Dark One's Daughter *Book Three*

Dark Hollow

After returning to camp and getting a fire set up to make a hot drink for Bae, we all sat around it and listened to Bae's story about how he got off the island the first time. Turns out we needed to catch Pan's shadow in order to get off this blasted island.

"Pan's shadow?" Emma repeated when he had finished his story. "That's your way off the island?"

"Unfortunately, it's the only way," Bae replied.

"Oh, we thought you learned how to navigate the stars," David told him.

"I know how to navigate the stars, but I can't fly," Bae said.

"I'm guessing that's where the shadow comes in," Mary Margaret predicted.

"That's why we have to capture it," Bae explained.

"Capture it? We've never been within 10 feet of Pan unless he wanted us to be. Sneaking up on him to steal his shadow? That sounds insane," Emma said.

"Except Pan's shadow is rarely with him. It's an entity unto itself. It can carry out his will from miles away," Jones told her.

"What does that mean for us?" David asked.

"It means we can get his shadow without having to be anywhere near Pan. As long as we know where to look. I know where to look," Bae assured us.

"Wait, so you can actually remove your own shadow?" Emma asked.

"Yeah," Bae nodded.

"But how's that possible?" Emma insisted, making Bae turn to me.

"You're the boss with magic. How is that possible?" Bae asked, a smile on his face.

"Of course you can remove your own shadow but the efforts to do so are extremely painful. That's why most sane people don't do it. Usually the process involves tearing it off of you but it can be used against you. If anyone but yourself tries to remove your shadow, it could kill you. If you do it yourself and are strong enough to last through the whole thing, you can basically have your own little minion who has to do whatever you tell them to," I explained.

"So you could remove your shadow if you wanted to?" Emma asked me.

"If I really wanted to, but I'd prefer not to," I replied.

"Okay, then. Neal, Tash, and I are on shadow duty," Emma decided, making Bae and I nod.

"As am I," Jones spoke up. "This trek won't be easy. You could use another veteran of the island." That may be the reason he was giving us, but I had a feeling that wasn't the only one.

"Thanks, man," Bae replied.

"Well, in the meantime, we'll give Tinkerbell a heads up, see if she can make good on her promise to get us into Pan's camp," David offered, but I noticed Mary Margaret didn't look very pleased with the arrangement.

"Okay, we meet back at Tink's. Then we get Henry and get the hell back to Storybrooke," Emma agreed.

"Okay," Mary Margaret nodded, and I noticed her giving David not a single piece of notice.

Seeing this, I excused myself for a few moments and followed Mary Margaret.

"Mary Margaret," I began, getting her attention.

"Hey, Tash. What's up?" Mary Margaret asked casually.

"You can't be mad at him forever," I said.

"I know, but he lied to us, to me. If he had just told us—"

"Then we would have taken our focus off of finding Henry. We would all be rushing around trying to find a cure and David knew this. He's not selfish enough to take us off course of trying to help Henry," I interrupted Mary Margaret. "David probably just thought he was protecting us all by withholding the truth, not lying, withholding."