Varian was tired. It was how he had felt for the past few weeks...or maybe it had been several months. It was hard to tell. He hadn't slept for more than a few hours at a time since he had left the Great Tree. He only rested long enough to not completely exhaust his body. Varian was far too busy trying to catch up to Horace to take his time. He had a mission to complete, and he couldn't stop until he'd finished it.

Besides, any time Varian tried to sleep he ended up getting horrible nightmares. He'd thought they would stop after he left the Great Tree, which must have been doing something to his head, but no such luck. Varian didn't remember his nightmares, but he still hated them. They left him feeling drained, devastated, and more than a little scared.

Varian had come to appreciate Ruddiger a lot. The raccoon was his only companion now, and Varian couldn't ask for a more loyal friend. Not only did Ruddiger keep him from getting too lonely, but he also woke him up whenever he was having a nightmare. Somehow Ruddiger always seemed to know when he was having a bad dream.

Varian appreciated Ruddiger's efforts, but Varian still felt incredibly lonely. This was his first time away from home, and the first time he remembered being separated from Horace. Maybe he'd be able to handle one or the other, but he couldn't do without both his support systems at once.

Varian would be able to be away from his dad and the rest of his Brotherhood if he had Horace around to distract him and convince him that this was all some exciting adventure, just like the ones in the Flynn Rider books. But Horace wasn't here, and Varian had been stupid enough to not go home and ask for help.

The Brotherhood was much better at searching for a runaway Horace than he was, and Varian's dad would know how to help him not feel like all of this was his own fault in the first place. The boy desperately wanted to go home, but it was too late now. He'd come too far, and he couldn't just take back what little progress he'd already made.

Varian wished he could send a message back home, but he had no way of doing so. Technically he could send Ruddiger, but then Varian would be alone. For the first time he understood why King Edmund and Hector had multiple animal companions.

Varian didn't really know where he was going, but he didn't feel lost, at least directionally. It was all too easy to slip into a nearby town and ask if anybody had seen an oblivious young man with an arrogant attitude, and more often than not he was pointed in the right direction. Or if that didn't work he would mention Horace's fur cloak and antelope mount. Those weren't exactly easily forgettable things.

Despite Varian's consistent pace, he just wasn't as fast as a saiga was. He was barely closing the distance between them, and he didn't know what he was supposed to be doing now.

Varian was confused, furious, unspeakably hurt, and to make matters worse it had been raining almost constantly the past three days, so now he was cold and wet as well.

Varian shivered and wrapped his arms around himself. He felt like he couldn't take another step. He was hungry and tired. He needed to find a way out of this storm so he could get at least a little bit of sleep.

Varian knew that there were towns nearby, but he didn't think it would do him any good to stop by in civilization. Varian didn't have the best record with people, and Horace leaving him behind hadn't made it any easier. He had trusted the prince, only to be stabbed in the back. He wasn't going to be making that mistake again. How could he be around people when he knew that there wasn't anybody he could really trust?

Varian didn't even have any money to buy food or shelter, and he didn't want to steal. He didn't think he was quite desperate enough to stoop so low yet.

For the most part Varian had been able to live off the land and find shelter as he went. He knew from his books what plants were edible and which were poisonous. He was also a pretty good hunter, though he tried to avoid doing it when he could. The sight of blood always made him feel ill and faint. Falling unconscious just from seeing blood was not only embarrassing, but dangerous. What if a predator found the carcass of the animal that Varian had killed? Not only would it steal Varian's meal, but it might see the defenseless boy as a snack.

Not knowing what else to do, Varian sat on the ground and curled his legs up to his chest to try to preserve as much heat as he could. Ruddiger chittered anxiously and bit his hand to get his attention. He didn't seem to want Varian to rest out in the storm, but the boy was too tired to go on. He just needed a few hours to give his body time to rest and the storm time to pass. That was all.

"I just wanna go home." Varian whimpered. Ruddiger whined sympathetically and nuzzled close to him. "I-I can't...I have no idea what I'm doing." Varian's drive to find Horace had been the thing keeping him going, but now that he didn't have the energy to keep going he was second guessing just what he was doing out here.

Varian sniffled and buried his head in his chest. He had no idea how long he'd been doing this for, and he didn't know how long he'd be able to keep going.

"Hey, kid," A voice called out through the wind and the rain. Varian jolted, immediately on edge. He staggered to his feet, using the demanitus spear to steady himself before he found his balance. Once he was confident that he wasn't going to fall over, Varian aimed the weapon at the stranger, scowling when the massive man didn't seem the least bit intimidated.

"Hey, hey, calm down," The man held his hands up in a placating manner. "It's okay, I'm not going to hurt you.

Varian wasn't about to believe the man, but he also didn't see a weapon on his person. The boy knew that people could be a threat even without a weapon, but he also knew that most people relied on them.

Varian didn't lower his spear, but he didn't attack the man either. "What do you want?"

"I just want to make sure you're okay." The man said. He knelt to bring himself closer to Varian's level. He didn't like being condescended to, but Varian lowered his weapon anyways. If this man was here to attack him, he wouldn't be making himself an easier target as well as putting himself in a position that would make it harder to attack.

"I-I'm fine," Varian said. He did his best to keep his voice steady and not show how tired and upset he was. The one good thing about the rain was that maybe the man would assume that the wet trails on Varian's face was because of the weather.

The man's sympathetic gaze told Varian that he didn't do nearly as good a job at masking as he would like. "What are you doing all the way out here in a storm?"

Varian narrowed his eyes at the man. "What are you doing out here?" To Varian's frustration, the stranger didn't seem bothered about having his own question thrown back at him.

"I was on my way home when I saw something out of the corner of my eye." The stranger said. "I came to investigate, and I'm glad I did. So, that's my answer. What about you?"

Varian scowled. He didn't want to tell this man anything, but the stranger had so far done nothing to earn Varian's ire, and he had answered the boy's question. It was only fair that he returned the favor.

"I'm looking for a prince." Varian said honestly. He wasn't a big fan of dishonesty. Unless it absolutely couldn't be helped, he thought that people should be sincere in everything they did.

The stranger coughed awkwardly, obviously trying to cover up a laugh. "A-a prince? Kid, you're either just a bit too old to be playing those kinds of games, or you're a little too young."

"What?" Varian frowned. "I'm not playing a game."

The stranger tilted his head in confusion. "So what are you doing?"

"I just told you." Varian was starting to get really annoyed. "I'm looking for my prince. It's my job to bring him home."

The stranger frowned. "Wait a second, are you talking about an actual prince? Like, from a real kingdom?"

"What other prince would I be looking for?" Varian said. The stranger snorted.

"We'll get back to that later." The man said. "Why are you out here by yourself? Where's your parents?"

"M-my dad's back home." Varian said. He couldn't keep the crack out of his voice. He missed his dad a lot.

The man flinched slightly. "How long have you been on your own?"

"I-I don't know." Varian admitted. He normally tracked the passing of time through the stages of the moon. He'd been so busy looking for Horace that he hadn't been paying much attention to the night skies. He honestly had no idea how long it had been.

The stranger gave him a small smile. "My place is nearby. It's nothing fancy, but a roof over your head is better than nothing. And I have a little food to spare."

Varian tightened his grip on the spear. "Why would you help me?"

"I don't like the thought of a kid wandering around on his own." The man said, and he sounded truly upset. "Just stay with me until the storm is over, ease my worries."

This probably wasn't a good idea, but Varian was really cold and getting out of the rain sounded really nice. Food was also far more tempting than he could resist. And if the man caused any trouble, Varian was far from defenseless. After just a little bit of rest and food he'd have the energy to hold his own against this man.

Varian swallowed thickly and lowered his staff. "...okay."

The stranger grinned. "Great!" He stood up and held his hand out to Varian. "My name is Lance." Varian stared at the hand cautiously. Lance gave him a small smile. "You can give me a fake name if you want. I just want something to call you besides 'kid'." When Varian still didn't take his hand Lance lowered his own hand. He looked sad, but not angry.

"Would it help if I told you that Lance wasn't my real name?" Lance said.

"Why would you give me a fake name?" Varian asked cautiously.

"Because I like it." Lance said. "A name is just a mix of sounds that you answer to. If someone doesn't like their name, or doesn't think it suits them, then I think they should be allowed to come up with a name of their own."

"Or someone could be using a fake name because they don't want to be found." Varian gave Lance a small glare. The man chuckled and rubbed the back of his head.

"Alright, that's a fair point." Lance rolled his shoulders. "Would you feel better if I told you my real name?" Varian nodded. Lance sighed. "Arnwaldo Schnitz."

Varian stared at the man in quiet shock. He hadn't actually expected him to give him his true name. Varian didn't want to just give away his trust freely, but Lance had done a lot to earn it. Far more than Varian had thought he would.

"...Varian." The boy held out his hand. The man grinned and happily took it. "So, uh, do you live nearby, Lance?"

The man positively beamed when Varian called him by his preferred name. "Yeah, it's just a few minutes away. Come on." Lance looked towards Ruddiger. "Oh, and your overgrown rat can come too."

"His name is Ruddiger," Varian said. "And he's a raccoon."

Varian lowered his head to try to find at least a little protection from the rain. He followed behind Lance, who looked far too happy with himself. Soon Varian saw what looked like an abandoned building. Lance was right, it didn't look like much, but Varian had grown up somewhere that was literally built around intrusive rocks. He was used to staying in places that weren't so pretty.

Varian gratefully followed Lance into the building. As rundown as it looked it was only leaking inside a little bit. It wasn't any warmer than it was outside, but at least it was mostly dry. The first thing that Lance did was grab a thin blanket.

"Alright, kid, we've gotta get you dry." Lance tossed him the blanket. "Take your clothes off."

"W-what?" Varian stared at Lance. The man chuckled.

"Trust me, you're not going to dry off if you walk around with wet clothes. You and your clothes need to dry off separately." Lance said. "Keep your pants on, but everything else comes off."

Varian glared at Lance, annoyed that he was right. Varian took his bracers and belt off. He carefully set them aside, laying the fur out flat as much as he could. After making sure his fur was taken care of Varian fought to get his wet shirt off. It stubbornly clung to his skin, but he eventually managed it. Varian set his shirt aside, not nearly as carefully as he'd done with his fur. The boy was then quick to wrap the blanket around his shoulders. It felt nice to have something dry around him.

Lance grabbed a few apples and a slightly moldy loaf of bread. The man pulled off some of the worst of the mold before he handed the loaf to Varian, who happily took it. Lance tossed one of the apples to Ruddiger, who happily ate it. The man kept the other apple for himself.

Varian sat on the ground and opened the blanket enough to allow Ruddiger to climb in. The raccoon deserved to be dry just as much as Varian did. Lance sat down next to him, though far enough away that Varian didn't feel crowded or threatened.

"Can I ask why it's a kid's job to go looking for a lost prince?" Lance asked.

"I'm his bodyguard," Varian said. Lance choked slightly on his apple. Varian shrank back. He knew he was young. He knew it wasn't exactly normal for someone like him to be anybody's bodyguard or protector, even in the Dark Kingdom. "Well, that's my official title. I guess it's more accurate to say that he's my babysitter, and my job is to keep him busy so that something like this doesn't happen."

"Kid, I don't know where you're from, but it sounds like a weird place." Lance said.

Varian shrugged. If there was one thing he had learned while on this journey it was that the Dark Kingdom was a lot different from the rest of the world. "I miss it."

"Yeah, I don't blame you." Lance said. "You're still a bit too young to be on your own and so far from home."

"Hopefully it won't be for too much longer." Varian looked at the ground. He rubbed his hand over the fur around his belt. "Once I find Horace I can bring him home, and then everything can go back to the way it was before."

"Horace…" Lance frowned thoughtfully. His gaze lingered on the fur that Varian was petting. Lance stared at it for a long moment before his gaze widened in realization. "Hang on, does this prince of yours have tiger fur like yours? A fancy cloak and a satchel?"

Varian's breath got caught in his throat. This was too good to be true. "You...you've seen Horace?" He leaned towards Lance so suddenly that the blanket fell off.. "When? How was he? Where'd he go?"

"Slow down, kid." Lance adjusted the blanket over Varian's shoulders. He also pulled it over Varian's head and ruffled his hair slightly. "I saw a rich, pretty boy about a week ago. He looked fine. He was definitely in better condition than you seem to be." Varian let out a breath of relief. Horace was okay. Varian was only a week behind him. He was so close.

"Where'd he go?" Varian asked desperately. "Please tell me you know." He was getting tired of hearing that Horace was just heading west. Very few people could give him more than that.

"I've got a pretty good idea," Lance grimaced. "He seemed really interested when I told him about Corona."

"Corona," Varian repeated the name. Finally, he had a specific idea of where he was going. He stood up, forgetting about the storm for a moment. He couldn't stop now, not when he was so close.

"Whoa, whoa, slow down." Lance gently grabbed Varian's arm and pulled him back down. "You can't go."

"I have to find him." Varian said. He tried to pull his hand away, but Lance's grip was strong.

"And you will." Lance assured him. "But not right now. You look like you can barely stand on your own two feet. You need to get some sleep, and you're nuts if you think I'm going to let you just wander back into this storm by yourself."

"But-" Lance started, but Lance hushed him.

"No. It's not safe." Lance said. "You said it was Horace's job to keep an eye on you. How do you think he would feel if you got hurt because you were going after him?"

Varian scowled and hunched his shoulders. "He wouldn't care." Horace had trapped him and left him on his own. For all Horace knew, Varian could have seriously hurt himself while on his own, and yet he had left anyway. Horace had broken his promises.

"Well, uh, what about your dad?" Lance asked. "You mentioned your dad, right? He wouldn't want anything to happen to you, right?"

Varian nodded shyly. He was sure that his dad would be horrified to learn that Varian was on his own. In fact, Varian thought that for once his dad might be more disappointed in Horace for leaving Varian than disappointed that Varian couldn't do his job.

"For your dad's peace of mind, please just stay here until the storm has eased up a little." Lance practically pleaded.

Varian really didn't want to. He had to find Horace, but he still needed rest. Varian knew if he left now he would soon find himself in trouble in the storm, and that might put him behind even more than he already was.

Varian sighed tiredly. "Fine."

Lance gave him a relieved smile as Varian sat back down. "I'll make you a deal. Corona is no place for a kid. You'd be surprised at how dangerous the sunshine kingdom is. I like the thought of you wandering around Corona even less than I like you being in this storm, so how about I go with you?"

"You...what?" Varian frowned at Lance.

"I know my way around Corona." Lance said confidently. "I can ease my own conscience and keep you out of trouble."

"You-you'd help me find Horace?" Varian stared at Lance in disbelief. "Why?"

"I won't be able to sleep at night if I just let you wander off on your own." Lance said. "Besides, you said this prince wandered off. I guess the kingdom wants him back."

"Of course," Varian said.

"Well, if I help bring home a lost prince, maybe there could be some kind of reward involved." Lance raised an eyebrow. Varian couldn't help but grin. This made a lot more sense to him. It was hard to trust somebody to do something just out of the kindness of their hearts. Varian had a much easier time trusting Lance to keep his word if he knew that there was something else motivating Lance. The man might be much more likely to keep his word if there was an incentive involved.

"I think something can be arranged." Varian said. He was sure that King Edmund would be more than happy to offer something in return.

And Varian really didn't want to be alone anymore. He didn't feel like he could trust Lance, but maybe it wouldn't hurt to at least try.