She had never been here alone before. Even though she had him with her, it was still hard to act casual. Her school friends usually came here after school, so she had to try, just in case of anything. If one of them saw her, she had to act like nothing was going on. The box was a huge give away. Finding another shady area along the side of the Rain Forest Cafe, she stopped and opened the box again.

Mickey was greeted by light again and fresh warm air hit his face. The smells and sounds were strong and loud, being a comfort for his situation. He looked up at his helper's blue eyes which were so full of worry and fear. He knew why she was scared though. He was too. They were close now.

Children enjoyed playing with the bubble guns from nearby, shooting and running around merrily. A few bubbles had floated away without the children's knowing all the way up to the point where they reached over the rooftops. One seemed to float over to where they were. Sarah spotted it after throwing the box away. She held her friend in her hand. The backpack was all they had for now. She hoped it was okay if she had him stay in one of the snug outer pockets of the bag, which would help her being more casual. He seemed to not want to go in just yet and began standing up in her hand as another colorful bubble floated passed. Sarah sat watching them too…wondering why before she was startled by a group of teenagers laughing and yelling out in sentences littered with lovely language.

"How are we going to do this, Mickey…?" Sarah asked in a hush. "They're not going to let us in…"

He clawed her hand to get her attention. She looked down at him, confused.

"Wh-where do we go?" she worried. "…ouch!" she jerked when he began to claw again.

'Where is your phone? Where is it?' he bugged her and bugged her until she got the idea.

"Okay, okay!" she said and got it out of her bag. He needed to talk. He was blunt.

We're here and we have time to spare. Thank you for everything Sarah. I am sorry that you had to get dragged into this.

"…but uh… i-it's okay. It's all still…but… wh-what now?"

Now we need to get in.

"…right. But how…? I don't have…" Sarah was saying before she trailed off mid sentence. "…a ticket."

We need to get in. The apartment above the firestation. We need to be inside before midnight. Need to tell you this before I forget again.

"O-okay… okay… it's going to be okay! Just~ um… the fire station?"

We need to go somewhere else… Not here.

The Fire Station, if she remembered correctly, was below the very place Walt himself would stay when he was alive and overlooked the Park as it was bustling with business. An apartment, right? It was an actual apartment, just for him and his family. Then it was important to get inside the park. But…how? There was no way they were going in without a ticket. Looking worriedly down at Mickey, she considered what he said about forgetting. She didn't want that to happen again when she almost lost him.

"You need to stay in… my bag." she suggested.

The idea she had, and she wasn't very confident about it, was sneaking in somehow. Now they had to stay somewhere quiet though, with not so many ears around them. She picked him up as he was cleaning himself.

"Sorry… Sorry, sorry — ah!" she panicked slightly when he tried to worm out of her hand, strangely.

Looking at the crowds, she did her best to carefully walk among the people who shopped and enjoyed their afternoon. The music beat loudly through the air, the blue Monorail sailed over and through under the roof of the near uplifted station. Just being on this fancy strip was tempting, with so much action, color and sound. It was during this time in California Adventure when someone had found his way out of the backstage area of the closed down Toy Story Mania. During the bustle of guests and a loud, blaring parade, he was able to sneak along the sidelines, hiding in the bushes, cut off queues, closed fastpass areas and trees. Not that there wasn't enough space, but every time the cowboy doll turned a corner, there was someone there or coming up towards him. It was certainly not one of his favorite things. The usual was dropping down and limb whenever someone came, but he couldn't let himself be found out. Who knew what chaos that would cause?

Woody found another quiet area and he peered out into the crowded street where he was able to see the rocky mountain themed waterfall fountain. He was able to make out where he was exactly, as he was told. It was a rather scary tale to tell, even his own…. A mere toy's story. It would seem too far fetched for anybody to hear. Being the less obvious here in this world, he volunteered rather hastily, but bravely to take on this risky job. The Mouse was lost somewhere in this place and he knew it was vast and endless, especially for a toy of his size. His two friends, Buzz and Jessie (who were greatly reluctant to let him go) were willing to accompany him, but Woody harshly refused to let them. To the agreement, the Wizard Merlin bestowed a single spell on the cowboy to use in case of an emergency. Not being familiar with magic, despite that he was a talking doll… he was given a transporting spell, if needed at any time, but he had to to use it wisely. Who knew exactly what he would be using it for?

As to how he got to this point was a long story alone. His own world was changing just as it was slowly changing here, only in a different circumstance. Here it was happening unseen. He was warned to keep a sharp eye. He may or may not be the only one here, besides the imprisoned mouse. Unknown to many hundreds here, there was something wrong. Woody oddly kept his eyes on the ground most of the time, on darkened shadows. He ran along, believing that all this was a lost cause as to how massive this place was. Besides, there was even worse news upcoming.

Some time later, Sarah felt like she had a certain weight upon her shoulders. Even in a place as lively as Disneyland, the Happiest Place on Earth. It wasn't annoying this weight she felt, but it was noticeable. With her companion well hidden safely in her bag, she walked seemingly alone along the shop strip. To her, it seemed to go on forever until she passed a shop called Anna and Elsa's Boutique. To the right of it, there was an entrance into the Grand Californian Hotel, wide, towering and quiet. Quieter than the bustle out here, where she was more obvious than the rest. Straightening her backpack, she began a quick stride into the hotel entrance. The place was huge and the air conditioning felt far too strong for comfort. It was literally cold in the wide and beautiful lobby. To avoid even more people, she goes up to the elevator and sneaks in while no one was looking.

This is stupid! We're going to get caught… Hopefully… oh no!

Sarah tried to walk with her head down when a Cast Member passed her after leaving the lobby. She was so bad at this…hiding such an intention, but her friend inside the bag began to panic again. His very reason was going on unnoticed to the girl, as this inky shade began to cross through and over the banisters, the walls, the stairs and the ceiling. To the guests and workers, none of them seem to notice this shadowy being was lurking as they went along with their business.

Sarah worried again and decided to go back outside the moment she thought that someone was following her. When she looked around, no one was paying attention to her. There was a quaint, shady court yard nearest to the park entrance into California Adventure. Graceful pines, bushes and ferns surrounded her as she came to sit down on the wall. Sarah looked around as people were passing by, she began to whisper.

"…I don't know why, but — I think someone's following us…"

Although, it may have been her own head playing tricks, since she didn't sleep a wink the night before.

Indeed, they were being followed! Luckily for them, he was only… on the second floor of the compound. For one baffling thing was how the toy managed to get there. He was glad to stow away atop of someone's bag as they entered onto the grounds of the hotel through the guest entrance. Once he arrived, Woody had to hide among bags until one of the cast members found him on the floor. While on the way to the lost and found, Woody had to look out for himself and passing this young lady who looked like she was guilty of something. The low head and shift eyes was a dead give away. Clutching both straps of her school bag, also…. Thinking deeply, Woody made a risky decision and slickly slide over the bellhop cart and slid underneath it, holding onto the bottom as best he could.

"No risk is worth this…" he grumbled to himself and made a jump off and dashed beneath one of the sofas.

Yet he wanted to take back his curse when he spotted a mass of darkness in the corner of the radiant lobby. He gasped as he witnessed it grinning maliciously down at him even though he was hiding. Suddenly, it started to blend into the shadows along the ceiling and elegant California themed chandeliers. Right then, he knew exactly how much time he had. He saw that it was aiming for that suspicious girl who walked into the elevators.

This one of the rules he was to never break, but it was barely any damage compared to what was really going on. Worst had come to worst; he had to speak to the girl, if he was sure if she was the right one. If she had a mouse on her person, that would be some kind of proof. Also, this shadow gave it away! Soon after it seemed to vanish again, Woody made another risky break for it. He couldn't remain under that sofa all day, and it sure wasn't worth breaking the number one rule.

A woman gave a scream at the sight of him. But he dodged a corner in time. Hiding beneath a phone booth, the panicked cowboy had to catch his breath and didn't dare move for a good second. After a rush of kids came passed, Woody almost lost sight of the girl with the backpack and he started to run behind the sofas lining down the conference hall. Luckily for him, that woman panicked bringing an all matter of attention on her as he made his get away.

Meanwhile, Sarah looked over nervously at the scream and proceeded to the elevators at the end of the hall. It didn't help her nervousness all that much but stepping into the elevator and having the door shut did. She leaned against the railing and breathed out.

"I think we're okay, Mickey…" she whispered.

The small head of a mouse popped out of the side pocket of her bag and he looked around before ducking back down again when she moved. She was about to press another button to go higher before she found something on the floor. It startled her…but it was a Woody doll.