Belle has been alone in the woods for countless days, as she had lost track. She makes a point to stay away from those who are out looking for her, knowing that if anyone were to find her, she would be putting them in harms way. It is revealed that a spell-no, a curse has been cast on Belle that transforms her into some sort of beast, and all that needs to happen is being exposed to a simple pink rose in order for the curse to kick in. Still in her wedding dress, Belle keeps running; running from the villagers, running from the scent of the rose that threatened to change her into something she couldn't control. Once Belle managed to shake off the perusing villagers, she collapsed onto the forest floor and began to sob violently. We then learn that because of this curse, Belle had killed Gaston, her soon to be husband, and since Belle is still in her wedding dress we can gather that she had killed him on their wedding day. She was unaware that the entire time, she was being watched over by Rumpelstiltskin.

Suddenly, Belle's new sharp senses picked up on two different heart beats. She got up off the forest floor and spotted a dark figure in the distance, shadowed by the canopy of trees. Belle took a step back and cut her ankle on a thorn from a rose bush. Fright took over Belle as she realized this entire part of the forest was overgrown with rose bushes, however her transformation did not take her over. Calming down, Belle realized that these roses were red, and not pink like the ones at her wedding. She stooped to pluck one of the roses and admired it's beauty.

The two heart beats Belle had heard belonged to that of a small, Chinese woman and her horse. Belle thought of taking her chances in the wild rose bushes, but who was to say that a pink rose bush wasn't buried in there somewhere? That wasn't a chance she was willing to take. She allowed the woman and her horse to approach her. The horse must have sensed the beast lurking within Belle because it reared up and struck Belle down. The Chinese girl, Mushu, calmed her horse down and turned to make sure that Belle was alright. Mushu immediately recognized Belle from her sharp features, having seen Belle's face on numerous missing signs posted all over the village.

Mushu, who was going by the name Lily, tried the friendly approach, trying to explain to Belle that she was there to help. Belle immediately figured that her father had sent this woman to look for her, but Belle was just as adamant about staying away from the village. Lily tried to offer Belle an apple, but Belle declined. Stubbornness took over Belle as Lily once again tried to get Belle to return her to the village. Suddenly, Belle realized that the forest behind her had caught fire and was forcibly driving them back towards the village. Lily sighed, realizing she had no choice and seemed to be looking off in the distance where, unknown to Belle, Lily met eyes with Rumpelstiltskin. Lily then jumped Belle, finding a number of critical pressure points and put Belle into a sleep. With the magical help of Rumpelstiltskin, Belle was hoisted onto Lily's horse and Lily began to lead the unconscious Belle back to her village.

Dreams haunted Belle as she slept, the repeating faces of Gaston and Rumpelstiltskin entering her mind. Unable to make sense of the dreams, however, Belle was suddenly awoken by a shooting pain going through her body. As Lily brought Belle closer to the village, Belle's unconscious head had brushed up against a single, blooming pink rose bud that immediately triggered her transformation. In a daze, Belle looked around seeing the familiarities of her own village, and even of her father and two sisters quickly approaching her with open arms, happy that she was alive. However the transformation took over Belle quickly, and in the place of the beauty became the beast. The beast charged the closest thing it could, Belle's father, and pinned him to the ground, ready to slash his throat to ribbons in her uncontrollable rage. Mushu, in her quick thinking, plunged her sword into the shoulder of the beast, grabbing Belle's attention, and Mushu mounted her horse, leading Belle away from the village.

Belle quickly caught up to Mushu and her horse, attacking the horse and forcing Mushu to jump off of it and run. Leaving the horse, Belle pursued Mushu, taking out an innocent family's cottage in her wake and caught up to Mushu, pinning her to the ground just as she had her father and drew a paw to end Mushu's life. Suddenly, a large wolf barreled through the scene and jumped the beast, sinking it's teeth into the back fur of Belle causing her to forget all about Mushu. The beast clawed at its back until its massive hands closed around the wolf and tore it from her back, throwing it a good distance in front of her. The wolf did not let up, however, and put itself between Mushu and the beast, protecting the human. The wolf then lunged at Belle, swatting at it's ankles in an effort to drive the beast away from Mushu, however Belle's nose was filled with the scent of blood...Mushu's blood. The wolf then clamped down hard on the beasts tail, immediately getting Belle's undivided attention.

Belle slashed at the wolf, cutting it's face but the wolf still managed to lead Belle away from the town where their fight continued.The beast threw the wolf into a tree, the sheer force cracking the trunk and making it fall over it its wake. The wolf was no match for the beast, and in its injured state was unable to move when Belle's own jaws clamped down on the wolfs leg and began to tear it from the wolfs body. Suddenly, the shadow that the beast had been casting grew solid and wrapped itself around Belle's throat, suffocating the beast until it slipped into unconsciousness. The moment the beast hit the floor, Belle's body came back, ridding itself of the beast. Now unconscious and helpless, Mushu dragged Belle to a nearby barn where she tended to her wounds and laid her down in a soft pile of hay to rest and recuperate.

The Cheshire Cat shows up at The Dark Castle to have a word with Rumpelstiltskin. It is quickly revealed that the two have had a previous history and made a deal that didn't set well with The Cheshire Cat. Rumpelstiltskin points out that it wasn't his fault, because The Cat simply made a deal that he didn't quite understand. The Cheshire Cat demands his humanity back and Rumpelstiltskin agrees so long as The Cheshire Cat brought Rumpelstiltskin a woman from another world. The Cheshire Cat agrees and goes to find The Mad Hatter so he may make use of his hat and it's magical world-traveling perks. Before arriving to 'The Land Without Magic' Cheshire seems to be drawn to the heart-shaped key tied around his neck, but little more is said about it. Cheshire uses The Mad Hatter's hat and then travels to the world where he is to find Dr. Heather Jekyll.

The Cheshire Cat finds her quickly in her mansion and presents himself to her. After a short discussion between the two, Cheshire reveals that Rumpelstiltskin has asked The Cheshire Cat to bring her to him, and Dr. Jekyll agrees to go with him. Once they returned to The Enchanted Forest, Dr. Heather Jekyll asks about Rumpelstiltskin and The Cheshire Cat gets tense. He warns her full-heartedly that he is a man that likes to twist words and therefore Heather should be careful with what she says around him. He brings her to Rumpelstiltskin and reminded him of the deal they had just made. Rumpelstiltskin hands over a potion to The Cheshire Cat and is on his way, leaving Heather to the mercy of whatever it was that Rumpelstiltskin had in store for her.

The Cheshire Cat decided to take a nap in a tree, wanting to feel fully rested when he turned human once more. Waking up, The Cheshire Cat pulled out the potion taking a moment to think back on the last time that Rumpelstiltskin "helped" him and has his doubts that this potion would be any different. Regardless, The Cheshire Cat drank it's contents, however horrible tasting it was, he managed to keep it down. Hours later, The Cheshire Cat woke up, having passed out from drinking the potion, and found that his appearance hadn't changed at all. Growing angry with Rumpelstiltskin, he once again thought back to the first deal that he had made with the Imp, though no more of it is spoken of. However, the memory made The Cheshire Cat even more angry and he began to head back to The Dark Castle to confront Rumpelstiltskin once more.

The Cheshire Cat arrived once more at The Dark Castle and realized that Heather Jekyll was still there, but Rumpelstiltskin was not. Heather advised that The Cheshire Cat stay at the castle until he returned rather than going out looking for him. The Cat agreed and kept Heather company while she made Rumpelstiltskin's dinner. The two talked for quite some time and The Cheshire Cat learned that Heather agreed to become like a servant to Rumpelstiltskin in order to rid of the "beast" inside of her. Curious, The Cheshire Cat asked to meet Evelyn Hyde but Jekyll promptly turned him down, saying it was for the best. The Cheshire Cat apologizes to Jekyll for leaving her alone with Rumpelstiltskin, slightly feeling at fault that she had given up her entire world just to serve him. He briefly tells Heather of his own dealings with Rumpelstiltskin, and then that conversation turned into harmless flirting on Cheshire's part, but wasn't at all reciprocated by Jekyll. Growing bored of watching Jekyll make dinner, The Cheshire Cat then decided to go exploring the castle and invited Jekyll to join him before disappearing on his own.

In the middle of reciting an old poem from Wonderland, The Cheshire Cat is then struck by an immense amount of pain and is sent to the floor where his body began the transformation into a man...a man who he had been before he had been a cat. Heather Jekyll finds The Cheshire Cat but The Cheshire is too distracted by the sudden change to flirt with her anymore. He admires himself in the mirror, slowly taking in the drastic change as if expecting this to all be a dream. Once Heather assures him that he is once again human, The Cheshire Cat begins to flirt with Heather once more and is then revealed that Evelyn Hyde could very well be interested in The Cheshire Cat, though in a much more twisted way than Heather Jekyll would ever care to admit.

Heather then changes the topic of conversation and brings up that the potion might not last forever, taking what information she knew about Rumpelstiltskin to logical use. The Cheshire Cat didn't seem to be too bothered by the possibility and informs her that he would rather live in the now rather than in the what if. Starting to walk, and trying to get used to his own two legs again, the two continue their conversation, Jekyll having to help him every once in a while when The Cheshire Cat would stumble. The Cheshire Cat wishes to take a break and the two take a seat and resume their flirtatious chat and again, The Cheshire Cat is insistent on meeting Evelyn Hyde which Dr. Jekyll once again denied him of. Heather then changed the subject once more to ask about his family, which took the cheeky grin right off The Cheshire Cat's face.

In a flashback, we learn that The Cheshire Cat was at his very own sisters beheading, ordered of course by the Queen of Hearts in Wonderland. However, instead of being there when his sister needed him most, he ran, unable to watch what he knew would be nightmares that would haunt him the rest of his life.

Presently, the Cheshire Cat apologizes to Heather about his sudden emotional outburst and goes into talking about memories and how they are a part of us. He vaguely tells Heather about the tragedy of his sister and we learn that the key he wears around his neck used to belong to her. Then, realization strikes The Cheshire Cat that he no longer remembers his real name, and comes up with a new one. Alexandre Frost. After a new name has been established for The Cat, the two set off again to explore more of the castle.

Stumbling into a room in their exploration, Alexandre and Heather came across a ratty old baby blanket that seemed to stand out from the rest of the castle, however before they could question as to why The Dark One would have such an item, Heather spotted Rumpelstiltskin outside the window as he returned home. The two made their way back to the kitchen and Alexandre waited there while Heather tended to her new master. Tired, and still angry with the Imp, Alexandre could no longer wait in the kitchens and confronted Rumpelstiltskin as they ate their dinner together in silence.

Alexandre jabs at Rumpelstiltskin, bringing up hints of Belle here and there that seemed to grab Rumpelstiltskin's attention quite easily. However, Alexandre did not stop and fabricated a lie that he had seen Belle, and that Belle was going around calling Rumpelstiltskin a monster and every other word of the like. Not realizing that he had pushed Rumpelstiltskin too far until it was too late, Rumpelstiltskin ripped out Alexandre's heart and began to squeeze, sending Alexandre to his knees in pain. Alexandre begged Rumpelstiltskin to end his life, to squeeze his heart into dust. He had nothing to live for, life was meaningless to him especially when things only seemed to be getting worse. Rumpelstiltskin returned Alexandre's heart to him and said that was exactly why he needed to live, the cruel torture of living far surpassed the sweet escape of death. Before Alexandre had a moment to reply, however, Rumpelstiltskin sent him to Snow White's Castle against his will.

He recognized it to be Snow White's Castle right away, but noticed that things had changed drastically since The Evil Queen Regina had taken over. Alexandre heard guards coming and decided that he would do what he always did and just disappear, however, he quickly realized that his magic no longer worked. He was captured by the Queen's guards and thrown into jail where he had time to think back on his first encounter with Snow White. In his memories, it is revealed that after he had been banished from Wonderland, Alexandre decided to make himself at home in an abandoned wing in Snow White's Castle shortly after The King had died. Snow White found him in one of the unused bedroom and showed him nothing but kindness and understanding, quickly forming a friendship that Alexandre would cherish for years to come.

Dr. Heather Jekyll is the only character who existed outside the lands of magic such as The Enchanted Forest and Wonderland. In fact, Dr. Heather Jekyll was currently residing in London, England, before a large cat in a top hat and an eerie smile came to her in her laboratory. Heather was working on creating a chemical compound that would help ease the voice in her head as well as the monster that shared a body with her; Evelyn Hyde. It seemed that all was hopeless in ridding of this 'beast' inside of her, and through a few revealing paragraphs we learn that Evelyn Hyde had already done her fair share in monstrous acts which drove Heather to try to be rid of her once in for all. Dr. Jekyll had already lost a friend to Evelyn Hyde, and was on the verge of losing another one. There was even a little girl who got caught up in the switch of Heather's transformation that nearly got trampled to death.

Out of the guilt that Heather felt when she had her own mind and body back once more, she pledged her services to the little girl's family, even though all she could do was sit by the child's bedside at night and read from the child's book as the little girl drifted off to sleep. It was because of one of these books that Heather came to realize just how desperate she had become to become 'normal' once again, as one night in her laboratory, she called upon Rumpelstiltskin (whom she had read about in the child's book) to come and help her, however, nothing happened; that is...until The Cheshire Cat arrived.

The Cheshire Cat quickly explained his presence, and that he was tasked with bringing Heather to Rumpelstiltskin in another world. Skeptical at first, Heather eventually agreed and traveled with the Cat by using The Mad Hatter's Hat, which took them to a portal of doors before going to The Enchanted Forest, but not before writing a quick note to her friends and family, urging them not to worry about her absence.

The two walked quickly to The Dark Castle where Rumpelstiltskin resided, and to pass the time conversed with one another about The Dark One. Heather had no idea what to expect after all. After learning that The Cheshire Cat had worked with Rumpelstiltskin before, he warned her to watch her words if nothing else and before they knew it they had arrived at The Dark Castle with Rumpelstiltskin himself eagerly awaiting the arrival. Heather stood by and watched silently as The Cat and Rumpelstiltskin traded few words and a small glass bottle, and then The Cat was gone, leaving Heather alone with The Dark One.

Bravely, Heather demanded to know what it was she was getting involved with exactly and Rumpelstiltskin did not sugar-coat his deal to her. Already knowing what it is that she wanted after a quick observation of her, Rumpelstiltskin promised Heather Jekyll that she would be rid of Evelyn Hyde once in for all if Heather agreed to leave her life in London behind forever and serve as his apprentice. Heather didn't have to think too long before she had made her choice and agreed to stay, having already made peace with the fact that she might never have been able to return to London even before she left with The Cat.

Eager to start her lessons with Rumpelstiltskin, Heather was not at all prepared for what that exactly entailed. Rumpelstiltskin had a curiosity of the 'monster' hidden behind Heather Jekyll and was determined to bring her out by any means necessary, and so, by using magic, began to choke the life out of Heather, goading for Evelyn Hyde to come out. Just as it seemed that Rumpelstiltskin had killed Heather, her body began to change and it seemed that another woman entirely stood where Heather once was. Taking the moment of transformation to her advantage, Evelyn Hyde took the Imp by surprise and kicked him to the floor and in a turn of events, Evelyn Hyde began to choke the life out of The Dark One. However, Rumpelstiltskin vanished from underneath her only to appear behind her with Heather's cane in his hand and brought it down on her like a baseball bat.

Now with Hyde on the floor and a giggling Rumpelstiltskin above her, he wailed the cane down on her time and time again, however the strength of Hyde did manage to keep most of the blows from her head, however Rumpelstiltskin didn't stop until he drew blood, making it absolutely clear that he was not to be underestimated; a quick and important lesson about master and student. Rumpelstiltskin then made a deal with Evelyn Hyde after he told Evelyn that magic had no effect on her. He promised not to use his magic to curse, maim, kill or transform Jekyll into any inanimate object or another animal under the understanding that Evelyn Hyde MUST let Heather Jekyll through any time he asked. The deal was struck, and Heather's body began to take form through Evelyn Hyde's.

After splashing water on Heather to wake her up, Rumpelstiltskin had Heather clean up the water mess as well as make his dinner. Wanting to protest about it not being in the deal, Rumpelstiltskin made it very clear that it was, as she agreed to 'serve' under him. And with that, Rumpelstiltskin was gone with promises to return at dusk for his meal.

Heather quickly cleaned up the water mess and went to the kitchen to make dinner, deciding on soup. As she worked, a voice she knew as familiar reached her ears and The Cheshire Cat materialized beside her wearing his famous smile and serving up his cheeky attitude. Heather learned that whatever it was that Rumpelstiltskin had given The Cat earlier had not worked and he was back to confront Rumpelstiltskin about it. Heather informed The Cat that Rumpelstiltskin had left the castle but that The Cat should stick around until dusk when he came back for his dinner, and so The Cat stayed to keep Heather company as she continued making the soup, trying her hardest to ignore The Cat's 'harmless' flirting.

Somewhat disappointed that the conversation was getting him nowhere, The Cheshire Cat suggested that the two of them take a look around the castle. Heather was hesitant at first, and so The Cat left on his own, causing Heather to go after him both out of wanting to explore The Dark Castle and to make sure he didn't get into anything he wasn't supposed to. Upon looking for The Cat, Heather heard a noise that sounded like pain and knew right away that it had to be Cheshire, since no one else was in the castle. Now looking for The Cheshire Cat more hurriedly, Heather eventually found him on the floor, however he was no longer a cat, but human. It was quite obvious that Heather was taken by surprise by the handsome nature of The Cat, even though Hyde was more 'vocal' about finding him attractive.

Heather and The Cheshire Cat talked some more, about the transformation and how Rumpelstiltskin may have come through after all, or maybe the human effects were just temporary. Heather then helped The Cat around the castle, as he still wanted to explore but his own two legs took some getting used to. Taking a small rest, the two continued their conversation, swaying onto the topic of family. The Cheshire Cat instantly froze up and started to become emotional. With much apologizing on Heather's part, The Cat eventually told Heather briefly about his little sister who he had lost to The Queen of Hearts and that the key he wore around his neck used to belong to her. Heather also learned that The Cat had been banished from Wonderland because of his cheeky demeanor towards The Queen after escaping losing his own head at the chopping block. It then became clear to The Cat that he had forgotten his true name, and so Heather helped him come up with 'Alexandre Frost' for the time being.

The two eventually found themselves in a bedroom and Heather spotted what looked like a very old, very poorly made baby blanket with the name 'Baelfire' stitched across the top. Before she or the Cat had any chance to discuss the strangeness of the object, Heather spotted Rumpelstiltskin returning to The Dark Castle out of a window and hurried downstairs back to the kitchens to serve him his meal. Leaving Alexandre to the kitchens, Heather quickly served Rumpelstiltskin his bowl of soup and eventually sat to join him, unable to shake a strange feeling that was starting to grow in the pit of her stomach in his presence. However, the silence was abruptly cut by Alexandre making himself known and approached Rumpelstiltskin, testing the patience of the Imp by bringing up what Heather could only assume were painful memories. Heather pleaded for Alexandre to stop as she saw Rumpelstiltskin and Alexandre both now on their feet with Rumpelstiltskin closing the distance between them, however her words went unheard and she let out a scream as she witnessed Rumpelstiltskin jamming his hand into Alexandre's chest and pulling out his heart with magic, as there was no wound left behind.

Alexandre pleaded for Rumpelstiltskin to end his life; he had nothing worth living for, but Rumpelstiltskin laughed and stated that is exactly why he needed to live. Rumpelstiltskin returned Alexandre's heart to his chest and pushed him aside. Heather ran to Alexandre quickly to ensure that he was okay, however Rumpelstiltskin promised to send Alexandre home which Alexandre and Heather both knew to be Wonderland where he had been exiled and with a puff of smoke, Alexandre was gone, as far as Heather knew, to the mercy of The Red Queen.

Rumpelstiltskin quickly swayed Heather's anger of what he had done and instead had her direct it towards using magic. He had Heather think of a memory that made her so mad that she would have killed if she could go back and have the chance. Heather thought back to when she lived in London and was in front of The Board of Science competing against Dr. Victor Frankenstein. The Board of Science had decided to fund Dr. Frankenstein's work rather than Heather's and the smirk and words that Dr. Frankenstein spoke to Heather afterwards made her even more angry. Heather remembered just how angry she had felt and confessed to Rumpelstiltskin her blood-lust rage she kept for her rival. It was then that Rumpelstiltskin had Heather try to light a candle with magic. It took some time and careful instruction from Rumpelstiltskin, but eventually Heather had lit the candle by magic. Heather then asked Rumpelstiltskin how magic is controlled, and Rumpelstiltskin simply remarked that eventually, magic will become a part of her just like any emotion. He then presented Heather with a novice spell book, instructing her to read and study it in her spare time. He then had Heather light the candle again, and this time she managed to do so without too much thought or instruction from her teacher. Rumpelstiltskin then informed Heather that in the morning they would be having a guest and she was to clean the entire castle as well as provide himself and the guest with breakfast. He called it a night and the two parted ways for the evening as Rumpelstiltskin had offered her any room in the castle aside from his own and the library.

Heather couldn't sleep though despite the early morning she knew she would have and instead flipped open the spell book and began to study its contents on her own. Heather only had a few moments to reflect on the days' events when Rumpelstiltskin then barged himself into her room looking quite irritated. He had figured out that she had been in his room and for a moment she was sure that he was going to do something awful to her as punishment, however he refrained from doing so, and Hyde reminded Heather of the deal that she had made with him to keep her safe. Leaving Heather's bedroom, Heather found her lips moving and bravely asked Rumpelstiltskin who Baelfire was, she found no reason to not ask since they both knew she had been looking at it earlier. Rumpelstiltskin paused and came back into her bedroom, his face wearing both sadness and anger. He didn't reveal much, only that Baelfire had been his child that he had lost along with her mother. He didn't go into how he had lost them, however, and once again left for the evening, leaving Heather to wonder just what was beyond the evil shell her master wore. Turning her attention back to her spell book, Heather tried to concentrate, but a fitful sleep won over in the end, sending Heather's mind into a torment of nightmares.

She dreamed of her friends back home, not understanding why she had left them. She even dreamed of Alexandre, blaming her for being sent back to Wonderland, blaming her for his death. Hyde and Jekyll eventually met in her dreams, fighting over who would remain dominant through the night. Heather Jekyll, with much struggle, kept her thoughts and won out in the end, eventually slipping into a somewhat more peaceful sleep.

Night woke up to a small bird hopping on the chest plate of his armor and up to his forehead. Slightly irritated, Night grabbed the animal, if a bit too harshly, and crushed it. It didn't die, but it was well on it's way. Feeling a small amount of guilt, Night figured he would try his hand at healing magic and breathed a soft black mist over the animal. The bird did indeed begin to heal, however it's eyes were glowing red and it's feathers were changing into more razor-like shapes, it's appearance becoming that of a dark magic animal. However, before the bird had a chance to fly away, an arrow whizzed through the air and pierced straight through it's corrupted heart and pinned it to a tree.

Day made his presence known as he stepped through the forest and retrieved his arrow from the corrupted bird and teased Night about his attempt at healing. It becomes clear that Night's magic powers are limited, and Day makes it very clear that Night should have come to him instead of trying it on his own. Day cut the conversation short on a bitter note and left the area, leaving Night alone once more. Knowing that Night wouldn't be able to go back to sleep, he called to his horse, hoping to find something to do to pass the time until nightfall. However, a slight change of plans was in order as a woman in a red cloak happened upon Night and called out to him tentatively.

Catching the red color of her cloak out of the corner of his eye, Night was almost sure that it was Sun that wanted her fair share in jabbing at him, however Night quickly came to realize that it was just an ordinary girl. It struck him odd, however, that this 'ordinary girl' did not flee from his presence as most common folk did, which lead him to believe that this girl could very much be a thief that actually took comfort in his darker aura. Night voiced his opinion, asking the girl if she was a thief or a murderer, as those were the only things that made sense to him given her steadily increasing approach to him. The woman let down her hood and laughed, another sign that she was growing more comfortable around him. She didn't answer his question, only stating that she didn't usually run into people in the woods and wanted to make sure that he was okay, having spotted the very ends of Night and Day's conversation.

Night, growing slightly uncomfortable with this 'common girl's' interaction, snapped at her, stating he wanted to be left alone, however he immediately regretted his tone and quickly apologized. It was then that his horse came. Night asked the girl in the red cloak once more who she was, and in an effort to drive the point that he was of a darker nature, he approached the bird corpse and stamped his boot over it, crushing it into the earth. This irked the young woman enough to yell at him for his actions, though it came from annoyance rather than fear. Not wanting to stick around any longer however, the girl in the red cloak left Night making it quite clear that she was disappointed in his actions, wanting him to feel bad about it. Once the girl was gone, Night scooped up the crushed bird corpse and dug a small hole at the base of a tree with his boot and buried the animal.

Night quickly mounted his horse and aimed to leave the forest in an attempt to find a more secluded area in which he could rest without being disturbed by Day, Sun, and now that strange girl in the red cloak. Night had only traveled a few minutes when he noticed that the air was getting thick with smoke and suddenly found himself in the middle of a forest fire. Night wasn't at all alarmed, as he had magical powers that would be able to stop this, however he believed in letting nature run it's course and rationalized with himself that 'whatever happens, happens' and that he should not interfere. He continued on his course, however his thoughts were immediately halted when he remembered the girl in the red cloak. Would she be able to survive this on her own? Debating with himself for what seemed like hours, Night decided that if she were really meant to die, then something would keep him from reaching her in time, so he changed his course and began to look for the woman.

Finding a girl in a red cloak proved to be a challenge in itself though since the entire forest was a medley of reds and oranges. Still though, Night continued his search from one area to the next, determined to find the strange girl knowing that she couldn't have gotten too far. It was Night's horse that alerted him into knowing that she was in the immediate area as the horse stopped dead in it's tracks. Night dismounted, still unable to see the girl, however, and kicked over a burning tree, knowing that the girl in red would hear the crash and hopefully go to investigate; thus bringing her to him. The tree crashed into another tree, which crashed into another one, creating a domino-effect that quickly got Red's attention. She managed to quickly jump out of the way, and in the newly created clearing Night managed to spot her at long last, however a wall of flame kept the two separated.

Night summoned forth a blanket of darkness that cascaded over the fire like a blanket, creating a small 'road' that would allow Red to safely reach him. This must have startled Red a bit, as she took a few tentative steps backwards and looked between the flames and Night, as if deciding which fate would be worse. The woman took off her cloak and threw it into the air. As she jumped to retrieve it, her entire body went through a transformation and by the time she reached the earth once more, she was a wolf with the red cloak clamped tightly between her jaws. The now wolf ran over the road of darkness and ran past Night however she slowed to a stop to look back at him. Their eyes met, and Night finally understood why it was that the girl wasn't bothered by his presence earlier. The wolf seemed to recognize Night now as being the same man she met earlier in the forest, and had Night follow her out of the burning thicket and towards a village that would provide them a safe place for the night.

Night debated on this for a bit, knowing that he didn't do well when it came to coming to villages as most of the people would find him an immediate threat. However, he followed the wolf out of the burning forest and down a dirt path that eventually led them to a wide river in which the wolf simply jumped over to the other side. Night, having instructed his horse to go ahead of them to the village, took another approach of crossing the river and simply walked through it. When he emerged on the other side, he noticed his wolf companion seemed distracted by something. She set the red cloak down and tried to hide it amongst the bushes before running towards the village in a hurry. Curious, Night picked up the cloak not wanting anything bad to happen to it, and tried to catch up with the werewolf.

The first thing that Night noticed upon entering the village was that most of it's inhabitants had fled the area, which was good for him as he didn't want to cause any unnecessary fright. The second thing he noticed was a small trail of blood in the dirt that led to a small Chinese woman who was clutching her wounded and bloody arm. However the woman pulled herself to her feet and started running towards whatever it was the villagers were running from. Night tried to reason with the woman. stating that with her arm she was in no condition to move. The small woman was insistent though and trudged forward. Night pushed onwards to see what exactly had turned the village upside down and spotted his wolf companion taking on a beast twice her size, a beast that seemed wild and intent on killing everything in it's path. It suddenly became clear why the werewolf had taken off in such a hurry, she had sensed the danger and ran to help.

Night called to his horse which came to the scene almost immediately. He instructed the horse to not let the small Chinese woman anywhere near the fight and the horse understood, keeping her away at all costs. By the time Night reached the fighting wolf and beast, however, he had feared that he was too late for the beast had nearly killed the werewolf with it's sheer strength. Unable to let 'nature take it's course' any longer, Night turned the beast's shadow into a solid form and willed it to wrap itself around the beast's neck, suffocating it until the beast crashed down into unconsciousness. Night couldn't believe his eyes when the beast gradually took the shape and form of an ordinary looking woman and took a moment to be glad that he had decided to not kill the beast instead. He stooped down and picked up the bloody and broken werewolf and hoisted her onto his horse and pulling her red cloak over her like a blanket to try to bring her some comfort. He allowed the small Chinese woman to finally approach and she took control over the woman who had been a beast not moments ago, and sought out a nearby barn to rest for the night.

Once the wolf and unconscious woman were laid to rest in a pile of hay, the Chinese woman offered to go to the village and get some food for them. Night looked after the wolf, feeling guilt overwhelm him knowing that he could have done something to keep her from getting so badly injured, and since he was no good at healing, she would have to suffer the wounds. Night did what he could to care for the wolf's visible wounds and then tucked the red cloak over the wolf a bit more in an attempt to keep her warm. The wolf began to squirm under the hood and then suddenly a human hand pulled the cloak away, revealing Red's human form once again...though her injuries had carried over to this form as well.

Red asked Night if it was still Wolfstime, as she didn't have any idea how long she had been unconscious. Learning that it was the night after the full moon, Red had Night help her to put the cloak on so she was wearing it, which kept her from turning back into a wolf. Red then went on to explain that she had thought he was a Wraith when he had saved her from the burning forest, and joked about how he was going to steal her soul away. She quickly asked about the unconscious girl, wanting to make sure she was okay which irked Night since it was the girl who was responsible for Red's injuries. Night went over to the unconscious woman and cryptically joked about stealing away her soul, which Red didn't find funny at all and tried to get up to protect her. Night was confused as to why Red would want to continue to protect this woman even though she had nearly killed Red, and Red simply stated that she knew that the woman was going through, and that all she needed was someone to help her. The two continued to carry on their conversation, both getting more and more bitter with the other as the night went on until the Chinese woman came back with food and water. However, the Chinese woman stated that she would be leaving once more to find a man that could put an end to the curse the woman had and asked Night to look after her in her absence.

Red woke up in the middle of the forest in the late afternoon and pulled on her red cloak. As she began to walk through the forest, we learn that it has been months since Red has slept in an actual bed or under a roof since she hasn't been able to bring herself to be around people ever since Snow White had passed on because of a certain guilt. However, her inner thoughts were interrupted when she heard a small animal squeal in pain and her keen wolf-like eyesight caught a glimpse of an arrow flying through the woods just moments before it pierced the bird and pinned it to a tree. Red managed to spot the man who had shot the arrow, and noticed he was wearing all white. She supposed it was to match his pure white horse but instead of finding the act 'cute' she was more over-come with anger that he had taken an innocent life.

Suddenly, Red's keen sense of smell took over as she sensed another presence in the area and was barely able to make out a man dressed in black lingering in the shadows. No longer interested in the man in white, Red felt her feet begin to move towards the shadowed stranger and couldn't help but to call out to him. For some reason, she was compelled to make sure that he was alright. After all, they were very, very deep in the forest and not many people could survive being out here alone for too long.

The man responded by coldly asking if she was a thief or a murderer, but before she even had a chance to answer he demanded to know what she was still doing there. Red, however, did not shy away from his cold demeanor and instead laughed, joking about him not being able to tell if she was a murderer or not. Growing serious again, Red took a few steps closer and explained that she just wanted to make sure that he was okay since she didn't usually come across people this deep in the forest.

Again the man snapped at her, stating that he wanted to be left alone but just as quickly as he snapped, he apologized and muttered that he was fine. Suddenly, a large black horse approached the man hidden in the shadows and the man warned Red of the impeding dangers in the forest. He went to the bird corpse on the ground and asked Red if she was a dumb animal like the bird and then crushed the corpse beneath his boot. Red flared up immediately at this gesture and demanded him to stop. Now filled with anger, Red felt it best to take her leave as the man was obviously fine; she had no other reason to stick around. She said her bitter goodbye and headed back into the forest, aimlessly wandering and wondering what her next move should be.

She knew for a fact that she wouldn't be returning home, but maybe she would stop to visit Snow's resting place once again? She quickly pushed the idea out of her mind though, in fear that she might have come across Prince James and have to explain what had happened to him; he would never forgive her for abandoning Snow to let her die. Something she regretted with a heavy heart to this very day. Red was so immersed in her thoughts and guilt that she didn't even realize the steady change in the forest around her, and by the time she caught a flicker of yellow out of the corner of her eye it was too late; she had walked right into the middle of a quickly growing forest fire. She stopped to try to think where the fire had come from, knowing right away that there was no way it was because of natural causes. Someone had done something.

Suddenly, a cracking sound reached Red's ears and she was able to react just in time to jump out of the way from a falling tree that crashed to the ground just next to her foot. The sudden dive into the dirt disoriented her immediate surroundings, and when she got back up and looked around, the entire landscape seemed to change and for once she didn't know where in the forest she was. Panic began to shoot through her as she quickly realized that she might very well be engulfed in the flames if she didn't do something, but the fire had quickly encircled around her, trapping her indefinitely. She wondered even if taking off her cloak and transforming to her wolf form would even help her now, but then she would lose the cloak to the fire forever...

Not a second later, however, an area of the wall of flame was quickly put out, blanketed by a 'path' of what Red could describe as pure darkness. As her eyes looked up the path she spotted a dark figure and instinctively took a step back, for the moment mistaking the dark figure for a Wraith, a deadly creature that preyed on marked people and sucked their souls dry, dooming them for eternity. Still though, Red believed that she would have a better chance surviving running past the Wraith than standing here and waiting for the fire to take her. So with a fluid movement, Red slipped out of her cloak, threw it in the air and jumped, landing back down on all fours as a wolf with the red cloak clamped tightly in her jaws. The wolf Red ran down the blanket of darkness and past the shadowed figure and only stopped to look back when she was a good distance away from both dangers. It was then that wolf Red realized that the shadowed figure was not a Wraith, but the same man she had happened upon earlier that day in the forest.
A sense of honor came over wolf Red then as she realized that he had helped her escape the fire, and it was now her turn to lead him to safety. Now as her wolf form, her keen sense of smell was able to take her to a small dirt path that led to a nearby village, and with a simple 'woof' she had the shadow man follow her to safety. The two quickly came to a river in which wolf Red was able to jump over easily. She was too distracted by a new scent, however, to notice that the shadow man opted to just walk through the water as if it weren't even there. Red could smell fear in the nearby villagers, and more than that she was able to smell a beast. There was more than just the forest fire happening in the immediate area, and Red knew she had to do something to help. In a quick effort to hide her cloak, Red left it by the roots of a nearby bush and without even so much as waiting for the shadow man to catch up, she took off towards the village.

Red immediately found the beast that had been terrorizing the village and just as the beast was about the end the life of some woman, Red jumped and clamped her jaws around the throat of the beast. However, the beast's coat was a lot thicker than Red had been counting on and therefore it only made the beast angry and swatted Red away like an annoying house fly, throwing her a good distance in front of the beast. Red got back up though and came back at the beast, nipping at it's heels and trying in her best effort to keep the beast away from the innocent villagers. In a desperate attempt to draw the beasts attention away from the wounded woman on the floor, Red bit down on the beasts tail and didn't let go. The beast reached back with it's massive paws and grabbed hold of Red and slashed it's claws across Red's face, making her let go.

Red gradually led the beast away from the village, now ignoring her own injuries in an effort to keep the village safe. Their fight continued in a blur of teeth, fur and claws. The beast had once again managed to grab hold of Red and threw her against the trunk of a tree, the sheer force cracking both the trunk and a few of wolf Red's ribs. Red yelped out in pain but shakily got back onto her feet, determined to keep the beast away from the village. Red had known right away that this was no normal animal, but a human cursed to take the form of a beast. She knew the signs all too well, and therefore was adamant about not killing the beast.

The beast quickly reached the injured wolf and dug it's claws into Red's hind leg, pulling and ripping and tearing the skin and muscle tissue in an effort to tear her leg off completely. Red only managed to survive the fight because suddenly, the shadow that the beast had been casting became a solid form and wrapped itself around the beasts neck, choking the beast until it fell unconscious to the floor. Dazed and in too much pain to be able to focus enough, Red collapsed to the floor and managed to spot the shadow man approaching her from a couple of feet away before she too fell unconscious.

In her sleep, Red could faintly hear someone talking to her, but it sounded more like an annoying low buzz than words. However, eventually her eyes slid open and she managed to move her arm...which had somehow become human again. Red quickly realized that her red cloak had been draped over her like a blanket and she pulled it away from her face to see the shadow man sitting next to her. Her wounds had been dressed and cared for lightly and she was resting on a pile of hay in an old abandoned barn. Not knowing how long she had been out, she asked the man if it was still Wolfstime, and learned that it was. Fear overtook her as she realized that at any moment, she could turn back into the wolf and she didn't know if she had the strength to keep control over her wolf self this time. She had the man help get the cloak on her properly to keep her from changing, although it hurt like hell it would be better for them all if she remained human.

The man held gentility in his voice as he helped her and asked if her cloak was magic. Too tired to go into any deep explanation, Red kept her answer as a simple yes. Though in an effort to keep her mind off of her wounds, Red decided to lighten the mood by verbally observing that the man was not a Wraith, however the man took a different approach in her humor and approached the sleeping woman who had once been the beast. Red quickly asked if she was okay, and the man indicated that she was, although he didn't seem to happy about it. Cryptically, he returned to the subject of a Wraith and threatened to take the girl's soul, but Red didn't find his stab at humor funny at all. She bolted to her feet in an effort to stop him, however her ripped leg muscle forced her leg to buckle and she fell to the ground.

The man was clueless as to why Red would continue to stand up for this girl even though she had nearly tore Red in half, and Red answered simply by stating that she knew what being alone, scared and cursed was like. Their conversation was then cut off short by a short Chinese woman entering the barn with food and water and explained to the pair of them that she knew how to stop the girl from transforming and all she needed to do was to go see a man. She quickly left the barn, leaving Red, the sleeping woman and the shadowy man alone for the night.

Busy spinning straw into gold in The Dark Castle, Rumpelstiltskin received a visitor, a talking cat known as the Cheshire Cat. It was apparent that the two had struck a deal in the past that left a foul taste in the Cheshire Cat’s mouth, but as Rumpelstiltskin would say, “You simply made a deal you didn’t quite understand.”

In exchange for The Cat’s humanity back, Rumpelstiltskin tasked him with retrieving someone of a different world for him. When The Cat returned with Dr. Jekyll, Rumpelstiltskin handed over a potion to the Cheshire Cat with promises of his humanity back. Once The Cheshire Cat left Rumpelstiltskin’s castle, Rumpelstiltskin made a deal with Dr. Jekyll, thusly tricking her into leaving her world forever to serve as his apprentice *and* house maid in exchange for the freedom from Evelyn Hyde that she desperately wanted.

Curious to meet the monster that shared a body with Dr. Jekyll, Rumpelstiltskin attacked Heather Jekyll knowing that Evelyn Hyde would come out to save her own skin. Evelyn proved to be a tough fight for Rumpelstiltskin as he quickly discovered that magic, for whatever reason, did not work on her, which was why he had the Cheshire Cat bring Dr. Jekyll to him in the first place. Rumpelstiltskin then made a deal with Evelyn Hyde that she must do as he says and in return he would not “…use your magic to kill, maim, curse, or turn her [Heather] into anything inanimate or another animal.”

Leaving Heather Jekyll to make his dinner, Rumpelstiltskin teleported from the castle to the forest where he tracked down Belle. It was revealed that Rumpelstiltskin had been following her through the forest for a week and was feeling exceptionally guilty about something and watching her cry in the forest showed a side of The Dark One that few even knew existed in him...emotion. Rumpelstiltskin watched her from afar, not wanting Belle to know that he was there, however when three villager soldiers spotted Belle with intent on bringing her back to the village, Rumpelstiltskin pursued them. Using magic, he turned two of the soldiers into rats, killing one with his boot and chopping off its tail and let the other scamper into the forest. The other soldier, however, Rumpelstiltskin broke his back, swearing to protect Belle at all costs. Belle was never aware that Rumpelstiltskin was there. He found Belle once more and hid himself in the tree branches to watch over her once more.

Rumpelstiltskin watched as a newcomer approached Belle, a small Chinese girl by the name of Mushu. It was later revealed that Mushu and Rumpelstiltskin had made a deal: in exchange for all the gold that Mushu could ever want, she was to protect Belle from any harm however Rumpelstiltskin purposefully left out the fact that Belle was cursed and had the ability to turn into a beast. Only to help get Belle to safety, as Belle wouldn't return to the village on her own, Rumpelstiltskin set the forest on fire, driving Belle and Mushu to Belle's village by force. It was only when Belle and Mushu were out of sight that Rumpelstiltskin picked up a rose that Belle had been holding previously, and then pilfered a thorn that had Belle's blood on it, having pricked her finger on it by accident. He pocketed the thorn and headed back to his castle.

Sitting on the steps leading into his castle, Rumpelstiltskin took a moment to think. It was then revealed that Rumpelstiltskin was in love with Belle, and at some previous point she had been in love with him too. He blames himself for the curse that Belle has had to endure of the beast and then, in a flashback, it was revealed that Belle had initially been kidnapped by Rumpelstiltskin, forced to clean his castle for him.

In the flashback, A powerful magician, Regina, came to visit Rumpelstiltskin and told him that after he cast Belle away from the castle, that she was angry with him and turned her entire village against him. Regina also told Rumpelstiltskin that as soon as Belle was to be married to her fiance, the son of a well known huntsman, that the town would come for Rumpelstiltskin and control him with the only thing that could kill The Dark One...it is then that a dagger is mentioned. Rumpelstiltskin throws Regina out of his castle as she is trying to put thoughts into his head about stopping the wedding, and though he swore that he wouldn't let Regina play him like a puppet, he looked to his wardrobe of powerful curses and smiled as an idea came to him.

In the present, Rumpelstiltskin knows that he has to forget about Belle. He mentions needing to help her with one last thing and then returns to his castle for his dinner. Dr. Jekyll had prepared a soup for Rumpelstiltskin and the two ate silently with Rumpelstiltskin watching Dr. Jekyll. It then turns out that the Cheshire Cat has returned to The Dark Castle, however now as a man, and tests the limits of Rumpelstiltskin's patience. Cheshire brings up Belle and how she called him a monster. Angry that Cheshire even brought Belle up in the first place, Rumpelstiltskin ripped out his heart and The Cheshire Cat begged for Rumpelstiltskin to end his life. Rumpelstiltskin didn't, however, and said that was exactly why he needed to live. He put Cheshire's heart back in place and then by magic, sent the Cheshire Cat back to Snow White's Castle which had since then been taken over by Regina.

Short of being called a monster by Heather Jekyll, Rumpelstiltskin changed the mood of the room by turning their cut-off-short-dinner by providing Jekyll with her first magic lesson. He materialized a small candle and instructed Heather to think up a moment where she was so angry that she would have killed if she could. With more careful instruction, Heather eventually lit the candle. Rumpelstiltskin then presented Heather with her own Spell Book that she could study when she wasn't doing his bidding. After having Heather light the candle one more time, praising her for learning quicker than The Evil Queen, Rumpelstiltskin called it a session. He informed Heather that they would be having a visitor in the morning and she was to clean the castle and provide breakfast for them.

When Rumpelstiltskin returned to his room, he noticed that some things were out of place and realized that Heather had been in his room while he was away in the forest looking after Belle. He picked up a small baby blanket, being the one thing he noticed that was out of place, and looked upon the name stitched into the blanket. Baelfire. He brought it to his chest and inhaled the smell of the baby blanket and was once again taken back into his past.

In a flashback, it was revealed that Rumpelstiltskin once had a wife, Milah. The two of them were very, very poor...but they were also very happy. Rumpelstiltskin returned home to her one day with a summons from the king as Rumpelstiltskin had been drafted into the Ogre's war. To Rumpelstiltskin, being in this war meant that he could show everyone that he wasn't a coward like his father. Milah gave him her blessing to go with promises that when he would return, that they would start a family.

Presently, Rumpelstiltskin folded up the blanket and returned it to its usual place. He quickly became angry and went to Heather, telling her to never enter his room again. She apologized and Rumpelstiltskin turned to leave, however Heather asked him the one question that forced him to stop dead in his tracks. She had asked him who Baelfire was. With a bit of a struggle, Rumpelstiltskin told Heather that Baelfire was his daughter who he had lost along with her mother. Not wanting to give her any more information than that, he left Heather's bedroom to return to his own for the night, his mind and heart heavy with memories of his past.