When Mal was nearing five, Maleficent let her roam the cove alone...ish. While there were Isle children even younger than Mal running the island, Maleficent and Hades weren't letting her do that. But, in order to make sure the villains didn't think anything was wrong with Mal, they had to let up a bit. Under the conditions that she stuck with Uma, who had been running around the Cove for years now.

Thankfully, with how often the girls were around each other, they were already glued to the hip so it didn't really change anything. Mal learned more about the pirates and Uma taught her to swordfight. The swordfighting terrified Maleficent, but sadly it was something that would help Mal on the Isle and was something many of the children were learning.

Together, the girls were an unstoppable force. They didn't let the older children boss them around, and eventually the older kids stopped trying. The girls caused chaos, but with some well times comments and smiles could get away with almost anything. Even Captain Hook himself had to admit, he was a little curious as to what it would be like when they were no longer children.

With Uma teaching her swordfighting, it didn't take long for Mal to start catching up with her. Could they go up against an adult? No. But they could go up against others their age and a bit older, and that was impressive.

Mal had been practicing her skills on the mountain when she first met Jay. He was trying his best to climb up towards her mother's castle, but it was obvious that he didn't know the tricks to do so. Which played in Mal's favor.

In less than a minute from spotting the strange boy, Mal had jumped in his way, her sword pointing towards him, face hard. She may have grown up with love, but she grew up with Uma as well, and had learned even more from her in the past few months. Along with the lessons her mother gave her, she observed the pirates. And she was smart. The Isle was dangerous, territory was to be respected.

"Who are you?"

The boy glanced at her sword, backing up a step before crossing his arms and sending a grin that had Mal raising a brow. "I'm Jay, son of Jafar."

"This isn't your territory."

"And it's yours?"

Mal rolled her eyes, gesturing to herself before gesturing towards the castle, then towards her father's cave. "Daughter of Maleficent and Hades."

When she said those words, the boy paled and his eyes widened. "I-I didn't mean- I'll go."

Without even a pause, the boy started to race down the mountain, but he had no experience on the terrain and she was intrigued, so it didn't take long for her to catch up with him.

"Wait!" She grabbed his arm, tugging enough to make him stumble to a stop, "Why did you come here?" Not many people were crazy enough to come near Maleficent's castle unless they were in her favor. Especially no one so young. He couldn't be much older than herself.

Jay's eyes darted around, from her face to the street below and back again. He was searching the area for people, it was what she and Uma did as well when they wanted to talk without anyone hearing. Eventually he sighed, stuffing his hands in his vest pockets. "My dad. He's mad that I haven't stolen anything from your mom."

Mal frowned. That was a lot to put on a kid's shoulders since no adults had managed it either.

"And if he gets really mad?"

"I'll be sleeping outside tonight."

Outside. At night. On the Isle of the Lost. As a kid. Screw all her rules and lessons, Mal couldn't let that happen. "Stay here." She ordered, quickly turning and racing up to the castle. She went in, grabbing the first thing that caught her eye. An old kettle, one that Borra had found a few months ago. It was in good shape, and it did technically come from Maleficent's castle.

She made her way back to Jay, who had stayed, and she shoved the item into his hands.

He examined the item, surprise in his eyes. "Maleficent owns a kettle?"

Mal couldn't help the giggle, and soon Jay joined in. "Just say no one was home," Mal said after she caught her breath.

Jay frowned, looking at her funny. "Why are you helping me?"

Why was she helping him? She really didn't need to. She could have just sent him away. But he said that he would sleep outside, and that was bad. It was dangerous. There were hyenas, lions, and bad men. But she couldn't tell him that she was worried about him. So she came up with a different answer. "I want you in my crew."

"Your crew?"

"That's right," Mal said with a nod.

A hum came from the older boy, "Who else is in this crew?"

"Uma, daughter of Ursula."

That was all it took to make him impressed, and she knew she had him. "Okay, so I join your crew. What do I get out of it?"

"Food, a place to sleep. Safety." It was more than others got, and they both knew it. He made a show of thinking it over, and ultimately nodded slowly. "You got yourself a deal, Princess."

Mal wrinkled her nose. She hated that title, ever since she found out about prissy, pink, princesses. She wanted nothing to do with that. But she gave him a pass this time, "Good. Meet me at Ursula's Fish and Chips tomorrow at noon." She pointed her sword at him again, "Don't be late."

Later that night, Mal sat at the table writing some simple words so she could eventually write letters to her sister while her Maman started to make dinner.

"Mal, where's the tea kettle?" Maleficent asked, turning towards her daughter, who gave her a sheepish look.

"It's a long story."

Mal made her way to Ursula's early the next morning, bursting through the doors as soon as she knew Uma would be up. From the time Uma was old enough to work a broom and carry trays without spilling anything, Ursula had put her to work. So Uma was always up before her mother.

After months of Mal doing this, Uma didn't even flinch when her cousin ran into the kitchen, just silently handing Mal the broom. After Mal explained what had happened the day before, Uma lightly smacked her leg with the wet mop, making Mal jump away with a squeak.

"Mal! We don't have a crew!" Uma hissed. Mal just shrugged.

"We do now. It's time anyways, we need one."

It was true, and Uma couldn't argue against it. With all the kids on the island, they were going to need to take a stand. While the pirate children had learned quickly who was in charge, they would need a crew for others to respect them. "Well then, who's in charge? Every crew needs a leader."

Mal chewed her lip thoughtfully. "What about both of us?" She proposed.

"Both of us?"

"Yeah. You know a lot more about the sea and pirates than I ever will, but I've learned street smarts and am the better there, not to mention the access to magic and having Maleficent and Hades as parents. That can be good for intimidation."

"I guess that's true." Uma said slowly, "So we're co-leaders then. I'm Captain,"

"And I'm Boss," Mal said. Uma got a mischievous look on her face.

"I dunno Mal, we could call you Princess,"

"Uma," Mal whined. Uma giggled, trying to muffle the sounds so her mother didn't hear her. Mal scrunching her nose up didn't help at all. "Anyways", now we have us and Jay. Who else should we have join?"

"Harry Hook," Uma said with no hesitation. "I told you about him. He comes by and lives on a ship not far from here. He helped me with my swordfighting."

Mal hummed. Uma did talk about Hook often, and she had seen the boy around. He could be good muscle, and he could probably help teach Jay swordfighting since if Mal had to guess she'd say that the boy didn't know much. "Can we trust him?"

"Definitely."

"Then you can ask him."

Between Uma and Mal, the morning chores were finished quickly and Uma ran over to Hook's ship while Mal waited outside for Jay. It didn't take long for her cousin to return with a tall boy, a little older than her, who had dark hair and a sword attached to his belt. In his hand he carried a hook.

"Mal, this is Harry Hook. Harry, Mal." Uma introduced. "Mal's the Boss, I'm the Captain."

Harry raised a brow, "How does that work?" He asked, an accent hanging on his words.

Mal smirked, bumping shoulders with Uma. "Wait and see."

"Wait and see what?"

All three spun, swords drawn, to find a smirking Jay coming out of the shadows. Impressive. Really impressive. Mal sheathed her sword and motioned for him to come over, turning to Harry and Uma. "This is Jay, son of Jafar. Jay, Uma daughter of Ursula, and Harry son of Captain Hook."

The three exchanged nods and Jay leaned against the side of the shop. "So... who's all in this crew?"

"The four of us." Uma said, "You good with that?"

Jay shrugged, "Have to start somewhere."

"Good." Mal grabbed a sword from a barrel and tossed it towards him, smirking as he fumbled to catch it. "First things first, you want to be in this crew, you learn to swordfight. Now, let's see what you got."

Jay wasn't good at swordfighting, but he wasn't the worst either and once he got the hang of it, with a little more practice he could probably hold his own against the other kids in the cove. But for what he lacked in swordfighting, he brought in martial arts. Together Mal, Uma and Harry helped him with the sword, and he helped them with martial arts.

Another thing Jay was skilled in was thievery. He taught them all tips, quietly impressed by Mal's skills. The pair were known to team up and knick things off the pirates without them noticing.

Time passed, and the four grew closer. If Jay was kicked outside, Mal or Uma offered him refuge. Mal would sneak him in the back of her castle, as she hadn't introduced him to her parents yet, more so because he wasn't ready. Uma would let him in the kitchen. She didn't have to worry about her mother finding him, because once her mother fell asleep there was no waking her up, and you wouldn't see her till opening time.

Mal and Uma's birthday's passed, Hades and Maleficent throwing them parties in Hades cave (As it was warmer than Maleficent's castle). By this time, Persephone had forgiven Hades and was on semi-friendly terms with Maleficent. She doted on both of the little girls.

Mal's party doubled as a New Years Eve party, and she was surprised with Hadie visiting. For the next few days, she stayed glued to his side. He even taught her some more refined swordfighting moves from something called Tourney and praised her, and Uma when she later joined them. He said that they both were naturals, and the praise from her brother caused Mal to smile till her face hurt.

It was April when all the little monsters over the island woke up to find an invitation at their doors.

All for one, that was. Even after almost a decade on the island, the Evil Queen held a grudge. She was always jealous of Maleficent, everyone knew it. It became more obvious when she tried to seduce Hades when Mal was three. She found herself locked in her castle due to vines for a week and Hades avoided the town square for months. This time, she saw an opportunity and took it. She was throwing her daughter a huge party, and the only child not invited would be Mal.

The plan was insane. Cruel and insane. While it made sense in a way, as she was going off of what had happened to Maleficent, it wasn't smart. Most wouldn't dare to provoke Maleficent. But as far as the Evil Queen knew, Maleficent didn't care about her daughter. That would eventually come to haunt her.

Mal sat in her favorite place on the mountain, hidden by rocks. She had found it years ago, and the only other ones who knew about it were Hadie and Uma. So she shouldn't have been surprised when it was them who joined her an hour into her sulking.

She didn't acknowledge them at first, turning her head in defiance. She wanted to be alone. She hoped that they'd get the hint. But stubbornness ran in the family, it seemed, because eventually Hadie slung an arm around her and sighed.

"It sucks to be left out of things, huh?"

Mal shrugged, frowning. By the Isle rules she should ignore those words and rant and rave and pretend that it didn't bother her. But Hadie was her brother and he lived in Auradon most of the time, so didn't that mean she didn't have to follow Isle rules with him? And Uma was like her sister, maybe even like her twin given how close their birthdays were. There was no one she trusted more than those two, save for her parents. "I'm not upset about missing a party," she answered truthfully. No Isle party could compare to the ones her family threw in her dad's cave, where it was just them. They couldn't compare to hanging out with her crew either. "It's that I'm the only one not invited that's annoying me. If I was then I could just not go, but with this everyone knows why I'm not there."

Hadie frowned, while Uma crossed her arms and lifted her chin a little. "I'm not going." She said, causing the siblings to look at her in shock. This was going to be the biggest Isle party since its creation, and she was invited.

"Uma! You-"

"No, Mali," Uma interrupted, her words causing Mal to immediately close her mouth. Uma didn't often call her Mali, and if she did then Mal paid attention. "Jay and Harry aren't either. You're our crew, the Boss to my Captain. It's not just an insult to you, it's an insult to the Lost Four."

The edges of Mal's lips quirked while Hadie looked confused. The Lost Four was the name Jay had dubbed them a month ago. ("We live on the Isle of the Lost!" Jay had said, "Auradon sees us as lost causes! Why not own it?")

Despite Uma's confidence, Mal wasn't so sure. She didn't want to be the cause of her crew missing out on a chance to make themselves known. "I don't know Uma..."

"No, I think she's right." Hadie said slowly, causing both girls to look at him in surprise. Being right over a teenager that wasn't scared of them? That was new. "If you guys want to make a stand, you shouldn't go. But it shouldn't just be you four."

Uma hummed, "So... we should try to get others in the Cove to not go?" Hadie nodded and the girls looked at each other thoughtfully.

"We have started to take care of some of the others our age," Mal mused, thinking of the kids that the girls would give food to. A lot of them were kids of pirates. Quite a few had started to stand behind the girls, and while they wouldn't be in the core, they were ready to bring them into the crew.

"And Harriet's crew is on good terms with ours," Uma added. "They aren't the type to go looking for more territory, preferring their ship, but there's enough to make a difference."

Hadie chuckled, hooking his free arm around Uma's waist and dragging her close, eliciting a giggle from the girl. "I bet if you two worked together you could convince the entire cove not to go." He said seriously. "A gang offense is a big deal."

Mal gasped, "We could make it an initiating process as well!" She said excitedly, Uma's eyes brightening at her cousin's words. A smirk formed on the young sea-witch's face.

"After this, not just Blueberry will learn to not mess with our crew, but everyone will learn to never mess with the Lost Four."

Word of the offence got around the cove quickly. Jay and Harry went around using some intimidation, while Mal and Uma went around finding those who they had helped, who they had protected. Soon, a good number of the children who lived in the cove agreed not to go to the part.

It was Jay who suggested recruiting those from the in-between area of the left and middle parts of the island. Such as the Stabbington Cousins, Tremaine kids, and Freddie Facilier. Since Mal's sixth birthday, she was allowed to go in the are, she just hadn't had the time between helping Uma at Ursula's, being 'cave-schooled' by her father, making it known throughout the cove that there was a new crew to be respected, and training with Jay. Now would be the perfect time.

So it was settled. Mal and Uma went, it would mean more from them, and the boys got supplies for the initiation. As per expected, plenty of the pirate children were happy to agree to be under the Lost Four's protection and not go to the part, and Harriet Hook was going to take a stand and make it official that her crew stood by the Lost Four. With all of that, if there was a cove child who went to the party they wouldn't be welcome back.

"Uma, I wasn't expecting you to come here today." Was the greeting Freddie gave when the girls entered her father's shop. Uma raised a hand in greeting, and Mal's eyes flickered between the two. She knew the girls weren't related, Dr. Facilier was one of the few who was 'married' and by all means loved his wife, but the resemblance was uncanny.

"I've come bearing a proposition, Freddie."

Freddie hummed, leaning forward onto the counter, "A proposition? You're starting to sound like your mother."

"I take that as a good thing," Uma responded, a feral grin on her face, "Up until the fish-princess, Mother's deals were always successful."

Freddie made no response, looking to Mal instead. Her grin got bigger and she moved away from the counter. "Well, looky here, you brought the Faeling."

Mal didn't flinch when Freddie drew near, glaring at the girl instead. Freddie took a small step back, though her grin remained in place. "Put your claws away, Freddie." Uma said. Freddie frowned dramatically, holding a hand up in front of her and wiggling her fingers.

"But I just had them sharpened."

Uma gave her an unamused look and Freddie sighed, a pout on her lips. "Fine. So what's the proposition?"

Mal took the lead here, "Our sources tell us that you have no ties to any gang."

"That's right," Freddie said with a raised eyebrow, "haven't found one I like."

"What about ours? You stay here, we give you protection and food when you need it, you give us information."

The Lost Four had come up with those terms together. There was no 'one size fits all' when it comes to offers. A bit like her father, Jay informed them that Freddie liked to stick to the shadows. Between the shadows, her father's shop, and her 'card readings', information came to her like moths to a light. As for food, it was a courtesy to offer, but Dr. Facilier was one of the ones who was able to get fresher food and since he was one of the few good parents they knew he shared it with his daughter. Sadly when it came to protection, her father wouldn't always be able to provide it, but the Cove was one of the most fortified places on the island thanks to Maleficent's mountain. If she ever needed sanctuary, she'd get it.

Freddie mused over their offer, looking down at something blocked from the girl's view. Mal vaguely wondered if it was the cards, though she had no idea how they worked or if they would work. After a few minutes, the girl looked back up. "If I agree," she started, "what else would I have to do? Isn't there a party this weekend? Odd that you're recruiting now."

The cousins shared glances, Mal nodded slowly. "You're right," Mal said, "It is a coincidence. Evil Queen must have not realized that there was an initiation this weekend, and everyone knows that if you're affiliated with a group doing an initiation process you either go or stay home out of respect."

The older girl cackled. "Oh, the poor woman. I accept the offer. I'll see you soon."

They were dismissed, their work done. The girls shared satisfied looks as they left. Next, the Stabbington Cousins.

The Stabbington Cousins was a no go. The girls were lucky they were in a public place, a neutral territory, cause if they weren't it would have been swords out and everyone for themselves. At least it gave them information, the Hun children had their own gag and the right side of the island was split. The old town on the right side was under Frollo, the wilderness part (or as wilderness as the Isle gets) belongs to the Huns.

The Tremaine's also declined. At least they weren't going to cause trouble, saying that they were going to stay neutral. As it was, the girls hinted that they already had plans for the weekend before the party was ever announced. Anthony reluctantly following suit.

The next two days were full of prep. The place for the initiation was on the beach, near the rundown ships. The ones there were unable to float, but they made good cover for now. As the crew got older they could fix them up.

The kids weren't the only ones scheming, Maleficent and Hades were both plotting as well. Even though they didn't show love to Mal in public, they were going to acknowledge this offence.

The problem was, what should the punishment be?

It was actually Borra who came up with the idea, Persephone backing it. With a few tweaks, it would be perfect. Evil Queen would regret ever messing with Maleficent's crew.

Before they knew it, Saturday was there and the initiation was ready.

As a party started in the town square, children lined up on a beach near run-down ships, and other children remained locked in their houses.

As the Lost Four went over their rules and expectations, the Evil Queen looked around in confusion at the lack of children at her daughter's party.

As the kids on the beach were given their roles, (those under protection, those who were to fight, those who found food, those who protected others), thunder boomed over the island, lightning in the sky.

When Mal and Uma raised their swords and declared a feast, a figure loomed in the sky over the square and blue flames replaced the orange. The Evil Queen was sentenced to stay locked away in her castle until her daughter's sixteenth birthday. Her daughter was sentenced to stay with her mother whenever school was out of session, and to stay with her father on any other day, only leaving his house when she went to school.

While one party celebrated, another fled in fear. Lines were drawn in the sand, alliances formed. The Isle would never be the same.

AN: The Holidays are over, and I'm back!

Trying to come up with a name for the group was the bane of my existence, so we're going with Lost Four X'D

danifan3000 - There will continue to be little snippets of Auradon during our Isle Years, and we'll be getting a little more insight into some of those characters, along with what's been happening in Auradon!

purpledragon - Oh, I'm sorry I had misunderstood. If there were any similarities, its just a coincidence. I wanted to show Mal's weakness to iron, and having it be in the cove's market was the logical place as there wouldn't be any in Maleficent's castle or Hades cave.

AmethystDragon14 - I'm glad you liked it! I loved writing it XD

OceanBlueSeaEyes - Your wish is my command