A/N I came up with this a few weeks ago. It was also inspired by a Lion King story, Time Warped, which has a similar plot. In this one, Irene is taken back to the past to uncover secrets about Dirtclaw. I only own Eileen, Dirtclaw, and other OC things. I don't own the Princess and the Goblin or its characters.

Chapter 3

Best Friends

"So…Dirtclaw's mother, you, was killed, he got adopted by the Goblins, and he became friends with Froglip?" Irene asked.

Eileen nodded. "Yes, that is right."

"I…I don't need to see anymore. I believe that Dirtclaw was once good."

"I'm sure you do, but you said you wished to find out the past for yourself. You wanted to go back to the past. There is no going back, until you see the whole truth." Eileen said.

Irene sighed. She had a feeling this would be the old Wolf-Bat's answer, so there was no going back. "Alright. So, what's next?"

"Hold onto my wing."

Irene held onto Eileen's wing bone again; when she touched it, colors immediately went past the pair as if they were traveling through a tunnel. A flash of bright light swallowed them as a shrill whistle sounded. Soon, they were in a green rock tunnel.

"I," Irene walked a few steps away, looking around. "I know this place. It's…it's the Goblin Tunnel!"

"Very good." Eileen nodded, following her. "We are in the right place." She walked ahead of Irene and wagged her tail, beckoningly. She nodded and followed the Wolf-Bat.

Soon, they found three familiar Goblins. "Do you recognize those Goblins?" Eileen asked.

"Yes." Irene said.

"Who are they?"

"They're Queen Randes, King Jethro, and…" Her eyes widened; the other was Froglip!

"Indeed." Eileen nodded, ignoring Irene's pause. "Now, let's watch."

"Here you go, son." Jethro said, handing Young Froglip a black fabric. "It was mine when I was your age. Now it belongs to you."

Randes unfolded the fabric; it was Froglip's black and pink cape. She held it around his neck and pinned it with the skull pin. It was so big that it piled around his ankles. "It's a little big, but you'll grow on it." She smiled.

"I like it!" Young Froglip exclaimed; he ran around the room, giggling, with the cape flowing behind him. Irene covered her mouth with her hands as she laughed. "Oh, he's so cute!" He looked just as he did grown-up, except there weren't any wrinkles by his nose, his eyes were larger, his molars were just growing in, and he wasn't as well muscled.

"We have another present for you." Randes said.

"Present?" Young Froglip and Irene said at the same time.

"It's Froglip's fourth birthday." Eileen explained. "This was when he got two of his traditional items. His cape, for one."

At that moment, Randes held out a small blue creature. "Here you go, Froglip."

Young Froglip held out and held the creature; it was a blue kitten with light blue on its chest, throat, snout, devil horns, and pink on the inside of its ears.

"His name is Grazzlegritch." Jethro explained. "And he will be your Goblin Pet."

"I already have a pet." Young Froglip protested.

Irene looked behind him and gasped; Dirtclaw was behind him!

"Don't worry. At this time, Dirtclaw is as young and innocent as Froglip is." Eileen said. "No one is in any danger."

"Dirtclaw is a wonderful pet, but he isn't a Goblin Pet." Jethro explained gently, laying a hand on Young Froglip's shoulder. "Think of it this way: unlike other Goblin children, you have two pets. Grazzlegritch and Dirtclaw. You have more pets to play with."

Young Froglip's ears perked up and his eyes lit up. "Yeah! I'm gonna go play now!" He dropped Grazzlegritch and ran out of the mountain; the Goblin Kitten and Dirtclaw followed.

"Don't go too far, Froglip!" Randes called after him. "Be careful! And stay away from Sun-People!"

"Even back then, Randes loves Froglip so much." Irene giggled.

Eileen smiled and shook her head. "Not as much as in the future. See, she is just as protective as any other parent, whether it is a Goblin or human."

"Than what happened that turned her around?"

"You'll see soon enough."

The pair followed Young Froglip outside. "C'mon, you can do it!" He yelled; Dirtclaw was standing on a tall rock.

"I dunno," He said timidly.

"You gotta learn to fly sometime."

"I'll fall."

"What'sa matter? Scared?" Young Froglip grinned; he obviously loved this. "You're too afra-aid. You cannot flu-aye," He said in a singsong voice, teasing his friend. "Nyah-nyah-nyah-nyah."

Dirtclaw's ears drooped, and he turned to walk off of the rock. Suddenly, he turned around and ran off, jumping.

"AHH!" Young Froglip screamed, covering his head and crouching down. When Dirtclaw didn't fall on top of him, he removed his arms and looked up; the young Wolf-Bat was hovering in the air.

"I'm flying!" He cried joyfully. "I'm flying!"

"Yaay!" Young Froglip cheered. "I knew you could do it!"

Irene smiled, getting a good look at Dirtclaw. Since he was young, he didn't have his scars, or even the murderous bloodlust in his eyes. Eileen was right; he was young and innocent, simply a fun-loving puppy.

Soon, Dirtclaw fell to the ground. He crouched down and wagged his tail, barking gleefully. He ran to Young Froglip and jumped into his arms; the young Goblin Prince grabbed the Wolf-Bat pup in his arms, giggling and hugging him.

Eileen smiled. "They were such best friends as younglings. In fact, they were like brothers. They loved each other."

Irene looked at Eileen and back at Young Froglip and Dirtclaw in surprise. Froglip never mentioned that he and Dirtclaw were like brothers. Of course, maybe he would have if Irene hadn't been so stubborn and selfish. "What happens next?" She asked.

"Something that changed both their lives."

In a few minutes, dark clouds appeared. "Froglip? I don't like those clouds." Dirtclaw said nervously, pinning his ears back in fear and holding his tail between his legs. "I wanna go home!"

"You can go home. I wanna explore." Young Froglip said.

Dirtclaw immediately turned-tail and ran towards the Goblin Kingdom; Young Froglip, however, walked off into the forest.

"Since we won't be viewing it, I will tell you what happened." Eileen said. "Froglip got lost in the woods as a storm came in. An elderly human found him and took him to her cabin. She dried him off, fed him, and cared for him until the next day when the storm disappeared, and he went back home. She taught him to love music, and even to sing a bit."

"Why won't we be viewing it?" Irene asked curiously.

"Because this is Dirtclaw's life we are viewing, not Froglip's. If you wish to learn of Froglip's past, you must ask him. Now, after Froglip came back, Randes was so worried sick. That event caused her to become overprotective of him. That is what caused her attitude towards him in the future."

"And Jethro?"

"He was absolutely furious! He had been worried sick, yes, but was at the same time, disappointed in Froglip. That event caused their relationship to drift apart. He still loved his son, and Froglip loved his father, yes, but he loved his mother just a bit more."

Irene nodded; now she understood.

"The next event you will see…is when the monster inside Dirtclaw was born…"

A/N This was my theory on Froglip's cape and Grazzlegritch. I think of the cape as something that was handed down throughout the family; in other words, it was Jethro's (Froglip's father) first, then Froglip's. And as for Grazzlegritch, I think he was just a young kit from a Goblin Cat litter hand-chosen for Froglip.

I have the image of Froglip hugging Dirtclaw when they were both young, but I have yet to draw it. This story not only shows how Dirtclaw became evil, but shows that he once loved others, as opposed to what he is today.

Sorry for not writing "the storm story", but this is Dirtclaw's story. This chapter also explains my theory on why Froglip has a certain relationship with his parents. I also noticed that in the movie, Froglip barely had any contact with his father; the only thing that showed they were related was when Jethro called Froglip "his son"

Like Eileen said, in the next chapter, it shows what happened to Dirtclaw that gave him his scars.

GDeNofa: Thanks :) And yeah, villains aren't always born, they're usually made. Like Scar from the Lion King, for example. I read that his real name is Taka, and he was jealous of Mufasa because he was the one who would become king. So jealousy was his reason for becoming a villain. This story explains Dirtclaw's reason for villainy. And yeah, MEGA CUTE!