How far will you go to protect the thing you love most? Will you fight for it? Kill for it? Rumpelstiltskin's decision is made easy. This is about his son, after all. That's what he tells himself. For Bae.

The dagger glints against the moonlight. He can still smell the stench of the fire behind him, though he's miles away now. For Bae...

"Zoso." At the utterance of the Dark One's name, the temperature drops. Wind accelerates. At least, Rumple thinks it does; but perhaps this is his imagination. Cowardice. Are the shadows darkening? Well, it's too late to turn back now. He tightens his grip on the blade's hilt. Can't risk dropping it. "Zoso...." He has to do this. "I summon thee."

Rumpelstiltskin waits with bated breath. He scans the edges of the forest, searching. It's silent. Too silent. No one is coming. This has been a fool's arrhend. Of course. That's what he gets for trusting the word of a beggar. Rumple lowers the dagger, hand shaking. He isn't sure if he should be relieved or not. On one hand, now he doesn't have to do anything awful, but on the other, his son will be taken to a fight, one that he surely will die in. A fight Rumple had to break his own leg to get out of, just to be with his boy now, to survive. And now his son will suffer the same fate. Bae... oh, Bae...

He turns to leave, only to very nearly stumble and fall, for there is a cloaked figure inches from his face. So, the beggar had been telling the truth. Oh, dear... The Dark One... Rumple fumbles for the dagger. "Submit, O' Dark One!" His voice is nowhere near as sturdy as he would like it to be, but who'd be surprised by that? He's nothing more than the village coward after all. "I control you!" He winces, waiting. But the Dark One doesn't move to harm him.

"Yes, you do." Rumple glances back at the Dark One. He's dreadfully calm. Figure hidden in the shadows, hood pulled over his head. The darkness appears to bend to his will, as though it's the very essence of his being. "Wield the power wisely." The embers in the distance provide faint light. Enough to see his horrid, scarred face. He doesn't look like a man. It's that thought that makes doing what he's about to a little easier to swallow. A little, but Rumpelstiltskin is still a coward.

The knife is slippery in his hands. Can he do this? What choice does he have? His mind goes to the last time he had a chance to take a life; how he instead made a deal that would cost him his second born child (a child that can, now, never be born). There's no deal to get out of this. No loophole, no trick. It's this or lose Baelfire forever. He won't lose his son. Not to war. Not like this.

"You can wield at any time now." The Dark One eyes the horizon. Rumple thinks he looks impatient, but it's hard to tell when someone is made up entirely of shadows. "It's almost dawn. That means it's your son's birthday." How the hell does he know that? Rumple tightens his grip on the knife. He shouldn't know that. "I bet Hordor and his men are already on their way to your house."

Bae. He sent him back. He sent him back home. Rumple clutches the dagger close. "No, they can't take him." He won't let them.

"You don't control them ── you control me," the Dark One reminds. There's a pause. Then, "Have you ever wondered ── was he really your child at all? Unlike you, he's not a coward and yearns to fight and die in glory."

"No..." He's being taunted, he knows he is, but the truth is Milah has never been happy with him. At least, that's the rumor around the village. They say she ran off, too ashamed to be tied down to a coward like Rumplestiltskin. It could be possible... she wouldn't, would she? She was taken by pirates. It's not as if she ran away with them on purpose. But it doesn't matter. Baelfire is his son. He will protect him. No matter the cost.

"What a poor bargain that would be ── to lay down your soul to save your bastard son." Rumple isn't sure where the rage comes from. There are many places it could stem: the way the soldiers made him kiss their boots in front of Baelfire, everyone who's ever laughed at him for being cowardly, his father abandoning him, his son being forced to grow up without a mother, the implication Bae isn't his... Perhaps, it's all of the above, but he latches on to it as soon as he feels it. He'll need it.

The Dark One stalks closer. Shadows trail behind. He's not afraid. That's what he tells himself, anyway. This is for his boy, and he is not afraid. "So, I ask you ── what would you have me do?"

"Die." For Bae.

Before his cowardice can stop him, Rumpelstiltskin plunges the dagger into the Dark One's stomach. He falls with him to the ground; Rumple watches in horror as the Dark One's face shifts into a familiar one. "It's you! You're the beggar!"

"Looks like you made a deal you didn't understand." Zoso smirks, blood seeping through his teeth and staining them red. "I don't think you're going to do that again." There's a triumphant gleam in his eyes, even as he lays on the ground, bleeding to death. He wanted this.

Rumple stumbles back, as he recalls their meeting from earlier. After the boot incident. He'd made a fire, told him the story of the dagger. Told him to take the power for himself... "You told me to kill you!"

"My life was such a burden." Zoso pales with the loss of blood, but that gleam is eternal. "You'll see. Magic always comes with a price, and now it's yours to pay."

"Why me?" Rumpelstiltskin shakes him as he begins drifting away. "Why me?!"

"I know how to recognize a desperate soul." These are Zoso's last words. His head drops to the side, as life leaves his body.

Rumple panics. "No! No! Stay!" He claws desperately at the corpse. "You have to tell me what to do!" It's too late. "Tell me what to do!" The deed is done. Zoso is gone.

And so is Rumpelstiltskin.

At least, Rumpelstiltskin the Coward is gone; in his place is Rumpelstiltskin the Dark One. A far superior version of himself, he thinks.

The change only takes a moment. It shouldn't be, but it's the most exhilarating thing he's ever experienced. There's a child-like energy flowing through him, and there's a tingling sensation bursting in his veins. He's not sure how, but he knows what it is. Magic. Power. That's not something he's had before. Ever. And now that he has it, he craves it. He needs it. Not just for Bae, for himself too. It'll change everything for them.

The laugh that escapes his throat is an octave too high, but he's too wrapped up in his own enjoyment to take much notice. He doesn't even mind that he's just killed a man (though it wouldn't do him any good if anyone spotted the body of a useless beggar on the forest floor, now would it?). To test his new found ability, Rumple flicks his wrist (the one that's still holding the dagger, the dagger that now bears his name) at the corpse. He's not sure how, instinct perhaps, but it turns to ash in an instant. A second round of laughter escapes from his lips.

What ever had Zoso been on about? This, the power. It's not burdensome at all! Just the opposite. It's liberating.

That fear that once dictated his every move? Gone. Disappeared, just like the beggar's body. He's free to do as he wishes now. His mind clearer than ever, already formulating plan after plan, everything he'd do to stop the soldiers from taking his boy, stop the ogres from winning the war. His body is stronger than ever before; even his leg has healed completely. Not even a limp. With this power, he can save the whole village. He can stop the war. Then, no one can ever call him a coward again. No one will doubt him again. But most importantly, no one can threaten to take his son away from him. Ever again.

That's where I'll stop.

He tells himself this; he vows it's the truth. But he is wrong.

⊱⋅ ──────────── ⋅⊰

"So, this is who you've become." The voice is soft, feminine, yet somehow gravelly at the same time, like a warrior. It isn't familiar. Isn't welcome. Rumpelstiltskin prepares himself to face the intruder, wondering who could have enough nerve these days to break into his home uninvited. Only a fool thinks it wise to sneak up on the Dark One; none have been so stupid, not since the day he killed the soldiers who tried to take his son. Not since he stopped the ogres. Not since he became fearless. Powerful.

Yet, here's a woman he's never met before in his home, perching herself on the table in the kitchen connected with the den. She's not typical in the fact that she doesn't look nearly as dainty as some other women he's met in the village. The first tip-off she isn't from around here. This woman has the stature of a fighter ── thick arms, muscle bound legs, a powerful aura (Rumple guesses she must be of magical origin as well, but it could very well just be the manner in which she is holding herself).

Her face is long, oval shaped; her lips thin, upturned in a coy smile that doesn't work at all with the rest of her features. The woman's narrow eyes are a startling shade of blue, like the sky or the ocean, the smallest of gleams hidden behind them, as if she knows something (or a dozen somethings) he doesn't. The woman may have had her hair braided neatly at some point, but evidently ruined it in what Rumple assumes must have been a fight. It's frizzy and wild now. Blonde.

She's wearing a tunic with a wide belt, leather pants, and thick boots. Gloves over her hands, like she's prepared for battle at a moment's notice. Yet, Rumple notices, she carries no weapon on her belt. So, she must be magic, as he had initially thought. The woman can be no older than thirty; the mischief in her eyes suggests she's younger. But somehow Rumple thinks she's much more ancient than that.

He's not sure what to make of her. No woman (aside from the house keep) has entered this house, not since Milah had... Disappeared.

"It's ironic, considering who you were supposed to be." The woman grins, as if he's supposed to understand what the hell that statement means. He thinks she knows he does not.

Rumple scowls at her. Bae will be returning soon, and he does not need his son getting any ideas about this woman. Whoever or whatever she is. But he won't do anything to her, not yet. Rumple isn't sure what ── his own magic providing a warning, his own instincts, perhaps ── but he knows. He knows she's more powerful than he is. Whatever he tries to do to her, it won't take. He needs to take that power away from her first. Make it his, the way he did with the former Dark One. (Bae won't mind, not when he realizes Rumple only did it because she broke into their home. He'll understand.) But first he needs more information.

He gestures at the table underneath her. "You know, if you keep sitting on it like that, it's going to break." Best play along with whatever game (because, why else would she be here if not to play?) she has planned for now. Make her believe she's running the show, and then... Then he'll take it.

"Hm." The woman slides off; it's deliberate, the way she takes her time with it. She tilts her head to the side and smiles. It lacks humor; it's bursting with false charm. "Better?" She knows, much like he does, that she's the stronger of the two. Of course she does. She wouldn't be here if she didn't.

Rumple sneers, eyeing the woman up and down. He doesn't like the way she toys with him. He's not had magic for long, now, but he's sure no ordinary human could wield that (unless they have enough drive and the right means to get it, but that's a plan for another day), never mind living that long (and he's certain she is older than she looks). This woman must be something else. A fairy? But she seems far too... unpredictable to be one of those. "Who are you?"

She walks across the room. Saunters more like, as if they have all the time in the world for this conversation. "I have lots of names. Till Eulenspiegel, Eris, Azeban, Huēhuecoyōtl, Anansi, Hermes, Loki... " The woman stops, pulls a face. "There's a lot more, but you'll only recognize one of them." The woman pauses in front of him, just out of arm's length behind the spinning wheel.

There is pause; it goes on for too long. She's still toying with him. Rumple grits his teeth and rolls his hand. "Which is?!"

She smirks. "I think I'd rather keep you guessing."

"What are you?"

"Now that..." She holds up a finger, her lips forming a thin line, "... is an interesting question."

He bares his teeth. No one will get the better of Rumpelstiltskin, never again. It's the power that let's him act so boldly as he demands a proper response. "Answer. Me."

The woman just flashes another coy smile. She pauses for another moment, milking it for all it's worth, just to watch the annoyance stir on his face. "Not a short story."

"So talk fast." He's getting impatient ── to the point he's on the brink of killing her. But of course there's two problems with that: she's stronger and... Bae. Rumple doesn't want to see the look on his face if his boy were to walk into another body on their floor. He promised his son he'd stop using Dark Magic.

"I was born from the Light and the Dark," explains the woman. "Put simply, I'm the gray area in between." The woman pauses; she tilts her head to the side, pulling a face. "Gray. That was never really my favorite name."

Rumple has no idea what she's on about. He doesn't care either. "Why are you here? To kill me? Take the Dark One power for yourself?"

"I don't need it, so no. I'm here to train you." This catches him off guard. "You have intuition and all that, sure, but to really know what you're doing you need to be taught." She shrugs one shoulder and makes another face. "And I've trained other Dark Ones before you so..."

There's a catch. There must be. "What do you get out of it?"

"Nothing. You and I are tethered in ways you couldn't understand, not yet anyway. I don't offer you assistance because I want to. I do it because it's my responsibility." The woman of many names gives him one long, sad look, and for a moment, just one small moment, she looks as old as Rumple presumes her to be. Centuries. All built up, weighing on her soul. It's all there in her eyes. "I wish we could be having the conversation under better circumstances... You could have had a different fate, a better one."

"So you've mentioned." Rumple is starting to get annoyed with her now. He's in no mood for tricks. "And yet, you haven't said what this other life might have entailed. Tell me, what exactly makes it so much better?"

The woman shrugs, that sad, ancient look still in her eyes. It's as if, in her mind, she's seeing something that needs to be pitied. Somehow that's worse than being a coward, and Rumple only just manages to keep himself from attempting to snap her neck (not yet, she's still much too powerful; he needs to take that away from her first). "It doesn't matter now. What's done is done."

He scowls at her, but it's fair enough. She is right. It doesn't matter what might have been. Here, in this life, this timeline, this world ── this is the best he can do.

So, he moves on.

"Well, as much as I'd love to take you up on your offer, I promised my son I wouldn't use magic anymore, and I intend to keep it." He sounds more like his old self ── the weak one he despises. Insufferable. The dagger is on the table next to him, his name seared into the blade; it's still but Rumple can almost imagine it buzzing ── shaking, vibrating ── with power, power that he needs, power he's willfully depriving himself of. On a promise.

But Bae wouldn't have to know. He'll use it, just this once, just to get rid of the pest standing in front of him. That's it. Then, he'll be finished for good. No trainer, no more magic. Things won't have to escalate further than that. It'll be over after that. Problem solved.

"Might be a harder promise to keep than you realize." There's this look in her eyes, and for one fraction of a second Rumple thinks she can hear the dagger's whispers too.

I'm born from the Light and the Dark, she'd said. She's connected to both sides; she's very powerful (although Rumple has yet to see her utilize it; perhaps he should just consider himself lucky on that account). Who the hell is this woman?

And then the dagger is in her hands. Rumple freezes. How did she ─

"This dagger once belonged to my mother." The woman turns the weapon in her hands ── examining every inch of the curved steel, caressing the leather hilt. But she doesn't wield it. She doesn't make him do anything; she doesn't kill him with it. "There have been many Dark Ones since then. This dagger... She has a long history."

"She?"

"All blades are she's."

Rumple watches her, replaying her statements in his mind. Her tone is almost bored, as if she's had this conversation more times than she cares to count. She's a very odd woman. A very odd woman who still has his dagger and who's going to do who knows what with it.

"You should hold on to her better," the woman tells him. "She's quite literally your livelihood now. You shouldn't just leave her lying around where anyone can snatch her up." He's not sure what's more annoying, the lecture or the fact that this woman keeps referring to the dagger as 'she.' As if it's alive. "That's lesson number one." Then, she does something he really doesn't expect. She tosses the dagger back to him, and he only just catches it before it falls at his feet. "If you want more, come to the castle at the edge of the village in twelve hours."

Rumple stares at her. "There are no castles here."

The woman shrugs. "I move it a lot." As if that explains anything. But before he can demand a clearer response, she's gone in the blink of an eye.

Bae walks through the door a second later; Rumple hurries to stash the dagger away so he doesn't see him with it. He can't have him thinking he's using it. He can't have him thinking he's breaking his promise. Still, something must be showing on his face because he says, "Papa? What's wrong? Has something happened?"

Rumple turns to look at him. His boy. He's practically all grown up now. And yet, Rumple can't help feeling as though he needs to protect him. There are dangers out there, like that witch, dangers he cannot possibly hope to face alone; as his father it is Rumpelstiltskin's job to see that nothing ever harms him. That's why he's taken this power, after all, to protect his son. That's why he needs more of it ── the witch's power. He has to keep his son safe. He can't, won't, abandon him ── not the way his own father has with him, not the way Milah did. "Nothing, son. It's alright."

It's not a lie. It will be fine, once he's stripped the witch of her power. Rumple will have to break his promise, just this once, but it's all for Bae's safety. After that it all stops. It's just this once. Baelfire will understand.

"Everything is fine."