Huntsmen VS Croí Dearg

[pyreshadow]

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Ariel
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Ariel couldn't help but to eye the other woman that was now waving at her; not because Gretel said she was a friend but more because she was wondering just how the woman had grown so much hair out and kept it from getting raggedy and damaged from being so long. The introduction from the woman, Rapunzel, caused a smile to grow on the mermaid's lips and she was quick to give a nod as acknowledgement. "This is Ariel. Due to circumstances, she can't really speak so she talks by writing into your palm when she needs to say something." Gretel made a motion with her free hand to how Ariel had still been holding her own hand. Which the redhead was quick to give an apologetic smile as she withdrew her hand but Gretel waved off the apology as she hadn't really been bothered by it. Although the moment she noticed the way Rapunzel was looking her over, her brow rose curiously and she shifted to get a better look at the other woman. Her mouth opened, ready to ask the other what was up but it closed promptly upon hearing the words. The other woman was now deliberately avoiding Gretel's gaze all together and when she looked to her brother she could see it in his eyes that he wasn't opposed to the idea. Of course he wouldn't be though.


"Hansel." There was a slight warning mixed in with a pout as Gretel called his name before her attention went to Ariel next. The redhead seemed to be contemplating the idea, her tail twitching as her eyes were up at the ceiling of the carriage. "Wha-Ariel!" The way that Gretel called her name caused the mermaid to look back at her in slight surprise and she could see the mix of emotions on the younger sibling's face. "All I've been doing is taking it easy since we left the town of the last seal bearers, it hasn't done anything to make it better. I've done nothing but sit on my ass just about the whole time." She looked at her brother that time with an annoyed look since he knew it was true before turning back to Ariel. The mermaid held out her hand and made a motion for the brunette so she stepped closer so she could listen to what the other was trying to say.


"I can understand how you feel, Gretel. Really, I do. I mean, just a few days ago I was able to walk myself and now I have to rely on others to get me some place that used to be so easy to do on my own. But in this instance, you don't know if pushing yourself is going to make you worse or not. Your cough is getting worse, I can hear. Hansel hears it. Rapunzel hasn't even been with us more than ten minutes and she can hear how bad it is. I know you want to help and trust me when I say you really have. I promise you, you've done so much for me that I don't even know what how I'd ever repay you. There's just some things that you shouldn't do if you don't have to. This is one of those times. If you have the chance to take it easy, you should take advantage while you can." All the while that Ariel was writing, she watched as Gretel's features seemed to almost deflate; her shoulders slumped, her eyes downcast, even her whole body just seemed to sag slightly. She certainly didn't like what Ariel had to say but it seemed like she was going to listen.


"...fine. I'm going for a walk." Right as the last word left her lips, Gretel turned and headed around the carriage in a random direction without looking back. Her hand slipped from Ariel's before the mermaid could really say anything else and even made her almost fall out of the carriage because she was so surprised. Thankfully she caught herself on the window of the door and she caught herself from calling after the brunette too. With an inaudible sigh, she turned to look between Rapunzel and Hansel. This was not how she had expected this to go at all. She made a motion towards where Gretel had walked off to, in a way asking if Hansel was going to go after her first before they did this.

 

[SparkleBreaker]

Hansel

The way he said his name made him wince by pulling his ear away. It was nothing personal and for her own good, but clearly that isn’t what Gretel was getting from it. His gaze dropped to his worn out boots as she grew angrier over the suggestion. Clearly a nerve had been struck and Rapunzel stepped back a few steps to let them have space. The other two could deal Gretel as she didn’t know the woman as well. His eyes went up to meet her, almost in a challenging way. A response was on the tip of his tongue and it was not going to be a nice one. His sister was proving to be a stubborn fool, causing the situation to be more frustrating and stressful. 


Luckily Ariel was going to try and persuade Gretel this was the best option. The way her body drooped in defeat he knew they had gotten their way, but that wasn’t a good thing. It was like a double ended sword and he felt the breeze caused by his sister walking past him briskly. A groan left his lips, not caring if she heard or not. The fact she was being over dramatic pain in the ass was starting to make in fairly irritable. Shrugging it off to answer the mermaid’s question, for a moment, he was going to proceed as nothing had happened. Then he felt the heavy gaze of the other woman and rolled his eyes. The two didn’t have to speak for him to know she wanted him to go after his sister.


“I’m going.” he grumbled, shooting her a dirty look, before glancing in the direction he could see Gretel going off in. A sigh escaped as this wasn’t going to be even slightly enjoyable. “Quit looking at me like that. You haven’t spent your whole life with her” he growled, trying to wave the blondes dirty look away, before he turned to go after his sister.


“Looks like we should get comfy.” Rapunzel said, throwing her hands in the air like what was there to do. “So exactly how did this happen?” she asked, pointing to the tail. There had been a bit of back story filled in on the mermaid, but she would need more details. A witch lived around these parts and she sort of specialized in merfolk. Sailors went to her for advice and such all the time and she bet that she could nick something that would help the mermaid out. A glance towards the siblings was spared, Hansel had now reached his sister, but she turned her attention towards the mermaid. A shout off in the distance could be heard, though you could make out what was said, you could tell it was from Hansel.


“Gretel.” he exclaimed trying to get his sister to stop and talk. Hansel was right on her heels and he wasn’t going to quit. “What is the big deal?” he called out behind her, his voice full of anger at her behavior. “You want to carry a mermaid that bad to shore that you need to make a big stink about this?” he yelled after her as he still fought to catch up. This was ridiculous to him, the way she was acting. “I don’t get this, I do not get this. If roles were reversed you’d be doing the same thing.” he argued with a huff, tired of chasing after Gretel. If she hadn’t turned around to stop in talk at this point he was done. The whole time he was being supportive, but in side he was freaking out. What was he going to do if this plan they forged didn’t work. Here was his sister being a stubborn ass and wanting to take the chance that physical labor would speed along the process. All of it was becoming too much and he was about to snap from all the pressure.

 

[pyreshadow]

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Ariel
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The fact that Hansel was just going to leave it be at first caused Ariel to pout a little but there wasn't really much she could do about it. It wasn't like she could go after Gretel herself or anything. Although Rapunzel was on the same page as the mermaid so that helped as her gaze seemed to bore in to Hansel enough to get him to realize he needed to go after his sister. The moment he said it, a small smile grew on Ariel's lips and her tail curled up a bit so that she could get herself into more of a comfortable position. It almost looked as though she were giggling silently at his display since it was clear he cared a lot about his sister. He was just worried about her and Gretel was trying to do too much. Ariel definitely knew how the brunette felt though, having six older sisters herself. She watched him walk off for a moment before her eyes darted to Rapunzel when she heard the woman speak. A nod was all she gave at first before her eyes moved to the shoreline as the question was rolled off the other Huntsman's tongue. Silence filled the air as the topic was still fairly fresh since it brought her thoughts to her beloved. She thought of him every day and there were still times where it just felt so hard without him. Even now that she was thinking of him again she felt herself tearing up but hearing Hansel's yell brought her back to the here and now. She spared a glance towards the siblings before turning back to Rapunzel with a meek smile.


Reaching out for the other's hand, she began to write in the woman's palm. "Long story short, my father is King Triton, ruler of the kingdom of Atlantica which is in the sea. I saved a human's life, Prince Eric, during a storm one day and fell in love with him; I guess you could say it was love at first sight, as silly as that sounds. I ended up asking a sea witch for help to meet him again as a human myself because I really wanted to. There were...complications with relying on her help as at the time I didn't realize she was using me to get to my father. In the end, she was defeated at the cost of cursing my voice but I was all right with it since I got marry man I loved. My father was able to let me keep human legs so that I could be with Eric. There's still a lot I may not know about the human world but he was teaching me as we went. But then...when we were watching over the seal bearers, they showed up and she was there. Ursula, the very same sea witch. She used her magic to give me my tail back, saying she was putting things back to how they should be, and Eric..." Ariel's hand shook quite a bit as she tried to write what she was trying to say, really she did. It was so much harder to do than she thought it would be though and again she found herself close to tears. The only other word that she managed to scribble into Rapunzel's palm was, "Sorry." Her hand drew back to wipe at her eyes to try to stop the tears from coming down.


Gretel heard her brother call out to her but didn't stop walking; if anything, she wanted to walk faster but knew that she couldn't outrun him even if she really tried. There wasn't a point so she just kept her pace like normal and turned her head slightly so she could hear him. Not that she couldn't since he was shouting as if he was in the right to be upset about the whole thing. It caused her to scoff a little but she still didn't say anything just yet. Not until he mentioned the roles being reversed, then she stopped abruptly to turn and place her hands on her hips. "I'm not upset about not being able to help carry her, Hansel." Gretel's tone was calm despite her being upset about being babied about the whole thing, which her expression showed she was clearly annoyed with. "You're right though, if the roles were reversed I'd be telling you to take it easy too to an extent. But you know I can't sit still and do nothing. I'm upset because it keeps getting worse and I already know what you're going to do. It has nothing to do with not being able to help with Ariel but the fact that now all of you are trying to baby me and it's going to end up hindering us when it comes to down to them. When they show up, because we already know that they will, you're going to try to tell me to sit it out or take it easy or just don't fight." Gretel's brows furrowed together as she spoke, clearly being worried about the thought of not being able to help when the time really mattered. She wouldn't be able to handle it if something happened because she wasn't there to actually help. Her arm shot up swiftly over her mouth to cover the coughing fit that happened as she turned herself away from Hansel. At least until it died away and she felt she could talk normally without the raspy feeling that had been left behind by it. "I get taking it easy now and yeah I overreacted just now. I'm a little antsy because of everything, so I'm sorry. I'm just worried about how you're going to be later if you're already doing this now."

 

[SparkleBreaker]

Hansel

Rapunzel took a seat next to the redheaded mermaid, her knees bending and coming up to her chest as she leaned against the wall of the carriage comfortably. Her hand, palm up, was taken by the other and she watched carefully as the other told her story. Not quite what she was looking for, but now that she thought about her question was rather on the vague side. King Triton, love at first sight and a sea witch, this girl sure had a full life. The way she spoke of the prince made Rapunzel smile as she could feel the love between the two. The story went rather sour and the long blonde hair took a deep breath in to steady her hand as she reached out and gave the other a comforting squeeze on the shoulder.


“I was filled in enough to know what transpired in the other town, you don’t need to go there.” she said softly, giving one last squeeze before her hands returned to her lap and she eyed the tail again. The sea witch did it, so the other she knew about would mostly likely have something along the lines to reverse it. “What did the sea witch use to make your legs go back to your tail?” she inquired, trying to think of all the elixirs she had heard about that the witch had given out. When stealing from a witch it was sort of difficult to get the right stuff as you couldn’t really ask about the product. None of that was brought up as she didn’t want to get the other’s hopes up until she had solution to her fin problems in her hand. Now this was just an assumption too, but she didn’t know how the other would feel about her stealing either. The witch would charge an arm and a leg for it once the situation was explained.


A frown grew as he really knew it wasn’t about carrying Ariel. Hansel’s arms crossed in front of his chest as his sister explained her perspective on things and how he’d be in the future. For the most part, she was spot on how he would want things to go in the future. His face softened a bit, but he wasn’t going to budge on this. Her health was more important than her helping out, even if she didn’t see it that way.


“I don’t know what you want me to say, because I’m not promising I’m not going to make you sit out when they come back.” he said firmly, knowing if it came down to things he’d probably tie his sister down to a chair if she wasn’t compliant. “Be piss if that helps, but if roles were reversed you would do the same because any good sibling would. You’re not in the condition to take on those four. I get as frustrating as that is, but we have the cards stack against us slightly when we’re in good health.” he sighed, sure she’d have a counter argument. In good conscious he couldn’t let her do it.

 

[pyreshadow]

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Ariel
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Feeling the other's hand on her shoulder, Ariel slowly brought her gaze back up and gave a small smile to Rapunzel. It was an attempt to show she was all right and the truth was, she was doing better than she was a few days ago. She just had to keep telling herself it was for Eric's sake and her plan wasn't going to fail. Her father would let her borrow the trident for a little while, if only to exact her revenge. Even if she didn't quite believe in such things, it was likely the only way to truly stop Ursula at this point since nothing else seemed to work. The only real thing she'd have to worry about was being able to get back to shore but that could be figured out later. A nod was given when Rapunzel mentioned being filled in on the rest of the events quite thankful she didn't have to go into any other details of what else went down. The next question caused her to look up towards the sky for a moment, her brows furrowing slightly as she thought back to the day it happened. It took several seconds before she shrugged her shoulders slightly. It wasn't like she knew exactly what it was that Ursula had used but she supposed she could just say what she remembered.


Again she reached out to take a gentle hold of Rapunzel's hand and turned it palm up so she could start writing on it once more. "Some kind of potion I guess. It was thrown near me and when it hit the ground, some blue dust went into the air and circled my legs. It was like it was coating it or something because I just blinked and then all of a sudden my legs changed to the fin I had when I was living in the sea. She's always been one to use potions and mixtures of things." Her tail shifted a bit as she talked about it as if it had a mind of its own while her eyes drifted to the sea. For a while she stayed silent and just gazed out there but eventually she brought her focus back to Rapunzel with a gentle smile. "There is a way to defeat Ursula but it will be near impossible without the trident. In a way I guess it can be considered a favor that she's given me my tail back so I can ask Father to borrow it." Even though she added that bit, the smile she had was still more of a sad one than anything since she hadn't wanted to go back to the sea. Not since she was so comfortable with everything the way it had been with Eric. "You'll need to be wary of her and her tricks, she can try to sweet talk anyone. I almost lost Eric once before we were married because of it."


A small sigh left Gretel's lips as Hansel just about admitted to thinking exactly what she thought. By the sounds of it too, he wasn't going to be afraid to be a bit forceful about it either and that caused a frown to form on her face. Stupid sorceress, having to go and cause these sorts of problems. As soon as they got their hands on the lavender-haired woman Gretel had quite the few choice words for the damn woman. Not that it was going to help in the moment considering Hansel wasn't going to change his mind about anything. He was right too, which just made it that much worse; if he was in Gretel's shoes, she would be the one trying to make sure he did as much resting as he could even if they didn't know if it was helping or not. The thought let another sigh leave her lips as now she was annoyed because he was right more than anything. It sucked. "...I really hate it when you're right." Gretel grumbled before she plopped herself down on the sand and faced the ocean. Her knees were brought up to her chest and her arms were wrapped around her knees, with her head resting comfortably on top. "Fine. I'll try my hardest to do nothing then. I can't make any promises myself but I'll try my hardest. Shouldn't be too hard while we're here at least since it's a small village." She glanced over her shoulder towards said village as she spoke before eyeing her brother a moment. "Go on, help Ariel all right? I'll be right here sitting like I should be. Nothing strenuous, promise." More like sulking a bit longer in peace but he could probably get that vibe by the way she was curled up; she only got in this kind of position whenever she wanted to sulk alone.

 

[SparkleBreaker]

Hansel

The woman before her had spirit and that wanted the blonde to want to help even more. All witches had tricks up their sleeves; it was no surprise that this one did also. Rapunzel nodded to show she was taking the warning serious and pulled her hands back to comb through her own hair. The blue sea was eyed as a plan formed in her head on how long for her to accomplish her task. The plan formed in her head as she added how much time would be reasonable for her to do each job, being generous with the amount of time in case of mistakes.


“In four days’ time can you meet me back here?” she asked, with a meek smile. “I might be able to help you get your legs back.” she added, knowing that the mermaid would want to know why and hopefully she wouldn’t pry on how. The smile grew to a genuine one at the thought of her plan working and the look in Ariel’s face when she had her legs back. Peering outside the carriage she looked for the siblings, who were taking their sweet time getting back. The sight made her smile grow so large you could see her pearly white teeth as she nodded in their direction so the redhead knew to take a look. “Hansel is quite the softy one no one is looking.” she giggled, leaning back against the carriage wall.


Any other time he would let his sister have her little pity party, really he would. In this case it just wasn’t right timing. Hansel ignored her shooing him away to go put Ariel back in the water and sat next to him, feeling how annoyed she would be when he didn’t leave it be. For a moment he remained silent and looked down at the sand. He hated how it seemed to get everywhere. His knees came up like his sister’s but he rested his arms on top, stretched out and one point at the carriage.


“You need to go say your goodbyes. May want to throw an apology in there for the way you acted.” he suggested politely before nudging her in the shoulder and looking in to her eyes. Why he even sat down he didn’t know, but it felt like the right thing to do at the time, to be close to Gretel. Straightening up to his feet he brushed all the unwanted pebbles and sand away. “Come on Gretel, we’ll get through it. We always do, but don’t end it awkwardly with Ariel. You can have your alone time after we leave.” he turned to stand his front of his sister, lending out a hand to help her up to his feet.

 

[pyreshadow]

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Ariel
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Ariel's brows furrowed slightly as she brought her attention back to the other woman. She was about to ask about why she would need to meet back in four days but Rapunzel was already saying the reason why. Just hearing there was a chance of getting human legs again caused her eyes to widen and without even thinking Ariel nodded her head. How was that even possible? She wanted to know and was close to asking too but there were other things that were going on in her head now. The fact that she could indeed get revenge for Eric now if that were possible; if Rapunzel could really do something to help get her human legs, then she could use the trident to stop Ursula. For good. Her heart just wouldn't stop beating from the possibility and it made a fresh bout of tears threaten the corner of her eyes. "If that's really possible...you have no idea how much that would mean to me." It was all she could really write as she felt herself getting emotional again so she had to take a moment to breath. Silently she laughed at herself for getting that way and wiped at her eyes to try to get over herself again. That was when she noticed Rapunzel taking a peek towards where the other two were still. Ariel did the same, albeit a bit more carefully so that she wouldn't just fall out of the carriage.


"I think they're the only family that they have left? If I remember what Gretel told me once correctly. So they're a bit protective of each other. But he's a softy even when people are looking too. He really helped me cope when Eric was killed and Gretel was giving the details of what happened to the Queen's knights. He's really sweet, a bit awkward at times but sweet." Ariel looked as though she was chuckling at the thought of him attempting to comfort her, which the truth was he did in his own right. "I just don't think he really knows how to show that sort of thing, while I'm like an open book." An obvious statement, considering not even a minute ago she looked like she was about to bawl and now she was smiling and just fine.


Gretel glanced at her brother with a half glare when he sat down instead of leaving before letting out a small sigh. She had a few choice words she wanted to say to him right about now because he wasn't leaving her in peace when she was giving in to his stupid demands in the first place but she bit her tongue. Maybe if she just ignored him he'd go away...fat chance based on the words and the nudge. The childish thoughts were thrown to the back of her mind with another sigh though when she realized it wouldn't do her any good thinking like that either, only maybe make her feel worse. When she noticed movement from her peripherals, she glanced again in the direction he was now pointing and landed on the carriage where Ariel and Rapunzel were looking like they were talking. She met his gaze before nodding slowly, knowing he was right about the apology also being needed. She didn't want Ariel to end up leaving without her getting the chance to say goodbye. She'd end up feeling horrible about it and it'd eat at her too. Another sigh, this time heavier, left her lips as Hansel stood before she sat up a bit straighter and looked up at him.


"Yeah, you're right...again." Her legs stretched out first before she took his hand and hoisted herself up to her feet with his help. The sudden movement caused another bout of dizziness that made her have to close her eyes for a second. It passed rather quickly so the thought she had about it went to the back of her mind. Instead, she took the chance to wipe off any remaining sand that was on her pants before she gave a meek smile to Hansel. "We shouldn't keep her waiting too much longer. Come on." It was her turn to lightly nudge him, albeit in a playful manner to try to lighten the mood a bit before she started to slowly walk back towards the carriage. Even though she certainly wasn't feeling any better in the least, at least she could put on a front for Ariel's sake. Hansel was right about that, they couldn't end it awkwardly with her because of Gretel.

 

[SparkleBreaker]

Hansel

“Huh.” She responded softly, leaning her head against the carriage once she saw the two coming their way. A smile spread across her face when she looked over the redhead. There was no denying she was an easy one to read. Good and bad thing really. “Looks like things got sorted out.” she mentioned softly, eyeing the pair. They most definitely were an intriguing pair. The gold blonde hair was loose today, not in a restricting braid like usually and her fingers combed through a chunk before her nimble little fingers went to work on a braid.


 


A forced smile spread across his lips as he tried to seem like things had been worked out. Time, it was just going to take time for his stubborn sister to come around. The nudge knocked him slightly off his balance, but he pressed forward towards the carriage they left behind in silence. The two women were waiting their patiently and he couldn’t help but feel slightly embarrassed that they had witnessed their family’s little outburst, though Rapunzel seemed bored as she played with her hair as they approached. Only when they were finally standing in front of the carriage door, did she finally look up at the pair with her light blue eyes. Her gaze shifted between the three of them before her attention went back on the intricate braid she was practicing.


 


“We’re sorry we kept you two waiting.” he said gruffly as he sent Gretel a dirty look. The blame was on her for prolonging this, even if the other two were fine with it and of course they were. Hansel held back an eye roll when the long blonde hair spoke, trying to refrain from being rude too. Clearly though, he was still annoyed with his sibling.   


 


“It is fine.” she chimed, softly smiling at all three of them. While apologies were exchanged, along with the polite talked that went with them she continued focusing on her hair until they finally came to an end. The braid was dropped and she was out of the carriage in seconds. A soft grin grew as she eyed the little mermaid. “I’m guessing you are eager to get home now though.” she said, pointing at Ariel. That was a small hint at what they discussed while the two were busy and she gave the other small wink before turning to Hansel. “Shall we?” she said, wrapping one of Ariel’s arms around her neck and scooping up her bottom in the other arm, Hansel doing the same and they carried her like she was in a chair to the water and gently placed her in.


 


“Bye!” Rapunzel said, waving her hand a bit over the top and vigorously.


 


“Bye.” he said, giving one soft wave as the blonde continued waving. There was a side glance in her direction as his brows furrowed while he asked himself silently, really? The woman talked to the other for five minutes and now she was waving like she was saying good-bye to a best friend. Both stayed and watched their friend go until they could no longer see her.

 

[pyreshadow]

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Gretel
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The look Hansel gave was all but ignored as Gretel gave an apologetic look towards Ariel; he could blame her all he wanted but it was in part his fault for trying to make her do nothing when she didn't like doing nothing. She knew his reasoning and she could understand it but it didn't mean she had to like it. The redhead seemed to wave off the comment as she hadn't been all that concerned, or she didn't seem that way anyway. "I'm also sorry for acting the way that I did." Gretel was genuine as she apologized to the mermaid but Ariel ended up giving her a look that read there wasn't a need for such a thing. Instead, she just held her arms out wide and made a motion for the brunette to come closer. At first she was a bit hesitant but in the end she couldn't deny Ariel since she had acted pretty childish to begin with. The moment that she stepped close enough, Ariel wrapped her arms around Gretel's waist and gave her as big of a hug as she could muster as if telling her it was all right. In a way, that helped to ease a lot of thoughts that had been running amok in Gretel's mind and she found herself relaxing into the hug that only lasted a few seconds. Rapunzel was already mentioning her going back home and that was causing Ariel to brighten in a way that Gretel hadn't seen since Eric was alive. As much as her brow rose curiously at that, she said nothing and just detached herself so that she could move out of the way of the two.


Keeping near them, Gretel watched as they carried Ariel over to the shoreline and set her down into the water. It didn't take her very long to wiggle her way deeper into the water but she paused before she got too far. Seeing as she couldn't call out to them, she waved her hands in the air in a large, over the top manner similar to how Rapunzel was waving goodbye. "Bye, Ariel! Be safe!" Gretel called out, waving as well though certainly no where near as intense. She watched the mermaid until she turned to dive under the water, her emerald tail splashing high in the air until it too disappeared beneath the surface. Several seconds went by in silence before a heavy sigh left Gretel's lips when she realized that she was actually going to miss the other woman. Sure she hadn't known her for long but that didn't mean she wouldn't miss her peppiness. There wasn't anything else that could be done at the moment but Gretel knew that she also wanted that time alone that Hansel promised her. So Rapunzel ended up helping to get them situated in a house that had been empty for some time, though it still had some furnishing. None of the soldiers seemed to care that they were staying there, likely because Rapunzel was the one that was getting them set up there in the first place. It was a small home though, that had a kitchen, a bedroom, and a room that was both the living and dining room. There wasn't much in the way of furniture since it hadn't been used in some time but at least it had a bed. After that though, the blond was gone and no one really knew how to find her either. The first day they spent there, they ended up buying enough food to last a couple of days since they weren't sure how long they were actually going to be there; they also ended up buying some blankets and pillows just for the bed since that was all that was really needed for them. Just the bare necessities to get them by.


A few days passed by quietly, in which Hansel should have been pretty happy with how much rest Gretel was actually getting. If only it was actually helping. By the end of the third day, Gretel had started to feel really weak and lightheaded. The coughing had become more consistent but so did the cold sweats. By the time she realized she was running a fever, it was already too light and she had ended up fainting. She'd been in the bed ever since, which was why she wasn't sure exactly how many days had really actually passed since they'd come. Every time she thought she was feeling better or the fever was gone, it'd end up coming back not some hours later. The medicine that Hansel had tried mixing together wasn't doing much, which they both figured would be the case. The only real thing they could do was get that sorceress to reverse whatever she did. That was the only option. Even now as she laid in the bed staring at the ceiling, she still questioned whether the woman would even do it or not. She was working against them for a reason, no matter how many times she did things that made Gretel question her. Threatening her probably wouldn't work. Talking to her sure as hell wouldn't. So how were they going to even convince her to do it? A groan left her lips as all of the thinking she'd been doing while attempting to rest was making the headache that she had that much worse. As she rolled to her side, she used the pillow to cover her mouth as a coughing fit happened because of the movement. Once it died down, a huff of annoyance left her lips before she eyed the door.


"Hansel...?" Gretel wondered if he was even still here right now. She had told him earlier that he should leave the house, go out and get some fresh air for a while while she rested. A part of her hoped that he listened but another part of her doubted that he did. She felt restless right now and being in this bed wasn't helping at all. It was just making her feel worse and she just wanted to get up to do something; anything. Even if it was just to make herself a bowl of soup or something. At the same time though she didn't want him to get mad at her though, so she pulled the covers a bit tighter to ball herself up a bit. Just as a means to try and make sure she didn't try anything.

 

[SparkleBreaker]

Hansel
​

The last few days had been filled with rotten weather, putting even more of a damper on the situation. There was a heavy forecast above. The clouds were dark and at any moment it looked like it would start pouring. Not wanting to be caught in the rain, Hansel took his sister’s advice and tweaked it a bit by sitting outside. The small house was near the shoreline and hearing the waves crash against the rocky shore was soothing. When it wasn’t interrupted by Gretel’s coughing, a constant reminder that nothing he was doing was helping in any way. His sister was getting worse by the day and he was utterly helpless and out of ideas.  There were journals in his lap that the siblings had put together over the years about herbs and remedies. He had been flipping through them all morning in an attempt to see if he had forgotten any options that might help them out. 


So far he was coming up with nada and still as clueless on what to do as before. His hand went up to scratch his scruffy facial hair as the book in his lap was shut. His blue eyes scanned the land and he was about to chance it and go for a walk to clear his head when he heard his sister’s voice. The broken in leather boots is where his gaze fell as he composed himself before slowly getting up to go back into the house. The two journals were sat on the circular table before he leaned against entry way to the bedroom. There was a sad look in his eyes that he was failing to hide when he looked at Gretel. His hands went in his pockets as he looked to the window then down to his feet like he was in trouble.


“It looked like it was going to rain.” he reasoned, defending himself for not going out. There was a bit of a pout on his face, not sure if he was going to get an ear full from his younger sister. A soft knock came from the door. Groaning, he rested his head against the wall debating if he should have them pretend they weren’t home. Playing host was something he would rather avoid doing. The long haired thief could finally have returned and that was most likely it.  “Must be Rapunzel.” he said, shrugging and slowly turning around to get the door when a more impatient knock came at the door. The hair on the back of his neck stood tall and seconds later there was a more aggressive knock on the door that made him stiffen. A mixture of worry and confusion came over his face and he looked over to Gretel.


“We don’t like to be kept waiting!” came a voice he was growing to know. The door practically swung off its hinges when it was given a kick. There was a loud crash when it slammed against the wall. There was no reaction time for the two siblings to get their bearings together before an angry Ursula was inside. Play time was over. Days had gone by and they had turned up empty handed and a furious Red Queen was threatening to end them all if they didn’t come up with a location for the next seal bearer. Word had been received that morning that her Royal Highness and Chernabog were now coming to them and this was sort of an act of desperation to save their skins. A tentacle slithered out from underneath her skirt and knocked the modified pistol out of Hansel’s hands before he could point it at the pair of women. It then wrapped around his neck and lifted him off his feet and pinned him against a wall. There was a bored expression on her face as another tentacle came out to stop the counter attack from Hansel and pulled the knife away from the male’s hands.


“Where is the seal bearer?” she asked sternly, watching with enjoyment as the Hansel’s face turned redder from the lack of oxygen. Her gaze lingered there as his legs flailed in attempt to kick her, but she was at a safe distance from him. Slowly she turned her attention to the brunette with a sinister smile. “Don’t want your big brother to die.” she teased in a baby voice. “Don’t make us repeat the question.” she growled, trying to hurry up the brunette to see if she would answer under pressure or give any information on the seal bearer, gender or age. Anything would be better than going back empty handed to an upset Red Queen and Chernabog.  

 

[pyreshadow]

┏━━━━━━┓
Gretel
┗━━━━━━┛
​

At first there was silence hanging in the air but the sound of feet shuffling across the floor caught Gretel's ear. In a way she was a bit relieved but at the same time, she was also disappointed that he didn't actually listen to her. So when Hansel showed up int he door way almost looking defeated in a way, there was a sigh that left her lips when he gave his excuse. "It looked like it was going to rain every day we've been here but it hasn't yet." She ended up arguing his reasoning but her tone showed that she was a bit grateful to have him still here. She didn't want to be alone, even though she tried hard to convince him that she was all right and that it'd be fine for him to at the very least get some air for a bit. Her mouth opened to reiterate that little fact too but it closed when the knock was heard on the door. The only person she figured would come to see them was Rapunzel, whom they hadn't seen since they went their separate ways with Ariel. A part of her wanted to know how the two of them were fairing but if it was Rapunzel now, she wasn't so sure she was ready to see the other woman yet.


A nod was all she gave as she settled back down against the pillow when Hansel shared the same thought she did. Though when the knocks began to grow louder and a bit more testy, Gretel's brows furrowed together slightly. She forced herself to prop up onto her elbow as she peeked through the door of the bedroom before exchanging glanced with Hansel. A wave of uneasiness washed over her followed by a coughing fit at the worst possible time. That annoying voice rang out before the door was kicked open and by the time the coughing finally died it was too late; Ursula had barged in to the room and was already attacking Hansel. His gun was out of his hands and Gretel could only watch as the tentacle was wrapped around his neck. "N-no. No, no, no!" The blanket was thrown off of Gretel but the sudden movement of sitting up caused a wave of dizziness to wash over her. A groan left her lips, her hands digging in to the bed sheets as she tried her hardest to focus on getting herself back in order. It was then that she noticed the lavender hair stepping in to the room and instantly a glare was sent to the sorceress.


"So you're still alive, impressive." Morgan commented quietly, almost as though she were egging the younger sibling to do something even though it would be hard for her to do. As much as Gretel wanted to make a comment to her, she said nothing as her attention was instantly drawn to Ursula and her skin paled.


"Don't you dare hurt my brother!" Gretel's tone was as fierce and threatening as the glare upon her features and for once since the week before, she felt a fire within her that was stronger than the sickness. "We don't know anything about the seal bearer here! I've never seen nor heard anything about the person and I don't know where to find them either. We aren't here as Huntsmen, we were only doing a favor for Ariel since you tried screwing her over by leaving a mermaid in the middle of land with no access to water. That's all. Now let go of my brother!" Another cough happened because she was getting a bit worked up but her eyes kept darting over to Hansel. She needed to act fast and her opportunity arose sooner than she thought.


"As much as I hate to say this, she'll telling the truth. I can see it in her eyes, they don't know anything about the seal bearer. We'll have to find that Huntsman with the long hair." Morgan turned to speak softly to Ursula and in that moment, Gretel reached underneath her pillow for the knife that was there. She aimed it at the tentacle around her brother's neck and once it landed its mark, she dropped off the bed and scrambled for his gun. A well aimed shot hit the sorceress in her knee, causing her to drop to the ground in pain before Gretel began to fire off a couple of shots at Ursula next. Her vision was beginning to get blurred because of all the moving but this chance was not going to slip by her. At the very least that sorceress was staying here whether Gretel passed out catching her or not.

 

[SparkleBreaker]

Hansel






















Slowly, she could feel Hansel having less fight in him as he tried to wriggle out of her grasp. His kicks were smaller and the pulling to get the tentacle off from around his throat wasn’t as strong. The sinister smile grew at this. The room was beginning to turn to white and Hansel couldn’t concentrate on anything but getting free, his body panicking against his well. That voice of Ursula’s still managed to cut through his haziness in a manner that was sickening almost. The bright purple eyes of the other’s he could make out as they went back to focusing on him and not his sister.


  


“Don’t hurt my brother.” she mocked, followed by laughter as that was exactly what she was doing and the other was too sick to do anything about it. Literally, she was squeezing the life out of him. His eyes were now watering as he continued to struggle halfheartedly. “We don’t know. We’re just being meddling fools and helping the mermaid.” That was the wrong choice of topic the younger woman had chosen and when Mim confirmed the brunette was telling the truth and they knew nothing her grip tightened like a constrictor as she shrugged. “Then there no use and we get rid of them so they don’t meddle in our fu - -” A shriek of pain was let out and immediately the male was dropped involuntarily as she backed away from the threat so she could pull the knife out. Hansel was on his hands and knees as he gasped to catch his breath and slowly his vision started coming back to him. Gun shots rang out and he could hear and aggravated hiss come from Ursula as she was forced to seek coverage from the fire. One shot did find its target in her gut and she buckled over. Her arms instinctively cover her would protectively.


Now that Hansel was finding his footing she took one glance as the sorceress that was down and shook her head. The girl was her to take care of and this was the lavender haired woman’s entire fault. Hansel was literally seconds from dying, but she hadn’t done anything to keep Gretel from attacking. Too many times she had passed up opportunities to get rid of the huntsmen. The intervention between Hansel and Wendy had not been forgotten by the dark haired woman. A glare was sent her way before she bolted out the door before Hansel could attack, not that his mind was on the Sea Witch. The knife that had been taken away earlier had found its way back into his hands and he took the opportunity his sister had given him. The sorceress was tackled and pinned on her back. Most of his weight was on one leg that went down her chest to hold her down. The other foot had her hand pinned to the ground as he crouched down to hold the knife to the woman’s throat. His free hand had found her other hand and held it down.  


“You’re going to undo it.” he growled, looking back at his sister and then back to witch. There was so much hatred for the woman beneath him that he wished he could slit her throat right there. It could be seen in his eyes as well as the fear of losing the chance to save his sister. His jaw was clenched as the knife dug into her skin to drive his point home.  

 

[pyreshadow]

┏━━━━━━━━┓
Madam Mim
┗━━━━━━━━┛
​

Morgan was shocked from the pain she felt and curled her body close to her leg. It wasn't like it was the first time that she'd been hurt before -far from it in fact- but for Gretel to still be able to move like that despite the mixture she'd used was incredible. Most would have already succumbed to it by this point yet here she was, trekking through it and still even firing at Ursula. In which the damn sea witch was making her escape already. No surprise that she'd leave Morgan behind, it wasn't like they were close knit or anything. When push came to shove, it was their own life that came first so Morgan likely would have done the same. A pained look crossed her features for only a moment before she attempted to pull herself up. Right as she was doing so, the brother came at her and brought her right back to the ground. A gasp left her lips before a more pinpointed pain resonated from the leg being pressed into her chest. She made an attempt to scramble her way out of his but soon both of her hands were pinned, one by his foot and the other by his hand. Piercing blue eyes darted to the knife at her throat before she attempted to struggle again underneath his weight. It didn't take a genius to put two and two together; there was no way for her to get him off, he outmatched her in strength. Despite all of the odds being against her right now though, his demand caused her to laugh quietly.


"If I wanted her dead, she would be. You both would." Morgan's tone was calm though her heart betrayed how she really felt; she was scared, she could admit it to herself. Her heart felt like it was going to beat right out of her chest but the smile never left her face. It seemed unnatural in a way yet at the same time it was almost genuine. "You love her so dearly, you'd do anything to protect her. That's what family is supposed to do." There was a bit of sarcasm in her tone with her next words but she still for the most part kept herself calm. He couldn't kill her. If he killed her then his dear sister would die and that wasn't what he wanted. Her blue eyes drifted to the sister in question and noticed Gretel was breathing more heavily than she was earlier. The gun was on the ground now and the brunette was looking a bit worse for wear. "You know, you might want to-" Morgan nodded in the direction of the brunette but right before she could finish her sentence, Gretel ended up dropping to the ground. Sweat dripped from the sides of her temples and her breathing became a bit more erratic. It was clear she pushed herself too much and now she was paying the price for it. "It's not like I can go anywhere, I can't outrun you with the wound she gave me. You should put her in bed, then we can talk." Although a part of her knew that if he did let her up then she could very well make a concoction to get her out of her. Something that could put Hansel to sleep or paralyze him, anything to keep him down. Would she? Probably not. This might be a good opportunity to get away from Chernabog, especially if he ended up thinking that she was dead. So long as he didn't take her satchel or pouches along her belt with all her powders and herbs then it'd be fine.

 

[SparkleBreaker]

Hansel






















Previous conversations he had with his sister came to mind, but how the sorceress was strange in the way she acted, even going to lengths of saving the two. In the past fights, yes she would have had them beat if she wanted to, but this time around he stood a fighting chance. Only thing keeping him killing the lavender haired woman beneath him was that he needed her to reverse what she had done. That was made clear that she knew that by the way she spoke of family. A frustrated sigh was let out as he contemplating on what angle he could go to make her bend to his wishes, but his train of thought was interrupted when he followed her nod in Gretel’s direction. Immediately his body shifted, lifting a bit of weight off the woman before bringing it right back down. Despite how much he wanted to be by his sister’s side and help he had to sort it out with the witch. His features hardened as she spoke and he rolled his eyes at her attempt to lie.


“Witch hunter here, you really think I’m going to believe your helpless?” he asked bitterly, scoffing. The satchel was eyed and he contemplated on taking it, but his mind lingered on the part of the sentence that said we can talk. He bit his lip as his eyes traveled to her pouches and belt before sighing. “You better not make me regret this.” he said, deciding to trust the sorceress. This was against his better judgement, but he didn’t really know what else to do without her being cooperation. Hansel got off of her and went over to his sister. The gun was picked up from the floor and placed back in his holster. He spared a glance Mim’s direction to make sure she wasn’t up to any funny business. Gretel was scooped up gently in his arms and placed underneath the covers. The fight definitely had made things worse and a concerned look cross his features while he tucked her in.


“Can you reverse what you did?” he asked, walking over to a bowl of water and dipping a rag in it. The whole time he was trying to be civil, so at least there was a chance the sorceress would help. Hansel sat down on the side of the bed, glancing in the other’s direction while he wiped away some of the sweat off his sisters face. If she could help make Gretel better, he was sure there were terms to go with it. His fingers went to rest on her forehead to check for a fever after he had finished and then he tossed the dirty rag on a nearby bedside table.    

 

[pyreshadow]

┏━━━━━━━━┓
Madam Mim
┗━━━━━━━━┛​

For a moment, Morgan thought that she'd actually be let up when he shifted to get a look at his sister; again, only a moment. Her eyes shut quickly when the pressure came right back with the weight on her chest again before her eyes opened to meet his gaze. It was her turn to roll her eyes from his scoff but she didn't say anything on it. She never said she was helpless, she just said she couldn't outrun him. The way he was eyeing her bags though showed he knew what he was doing; no surprise, they were the legendary Hansel and Gretel. Most witches would be stupid to not know about them and to not have some sort of fear towards them. Morgan could see why but she could also see there was more to it than that. Her brows furrowed slightly when he spoke again as she hadn't actually expected him to get off of her. When he did, she turned to the side and curled up a bit to make it easier to take a few deep breaths to try to calm her quickened heart. Once she felt it was enough, she slowly pulled herself up to a sitting position and pulled herself to rest against the wall closest to her. Her brows scrunched together from the throbbing pain and as her hand reached out to hover over the wound, she knew: the bullet was still in there. Damn.


The question caused Morgan to glance over to Hansel, eyeing what he was doing for a moment before she focused on what she was doing. "I could, yes." There was a bit of hesitance towards the end of her words as she pulled open one of her pouches, taking out a pair of makeshift tweezers from it. "But if all you're going to do is kill me afterwards then I won't do it. You'd be better off killing me now and watching her die too." Morgan was gambling a bit right now but there wasn't really any other way she could see herself getting out of this one. Taking a quick breath, she used the tweezers to dig around in the wound until she felt the bullet and pulled it out as quickly as she could. Her hand was shaking and there were some tears prickling her eyes by the time she got it but at least that was one less thing she'd have to worry about. Both the tweezers and the bullet dropped to the ground as her hand went to cover the wound when even more blood started trickling out of it. The only problem she had now was that she needed to mix together a salve for it but if she did that, then he could very well think she's trying to mix something to use against him. So now she was pretty much stuck. If she didn't start opening up a little bit to him, then he wouldn't be able to trust her at all and she really would end up dead.


"I don't like needless death." Morgan started quietly, doing her best to keep a tight grip on the wound. "It's why I stopped Wendy from killing you and why I kept interfering with some of their other 'fun'." The hand not on her knee came up to air quote the word 'fun' as both Cruella and Ursula seemed to like the word. "I thought that by working with them, based on a letter I had received, I could live freely in a world that wouldn't hunt me down just because I possess a power that others don't. But...I don't agree with a lot of the things that they're doing." She paused as she thought about it for a brief moment before slowly shaking her head; it wasn't the time to really get into that sort of thing. "I'm not going back to them and if I heal your sister, you are not to hunt me. Ever. I don't want a part of this anymore, I should have just stayed off the radar." The last little bit was more spoken quietly to herself as she was upset at the mess she had gotten herself in to. A heavy sigh left her lips as she peeked at the wound before her hand quickly went to cover it back up. "It won't do you any good if I bleed out though. Can I make a salve?"

 

[SparkleBreaker]

 
​

Hansel
​

A little relief flooded as her words sunk in. Now they had to just come to agreement and sure enough terms were being set. The blankets were adjusted to hug tighter around Gretel before he planted his feet on the ground, turning to face the sorceress. His elbows rested on his knees as he hunched over a bit, watching her work on removing the bullet. There was not one bit of sympathy he had for the witch and his expression remained grim as she worked on the bullet. The pain in the other’s eyes was a bit pleasing to see and he had a little enjoyment watching the process. Hansel looked up at the ceiling, smiling at the thought of killing the witch.


“Could just do that, kill you.” he stated bitterly, raising his brows in a manner to tell her not to test him at the moment. Last thing he wanted was to be alone in this world, without any family. To have that possibility dangled in front of him was bringing out a side of him that he personally didn’t like. Dark thoughts were running through his mind of what he could do to the sorceress if she in fact refused or Gretel died.  Desperation to not to be left alone could turn him quite mean man, he was finding out. Hansel kept watch on her hands, waiting for them to go towards any of her pouches or satchel. Surprised, both brows rose at her next comment. Part of him wanted to point out that she was in the wrong business, but her explanation that followed cleared that up. The choice was already made, but he looked back at his sister wondering how she’d feel to never hunting the sorceress. The knee was eyed and he shrugged quickly.


“Go ahead.” he said quietly, gesturing with his hand that he was ok with her making a salve. The blood was trickling out pretty steadily and he could see her hands covered in blood. A clean cloth was picked up and he slowly walked over with his hands in the air to show he meant no harm before he sat down next to lavender hair woman and applied pressure gently to the knee, freeing both her hands. “I won’t hunt you, if she gets and stays better.” he said, making it clear whatever she had to do would need to work and be long-term. Too many times witches had tried to pull the wool over his eyes and that made him not trust her to keep her word. “Also, if you do go back and we’re on opposing teams once more, all bets are off.” he said, dryly watching her hands work. What concoction she was cooking up he had no clue, but he watched anyway. When it was ready he pulled the cloth away so she could apply it. “What do you need to do?” he asked, keeping it on his sister. Right now, that was the only matter he was concerned with and he had agreed to her terms.         

 

[pyreshadow]

┏━━━━━━━━┓
Madam Mim
┗━━━━━━━━┛
​

Surprise flitted across Morgan's features as she hadn't expected him to agree to her making a salve despite how she'd need it. She ended up staring at him for longer than she intended to before turning her focus to her pouches finally. She only managed to get out a couple of ingredients she'd need before she felt herself flinch and instantly look back towards him when she realized he was coming closer to her. His earlier words of just killing her and how easily he said it played in her mind, putting her on edge even though he seemed like he wasn't going to hurt her. It wasn't like she could really do anything but she knew there wasn't any way he'd kill her without her healing his sister first. He couldn't. Despite knowing that, she swallowed down the fear that she felt and held a calm gaze on him. Blue eyes darted from his face down to his hand that was now putting pressure on her wound then back again with furrowed brows. Her brows furrowed slightly but she wasn't going to question why he was bothering to help her. Instead, she took the chance to finish finding the rest of the ingredients she'd need; which were just a few different herbs that needs to be mixed together.


"She'll be as good as new. I don't care what you think of me but if there's one thing that you shouldn't doubt, it's my skill." Morgan wasn't cocky by any means but she also knew she was good at what she did. She only spared him a glance before continuing with the last of the mix before placing a leaf in her mouth to chew it up. It tasted horrible, as it always did but once it was nice and mushy she brought the mixture back out and added it to what she had already finished. A glare was sent his way when he mentioned the possibility of her going back to them but she didn't say anything of it yet. Her focus remained on applying the salve she created on and around the wound. The tweezers were picked up again next and stabbed through the bottom of her dress so that she could tear off some of the fabric to create a makeshift bandage for the time being. "I'd rather die than go back to them so...you won't have to worry about that. Soon as your dear little sister is healed, you won't see me again. But...for the record, I only did what I thought was best to keep them from trying to kill her themselves. Eric too, I gave him a hallucinogen instead of actually killing him. There were plenty of chances that I could have killed both of you but I didn't. Not that it matters." Morgan kept a soft voice and her eyes glued to the ground as she tied off the fabric tightly around her knee to keep the pressure there. It'd do for now, the rest she could deal with once she was away from this place...if Hansel really kept his word. Eyeing him for a moment, a small grimace crossed her face as she pulled herself to a more sitting position as she unhooked her satchel and belt from her waist.


"Get a fire going. I'll need boiling water, as well as a grinding stone, a bowl, and a clean washcloth." Morgan glanced up at the bed for a moment when she heard a coughing fit happen that left Gretel wheezing softly. "Give this to her now, it'll postpone the effects a bit while I start preparing the antidote." As she spoke, she dug through her satchel until she found a small vial full of green liquid and held it out for Hansel to take.

 

[SparkleBreaker]

Hansel

The instructions were mentally noted and he was crouching on his feet, ready to straighten up when a coughing fit from Gretel came. The wheezing could be heard from where they sat and he wondered how much time they had to get this together before. . . Hansel didn’t want to finish that thought and he didn’t have to as a vial was held up for him to take. The green fluid was inspected and a complexed look crossed his face as he didn’t really want to trust his sister fate to this stranger. Even if she claimed she spared them and that what she had been doing was for their own good, she still did this to his sister. This was the only option he was left with at the moment. Hansel gave her a look and reluctantly he took it from her hand.


“All of what you’re looking for is on the table out there.” The living and dining room was gestured to with a nod. The last few days he had been mixing stuff up in hope that a miracle would rise and it work. It was also busy work that he could do. “I’ll put some water on after this.” The vial was held up to show what he was referring to before he pushed up on his knees to stand and walk over to his sister. Hansel was gentle, trying to prevent another coughing fit while he propped Gretel up. He pulled her into his lap and proper her up with an arm. The cork was removed from the vial with his teeth and he spit it out into his lap. “Here take this. It’s supposed to slow it down.” Babying Gretel too much might backfire on him, so he let take the vial on her own, only helping if need. Pillows were stacked on one another as he kept her propped up, hoping it would help prevent coughing fits in the future.

A pot full of water was hung over the fire place as soon as his sister was comfortable again. A stack of wood was next to the fire place and he added some to the dwindling fire. A couple of large breathes and he had the fire coming back to life. “What can I do to help?” he said, pulling a chair out at the table and getting comfortable. There had to be something he could do, grind an herb or anything to speed up the process. No was not going to be taken for an answer. The grinder was pulled in front of him to show that and he looked up at her expectantly until she gave him something to do. “So what was the pirate to the girl?” he asked, scratching the back of his head nervously. The fact that he could have taken the girl’s mother away from her early had been bothering him in the back of his mind for some time now.   

 

[pyreshadow]

┏━━━━━━━━┓
Madam Mim
┗━━━━━━━━┛
​

Though he took the vial, Morgan could tell he was contemplating whether to actually give it to his sister or not. It was his choice ultimately but if he didn't then he knew where it'd lead. Morgan wasn't going to say anything of the sort though and instead went to focus on doing what needed to be done: standing. The task seemed like it was going to be a hard one all things considered. An inaudible sigh left her lips before she spared Hansel a look briefly and followed his nod towards the living and dining room area. That at least made it easier if everything was already gathered in one spot. A small nod was all she gave before she hoisted herself up using the bed frame as support; most of her weight stayed on her good leg and she used the frame to keep her balance while trying to judge the distance from where she was to the area she needed to be. Curiously, she ended up looking over to see how Gretel was trying to keep herself away long enough to drink whatever it was that Hansel was giving her. She trusted him so easily and the truth was, Morgan could have used the chance to actually get rid of her for good. Both of them. So why didn't she? Her eyes darted to the ground as she began to limp her way to the table with her satchel and belt in hand. Questioning thoughts were swimming in her mind but none of them she could answer.


By the time she got to the table, Gretel was settled back in to the blankets and sleeping once more and the wheezing was no longer evident. Her brows were furrowed slightly and her breathing was still heavy but it didn't seem like she was going to be coughing any time soon at the very least. Morgan had laid out most of her pouches in a pretty organized way so that she could easily grab what she'd need without having to dig around any longer. There were already a few roots that needed to be cut up gathered to one side while a few herbs that needed to be ground were off to another. Morgan was sitting down in one of the chairs with her bad leg propped up in another to keep it elevated for the time being. He never said she couldn't work like this so until he said something, this was how it was going to be. As Morgan reached in to another pouch, she paused when Hansel sat himself down and took the grinder from her to bring closer to him. He wasn't even giving her an option as to whether she wanted the help or not. She eyed him for a couple seconds longer before finishing grabbing the leaf she needed before setting it near the roots.


"Grind these all together but don't overdo it to the point where it gets too thin." Morgan pushed the herbs towards him before putting her focus on the roots instead. She ended up using one of the siblings' blades that she found laying around, whose it was she wasn't sure. Either way it cut the root pretty smoothly enough so it'd be easy to cut into the small pieces it needed to be. The mention of the pirate caused her to pause as her thoughts went to Hook before she glanced towards him. "Captain Hook was very special to Wendy, not her mother but mother-like in a way I suppose. I don't know all the details but Wendy helped the captain kill her long time nemesis and has been with her since. They were very close, practically inseparable unless it was a 'grown-up' only conversation." Morgan paused in her words to air quote the 'grown-up' part as she remembered the pirate used it before then went right back to finishing cutting the last root. "Intentional or not, you took away someone very dear to the girl which is why she's out for your blood. It's just about the only thing she cares about right now I think; she won't even talk to any of us really since then, especially not me because of what I did. I've a knack for getting people to hate me I guess." Morgan shrugged her shoulders, pretending she didn't care even though she actually did. She just wasn't going to let it show to him when she knew he hated her just as much. The tiny root pieces, along with the leaf that she tore up into small pieces, were all dropped in to the bowl that was near before she pointed towards the grinder in front of him. "You finished yet?"

 

[SparkleBreaker]

Hansel

The herbs were worked on immediately, keeping in mind not to overdo it. His blue eyes were glued to the grinder, not looking up at the witch once. Guilt riddled his mind, but there was a voice inside his mind that argued against it. A true guardian wouldn’t have a child out during such a mission. The more the little girl was described, the more she sounded derange. He shook the thoughts from his head and he focused on the work at the table. The herbs were ground just like she asked and he made sure not to make them to fine. Hansel paused in his work to look over the witch. Sounded like a lonely life, but he wasn’t surprised to hear that not many were fond of her.


“Is that so?” he said dryly. The bowl was pushed towards her instead of a verbal answer. The water was beginning to simmer. “How long does it take for the antidote to work?” he asked, leaning back in his chair. The water started to bubble behind him and he got up to tend to it “How much will you need?” he asked, taking out the amount she requested. Hansel watched the concoction come together. The elixir was a teal color. The roots seemed to have melted away and the half a bowl was filled up with the liquid. A flowery scent came off it and it was eyed before he looked over the with, looking for any sign that this was trick. Swallowing hard, he slowly stood up with the bowl in hand. “I’ll be back in a bit.” he said quietly, pushing his chair in.


Hansel went back to where is sister was sleeping and gently woke her up. Slowly he spoon-fed it to Gretel, having her drink the last bit of it. Afterwards he tucked her back in for her to rest the remainder of the night. There was a brief moment where he paused and looked at her and silently he prayed that he made the right choice in trusting the witch. A spare blanket at the end of the bed was snatched up and he left the room, closing the door behind him. “Better get comfy” The blanket was tossed to the sorceress before he sat down and got comfortable. The table turned into a foot rest and he leaned back, folding his hands behind his head. Hansel planned to stay awake the whole night, until Gretel was awake and feeling better.

 

[pyreshadow]

┏━━━━━━┓
Gretel
┗━━━━━━┛
​

"Most would take a couple of days to recover but given how your sister is, I'd say just the night would suffice. I made it rather potent to make sure the effects would hit faster." Morgan had postponed answering that question until the concoction itself had been finished, which she was sure once the flowery smell hit her nose. She was gathering the remnants together of the things that were left that needed to be cleaned up so she didn't bother looking up when he left the room. The couple of tools that she used herself were put back in her bags and the things from the house were piled neatly to be washed later. She didn't feel like getting up right now with her leg the way that it was. However much time had passed, she glanced back towards Hansel in time to see a blanket being thrown at her so she caught it before it could hit her in the face. Eyeing the chair that she was in for a moment, she ended up getting up to lay down on the ground instead to get comfortable since the chair was out of the question. If she could avoid more pain being added on to herself then she would...although why she only just now thought of the fact that she could have run off earlier, she had no idea. A small sigh left her lips before she forced her eyes closed and tried to will sleep to take her. Highly doubtful given the circumstances but still.


Some time in the early morning hours, Gretel ended up stirring slightly from the surprisingly peaceful sleep she'd been having. The last thing she remembered was...Ursula and the sorceress attacking...or really just Ursula since the sorceress hadn't really done much of anything. Making demands about where the seal bearer was and threatening Hansel. Then...and then? Gretel couldn't really remember since it was all fuzzy after that. She was about to let out a sigh when she noticed something right away that was odd about her breathing: it was actually normal. She took in a quick but deep breath, held it for as long as she could, and then let it out slowly. There was no wheezing, no coughing, no burning. Nothing. Sitting up instantly, Gretel's eyes scanned the room they were in and she realized that she was feeling fine. Better than fine really, she hadn't felt this great in a long time; her complexion was better as well being back to its natural tone. Her muscles didn't ache, no headaches, no dizziness, it was like she was never sick to begin with. Did that mean...Hansel was able to convince the sorceress to heal her? There was a bit of hesitation as Gretel stood up but once she was on her feet, she was walking through the house with determination in her stride as she looked for her brother. Of course, it didn't take very long before she found him sitting at the table while a lump on the ground folded in a blanket next to the table with a mess of lavender indicated the sorceress was still there with them too. Gretel eyed the woman for a moment to watch the breathing pattern until she saw that it looked like the other woman was sleeping. Not that Morgan actually was sleeping, she just didn't want to have to deal with anything right now so she was pretending to still be asleep for the time being.


"Hansel." Gretel greeted him with a growing smile before she hurried over to him to give him a warm hug. "I don't know how you managed to do it but...thank you. I feel better than I have in, well a while actually. Everything I've been feeling, the coughing, wheezing, dizzy, it's all gone!" She paused to kiss his cheek in an almost giddy manner, trying really hard to contain some of her growing happiness at the fact that she was feeling so much better. It was just hard to do. The hug probably lasted long enough since she knew he wasn't much of a hugger so she ended up letting go and leaned on the table slightly next to him before motioning to the lavender hair on the ground. "How'd you get her to stick around though and not use her shapeshifting power to leave? Actually, what happened after they came? I remember Ursula asking about the seal bearer here and trying to kill you but...everything after that is sort of a blur."

 

[SparkleBreaker]

Hansel

The sun was just beginning to rise. The lump on the floor was eyed as he wondered if the sorceress was really asleep. Hansel hadn’t gotten any, but for a while there he had closed his eyes to help with the burning sensation. His eyes lids were heavy and it was getting harder by the minute to open them back up. A yawn escaped and his arms stretched out as he adjusted himself in the chair to get more comfortable. A familiar voice said his name and he turned to see his sister coming into the room. A smile spread across his face as he could immediately tell that she was better. There was no wheezing or coughing and color had returned to her face. Expecting to have been swindled, he looked over at the sorceress, stunned. Exhaling deeply, for the first time in four days there wasn’t a heavy weight on his shoulders and he returned the hug.


 


“Hey.” he finally greeted, but shied away a bit from the kiss. His face scrunched up as she planted one on his cheek quickly. The hug lasted longer that he normally would let it, but giving the circumstances he was ok with it. “Ok, we’re not going to be that odd lovey dovey siblings that are super m.” he laughed, loosening his grip around his sister. A smile still stayed plastered on his face and they had been successful with something that seemed impossible. Hansel followed his sister’s motion to the lump on the ground and then his eyes shifted back on to Gretel.


 


“You shot her in the knee and then I tackled her to the ground.” The sorceress was pointed at as Hansel wasn’t sure if Gretel remembered her injuring the witch. All his concentration had been off of Ursula and he didn’t really know what happened exactly, just that she fled. “The tentacle freak hide tailed it out of her and left the witch behind. Think you shot her too? Assuming so, otherwise why else would she had left? I think I don’t like that one the most.” The last sentence was grumbled and more for him. In every counter she had been the one to cause the most trouble. “Made a deal with Ms. Witchy over there. In exchange for not hunting her that she would make the antidote for you. Surprisingly it was kept and here we are now.” A smile was forced on his face as if this was ideal place for the three of them to be. Another yawn escaped and he looked over at his sister as if a trap door was going to drop open and she was going to suddenly be sick again. Like this was all a dream.


 


“What are we going to do now?” he asked, getting up from the chair before he fell asleep. The pot was picked up to be hung in the fire place. Breakfast was on his mind. “Vacation” he suggested sarcastically, knowing that his sister would most likely want to help the Queen still. The fire had been kept up all night, since it had given him something to do while he stayed awake.       

 

[pyreshadow]

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Gretel
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​

"I shot her? Huh." Gretel didn't remember doing that at all, eyeing the witch in question one more time as she listened to her brother recount what happened. It vaguely sounded familiar but if she was being honest, she wouldn't be able to say yeah she did it. Ursula abandoning the sorceress wasn't a surprise as she assumed if all of those in the group were in the same position, they all would have done the same thing as well. Though when Hansel mentioned making a deal with the lavender haired woman, Gretel instantly turned her attention half in shock towards her brother. "You made a deal with a witch?" She repeated but there wasn't any sort of doubt or hostility about it in her tone. Truthfully she was quite grateful since she was still alive and well now because it worked to get her back up to par. If he hadn't done that, who knew if she would have even made it another day. The fact that he was willing to bargain with a witch was still just shocking but it showed how much he cared for her. She would have done exactly the same if the roles had been reversed.


"I'm more shocked it was kept than anything." Gretel added after a moment, her hand coming up to scratch at her cheek as she eyed the witch again. When Hansel began to move, her eyes drew to him and she straightened herself a bit before a chuckle left her lips. "How about food instead? I feel like I could eat a horse." Gretel hadn't been eating properly the past couple days because of the sickness and she could feel it now that she was actually better. Even if it was something light, she wanted to eat something. "I think it's a bit early to be thinking of a vacation right now. Celebrating one victory sure but...cutting out entirely, I don't know if we should do." As she spoke, she was already pulling out some bread, cheese, and berries to start before she ended up looking over Hansel. She gave him an almost innocent smile as she popped a berry into her mouth to eat it quickly before continuing. "We could very well have an upper hand right now, Hansel. We've been at a disadvantage for a while because of..." Gretel trailed off a little and instead made a motion to Morgan before stepping a bit closer to her brother so she could speak more quietly. "She's been with them since the beginning but she's also not exactly been helping them at times. Maybe we could get some actual information out of her about the others? Information that could very well help the others?"


"What's to say I'd even give the information to you?" Morgan's voice cut into the air and caused Gretel to step back in surprise before her gaze went right back to find blue eyes staring at her. The sorceress hadn't even moved much, just rolled over enough to look the siblings over enough to show she had indeed been awake and was listening to what they were saying.


"What have you got to lose by helping us?" Gretel asked her, giving her brother a quick look before she ended up popping another berry into her mouth.


"I don't have anything to gain either, so I don't see what the point is. The deal was already made. Your sister is in perfect health as you can see so I should be allowed to go free now." Morgan turned her focus to Hansel as she spoke, sitting up slowly as she did so. Gretel too looked at her brother but it was more of a 'don't do it' sort of look than anything. Of course, it could end up being for nothing if the witch didn't have any useful information but they wouldn't know unless they prodded her for information.

 

[SparkleBreaker]

Hansel

Vacation was shot down quicker than expected, but he least thought Gretel would humor him a bit. Being right about things weren’t always so great and he grunted in response when she upright rejected the idea, even though he knew that was what was going to happen. A berry was taken and popped in his mouth as he rolled his eyes blatantly at his sister to let her know how he felt. Babysitting in the first place was something he hadn’t wanted to do. The back of his head was scratched at the mention of having an advantage. Four seal bearers were gone now and the demon was probably twice as strong. The lump on the ground was glanced at before he looked at his sister wearily and in disbelief. The witch had just almost killed her and she wanted to keep her around? His arms folded across his chest as he wanted to wash his hand with all of this, but especially the pain in the ass that was lying on the floor. Useful information or not, he was done striking deals with the witch and was ready to see her out the door and their lives. The sorceress voice cut through the air, though Hansel was that surprised. By no means were they on friendly terms and he had doubted the witch slept much if at all from the get go.


“A deal is a deal and there is. . .” The look Gretel gave him made rethink what he was about to say, which was along the line of there is the door don’t let it hit you on the way out. Both women were looking at him not and honestly, he didn’t want either to be upset with him. His hands dug deep in his pockets and his shoulders bunched up, like they normally did when he did something uncomfortable or against his will. “You do have something to gain, really. Think that lot is going to make your life easy if they do end up freeing that demon? You don’t think they’ll put two and two together. You get left behind and Gretel magically returns to normal health?” The whole thing was a gamble really, he didn’t know if that convince her to help out or not. There was another card in his deck, threating to tell them she was alive and well, but that was a last resort. Blackmail didn’t really seem the way to go unless forced. The sorceress would be more useful if she was willingly helping them.

 

[pyreshadow]

┏━━━━━━┓
Gretel
┗━━━━━━┛
​

The way that Hansel started caused Gretel to raise a brow but it was the way that he trailed off that caused Morgan to stiffen slightly. The sorceress felt herself sit even straighter as she stared at him, waiting for an answer that seemed to be taking far longer to give than she would have liked. At least Gretel was a bit more understanding in that regard, mostly. When Hansel came back with how Morgan had something to gain from helping, she quirked her head to the side as she listened. It was a bit...unfortunate how he had a point that she didn't think about before. As much as she liked to think she could keep herself hidden away nicely, the Red Queen did find her already. Plus Cruella knew her scent now, so that could be used to track her too. So once they saw Gretel in tip top shape, they'd know that Morgan had to have something to do with it. They'd be able to find her no matter where she tried to hide, especially if Chernabog really did come to power.


"...what are you proposing?" Morgan asked slowly after a couple moments of silently deliberating with herself though she still wasn't entirely sure of whether this was a good idea or not.


"Sanctuary." Gretel wasn't entirely sure what Hansel was thinking when he first brought it up but she spoke up before he could. When blue eyes turned to her, all the brunette did was give her a small smile to show she was being honest before continuing. "You tell us what you know of the people working for the demon, actually help us not just give us things we already know, and we'll give you protection against them."


"So says the one that shot me in the leg." Morgan countered, to which Gretel merely shrugged her shoulders.


"In my defense, I don't even remember doing that. I just remember wanting to get better. Besides, we weren't on friendly terms yesterday and today we seem to be like we are." Gretel's smile grew a little bit more and it caused Morgan to eye her a bit in an almost suspicious manner. "Whatever potion you mixed to have Hansel give me, you could have just given me something that would have ended my life entirely. But here I am, feeling healthy as an ox and ready to take on the world. You also saved my brother's life and helped Ariel out before too. I wonder why that is." Gretel paused when she noticed Morgan glance to the side in a way that seemed like she was refusing to answer the statement. "Well, it doesn't matter much I guess. The point is the past is the past and we have to strive for the future. Right now, we're trying to protect the future from being destroyed by a demon your group-"


"Ex-group." Morgan interrupted just to correct that.


"Okay, okay. Ex-group. The White Queen will make sure you're well protected from them should you help but until that time Hansel and I will watch over you, so..." Gretel trailed off a bit as she figured her point was done and made so all she could really do was wait now; probably not the best idea to volunteer her brother and her to watch over a witch but it was fine. The sorceress probably wouldn't want to agree to that part anyway. The silence that hung in the air afterwards caused her to worry that it didn't stick but eventually -after what felt like an eternity- a heavy sigh left Morgan's lips.


"...fine, I'll help you but eat first though. I'll answer your questions after." As Morgan said this, she lifted up just enough to grab her satchel and pouches so that she could get some fresh herbs out to change the bandage around the wound.