Deep in the forest of Albion lay the small village of Oakvale, unchanged by time and untouched by sword. Here lived a boy and his family. A boy dreaming of greatness. Of one day being a hero. Sometimes he imagined himself as a noble knight… Or a powerful wizard. And other times he dreamt he'd be an evil warrior. But in all his dreams of greatness he could not possibly imagine the power of destiny that lay before him.
"Come on, wake up!" Shouted a father, Brom, to his young brown haired boy. The boy, who had been resting on the stoop of the house, awoke from his musings with a start. As he looked up at his father with sleepy grey eyes the man said, "Daydreaming again, were you? Just like your mother, mind always wandering."
As the boy stood his father added on, "Well, let it wander off and find your sister, will you?", which caused the boy to sigh in annoyance. Despite noticing this the man continued on with a smile, "She's out playing by the Barrow Fields gate. Remember, you haven't given her a birthday present yet."
Now fully awake the boy let out a nervous laugh, "Um… You see, about that…" With an amused grin the man said, "Don't tell me you forgot to get her one?" The only reply the father got was his son scratching the back of his head.
"Well I'm not bailing you out this time, son."
"B-but Father, I don't want to sadden her!" Shouted the boy,
With another chuckle Brom said, "Hmm, I'll tell you what Barron, I'll give you a gold piece for each good deed you do around Oakvale. Now get moving and stay out of trouble."
Enthusiastically Barron proclaimed, "I shall do my very best!"
As father and son parted ways Barron couldn't help but wonder just what he would do to get those gold pieces. You see, Barron could think of many things he could do to get money, most of which his father would most certainly not approve of. As our young friend strolled along trying to find something his father would actually approve of he heard the faint sound of crying. Curiosity taking the reins from his semi-productive train of thought, he followed the noise. Eventually he happened upon a girl who, much like Barron himself was earlier, sitting on the stoop of her house. However, unlike Barron, her eyes were red and puffy as she continued to sob into her hands.
"What is wrong, m'lady?" Barron asked in his best gentleman voice. His father had always told him to be kind to woman. "Chivalrous" is the word Barron thought the man used.
Looking up with a tear stained face the girl cried, "I've lost Rosie! I left her and I can't remember where." Reaching out to grab Barron's hand she begged, "Her stuffing needs changing today and I can't find her! Please help!" Now that her face wasn't buried in her hands Barron could recognize her as Emily, a girl he often saw around the village.
Happily Barron said "Alright miss Emily, I'll help! I am your senior by three whole years, what with being eleven and all! But what does this "Rosie" look like?"
Much less upset now that she knew someone was going to help her she smiled and said, "She's a lovely little furry bear with a blue patch on her back."
"Alright Princess Emily, your Knight Barron shall return to you the royal bear!", Barron shouted boisterously as he ran off in search of the teddy bear, which caused Emily to let out a wonderfully joyous laugh. "Good luck, brave knight!", she giggled as he disappeared from sight.
As Barron searched he did a number of as looking through the contents of multiple wagons, lifted up rocks, kicked a chicken, snuck into a house and then snuck back out among other things. Yet he hadn't seen head or tail of Rosie. As he walked down a path he couldn't help but feel mildly disappointed that the bear hadn't turned up with. He continued to walk while he tried to think where in the village the bear could be when he heard voices from behind a building he had nearly passed. Once again curiosity took over and he followed a small trail to the back of the house and peaked over the side. What Barron saw didn't surprise him.
"Oh, come here my little sandgoose." Orwin Gown said as he pecked a young blonde woman on the lips. In merry reply the woman said, "You are just too much. So naughty!" Barron only shook his head. Despite his age the boy knew full well what Orwin Gown was, a lecher. Hell, the entire village knew. Deciding that he felt bad for the man's wife Barron made his way towards the Gown household. Luckily the house wasn't to far and he made it there on record time. Before Barron could even get to the door to knock Corina, Orwin's wife came bounding out of the small house, anger clear on her face.
As she looked around at the town folk the woman shouted, "Where's that filthy layabout husband of mine? Hmmph, with some woman I don't doubt!" Barron only watched as the woman ranted to herself, waiting to be noticed.
Stomping her foot the woman said, "I run his house, bring up his kids, and what do I get in return? Nothing!" Finally she noticed Barron and leaned down so that they were eye to eye, "Have you seen that bastard young Barron?"
"Yeah, actually I have. He was with Misses Beverly behind her house. Called her a "sandgoose" whatever that means."
"You have?" Corina said with surprise in her voice, although her face indicated otherwise. Pushing up her sleeves she said, "Right, I'm going to turn him into Balverine food!" Before running off Corina thanked him for telling her. Once she was out of site Barron briefly wondered if he should sneak into the woman's house to find Rosie but decided against it. The bear wouldn't be silly enough to be placed in there, right?
Suddenly Barron heard someone shout from afar, "Come get your miscellaneous items!"
Curiosity once again taking reign our friend made his way back through the village square and towards the yelling man. The man immediately noticed him and said, "Hello, lad! I'm a trader, I wander the world buying and selling wares, especially to fine folk like your good self."
With a smile the trader said, "Some little girl told me that you have a sister, and that it's her birthday." With a cocked eyebrow the man continued, "And it seems that you haven't gotten her a present yet. It just so happens that I have a rather nice box of sweets here. Guaranteed to put a smile on any sister's face, for only three gold pieces."
"I don't have any money yet." Barron said glumly.
"Hmm.. maybe later than. But hurry up or I might eat them myself!.", the man said with a chuckle. "Remember three gold coins. That's all it costs." With a determined not Barron struck out again causing the man to chuckle once more.
As Barron walked he wondered what he could do next, "Well… Getting the lecher in trouble counts as a good deed, right? I know making Emily happy would count as one too; I just have to find Rosie!" When Barron encountered a fork in the path he looked down each path wondering which one he should take. As he turned to look down the path to his right a man came running up to him.
Frantically the man said, "Oh, thanks goodness. Listen, lad, could you do me a favor?"
Tilting his head Barron asked, "Eh, what kind of favor?"
Embarrassed the man said, "I've got to… er, you know, answer the call of nature."
Before Barron could choose whether or not to do as the man said the gentleman had run off telling him to, "Stay here and watch the stock for me, there's a good lad. Just stand between those two stacks and don't move!" Deciding he didn't have much choice our young friend sat himself between the stacks of crates. It was here that a younger boy, about Emily's age, ran up to him.
With a giggle the boy said, "My cousin says that the barrels in these warehouses might have stuff in them. Quick! While he's away, smash his barrels so we can see what's inside! Unless you're to scared. Unless you're a big blubbing girl!" The only response that Barron gave the younger boy was a glare. "I can't disappoint my father." He told the boy bluntly.
Not taking the hint the boy continued to try and convince Barron to break things for him. Saying things like, "Come on, let's go and break stuff!", or "Are you just going to stand there like a lemon?", and "But isn't being good boring?"
Barron stayed strong however. Eventually the man came back which caused both Barron to let out a sigh of relief and make it so the younger boy shut his bleedin trap. Thankful the man said, "Excellent! Thanks, lad. You've done me a big favour. I'll let your dad know what a splendid watchman you are."
As Barron walked off he noted that he still had to find Rosie. Wandering around town he eventually made his way back to the fork in the road when he heard a voice coming from the area he hadn't looked through yet, "Stupid little idiot!"
As he made his way towards the ruckus a boy ran through a nearby clearing and tripped in front of Barron. Leaning down Barron asked, "You alright?" The boy only looked at him with a dirt smeared face and sniffed. Suddenly the voice from before rang out, "There you are!", as a blonde boy who could be no older than Barron's sister came out of the clearing. Angrily the older boy said, "Now give me that damned bear so I can rip it's bleedin head off!" It was at that moment did Barron realize the smaller boy was clinging to bear… with a blue patch in it. Happily Barron thought to himself, "I've finally found Rosie!"
Desperate the still fallen boy looked up at Barron and begged, "Keep him away! Please help! He goes around the town beating up anyone smaller than him. But you look strong. I bet you could scare him off for good!"
"Eh? What are you saying to him you little pest?", the blonde said as he stalked closer. Quickly Barron got between the boys and puffed out his chest. "What? You think your tough or something? Alright then, try this on for size!", he shouted as he punched Barron in the face nearly knocking him over. Barron however recovered quickly and tackled the boy to the ground. Barron then proceeded to throw rather merciless punches as the older screamed, "It hurts!", over and over. Luckily for the older boy he managed to get out from under Barron and promised, "I'm sorry! I'll leave him alone. Just please don't hit me again!", before running off.
Adoringly the small boy looked up at Barron and said, "Thank you! You stopped him good! Thank you." The boy then shoved the teddy bear into Barron's hands and said, "Here I'll let you look after Rosie, she'll be safe with you!"
As quick as he could Barron ran back towards town square. Once he got there he proceeded up the hill that both his and Emily's families lived on. With Rosie behind his back Barron walked up to Emily, who was still sitting on the stoop of her house. With a smile he brought Rosie into Emily's attention with a loud "Tada!" Gasping in joy Emily said,"You found Rosie! Thank you so much!" Before heading into her house Emily gave Barron a great big hug. "Come on Rosie, let's go change your stuffing..."
Excited that he had succeeded in his goal Barron ran all the way home. When he entered his house he saw his father by the pot brewing some food. Excitedly he shouted, "Father! Father! I did good just like you said!"
"I heard, the Warehouseman came over and told me what a good little watchman you were." Brom said with a smile as he steered the stew. "However that sounds like only a single good deed so you only get one gold coin."
"But father I did more than just that! I got Lecher Gown in trouble for flirting with a woman,"
"Is that what all that ruckus was about?" The man said with a bemused expression.
"And I helped Emily find her teddy!" Barron said excitedly.
"Well… Yes, I suppose that those do count as good deeds a well." Brom agreed as he reached into his pocket and pulled out three gold pieces. "Now go get your sister that present, will you?"
"Yes, sir!", Barron shouted as he ran out of the house and down towards the trader. " ! ! The chocolates please!" He shouted as approached the man.
With a smile the man said, "You're lucky I still got these sweets. Quickly. Give me three pieces now and they're yours." Barron swiftly handed the man the coins and in exchange he was given the box of chocolates. "Young sir, they're yours. Wish your sister a happy birthday from me now, won't you?" Barron nodded and then ran towards the Barrow Fields. Once there he passed by several crop fields until he came by a recently harvested one. In this field his sister, Theresa was "dancing" with a scarecrow. Her red hair was, as always, tied up into two separate pigtails. Today however, she was dressed in rather nice clothing.
"Theresa!", Barron called as he walked up to his elder sister, the box of chocolates well hidden behind his back. "Hello, little brother." The sixteen year old greeted. Teasingly she said, "I hope you haven't forgotten what today is, like you did last year." Embarrassed Barron shook his head so fast he could have given himself whiplash. Theresa laughed a little but then her face went grim, ""I'm sorry if I woke you last night. It was another of those dreams. I was standing in this field when something happened, but I can't remember what."
Noticing the odd look Barron was giving her she smile and said, "Never mind that though. I'm still waiting for my present!" With a large grin Barron pulled the box of chocolates out with a big grin, "Tada!"
Theresa gasped, "I knew you were going to bring me chocolates. It's just like my dream. Come on, let's go home. Mother will be back for my party any minute now!" Barron nodded and headed towards the entrance of the field. As soon as he stepped foot onto the dirt path was when the most horrible thing he'd ever witnessed happened.
"Wait!" Theresa shouted towards her bother, "there's something wrong…"
Suddenly a man ran into the village and screamed "Bandits!" in attempt to worn the townsfolk. As he neared Barron an arrow penetrated his chest, splattering some blood onto his face and shirt. Barron could do nothing more but stand as still as a statue.
Terrified Theresa said, "It's really happening… They're here! You have to hide!" Snapping out of his state of petrification Barron quickly ran into a nearby patch of thick forest. For hours the boy was forced to silently sit there as he heard the bloodcurdling screams of his fellow villagers. Hugging his knees together and trying to slow his breathing so that he wouldn't be found.
Yes, evil had come to Oakvale. Bandits wielding torches and steel, slaying all who stood in their path. Blood-red flames lit the night as the villagers screamed and begged for mercy, and soon their bodies filled the streets. Then the raiders reached the last house. where the boy and his family lived. It was them that they had slaughtered so many to find.
The father fought to protect his kin but, he was no warrior, and fell mortally wounded. The bandits ripped the house apart but could not find the boy. Through torture and threats his mother and sister remained silent, and their furious attackers took them both.
From the nearby woods, the boy watched as all he knew was taken away, his whole life was crushed to ashes. He was alone.