{ enchanted forest }

5. { the doctor }

They returned from the journey to Snow White's old castle. Cora had just ruined their chance to escape and Lancelot was dead.

Aurora was walking behind Mulan, close to Snow White and her daughter. They had been hurrying to get from the castle back to the camp, but during the trip she had been able to ask the two more about Princess Winter.

She had not yet told Mulan, but her mind was clear. She had decided on going with Snow White and Emma to Storybrooke so she could be there for her. Like Phillip would have wanted..

But Snow White had then suggested to not reveal everything that had happened at the old castle to the people from the camp so they would not cause panic. Aurora was against the idea and said she was not a good liar, but Snow tells her to just say that Cora had escaped and Lancelot died, leaving the particulars to them. 

Mulan had been walking in front of them all and was the first to notice that something was amiss at the safe haven. The sentries that were always at the tower were gone. The warrior tells them to stay close as they venture onto the open field.

All they saw was ruin and bloodshed. Every single person at the camp had been slaughtered.

Aurora could barely stomach the sight of all those innocent people and looks away. Mulan was puzzled. The camp was protected against the Ogres, so she was unsure how they managed to do this. It was Snow White who noticed the gaping holes in their chests.

"Ogres didn't do this. Cora did. Their hearts, they were ripped out. This is her magic, twisted and evil. We have to stop her." Snow turns to Mulan, their silently appointed leader. She holds her head low. She was unable to rip her eyes away from the bodies that she recognized.

"We're too late. She killed them. She killed them all."

Snow tries to argue with her, saying that they needed to stop her before she hurt anyone else. Emma had been walking around the camp when she noticed a pile of bodies moving. A groan emits from underneath the corpses.

Aurora notices what Emma meant. "There's someone under there." She falls to her knees by the bodies. She tries to lift a body off the survivor when Mulan comes to her aid. "He's alive," she calls out when the man starts pleading for help.

They help him get away from the bodies and turn him onto his back. He stares into their eyes, bewildered and scared. 

"Hey, it's okay. You're safe now, we won't hurt you," Snow White tells him, speaking to him gently so they would appear non-threatening.

"Thank you. Thank you," the man says, his chest heaving. Emma locks her eyes onto him and knows that there was something about him she couldn't shake.

●

While working on a way to get to his wife and daughter, David also makes time to bond with his grandson. He had taken him to the stables to give him his surprise. Henry was tired, but excited nonetheless.

David shows him the horse he got him, a beautiful white steed with brown spots. At first Henry had set his eyes on another one, so he was feeling the slightest bit of disappointment when being introduced to a smaller horse. However, he was still very happy.

"So how do I get on him?"

His grandfather starts smiling. "You're not riding today." He explains that there is much to learn before getting onto him. He needed to learn his responsibilities, such as mucking out his stall, feeding and brushing him.

Henry wasn't very enthusiastic about it, saying it was basically just babysitting, but David tells him the importance of it. It builds trust between knight and horse. A trust which is essential to working together.