Author's Note: Inspired by Alfred Noyes's poem, "The Highway Man." It'll be the guide in this story later on, should read it. The story is titled by my tumblr (safety-with-a-thief. tumblr .com)

Written by Photography Bird
British VS. Colonist AU

Safety With A Thief: Prologue
Point of view - Travis
"Faded Scars.."

Part I

The drawing on the paper was way off. "They got my nose wrong!" I turn the horribly drawn mug-shot toward Connor, my brother, to see. He chuckles, "I don't know what's wrong with it. It looks exactly like you!" I shrug, "Its unbelievable, we're practically identical. But no, you had your noses perfectly sketched while I- according to this picture am a troll."

"You said it, not me." I glare at him, "Whatever, let's get moving. They should be close by now." He nods and drag along side him two sizable black bags fill with riches.

"How far till home?" I ask him when we jump over the fallen tree. "Ah, it's almost dark. But soon, it's pretty close from here." We leap over another tree branch and after a few more turns we were just steps away from our front door.

Our house was marked closely with a rare maple tree. The maple tree had, somehow, leaves that stayed red all through the year. Even in the cold and snow, it remained the bright, shining red it is in the hot and humid.

Part II

"We're home!" Connor announced inside our cabin, dropping the bags on the kitchen table. "Connie? Travie?" A small, heartbroken-like voice came from the living room. Madison, our 6-years-old sister, sounded, "Help!"

When Connor and I run into the living room- it was like a cliché horror movie. Blood was everywhere. The walls, the couches, the table, even poor little Maddie was half-covered in blood. "What happen?" I knee down and pick her off the couch. "T-they came." Her blood-shot blue eyes watered. Before I could interrogate her more, Connor came back from the bedrooms with a lifeless mid-aged woman in his arms. Mom.

I blinked.

It's all our fault. The reason Madison is cover in blood, the reason mom is dead, it was our fault. Connor and I. We left them alone, unarmed. To what? Steal things to indulge our need to take? From the pang I saw in Connor's eyes, he was thinking the same.

Part III

We should had known King George's troops would find us. We just didn't think, we never did. But now, look what it caused: a flat-out bloodshed.

Packing our belongings (not as many because we had to travel light) that either benefits to us or wasn't covered in red.

Madison only held a faintly torn fox plush, Hermes- our decreased father gave to her and a raggy blanket, mother knitted awhile back. Connor tries to convince her she couldn't bring them but she stubbornly decline saying it still had the scent of and will be the reminder of their parents.

"This is the home we grew up in, but it is also the place we'll die in if we stay." Then we closed the door behind us and left.

Part IV (Seven Months Later)

After a month long travel we came upon a humble town, called Half-blood.

On the walk through forests, shallow rivers, other villages we met people who had similar tragic past as ours. Their leader, Percy Jackson; his father went lost at sea, his step-father, an ugly merchant- who beat them both senselessly (fortunately) died a year after from a disease, and his mother disappeared -unknowingly where- five years ago.

The co-leader (also known as Percy's girlfriend), Annabeth Chase; her mother abandon her and her father when she was only a few months old, she ran away at a young age (7) and didn't return to her home till a year later only to find her father has easily created a new family without her. It didn't take long before she felt unwanted, like an outcast in her own family and left again.

We also meant others; Thalia and Jason Grace, Piper McLean, Charles Beckendorf (everybody calls him by his last name), Leo Valdez, Nico Di Angelo, and Frank Zhang.

Part V

The rain came down hard tonight, Madison cuddle up into a ball with blankets covering her. I stared at her, she didn't deserve this. She was so innocent, quiet, smart; she didn't deserve to have terrible siblings like Connor and I. We were dangerous, reckless, loud, and mostly- thieves.

Shortly after fleeing their home in the woods, Connor and I made a pact to not sell anything unless we needed to.

The least but still important thing came to my mind, it was almost her birthday. Of course I wanted to get her a gift or something, what brother wouldn't? The only con in that was the taxes in England has been highly raised. Dolls, paper, tea, everything was priceless nowadays.

But, I would give anything to see her eyes gleams and her smile widen. Her grin never reach her eyes anymore, it was small and looked as if she was afraid to smile.

...