WHO: August Booth and a really bitchy sorta-princess. WHAT: August is human again! Yay! Emma has questions. Boo. WHEN: After the teamwork of Loki and Merlin fix him. WHERE: Manor Storybrooke WARNINGS: Confusion. Probably wood jokes.
It was terrible, feeling any part of yourself turn into wood, but the worst was the heart, lungs, and brain. The pain was excruciating, at least while it lasted. But once everything transformed there was nothing. No consciousness. No thoughts. No pain. Nothing.
It's why it felt like a very painful blink of an eye and then he was back, shifting back to flesh with a gasping breath and wide eyes. August could feel his heart beating again, he felt sensations returning to his limbs. After a few seconds he could even move his fingers and toes again. But when he tried to move his limbs it felt... wrong. It felt like he was swinging, with painful tightness around his elbows, wrists, and knees.
And then realization hit.
He had been so focused on the fact that he was himself again that at first he hadn't realized that he was tied up. But he seemed to be, and he was pretty sure that he hadn't been when he transformed seconds earlier. He tugged at the ropes that were tied around him, trying to pull them loose from whatever they were hooked to, and when they didn't budge he looked up to see that they were attached to an oversized marionette control bar. Okay, that wasn't funny. "...Seriously? Come on!"