...I couldn't help myself.

HERE'S A NEW DRABBLE SERIES!

Much like my "Like A Brother" series, this will feature mainly interactions between Roland and Evan, only rather than a brotherly relationship, it's more father-son :D (I'm a sucker for that sort of stuff, what can I say?). I'm 9000-percent sure I'm not the only one who's written a story like this with these characters, and I'm sure many more will be written… But for now, here is mine. ^^

Disclaimer: All rights belong to Bandai-Namco and Level-5. As always.

Without further ado, the first installment of my new series, Like A Father, Like A Son.

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They ran for hours. When they had fled the sewers, it was the middle of the day. Soldiers chased them to the border; dark clouds filled the sky, a downpour started as they crossed the fields. It wasn't until dusk before they reached some cover.

Evan shivered from the cold. He looked up at the sky, the rain having lightened to a sprinkle, though the weather was still gloomy enough to match his mood, just like it had been that morning when the tragedy of the situation took place.

It all felt like a strange, horrible dream… The day of his coronation, a stranger from somewhere unknown appears in his chambers, assisting him against a coup that was organized by Mausinger, his father's most trusted advisor… and to make matters worse, Aranella- the woman who had taken care of him before he even knew how to walk- had died protecting him.

This had to be a nightmare. Yes. He was probably just nervous because he was going to be king! He was probably sleeping in, and any second Nella would come in to wake him up. "Rise and shine, sleepyhead. No time for cat-naps when you're becoming a king, is there?" she would quip, rubbing his head like she always did when he was groggy in the mornings…

Thunder rumbled. Lightning flashed.

The young grimalkin gasped, backing up into a tree. A few feet away, the stranger from another place, was looking around at their surroundings. He turned towards him. "There's no sign of any soldiers. I think we'll be safe for now," he told him; he paused, seeing the heir's troubled expression. "What's wrong?"

Evan winced. So this wasn't a dream. It was all real. "What's right?" he muttered glumly, sitting down pulling his knees to his chest. "I lost Nella, Mausinger betrays my family, I'm chased out of my kingdom…" he shook his head. "I don't know where to go or what to do."

"You're not alone there," Roland sat down next to him, looking up at the dark, cloudy skies. "I have no idea what's going on either… One minute, I'm driving to the city, a missile shooting by, everything is blowing up… then suddenly I'm waking up here. I had to wonder if I had died and gone to the afterlife, or if this is just a dream… though after the first two battles, I had to dismiss that and accept this was all real. I have no idea what kind of world I'm in… All I know right now is you and I just got out of one hell of a situation, and we're both exhausted."

"How… did you get here?" Evan asked, thinking about it. With the chaos around him, he had no time to stop and ask his new ally where he had come from or how he got here.

"Your guess is as good as mine. I come from a whole different world than this one,"

"I see."

Roland looked at him. The kid was still down… of course, no one could blame him, given the circumstances. Nothing he could say could distract him from the sorrow of losing a home, a family…

The young president knew he wouldn't. Despite being in a different place, he couldn't forget the devastation he felt, seeing a missile shoot by, an entire city destroyed, buildings crumbling to ashes from one explosion. He had no idea what had happened. A terrorist attack? A declaration of war from another country? No matter how much he racked his brains, he was sure of one thing…

The damage was done, and there was nothing he could do to fix it.

Meanwhile… here was a young lad who had been dethroned before he even got his crown.

There was no rank on who had the worse luck out of the two of them… neither of them knew what to do after such a dark day.

And that dark day had faded to a dark night, as he spotted stars through the gaps in the clouds.

With every dark night comes a new dawn, he told himself. He let out a breath, turning to the young heir. "We should get some sleep. We're going to need our strength," Roland stated.

"Sleep? O-Out here?" Evan questioned.

"It's not the most comfortable place, but it'll have to do for the time being."

Evan sighed, but nodded. There were no inns nearby, and it would be a long trek before he found a warm bed to sleep in. He rested his face on his arms. "I don't think I'd be able to sleep easily, anyway..."

"That makes two of us," Roland reached up, breaking a small twig off a branch. "I guess it would be easier if we had a fire to warm us up. We're pretty far away, I think it would be safe."

Evan nodded; the two gathered as many dry sticks and leaves as they could gather, only finding a handful or so since the rain had drenched the woods. Roland found a few rocks, setting them in a circle around a small firepit he dug by hand. He then rubbed a pair of sticks together, wishing he had a lighter with him. After a few minutes of trying, a flame finally sparked.

The two sat close to the small fire. All was quiet.

"I can't believe Father was poisoned…" Evan whispered, mainly to himself. "A-All this time… I thought he was just sick…"

"I'm sorry for your loss." Roland said gently, not knowing how else to respond. "He must have been a great dad. …Sometimes it helps to focus on the best memories,"

Evan opened his mouth to reply, but paused. He stared into the fire, lost in thought.

Roland cringed a bit, noting the lack of response. "…Did I say something wrong?"

"Oh, n-no. It's just…" Evan rested his chin on his arms. "Father and I… we seldom ever spent time together. Outside of meals and him checking up on my lessons, I hardly saw him. He was so busy with kingdom matters that he didn't have much time to spare."

"What about your mother? What was she like?"

"I… don't quite remember. She died when I was little," The young heir bit his lip, as the realization that he was an orphan weighed down on him. "Nella… she was the one who raised me. There wasn't a moment when she wasn't at my side…" once again, tears formed. "And… now she's gone…!" he covered his face with his hands, as a sob escaped his throat.

The reality of the situation finally took its toll on him. He had lost everything- a family, a kingdom, a home… he never felt so scared in his life.

There was a still moment, before an arm wrapped around his shoulders. He gasped softly, looking up at Roland; the young man pulled him close. "It will be alright, Evan…" he assured, rubbing his back.

"How… how are you so sure?" Evan whispered, tears rolling down his eyes.

"Because you're not alone," Roland looked up at the sky. "I don't know what's going on, why I'm here… but I've made my decision. I'm going to stay here- with you,"

Evan only looked at him, before leaning forth and clinging to him. Despite he had only met this man this day, he really needed a companion to lean on during this time. "T… Thank you, Roland."

Roland patted him on the back, giving his head a rub (minding the ears, not sure how to respond to that factor yet), before pulling away. "Now, try to get some sleep. You'll need rest if we're going to figure something out. I'll keep watch,"

The young heir nodded; scooting back from the fire a bit, he lied down, resting his head on his arms. A cold wind blew, making him shiver, wishing his pack had a blanket. The president noticed this, then reached into his own pack, pulling out his suit jacket. No need to dress formal right now, he decided, and draped it over the cat-eared lad.

He watched the boy for a moment, making sure he was comfortable enough, before tending to the fire. He let out a sigh, looking up at the stars.

Much like his newfound companion, he too missed his family.

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A/N: I stole a scene from the original game trailer. I noticed they changed a few things in the game (like how it was supposed to be raining on the mountain when Roland asks Evan what he's going to do next, and then said he would stay with him while they were by a campfire…?) But, I'm not here to nit-pick trailer inconsistencies, I'm here for fluff!

…did I start off well?

ALSO, I'm watching cut-scenes and Lets Plays of the game so I have yet to see how it ends so until I do PLEASE no spoilers!

Roland: Isn't that kind of biased? Suppose you write something, and it turns out it's supposed to be different in the game?

Me: …I made that mistake before when I watched Lets Plays of the first game. I got so much wrong- just ask Swaine.

Swaine: Yeah, it's a habit of hers. Which reminds me… *points to the nearest Exit* Run.

Roland: Excuse me?

Swaine: Run. Go! *ushers Roland off* Quick! Once she gets started on the fluff, she never stops! I know this too well from experience! Run man! Save yourself while there's still time!

Roland: Ah! Don't push-!

Me: *to readers* …My reputation precedes me :3 *runs after them* You can run but you can't hide! Mwahahahaha…!

Evan: Um… should I be worried? 0_0

Oliver: Well…

Lofty and Drippy: YES.

Please review. Don't listen to Swaine, I plan on making this a great story, so hold back on the flames!