Chapter 4: The Name
The two toons traveled through many rooms, each more exotic than the last. First they visited a grand dining room, which had wall sized windows overlooking the sea, checkered tile under a grand red carpet, and elaborate oil paintings hung up on the tall peach walls. Another section they traveled through was a hallway, bathed in deep crimson with golden drapes and thick cylinder pillars. There were many other sections of castle they traveled through. Occasionally, Oswald had to stop and reassess where he was at (sometimes even checking a map) the only exceptions were the grey-white stone room (devoid of any color) and the exit hall.
The exit was at the end another stone hall; an average wooden castle door with an iron handle, except it had a cheesy, green EXIT sign above it. When they walked through it, they appeared to be under a huge stone archway, illuminated not by the skimpy torches like the interior, but by the dazzling array of lights on either end of the short 'tunnel'.
To their left were tones of blue and pink lighting filling a cherry, fantasy-like square. At a glance, she saw more toons in one place than she has ever seen before; peasantry buying goods, children of all types playing together, even royalty walking among them and greeting each person with a smile like they were old friends. There was activity in the air-literally! There was a red-haired boy in a forest green outfit chasing other kids dressed in animal costumes through the sky. At one point, one of these boys almost ran (well, actually flew) into an elephant! In the distance she saw all kinds of airplanes in the sky doing various acrobatics. There was so much going on in the bright square, one could possibly mistake the time as noon, not midnight.
It was a very similar situation to the right. It appeared to be a long street with horse drawn carriages, an omnibus, and even a fire truck cruising up and down the small lane with their passengers. At the end closest to them, there was a small round hub with a bronze colored stature in the middle, surrounded by smaller statuettes and flowering trees. At the other end of the street, she could faintly make out a tall building, but it was too far to see any specifics. There was a lot of activity on the street, but at first, it all looked like a blue haze, but then the color shifted slowly to yellow, then pink.
"Come on, to get to my place, we've gotta walk down Main Street." Oswald told her as he turned right. Nervously she followed, grasping his hand tight for moral support as well as physical (she was still aching all over) they walked out from under the archway. Together, hand in hand, walked down the draw bridge to Main Street.
" Did ya wanna take a street car, or walk?" Oswald inquired. To most, this was a simple preference choice, but for her, is seemed like a life decision (not to mention the fact that he asked her opinion). The vehicles would give her a moment to rest, but they seemed to go through the street quickly, and she wanted to explore and take in as much as she could. She could walk that distance, plus she had the chance to see now faces, which gave her a new type of excitement (not life threatening at all!)
"I'd prefer to walk…Master" she answered timidly
Oswald stopped in his tracks at the last word. His cheery demeanor vanished, replaced with shock and perhaps the smallest hint of anger. He spun to face her.
"Now listen here," he lectured sternly "there's not gunna be anymore of this 'Master' stuff, okay? I'm Oswald, and anyone else, you call them by their names too. Okay?"
She was surprised, and a little confused. She had been told to do the opposite for as long as she could remember. Call everyone Master, for they are superior to you. You exist only to serve. She looked at her feet.
"I'm sorry Mas-oops, I mean…O…Os…Oswald." It took a bit for her to break the old rule, but she managed.
As they started walking down the street, Oswald apologized "I didn't mean to make ya feel bad, is just that you don't go around calling your friends and family members 'Master' now do ya?"
"Friends? Family?" she asked, never hearing these words.
"Yeah, your part of our family, The Disney Family." Oswald explained, his happiness returning. "Ya see, all the toons that live here in the Kingdom are part of one giant family. And seeing as how you're a toon, and ya live here, you've gotta be a member."
There were approaching the buildings of Main Street by this point. They were too busy talking, she didn't notice the spokes of the Hub leading to the different places, such as the thick, splintering wooden bridge leading to a place of packed-dirt roads, saloons and shoot-outs at high noon. Or the bamboo bridge surrounded by lush, exotic plants leading to adventures in the jungle, filled with, tikis, jungle animals, and talking birds. Not to mention the glass hover-bridge, illuminated by neon streaks and surrounded by peculiar silver-gold rock formations, which led to the constantly changing life of tomorrow.
However, when they were halfway down the street, they did not miss the sudden loud yell, tremendous crash and slightly annoyed groan of 'Dad' in the ally to their left. After rushing around the corner, the two toons found a large, fruity mess behind a small fruit stand. It was now empty of its contents and on its side next to several wooden crates which held a once-orderly fruit piles. On top of that (well under it, actually) there stuck out two long legs wearing loose fitting blue pants, and a large brown shoe on each foot. Standing over the pile was a tall, rather skinny, teen-aged looking toon, who was just putting down his load of crates to help the toon in the pile.
"Aw, no. What happened?" Oswald exclaimed
"Huh?" the teenager looked up from picking up the mess "Oh, hi. Nothing too big…uh, sorry, but uh…what was your name again?"
There was a sudden shift in the fruit pile and a voice spoke up, slightly muffled.
"Now how in the world could ya forget my name?" the muffled (but still loud) voice had a clear hick accent. After more shifting, a head popped up, displaying a huge, infectious grin with bucked teeth. He had round black nose, long droopy ears, large laughing eyes and a peculiar green hat with a black band around it. "It's your dad, Goofy. Ya didn't get am-nes-i-a, did ya?" he chuckled.
"No, dad, I didn't" The boy sighed "I was talking to those guys." He nodded towards the two smaller travelers
"Oh! Hi there! Lemme see now." Goofy got up from his pile as the others approached. He stood and scratched his chin in thought. "Mick was tellin' me 'bout ya a while ago… Hmm… I think your name started with an O…"
"It's Oswald, sir" the little girl said politely "Oswald the Lucky Rabbit"
"Oh, yeah, *A-huck*, that's it!" he reached down and pat the girl on the head with a slightly sticky gloved hand, making her expose the smallest of smiles. "You're a smart little feller, ain't ya?"
"So, uh, Oswald, what's up?" the teen asked.
"We were headin' back to my place, when we heard the crash" he replied.
"Is there any way we could help?" the little one asked.
"Well, if ya wanna, you can help me and Maxie here clean up the fruit stand." Goofy offered.
"Yes, sir!" she said with a little salute
With that, she got to work. She propped the stand up, reattached the green overhang, and picked up much of the mess almost single-handedly.
"Gawrsh, not only are ya smart, you're super helpful too" Goofy exclaimed. At this she grinned. Not only had she received a complement, but she had helped out, and made this toon happy (regardless that he's almost always happy).
"My pleasure, Mr. Goofy, Mr. Maxie" she said with a gracious bow.
"Actually, it's just Max." Max corrected.
Everyone noticed the look of fright that passed her face at this remark, even Goofy. She swallowed hard and bowed again, much deeper.
"I'm terribly sorry, M-Max. I shall not mess up again, I promise."
"Hay, it's alright. No harm done." Max said, slightly confused. He put his hand on her shoulder and pat lightly. He was even more confused when she flinched at his touch. He looked to his dad for help, who shrugged and looked to Oswald.
"Sorry, she's been like that since I found her in the castle." He leaned into the two and whispered "I think the L.V. have something to do with it, the way she's always scared of doin' the wrong thing."
"Hay, what's your name?" Max asked, kneeling at her low level.
"I don't have one." She said cautiously.
"Would you like one?" He offered
"Perhaps" She fidgeted nervously.
"Well, what do you want to be called?"
It was a tricky question, so many titles in the world. Suddenly she remembered her small promise, and the great feeling she had when Goofy called her 'helpful'.
"Helpful. I want to be known for helping to others." She said, half to herself.
"Hmm…okay, you can be called…uh...—"
"Our Little Helper!" Goofy said jokingly
"Yeah" Oswald said slowly, warming to the idea "I can see it now, 'The Kingdom's Little Helper', Helper for short. What do ya think?" he asked the tiny thing. She nodded, excitedly. A name! And a name she liked too, given to her by friends…No…her Family.
A/N: Once again, I split the chapter due to lengthy descriptions, sorry. Plus I had to fit her naming in there somewhere, and I thought this version of events was better. Keep the suggestions coming! I live to hear your opinion! In case you didn't know…
-Castle room 1 is in Prince Eric's palace (The Little Mermaid)
-Castle room 2 is the emperor's palace in Mulan
-Castle room 3 is (the black-and-white room) from Ye Olden Days (Mickey) and Oh What a Knight (Oswald), which both take place in a castle.
-'Lands mentioned: Fantasyland, Main Street U.S.A., Frontierland, Adventureland, and Tomorrowland.
-Max Goof is Goofy's son, also seen as a kid.