The Girl and the Nutcracker ~ A Once Upon a Time Story

David had called Clara to come over with Ruby to the mines. The dwarves had the idea that there could possibly be fairy dust inside some of the ores inside. When Clara and Ruby entered, they heard the dwarves whistling.

"Did they find any fairy dust yet?" Ruby asked and Henry shook his head, "No, not yet. But they will, and when they do, we'll figure out a way to get Mary Margaret and my mom back."

Ruby nodded, "I'll be back later with lunch." She walked away and David sighed, "I hate mine dust." He looked over to Leroy, "If you find anything, I'll be at the Sheriff's Station."

"You taking over as sheriff?" Leroy asked and David nodded, "Stepping in until Emma gets back."

"Can I come with you?" Clara asked David when he put his shirt on, "I want to help out a little more, and I don't think Henry needs even more babysitters than the seven dwarfs here."

David gave her a nod, "Sure. You can go around and ask people if they need any help."

~ The Enchanted Forest ~

Clara had found a small town near a harbour after walking out of the forest. She saw a huge ship at the dock, and she knew it would be her ticket out of the Enchanted Forest and far away from Arendelle and her mother.

She walked inside of a tavern, which was completely occupied with a pirate crew. She approached them as they were drinking beer and rum, and she threw a big purse of golden coins on their table. The pirates looked up to her and Clara smiled, "I want to get away from here with a ship as fast as possible. Can you do that?"

"Aye, lass." One of the pirates answered as he stood up, "Just tell me where you want to go. The Jolly Roger is the fastest ship in all the realms."

"That's the problem." Clara told him, "I have no idea where I can go. All I know is... I need to be as far away from Arendelle as possible."

The pirate nodded, "We set sail tomorrow. You can come with us and board as long as you need, but the longer you stay the more gold we demand."

The pirates laughed along with him, but Clara nodded, "Of course. I have as much gold as you want."

"Alright then." The pirate said with a smile as he held out his hand, "Captain Killian Jones."

Clara took his hand and shook it, "Princess Clara of Arendelle." Killian looked over to his crew with a smile, "Another round of beers on the princess!"

_____

When the pirates were done drinking, they stumbled out of the tavern to head to the ship. Clara walked along with them, "Thank you again for allowing me on your ship, Captain Jones."

"Anything to help a lady in need." Killian answered and the pirates laughed with him. A man that bumped into him, and Killian turned to look at him, "Hey, you! Stop! Even gutter rats have more manners than you just displayed."

"I'm so sorry, sir." The man said as he turned to look at them, his cloak still hiding his face slightly. Killian looked at him, "Ah. I was wrong. Not a rat at all."

He knocked the cup out of the man's hand, "More like a crocodile." He kicked the man, and Clara frowned at the display while the pirates were laughing.

The man, however, started giggling, "Crocodile?" He revealed himself, and Clara noticed he had a scaly skin all over his face. Killian looked at him with recognition, "You. I remember you."