A/N Hey, I really hope you guys enjoy this story. Please read the next few chapters before you decide if you like it or not because I promise it gets better. Also please review, I'd love to know what you have to say.

Disclaimer- I do not own any of the ouat characters.

Chapter 1

They weren't far behind her, in fact she could feel his hand brush the back of her cloak. She tried her hardest to speed up, but she had been running for hours. They had to slow down eventually, the men weren't in that good of shape. She continued to pick up speed, willing her self to not pass out from exhaustion, she swerved through the trees and jumped over bushes. A loud thud came from behind her and just seconds later the sound of two men grunting.

"Two down...".She said quietly to herself. "One to go."

She kept on running, not slowing down her speed but she did slow down her brain. 'Okay stop' She thought, ' slow down, stop thinking. Listen.' She closed her eyes, somehow managing to not run into anything or fall over. 'Okay, he's pretty close. Wait... perfect!' She smiled, then opened her eyes before taking a sharp left. The man was still fast but she could tell by his breathing that he was getting tired. Then she saw it, so close.

"Why you little!" The man shouted from behind her, apparently seeing where she was headed and realizing what she was planning.

The woman didn't bother to slow down when she reached the crowd of towns people, just continued to run straight ahead. She could hear people shouting at her and each other, no one could tell who had pushed them over because she was running so fast. She stopped in the middle of the crowd, and noticed a seamstress who had her stand set up not to far away.

She pulled her hood over her head a little bit more and made sure all her hair was tucked away. She made her way over to the seamstress, and stopped right in front of the old woman.

"Do you have any cloaks?" She asked in a deep, man voice. Carefully tilting her head do that the old woman wouldn't see her face.

"Yes, plenty. Right over there, but none as nice as the one you're wearing." The seamstress said pointing to a rack.

She walked over and picked up the largest and most expensive looking cloak on the rack.

"How much for this?"

"Five gold, two silver." The old woman replied.

"I haven't got that much. I'm... traveling." She said, still in the deep voice. She wasn't lying, but completely."Would you give it to me for one gold, two slivers and the cloak I'm wearing right now?"

The old woman's eyes lit up to hear the end of the question, the cloak she was wearing was at least worth two times the one she was trying to buy. " I'll give it to you for the cloak, but I couldn't possibly take your money when you've given such a generous offer." The old woman told her, she was an honest and kind old lady.

"Thank you, is there a place where I could change?" She asked.

The old seamstress pointed to her left where there was a curtain set up. She walked over and went behind the curtain. She carefully took off the large grey velvet cloak she was wearing and replaced it with the ugly brown one. She buttoned it up completely, pulled her hair back into a pony tail, put the hood on and then walked out doing the grey cloak on the table in front of the seamstress.

A very large man came running to to the old woman. He wore a totally black outfit, complete with a black helmet. "

Excuse me miss! Have you seen a woman, blonde hair, green eyes, wearing a grey cloak?"He asked.

"Well, I did see someone wearing a grey cloak, came by just a minute ago and traded it for one of those brown ones. However the person sounded like a man and I didn't see their face it hair." The old woman replied honestly, but this time out of fear and not kindness.

"Show me the cloak!" He demanded, the woman lifted it up. "That's her, alright. Which way did she go?!"

"I..I didn't see I was to busy admiring the cloak." The woman answered, her voice shaking from fear.

The man turned around and stomped off, not even realizing the the young woman he was liking for was standing just a few feet away. She walked back over to the seamstress and took off the hood of the now green cloak. As soon as she left with the brown cloak she traded it for a green one.

"Excuse me, ma'am. Have you got any nice cloaks?" She asked the woman once again, only this time in her real voice.

"Yes I have those brown ones, there, and I just got in this grey cloak. But I'm not sure you could afford it." The woman replied looking the girl up and down.

"How much?" She asked, not offended at all by the somewhat rude comment."Six gold and four silver." The woman said after looking at the cloak and thinking about it.

"Here." She dropped seven gold on the seamstress' table. Took off her green cloak, and put on her grey one.

"You can keep the green cloak, and the extra money, you seem like a kind woman. Is there anywhere for me to stay the night? I'm just visiting the town."

"Thank you!" The old woman said, still in shock from the young ladies generosity. "Just down the road there's a little inn, I'm sure they'll have room for you."

"Thank you." And with the the young woman walked away, happy to be safe and back in her comfy velvet cloak.

...

She went into the room and locked the door and took off her cloak before sitting down on the bed. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a piece of paper, one that has her picture on it, along with some writing: 'Emma, former princess. WANTED! If seen she is to be captured and returned to the dark palace, dead or alive.' She was surprised that she found this so far from the Dark Kingdom. But she was even more surprised that a black guard would follow her all the way out here, they were at least three kingdoms away from the dark palace. 'But I guess Reginas guys can go anywhere' She thought.

"Close call today Emma." She said to herself carefully folding the paper back up and stuffing it in her pocket. "I could use a drink. Maybe there's a pub near by."

She stood up and put her cloak back on them opened the door to leave. She noticed the swan on the key as she looked he door behind her. 'Swan... that could be a name.' She thought as she made her way down the stairs.

...

The pub was dark and cold and a little bit smelly, but Emma didn't mind, she had been in much worse places. She sat down in a booth toward the back of the pub, not making eye contact with anyone, or even taking her hood off. Pubs like this weren't always the safest places for women to be alone at night, not that Emma couldn't handle these guys, but she wasn't in the mood for a fight either. She just wanted to go in, get a drink, relax a little and then leave.

"What can I get you?" A task woman with black hair and red lips asked.

"You know, a cold glass of water sounds wonderful. But, do you have any food here, I'm starving." She said looking up at the girl, who was probably the same age as her.

The waitress sat down across from her. "Having a long day?"

"Ha, you have no idea." She said, with a smile.

"I know what you mean. This is not my week either. My name's Ruby, by the way."The girl put out her hand and Emma shook it.

"Swan." She replied.

"Swan? Is that your last name?" Ruby asked, Emma nodded. "Well do you have first name?"

"I do. But... I don't think it would be safe to say it."

"I see." Ruby said with an understanding smile, before standing up. "One water coming right up, and I'll cook you up some food too. Nice to meet you Swan."

"Thanks." Emma said. She cursed inwardly for not telling Ruby her name, but it wouldn't have been safe. Still, Ruby seemed nice, and it would be cool to a friend again, someone other than herself to talk to. 'Stop thinking like that Emma!' She silently yelled at her self, 'you know why you can't have friends, why you're alone.'

So when Ruby returned she didn't carry out a conversation, just thanked her and ate her dinner. Some men came in and say not to far from her, they were mostly quiet but Emma had trained herself to over hear conversations. They were talking about a rumor they had heard, that a king is looking to take over the Dark Kingdom, that he's hired someone to kidnap the evil queen..they weren't sure what king it was, but the said that whoever he was, he had hired Captain Hook to do the job.

"Excuse me, but what kingdom are we in right now?" Emma asked one of the men that was taking about the rumor.

"The silver Kingdom." He replied, then turned back to talk to his friends, apparently not wanting to talk with Emma.

'The silver kingdom! I ran farther than I thought.' Emma said quietly to herself. 'I wonder where they heard that rumor.'

"Excuse me, again. But where are you from?" Emma asked the man again.

"The silver kingdom, near the north border. Why?" He asked, clearly getting annoyed.

"Never mind." She smiled shyly then continued to eat. She didn't want to get him any more upset.

'The north border, that's near the white kingdom. Oh, gosh. Don't be stupid David.' She thought. 'If this plan fails Regina will find out who is behind it, and she won't hesitate to kill everyone in that kingdom. Oh please, don't make it David, please.'

"I hate to interrupt you again, but I couldn't help but over hear your conversation, where was it that you said the pirate ship was docked at." She asked the man, with an apologetic smile.

"The white kingdom! Now leave us alone!" He said. Emma could tell he was upset.

'No, no, no! David! You're so stupid, what are you thinking!' She thought, wishing he could hear her. 'I gotta get out of here, I have a ship to catch.' Emma stood up and put her hood on. She dropped some money on the table, much more than what the meal would cost, but Ruby deserved the tip. She ran down the street and back to the inn, she dropped the swan key and a few coins on the desk then headed for the road. 'Ugh, so much running in one day!' She thought, 'well at least you won't be late.'