Emma, Snow, Mulan and Aurora got back from their trip to Snow's old castle. Snow tried to tell Aurora that what they would tell the people of the safe haven was not really a lie, but she thought it was deceitful. Mulan stopped their bickering when she noticed there were no guards on the tower. When the four ran inside the camp, all they found was bloodshed and bodies. Everyone was slaughtered.

Snow noticed how everyone's heart was ripped out. "Ogres didn't do this. Cora did. Their hearts- They were ripped out. This was her magic- twisted and evil. We have to stop her," Mary Margaret says. "Too late," Mulan mutters, looking at the destruction of their haven. Emma takes notice of slight movement beneath a pile of bodies. "Hey, look!" "There's someone under there," Aurors yells, helping Emma with taking the bodies off the man and turning him around.

"Please," the man says as Aurora tries to encourage him," Please help me." "Hey, it's okay. You're safe now, we won't hurt you," Snow promises him, using a gentle voice to calm him down. "Thank you," he says, panting a little," thank you."

David had taken Henry to the stables, showing him his steed. Henry was excited to get on his horse, but David told him first of his responsibilities. That died down the flame a little for him. David smiles. "Henry, may I ask you something?"

The little boy shrugs as he caresses the horse's head. "Sure." "Why do you want to be a knight so badly?" The cheeks of the boy begin to flush as he looks all around to see if someone hears them. David smiles: Henry was having a little secret and his grandfather was about to find out. "What is it? You can tell me everything."

"But part of the reason is kind of.. embarassing," Henry whispers to his grandpa. "I won't tell anyone." The brown haired boy takes a deep breath and exhales. "I.. want to be brave. I want to be the knight in shining armour, saving-" Henry falls silent, but David could fill his words in. "Saving your damsel in distress?"

Henry's blush worsens and David knows he was on the right track. "You are having a crush, Henry? Come on, you can tell me. I promise your mother will never find out," he says. Henry mutters below his breath:" I think she might know already." He inhales and exhales again. "Okay, I'm having a crush.. on Winter."

David's eyes widen. "Winter, as in.. princess Winter?" He nods. "I thought.. maybe Winter's happy ending isn't in the book.. because I'm not supposed to know yet. Because I'm part of her happy ending," he says.

Prince Charming hadn't thought about that yet. Even after the curse was broken, there was still nothing about her in the book. Could Henry be right? Was the girl he was pining after.. his True Love?

"I'm gonna go check in on the dwarves, see how the mining's coming. I'll pick you up later." Grandpa leaves and Henry stays behind, trying to coax his new steed into letting him ride it. He can't wait to be a knight.. and be in favor by Winter when she awakens, of course.

Emma didn't trust the man with no left hand. She told Mulan about her debts of his story while fetching water and cups. As the man was throwing his kindness around, Emma interrogates him. He told his story about how he hid under bodies until Cora was done.

Snow began about the portal back to Storybrooke and, of course, the stranger offered to help them. Emma pulls his hair and places her short sword against his exposed throat. "You're not gonna guide us anywhere until you tell us who you really are."

She pulls him off the bench and drags him along, followed by her startled companions. "Mulan, tie him up," Emma orders as she pushes the guy against the tree. "I already told you, I'm just a blacksmith," he tries. "Sure you are." The blonde whistles and growling sounds were heard from the distance. "You don't want to talk to us? Maybe you'll talk to the ogres while they rip you limb from limb," she threatens.

The sounds grow nearer and the four women were about to leave him as a pig for the slaughter. "You can't just leave me here like this!" Aurora asks:" What if he's telling the truth?"

"He's not," Emma ensures her.

They continue walking, when the man speaks up. "Good for you! You bested me. I can count the amount of people who've done that on one hand." Emma walks up to him. "That supposed to be funny? Who are you?"

The man sighs and rolls his eyes dramatically. "Is this all because I took that little brown girl from Neverland? Because if I would have known what she meant to them, I would never have!" "What do you mean," Emma asks, but Mary Margaret pulls her by her arm, away from the others.

"Do you remember Henry's storybook?" "Yeah, kind of hard to forget the one thing he took with him everywhere he went. Why," Emma asks her. She did not really know how that was connected to what they were experiencing now. Snow sighs, not believing her daughter could not connect these dots. "Who is the only girl we remember returning from Neverland, or even being there in the first place?"

Emma's eyes widen. "You mean.. Winter, right? She went to Neverland, Henry once told me. But if he knows her-" "-Then who is he," Snow finishes as they both look at the tied man who had listened to their conversation.

"Killian Jones, but most people have taken to call me by my more colorful moniker: Hook." Snow seems to remember the man now, as her eyes widen and she repeats his name.

While Snow White checks his satchel, on his request, Emma looks at him. "As in Captain Hook?" "Ah, so you've heard of me." Aurora pipes in. "As you've heard of Winter. What have you done to her," she demands to know, trying to show authority.

"I did nothing else but take her from Neverland with my ship and bring her back to her mother," Captain Hook says, rolling his eyes. "Now, could you cut me loose?" They hear the ogres growling and Emma whispers to him. "You better hurry up, they're getting closer. So unless you wanna be dinner, you better start talking."

Killian chuckles, but obliged and told them about his plan with Cora to gain their trust and learn more about Storybrooke. When Snow comments on the destroyed wardrobe, he says that the enchantment is still there and that Cora has the ashes to make a portal. The ogres come even closer. "Now if you'd kindly cut me loose," the captain says. Mulan wants to abandon him for what he did, but Hook explains calmly that it was Cora's wrongdoing.

They start to walk off, but Hook roars at them to wait. He tells them they need him alive for an enchanted compass and offers them a deal: he will guide them to it if they take him with them to Storybrooke. The ogres are almost at them. Emma holds the sword before his nose and asks him why he wants to go to Storybrooke. He reveals to them that he wants to kill the Dark One: Rumplestiltskin.

The four companions, now added one handless pirate, take off and hide away from the ogres. When the coast was clear, he leads them to a bean steake. The compass was up there and Hook tells them it is not the climb they need to worry about.

It was the giant at the top.

The flames were dancing around her, trapping her inside the corner of the room. The heat was making her sweat, heating her flesh and even leaving marks. She was curled up in fetal position and was sobbing into the skirts of her gown. She was sobbing her heart out, her lips wobbling when she murmurs to herself. "I am sorry, I am so sorry!"

Her cries worsen as her heart turns inside out. "I am so sorry, Rumple, for leaving the castle in a matter of anger. Belle, I am so sorry for leaving you in that inn. Peter, Felix and Lost Boys, please, I'm so sorry that I left you all. Father, I'm so sorry that I.. I killed my mother! Please, just forgive me and help me!" Her last cry stops and she returns to sobbing, not noticing the shadow that appears in the darkness of the flames.

It was watching her with sadness in it's glowing eyes, reflecting the emotions of it's owner. Sensing a presence near her, a head raises and a pair of silver eyes glance at the figure. "It hurts to see you like this," the shadow responds, bearing the voice of him. "The.. The Shadow," she whispers.

Winter crawls further up the corner as the shadow comes closer to her, which makes him stop. "Are you afraid of me, love?" Shivers run over her skin when she hears his low, slow voice, so recognisable. It was making her think back to the old times, the good memories she made with him. The moments in which she felt secure. Now, she was conflicted between feeling safe with him and feeling uncomfortable.

"Why are you here? I thought you hated me for leaving you.. with Hook," she murmurs. The glowing eyes narrow and the Shadow hisses. "Do not mention that one-handed, alcoholic pirate to me again!" Winter flinches at the yelling and the Shadow calms down, choosing a softer approach. His eyes glance over the princess. The exposed skin of her arms were red, some parts blistering with the burn marks. Another flame was about to lick her delicate hands and instinctively, the figure of darkness stands in the way.

A gush of cool air spreads over her hand and Winter stares at it in wonder. With that movement, she shows a little ring off. It was made of entwined twigs, simple yet delicate and beautiful. The Shadow grins, though it was barely noticable by the huge, empty gap that was his mouth on a background of darkness. "You still wear it?"

"I found it at Mr Gold's shop just before the Curse broke. I was curious." "Understandable. You and I, well, always shared a certain connection through that ring," the figure says, chuckling lowly. Hearing his voice being channelled through his shadow was making her feel strange, so she focuses on something else. "How did you get here? What do you want from me?"

"The Shadow can come anywhere where there is light. Shadows are, after all, the darkness showing in the light. As for your second question: Peter Pan ordered me to come find you and protect you until he has found a way to get you back on Neverland. Which shouldn't take long, by the way, as you know as well as I do how resourceful and cunning he is when he wants to," the man of shadows explains, talking for himself instead of with the voice of Peter. Now it sounds just like an echo of her lover's voice.

"The game he wants to play has just begun and you, dear princess, play a key role in it, so be prepared."