The moon shined brightly in the night sky as the sleep took over most of the townspeople in a small village surrounded by woods. A certain boy, however, watched the night sky from his bedroom window. He had a smile on his face as he watched the stars twinkle in the darkness.
He was young, about twelve years old. He had short, black hair with slightly tan skin and dark purple eyes. He hopped off his bed and got dressed in a white T-shirt, blue jeans, a black jacket and sneakers. He walked over to the other side of the room where a second bed was located. He stared at the sleeping figure in the bed. It was a little boy about the age of five. He also had black hair, but it was a bit longer, and shaggier than his. He also had pale skin.
"Rogue... wake up..." The boy whispered while gently shaking the younger boy known as Rogue. He eyes opened slightly, revealing his crimson red eyes in the moonlight as he stirred awake. He sat up as he yawned and stretched his arms over his head.
"What time is it?" He asked as he rubbed his eye to help fight the urge to fall asleep again.
"Shh." The older boy shushed, placing his index finger over his lips. "Keep it down, or you'll wake up dad and your mom." He whispered. "It's time to go." Rogue's eyes lit up.
"Oh yeah! How could I forget that?" He said in a loud whisper as he hopped off his bed and ran to the closet to get dressed. When he came out he was wearing a black T-shirt with dark green pants and child sized hiking boots. "I'm ready brother." He told his older brother, giving him a thumbs up.
The two boys quietly tiptoed down the hallway, careful not to wake their parents as they passed their door, and left through the back door. The older brother closed it quietly behind them before turning around and asking quietly, "Are you sure you want to come with me this late? You know you can go there anytime during the day."
"I know, but it's more fun with my brother there." Rogue answered with a smile. The older brother smiled back.
"If you say so." He said before they ran off into an opening in the forest.
They ran down a dirt road until it split into two directions. They didn't go left or right, they went straight forward, into the bushes, pushing branches and vines out of their way. They continued onward until they came across a wall of logs with small twigs and sticks for a door. The older brother gave a secret knock on the wall, and seconds later it opened up with a boy, about the same age as the older brother standing there.
"Welcome back, Kyran and Rogue!" He said with a big smile. He had messy brown hair and sapphire blue eyes. He wore a black and white checkered button-up shirt (Which was unbuttoned.) with a dark blue sleeveless shirt and black pants and brown boots.
"It's good to be back, Johnny-boy!" The older boy, known as Kyran, replied as he high fived his friend.
"Rogue! You're back!" A voice shouted behind them. They all turned to see a brown-haired girl hugging Rogue tight.
"M-maddie! C-can't... breathe!" Rogue managed to say, before the girl released the boy from her deadly hug.
"Oh! I'm sorry!" She apologized. The girl adored the young boy ever since she met him. She was the twin sister of Johnny, who sweatdropped at her actions.
"You keep that up and one day you're gonna kill him!" Johnny joked.
"You can't kill someone with hugs." Maddie said.
"Sure you can. Watch I'll prove it." He replied as he put Kyran in a choke hold. "Gimme a hug, bestie!" He shouted as he tightened his grip around his neck. Kyran escaped by biting his arm, and they broke out in a brawl.
"Get him, brother!" Rogue cheered as he watched the fight carry on. Other kids gathered around and cheered on the fight. They came from treehouses, camp areas, and even in holes they dug up to use as traps.
"Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!" They cheered. Maddie, thinking that it would be a bad influence on Rogue, stepped in and stopped the fight.
A few minutes later, Kyran, Johnny, and Maddie all sat by a campfire while Rogue played with a few kids his age.
"If Madz hadn't stopped the fight, I would've won!" Kyran shouted.
"No, I would've! I am the older one here!" John retorted.
"No you're not!"
"Yeah! I'm thirteen you're twelve! Are you really that dense?" John said, getting frustrated.
"Enough! You guys are like little kids!" Maddie interrupted. "And if you don't stop fighting, you're going to teach Rogue that!"
"You sound like you're his mom or something." John teased.
"I wish." Maddie sighed, covering her blushing cheeks with her hands. "Seeing that cute little face everyday..." She squealed.
"She's like an overly obsessed fangirl, or something." John whispered to Kyran.
"Tell me about it." Kyran whispered back. Then turned his attention back to Maddie. "You know, Madz. Rogue just fakes his little-boy innocence when he's here. When we're at home, he's surprisingly mature for his age."
"How so?" She asked, snapping out of her imagination.
"Well, whenever I have a chore to do, all he wants to do is help. Even when he has the chance to play, he'd rather be helping me out." Kyran explained.
"That doesn't make him mature!" John shouted. "It just means he's helpful!"
"Will ya let me finish!?" Kyran shouted back before clearing his throat. "We talk a lot while we work. Sometimes, when I wonder about my mom, he would easily lift up my spirits. Honestly, sometimes it's like I'm the younger brother." He chuckled nervously. His mother had passed away when he was two, so he never really got the chance to meet her. When he thinks about it too much, he gets a little sad.
"That's a beautiful story!" Maddie cried.
"What is?" Rogue asked from behind them with a confused look on his face which Maddie found adorable. She burst into tears and gave him her death hug.
"The bonds you share with your brother are just ADORABLE!" Maddie squealed, squeezing the life out of the young Rogue.
"Let... me... go..." Rogue struggled to speak as the air was squeezed out of his lungs. He reached a hand out to Kyran. "Kyran... help... me..."
"You don't need my help, you're a Cheney. You can do it." Kyran told him. Rogue used whatever strength he had left in his little arms to try and push away from the teary-eyed Maddie, but the strength of her hugs was too strong for him to escape. He thought for a moment before whispering into her ear.
"Maddie..." The girl pulled Rogue out of her hug to look at the black-haired boy, who had puppy dog eyes full of fake tears with his lower lip sticking out. "Please let me go so I can play with my brother..." He said.
A few seconds passed...
"So ccuuttee!" Maddie shouted, hugging him tighter.
"Huh... that trick always worked with me when I was younger..." Kyran said, scratching the back of his head and sweatdropped.
"Really? It didn't work that well with me back in those days..." John replied, placing his finger on his chin in a thinking pose as he recalled the times he failed in using that face to get what he wants, also sweatdropping at his sister's actions.
"Well obviously you, my friend, were an ugly baby." Kyran told him.
"You..." John growled as a tick mark formed on his head. "Take that back!" He shouted as he chased a laughing Kyran around the fire.
Rogue, was nearly out of ideas. He wanted to run around with Kyran and John, but was stuck in Maddie's grasp. Suddenly he remembered how Kyran got himself out of the chokehold earlier. He opened his mouth wide and bit down on Maddie's arm as much as he could. Maddie howled in pain.
"Aahh! He bit me!" She shouted. "Rogue, why would you do that? Get off!" She flailed her arm around, but Rogue refused to let go as his tiny body was flailed around with it.
Soon enough, all you could see around that fire was the four kids, running around and yelling at each other.
"Man, they are one loud group." One kid said from a different campfire.
"Yeah, but it's usually when all four of them are there. If anything, it's mostly the two older boys." Another added. The others that were gathered around the flames nodded in agreement.
...
"Jeez, I thought we'd never lose them." Kyran frowned, sitting next to his younger half-brother on a branch that was big enough to hold both of them.
"Yeah, me too." Rogue said, copying his brother's face. But somehow, it seemed to be more sad than just an everyday irritated look.
"You okay, Rogue?" Kyran asked, noticing Rogue's mood. He looked down before replying.
"When I was playing tag with the other kids, I tripped on a stick and cried. Then they laughed and called me crybaby. I went to tell you but when I got to where you guys were Maddie was hugging me and I forgot why I went over there." Rogue told him. He continued to look at the ground.
"Hey. D'you want to know something dad told me when I was younger?" Kyran asked.
"What's that?" Rogue asked as he looked at him in confusion.
"Bullies make their friends out of fear. Your friends should be made out of love and trust." He looked up at the stars. "If you're the nice guy, the one that people can trust, then you'll make more friends then there are stars." He brought his attention back to Rogue and gave him a big toothy smile. "I mean look at us, here in the forest, with as many friends as we have now, plus the many more we're gonna make in our lives, we just might get lost in the crowd of our fans! So there's no need to worry about bullies."
Rogue smiled. "You're right."
"Of course I am." Kyran said cockily.
"But what should we do in case we get lost for real?" Rogue asked.
"I don't know. What do you think we should do?" Kyran asked back.
"Hmm..." Rogue thought for a moment, then his eyes lit up. "I know!" He pointed towards the big shining moon in the distance. "We follow the moon!"
"Oh really? You mean walk in the direction of the moon?" Rogue nodded in reply. "And why the moon?"
"Because it's the only thing that can be out during night and day." He answered. "As long as you can see the moon shine, we can always have the hope of finding each other." The black-haired boy smiled.
"Okay then. It's a deal. Now how about we head home? It's getting pretty late." Kyran suggested as he carried Rogue down the tree on his back. When he got to the bottom he looked at Rogue to see him already passed out.
You're asleep that fast!? Oh well, I guess anyone his age would be out like a light after a night like this... Kyran thought inwardly as he carried his brother home.
...
"I still can't believe you fell asleep so quickly." Kyran said quietly to himself after tucking Rogue into bed.
"I wasn't asleep, I just didn't want to walk." Rogue told him once Kyran was in his own bed.
"You little devil..." He chuckled. "You're so lucky I'm too lazy to get up right now..." Rogue giggled deviously before falling asleep for real.