entranceway | 01 Lantern | Text --> Video

[ She couldn't say she'd ever heard, read, or seen something like this happen before. It was strange. One minute she'd been finally experiencing that little piece of the world she could see from her tower, and then...well, then she was here. She doesn't even know where here is, really, and the only thing she knows for sure is that Flynn didn't seem to come along with her. She's kind of worried, so she fiddles around with her communicator while she tries to think of a plan. She has no idea what it does, but it's pretty neat! ]

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[ And then she manages to switch from text to video without really realizing it, having a grand time fiddling around with the strange device. It was unlike anything she'd ever seen before! And it was a welcome distraction. For all she knew, there were thugs waiting outside the door... ]

Hey Pascal, what do you think this thing is supposed to do--Pascal? [ She looks to her shoulder where Pascal should have been, only to find that Pascal is nowhere to be found. Which wasn't good, it meant she was actually stuck here by herself. She could deal with Flynn being gone, she didn't know him very well as it was. But Pascal had been by her side for a long, long time and...who would give her advice? Help her along? Be there to listen and play games with her? ]

Okay, this isn't funny, Pascal. You can come out now. [ ... ] Pascal? ...Anyone?

[ She stands up quickly and starts to search around, hoping the little guy was just poking around the room she'd found herself in--but as a result she stops paying attention to her surroundings and runs into a set of chimes, toppling over with them and taking a few other instruments along for the ride.

The feed ends with a loud crash. Whoops??? ]

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[ Another person's in there! Or on the other side of it, if she's understanding them correctly. Regardless, she makes sure to check herself over once more and smooth out her dress before answering ]

Yeah, I don't think I hurt anything. I had a pretty soft landing.

[ And even if she had been hurt, she would have been able to heal herself easily enough. ]

That's good. There are bigger things to worry about here than some stray chimes. You'll have to be careful.

[She's sympathetic, though. Showing up here can be pretty disorienting.]

New arrival, right? I'm Emma.

Bigger? You mean like...[ Her voice grows a touch quieter. ] thugs?

[ Suddenly, she's really worried. She'd felt safer, traveling outside the tower with someone who wasn't what her mother had told her the people outside were like. But now she had to worry about things here, too? ]

Oh, but I guess you could say that. I'm Rapunzel.

Thugs?

[Well, thugs would be preferable over monsters -- which is what they've got. Some of the time, anyway.]

Well, I'm sure there are a few people around these parts who could be considered thugs. Not everyone is as friendly as you might like.

... Rapunzel?

[Seriously? She shouldn't be surprised by more fairytale characters at this point, but she's starting to think she'll never get used it. Not really.]

As in 'Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your long hair?'

Well, at least it's not everyone. [ She sort of shrugs her shoulders, though she seems to relax a bit. A few people was a lot better than everyone. ] I'll just have to be careful.

[ Though at the mention of her hair she tenses again, tucking her hair behind her ear and looking...well, more than a little uncertain. ]

How do you know about my hair?

It's a kids' story.

[Well, fairy tales aren't exclusively for children, and they mean a hell of a lot more to her than they used to -- but she can't really go around telling people that fairy tales are all real without thinking about the consequences. This, though? There being a Rapunzel here couldn't have been just a coincidence.]

You know. Girl kept in a tower by an old witch, lets her hair down when her prince comes a-knocking so he can climb up to her.

A story?

[ She takes it all in with a thoughtful frown. It was similar, she couldn't deny that. But it was different, too. At least it was by her understanding of her life; Because she wasn't kept up there by some witch, she was kept up there for her own good. And Flynn certainly wasn't a prince.]

But that's not like my life at all. [ There's a nervous laugh as she tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. ] I mean, yeah, I live in a tower, but mother...Mmh. [ How much to tell? How much was safe? ] She kept me up there for a reason, so I could be safe.

[Emma frowns a little. That sounds vaguely suspicious.]

Maybe the hair thing is just a coincidence. You could be named after her or something.

[It was probably worth approaching this from a different angle -- if this girl was from the same Enchanted Forest as everyone Emma has known in Storybrooke, she wanted to know.]

Where are you from?

Maybe.

[ The question throws her off--From? Obviously, Emma didn't mean her tower, and 'A Forest' didn't really give anyone much to go on. So she gives a little shrug, looking apologetic. ]

I'm not really sure, but I know there's a city somewhere nearby. They send up lanterns each year, and I can see them from the window. [ Maybe that would help narrow it down? She hopes, anyway. ]

You don't know the name of the city?

[That seems -- well. Weird.]

I mean, it sounds nice and all...

No, I didn't even know there was a city there until today, before I got here.

[ It seemed a little strange to say out loud, especially when she'd really questioned it before. ]

Mother--She only ever told me about the bad things in the world. So I guess it just...never came up?

What, was she trying to scare you straight or something?

[Sounds a little like Regina's handling of Henry, from what she knows.]

There's good stuff out there, too, you know. Sounds like she was the overprotective sort.

[In the worst way.]

[ She bites her lip, shrugging. ] Maybe?

[ It was a response to both the question and the statement. ]

But she only wanted what was best for me. I have...a gift. Something that needs to be protected.

I guess that can be said for all parents. We all want what's best for our kids.

[Some just have different ways of showing it. Stricter ways.]

What kind of gift? Like magic?

[She knows all about magic needing to be hidden away, protected.]

[ She hesitates a moment before nodding. ]

Yeah, I guess you could say it's something like that.

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