Finding Pan | OUAT Fan-fiction

28: Plans and Ploys

"Pan's Shadow?" Emma asked Neal in disbelief, "That's your way off the island?"

"Unfortunately it's the only way," Neal sighed. 

"Oh, We thought you learned how to navigate the stars," David told him. 

"I know how to navigate the stars, but I can't fly," Neal replied. 

"I'm guessing that's where the Shadow comes in," Mary Margaret planned. 

"That's why we have to capture it."

"Capture it? We've never been within 10 feet of Pan unless he wanted us to be," Emma frowned, "Sneaking up on him to steal his shadow? That sounds insane." 

"Except Pan's Shadow is rarely with him," Hook explained, "It's an entity unto itself. It can carry out his will from miles away."

"What does that mean for us?" David asked the pirate.

"It means we can get the Shadow without having to be anywhere near Pan. As long as we know to look and I know where to look," Neal informed the group.

"Okay," Emma concluded, "You and I are on Shadow Duty."

"As am I," Hook stated, "This trek won't be easy. You could use another veteran of the island."

"Thanks, man," Neal said to him. 

Emma stood between the two men in silence. Since rescuing Neal, there had been tension in the air. 

"Well," David said, "In the meantime, we'll give Tinker Bell a heads up, see if she can make good on her promise to get us into Pan's camp."

"Okay," Emma established, "We meet back at Tink's. Then we get Elle and Henry and get the hell back to Storybrooke."

They went to Neal's hideout and Hook looked around.

"Something tells me we won't be finding Pan's Shadow in here," Hook said.

"Yeah," Neal said, "Well, we're looking for something else. It's a- It's a coconut. It's carved in two. One part holds a candle the other part goes on top of it."

"Yeah, your star map. We hid it. I'll go grab it," Emma offered. 

She went to find it and when she returned, she found Hook and Neal in another stare down. She peered at them both and gave a weird look. 

"Is everything alright?"

"Couldn't be better," Neal said, distant. 

"Here it is, your star map," Emma said.

"It's not a star map. It's... What we're gonna use to trap Pan's Shadow," Neal informed her. 

"A coconut?" Hook scoffed, "Are you daft?"

"You came to Neverland on a pirate ship through a portal," Neal said, "You draw the line at a magic coconut?"

"Fair enough," the pirate grinned.

"What's our next stop on this mission?"

"Dark Hollow."

"Really?" Emma, making a face, "Why couldn't it be called something like sunshine valley? or rainbow cove?"

Hook's face was filled with fear at the mention of the place.

"What exactly is it?" Emma asked them. 

"Just what it sounds like," Hook told her, "The darkest spot on the entire island. Any light that makes its way in is snuffed out by the shadows that call it home. Even I managed to avoid it."