HAIIII~! This is my first story, so be nice to me, okay? Reviews are muchly appreciated :D

There won't be any pairings in this, and I'm sorry if any of the characters are a bit OOC or different to how you'd imagine them or just plain WRONG.

Also, I promise I'll tell you if I don't plan to finish a story ever, so you won't be left hanging, but it's extremely unlikely that I would leave you hanging. Hopefully. :3

HENCELY, ENJOY!

Chapter One- The Arrival

The Once-ler sighed happily as he wrapped his arms around his knees, pulling them closer into his chest. His eyes trailed from the grassy hills from which sprouted the tall, colourful truffula trees to the clear blue sky, whereupon he gazed at the fluffy, pure white clouds that drifted lazily across the horizon.

His smile widened and, if possible, he relaxed even further under the warmth of the sun. It was a beautiful day, one of the best he'd experienced living there so far, and he was glad for it. Most of his time had been spent indoors as of late- designing possible accessories for his Thneed- all of which were of course discarded as the Thneed was cool enough already- and cooking for his woodland friends. Today was a rare break in his surprisingly hectic lifestyle, so enjoyable in fact that he hadn't even bothered to go into town that day. Sitting there, under the sun, right beside the river had seemed so tempting at the time, and he just couldn't help himself. He let go of his knees and fell back, folding his arms behind his head and slowly closing his eyes. Yep, today was perfect... so perfect... oh, if only it had stayed that way.

The Once-ler didn't have time to react to what happened in that next moment; he heard a mighty splash from the other side of the river, some high-pitched giggling, and before he knew it he was bolting upright, coughing and spluttering and wiping furiously at his eyes to rid himself of the water that some fiendish creature had seen fit to pour over him in a wave. He opened his eyes and scowled, glaring at a small group consisting of Pipsqueak and a few of the Hummingfish, who were all laughing madly at his expression. Needless to say, the Once-ler was not pleased.

"What was that for?" he groaned loudly, standing up and awkwardly inspecting his long limbs. His vest and shirt were completely soaked, along with large patches on his striped pants. A chill ran down his spine from the sudden cold and he shivered, peeling off his uppermost clothes as fast as his shaking fingers would allow. When his shirt and vest were laid out neatly on the ground beside him to dry he turned to his assaulters, staring down at their innocent, unknowing expressions with his hands on his hips. After a long moment he sighed heavily and sat down again, his expression carefully blank.

A moment passed. Then another, and another until the animals began to feel concern for their tall friend. Pipsqueak and the Hummingfish, who had been standing a metre away until that time, began to creep forward, worried that there was something wrong with their human. The worry quickly turned to mixed fear and delight as suddenly the Once-ler's arms shot forward, snatching the group up from its position and throwing them gently into the river, right before he jumped to his feet, snatched his clothes up into his arms and ran towards his tent. The gleeful laughter of the small group faded into the distance as his long legs quickly covered the distance between his tent and the river, and soon he was inside, giggling to himself as he put on his clothes, thanking the warm day for drying them so quickly. As soon as he was ready he emerged from the house once again, only to bring himself to an abrupt stop, barely in time to avoid tripping over a certain orange creature that just about reached his knees. Taking one look at the Lorax's annoyed expression, the Once-ler leant casually against the doorframe, grinning at the large ball of orange fur.

"Beanpole," the Lorax began, his voice holding a slight tone of disapproval.

Wondering what he could have done wrong this time, the Once-ler simply replied with a smooth; "Yyyyeeeesssss?"

"Care to explain?"

His mind immediately jumping to the incident with Pipsqueak, the Once-ler couldn't help but smile- or at least, begin to. One look at the Lorax's face told him that he'd done something bad, and the smile steadily faded, his tone holding just a hint of denial when he spoke. "They started it," he mumbled, scratching awkwardly at the back of his head. "Besides, it's not like it was really all that bad, it was just retaliation!"

The Lorax looked slightly confused, and all the more annoyed for it. "What? Retaliate at who?"

"Pipsqueak and some Hummingfish."

"What? They made that mess?"

"What mess? I thought it would have dried out by now."

"Of course it's dried out, but it's left that awful sticky mess behind!"

". . . What?"

The Lorax stared at him for a short moment, his expression twisted in confusion- a look that was mirrored by the Once-ler. After a minute, the Once-ler knelt down, confronting the Lorax in what he felt was a more appropriate stance. He asked him to describe exactly what the Lorax had found, and the creature did so gladly.

"I was walking through the forest," and at this, he puffed out his chest slightly, "doing my rounds, when I came across a bunch of bits of colourful plastic and chip packets! There was the remains of a fire there, so I figured a human musta done it- and you're the only human 'round here beanpole, so fess up!"

"Why would I have done something like that?" the Once-ler asked in surprise, pulling back slightly.

"I don't know, maybe you decided to have one of your little "tea parties" again!"

"Hey, that is not cool. I'll have you know that was a picnic, and it was a celebration, too!"

"Suddenly deciding that it might be the birthday of one of the Swomee-Swans and wanting to have a party for it isn't an excuse, princess."

"It was-"

"Quiet!" the Lorax growled, interrupting the Once-ler's half-hearted excuse. "That's not the issue here!" He paused, his brow furrowing in thought. He stroked his moustache, glancing up at his tall companion every now and then and frowning even deeper. Finally he stopped, placed his hands behind his back and stared up at the Once-ler, his frown now so deep his bushy eyebrows came close to covering his eyes. It was quite a comical expression, but the Once-ler couldn't bring himself to even giggle as the Lorax spoke.

"If it wasn't you, then there's another human here," he said slowly, "and they're leaving their rubbish wherever they please."

"What should we do, then?" the Once-ler asked, his eyes wide in shock. He couldn't imagine the concept of another human being in the forest- sure, he had come there, but he'd only found the place by accident! Not even the residents of Greenville seemed to have any interest in coming here! Sure, it was a beautiful place and all, and a great place for camping or picnicking, or something similar...

Okay, so there were plenty of reasons why someone would want to come, but the Once-ler had spent so long living in the forest- just himself and the animals- that the possibility of any other human venturing into the forest had always eluded him. And now... now that there was someone- causing harm, no less- he wasn't too sure he liked the idea.

The Lorax was just about to speak, when a loud knocking came from the back door.

"HellllOOOOOooohhhhh?"

The Once-ler and the Lorax immediately shot inside the tent, being sure to shut the front door quietly as they entered. They crept to the back of the room and- with the Lorax being held up by the Once-ler and for once, not being bothered by it- they peered anxiously out the window.

Standing there, staring directly at the door, was a man.