Daughter of Darkness (OUAT fanfic)

Chapter 5

"Rumplestiltskin." I read the daggers' blade. "Is that your name?"

"Yes." His left eye twitches. Because I hold the dagger, he must answer my questions. "We made a deal, Princess. Give me my dagger."

"First, answer me-"

"First," he interrupts, inching closer. "Give me my dagger, then we'll talk."

I extend my arm, holding the dagger in my hand, maintaining the distance between us. "I don't trust you won't kill me the moment you hold this knife."

"Would it make you feel any better if I promised not to kill you?"

"Your words are twisted," I say. "You lie."

"I won't kill you, Princess," he says, raising his hands in surrender. "All I ask is that you give me my dagger."

I don't trust him.

"I give you this dagger, then what? You disappear? You leave me here to die in this forest?"

"You give me my dagger, then we talk," he says.

I don't trust him, but I'm out of options. We made a deal. He followed through, and now it's my turn.

I place the dagger in his extended palm.

He admires the blade, then it disappears in a cloud of smoke. "What would you like to know?"

"How do I defeat the horned king?" I ask.

"You don't," he says through yellow teeth.

"There has to be a way."

"Give up, dearie," he says with a laugh. "This land is overcome by darkness, too much for one little ball of light to restore."

I follow him through the trees, away from the castle grounds. "I'm more than a little ball of light."

"You're weak," he says, spinning on his toes. "Your magic is. . . less than impressive. You're too, well, princessy. If you attempt to fight the horned king, you will die a slow, painful death, but if you come with me, I can shape you into a powerful enchantress. Together, we can perfect your craft. Then, when you're ready, you can challenge whichever dark entity you desire."

My only other option is to die trying to escape these trees. "I have one request."

He walks away. "I don't take requests, dearie."

My bare feet shuffle through the grass behind him. My bauble floats overhead, illuminating the path. "I want to find the black cauldron."

He stops, speaking over his shoulder. "You would waste your life searching for a useless pot?"

"It's not useless," I say. "If we find the cauldron before the horned king, we can destroy it."

"Or we can use it to unleash an undead army. . ."

"We can destroy it," I insist.

Rumplestiltskin laughs. "The black cauldron is indestructible. It can never be destroyed."

"There must be a way."

"There isn't," he says through his teeth. "The cauldron is better off hidden where no one can find it. Bringing it into the light will only make the situation worse, trust me."

I kick through fallen leaves, holding the skirt of my dress above the ground as I follow the dark one through the forest.

"If we aren't looking for the cauldron, where are we going?"

"Far away from here," he says.

A short gasp leaves my lips as I collapse forward, tripping over my shirt, falling over tree roots protruding from the ground.

The dark one's boots scuff through the dirt as he looms over me. He sighs. "Stand up, child."

I dust my palms on my skirt.

Clicking his tongue, he circles around me. With a slight wave of his fingers, a cloud of purple smoke surrounds me.

My dress transforms into pants, a button up white shirt, and a vest. A pair of brown boots cover my feet. A satchel hangs across my chest. "This is not what a princess should wear."

"Perhaps not." He continues forward. "But it is what you will wear if you want to survive."

A laugh echoes with the breeze, and we both pause. Rumplestiltskin dims the light of my bauble, and I catch it in my hand, tucking a dull bulb in the pocket of my satchel.

"Show yourselves," Rumplestiltskin sings.

The laughter grows louder, surrounding us, then a blue cloud of smoke appears, twisting through the trees. It separates into three separate streams, then three witches appear before us.

"Visitors," one says with a cackling laugh. "We have visitors!"

The second witch sways forward. She trails her index finger beneath the dark one's chin. "To what do we owe the pleasure?"

"The pleasure is all mine," he says, taking her hand, placing a kiss upon her knuckles. "We're searching for a portal."

"And a cauldron," I add. Before I can make another sound, my mouth is stuck, lips glued shut by the the subtle lift of the dark one's finger.

"A cauldron?" the third witch asks. "We have lots of cauldrons, pots, pans, and kettles for you to sort through if you have the time."

"Unfortunately, we don't have time to waste," Rumplestiltskin says through his teeth. "Pots and pans are of no use to us."

"I'm sure we can make a deal, dark one," the second witch says, fluttering her eyelashes. "A portal in exchange for. . . something precious."

He smiles into her. "Yes, I'm sure we can come to an agreement of sorts."

The witch waves her hand, and we're all teleported into the center room of a cluttered log cabin. Dead frogs line the baseboards. Through an open door to the right, there are pots, pans, kettles, and cauldrons stacked to the ceiling.

The black cauldron is here. . . I can feel it. 

The other two witches circle around me like birds hunting prey. "A portal in exchange for the princess," the first witch proposes.

"It's a fair trade," the third insists.

I cannot speak. My voice has been silenced by the dark one.

Rumplestiltskin glides away from the witch fawning over him. "I'm afraid she's not for sale," he says, stepping in front of me. "I can offer financial compensation, food, or. . ."

The second witch's aura turns red when she blushes.

"Financial compensation," the first witch agrees. "Double the reward we would receive for returning the princess to the castle."

He smiles. "Show me a portal, and we've got a deal."