Nathan, Cupid, Hally, Roy, Jezebel, and the Queen, along with the Lost Lands, belong to me. Everyone and everything else belongs to William Joyce and Dreamworks Animation.

Sniff. Sniff.

Was that food?

Opening his eyes, Roy woke out of his daze at the smell.

"What the...?" Roy tried to hoist his body up into a sitting position, but instead fell back at the dizziness that assaulted his senses. Grunting at and holding his aching head with both hands, he opted instead to give a roundabout look to his surroundings.

There wasn't much in the way of décor. The walls consisted of gray stone blocks held together by hardened mortar while the metal ceiling pinged with the sound of rain. Now that Roy thought about the rain more, he did remember seeing a rather ominously huge gathering of clouds on the horizon earlier. He could feel some sort of blanket under him that protected him from the smooth dirt floor.

How did he get here, though? All he could remember was something grabbing him by the waist, getting blasted with a sudden wave of nausea, and then...nothing.

He soon noticed off in the corner a somewhat small Pooka stirring a spoon in a beige ceramic bowl, his snow-white fur shining against the dark of the medium-sized room. The Guardian of Imagination narrowed his eyes. That rabbit looked kind of like—Roy roughly shook his head free of the thought. Now wasn't the time for questions; now was the time for answers.

"Who are you?"

"AH!" the young rabbit jumped a little, ears erect like lightning rods, barely managing to prevent dropping the bowl, and shot his head around, his soft emerald eyes looking meekly into Roy's jaded ones. "Oh, I'm sorry, sir! I didn't think you'd wake up so early!"

Roy waved a hand dismissively at the boy. He could tell just from the way this kid carried himself that he wasn't any danger—yet anyway. 'Can never be too careful...'

"Come here, em..." he paused, ignoring the fact that Nathan actually came over to him, the bowl still in the kit's arms. Linguistic translations were such a pain sometimes.

"Nathaniel Hopson," the kit responded, seeming more relaxed, albeit a little shy, "You can just call me Nathan, if you like."

Roy nodded his head. Well at least they were on a first-name basis now. It was better than Roy calling him "kid" or "brat" at least. "Alright then Nathan, joo you know where I am?"

"My hiding place," at the older man's raised eyebrow, Nathan quickly understood and so continued, "I'm hiding out here. I was on my way here three hours ago with food when I ran into you and your friends."

Alarm shot through Roy's body like a sword at the last word, even though he wisely remained prone. All of a sudden, his eyes widened so much that the rabbit feared they might pop out of the man's sockets. "Nathan, where are the lasses who were with me?"

"Ms. Hally and Ms. Cupid are in the next room, waiting to hear up on how you're doing. Ms. Hally fixed up the damage pretty well with her magic, but she said that monster really drained you of your energy, so she suggested that you rest up for a bit."

'Well, now I know who ta thank for the hospitality.' Roy grinned in gratitude but couldn't stand not seeing how his fellow warriors were for himself, so he tried to stand up. Unfortunately, the dizziness returned with a vengeance and he collapsed back onto his backside, rubbing it with one hand while grunting in discomfort. His other hand lay over his ruddy face, a clear sign of his annoyance at his current situation.

"Ugh...Jeanie Mac...that brute of a beastie got me right in the arse..."

"Yeah, that monster really got you when it hit. Nightmares like that get their food from living things, but they can only do that through contact. So—" Nathan gulped and stopped explaining at the glare Roy suddenly tossed his way through hairy fingers. The leprechaun and his butt didn't need a reminder.

"Um...," the young rabbit stammered. He strongly doubted "sorry" would work here.

Roy softened his glare and sighed in resignation, putting his hands away. Maybe he should cut Nathan some slack. The kid was pretty okay—over-polite and naïve and a little too self-conscious, but okay all the same. He had to have a good heart to take care for a bunch of older strangers like that, especially after the rough interrogation Roy and Cupid gave him when they first met a few hours ago, just before the monster sprung on them.

Seeking the room for a way to change subjects, Roy finally landed his eyes on the bowl in Nathan's arms. "So...what's our humble host servin' for dinner tonight?"

"Mung bean salad, sir; I know a lot of recipes and there's a field where I can get fresh veggies and fruits so I never go hungry," he continued, reading Roy's questioning face like a book, "And don't worry. I know how to defend myself, too. My uncle taught me ninjutsu for years before I left."

The Guardian of Imagination raised his eyebrows, impressed. "Hmph, ya are oddly self-sufficient for a boy yer age."

Nathan paused for a moment. He looked pretty pensive, almost...sad?

"I've wondered about that, too"-he sat down beside Roy cross-legged-"Sometimes it feels as if I know more than anyone my age should. Not that I would know...I've never met any other children."

"Never?"

"Never," Nathan shook his head, his tone airy and wistful, "It used to be just me, my mom, my aunt, and my uncle. Now it's just me."

'I tink I know what is goin' on here. Just ta be sure...' "What happened ta them?"

Nathan hesitated as his face sagged a little. He looked at Roy for a second, eyes glistening, then down and away from him in shame. "I...I ran away."

Roy figured as much. Still, he marveled at how this kit could handle himself so well and responsibly. Most runaways, child and adult alike, had to resort to desperate measures like stealing from other or raiding garbage—or worse.

"Home-life not that favorable to ya, huh," the Guardian asked with empathy, hands behind his head.

Nathan merely shrugged. "It was okay at times. Mom and my aunt treated me fine, even though they didn't smile a lot. My uncle tried to spend as much time with me as he could, but he kept getting called away for something."

"So why did ya leave?"

"Something felt...wrong," the Pooka narrowed his eyes as he tried to discern the proper words, "I don't know why exactly; all I knew was that something didn't add up. Eventually I started wondering whether Mom was hiding something from me. This might sound weird to you, but sometimes when I was small and she caught me stargazing, she would look up, too, and glare at the moon."

"Did she, now?"

Nathan nodded. He noticed Roy's lack of expression out of the corner of his eye, but ignored it and resumed. "Yeah...I could never figure out the real reason, but ever since I've run away, I've gotten this suspicion that it's got something to do with whatever Mom is hiding, with whatever doesn't add up. And I have a hunch my aunt and uncle might know, too."

Roy let everything Nathan said sink in. The leprechaun resisted the urge to smirk. 'Heh, it would seem Manny's taken quite the initiative with this one. What I wanna know, though, is why.'

"Nathan..."

"Yes, Mr. Roy?"

"Ya already asked me a weird question, so allow me ta return the favor," the bantam man shifted his eyes side to side, "Joo ya know about the Guardians?"

Oddly enough, Nathan looked to and fro, as well, as if he were about to do something against the rules. Conversely, he shocked Roy when he disarmed the skeptic auburn with a toothy smile.

"Of course, they're the greatest heroes ever! Mom and Aunt always talk badly about them, but Uncle and I never let them know how much I want to be one of them."

Naturally, Roy, being the prideful man he was, dropped his wariness and let the adulation get to his head. He smirked again, this time more noticeably, and wagged a finger for the kit to lean closer. Nathan obliged, curious as to what this man had to say to him.

"Well then, lad," the Guardian of Imagination whispered in a teasingly secretive tone, "you'll love this part. I am one of them."

From her place on the floor, where she sat Indian-style, Hally looked up from her magazine at the silence-piercing, shrill scream that burst from the next room over. She didn't need to look Cupid's way to know that the twenty three-year old archer had heard it, as well.

"Sounds like Roy started bragging again?" the grown-up brunette drolly asked from the wall she was leaning against. Hally nodded and went back to reading her magazine.

"Sounds like Roy started bragging again."

And Nathan faints. Nice going, Roy.