second star to the right || baelfire

[Peter Pan]

This new place was definitely no Neverland. There were houses, buildings and... adults. All the things Peter was so happy to get away from. Now, he was thrust right back into it. Not only that, but it wasn't even the right time period. It was probably Neverland messing up time again, but even that didn't feel right. There was something different about it, especially since he got rid of the two traveling crystals. But, he thought he might at least make the best of being in a world that wasn't Neverland... and what better way to do that than going to a place with a bunch of storybook characters? That town was, of course, named Storybrooke.

Peter hadn't really realized how fast a flier he was in Neverland. Sure, he could get from the Indian Camp to the pirate ship in a few minutes, but that was a short distance. When he really had to get somewhere, he could fly much faster than he'd ever thought. When Peter actually landed in Storybrooke, he was... disappointed. This was the town filled with storybook characters? It looked too normal and boring for that. At first, Peter doubted he'd landed in the right place. However, a quick look at a nearby sign told him that he was exactly where he thought he was. Giving a small shrug, Peter started making his way through Storybrooke. He would have taken in the scenery, but there honestly wasn't much to take in.

Eventually, he reached a small building with a sign marked "Mr. Gold Pawnbroker & Antiquities Dealer". Taking a loo inside, he noticed that there were some pretty interesting things in there. Things he could probably take pretty easily. A small bell jingled as he opened the shop's door. Now that he had a better view of everything, he noticed that the place was just full of great stuff. Peter walked over to one of the displays, taking a look at a ship in a bottle. It sort of reminded him of Hook's pirate ship and made him miss Neverland just a bit more. Even though he hated Hook, a grand, massive ship like that was something you could only really find in Neverland. Peter grabbed the bottle and brought it closer so that he could look at it better... and possibly take it.

[Baelfire]

It wasn't surprising to find Baelfire in his father's store. Actually, that was where he spent most of his time without anything else to occupy it. Sometimes, he would go out in the woods or wander around town, and during the week, he still had to go to school, but on weekends like this, he often just stayed there, organizing things and occasionally making sales. His father has strictly prohibited Bae from just giving the residents of Storybrooke their things back. He wanted them to at least pay a small sum, but at the moment, his father was out with Belle, leaving Baelfire alone to take care of the store. And, being more forgiving than Gold, it wasn't uncommon for Bae to give back particularly precious things to people for no charge at all.

Actually, he had just returned a particularly expensive locket to a woman who had come in nearly in tears at the thought of having to give up her money to get something that mattered so much to her back. After she'd left, Baelfire had returned to the back of the shop, beginning to put a few more things in their places. There was so much here, had it really all belonged to the people in the Enchanted Forest? Had his father stolen it all, or had just ended up here? Bae wouldn't put it past his father to just take things, especially if he'd done it in the Enchanted Forest, when he'd just been using magic without anything to stop him. Now, at least, he'd promised Bae and Belle that he would try to stop using it so much. Baelfire would have liked it better if he'd stopped using it altogether, but Storybrooke was dangerous.

That was another reason why he stayed in the shop so much. With Cora and Killian around, Gold took extra precautions to ensure that his son wouldn't be anywhere near them. Belle too, but Belle was more liable to fight against it, and she wanted Baelfire to be safe as well. The shop was magically protected, though both of them had protested Gold's using such powerful enchantments at first. Magic that strong tended to be the kind that came with a price, but so far, there hadn't been any changes in his father's behavior. Hopefully, the good intentions had just cancelled out any ill effects.

The bell in the room beyond jingled and Baelfire looked up over his shoulder from where he'd been arranging a few old maps of the Enchanted Forest and the surrounding areas, in the back room. Someone else that was looking for something that had been theirs? Walking over to the doorway that led to the main shop, Bae peered curiously outside and was surprised by what he saw. Another boy, probably just a few years older than him, was standing there, examining a ship in a bottle. Stranger still, it was a boy that he was unfamiliar with. Someone from outside of Storybrooke, probably, though his clothes...looked like they might have belonged in the Enchanted Forest.

"...what're you doing?" he finally asked, curiosity winning out. There weren't many people that came to Storybrooke from out of town and the ones that did were often subject to people being somewhat wary of them.