Kingdom Keepers: Once Upon a Dream

Chapter 4

A/N: Time for the Keepers to meet! There are some fun moments in this chapter. Hope you enjoy!

Finn walked through Disney Springs quietly, lost in thought. The place was, as usual, teeming with people. Since Disney had updated the shopping center, it drew even more vacation crowds than usual, and it was, as always, a favorite of locals. Combine that with the fact that it was a Saturday, dinner time, and the start of the summer season, and the marketplace was completely crowded and deafeningly loud. Finn however, didn't notice any of it.

All he currently sensed or knew was that he was walking to the Earl of Sandwich, because that's where Casey had told him to go. It was like he was in his own bubble, and nothing else around him existed, only his own mind. Why was he even doing this? What was she going to say? Were other people going to show up? What were they going to think about the situation? What were they going to think about him?

Finn was so deep into this bubble that he didn't even notice he was in it, until it was broken.

"Excuse me!" a voice said, as a hand tapped him on the shoulder.

Startling, he jumped up in the air and turned to see a girl cringing. She was short, with curly, dark, brown hair, and she looked to be around his age, maybe a bit younger.

"Sorry!" she said, noticing how his breathing had hastened. "I didn't mean to scare you, and I don't mean to bother you either, it's just, you look like you live here and that you know where you're going. I mean, I live here too, and I would normally know where I'm going, but I haven't been here in forever and...."

"Hold on," Finn said, cutting off the girl, who'd quickly started to ramble.

"What?" she asked.

"How do I look like I live here?"

"What?"

"I'm just curious. You said I look like I live here. How'd you figure that out?"

"Oh," she said, a hint of hesitation in her voice. "Well, you're not in any kind of Disney clothes, and people who are on vacation here usually are. You're not carrying any bags, meaning you didn't bring a lot here and you didn't go shopping either. Plus, you're by yourself, and people on vacation would normally be with family."

"Wow," Finn said. "Impressive."

"Thanks." She didn't seem eager to chat.

"Anyway," the girl continued. "Do you know how to get to the Earl of Sandwich? I thought for sure I knew where it was, but..."

"Stop!" Finn interrupted, before she could head into another rant. "I'm going there too. I'll walk with you."

The girl smiled shyly.

"Okay," she said.

They turned, and continued to walk in silence. Finn put his hands into his pockets. He thought he should say something, but somehow, all ideas for small talk escaped from him.

Come on, Finn he thought. Say something!

His friend Dillard liked to tease him that he clammed up around girls. He always denied it, but he wasn't currently doing a very good job of proving him wrong. He wanted to punch himself. This was getting ridiculous. She was just a random person, and his silence was feeling increasingly rude with each passing second.

"So," he finally said, like the words had pushed themselves out of him. "What are you doing at Earl of Sandwich?"

Stupid question he thought. It's a Sandwich shop, stupid. What else would she be doing?