Long Lost | Once Upon a Time (EDITING)

III. Quite a Common Fairy

Neverland
Roughly 14 Years Ago...

        Trees rustled together as the girl ran through the humid jungle, dodging anything protruding in her path including, but not limited to, large roots, branches, and most importantly, the very poisonous bushes known as Dreamshade. Grace was panting heavily, taking in deep breaths of air while continuing to run through the jungle to escape the hunting Lost Boys. But it was no use. At this rate, her lungs would give out long before her legs, but she continued to push herself nonetheless. She could no longer hear the Lost Boys chasing after her, though she still chose to run as if her life depended on it. She ran past several more trees and bushes until suddenly, she stopped, though it wasn't by choice.

        Grace's eyes widened as she looked up to see what she had run into--or who. The person was clearly not a Lost Boy, as he wasn't a boy at all but a man, though that didn't disqualify him from possibly working for Pan. He turned with as much shock as Grace had. However, that initial shock quickly changed the minute the teen had pulled a pistol from her waist and aimed it at the man's head. He looked back at her fearfully before raising both hands up as a sign of surrender. Grace disregarded this and instead spat, "Who are you? Are you with Pan?!"

        "W-What? No! Of course not!" He stammered out, anxiety lacing his tone as he feared for his life.

        Grace continued to breathe deeply after her long run through the jungle. However, this didn't make her any less determined when it came to confronting the bearded man standing before her. "I'm not taking any chances." She let out as her thumb pulled back on the hammer of her gun.

        Her index finger rested comfortably on the trigger, though just as she went to fire, another voice entered the area with a loud, "Hey!" Not a moment later did a large figure ram itself into the girl's side, firmly knocking the gun from her grasp and pushing her to the ground. The teen groaned as the man landed on top of her, trapping her in order to keep her away from the fallen weapon and to keep his friend safe.

        Grace got a brief glimpse of the man clad in leather before shouting, "Get off me, you pervert!" She fought viciously against the stranger's grasp as she attempted to reach for her gun.

        He saw this and easily prevented her from doing so, all while saying, "Not until you settle down!"

        It was at this point that Grace finally turned to look at her captor furiously, though that fury quickly turned into recognition as she soon realized who it was holding her down. "Oh, my God," she let out in shock before gazing back up at the familiar man in disgust. "You're Captain Hook--you ARE a pervert!" This only made the girl fight against him harder, which in turn caused the man to hold her down even firmer than before.

        "'Ey!" Hook scolded as he grew a large distaste for the term she had used to describe him with. "I've been called many things in my time--a pervert is not one of them."

        "Then you should add it to the list. I said get off!" Finally, with one last shove against the man's chest, Hook released his hold on the girl and stood up from the ground, allowing her mobility once more. Taking in a deep breath of air, Grace eyed the gun that remained untouched by the pirate before making a desperate attempt to reach it. However, before she could, Hook swiftly grabbed the fallen pistol and pocketed it in order to keep it from the teen's dangerous grasp. Her arm hesitantly retracted through the dirt as her irritated gaze met with his own.

        "Well, aren't you quite the spitfire?" The pirate said curiously before approaching her slumped figure yet again. "Need a hand, lass?"