#rewritale

portals.

zeke  ..hated  them,  he  hated  that  all  the  realms  were  connected  without  even  asking  him  when  his  home  was  part  of  the  deal.  his  forest.  it  was  now  also  connected  to  places  he'd  never  seen  before  &  places  he  didn't  want  to  see.  he  didn't  even  want  to  know  they  existed.  his  forest  didn't  need  strangers  wandering  about.  but  he  needed  to  know  what  was  out  there  in  order  to  protect  himself  &  his  home.

it  wasn't  curiosity  that  brought  him  to  a  land  ...different  to  his  own.  it  was  caution.  if  he  learned  about  them,  he  could  prepare.  right.  he  let  out  a  small  sigh  as  he  wandered,  taking  in  the  sights,  the  smells  &  all  the  other  different  first  impressions.  even  the  ground...  felt  different  under  his  bare  feet.  senses  in  overdrive,  the  wolf  pranced  through  the  strange  forest  with  caution,  catching  a  scent  that  had  his  mouth  water.  boar.  he...  was  due  lunch,  might  as  well.

quick  on  his  feet,  the  wolf  was  off,  chasing  a  scent  &  nothing  could  stop  him.  not  until  he  was  ..snacking.  with  no  water  source  nearby  &  a  lack  of  motivation,  he  just  stayed  where  he  was,  hands  &  mouth  bloody  after  tearing  through  flesh.  he'd  made  quite  the  mess,  the  boar  had  ...fought  &  squeaked,  probably  drawing  attention  to  him.

sunlight cut into the room between the curtains; not blinding but a gradual warmth that stirred arthur awake; that and the subtle movement and drip in the mattress. the king stretched languidly in his extremely large bed — big enough for more than three people even — letting his muscles and body wake up with him. enjoying the morning that he got to sleep in a little more than usual. he had most of the day free, the first in a long while; barring some emergency. perhaps he could explore the woods and enjoy the forest air in his lungs later.

[02]

to  read  about  something  was  one  thing,  but  to  see  something  you've  read  about  as  a  child  come  true  was  quite  ..jarring,  in  a  way.  maybe  liberating,  too  -  up  to  some  point,  but  mostly  just  jarring,  because  reality  never  exceeded  expectations.  quite  the  opposite,  reality  often  fell  short.  in  this  case,  he  was  less  eager  than  usual  to  witness  it  for  the  sole  sake  of  ...  not  wanting  to  be  disappointed.  but  kit  went  &  he  felt  the  urge  to  accompany  his  fiancé.  what  would  people  think  if  he  didn't?  probably  nothing,  but  still  -  he  wouldn't  risk  that.

but  it  was  too  crowded,  too  social,  the  pressure  simply  was  ...  too  much.  he  held  &  he  held,  but  at  some  point  he  couldn't  anymore.  he  bolted  &  went  to  find  some  place  safe.  some  place  familiar.  surely  nobody  would  mind  him  exploring  the  library,  right?  he  was  surprised  there  even  was  one  here,  but  then  again...  where  there's  people,  there's  books,  right?

after  letting  himself  inside,  strolling  through  the  many  shelves,  fingers  running  over  the  backs  of  a-many  books  in  his  search,  he  finally  found  something  that  called  to  him.  the  peace  &  quiet  in  here  was  ...  better.  he  enjoyed  it  greatly.  it  wouldn't  have  to  be  long.  he  just  needed  to  recharge  a  little  bit.  book  clasped  in-between  fingers,  ella  went  searching  for  a  comfortable,  secluded  place  to  sit  ...  only  to  find  someone  else  already  here.  "oh."  glancing  around  to  see  if  it  was  just  them,  or  if  he  missed  someone  else's  presence  in  here,  he  shot  the  man  a  little  smile.  "you  uh...  you  mind  if  i..?"  motioning  at  the  seat  next  to  the  man,  shoulders  pulled  into  a  little  shrug.

zeke  had  been  feeling  a  little  ...on  edge  about  it  all.  the  portals,  new  enemies  &  old  now  with  a  direct  path  to  each  other.  an  easy  alliance  to  be  formed  against  him.  yes,  he  had  been  pardoned,  but  for  starters  -  zeke  didn't  even  know  if  he  wanted  to  be  &  more  importantly,  he  didn't  think  those  who  wanted  his  head  would  be  stopped  by  the  king's  announcement.  zeke  carried  guilt  with  him  that  could  never  be  washed  away.  not  that  he  actually  felt  guilty.  but  he  had  blood  on  his  hands  (it  was  tasty)  some  would  never  unsee  &  he  knew  what  he  was  doing  when  ...he  did  it.  all  of  it.  not  once  could  he  put  the  blame  on  someone  else.  it  was  his  doing.  he  was  proud,  truly.

but  so  he  knew  to  keep  his  eyes  open  &  his  ears  on  alert.  fluffy  &  definitely  better  at  their  job  than  the  human  version  he  wore  some  days,  he  was  strolling  the  forest,  patrolling  &  observing,  but  he  was  also  hunting.  it  was  early,  maybe  he  could  grab  breakfast  while  out  here.  sniffing  wildly  as  he  walked,  he  caught  a  scent  unlike  anything  he  ...ever  smelled  before.  nose  scrunched  with  the  impact  of  unfamiliarity,  a  low  growl  rippled  through  him.  no,  not  squirrel.  cheeky  little  fuckers.  it  was  ...something  else.  someone  ..else.

he  tracked  the  scent  -  carefully,  hidden  in  brush,  in  the  shadows  as  he  trailed  alongside  the  path  leading  through  part  of  the  woods.  never  leave  the  path,  the  humans  had  funny  rules.  he  found  ..  a  man.  he  looked  like  a  man.  but  the  scent  ...  was  off-putting,  it  was  ..  strange  &  he  was  curious  &  anxious  at  the  same  time.  not  afraid,  but  ...  cautious.  yes,  cautious.  staying  hidden,  he  growled  lowly,  "who  are  you?  why  are  you  here?"  something  he  learned  from  the  metal  man.

Who: Solamir (Genie) ft. Kamran (Jafar) @rewritale

"Yeah, I'll be there," had been the words that Solamir stated when the sultan requested his presence in the various realms - to use the djinn's magic for protection, or to grant him his every wish, or for other reasons - because, really, that's all he could say. The djinn knew that they were bound to the sultan, that they couldn't say no - after all, it had been the sultan's last wish to free him from the lamp... but bound him to him so that he could use his cosmic might however he saw fit.

Some days, he wondered if it would've been better to suffer through being in the lamp for eons until they awoken, crick in the neck or not.

Hook ran his ship like, well, the Navy —not that he would know what that is— which meant nothing happened on there that he didn't have express knowledge about. Nobody dared cross him. If they did, they found out the hard way just how expertly he manipulated his titular appendage.

So this one quiet night, hearing a commotion in his private cabin, he needed to set someone straight.

When the weretiger had heard that the other had shown his face around, Khan knew... He had to do something about it. He had to make sure that his inner circle, those that were part of his crime syndicate that were weres, knew very well that one didn't just cross Khan and get away with it - and Bagheera had certainly done so. Leaving the organization so he could take care of the man cub had angered Khan, profusely, but he didn't waste any of his resources hunting the man down because he knew... one day, he'd return.

And then he would get his revenge.

"Bagheera, my old friend..." Khan spoke, his amber eyes gleaming with something sinister as he approached the other were-creature, moving to place a hand upon his shoulder. "Why now of all times did you show up, hmm? Especially here, now?" With the portals having been opened, their reunion could have potentially been elsewhere but... as it stands, it isn't. "You know I have to make an example of you, boy. You know no one crosses me without paying the price."