DISCLAIMER: I own nothing but OC's

The Thinner Disaster has passed, but now it has been left to the people of Wasteland, to pick up the pieces and start again...

Oswald walked through the melted and inert streets of Wasteland's once well known Fantasyland, his eyes cast downward as he attempted with all his toon strength, to pull away the bits of melted and lifeless steel away the now unrecognizable roads as he also did his best to avoid the puddles of thinner that were spattered across the ground like deadly green, hissing patchwork. Ever since the toons that were lucky enough to survive this tragedy, no one had said a word to one another, they just cried, or helped others to clear away the destruction brought down on them all. No one said a word as there really wasn't words they could say to express this unexpected and uncountable incident that had came as quickly as it went. Things were changing already for this world, monsters were created form the strange blackness that had covered the land (that the residents, at least the ones talking now, called Blots,) were springing out of nowhere and attacking, important toons needed to fix this crisis, like the Mad Doctor, had gone missing. In fact a lot of toons had not turned up, leading to the saddening conclusion that it didn't matter where they were, they weren't coming home.

The Lucky Rabbit had joined the survivors in the clean up and search effort for other toons, but only just after he had managed to seal away the main cause of this mess, the Shadow Blot and save what was left of Wasteland. But that victory came with a price, as now he was a widow, and their children were left without a mother. Others had tired to talk to their leader, but the Rabbit did not care for chat, not when there was work do to and people to save, at least for now. He had helped rescue crews check through every district, and this was the last one. After this, he was going to go away, to stay at the MickeyJunk Mountain where the Shadow Blot was sealed, to keep an eye on it and hopefully do all he could to stop it from ever being freed again. Oswald noted morbidly to himself as he walked past several thinner melted dolls, that so far they had not found anyone in this district, apart from the Gremlins that had transported themselves out and back to the safety of their little village, where the thinner had apparently not reached them so severely. But still, this only lead Oswald to the sad conclusion that any of the other toons that had lived here, had been thinned out completely.

But how had this happened? How could such a peaceful place turn into such carnage in a matter of seconds? What had caused this? And, the most important question out of the many that resolved itself to tear through the small Rabbit's brain feeding on his guilt and fear as it did so, the one question that hurt him the most... Was there any way he could have avoided this disaster? Anyway that he could have saved the lives that were lost in this once peace filled land? How could he ever repay for the carnage that he considers his doing? Oswald's inner rant was quickly pushed aside in his mind when he heard the fragile cries of a baby. Alarmed that it might be one of his own children hurt or worse, Oswald followed the noise to a partially broken hut that looked as though it were made last minute from parts of the melted castle and steel from the tea cup ride not far away from him.

"Hello?" His voice whispered through the hut, his eyes searching through the darkness until they landed onto a sad sight that just broke his non-existing toon heart. It was a small blonde boy, looking barley above the age of twelve, holding a small crying baby in his arms, his blue eyes showed pain and misery well beyond his years as he gently rocked the baby back and forth, whispering gentle lullabies as he attempted to stifle tears of his own, empty cans and broken glass laying around the grief stricken boy, who was trying his best not to hurt himself on the broken glass that laced the ground.

Then his eyes rested on Oswald, and they changed, as his misery became steely and steadfast determination, his pain just as quickly became bravery, and suddenly Oswald felt very out of place in the boy's presence. He was very confrontational as he still held the small crying baby in his arms, and did his best to puff out his chest and look the Rabbit right in the eyes, his voice unintentionally cracking at times as he was trying to do the best tough guy act he could manage in the moment. The boy's voice sounded mismatched because of this, as Oswald knew well enough that all this boy really wanted nothing more than for him to help, but was unsure of whether or not to trust him.

"What do you want? We have nothing to steal if that's what your here for."

"That's not what I want at all, my name's Oswald, where are you parents?" Oswald spoke softly, so as not to spook the frightened boy or wake the now sleeping baby in his arms. The boy didn't answer of r along while as he instead looked away and at the ground below instead of at the Rabbit standing before him, obviously ashamed in himself as more tears sprang to his eyes,and at times carefully moved the baby around in his arms so he could wipe at his eyes before the tears trailed down his cheeks and he looked even weaker in the eyes of an adult. The Lucky Rabbit felt his broken heart fall deep into his stomach, unintentional tears springing to his eyes as well as he thought over his many children, and how they would react to both parents being gone, and it just destroyed him inside.

"They said they were going to find help and they haven't been back for hours." The twelve year old whimpered slightly holding the baby closer to him, making sure that the small fluffy white blanket was still wrapped around its small form, and was now attempting to hide his continuing tears into that white blanket, one or two unintentionally dropping onto the baby's face. Already the Rabbit knew this was not something he was going to just walk away form now, and in fact he took a step closer to the toon boy, holding out his hand for him to take as he spoke softly and gently in an attempt to keep him calm, and hopefully trust him to let him help, and even held his hand out for the boy to hopefully take. At first the toon boy just looked to Oswald's hand, then to his face, unsureness still glinting in his eyes along with the held back tears. But there was something else in the boy's eyes, something that Oswald only saw after he had spoken, as it made itself more pronounce, and that was the knowledge he had.

"I can help you find them but first I want to know your name."

He knew, he knew his parents were dead, gone and never coming back. He knew that he and his little sibling were now orphans; he knew that many more had died and he and his sister could have easily been one of the many who perished in the disaster, but still, he tried not to cry. He was being so brave, but still it was hard to not cry. Oswald wondered why he would be holding it back, perhaps it was for the baby he was holding, so that he could remain focused on keeping it safe and out of harms way. But whatever the reason was, the Lucky Rabbit knew well enough that he was still being so brave in the face of such a senseless tragedy and lose this was for everyone in all of Wasteland, not just for the three people that were lucky enough to stand alive and well enough in this hut to talk and trade words. The boy spoke up again, his voice somewhat a little less wobbly, but all the same he was still trying to keep the tough guy act he had going strong.

"My name's Elliot and this is Elisea." The toon boy gestured lightly with his head to the small bundle of the white, tear soaked blanket in his arms. The baby was still asleep when Oswald got a chance to get a good look at her. She was a very small baby, possibly just passed newborn and had tufts of blonde hair sticking out from around her ears and forehead, the colour being just like her brother. Oswald paused for a moment in thought on what he should do, before he finally and carefully held his hands out, gesturing for Elliot to hold his hand, and essentially come with him. The twelve year old hesitated at first, looking again seriously to the toon, inspecting every feature on his face before slowly and eventually granting his request by taking Oswald's free hand in his own, feeling slightly safer with the older rabbit as Oswald gave his smaller hand a squeeze of comfort. For a moment as they stepped out of the hut, the child and Rabbit adult looked over the wreckage of the Wasteland's once beautiful world of Fantasyland, seeing the castles not that far off in the distance, melting away thanks to the sudden thinner pools. Elliot then turned to the adult, his voice softer than usual as he asked his question. After the question was asked, Oswald looked down at the smaller boy, tried to give him the best comforting smile he could manage, before walking away form the small hut while answering.

"Where are we going?"

"To a safe place, okay?"

"...Okay."

Oswald led the small boy through the rest of the melted and broken down district, succeeding in averting his attention whenever they passed by something specifically gory or horrifying, at least it would be in the opinion of a recently orphaned twelve year old. They did pass some toons on the way, all of them sharing the same look that they would give to Elliot and the small baby as soon as they saw Oswald leading him towards the Projectors out of this district, that expression being one of sympathy or pity for the children having lost their parents, and so young as well. Many of them would mutter things under their breaths after they walked past, as if they didn't realize that Elliot was still fully capable of hearing them whisper to each other or to themselves on how it was 'such a pity', or 'that poor baby, to lose their parents so young...'. It was just as Elliot was seriously starting to grow tired of the whispers, that they reached the Projector and jumped through, moving quickly as they could (at least with a small sleeping baby on hand,) through the cartoon portal way until they finally managed to make it back to Mean Street, where Oswald had to make a temporary stop at Horace's Detective agency, in order to issue a missing person's on the children's parents, and other toons he was meant to be looking for, but didn't find.

It only took a few seconds though, or at least it felt that way, to pour over the names of the unfounded, when it suddenly reached the moment that Oswald asked after Elliot and Elisea's parents. As soon as he asked however, if they had seen anyone matching the descriptions given to him by the toon boy as they had been walking through the town square, for Horace's face to fall for what might have been the umpteenth time that day lone. Oswald sat back in the chair he had been offered when he walked in, looking for a moment to the peeling wallpaper on the ceiling before his eyes moved back down to the form of Horace, a sense of pleading in him as he asked after this toon detective on what he should do next. Wanting to receive an answer from someone he had hoped wasn't as lost in the tide of events as he was right now.

"But what am I gonna do with those kids Horace? What am I supposed to say to that boy?" He asked his detective friend, who could only shrug sadly in response before sighing into the long cold cup of coffee on his desk, which was over crowded with missing toon reports. Pleads for help in finding someone loved and forgotten from the world above, pleads that fell on saddened desks like this one, and he being the owner of that desk having to be one to break that news to them all. His answer was the same to Oswald as it had been to those calls of help, hopeless and tired out form all the tears he had given away from this event alone. After giving his answer the Horse went back to the files and answering the phones that had been ringing all the while, his shoulders never stopped in their sagging motion as he gave another, but at the same time, the same soul crushing words that anyone hated to hear in this situation. 'we don't know yet.'

"The best you can Oswald, just like everyone else,"

Finally, after looking to the ceiling for a short while longer, as if that would be the thing that could provide a better answer to his predicament, Oswald left Horace's office, feeling older in his years than he really was, or ever felt before. He walked outside, the weight of worlds on his tired shoulders, and dragging him down with every step he took as he went outside, and started looking around for the familiar sight of the twelve year old Elliot. Who he eventually found taking care of his now awake sister, who was cooing and gurgling back up at the face of his older brother. There was hope in his eyes when Elliot first looked up to Oswald, but that changed as quickly when he took one look at the older rabbit's crestfallen expression, already feeling the tears springing back into his eyes as whatever was left of that tough man act fell apart in that moment, and he was seen as weak as he had always been before this point. Elliot rocked Elisea closer to him, his silent sobs echoing to the baby's own now starting cries as they were lead through the street by Oswald.

At some point though, Elliot must have felt that he couldn't walk on in that moment, and sat on the edge of the sidewalk, his sister still being held close in his arms. Oswald sat next to him, and for the first time since finding him, he held the small boy closer to him as he cried softly, the both of them still making sure not to hurt little Elisea as this was happening. Every so often he would rub the boy's back and whisper calming things that he use to say to his children when they had a nightmare, at least one of the many hundred things he had to say during the night. And despite himself, Oswald already felt inside as though he were lying with the calming words he had whispered, since one of them was that 'everything was going to be okay,' when he knew just as much as Elliot did on what would happen next. But still he held onto him for what felt forever and a day until finally, Elliot pulled away form the hold, looking down at his sister in sadness, tear tracks slowly drying on his face, but were wetted when one or two of an unintentional tear would find their way out as he spoke, quietly hiccuping under his breath every so often.

"She'll never remember them, will she?" Oswald, for the first time, gently took the small girl from Elliot's shaking arms, using a free hand to wipe away the boy's tears before answering to the best of his ability, his voice nearly betraying his entire demeanor altogether. But still Oswald went ahead and said it, as it was better to say than the truth, which already had turned the world into such an ugly and suddenly completely dangerous place to live in. Elliot said nothing after Oswald had spoken his reply, a silence that clearly stated he didn't believe it, but was only begin silent because he so wanted to all the same. And after a few more moments of letting the toon boy catch his breath, Oswald carefully stood again, the baby still begin in his arms as he held his hand out for Elliot to take.

"You never know, she might just..."

They walked further down the street and towards the Ostown Projector, Oswald not turning them into Pete or some other authority figure that was meant to deal with lost children as... well he just didn't want to leave these children on their own, especially not with Big Bad Pete. So he decided to take them with him to his home, not the best choice for child safety to be perfectly honest, but then again they would be with him, and he was absolutely not going to let anything else happen to either of them while they were on his watch. They made it quickly through the Projector to Ostown, Elliot's hand never leaving Oswald as the small boy stuck by his side, saying not a word as he instead let the wrecked environment of the once peaceful town talk for him. But he was certainly surprised when Oswald walked right passed all of the broken houses, noting quietly that the older rabbit was making extra sure not to look at a certain pink one, and to a large steel bridge that led to a mountain far away, made up of what looked like complete junk, but then again it was form far away so the boy didn't really know for sure, until they had gone through another Projector, where his suspicions were confirmed that yes, this mountain was made of junk.

"This is where you live?" Elliot pointed up at the mountain in surprise, noting for the first time that all of the junk on this mountain, that made the mountain itself, was covered in the same face of a certain Mouse that the junk called Mickey. Oswald didn't give a verbal answer, instead he just nodded as he quickly lead the toon boy through the safest non-blot hoarded parts of the Mountain that lead them both to the very top, and safest place. This path generally including many a Projector screen and backtracking to hide at times from certain Blots that would show up from time to time. Curiosity still wrangled in this boy, as it was a sort of form of distraction that he could use, and asked after it some more.

"Why?"

He watched with interest as the older toon sighed, and looked back down to the baby that was still in his arms, brushing away a few blonde strands from her small blue eyes as he spoke softly in answer, letting his words of explanation trail off into nothingness as he lead the younger boy and his sister up the mountain, having trialed off as he was unsure on how he was he was meant to explain such a duty that he now had to such a young child, who had obviously already been through quite a bit on this day. Nothing much else was spoken again between the two of them as reached the safest part of the whole mountain, the base of Oswald's operations to keep the seal closed and away from the people of Wasteland.

"There's something here that I need to keep away from people here, something dangerous..."

Both the small boy and Rabbit walked tiredly into a certain office room that apparently belonged to the Rabbit as the toon Cards that were also around the mountain had saluted to Oswald before they went inside. This also interested the small boy, so more questions eventually came out as he sat on the cold steel floor, while the toon Rabbit sat in a strange bunny eared shaped chair with his sister, holding her close to keep her warm, as it was a sort of chilly room. Oswald answered softly to the questions that were asked of him, as his attention was placed somewhat on the baby in his arms, and how she cooed and gurgled to the toon Rabbit, tiny hands reaching up to touch the fur on his arms. She was so small, her hands were smaller than he ever remembered any of his Bunny children ever having before, bit for some reason they were more grabby than the Bunny children were as well.

"What is this place?"

"Mickeyjunk Mountain, where all the forgotten junk from that Mouse ends up." Elliot frowned and pressed on in his questioning, not failing to notice the animosity that was not even slightly thinly veiled in his tone when he referred to the 'Mouse'. So, Elliot continued on with his questions, the next one being a little strange, at least in the eyes of the Rabbit, as he did wonder on how such a child could not know Mickey Mouse, especially since he was obviously a popular character to children, what with this mountain being made of the merchandise left over the years by the toon alone. But still Oswald answered the question given, doing so as he was carefully rocked the baby Elisea in his arms as her face began to scrunch up, which was a sign of her about to start crying once again.

"What mouse?"

"Mickey Mouse is a toon mouse that is currently living in the real world. He was made by the same man that made all of us, Walt. As you can probably tell, he's really popular and all of the merchandise that has been forgotten by people ends up here." Elliot cocked his head to the side, still curious as to why Oswald was referring to the mouse with such...dislike and obvious distain. So instead of dancing around it and finding other ways to lead to that conclusion, Elliot deiced that it was better to just ask straight out and hope that he would get the answer he was hoping for, and not a reaction of annoyance or offence in anyway. Oswald was certainly surprised though, and didn't answer for a moment, instead turning his head to look out the window, seeing below the world made of the merchandise form the Mouse as he managed an answer for the twelve year old.

"Why do you hate him?"

"I don't really hate him Elliot, it's just, it feels as though he's taken everything that should have been mine. And after this disaster, I've only lost more." He got the feeling he probably shouldn't have said that to the twelve year old boy, who had already had so much done to him, but all the same it was the truth, and so far it seemed that lying to the boy was doing nothing in it's meant attempts to make him feel better, so telling the truth in this regard seemed good enough for the moment, and even Elliot looked a little happy at the fact that he had been told the truth, instead of just some half baked lie. And so Elliot nodded in understanding, before looking down at his sleeping sister in Oswald's arms briefly in worry before looking back up at the toon Rabbit, an understanding expression growing on his face as he rocked Elisea back and forth.

He sort of understood how that felt. Once, when his sister was born he felt...abandoned, as if his family had intentionally replaced him with Elisea in order to forget about him. Of course, this seemed much bigger than a simple sibling rivalry since allot worse had apparently happened to the rabbit, so really, this Mouse they were talking about, had ruined Oswald's life. Elliot felt tears leek out of his eyes again but pushed them back, refusing to let even one free itself from his blue eyes. He did not want to seem any weaker than he probably looked in the rabbit's eyes. The blonde boy looked back up at Oswald, thinking on what to do next. He had told Elliot that he was alone now, and so were him and Elisea...So why not stick together?

"Can we stay here? With you, I mean for good?" Oswald frowned at Elliot and immediately shook his head, even though he had seen the falling of the hope his face, a sight that had occurred far to often for the Rabbit, but all the same knew that eh was still going to have to see such things for a good time yet before there was any change. The response was almost mechanical for Oswald, but all the same he knew it was the right answer to give and had to give, even if he didn't want to. However, with every response he gave, there already was a simple counter response given by the twelve year old that somewhat beat down the Rabbit's flimsy argument.

"Absolutely not, it's too dangerous here. There are blots everywhere and the card soldiers can't protect you from all of them."

"Then we won't leave the summit."

"There might not be enough room, or beds."

"I saw some Mickey shaped pillows and mattresses on our way here; they can be made into beds."

"I won't be here all the time."

"I will protect her if that's what you're worried about."

"Actually I was worried about you."

"I can handle myself."

"There might not be enough food."

"I haven't eaten for two days, I've been giving my food to Elisea, at least the bits she could eat."

"That doesn't sound healthy..."

"Then bring more food with you when you come back."

"It'll be dangerous."

"Seriously? Elisea and I have already been in worse danger more than once."

"It'll be uhhh... boring?"

"Better than dying."

Oswald sighed and rubbed his temples in annoyance, knowing full well that he had been beaten by a small child and as much as he tried to deny this kid he just kept pushing, and no matter how much Oswald tried to convince himself otherwise... He really wanted to keep an eye on these kids; he wanted to know that they were safe. After all, Oswald practically blamed himself for their position. The rabbit looked up at the determined boy; eventually his gaze dropped the small sleeping baby in his own arms.

He owed them, he knew that much.

This could be his way of paying back for what he did, or didn't do on that day. He could raise them to defend themselves against the Blots and Beetleworks; maybe someday they could help him with repairing the town back to it's previous glory, and hopefully they might all still be there to see it. Straightening in his chair and moving the baby in his arms somewhat so she was more comfortable, the lucky rabbit suddenly smiled at the blonde boy before turning serious again and quickly laying out the new rules of his home while he still had a chance.

"Fine, but you can never leave this mountain without me or a card with you, and Elisea cannot leave the top until she is your age, no older. You are also to not follow me when I tell you to stay here understood?" Oswald said clearly. Elliot nodded and waited for the rabbit to continue, he was just happy for him and more importantly, his sister to have a place to stay and be provided for.

"Also, I don't care how bored or hungry you get, or how much Elisea cries, you are to never, ever go looking for the thing I am guarding is that clear." It wasn't a question, it was an order.

Elliot nodded again as he yawned loudly before slowly curling himself into a comfortable position on the cold steel floor, ignoring the sad look he was receiving from the Lucky Rabbit as he did so. After all, the boy knew he had slept on much worse last night alone, so this cold metal floor felt pretty good under his tired frame, the cold especially touching on his slightly red face and bring relief to him. The incredibly tired blonde child looked back up at the Rabbit as exhaustion slowly gained control, his eyes drooping slightly ever so often, yet his voice once again managed to suddenly maintain the determination that Oswald had seen back in the remains of Fantasyland.

"I promise to follow all of these rules if you promise me something."

Oswald looked at the twelve year old expectantly as Elisea looked at the rabbit for the first time, her blue eyes sparkling in even the dim lighting of the meeting room, a sense of recognition in her small eyes that no one would really would have been able to see at the time.

"Help me protect her from danger."

"I promise."

Please review, constructive criticism always welcome.