The next day dawned bright and early, as days are wont to do. Captain and Cadet struck out in the direction they believed led to the core of Imagination. The only issue with this was that with Reality absent and Imagination holding the reins, direction became entirely meaningless. The boys' compass divided its time between pointing in various directions and being a large, red cat, which, while lazy, had a tail which always pointed what seemed to be true north (if such a thing existed in this realm).
They were following the compuss when a small moss-covered rock rolled across their path. This event would have been no major ordeal, except that the rock promptly cleared its throat and said:
"Excuse me, just where do you two—" at this the compuss mewled indignantly, "—ahem, three, think you're going?" It gave them all a stony stare.
The two humans looked at each other. Captain stepped forward to address the rock. "We're adventurers on our way to find the Power of Imagination."
Hearing Captain speak, the imperious stone rocked with laughter. "Oh ho ho! My, my, we haven't had humans down here—real humans, mind you—in a very, very long time. I thought you were all demons!"
"D-demons?" Cadet looked around nervously.
"Oh my, yes. Wretched things. They infest this whole area. Let's get inside before they decide to realize they're hungry." The rock rolled and tumbled its way over the uneven path and into the surrounding forest. "You know, I used to be so shy. I never get many visitors."
Captain tapped his eye-patch as they made their way through the underbrush."What happened?" he asked absentmindedly.
"I got a little bolder. A little bit of confidence can go a long way, you know."
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