Koraz/The Enchanted Forest

Chapter 2: No Deal Part 2 (Or, Don't Piss Off A Protective Shadow)

A month after the incident at the swamp, Rumplestiltskin walked arm-in-arm with Belle through a small village, testing out some of his new spells. They were simple things, changing the colors of cloth and such, but it pulled on a source besides his Dagger - an interesting feeling that made him feel calmer, more in control, like the Spinner but not so weak.

His lovely day was rather rudely interrupted as a teenaged boy quite nearly ran straight into Belle.

“My deepest apologies, Miss, I- Rumplestiltskin?” Dressed in tattered peasant garb, pale face and dark hair smudged with dirt, it took a moment for Rumplestiltskin to recognize the boy for the witch's assistant; Eric, the giggling, advice-giving, self-proclaimed Shadow Being with the color-changing eyes.

“I remember you, from the swamp.” Rumple growled, looking around for any hint of purple. “Where's that boss of yours? Forcing confessions out of shop owners, perhaps?”

“She's not here.” Eric's face flushed with panic as his eyes darted around. He spoke quickly, pleadingly. “Look, I know you're probably mad, probably want to fight, but I really don't have time right now. So here's a deal, leave me alone right now and we can continue this later at a location of your choosing, please.”

“Are you alright?” Belle spoke before Rumple could, which was probably for the best if he was being honest. “You look scared. Is someone after you?”

Rumple bristled, annoyed that she was expressing such concern over the boy. But as his eyes started to make out the outline of a bruise hidden under the dirt on the boy's cheek, the father in him made his face twist in similar worry.

Eric appraised each of them for a second, before seeming to melt a bit into a tired smile and a soft chuckle. He looked much, much older than his sixteen years in that moment. “When is someone not after me, Miss? I've been a wanted lad for years, now. But my fear is not for myself. It rarely is.” The last was muttered, and most probably not meant for their ears, but it didn't sound bitter to the listening imp.

“Who's it for?” Belle asked, stepping closer. Rumple scowled; had she completely forgotten what this boy and his accomplice had done?

Eric hesitated. He didn't really know how angry the Dark One - oh, what a fantastic name! If only he'd thought of it first - was about their last meeting, nor how much he blamed Eric. What if he hurt her? He felt more the Brother than the Trickster at that moment, and the need to find his charge beat his paranoia by a hairsbreadth.

He held up the simple picture. A young girl with shoulder-length black hair smiled from the paper, large eyes sparkling, partially covered by her bangs. “Her name's Amelia. I've been baby-sitting her for a long time, I've never lost her like this. I just turned around, and she was gone.” He let sadness and panic show in his voice and body, but only a bare fraction of what he felt. It was better if they thought his was the panic of a friend charged with protection, rather than the one of a bond-brother.

“Witch's servant and babysitter? Not exactly a traditional mix, is it?” Rumplestiltskin sneered, though his eyes took in every detail of Amelia's image. Humans were easy to read, and Eric knew that the man's protective instincts were starting to flair, as any parent's would in the face of a missing child.

Eric frowned. “I'm not Paige's servant.” He was used to playing servant, both willingly and not, but that was almost always part of a scam. Either way, those he was the servant of never fared well. He served the Pixie, sometimes, but he cared too much about her to be her servant. Not that the Dark One needed to know any of that; let him think it was merely a matter of terms and pride.

“Yes, yes, you've said.” Rumple rolled his eyes. That particular sentence would've been expanded upon, had a scream not pierced the air.

A young girl, the same from the picture, had jumped out of a cart with her hands bound. A man stumbled out as it screeched to a halt, muttering curses and holding his hand over his bleeding nose.

Everyone looked over to the scene, except the girl, her eyes focusing on the boy. “Eric!” Rumple barely kept pace with the boy as Eric ran over and pulled her into his arms, cutting swiftly through the ropes with a hidden knife. She threw her arms around him. “Th-they said they were going to sell me to goblins.”

“Shh, kiddo, you can tell me later.” he hugged and rocked her. “Are you alri- uninjured?”

“My wrists hurt.” she sniffled. “A-and I think my arms have bruises.”

Anger and a hundred other emotions chased each other on his face as he gently stood up, but his tone with her was soft. “Okay, kiddo, I've got to deal with this. Stay with Mr Rumplestiltskin, he won't hurt you.” This was accompanied by a glare that held just a little of the pleading boy from earlier, directed at Rumplestiltskin.

It was Belle who answered. “Of course. But what will you do?”

A grin spread across his face, manic and dangerous, as he rolled up his right shirt sleeve - a gold vambrace stuttered with gemstones hidden there. “Oh, I'm going to teach them a lesson about kidnapping little girls - especially little girls with dark shadows.”

Amelia hugged the strange woman's leg as she watched her friend turn towards her attackers. Black smoke had already engulfed him, leaving him clean-faced and dressed in better clothing, his cloak clasped almost comically with a bright red bowtie.

Amelia's attackers were still trying to get the crowd to clear enough to move their cart, unaware of her guardian's approach, or his anger. She smiled, watching as he became something quite dangerous, only the crowd causing the Showman to have any hold at all. Lucky for them, she thought, though not very lucky - Eric could be ruthless when protective.

She watched him as he spouted off some poetic nonsense, both threatening the bastards and egging them into attacking first. He easily sidestepped, snatching things from their pockets and lazily slicing bits of their clothing with his absently-flicked playing cards. He played with them for a few minutes, which strangely calmed her, reminding her that these guys weren't too big a threat - she could have fought them off herself, if she'd gotten desperate enough to call upon her hidden power, to waste it on these ruffians. She suspected that was one of the only things securing their lives at that moment.

Bored, or at least feigning it, Eric took out a purple blade and made an expert cut on each of the brutes' arms. One-by-one, they fell to the ground, convulsing.

Eric turned his back on them and smirked cheekily at Rumplestiltskin “Oh, don't worry, I haven't killed them!” he gestured airily. His tone and face darkened, though he still smiled. “Just crippled them. For life. How badly depends on the quality of the town's healer - hope it's a newbie.”

Rumplestiltskin tensed as smoke curled around the little girl, but relaxed at her pleased laughter. The smoke took the form of a gigantic lizard with flaming eyes, lifting Amelia into the air and holding her up with her tail.

“Oh, little one! Look at you!” The lizard tutted, worried, as her smoke replaced the girl's clothes and cleaned her face. She sounded just like a human teenager as she began to brush Amelia's hair. “It's going to be a while before we can interrogate these word-I-shouldn't-say-in-front-of-yous about who else they might've hurt, so hows about some ice cream and going back to your fam early? Kristina's not going to be happy about, so let's get her ice cream as well.”

“If my sis can't pound them into the dirt for hurting me, she's going to turn on you.” the girl glanced between Eric and the lizard. “So maybe we tell her after the interrogating?”

“Oh, but imagine how much more fun she could make the information-gathering process.” Eric argued darkly. “It would certainly teach them not to steal from the Shadow Thief. Especially not to steal my family.”

“No telling my sis until we're far away.” Amelia said stubbornly. “I don't want to even think about what she'd let herself do to those men, and we'd probably not learn anything.”

“Ugh, fine.” Eric rolled his eyes.

“Promise.” Amelia demanded, crossing her arms. Rumple found himself impressed by the determined look she gave the boy. “Promise me you won't hurt them anymore than they already are, and you won't tell my sis until I say so.”

Eric whined for a second, looking cornered. Finally, he sighed and bowed briefly. “Alright, I promise I shall not hurt them any more, excluding them giving me a good reason.” at Amelia's quirked eyebrow he smirked and added “And their mere existence does not count as a good reason, in this case.”

The lizard continued. “You're not getting the second one, though. The next time we see your sister or parents, we're telling. We've gotta look out for you, little one.”

“Are you- What are you people?” Rumplestiltskin asked, eyes flickering between the floating lizard, the convulsing brutes, and the smirking boy.

“Ahh, well…” Eric shrugged. “We're travelers, from another world. I can tell you more, if you'd care to join us for some ice cream?”