Chapter 1 Dreams

Shiro blinked open his dark brown eyes and found himself lying in the soft grass of a random forest. His head felt incredibly dizzy. What happened? The last thing he remembered was getting on a boat with Lance and making their way to find… Katie. Ugh. His heart ached along with his head. He briefly closed his eyes to gain his bearings before opening them again. He could barely see the tops of these trees. There was only a glimmer of blue sky.

He slowly rose to take in the surroundings, but turned around at the sound of a chuckle. A young boy with honey brown hair and glasses was sitting cross-legged on a rock, watching Shiro intently with a wry grin. He had a few aged scars littering his face and arms, and was dressed in purple rags. The boy tipped his curly head to the side, like a curious monkey, before getting to his feet and quickly running into the thick. Shiro bewilderedly watched him from his place on the ground. The boy stopped and turned around as he reached a moss-covered tree. He motioned for Shiro to follow him. Shiro tried to speak, but his throat felt parched. He rubbed the back of his neck. Perhaps this boy knew where they were. Where Lance was!

At that last thought he decided to follow the boy.

The boy smiled at him, showing teeth, and headed down. They traveled deep into the bright green forest. Shiro didn't ask any questions; he feared he wasn't able to. After about ten minutes of trekking through crunching leaves, Shiro stopped in front of a towering cave that was carved into the shape of a snarling lion's head.

A red bird flittered past him, the feathers brushing against his ear, causing a tingle to go down his spine. He watched it carefully as it perched on top of the solid cave before them, a leaf drifting down from one of the enchantingly tall trees surrounding the stone structure. Another bird followed, though this one made an attempt to swivel around Shiro. It landed next to the red bird, its own plumes a cheerful pineapple-yellow. "Hello!" it greeted Shiro in a funny voice.

Shiro immediately recoiled. The bird did not falter.

"How are you today? Do you wish to enter the cave? My name is Edward! I'm a bird!"

The young man could only stare in shock. Was he in some kind of Disney universe? "I… I'm Shiro," he responded, his voice cracking from lack of water.

"Wow! That's my friend's name!"

"No, it's not," the red bird said indignantly. "My name is Rain."

They both paused when there was a sound of clamor from inside the cave. Shiro strained to hear what sounded like arguing. Was that… Lance's voice?

"You snuck aboard the ship!" came Lance's shrill voice.

"Did not!" That was Keith. His voice was harder to hear but equally angry.

"What do you mean 'did not', you little brat?! You're literally right here!"

"I didn't sneak! I asked my mom and she said I could go!"

"WHY ARE YOU HERE?!"

"Because Shiro needs me! You're not very bright and he needs someone smarter!"

Lance snorted. "I'm smarter than you."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night, old dude!"

"I am so calling your mom now!"

There came the sound of a child shrieking loudly, and a short BANG.

"OWW! KEEEITH!"

"Serves you right," Keith hollered.

…

Shiro jolted awake and noticed with great relief that he was still on the small travel boat they had chosen. Lance and Keith were standing a few feet away from him, with Lance looking wounded. "Oh, my head," Shiro groaned. Their attention snapped to him immediately. "He's awake!" Lance yipped in excitement, bouncing over to his friend.

"Shiro, Lance is being mean to me," Keith whined in the background.

"I am not," Lance growled. "He snuck on this ship. Without permission."

Keith crossed his arms. "That's not true. I did get permission. Mom said I could go camping with you. And you need my hel-" Lance cut him off. "Your mother said you could go CAMPING. Not BOATING ACROSS THE WORLD ON A DANGEROUS MISSION!"

"Gee, it sounds like you're worried for my safety. Who knew you cared so much."

Lance's blue eyes, already wide from seething rage, somehow grew impossibly wider. He took a menacing step closer to the boy. Keith merely smirked back at him. However, Lance grabbed him by the torso and lifted him over his head, chucking him over the side of the railing.

Shiro leapt to his feet at that. "Lance!" he cried in exasperation. "He could drown!"

"Good!"

Luckily, Keith was able to clamor back on, soaking wet like a miffed cat. He moved to the other side of the boat to glower. Lance declared how he was never apologizing, and then looked at Shiro in concern, shielding his eyes from the sun. "Hey. Are you okay? You were out a while."

"Yeah, my head just hurts. And I could really use some water..." He paused and gazed out onto the endless sea. "How far are out are we? Are we heading the right way?"

Lance nodded. "No need to worry. Here, I'll get you a bottle of H2O."

"Thank you." As Lance was messing around in the icebox, Shiro moved to sit next to Keith. "Hey, buddy," he said kindly. "Sorry about Lance."

"Why are you even friends with him?" asked Keith sourly.

"Good question," Shiro glanced over. Lance seemed to have gotten his hand stuck in the icebox. "I have one for you. Why did you decide to come along? It's okay that you did, but-"

"For adventure," Keith answered simply. "And also… I'm kinda worried about Katie."

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