. Regina just sighed. Suddenly the ground beneath me disappeared, and I found myself floating in mid-air, purple magic swirling around me, trapping me so I couldn't move.

"Let me go, Regina!" I yelled.

 "We need to talk to Rumplestiltskin, and we're going to whether you like it or not. If this is the only way to get you in the shop, so be it." I thought quickly. I knew that seeing Rumplestiltskin was not an option. Not because I was scared of him, but because one, I didn't have the desire to get messed up. Every deal he makes ends up with him coming out on top, the other person left to die. Two, I just didn't have the energy right now. Nor would I ever have it in the near forseen or long term future. So I did the only thing I could. In hindsight, it might not have been the best idea, but it was certainly the most reckless. And that's the type I go for. What did I do? I skipped.

What is skipping, you might ask? Well, world, or realm-skipping, as I like to call it, is a unique gift that makes itself known only every other few thousand years. This gift is very similar to Jefferson's portal-using hat, but a person born with the ability to realm-skip does not require anything to help them go to other lands. They simply come and go as they please. And, yes, I am one. A realm-skipper, I mean. Oh, the wonderful things you learn about me.

It was easier to control this time around. It's kinda like riding a bike. Even if you don't do it for a long time, *cough* twenty-eight years *cough* you still remember how to do it after some practice. However, just because it was easier, doesn't mean it was easy. I didn't see what world I had tumbled into, but I did manage not to land on my face. Until I tripped.

" Jeez, this stuff should come with a warning!" I looked back at the offending object, which happened to be a pile of gold. Typical. I had know idea where I was specifically, but as I looked around the room, I noticed two things. One, it was filled to the ceiling with gold, jewels, and precious items, and two, It was enormous. Not just big, with high ceilings, but rather gigantic, like a giant's castle, so that's what I gathered the place was. Of course, I would've headed straight for the fabled magic beans that giants grow, but they were just that: fabled. If there were any beans in existence, I had not heard of them. I wondered what I should do. Most people would grab as much treasure as they could and run, (and I did succomb to taking some; what? I'm human. Mostly.) but I had no idea where the nearest exit was. And so, as I contempleted what to do, it was then that I almost tripped over an invisible wire, screaming as I did so. I looked up and saw a cage rigged up to drop on whoever broke the wire.

" Are the realms conspiring against me? You'd think someone would want to kill me with all of my near-death experiances!" I scowled, kicking a pile of gold, before losing my balance and tumbling to the floor. Just as I was about to get up, two shadows fell upon. I slightly turned my head, and out of my peripheral vision, I saw two figures, a man and a woman. The woman was a blonde, and the man had one hand and a hook. I recognized him immediately. Three guesses who. The man opened his mouth to speak, and what he said next chilled me to the bone.

  "We just bloody might, lass."

Well. There was no way I would let that happen. So as I whipped around and managed to get back on my feet. I looked 'em straight in the eye, and snarled.

"Oh yeah, dearie? Why don't you take a long walk off a short pier!" and that is when I finally chose to do the logical thing for once, and took off running. Yeah, way to go Kristen. I always knew I'd be the death of me.