True colours.

A/N: Alright, I am completely sick of never seeing Jano, the guardian of the cave of bad dreams getting featured in a fanfiction. TurquoisePhoenix seems to be doing something about that and now I'm going to as well. I've had to alter the song a bit.

Disclaimer: You know damn well what's mine and what isn't. *Throws a bored look at no-one in particular* But just for the record, Sasha's mine, none of the other characters are mine and the song "True colours" certainly isn't mine. Happy now? Good. This disclaimer is for the entire story.

The entrance to the Cave of Bad Dreams was surrounded by wasteland and the few trees dotted here and there were completely bare. A chilly wind moved restlessly across the dull purple mist, which constantly hung over the land. Two figures, barely able to see their way, even with the aid of a torch were coming through this mist.

"Face it, we're lost!"

"We are not lost. Shine the torch over here!" The torch bearer who, judging by her voice, was female, moved the beam to illuminate the worlds guardian Rayman. He was waving his hand impatiently.

"Come on Sasha!" Sasha moved into his line of vision and revealed herself as a tall, 18 year old girl, wearing a green leotard with brown shorts. A gunbelt was strapped onto the shorts and a pistol was sitting in each holster. She had ice blue eyes, which were darting over the little that she could see.

"I don't like this place, Rayman it feels like someone's watching us." "No-ones watching 'cos no-one else is crazy enough to be here." Sasha did not answer but if someone had looked her in the eye, they would have observed a sceptical glint.

* * *

Jano, the keeper of the cave of bad dreams was a sight to freeze the blood. He had seen people die of fright just by looking him in the eye. Jano had no legs, he moved around by bouncing. His green tinted grey body was just a sphere of muscle and his razor sharp teeth were capable of biting a man's arm off. Jano had only one eye but this eye was 10 times as powerful as any other eye. This creature had been banished to the Cave of bad dreams many years before the arrival of Rayman and, during that time, had only ever been defeated by one person and this person was Rayman. Rayman and Jano had remained friends and now, six months after their battle, Rayman had noticed that Jano was unhappy. And, accompanied by his friend Sasha, who was excellent at getting people to talk by using the kind or not so kind manner, he was determined to find out why.

* * *

"How much further?!"

"Not far, the entrance is around here somewhere." Rayman stopped and scanned the surroundings. He turned towards the pounding footsteps behind him, just in time to see Sasha fall headlong over something.

"Ouch, damn!" he heard her gasp as her face made contact with the floor.

"You ok?"

"Fine." She stood up and brushed dirt off of her clothes, a red flush appearing on her face.

"What did you fall over?" "Don't know." Sasha flashed the torch at her feet and seconds later wished she hadn't. Rayman glanced at the object under the beam.

"Is that a ."

"Yup. Human skeleton." Sasha crouched down to examine it. "I thought that there had never been any other humans here except me?"

"Yeah, that's what I thought." Rayman looked curiously at it. "C'mon lets go." Sasha tore her eyes away from the skeleton and followed Rayman over to a solid rock that stood hundreds of feet high and miles wide. Sasha illuminated it and the beam revealed a swirling mass of blue and yellow.

"After you."

Sasha waited until Rayman had disappeared through the revolving mixture of colours and cast a look at the view behind her. Not much of a view, all she could see was the mist. The torchlight flickered and went out and she thought she heard someone cough behind her. She launched herself at the door. The sight that met her eyes on the other of side of it was enough to transfix her for a moment. She was standing in a long blue tunnel on a pure white bridge that resembled the ribs of an elephant. The cobwebs hanging from the ceiling looked ancient and the frequent echoes that seemed as if they were made by nothing didn't help either.

"Gun out d'you reckon?" Rayman nodded.

"There's no telling what you could run into here." On advancing forwards, a rustling came to the ear and there was a sharp click as Sasha released the safety. They moved onward carefully and saw a long spindly arm sticking out of a wall, apparently waiting to push them off the ledge. Rayman murmured instructions to Sasha.

"Get as close as you can, stop just out of its range, then shoot."

"You know I'm a useless shot! Why can't you do it?" She hissed "If I do it, it'll only give us enough time to get up to the ledge. If you shoot it, it'll give us enough time to get past." Sasha moved forward with a facial expression that clearly asked "Why me?" The bang echoed eerily and when the smoke cleared, the hand had disappeared. Rayman and Sasha charged along the ledge and dragged themselves up the wall opposite. There was no time for conversation now, as the pillars that they had to walk on were not strong enough to hold their weight and when any pressure was applied to them, they sunk into the black gunk. There was no time for hesitation and Sasha almost got eaten a monster guarding a pedestal. Luckily, she was ready for it and dealt it a heavy back-hander that almost snapped it in two.

"So what now?" enquired Sasha as the third and final monster was killed.

"Hang on." Rayman lifted a large yellow sphere onto its pedestal. A section of the rock lifted and hung in mid air.

"C'mon, lets go."

* * *

Jano was jerked out of his sad and lonely thoughts by hearing two voices. He couldn't identify whom they belonged to, nor could he identify what they were saying. All he could tell was that one was male, the other female. Jano moved off towards his normal ambush point and hid quietly in the shadows.

* * *

Sasha and Rayman charged on down the dark and cobwebby passage. After running in pitch-blackness for more than ten minutes, they arrived short of breath and cold, in a damp cave with two spheres and two pedestals.

"At least we don't have to go and get them this time." gasped Rayman, in reference to the spheres.

"Yeah, that's something to be grateful for," answered Sasha, digging her knuckles into her side to fight off the pain of a stitch. "It'll be a lot easier this time." As if in contradiction to Sasha's words, a soft rustling became audible.

"Or not." Rayman and Sasha stood paralysed for a second. The rustling got louder as it got closer to the cave. Rayman and Sasha realised what it was at exactly the same moment and both threw themselves at a sphere and jammed it onto a pedestal. The gate creaked as though in protest and dust fell from the mechanisms as it slowly opened.

"C'mon, c'mon c'mon!" Shouted Sasha whilst jumping up and down on the spot, her stitch forgotten. "Hurry up!!" She cast a look over her shoulder, then turned her wild eyes on the gate. Rayman swung his fist back and sent his most powerful shot at the gate. A noise like thunder drowned out the sinister rustling for a moment while the gate gathered speed.

"Quick!" Rayman pushed Sasha through the opening and then jumped through himself. Thousands of jet-black caterpillars poured into the cave, and the gate, having opened was now refusing to close.

* * *

Jano had been listening to their voices and it was he who had sent the caterpillars and jammed the gate, and with a stab of horror, he recognised the two voices as Rayman's and Sasha's. Even the best two fighters in the land would have no chance against that number of caterpillars. Jano emerged from the shadows and bounced at top speed to the gate. His powerful eye saw Sasha and Rayman struggling with the gate.

"Close!" he shouted. The gate slammed shut, plunging the surroundings into darkness. The only sounds piercing the still air were Sasha and Rayman's heavy breathing.

"You two ok are you? You're not hurt?"

"Well I'm not dead if that's what you mean!"

"We're ok Jano." Rayman gasped, in an attempt to soften the blow inflicted by Sasha's words. He tried to slow his breathing and although he could not see her face, he knew that Sasha had a look on it that had "Speak for yourself" written all over it.

"What the hell was that for?" Jano looked Sasha in the eye and if looks could kill. Jano looked away from Sasha's glare, forgetting that she couldn't actually see him. He sighed.

"Follow me."

"I would if I could see you." Sasha's voice was laced with sarcasm but Jano knew that there was no real malice in it.

"I'm going to touch your arm, I'll guide you."

"Ok." Jano closed his hand around Sasha's wrist, and to his surprise, she didn't flinch. He led her down into the Cave with Rayman following the sound made by her boots. After leading them through miles of cold, damp, cobwebby passages, Jano brought Rayman and Sasha into the Cave of Bad Dreams, which was brightly lit by enormous flaming torches and despite its name, was actually quite cheerful. Jano created two floating skulls and Rayman sat on one of them and nodded towards the other when Sasha threw him a questioning glance.

"You can sit on that." Jano and Rayman were amused for a good ten minutes by Sasha trying to balance herself on the skull and failing miserably. She finally lost patience when the skull disintegrated into smoke from underneath her and she sat on the floor. She exchanged a quick glance with Rayman and he nodded slightly. Sasha brushed her hair out of her face and looked at Jano.

"Look Jano, How long is it since Rayman defeated you? Six months?"

"Yes." Jano had a horrible feeling that he knew where this conversation was heading and he didn't want to talk about that, Rayman would be disgusted with him for it and- Jano glanced at Sasha's blue eyes and the guns and her well trained fists. Sasha wouldn't exactly be presenting him with a medal for it either.

"D'you consider him a friend?"

"I do."

"And I've known you for how long? Three months?"

"Yes."

"And d'you think you could call me friend?"

"Of course I can."

"Good. Now a good friend can always tell when something's bothering another friend. They know when that friend needs to talk and is just pretending that they don't want to talk. Do you call me and Rayman good friends?"

"Yes, I do."

"Right so what's upsetting you? I can read you like I read a book and there's something wrong and don't try denying it."

Jano was stunned. Sasha could sound comforting and look threatening at the same time and Rayman was giving him the same piercing gaze that she did. He was torn between feeling infuriated with her and grateful to her. She was right, there was something wrong and he did want to talk. but to Rayman and Sasha? They might turn on him and he didn't think he could bear to lose the only friends he had ever had.

"Did you know that someone can tell a good friend absolutely anything and the friend will always be there for them?" Sasha can read minds! Thought Jano in disbelief.

"Jano, if you think for minute that I'm going to sit here and watch you waste away when there is no need for it, you have no idea how far off the mark you are! And unless I'm very much mistaken, I don't think Sasha's going to stand for it either!" Rayman coloured slightly as Sasha and Jano looked at him after this outburst. Jano groaned inwardly as he realised that he couldn't win.

"Alright, I'll tell you. But It's difficult. I don't know where to start, It's just. so difficult.." Rayman leant forward and Sasha spoke quietly.

"Carry on Jano. Take your time." Jano glanced around the cave and thought bitterly how good a friend that she was and wished that he could be like her.

"Well, I suppose I should start at the beginning if you want to understand this properly. I am the last surviving member of a species called cyclopics monstropes. That means Cyclops monster. There used to be thousands of us before the elders tried to take this world over."

"My species were, shall we say, not the most pleasant of creatures, they killed for fun and often for no reason. We were hated by everyone and rejected by everyone. When I say the elders, I mean the monsters that had existed since the dawn of time. These elders were my parents. My mother was called Jana, my father was called Jano and it is him that I take my name from. We were growing in strength and if anyone stood up to us, they would be killed. I was disowned by my parents because I could see that what they were doing was wrong. Understanding the difference between right, wrong, fair and unfair should not be characteristics in a creature of my kind. Despite the people I have killed in here, I never wanted to kill any of them but they wouldn't go. I am not a killer, and that is why my parents disowned me."

"It was expected by the elders that the younger of their kind should obey their every order. Toward the end of their lives, we had taken millions of inhabitants of this world prisoner, constructed our own buildings and generally mutilated this world. My parents told me that they had thousands of prisoners contained in the torture chambers and that I was to be the one to kill them. I refused and my father gave me one more chance. I tried. I did go down to the torture chambers with the intention of killing them but when I saw them."

Jano's voice trailed off, and to their horror, Rayman and Sasha saw tears welling up in his single eye.

"When I saw them, I saw innocence. They were terrified and they'd done nothing wrong. I saw children there and the way they looked at me. Well, I opened the escape route, I let them go."

Rayman nodded slightly as Sasha muttered "Damn right too!"

"But they stared at me as though I was crazy." Jano continued, as though Sasha had not interrupted. "It was obvious they were thinking that I was some sort of freak, they had reached the conclusion that all of my kind were heartless, ruthless murderers. But then, there was one of them showing mercy, letting them go."

"But surely that showed them who you really were!" Exclaimed Sasha.

"No. When it sunk in that they were going to get away, they all filed out, and every one of them stared at me as they left, still with the same mistrust and disgust, even though I was releasing them."

"When I returned to my parents and told them what I had done, they were furious."

Jano broke off and shivered, obviously recalling painful memories.

"All you need to know is that they told me to go and never to show my face again. Before I left, they told me that they were going to take over the entire world and that I would die with the rest. They were going to murder everyone outside of our species and they no longer considered me their son. I knew that they were perfectly capable of taking everything over with the amount of power and they held over everyone and the fear that they induced. I had to stop them but I was nowhere near powerful enough, I was just a child. I needed help to stop them."

"Remember that Polokus has also existed since the dawn of time and to the young mind, he seemed the only hope. This was long before he left this world and he was commonly seen among the people so it was easy for me to find him. It never occurred to me that he would judge me by my species and not who I really was. I was too innocent at that stage, I had no idea what the consequences of showing my face among the people would be. The first thing he did when I found him, was to throw a spell at me. That spell prevented me from moving. They say that even he feared us and I think that that particular incident confirms that. He let me speak and I explained about the attack that my parents were planning. He didn't believe me at first but he had to eventually because the attack happened while we were talking. My parents had underestimated his powers badly. They had recruited the entire of their species for the attack and they were all coming on to Polokus but he destroyed them without any trouble at all."

"Soon I was the only evidence that cyclopics monstropes had ever existed. I thought that the attack would convince him that I was speaking the truth."

A bitter smile twisted Jano's face as he looked at the horrified expression on Sasha's face and almost felt the fury radiating from Rayman.

"I couldn't have been further from the mark. Polokus thought that I had been sent to distract him, so that my people could attack him with his guard down. I'll say this for him; he did put it to the fairy council but they all agreed with him, except one, a fairy I believe. It was concluded that I was guilty and that I was to be imprisoned here to the end of time."

Sasha interrupted.

"But you were innocent! You were just a child for Gods sake! What did Polokus think he was playing at?!"

Jano was almost amused by her indignation.

"He was thinking about the safety of his people. He honestly thought I was a hazard."

"But you don't send a child to a place like this! That's not good enough! He's supposed to be wise! Couldn't he see who you really were? Couldn't he tell that you were just a child?" Jano remained silent and seemed oblivious to the tears welling up in his single eye. Sasha looked at Rayman.

"Obviously he couldn't." She muttered in complete disgust. Rayman nodded in agreement, evidently afraid of the words that might come pouring out if he opened his mouth.

"How long have you been here Jano?" The tears started to pour.

"Four hundred years."

"Four hundred.?!" There was a definite squeak to her voice now, showing that she was so furious that she could hardly speak. Rayman dropped from the skull and placed a hand on Jano's body. Sasha got up and moved towards them. She knelt down next to the distraught Guardian and wiped away some of the tears away.

"The guardian to the Cave of bad dreams isn't the real you is it? That's not your. not your true colours is it? I've seen someone else. Someone who wants to be friends with the other creatures in the world. Someone who deserves that. Someone who's afraid. Someone who has been misjudged badly. I don't think the guardian is the real you. I'm right aren't I?"

Jano struggled to speak and Sasha waited.

"That's what this place does to you."

"Jano, I'm sorry to ask you this but I've got to. How is it that you are the Guardian? Any arch idiot can see that Polokus doesn't trust you."

Jano smiled, but it was a horrible bitter smile.

"You a sharp girl Sasha! There's no getting past you is there? I was never actually appointed the Guardian, I took it upon myself. Shortly after I was banished, I saw how dangerous some of the creatures contained here were. If they escaped, the world would be in serious trouble and they were perfectly capable of escaping and no one else was going to stop them so I figured that it was up to me. That is why I tend to attack everyone who ventures in here, in case they unleash the monsters in here. Rayman has been the only person to defeat me but he was fighting for good. If he had been fighting for evil, I dread to think what might have happened."

"But if the monsters can escape, why don't you? Ok so it's not exactly the most easy journey in the world, but it's not impossible!".

"I can't. The people, they.they won't want a monster in their midst."

"You are not a monster!"

"Yes I am. And anyway, I'm afraid to face them. They would overwhelm me. Remember I am the only surviving creature of my kind. Everyone remembers them and the attack on Polokus but no one knows that there is still one in existence. Can you think how they would panic if I showed myself? We were classed as creatures of evil, and somewhere, there must be elements of that inside me. I'd be afraid of what I might do."

Sasha's fury had disappeared. She was beginning to see herself in Jano. The fear of people and what she might do to them if the demons inside her got loose. The deprivation of a parents love and affection and the darkness that it caused. The scars that past experiences had inflicted. The overwhelming helplessness and blackness that she knew about was surfacing in Jano. She could see it radiating from him and it was as though she was inside him. As though she too, was disappearing beneath the cold black waters of fear and the mixed emotions left by the past. She found herself being dragged back to her own childhood; the beatings and harsh words. The blood that her body had lost and the bruises on her face. The times when her father had been out and her mother would hug her close. The countless times that she had been left to sleep outside in the pouring rain and the day she escaped from it all. These images surfaced and Sasha felt some of the blackness that she could see in Jano. The helplessness in his facial expression tore at her heart.

iYou with the sad eyes
Don't be discouraged
Oh I realise
It's hard to take courage.
In a world full of people
You can lose sight of it all
And the darkness inside you
Can make you feel so small./i

Jano appeared to have cried as much as he could. His voice was quiet and Rayman and Sasha listened to him.

"I never actually minded being here, except at the very beginning. I soon began to adapt to it and I didn't mind so much. When people came here, the traps and caterpillars used to take care of them but as time went on, they began to get to the stage were they fought me. I always chased people who did not intend to unleash the creatures down a route that led to an exit and they escaped. I have had to kill some people because of the reasons they have had for coming here. Like I have said before, Rayman has been the only person to defeat me and it was when he came back to see me that I realised what I was missing. I saw what was going on in the world through him and I wanted to be part of it but."

iBut I see your true colours
Shining through.
I see your true colours
And that's why we love you
So don't be afraid to let them show
Your true colours
True colours are beautiful
Like a rainbow./i

Jano trailed off at the scornful expression on Rayman's face.

"Is that why you didn't want to talk to us? Because you thought that we would turn on you?" This was the reaction Jano had feared.

"Yes." Rayman rolled his eyes.

"Y'know something, that is the craziest excuse I have ever heard! Of course it was going to bother you, seeing a world that you can't be part of! I don't turn on people for reasons like that! If I did I wouldn't be much of a friend would I?"

Jano hadn't expected this reaction and the relief on his face was obvious. "Is that the only reason that you didn't talk to us before?"

"Uh well, no." Jano glanced at Sasha. "You see, I'm afraid of-" He didn't get to finish, as his words were lost amid Sasha and Rayman's hysterical laughter. They had guessed what he was going to say and found it hilarious. With much effort, Sasha composed herself and spoke.

"You're afraid of me? What on earth for?"

"What for? Well unless I'm mistaken, you don't get to be Lara Crofts stand in by being useless in the firearms department! Correct me if I'm wrong."

Sasha stared for a moment, then dissolved into one of her rare giggling fits.

"Jano, I couldn't hit a barn door from a metre away! Before I got transported here, I was about to start training! The reason I'm her stand in is because of my martial arts! If I tried to shoot someone in the head, it'd probably hit him in the foot, if at all!"

Jano stared at Sasha and Rayman. Laughter was not something he was used to and he waited until they had calmed down.

"Listen Jano, I need straight answers. Do you want to see the outside world?"

"More than anything."

"Do you want to get out of this place?"

"Yes." Sasha scrutinised his face.

iShow me a smile then.
Don't be unhappy, can't remember
When I last saw you laughing.
If this place makes you crazy
And you've taken all you can bear.
You call me up
'cos I'll always be there./i

Sasha got up without another word, took a flaming torch from one of the walls and exited the cave. Rayman and Jano listened to her storming away and heard her cursing at the remaining caterpillars. They listened until her footsteps faded away and looked at each other.

"Where's she going?" Rayman left the question unanswered. He knew perfectly well where she was going and why but he couldn't raise Jano's hopes. Not yet.