Ch.29: Child of the Moon
Since Katherine was still somewhere nobody knew where, possibly in the Enchanted Forest where most of them had come from, Charming was filling in as sheriff, so Charming was the one that answered the call that something had happened down in the mines.
When Charming, Henry, and the Blue Fairy got there, there was a hole in the caves that had a whole bunch of sparkling fairy dust on the ceiling of the cave that LeRoy had opened up with his axe.
“Oh my Gosh. Diamonds. They’re back. Magic brought them back,” the Blue Fairy said.
“You mean the kind that become fairy dust,” Henry said.
“Indeed. We just need to refine them; grind them up,” she replied. She then looked at Charming. “Do you still have the remains of Jefferson’s hat?”
Charming took it out of his backpack he had on.
She took it and told him, “Lock this up. Keep it safe. By this time tomorrow, we’ll have enough fairy dust to make it work again.”
“So, Katherine,” Henry said.
Charming put a hand on his shoulder.
“That’s right, kid. We’re bringing her home.”
Charming gave a smile at that.
After leaving the mines the dwarfs, and the Blue Fairy had a drink together at Granny’s Diner to celebrate, knowing that as long as nothing went wrong, Katherine would be coming home tomorrow.
Ruby was collecting some dishes from a booth, when someone she’d met before said, “a mouse.”
“What? Where?” she questioned, looking for one.
He approached to stand in front of her.
“I met me. I was a mouse. My name is Gus. I lived in Cinderella’s pantry; I ate cheese; I gnawed on wood; but I preferred the cheese.”
“Why are you telling me this?” Ruby wanted to know.
“We haven’t had a chance to talk since things changed. I just wanted you to know who I was. Back home.”
“Can I still call you Billy?” Ruby asked him.
“You can call me whatever you want, as long as you let me buy you a drink after your shift. I only know Ruby. I want to have a chance to meet Red.”
“Um, tonight’s actually not great, because, I, uh—,” Ruby started, about to say why, but then Belle saved her from having to make something up on her own, by coming over and standing by Ruby.
“We, uh, have plans,” Belle told him.
“That’s right. It’s girl’s night,” Ruby said, playing along. I’m bringing the cheese. Which has nothing to do with you being a mouse. It has to do with the wine.”
“Okay. Maybe, uh, next time,” he replied, and left out the back.
She looked at Belle.
“Thank you.”
“I can spot a girl in trouble,” Belle replied. “He seems really nice.”
Ruby looked at the clock for a bit and then at Belle again.
“It’s complicated,” she replied, before walking away.
Henry was at a booth, having a mug of something, when Charming came over with a glass of alcohol. Seeing it, he questioned Henry.
“Is that coffee?”
“No,” he lied.
Charming sat across from him.
“Trying to stay up, huh?”
Henry nodded.
“Still worrying about those nightmares?”
He nodded again.
“Don’t be, ‘cause when you go to sleep tonight, we’ll be right in the next room.”
Henry smiled and then Charming smiled back.
“Now, maybe lose the java and go grab a cocoa.” He scooted the coffee away from Henry.
Henry left to go do as he was told to do.
The King from the Enchanted Forest sat across from Charming.
“Congratulations, sheriff. Quite a celebration.”
“What are you doing here?” Charming questioned.
“You may have taken care of me in the old world, but in this one, we get another go at each other.”
“Whenever you’re ready,” Charming replied.
“It’s a big moment for you, isn’t it? On your way to getting Katherine back.”
“Must be hard for you, watching good win.”
“Good? So, sure of yourself. But I know the truth. You’re still just a shepherd, pretending to be a prince. You weren’t fit to run the kingdom. You sure as hell aren’t fit to run this town.”
“I think people of Storybrooke might disagree with you,” Charming replied.
“There’s going to be a day that they’ll see it my way; that they’ll see you for who you really are. By the time I’m done with you, you’ll wish you’d killed me when you had the chance.”
Charming got up from the booth.
“The people of this town know who I really am. And they’ve seen me defeat you before. So if you try and take me down, they’ll see it again.”
The King gave a smile.
Charming took his drink from the table and gave him a smile, before walking away.
Charming went into the kitchen to see Granny and Ruby doing something with the freezer.
“Almost done,” Granny said. “Let’s finish pulling out the perishables.”
Ruby took the frozen lasagna out of the freezer.
“What the hell is this?” Charming asked.
“We’re making a cage,” Ruby told him. “Nobody might want frozen thirty lasagnas.”
“I’m sorry. What?”
“I know. Nobody would believe you if you told them the lasagna was frozen,” Granny said.
“No. Why are you building a cage?” Charming asked Granny.
“Tonight’s the first full moon since the curse broke. It’s the first time of wolf’s time,” Ruby told Charming.
Charming looked at Ruby.
“I thought you figured out a way to control the wolf in you ages ago.”
“Yeah, but thanks to the curse, I haven’t turned in twenty-eight years,” Ruby replied. “I might be rusty, but I can’t what happened last time; happened to Peter, happen to anyone else.”
“What about your red hood? That could keep you from turning.”
“If I had it. I’ve looked everywhere. I even went to Gold. It’s not in town. I don’t think it came over with the curse.”
“Ruby, I know you. I trust you. Snow trusts you. Wolf’s time or not, you won’t hurt anyone tonight.”
“Maybe. But I can’t afford to take any chances,” Ruby replied, before walking into the freezer.
Granny closed and locked the door.
The next day, Granny went into the kitchen to open the door to get Ruby out, but saw that the door was completely on the floor and not attached to the freezer, and the entire freezer was marked up with huge claw marks. That made her realize that the freezer hadn’t held her in and Ruby was out there somewhere.
Henry was having a nightmare again, that he was in a room filled with fire.
Regina realized he was having a nightmare and sat on the side of his bed.
“Henry? Henry, wake up.”
He woke up quickly and sat up in bed.
“It’s okay. It’s alright,” Regina assured him. “Hey.”
“What? What are you doing here? Where’s David?”
“He got an emergency call this morning and he asked me to look after you. He told me you’ve been having nightmares. It’s okay. You can—,” she said, and put a hand on his wrist.
He pulled away, feeling pain on his hand, and saw that there was what looked to be a burn on the side of his hand.
Regina saw it and grabbed his hand to look at it.
“Is that a burn?” She looked at her son.
Meanwhile, Granny was using her senses to find Ruby, Charming following her, Granny with a crossbow just in case.
When she saw her on the forest floor, asleep, Granny told Charming, “Over here.” Then she said, “Ruby. Ruby, wake up.”
Charming knelt by Ruby and helped her up.
“Where am I?” Ruby asked.
“The forest,” Charming replied. “You must’ve fallen asleep here last night.”
“No. No, I don’t understand. You put me in my cage. You locked me up.”
“The freezer was torn to shreds when I came in to check on you this morning,” Granny informed her.
“Ruby. Ruby, it’s alright,” Charming assured her.
“No! It’s not. I don’t remember anything from last night. This was exactly what I was afraid of. Oh, my God. Did I do something last night?”
“Ruby, all we know is that you broke out and ran into the woods. There’s no reason to assume the worst,” Charming informed her. Then his phone began buzzing and he picked it up. After a conversation for a moment, he and whoever had called him hung up.
“What is it?”
“Someone left their car parked in front of the cannery. I’ve got to check it out on our way into town. Hey. Relax. Everything’s going to be okay.”
Granny gave a nod, agreeing with Charming and assuring Ruby.
Charming and Ruby got out of the car.
“That’s Billy’s truck,” Ruby inform him.
“Great. Someone I call to call a tow truck,” Charming commented. Charming began walking towards the truck and saw how Ruby was acting. “What is it, Ruby? What’s wrong?”
“I smell blood.”
Charming looked inside the front of the car and then closed the door.
“Where’s Billy?”
Granny spotted half of his body, standing by the other side of the truck.
“Here.”
Charming saw it.
Ruby screamed and Charming went over and saw that the other half of his body was in a machine that was used to grind things up into small pieces.
“It was the wolf. It was me,” Ruby sobbed, grieving over Billy whom she had had feelings for.
Gold, Henry, and Regina were at the Charmings’ apartment.
Gold saw the burn.
“Oh, yes. You were quite right to call me.”
“So, you can help?” Henry asked. “It was just a dream.”
“Well, what you described sounded like more than a dream.”
“Then what was it?” Regina asked.
“A side effect. You know, it’s remarkable you cast a curse you don’t know something about.”
“My victims are not supposed to wake up,” Regina told him. “That’s why I certainly didn’t care about what happened to them after.”
Gold went over to the table, where he had a black bag.
“Until now,” Regina added.
Gold took something out of his bag, as he explained.
“When someone is put under a sleeping curse, the soul travels to another realm, where it resides until they are woken. This world is between life and death. And it’s very real. However, even when the curse is broken, sometimes, in sleep, the victims find their way back to that world.”
Henry went to stand in front of Gold.
“Victims like you,” Gold added.
Regina went to stand behind Henry.
“This other world is tormenting my son every time he sleeps. I went you to give him something that will keep him from going there.”
“Well, I’m afraid that’s not possible. I can however, give him something that will allow him to control his actions whilst in that world. And once one controls something, one needn’t fear it.”
After putting some of a vial of blue liquid into a necklace or locket, Gold showed it to Henry.
“A necklace?” Henry asked.
“You wear this wisely, son. Once you control the journey, fear will stop. And then you can come and go as you please.”
Henry began to take it, but Regina put a hand on his arm.
“Everything comes with a price with you,” Regina stated. “What do you want for this?”
“For a house call? You couldn’t afford it. This is for Henry. This one’s on me.”
Henry took the necklace and looked at it.
Granny, Ruby, and Charming were still where the body was.
“It had to be something else, Ruby,” Charming assured her.
“No. I did this. We both know it.”
“No. I know who you really are, Ruby. Even if you’ve lost sight of it.”
“It doesn’t change the fact that I’m going to turn again tonight, and someone else could get hurt,” Ruby said.
“Maybe this isn’t the place to have this discussion,” Granny recommended, seeing some people starting to crowd around.
“It’s okay. I’ll protect her,” Charming said, and began walking over to the people.
“No,” Ruby said, and Charming looked at Ruby again. “Lock me up. The freezer couldn’t hold me. Maybe a jail cell will. I don’t need to be protected from other people, David. People need to be protected from me,” she sobbed.
Granny took Ruby.
Charming locked Ruby in a jail cell with chains around the bars for extra strength to hold her in as a wolf just in case.
“Thank you, David.”
“Thank me in the morning,” he replied, as he walked away. He opened a drawer to put the key in there. “By then I’ll have found whoever really killed Billy.”
“You already have,” the King said, walking in. “That thing. The she-wolf.”
Charming went around the desk to stand in front of him.
“Get out! Whatever issues you have with me, don’t involve her. There’s no proof Ruby had anything to do with what happened.”
“It seems to me you’re allowing your emotions to cloud your judgment.”
Ruby got up off the bed.
“Leave him alone!” she said, defending David.
“Protecting your friend over the peril of everyone else. I knew you’d slip up, shepherd. It’s only a matter of time.”
“For what?”
“Justice. Hand her over to me and let the town decide her fate,” the King suggested.
“Never. I know exactly what kind of justice you have in mind.”
“This town is bigger than you think. I start telling people that you’re putting their lives in danger to protect your own interests, you’d have a mutiny on your hands.”
“We’ll see. You want her, you’ll have to go through me.”
“I look forward to that,” the King said, and then left.
Charming looked over at Ruby, who looked back at him.
Later, when some of the town and the King entered the police station to put an end to Ruby, knowing what she was and what she’d done, Ruby wasn’t there.
Meanwhile, Ruby was chained inside the library, and Charming thanked Belle for letting her stay.
“Of course. It’s not every day you find out that your friend’s—,” Belle began.
Ruby cut in saying, “A monster?”
“Being hunted,” Belle corrected her. “I was going to say being hunted.”
“The crowd’s six blocks from here,” Granny informed them.
“You, you have wolf hearing, too?” Belle asked.
“It’s not all that it’s cracked up to be,” Granny replied.
Charming suggested finding a way to prove that Ruby didn’t have anything to do with Billy’s death.
“Granny, we’re gonna need your help,” Charming said. “If the mob comes this way, call us,” Charming told Belle. Then they left.
After handcuffing Belle to the pipe instead of herself, believing she needed to pay for what she’d done, Ruby left the library.
That night, Charming and Granny found out that the murder was pinned on Ruby by King George, also known as Spencer, so that he could find a way to take power away from Charming. They even found Ruby’s hood.
There was a howl, signifying that Ruby was out and they soon found both her and the mob.
David went through the mob to stand in front of them all, a distance from King George. He informed them that Spencer killed Billy to make it look like a wolf and stole Ruby’s cloak, which made the mob stop and after reminded her of who she really was, Charming put the hood over her and she turned back.
“Thank you. You saved me.”
“I saved yourself. I just reminded you of what you already knew.”
They came back to the mob to see Granny on the ground.
Charming helped her up and asked her what happened, and Granny told her that Spencer left, so Charming went after him, Ruby with him.
When they found him, he was in the woods in front of a fire.
“You think you can hide from a wolf?” Ruby asked him.
“I wasn’t trying to hide.”
“You killed an innocent man,” Charming said.
“He was a mouse,” King George corrected him.
“He was better than you’ll ever be,” Ruby said.
“You wanna make a deal?” Charming questioned. “It’s not gonna happen.”
“I’m not interested in making deals. I just want to see the look on your face when you realize something.”
King George turned around so that they were face to face.
“What’s that?” Charming asked.
“You’re never gonna see Katherine again.”
“What are you talking about?” he asked.
“You really must be more cautious of something so valuable.” He held Jefferson’s hat in his hands to show him and then tossed it into the fire.
“No!” Charming said and rushed over to try and save the hat.
“It doesn’t matter how much fairy dust you gather, or how much you rally the town behind you, Katherine’s gone.”
Charming hit him, making him fall to the ground, and put a gun to him.
“David, don’t,” Ruby said.
The King chuckled. “I told you. You should’ve killed me when you had the chance.”
Charming and Ruby were at the house.
“How am I going to tell him that he’s never going to see Katherine again?” Charming questioned, standing over where Henry was sleeping in bed.
Ruby was at the foot of the bed.
“You won’t have to,” Ruby assured him.
“Traveling between worlds is as hard as it comes,” Charming told her, looking at her. “Fairy dust on its own isn’t enough. It took Katherine to break the curse in the first place. Without the hat—.”
“You’ll find another way,” Ruby interrupted him.
“You don’t know that.”
“But I know you. And I know you’ll never give up until you do. And, David, you’re not going to be doing this alone.”
“Thank you,” he said.
“Do you mind giving Granny a call?”
“Sure. Why? What for?”
“I may have left Belle chained up in the library. Someone should probably—.”
“Unchain her?” he ended for her.
“Yeah.”
“Yeah, I’ll take care of it.”
Ruby opened the door to leave.
“Where you going?” Charming asked her.
“I still have a few hours of wolf’s time left. You helped me regain control. I wanna do something I haven’t done in a very long time.”
“What’s that?” he asked.
“Run.” She took her hood off, handing it to him.
After leaving the apartment, a howl pierced the air, signifying that she was now a wolf.
He smiled.
ns 15.158.61.48da2
