braveandstupid | post-tos } { by a gentle nor'wester how steady she goes

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post-tos } { by a gentle nor'wester how steady she goes

Ruby tells her before she leaves that it's a bad idea.

She gives her an entire download on the lay out of the Enchanted Forest. She tells her who to look out for, who to stick close to, and who can get her closer to her goal of finding Hook. Ruby would be going herself, if it weren't for the fact that she could run into another version of herself by testing this and one of the science people on this mission think that that would be bad.

Very bad.

Extremely bad.

Elena tries to reassure her that she will be fine. If Hook doesn't remember her than she'll make him remember her, one way or another, and she'll get him to come back to Nifelheim with her. Things are bad - really bad - and they need all the help they can get at this point. It's a risk, using this untested technology to drop into someone else's world and interfere, but it's a risk they have to take.

Hesiod is winning. If they stand any chance of getting Tristan back on the throne, of ending this war that she's been navigating her way through for years now, then they need all the help they can get. And in this particular case, it's requiring them to call on some old friends. They need a guinea pig - she volunteers.

Now she's lying on the deck of a ship, slightly winded and a little sore and hoping that the outfit Ruby put her in is at least seaworthy, on top of being Enchanted Forest appropriate. She gives a bit of a groan, one hand wandering to her pocket to make sure she had the device to try and call herself back to Nifelheim when she's ready, and once she's sure she has it, she starts to push herself into a sitting position.

And finds herself face-to-face with a nice set of sword points.

Well, at least she found the right ship.

She holds up her hands in surrender, giving them a small smile. "Easy, boys. I'm not here to hurt anyone."

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Hook is below deck in his Captain's quarters when Smee rushes in, completely out of breath, to tell his Captain he's needed on deck right away. Rising from his desk, Hook sighs and moves to follow.

"What is it, Mr. Smee?"

"Well Captain, there appears to be a, a girl on deck."

"A stowaway?" Hook asks, brows lifting in question.

"No, not in the least! She just appeared out of nowhere!"

"Have you been hitting the rum a little hard today, Smee?" Hook asks as he comes up on deck, his first mate rushing to announce his presence to the crew. Smee then tries to continue, but his Captain lifts his hook to silence him. Huh. There is a girl on deck. He still thinks it likely that she managed to stowaway at their last stop and his men just don't want to admit that she slipped their notice until now.

And now that he's staring at this girl, he gets the oddest sense that he's seen her before. He definitely hasn't slept with her, though. Too young. Is she a barmaid? Maybe a fisherman's daughter?

He flicks his wrist to get his men to take a step back and take the swords out of her face.

"Welcome aboard the Jolly Roger, Miss. To what do we owe this pleasure?"

In other words, spit out how and why you're here, girlie.

Yep. No recognition. This is going to be a little harder than she thought. All the same, this is Hook. There's a certain level of trust there on her end, even if he doesn't trust her. She doesn't think he's a bad person.

Pirates are a bit like vampires that way.

"I have a proposition for you." She pushes up to her feet, dusting herself off. "One that I think you'll be pretty interesting." She'll ignore the fact that she probably could have approached him in a tavern or whatever the case may be. Clearly she wanted to get his attention in a big way.

She's succeeded there. He's definitely intrigued by this woman who sees nothing wrong with coming onto his ship uninvited and getting straight to the point.

"Do you? Pray tell what is it?"

His crew appears a little more wary since they saw the woman just appear and he didn't. What if she's some type of Dark sorceress trying to trap their captain into a nefarious deal that involves all of them too?

For his part, Hook is willing to listen mostly because he still has a nagging suspicion that he already knows her.

He does. Not that he remembers it, though, which is part of the problem. Now she needed to have a pitch that's fit for a pirate. That always tends to make things a little complicated.

"I come from a distant land that's in trouble. We require a pirate's help, and you come highly recommended." They require any help at this point, but a pirate would be especially handy. "I thought I would come and see for myself."

His expression shifts from surprise to arrogant in about a second flat. Of course he came highly recommended; he's Captain Hook! He does wonder just who recommended him to her, but that can be laid aside for the present moment.

"And what sort of trouble is this land in that it would require the services of a man such as myself?" The "paid" services is implied.

Yes. He will totally be paid. Paid in the love and gratitude of people who have been struggling for a long time without him. That's totally the kind of payment he wants, right?

"A war," she answers simply. "One that's been a long time coming and one we don't know how will end."

Of course! Except, no wait. The total opposite of that.

"I wouldn't think you would. Each side in a war assumes they know the outcome and neither are right." He may not have seen much of war, but he was a sailor for his kingdom before becoming a pirate, as his men were too. Still, it's been a long time since they felt duty-bound to their land or their king, and the prospect of fighting someone else's war holds no allure for him.

"I'm afraid you've been misinformed, m'dear. You see, we?" he gestures to his crew, a smirk on his lips. "Are pirates. We certainly don't take sides in wars."

"All the more reason why it won't be expected." She gives him a bit of a smirk as she moves closer, ready to stare him down all the same. Wars may not hold any allure, but she's not going to give this up without a fight. It's all in or nothing at all. "Besides, it's not to any land you know of. You'd be more ... mercenaries, than anything else. That falls under the category of 'pirate,' doesn't it?"

Again, Elena, alluding to the idea that he's going to be paid. That's not a good way to build a relationship.

He doesn't look entirely convinced, but he doesn't look like he's about to dismiss her either. Subtly, he glances at his crew to see what they think. While getting involved in a foreign war isn't his idea of fun, if it paid well, it might be something to think about. It wasn't like they didn't risk their lives every time they boarded a vessel to liberate it of its treasures. This would be no different.

"What exactly would we be doing in this war? Battling on ship, or on foot?"

"A little of both. It depends on where you're fighting at the time, and the terrains can ... vary. But you can bring your ship, provided it can stand a trip between worlds." Which she thinks this one can, from what she's heard.

A lot of her information is still hear say. She wishes she had something more solid.

"It can." He was confident of that, because he'd done it before.

"But all this seems a bit slapped together. I would prefer to see something that shows you can be trusted. A contract, a bit of gold, things of that nature."

He may be a pirate, but he doesn't want to risk his crew and ship on a wild goose chase.

"Mmmm. You're right."

Because he is. She is going to need a little more than that to get him on her side. She reaches down into the bag she carries with her, tapping the side as she sorts through it.

"I've got everything right here." And she reaches in to pull out a flagon of whiskey, laced with all the incentive she needs. "Maybe we can discuss it over a drink."

There's no denying that business done over a drink appeals to the pirate captain. Smirking, he gives her a bow, extending his arm towards his quarters.

"If you'd be so good as to follow me, we can discuss the particulars."

This is about to be a poor life choice for Hook, but that isn't out of character for him.

Elena nods before heading in the direction indicated, waiting until he lets her into his quarters before handing off the bottle to him. She figures he can get the glasses and such. She mostly focuses on getting a good look at the place, taking in the space and feeling of it.

In some ways it's what she expected. In a lot of ways it isn't.

Still she'll sit where he tells her to sit and wait for him to pour.

Hook's done his best over the long years to make his quarters fit the pirate persona. Fancy goblets and platters made of silver line the shelves. Maps are spread out on the table and held in place with tankards or a knife slammed through it at the corner. But if one were to snoop around, they'd see another life hidden away down in the bottom of the storage bins. They'd see his brother's things, bright and polished, all tucked away carefully.

But that's not who Killian Jones is. He's a pirate. So he takes down two pewter mugs and pours the drinks, sliding hers in front of her and taking a seat.

"So, Miss-- You know, I never got your name. How rude of me." He sets down his mug without taking a sip and holds out his hand. "Killian Jones."

She lets the fingers of one hand curl around the mug, before leaning forward and shaking his hand with the other. It's a smooth gesture and met with a smile and eye contact all the same. "Elena Gilbert. A pleasure."

Once she releases his hand, she leans back and takes a sip of the whiskey, more as a show of good faith than anything else. The memory potion in it won't hurt her - she has all her memories - and she doesn't want him to think it's poisoned.

"So let's talk business."

"Let's." He leans back in his chair with his mug, resisting the urge to kick his legs up on the table. Not in front of a lady. "Tell me more about this war of yours."

He'll just settle in for a story, taking a long sip of whiskey. Except forget the story because his head is being crammed full of memories. Or rather, the block on them has just been sledgehammered. He sputters into the mug, sitting up straight and clumsily setting the mug down on the table, eyes wide.

She cringes as she watches the potion take effect. It's not exactly an easy thing to see, and her face automatically goes from cool professional to concerned friend. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, I didn't want to do this the hard way, but I wasn't sure how else to convince you."

Damn it, Elena. Things were going well for him here. He jumps up from his chair and moves away to look out the window, taking deep breaths. He remembers everything about that life, and about his budding friendship with the young woman at the table too.

"Why?" he asks, voice low. If the Grasp had seen fit to take him back and conceal his memories, why was she here forcing them to come forward again?

She watches him as she goes, hating that she had to do this, because she knows the way the world can rear back and come at you from an angle you didn't expect. She didn't want to have to do it this way.

"Because it's getting bad," she says softly. "You aren't the only ones, either. We're trying to bring back as many as we can but Hesiod destroyed the Grasp. We had to do it the hard way."

He wants to snap at her, but he rubs a hand across his mouth first and just waits. She's a good girl and it's not her way to do malicious things, so he lets her speak first before turning to face her.

"And I suppose you can't simply all leave, because if the Nysgods destroy themselves then that will lead to all our worlds being destroyed?" Amazingly, he paid attention when he was among the candidates.

"That, and I think that leaving won't really make a difference at this point." They choose to stand behind Tristan. "If we leave, Hesiod will follow us, and I'm not going to spend the rest of my life running between universes to get away from him."

She exhales slowly, because she was in this fight, whether she wanted to be or not. But she wouldn't force Hook into it. She just couldn't have him say no without all the cards being on the table. "If you want no part of this, I understand. It's not your fight anymore. But I had to at least try."

"That was quite a risk. Coming all this way to show me the truth and then leave the choice in my hands." He comes back to his chair and eases himself into it, as if he's finally feeling all the years he's lived.

"You could have gotten me to return first before restoring my memories." He looks away. "But I would have brought my crew with me, and they're not a part of this. We were the ones chosen, you and I." He leans back, sighing. It would be easy to say no, and a part of him very much wants to. Why should he involve himself in this fight, and voluntarily at that? But if he stayed would Hesiod come? Would he take out his crew first?

"I'm no coward," he answers. Unlike some men. "I'll come back with you. We'll tell my men I'm leaving to scout out the situation and I'll return to them with my decision. They would never believe the truth."

Elena doesn't comment on her methods. She's not here to justify them, and she's already apologized for them. She'll just have to deal with the fact that he may not want to accept untested drinks from her for a while. But when he agrees to come back, she nods, fighting back the small smile at his agreement.

"Of course. We don't want anyone else to get hurt."

He's rubbing at his face, a look of resignation painted there that says he regrets this already. He so hates being dragged into other peoples' problems.

"Is there anything I need to bring with me? Sword, compass, a copious amount of rum?"

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