The Land of Before and After

Chapter 2

          To ensure he didn't break anything, David tucked and rolled when they appeared on the other side, letting go of Rumplestiltskin. The Dark One smacked face-down inches from Belle, who in turn started to go and see if he was okay, but stopped. She didn't want to seem eager and give him the impression she forgave him. As the others fell through, catching themselves in various ways, Rumple peeled himself from the forest floor and gingerly ran a hand over his forehead. He winced as he found a rather deep cut, scarlet blood finding a path down the left side of his face.

         Performing a quick, non-verbal spell, he closed it. He let out a long sigh and then, with an almost automatic flare of panic he looked for Belle. She was staring. Brown eyes met blue and they locked for only a moment before she turned to where Killian and Emma had landed, still holding hands though the portal had long closed.

          "Are you alright, love?" Killian said, soft enough so only she could hear.

          "I'm fine," Emma answered absentmindedly, looking at their immediate surroundings. Large trees shot into the sky, little twigs and dirt carpeted the ground under their feet. It was strangely quiet, no birds were singing in the trees. Of course, Emma figured, they probably all flew off when the portal opened.

         Regina was also surveying the dense forest, a quick flash of white catching her attention. Deciding they wouldn't need her here for a small amount of time, she strutted past Rumplestiltskin, who was sure it would be more interesting to follow her than wait in the clearing with the others. As she went closer she saw it was a wanted poster, much like the ones she had littered the forest with when she had been searching for Snow.

         This poster was made of yellowing parchment and depicted a young woman whose braid was draped gracefully over her shoulder and whose lips were turned upward ever so slightly, as if she was silently mocking you for not catching her yet. Her clothes, from what Regina could make of them, considering the picture only showed mid-bicep up, were quite regal and echoed something she could envision Rumplestiltskin wearing.

         Rumple, directly behind her, looking over her shoulder, was thinking the exact same thing. He felt as if she seemed familiar, her mischievous eyes were almost like a faraway memory. To him, it looked as if this was a queen's portrait, taken off the wall of a palace. It was strange, why would a queen be on a wanted poster?

         Regina, stepping to the side, saw his expression, "What?"

         He shrugged, not wanting to answer and they stayed silent for a bit, both staring at the mesmerizing poster. Then she grew bored, wanting answers.

          "Where are we?" She asked.

          "Now why would you think I knew the answer to that, your majesty?" Rumple snarked, tilting his head to the side a bit.

          She scoffed, "You seem to know everything."

          "Well," he said, suppressing a smile, "what a flattering lie."

         Back at the portal site David, Snow, Killian, and Emma were standing in a circle. Their conversation had lulled, all of them deep in thought. Belle, who liked to think alone, had not joined them in their brainstorm on where to go from there, but her mind was working just as hard.

         She was seated on a stump a little ways from the clearing. A stump with no fallen tree in sight and as clean of a cut as it did meant human influence. Not an axe, it wasn't sloped, but it was more of a chainsaw cut. The forest, however, had a tinge of magic in the air. She could feel it. This made the atmosphere seem like the Enchanted Forest, but... a tree felled with a chainsaw? That didn't point to the medieval lifestyle of their once home.