Dreams Come True:

Page 22: Cora's Attack and the Blacksmith:

Meanwhile, the group of girls was close to the haven while they debated what to do. 

"I don't know if I can do this. I'm not a very good liar." Aurora sighed when she brought up the subject again. 

"It's not really a lie, Aurora. Lancelot did die an honorable death, and Cora did escape. All true. Just leave the particulars to us. There's no reason to cause unnecessary panic amongst your people." Mary Margaret said when Mulan stopped, looking at the watch tower. 

It was empty. 

"I'm not so sure. It's necessary--" Aurora went to say, but Mulan interrupted her.

"Wait. The tower. We always have sentries guarding the entrance... Stay close." Mulan said, taking out her sword. They rushed to see dead bodies and rumble everywhere. 

"Aurora..." Dream said, stopping Aurora from going closer. 

After searching for any answers, the girls found nothing. 

"This can't be..." Mulan sighed when Dream held her hand to her chest, looking over the dead bodies with their hearts ripped out of their chests. "Our land, we were protected here, hidden. How did the ogres find us?" Mulan asked the others, while Mary Margaret noticed that their hearts were ripped out.

"Ogres didn't do this..." Mary Margaret sighed when she looked at one of the bodies.

"What?" Mulan asked her.

"Cora did. Their hearts... they were ripped out. This is her magic, twisted and evil. We have to stop her." Mary Margaret said, looking at Mulan. 

"We're too late. She killed them. She killed them all." Mulan sighed, feeling hopeless. 

"But we have to stop her before she hurts anyone else." Mary Margaret continued to say when Dream noticed something under rumple and bodies.

"Hey, hey... Look." She said, pointing at the hand waving under the rumble. "There's someone under there! He's alive." Dream said when they moved to help her get him out.

"Please." The man begged when Dream helped him sit up after Mulan moved the body off of him. "Please help me." He said, looking at them.

"It's okay... You're safe now." Dream said when she saw the man's face. 

He was handsome. He had black hair, a full beard, kind of stubbly. He wore rings on his fingers, but he looked scared. 

"W-We won't hurt you." Dream said, making the man look at her. She felt like she could melt looking into his almost crystal-blue eyes.

"Thank you. Thank you." He said, looking at all of them.

After getting him up, Dream moved to help clean off his face. She volunteered while Mulan and Emma talked. Aurora went to get more cloths since she saw how Dream looked at the man. It was how she looked when she first met Phillip. While Mary Margaret was trying to clear some rumple to make a fire to boil some water.

"Have you seen him before?" Emma asked Mulan, glancing to watch Dream wiping his face as he looked at her. 

"Yes, I've seen him around. He's a blacksmith... came to our camp a couple of months ago. Said he lost his hand in an ogre attack." Mulan explained while she looked over at Dream talking to the man. 

"Why would Cora leave a survivor? It's messy. It doesn't make sense." Emma said, continuing to watch Dream and the man.

"You think he's lying?" Mulan asked her.

"I think Cora's tricked us before. I don't want that to happen again." Emma said, walking over to the table.

Meanwhile, Dream dipped the cloth in the water when she sat in front of the man. 

"I cannot thank you enough for your kindness." The man smiled, looking at Dream, with his light blue eyes. 

"You're welcome." Dream smiled as she wiped off the dirt from his cheek. Dream kept noticing that he was staring at her when she lowered the cloth, looking at him. "Is there something on my face?" Dream asked, making the man chuckle as she wiped her cheeks and chin, just in case. 

"It's not that... I've just never seen a maiden so beautiful--" The man went to say, making Dream blush a little, but he was interrupted by Emma and Mulan walking over.

"Here you go," Emma said, bringing him over a cup while Mulan poured him some water.

"Thank you... I cannot thank you all enough for your kindness. Fortune, it seems, has seen fit to show me favor." The man said when he took a drink from the cup. 

"An island full of corpses, you're the only one to escape. How exactly did that happen?" Emma asked as Dream sighed, looking at her.

"Emma..." Dream sighed when the man seemed frightened to answer her question. 

"She attacked at night. Slaughtered everyone in one fell swoop. When she started ripping out people's hearts, I hid under the bodies of those who had already been killed. Pretended to be dead myself. Mercifully, the ruse worked." The man explained, fear in his voice, while he looked at the group.

"So much for fortune favoring the brave," Emma said as the man continued to look scared. 

"It was all I could do to survive." The man said when Emma moved to lean on the table. 

"I'm gonna let you in on a little secret. I'm pretty good at knowing when someone is lying to me." Emma said to him, but he didn't change his story.

"I'm telling you the truth." The man said, glancing at Dream, who was looking at Emma. 

"Emma... Come on." Dream sighed when she just wanted to help this man. 

"We should leave here in case Cora decides to come back," Mulan said when Emma stood back up, watching Dream look back at the man, giving him a comforting smile.

"We should start searching for a new portal back to Storybrooke. I only got about five minutes with my husband, not to mention my grandson." Mary Margaret sighed when the man looked up at her. 

"You have a grandson?" The man asked, sounding shocked and in disbelief. 

"Long story..." Mary Margaret sighed, looking at Emma.

"Well, I know this land well. I can guide you..." The man said when Emma took the dagger that she got back from Dream, holding it to his neck. 

"You're not gonna guide us anywhere until you tell us who you really are." Emma threatened when Dream's eyes widened as the group looked shocked.

~season 2, episode 5: "The Doctor"~

~1047 words~