The sun was just now reaching below the western reaches of the University campus and only a few students were milling about enjoying the last bit of southern California sun. One particular student who was just now leaving her evening class took little notice of the sun or where it was. Having forgotten her key once more she was determined to make it back to her dorm room before her roommate saw fit to go out on yet another late night date. So set on her goal the paid little attention to where she was going and taking no notice of the man fallowing behind her. On such a big campus it was not unusual for someone to fallow another with out any intent in actually fallowing them.
Any other night it would have been okay, but tonight this man was fallowing her with quite a determination. He had been given a mission to find that particular. His instructions had been vague a blurred image of the girls face, a name and the instruction of brining her back alive. He could do that very easily; the girl was so lost in her own mind that taking her would be simple. It was now just a matter of waiting for her to get away from the heart of campus, where no one would be close enough to come to her aid.
Glancing behind her she spotted the same man she had seen sitting outside her class now only about twenty feet behind her. Was he following her? A stab of fear pierced her and a new speed came to her step. Looking behind she saw that the man also had increased his pace. He was following her! Terrified she broke out into a run clutching her bag at her side. She cut across the grass park ducking under a low tree ignoring as it grabbed at her blonde hair.
She could hear him running behind her over her own labored breath. He was tall, lanky and probably a lot faster than she was. Her only hope was finding someone else or making it to her dorm. It was then that she realized that the normally busy areas were now empty, as if all the people were gone. The fear in her grew. Looking behind her she saw the man was gone. Skidding to a stop she looked around her as her pale shaking hand clutched at her chest as she tried to catch her breath. Shakily she straightened up and took a deep breath. The man must have given up! She let out a sigh of relief and readjusted her shirt.
Convincing herself everything was okay she turned around and jumped as she saw the man standing there. A twisted smile was on what might have been a handsome face. He prided himself on his hunting skills, he knew the girl never had a chance.
"Hello Sophie." Was all he said and before she could run again he a pulled a dark glowing orb from the bag at his side. Then all around her was nothing but darkness.
Far away in a world in some ways similar to our own there were two others watching Sophie and the strange man. The first was a very old man in a blue robe. His gray beard, which he was now stroking in thought, reached far below his chin and on his head was a magnificent hat. It is said by some that the hat was the source of this mans powers, that it was the hat the made the wizard. This however was not true. The hat merely helped to channel the powers and for that it retained some magic of its own.
The other watching the scene was cloaked in darkness, the orb on their staff casting an eerie green glow on the room around them. Unlike the other this person was not calm, having sent the dark man after the girl they could see the blunder he had made. The fool had forgotten to grab onto the girl! Now she would be separated and could be found by those idiots before the dark magic could find her again. He would be punished for his failure! Turning the dark figure left to await the arrival of the man and to send other to search for the girl when she arrived.
This was good. The idiot they sent after the girl had made a mistake. Now it was just a matter of finding her before the darkness got her again. A small light then filled the room alerting the wizard that he was no longer alone.
"I see you lost track of her Mushu." He spoke in a low voice that only wavered a little from age.
"I know, I know! But how was I supposed to know he'd show up like that? Why'd they even seen his?" The great wizard could not blame the little dragon for the loss of the girl, only the size of the lizard he would have never kept up with then, let alone have protected the girl.
"Soooo…. What do we do now?" Mushu asked looking up at the wizard.
"We find her before they do." Was all Yen Sid said before slowly striding out of the room.
"We find her, peeft like that was easy to do before. Oh well as long as I don't have to play baby sitter no more…" The dragons sarcastic comment reminded him that the girl would need trusted ones to guard her, but those would be easer to find, and in fact were already found.
The darkness seemed to engulf her as she felt her self falling deeper and deeper into it. Then as quick as it was there it was gone. She opened her eyes to find herself sitting alone in an open field. That was odd, there were no open fields this big anywhere near campus. Then it hit her. She remembered the man and the chase and that strange dark orb. She gave a shiver despite the warm air. That man must have brought her here, but where was he? It seemed she was alone. The only other thing in the field was a big rock with something sticking out of it.
After a few minutes of just sitting there, she decided the man was not coming back for her and figured it would be safe to get up and out of the tall grass. Standing up she brushed the grass off her self. Upon seeing the grass stains on her pants she thought 'great I'm lost and on top of it all my favorite pants are stained'. Taking in a better lay of the land it looked like the bolder was the only thing around for miles.
With nothing else to do she made her way slowly towards the bolder, mindful of the mud and small animals that scurried through the grass. Keeping her eyes so much on the ground she failed to look up until a bird nearly ran into her face. Falling backwards into the grass she landed with a thunk on the hard ground. The bird that had decided to kamikaze into her face was now sitting on her knee. One of the bird's eyebrows raised as it looked at her.
"Well you certainly weren't hard to find." The bird said with a stern look on his face.
"Oh I'm sorry…wait did you just talk?" Sophie stared in shock at the little talking owl on her knee.
"What, what! Of course I can talk! And a fine greeting I receive for finding you before any of those dark brutes did!" The owl sputtered indignantly.
"I'm sorry but I've never seen a talking owl before…"
"Well you better get used to it. Almost everyone talks here." The owl said wiggling its butt getting ready to take off.
"Oh…well where exactly is here?" She was beginning to feel a bit like Alice in wonderland, but there was something familiar about the owl…like she'd seen him somewhere before.
"What, what! You don't know where you are! You are in the world of Disney!" The owl fell to the ground after his out burst.
"I'm at Disneyworld? Are you some kind of new robot?" She asked pulling on the little bird's wing
"No, no, no! I said World of Disney! Not Disneyworld. And I am NOT a robot! I am Archimedes, assistant to the great wizard Merlin." He said with a bow.
It was then it clicked in her head. That was where she'd seen the bird before! It was from the Disney movie she had watched as a kid. But wait, that still did not explain where she was. Could what the bird said be true? Could se be in some other world? It seemed very far fetched in her mind. But then a again there was that man with the orb.
"Archimedes, do you know if it was that man with the orb who brought me here?" She asked. If the bird had no clue what she was talking about then there was hope it was just a dream.
"Yes, you weren't supposed to be here yet but your guardian made a royal mess of things and let you out if his sight. That is how you were found." Archimedes was beginning to get flustered, they needed to get somewhere safe than just sitting in a field.
"Oh…and who was that man?"
"It doesn't matter right now, we need to get you to Merlin's house where you will be safe, now follow me." With that the bird took off and began to fly off. Not wanting to be left behind Sophie stood up quickly and took the first real steps on her journey.