Rise Above

06

SOMEWHERE IN THE WOODS - PAST

Snow White was running from two of the Evil Queen's guards. They spotted her and began to chase her.

"Hurry!" the guards yelled. "After her! Stop!"

Snow White stopped running when she reached the edge of a cliff. "Uhh! Oh! Really?"

"You're a long way from home, Snow White," guard one told her. "Did you really think you could hide from the queen here?"

"Actually, yes."

As the first and the second guard unsheathed their swords, guard one said, "Well, don't worry. We're here to take you back. The queen is eager to see you again."

"Not gonna happen." She went to the edge of cliff.

"No, no, no! Wait!" He ran towards the edge of the cliff to get her, but she jumped off before they can catch her.

The guards watched as Snow White plummeted into the water below with a splash. She began drowning. A pair of arms grabbed her and bring her to the surface of the water. When she was pulled up to the surface, she gasped for air. She swam around to face her savior.

"Thank you," Snow White said.

"No problem," Ariel replied. "You might wanna try diving in calmer waters next time."

Snow White looked down at the water and noticed Ariel had a tail. "You're a..."

"Yeah. I'm a mermaid. Name's Ariel."

NEVERLAND - PRESENT - A CAMP

Emma and Emmett were standing in front of an unlit campfire, concentrating.

"Focus. Concentrate," Regina told them.

"It's kind of hard when you're talking in my ear," Emma retorted.

"And when the wind blows or it's raining, or... someone's shooting arrows at you. Yes, concentration's hard. That's the point. Find your anger and use it to focus."

"No. There has to be a way without going dark."

"You're such a pathetic waste of ability."

"And you're a monster," Emmett snapped.

"...Smell that?"

"What?"

"Smoke." Emma and Emmett looked at the campfire, which had no light.

David let out a sigh. "This is a bad idea."

"They have it in them," Mary Margaret replied. "They should learn to use it. We just have to trust them."

"Yeah, it's not Emma I don't trust."

Hook and Elizabeth entered and the former said to Mary Margaret and David, "We need to talk. Pan paid us a visit. He, uh... He told us that Nichole is alive, that she and Neal are on this very island."

"Emma and Emmett saw them," Mary Margaret told him. "She was shot. They fell through a portal. No one could survive that."

"Well, she did, and now they're here. He said he took them from this very camp while we were off in his cave."

"According to Pan, if he's telling the truth."

"And, uh, why would he tell you?" David wondered. "What does he hope to gain?"

"Who knows why he does anything?" Elizabeth replied. "He has his reasons, but it's a sure bet they're not good ones."

"He's telling the truth," Mary Margaret said. "Tracks... and a scuffle. Someone was here while we were gone. We have to tell them."