A walk, a wish and a nightmare
A Walk, a Wish and a Nightmare
Part One: A Walk
Note: I do not own “Once Upon A Time” and I do not make a profit from writing this story. I’m just amusing myself. The Tenth Kingdom is the property of Simon Moore.
Authors Note: I couldn’t help this, honestly. But I’m also not stopping myself either. Kissingtown and Little Lamb Village are taken from The 10th Kingdom. That's all the references to that series. Thanks again to shigeki_jkp
Rating: T-R (language, content, possible violence)
Genre: Vague Crossover/Crack/Mayhem/Humor/Romance.
Word Count: 1419
Characters: Red Riding Hood, Rumplestiltskin, Jiminy Cricket, Snow White, Prince James
Summary: All Jiminy wanted to do was to be human, all Red wanted was to have a good time, all Rumple wanted to do was to cause some chaos and poor Snow White just wanted to have an evening with her Prince. Life was never easy, even in Fairy Tales.
It was days like this that Jiminy Cricket hated being…well, a Cricket. It took forever to travel unless you were on someone’s shoulder and you were always in danger of being stepped on. As he hopped along the path, he found a familiar red cloak sweep by.
“Oh! Lady Riding Hood, is that you?” he called, knowing the woman had the senses of a wolf and could detect him even in his small form in the middle of the woods.
She stopped and turned, he saw her hands come down to the earth and he climbed into her hands. She lifted him to eye level and he was happy to see her smile.
“Hello Jiminy, what brings you to my neck of the woods?” she asked, studying the wise cricket in her hand.
“I was on my way to a nearby village, I take it you’ve come from Granny’s house?” he asked and she smiled brilliantly.
“Yes, she has plenty of supplies to keep her happy until my return. Which village were you on your way to?” she asked, interest perked, the cricket usually stayed at the Castle, the Prince relied on his wisdom heavily.
“Little Lamb Village.”
“I live nearby, would you like me to bring you? It might be safe and quicker for you,” she told him and he bowed to her.
“I appreciate your offer and will have to accept. I believe it will take me two days to get there,” he told her and she smirked.
“It would indeed, thankfully for me, it will take me only a few hours,” she told him and continued on her path home. She settled him on her shoulder and he clung on tight. “What business brings you to Little Lamb Village, may I ask?”
“Just in need of some alone time, it is very tasking to be the conscience to a Prince,” the cricket replied, the red cloaked girl laughed.
“I would imagine, but you are very good at what you do,” she reminded him and he couldn’t argue with that.
The rest of their way was a comfortable silence, a few times she stopped and turned and looked around behind them. He watched her hand, always hovering near her hip, where he knew she kept one of the many weapons on her person. Since she had been attacked by a wolf once, she had transformed from the small, innocent, naïve girl. Her walls were constantly up, she let her guard down only when she was at the War Table or when she was in the company of a few, trusted persons. She had been training with the most skilled Hunters in the entire kingdom, and has surpassed each one. It is why she was so needed at The Table, so few women ever graced it but she was powerful and knowledgeable of her skill and craft that she was a key member.
“What is it?” he asked, and she continued to scan the forest around them.
“I thought I heard someone,” she said and slowly turned around and continued down the path.
“Do you want to investigate further?” he asked and he saw the side of her lips turn up.
“No need,” she said and he clung for his life as she whirled around and he heard a blade cut the air.
“Now now now, little Red, was that called for?” came the gleeful voice of Rumplestiltskin, Jiminy wasn’t surprised when he saw the Imp was holding the dagger not even a centimeter from his nose.
“When you sneak up on someone it is,” she retorted, and the Cricket was surprised when the Imp grew closer and the girl didn’t tense, didn’t flinch, and didn’t prepare to strike. The Imp was powerful and had been causing many problems lately; it was one step from being imprisoned.
“My apologizes, you know I am not very welcome in these parts,” he said and handed her back her dagger, which she put away. “Mr. Cricket, tagging along with the lass? Want to be her bodyguard?” Rumplestiltskin laughed with mirth and Jiminy knew in that moment he wasn’t to be trusted.
“What I’m doing here is none of your concern. You should be more concerned about your own fate,” Jiminy replied coolly.
“No need to worry about me, I’ll be on my best behavior, Red here will keep her eyes on me,” the Imp said with a cheeky grin that Jiminy did not like, and it made him furious when the girl softly smirked back.
“Whatever you say, Imp. I’m going home,” she said, whirling on her heel and turning back towards her destination. And Jiminy sighed when he heard the Imp laugh and crunch along behind them, no longer making an effort to hide himself.
“Why are you so friendly with him, you’re going to put yourself in a bad situation,” the Cricket asked, and Red’s eye darted down to him.
“You know how powerful he is, Jiminy, why would I put my family and my life in harm’s way if he becomes angry?” she replied, and glanced back to Rumplestiltskin who was tromping happily behind them.
“I understand,” he told her lowly and hoped she was on her way,
By the time they got back to Red’s home, Jiminy could tell she was about to stab the Imp. Though he was the moral compass for good, given half the comments Rumplestiltskin were making were so obscene, the girl was as red as her cloak. She set her rules, all which basically came down to she was going to bed and Rumplestiltskin was not allowed in her room. If he chose to ignore that rule, she would attack, but if he was good, she would accompany him on his journey the next day, whatever it may be.
He seemed too gleeful about that for Jiminy’s taste but he didn’t know what to expect when Red took him into the bedroom with her. She placed him on her pillow and he turned away as he saw her hands go to the tie of her cloak.
“Thank you for the privacy, given what I’ve had to listen to for the last two hours, I’m relieved to have such a polite male to count on,” she told him and he turned as he felt the bed sink. He turned to find her in a white night gown. It covered her as much as her cloak did but she still looked beautiful.
She climbed into bed and quickly covered herself and rested her head on the pillow.
“I will leave you to sleep, M’Lady,” he told her and to his surprise, she sat up at his words.
“Stay, at least the Imp will leave me alone as long as you’re here,” she told him and he resettled on her pillow. He chirped quietly and soon outside the night was filled with the normal crickets chirping. She smiled and closed her eyes. “It’s so soothing, thank you Jiminy,” she said and he watched as sleep overtook her and he continued to watch her door. It was sometime that night before he had realized he had fallen asleep when he awoke to her growling low.
“Get out of my bed Imp, I’m not afraid to spill your blood tonight,” he looked over to see Rumplestiltskin’s eyes flicker in the dark and with a mischievous chuckle, he withdrew. It only took him one more attempt to sneak into the girl’s bed for her to place her dresser in front of her door.
When she awoke in the morning, she was nose to nose with Rumplestiltskin. He was grinning cheekily at her and before he knew it there was a blade poking into his side. She glared as he smiled and she sighed.
“If you’ve tried something…” she warned and he flung back the covers to show they were both fully clothed. “Good. But where is Jiminy? If you’ve harmed him…” The Imp’s gleeful laughter gave her pause. “What did you do?” she demanded sitting up.
“I’ve done nothing, you should ask him what he’s done,” he said and those words sent her running. As she shoved the dresser out of the way and threw open the door she saw a man sitting in her home.
“Good morning, Lady Riding Hood,” and she stopped the sound.
“Jiminy?” she asked, and he smiled, the sight took her breath away.
“Surprise,” he said mildly, and all she could do was stare at the man who used to be a Cricket.
TO BE CONTINUED
Part Two: A Wish
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