Cursed Hearts

The Kingsguard

"I thought you'd never show up," the redhead retorted dryly, "I haven't got much time left before the girl and her father returns."

Hovering above her was a black raven, one that transformed into a man when he hit the ground. The man shook the snow and dirt off his coat, an irritated look on his face.

"Tending to your ever growing list of needs is pretty time consuming these days."

Zelena rolled her eyes. "Well, did you get what I asked?"

Out from Walsh's messenger bag came a small box, one that had been given to her by the Ice Queen a few weeks prior. She took it from him instantly, eyes wide at her token prize that would give her what she wanted.

"It won't be long now," she said, giving him one of her rare, genuine smiles. It quickly faded when she saw the uneasy expression on his face- after knowing him for so long, she knew when he had something negative to say.

"You're right- on the way over here, however..." he watched as her eyes went dark. God, he hated being enslaved to her. "I saw a whole lot of ice. After following the trail for a bit, I saw her- the Ice Queen. She found a way out of the Dark One's castle."

Her brow furrowed. "How the hell did she manage that? I thought Rumple had her trapped there."

Walsh shrugged.

"Well, she better still meet us at the castle, since that's where we're currently headed. What does she expect us to do, wait around while she turns people into popsicles?"

"Turn who into popsicles?" Came Caroline's voice from behind, causing the woman to spin around in surprise. She carried the wooden bow and a satchel of arrows on her back while her father carried four dead squirrels in his both of his hands.

"Who's this?"

Zelena turned to look back at Walsh for a moment, unsure of what to say. "Walsh- my personal assistant. He'll make sure we don't run into trouble."

Caroline gave her a confused look. "Walsh like... your dog?"

The man smiled. "That was me. Pleased to finally meet you-"

"We don't have time for chit-chat, go back to doing your job." Zelena then waved her hand towards him, transforming the man back into a bird. Caroline watched with wonder as the bird promptly flew back into the sky, gone within seconds.

"Well we got lunch," Robin began, breaking the silence, "all we need is to get a fire started."

The girl was still on the fence about eating something that had been alive just an hour beforehand. However, seeing how normal Zelena and her father were being about it made her more willing to try.

Caroline intently watching her dad prepare the fire, sitting herself down next to Zelena on the stiff, cold grass. He seemed to know exactly what he was doing, and it made her start to think that the person she thought she knew might only be a small farce compared to who he really was. This created a small feeling of sadness that didn't seem to go away.

"My father taught me how to do this when I was younger than you are now," Robin marveled, extremely impressed with the return of his survival instincts. "He made me do it all by myself for the first time, and I was scared out of my mind."

Zelena had quickly tuned out, already beyond bored of stories from the past. She was quickly growing to regret bringing Robin along; he was nothing more than another villager trying to get by day after day.

"Do you think you could live here after being in Storybrooke for so long?" The girl asked, watching the squirrels cook over the open flame. She should've been appalled at the sight, yet all she felt was curiosity. "No phones, electricity, running water..."