Chapter 1

Shrunk by a Queen… Again

A familiar beeping woke me up from the good dream I was having and I reached over and sleepily hit the pager, stopping the high-pitched alarm.

Sitting up, I rubbed my eyes and ran a hand through my hair.

The calls just keep getting earlier and earlier. I mentally groaned as I stood and headed down the big, beautiful staircase. I flopped into the big swivel chair and powered on the computer screen, yawning as the old thing booted up. Finally the screen turned from the black emptiness to the image of my Leafman boyfriend (is that what you could call us, even if we are in two completely different worlds? I like to think so.).

"Hey, Nod. Haven't we already discussed morning hour calls?" I began, but he cut me off, frantically saying, "Yeah, I know and I wouldn't be calling unless it's important."

Nod was glancing around and waving off the comments of some of his regiment.

"What's goin' on?" I asked slowly, seeing his serious expression.

"Well, the queen kinda, um, just snapped and now she's asking- more like demanding- that you come before her."

"Oh, no. What did I do?" I asked, running through things I might've done. Was it maybe the big spider I smashed yesterday, or the bouquet of daffodils I picked?

"Dunno, but whatever it is, it's big." Nod shrugged.

"Ah, well, alright, I'll meet you in the clearing in fifteen minutes, okay?" I asked, standing.

"Yeah, sure. Under fifteen would be better, 'kay?" Nod said, mounting his hummingbird.

"Mhmm." I responded absently.

"Hey, don't worry too much. I'll see ya in a lil' while, M.K." He flashed me a dazzling and reassuring smile. Did he know how much that little gesture helped ease my nerves?

"Yeah, see ya." I smiled back, unable to prevent the little blush that painted my cheeks a light pink. Thank god the resolution of the outdoor screen wasn't HD.

I hurried upstairs and quickly showered and dressed, throwing on my combat boots and pulling my hair into a ponytail.

I grabbed an apple from the fridge and wrote a quick note to my dad on a sticky note and stuck it on his headset. He'd either find it or I'd be back before he noticed.

The sun was warm as it touched the dew covered grass and lit the tree tops with warm pink light. It was hard to believe that it was almost fall. A whole year to the day since the pod bloomed and I came back. This was weird. The anniversary of the day we took care of Mandrake and fulfilled the queens wishes and all of a sudden the queen wants to talk to me. Great. I was about to get the smack down from an inch tall little girl.

I heard the familiar sound of wings before I saw them. I brought the ear piece that I had made up to my ear and powered it on. The whole headset thing had become too heavy and awkward to put on.

The flock of multicolored hummingbirds zipped around my head and I let out a cheerful laugh at the sight of them. One in particular caught my eye and I watched as it flew around me once and rested on my shoulder.

The only problem with not having the headset was the fact that Nod was a bit blurry and hard to watch. But I could still hear his voice when he sat next to my ear and whispered, "Hey, It's been a while since I've seen you in person. You're… big."

I rolled my eyes and poked at him.

"You're not supposed to say that to women." I laughed.

"I meant big in a good, non-offensive way." Nod said quickly.

"Mhmm," I sighed. "So, where's the queen?" I looked around for the white flower girl, but couldn't find her.

"She's back at Moonhaven with her mother, who, might I just say, seems to still be in shock."

"So, I'm just gonna go and talk to her there?" I asked. The only Stomper to have gone to Moonhaven besides me was my dad. And he was definitely the only big one.

"From what I understand. That said, they don't tell me much." Nod shrugged.

The trek through the woods was longer than what it would've been on the birds, but I'm pretty sure that was out of the question.

When Moonhaven came into view, it still had the warm glow that had surrounded it the first night I had seen it. It took my breath away. I stepped on the rocks, avoiding the nature people, and finally made it to the large rock that served as the palace. The queen stood, arms crossed and blurry, but the feeling of importance was obvious.

"Uh, hi, Your Highness." I waved, attempting to look unafraid, but honestly, this little chick had more power in her pinky than I had in, well, I don't really have any power, so, my whole being.

"She made a mistake." The girl said.

Confused, I asked, "Who made a mistake?"

"Queen Tara. She made a mistake."

My mouth opened and I felt Nod get off of his bird and lean on my neck.

"How is that even possible?" I breathed.

The queen shrugged her tiny shoulders and replied, "It wasn't supposed to be. That's the problem. Queen Tara had chosen me. And everything was awesome until suddenly, the pod wouldn't respond to me anymore. I have to concentrate a lot more on things to get any sort of result. I'm losing my power. That's why," she pointed at me and the wind picked up, tugging at my shirt and hair.

"I'm bringing you back here."

"W-wait!" I stammered as I tried to resist the magic, knowing it was futile. Nod had hastily climbed atop his hummingbird and taken off from my shoulder. The Leafmen all circled around me, obviously preparing to catch me when I went mini.

The trees around me got bigger as I got smaller and the earth suddenly felt a lot farther away as the wind picked me up and blew me around. I dropped, totally shrunk, and screamed as the earth reached to meet me. I inhaled sharply as I dropped into strong arms.

Looking up, I saw Nod grin at me.

"Don't let me fall that far again." I muttered angrily trying to calm my beating heart; part of its frantic attempt to exit my chest had nothing to do with the fall, but more to do with who caught me.

"Yes, ma'am." Nod laughed lowly.

We landed on the ledge the queen was standing on and Nod let me go after giving me a discreet hug.

"What on earth were you thinking, shrinking me again?!" I exclaimed.

"Well, what else would you have me do? You're the only one who can help, and you're the one who has handled the pod before." The little girl's stubborn attitude was getting on my nerves. So she gets some magic and suddenly I have to listen to her.

"Listen up-" I started, but Nod put a firm hand on my shoulder, warning me not to voice my thoughts as Ronin stepped forward.

"My lady, perhaps you should be a bit kinder to your guest." He hinted.

She harrumphed but nodded in consent. "Very well. I am sorry for being rude, I'm just a bit frustrated and want to know what's going on."

I took a deep breath and took a tentative step towards her. "It's alright. I can understand a bit." I looked around and continued, "Now, let's take a look at that pod."

The queen dismissed all of the servants and led Ronin, Nod, and I down the corridor to the "nursery" room where the pod was blooming beautifully, a many different shades of pinks and purples.

"Hey, little guy." I said, touching one of the vines that had spilled over the side of the basin. It wrapped around my finger in recognition and I giggled. I glanced around the room and I could see little bits of flowers and grass sprouting in the cracks made by Mandrake.

The queen sighed in irritation.

"See, this is exactly what I was talking about. Around you, it's magical again. Around me, however, it turns into an average pod. Goes blank."

To make her point, the queen touched the pod's petals and it froze, the little vine dropping back down into the basin.

My eyebrows furrowed as I tried to work it out. It shouldn't do that, especially around the queen.

"I-I don't know why it's doing that."

"No one does. I even asked Nim about it." The girl sighed, exasperated. Then her eyes narrowed. "Unless, it's picked itself a new queen…"

She advanced on me and before I could back up, she pressed her hand to my forehead. A tingly sensation erupted from her touch and traveled down my spine. My eyes widened and I inhaled at the sudden feeling.

Around me I could vaguely see the room in motion. Nod reached for his sword as he made to lunge to me, and Ronin blocked his path. Servants and other people I couldn't identify moved to either defend me or to block my defenders. Then the tingling stopped and I backed unsteadily away. Ronin let Nod move around him and he rushed to my side just as my legs gave out. Like they usually did when he was around.

"You alright, M.K.?" He whispered.

"Mm, yeah, probably." I replied, bringing a hand to my head.

"Easy does it…" He muttered as helped me up, keeping his arm around my waist to support me.

"Thanks for putting your arm around me." I laughed lightly.

"Well, it's not like you hardly know me." His eyes twinkled at me and for a minute, we were in our own world. It felt good to have him beside me and actually feel his warmth again, rather than just seeing him through a lens.

"Ahem." Ronin cleared his throat and we looked away, blushing.

"I was correct in my assumption." The queen said. She didn't look mad, exactly, more sad and a little bit relieved.

"What assumption?" I breathed; not truly wanting to know the answer and my stomach sank with what I knew was coming.

"I was not meant to be queen, at least not anymore. You are." She said, and for the first time since this meeting, she smiled.

Hello, guys. I just watched Epic for the 6 billionth time and I decided to make a short fanfic for it. I don't really plan on this being long, but if ya'll like it enough, I might continue it. So, until I know what ya'll think I'll only do a chapter or two.

-Rin