A/N: Decided to write a whole Fable Two storyline, in my own way. I know, pretty ambitious. But I have no life so this is what I do, lol. Enjoy!
It was cold. Little Sparrow was standing in front of a small fire next to his sister, Rose, trying to keep warm as best he could. He shivered… it was times like these when he missed having his mother and father the most… he missed sitting in front of a warm fireplace, talking and laughing. He knew that Rose was trying her best, and she was doing fine, but nothing could replace them.
He was brought out of his thoughts by something gooey landing on his head. His hand immediately went up to see what it was, and was disgusted when he saw that it was bird poop.
"Uggh!" he groaned, trying to get the rest of it off of his head.
"Oh, what was that?" Rose asked, turning her gaze towards him, "Ohh, yuck… well, I hear that's lucky. Like finding a four leaf clover. Although, I think I prefer the clover."
Her joke made him smile a bit as he turned back towards the fire, shivering harshly. God, he missed the summer. The warmth…
"Oh, look Little Sparrow," she said, gazing beyond their small patch of cobblestone, "Castle Fairfax looks so nice in the snow. Imagine the grand dining hall… I bet Lord Lucien's having roast duck this time of year. But he must be really lonely since his wife and little girl died. In that big castle, all by himself. If only we could get there…"
He looked from the castle back into the hot flames of there fire. Yes, it would be nice to live in a castle, like Castle Fairfax. All the rooms to explore, the dining hall with huge meals… roast duck, mutton, meat stew…
They heard the bustle of a crowd, and Rose turned, "What is going on over there? Come with me, little brother."
They left the warmth of the fire, and headed down the cobblestone road towards the noise. They were walking between two buildings when a man stepped out. It was Arfur, again. He never left the siblings alone.
"Hello, there, young Rose," he greeted, "You look hungry. Have you reconsidered my offer?"
"We'll never be that hungry," she answered in a cold voice, "The answer is no."
"You'll be back," Arfur stated with conviction, "And I'll be waiting for you."
He turned and walked away as Rose spoke, "Come on, Little Sparrow. Let's see what's going on over there."
They started walking again, "That filthy creep. I hate him."
They reached a crowd of people around a caravan, and Sparrow stood on his tiptoes, trying to see what was going on. The caravan looked worn. It was open with items piled on shelves. There was a yellow sign that read Mystical Murgo in chipped, red paint. Inside the caravan was a funny looking man with a tall hat. Sparrow assumed that he was Murgo.
"Oh," Rose said, "It's just a trader. I can't see anything passed this lot."
"Gather around, everyone," Murgo said, and turned to face the crown, "Ladies and gentlemen. I have travelled the land, accumulating wonderous and mysterious objects, which I now offer to you for the modest price of five gold. Consider this."
Murgo indicated a rusty old mirror that Sparrow considered rubbish merely looking at it, "This is truly a magical mirror. For as long as you look into it, it will make you beautiful."
"I'll take it," a voice called from the crowd.
"Very wise," the trader said, "Now remember, the magic only works when you look at it in complete darkness."
Then he pointed to a music box sitting on the closest shelf, "Ah, now this is truly a marvel. This small, unassuming box is actually an artifact created by the Ancients, as used by the Old Kingdom rulers themselves. Turn the handle three times, and you shall be granted a single wish."
"There's no such thing as magic," Rose said as she turned to her little brother.
The person standing next to them turned, and Sparrow was almost startled. It was a woman, wearing a dark red and white robe with the hood pulled over her head. There were many rings on her fingers. Her eyes were strange, almost glowing. She was blind.
"We live in grim times in deed, if the young are too world weary to believe in magic," she said, "Most children your age believe eagerly."
Rose turned to the woman, "Look, I can see your eyes are bad, but I'm telling you, that music box is rubbish."
"That's what the seller thinks," the woman said, seemingly unfazed by Rose's words, "He has no idea what he's stumbled upon. But you have an inkling, don't you? Some part of you wants to believe it's magic."
"Well…" Rose said as the woman turned and started to walk away, "You… you really think it could be?"
She stopped, and turned, "For five gold coins, you could have your answer."
"For five gold coins, we could eat for a week," Rose said.
"Listen to me Rose," she said, "At the end of that week, you and your Little Sparrow would be no closer to your dream, no closer to the inside of that beautiful castle."
Sparrow turned to his older sister, "What if it is real? I bet we could be five gold pieces. And maybe this could be a way out of here after all. What is there to lose, Little Sparrow? Come on. There must be someone around who's willing to pay us gold to do… something."
Sparrow nodded his head willingly. He was up for an adventure. They headed away from Murgo's caravan, and towards one of the small guard posts.
"Hey! Kids!" Derrick, one of the Bowerstone guards called, beckoning them, "Come here a minute."
"Hello, Derrick," Rose greeted as they walked to him, "Lose something?"
"My arrest warrants," Derrick answered, "Blew right out of my hands. They could be in all corners of Bowerstone by now. And I can't leave my post," the guard explained, "Hey, maybe you could help me find them. You could be little constables. Sounds fun, right?"
"How much do 'little constables' get paid?" Rose asked.
"Paid?" Derrick asked incredulously, "Listen, kids, these are the five most wanted criminals in Bowerstone."
"Yeah? Well, how badly do you want them?" Rose asked. Sparrow stood silently to the side. He knew that his sister could handle this… Derrick seemed pretty desperate to get those warrants back. He wasn't surprised… he knew that Derek could lose his job for a mistake like that.
"Alright," Derrick agreed, taking a breath, "One gold for all five warrants."
"Deal," Rose answered.
"The warrants blew off in that direction," he said, pointing to the left of the two children, "Through the alley, by that bloke with the picture box."
The two children headed down the alley, "So. We'll look out for those warrants, but for now, let's find some more money," Rose told her little brother.
"Hello, children," Barnum greeted when they reached him and his picture box.
"Hello," Rose greeted. Her gaze turned towards the strange object that he was standing next to, "What's that?"
"This?" Barnum asked turning to the box, "Why, it's only the most amazing device ever conceived! It grabs your very likeness, and trandfiddles it onto a magic piece of paper. It's going to make me very rich… if only I could find someone to modellify for it."
"We'll do it… for a gold piece," Rose bartered.
"Hmmm… I only have one gold left," Barnum stated, thoughtfully, "But you're right! I should investalise it in my new venture. Deal!"
"A gold piece, just to stand there. Sounds alright, doesn't it?" Rose said softly as they got into their positions. Sparrow nodded in agreement. His sister always knew what to do.
"Now… all you have to do is strike a pose for my little device. You'll be positively betwazzled by the result!" Barnum said enthusiastically.
"Be-what?" Rose asked, turning to her little brother for a moment.
"Ah, yes, I've been improving my vocabularium with a wonderful book bought from Murgo the trader. A thesaurus." Barnum explained, his chest puffing out a bit, as if he was proud of his accomplishment.
"He's a bit silly, isn't he," Rose whispered to Little Sparrow, "But this could be fun!"
Rose turned back to Barnum and his picture box, and struck a pose. Sparrow followed suit, flexing his arms and smiling for the picture box. It flashed, and Barnum yelled, "Wonderous! This thing is going to be more popular than that box!"
He handed Rose a gold piece, "Now I just have to wait three months for the picture to devellify, and I can start showing it around! Oh, I can almost smell the gold!"
Dave, one of the townspeople that was standing around, laughed, "Three months, he says! Told you it was a swindle."
Barnum either didn't notice them, or didn't care, because he started fiddling with his device and didn't respond.
"Oh, well. Easy money for us," Rose said, "He's a bit scatty though… hope he's alright."
They headed down the alley, "This must be the alley the warrants blew down," Rose stated, "We should take a look."
They heard a few other children's yells, and then, "Look! Rex caught a dog, and he's gonna kick the crap out of it!"
Sparrow watched as his sister ran towards the scene, and he quickly followed. Rex, one of the older kids in the town, was standing menacingly over a stray dog, "Aww… what's the matter, poochie? Does it hurt?"
"Hey! What the hell are you doing?" Rose demanded.
"Having a bit of fun. What's it to you?" Rex answered, and body slammed Rose, knocking her down onto the ground.
"He hit a girl!" one of the on looking kids said, as if he couldn't believe it.
"Yeah, and now I'm gonna hit another one!" Rex said, turning to Sparrow with his toy sword drawn.
He got out his own toy sword, ready to bash the older boy for hurting his sister. Rex took a swing at him, but Sparrow dodged the attack, and gave him three hard blows with his toy sword.
"Stop it!" Rex said, sounding like he was about to cry, "Leave me alone, you nutter!"
Sparrow turned to his sister, who was standing slowly, holding her head in her h and, "Ow. Did you see that? That lunatic socked me right in the head!" she said, "Thanks for your help. I could have taken him, though."
For some reason, Rose didn't like when he protected her. She was the big sister, she thought that she would always be protecting him. She turned to the dog that Rex had been bullying, "Oh, you poor thing. You've been through a horrible time," the dog whimpered, and Rose bent down, "Don't be scared! We won't hurt you. What you need is someone nice to look after you."
The dog barked almost hopefully, wagging his tail as he pointed his nose towards her, as if asking, 'how about you?'
"We can't keep you… we don't have enough food for ourselves!" Rose told the dog.
Sparrow was slightly disappointed by his sister's words. It would be nice having a dog… but he knew that she was right. They needed to take care of themselves; they couldn't take care of a dog, too. The dog whined again.
"Well, I'm sorry, but we can't. Now you just rest," Rose told the dog, "Come on Little Sparrow, let's go."
"Bye, doggy," Sparrow said, petting the dog's head before they headed down the road. Something on the ground caught Little Sparrow's eye, and he turned his head to see what it was.
"Looks like a warrant, doesn't it?" Rose said, seemingly reading his mind. They walked over to it, and he picked it up.
"Warrant for arson," he read off the paper.
"Well. We have out first warrant," Rose said proudly. They walked further along, and saw another one on the ground near a bog wooden container. Little Sparrow picked it up, and showed it to Rose, "Yes! Another warrant! Hmm… don't think they'll miss this Leroy if they see him."
They heard mumbling from above them, and looked up. It was Balthazar, the owner of the warehouse that they were standing in front of.
We walked up the stairs, and Rose asked, "Need help with something?"
"Sort of, yeah," Balthazar answered, "You kids aren't afraid of… beetles, are you?"
"No," Rose told him, "That would be silly."
Sparrow nodded in agreement. Who would be afraid of beetles?
"Yes. Silly," Balthazar agreed, laughing, "No one's afraid of loathsome, evil, conniving beetles. Well, since you're not afraid, how would you like to ruthlessly exterminate a few that are in my warehouse?"
"We'll do it for a gold piece," Rose told him.
"Done," Balthazar agreed immediately, "I hope you can make them suffer; if those hideous vermin can suffer. Shoot the beetles. Shoot to kill. And while you're breaking they're hateful little heads open… try not to break any of my stuff."
Balthazar opened the door for me, and I walked inside. He closed it behind me, and I was about to begin my search when I heard a familiar voice. It was Arfur, standing in the open window, "Hey, kid! Balthazar owes some protection money to Nicky the Nickname. So how about you leave the beetles, and smash his stock up instead? I'll give you a gold on Mr. Nickname's behalf."
Sparrow looked at him for a moment, then decided to head up the stairs to see if the beetles were there. Arfur was trouble… he didn't need his sister with him to tell him that.
When he got to the upper level, he heard a buzzing sound above his head. He looked up, and saw giant beetles hanging on the roof. So that was what Balthazar meant when he said shoot the beetles… he took out his toy gun, and easily shot all five of them.
"Oh, crap!" Arfur said as the small boy headed down the stairs, realizing what he had done, "Do you know what I had to do to get those beetles? I'll remember this, kid."
Little Sparrow shook his head, knowing that Arfur's bark was worse than his bite. He wouldn't try to do anything to them, or Rose would definitely report him to the guards. He walked out of the warehouse, where an ecstatic Balthazar was waiting for him.
"That was a massacre!" he said happily, "No mercy for the filthy buggers. That's what I like to see. And all my stock is still in tact! Genius!" he handed Rose a gold piece, "Now that I think about it… I wonder how those beetles got in there."
Sparrow just shook his head, deciding that it wasn't his business to say what he had heard from Arfur. They started back down the stairs, and Rose spoke, "Wow! I didn't know you were so good at fighting. And we got another gold coin. We're really doing it!"
"I know we are," Sparrow said, equally as happy. They were making money, and he was having fun, too.
When they walked around the building, they saw a familiar face.
"There's that dog again," Rose observed, and Sparrow picked up the piece of paper that was at his feet. It was another warrant. I showed it to Rose, "Hey, you found one for us! Good boy! Oh, I know you're sweet, but I told you before, we can't keep you."
"There's another warrant," Sparrow told his sister as he walked over the warrant on the ground. They picked it up, and started walking.
They were walking by an arguing couple when the man, seemingly drunk, called out to them, "Hey, look at that, Betty… two sets of twins! Oh, you'll get my booze back, won't you?"
"You can barely stand as it is," the woman, whom they guessed was Betty.
"But they can," the man pointed out, "Bet they can even walk straight, too! Get my booze back from that git Magpie, and I'll give you a gold piece for it. He's not even a proper beggar. He has piles of stuff and it's all stolen from bona fide tramps, like myself."
"Let it go, Pete," Betty said, trying to reason with him, "Save your money for important things."
"It is his money," Rose said, trying to ensure that they could get that gold piece, "Can't he decide how to spend it?"
"She's making all kinds of sense," Pete stated.
"Well, let's talk about my money. You find that bottle, and I'll pay you to keep it out of his hands."
"Okay," Sparrow agreed. Two people wanted to give them gold… how could he resist?
"So you'll bring me back my bottle? Yessss!"
The siblings walked away so they didn't have to listen to their pathetic argument any longer, and started their search for Magpie. It wasn't a long one. They found him sleeping in an alley.
"That must be Magpie," Rose said softly, trying not to wake him, "There's the bottle. Get it Little Sparrow, but don't wake him up."
He crept into the alley, and slowly picked up the bottle. He was heading back out to his sister when Magpie spoke in his sleep, "Stupid Magpie… you snooze, I take the booze."
Sparrow shook his head, trying not to laugh as he walked back out to Rose, "Good job! Let's go collect our gold from the lady and the tramp."
"Hey, the quadruplets are back!" Pete said when they reached them, "You've got booze, I can smell it."
"Are you sure it's not your breath?" Betty interrupted
"I'll give you a gold piece for it," Betty said, ignoring Betty's remark.
Rose shrugged her shoulders, "Sounds good to me."
"No, don't fall off the wagon!" Betty urged.
"Wagon? Where? Kids, look out for the wagon!" Pete shouted, his head going from left to right, looking for the 'wagon'.
Betty turned to the two children, "Does he look like he needs that? Here, I'll give you a gold piece for it!"
Sparrow took one look at Pete, and handed the bottle to Betty, knowing that it was the right thing to do. She took it in her hands, and examined it, "Hold it, there's some paper in the bottle. I think this is yours."
Sparrow took the piece of paper and un-crumpled it. It was the last warrant!
"Well done," Rose told me as we walked away, "You probably saved his life. And that's all the warrants. We should go back to that guard."
They backtracked passed the kids they ran into earlier, and headed down the alley. Before we got to the end, Arfur stepped out from the shadows.
"Stop right there, you little brats," he said, and Sparrow halted in his tracks. His thoughts went back to the warehouse… he wasn't going to try to hurt them, was he? He was just full of empty threats, right?
"Listen, creep, I told you no this morning," Rose said.
"Shut it, girl. This isn't about that," he snapped in response, "Those warrants you're collecting… I want them."
"So does our friend the guard," Rose answered, raising an eyebrow as she crossed her arms over her chest.
"Yeah, but you're going to give them to me, see. Otherwise they'll be trouble," Arfur said, taking an intimidating step towards them.
"They'll be trouble alright. You take these and I'll tell out friend what you really want," Rose threatened, keeping her composure, which made Little Sparrow proud. His sister wouldn't back down.
"Alright, you little hard case. What's he paying you? A gold piece? I'll give you a gold piece right here. Save you the walk back," he bargained.
Sparrow didn't want to give the man anything, just out of spite. So he ran right passed him. Rose followed right after.
"Where do you think you're going?" he asked, following us a few steps, but stopped when he saw the guard we were heading towards.
"We found them," Sparrow told Derrick, handing him all five warrants.
"Thanks!" Derrick breathed in relief, "You're a life saver! Now, normally, justice is it's own reward. But, seeing as these are abnormal circumstances… here's a gold piece."
"That should sort out this town," Rose said as they walked away from Derrick.
They were drawn to a man standing on the cobblestone street, looking up at a girl standing on a balcony.
"Shhh," the girl said, "I think Mother heard us."
An older woman stepped out onto the balcony, "You again? I don't want you sniffing around my daughter. Now, push off. Before I call the guards, you animal!" she turned to the girl, "Get in the house, Belinda! And clean those floors! There as filthy as that no good delinquent Monty!"
Sparrow turned to the man, who had a hurt look on his face. Rose asked, "What's the matter with you?"
"Oh, little ones, my situation is unbearable. Words can even begin to describe it," Monty told them.
"Looks to me like you fancy the girl that lives there, but her Mum thinks you're rubbish, so she's locked her away," Rose said.
"Uh… I suppose that's the gist of it," Monty said, seemingly surprised that Rose could decipher the situation so easily, "Why'd you ask then?"
"Maybe we could help you," Rose told him. Sparrow knew where her thoughts were going… and he liked it. If everything went right, they would have their last gold piece.
"Yes! You could take my proposal letter to the fair maiden! Oh, there is hope! My heart soars in my chest like… like…"
"We'll do it for a gold piece," Rose said when Monty couldn't think of anything to finish his sentence."Ah…oh… I'm a bit strapped right at the moment. But, Belinda's good for it! I'm sure she'll pay you when she receives my letter," Monty stated, and handed Rose the piece of paper, "Get that letter straight to Belinda. Don't let her Mum get it!"
We headed back towards the house. Rose laughed, "This letter is awful, listen to this: Darling, run away with me. Like two doves, we shall rise on love's gentle breeze. To soar above the world in our bliss, forever embracing in the clouds. Eww!"
"What?" Monty asked.
"I said 'aww'," Rose made up quickly, and turned to Sparrow, saying quietly, "It's a bit over the top, isn't it?"
Sparrow nodded as they headed towards the house, and knocked on the door. Belinda's mother opened the door, "What do you want?"
Oh, um… we've got a letter," Rose thought quickly, "We need one gold for the postage."
"Oh, well, why didn't you just say so?" she asked, "Come on in."
They walked inside, and the older woman went to the cupboard, "Wait there while I get the money, and don't you touch anything."
She turned away from us, and Little Sparrow pulled on her sister's sleeve. She knew what he was trying to tell her, and they went up the stairs slowly.
"We have a letter for you," Sparrow said, handing her the piece of paper.
"Oh, this is wonderful! Here's something for your trouble," she handed Rose a gold piece, "Oh, Monty… my little dove.
"I guess some people's dreams really do come true," Rose said, "We did it. We can buy the music box now."
They headed down the stairs, and out of the house, where they heard Belinda tell her mother that she was leaving. They headed straight for Murgo's caravan, where he greeted them, "Hello, children!"
"Hello," Rose answered, "We've come to buy the music box."
"Very wise, little ones. Go ahead and turn the handle. But mind you go somewhere quiet-like," Murgo said as he handed me the music box.
"Come on, Little Sparrow! Let's go make our wish," Rose said.
They headed back out to their little campfire spot, where there now was a box with a red cloth over it. Sparrow placed it on the box, and Rose twisted the handle, "I wish… I wish…"
A beam of light came from the music box, and started to spin as the light turned red. The music sped up, and the box suddenly exploded.