And so our story begins.
The epic tale that was about to unfold didn't start with a grand event, or even really a tragic one to set the tone.
It started with shit.
Bird shit, specifically, that was released from such a high altitude in the beginning of winter that it froze before it landed on an unfortunate boy's head.
The boy was roughly eight years old, and he was standing beside his older sister, who was, also roughly, twelve years old. Both were orphans, so it was impossible to know their true age exactly. Both were dressed in rags; the boy in higher quality but heavily patches up clothes, while the older girl was dressed in a thick, dress-like piece that was made entirely of literal rags that had been sown together. Their arms and legs were covered in strips of fairly dirty cloth, which did an adequate job of keeping out the cold. Both had shoes at the very least, even if they didn't fit very well and the girl's didn't even match.
"What was that?" She asked upon hearing the sound of frozen excrement bounce off her brother's head. She looked over and saw him rubbing his head, and then the vaguely teardrop shaped hunk of frozen dropping. "Oh, yuck!" She immediately clamped her lip closed, smothering her grin and trying to console him. "Well... I hear that's lucky, like finding a four leaf Clover." Her smile twitched before she lowered her voice and muttered to herself, "Although I'd prefer finding the clover..."
Apparently not quiet enough, as he stopped rubbing his sore head to look up at her, a blank look on his face.
Since he clearly wasn't buying it, she let out a loud gasp and changed the subject, raising a thin arm to point into the distance. "Oh look little Sparrow. Castle Fairfax looks grand in the snow." Her stomach suddenly grumbled, "Imagine the Grand Dining hall, I'll bet it's glorious. Lord Lucien's probably having roast duck this time of year. But he must be really lonely in that huge castle since his wife and little girl died, all by himself. If only we could live there..." She finished wistfully.
Sparrow placed a hand on the stone fence that kept people from falling off the ledge they were on, unmindful of the cold stone as he too stared at the castle in desire.
They stayed like that for another minute before they heard a commotion, what sounded like a whole crowd of people talking not too far away.
"Wonder what that's about?" She asked. "Come with me little brother, lets check it out." Rose instructed as she turned.
She turned back when she didn't hear his footsteps following her, only to release an 'Oh' sound as she saw him point at the outhouse outside their shelter before making a shooing motion with his hands. 'Go on ahead, I'll just be a minute.' he communicated.
"Okay, I'll wait for you up the road, just wanna see what's going on." She replied before they parted ways.
She turned the corner and leaned against the wall of one of the low quality houses - still better than their own shelter though, she noted sadly - and thought about her brother's method of communication. A few years back there had been a particularly intense winter. Sparrow had fallen terribly ill, near deathly, even, and had barely survived. He eventually recovered with her constant attention, but he had been coughing so hard and for so long his throat was permanently damaged. He could still speak, but it was horribly painful. It was weird though, it was just words that caused pain, he could still laugh, cry, and even make nonverbal sounds. It was just english words that caused what must be scar tissue in his throat to react.
They had eventually just got used to it and stopped trying to figure it out.
Back in the shelter, Sparrow glanced back towards where his sister had turned the corner to check to make sure she was out of sight before hurrying over to their bed. They shared one in the winter – and as much of the summer as he could get away with, it was incredibly comforting sleeping cuddled up to his sister – because of the sheer cold Bowerstone was exposed to. He quickly found what he was looking for; Rose's journal.
He knew, on some distant level, that reading her journal was wrong. But he also knew how difficult his older sister took her failings, and her journal gave him the insight he needed to make sure he could assure her in just the right way to know how much he appreciated all the work she put into keeping them alive. He was no slouch, he would do anything to keep her happy and safe, but there was only so much he could do.
It was actually another reason he was so insistent on them sleeping in the same bedroll, Rose had written that she felt safe and loved with him right there in her arms, in addition to being warm, so he did whatever he could to convince her to keep up the arrangement.
He turned the journal to the latest page with text on it, only to find a very well made sketch of Fairfax Castle at the top. Below that was his sister's tiny but neat scrawl.
He began to read:
I managed to find a nice piece of charcoal this morning, so I can finally start writing again. I still haven't finished putting down the story about the warrior girl who fights snow monsters. Sparrow always likes listening to that one – sends him right to sleep! I think he knows it's just a dream I had and I'm telling it to him, he's always so happy to hear about me being a warrior, don't know why. It certainly makes me feel more confident, I've begun really looking forward to our story time.
Sparrow nodded to himself with a pleased smile. He really enjoyed their story time, he was happy to hear she did too and the creative exercise wasn't draining on her at all.
It's not easy for me though. Winter is getting colder and soon our shelter won't be anywhere near enough. We'll freeze to death if we don't find something better. And the family of travelers who let us stay in their caravan haven't come back this year. It was nice to have someone looking out for us for a change, I wish we could have gone with them.
Sparrow frowned, feeling a sense of shame. He knew the family hadn't taken them in because of him. Their daughter never got along with him. She found him creepy, apparently, because he couldn't talk, or at least wasn't willing to suffer through the pain of doing so just for her. Rose had been devastated when they had left them without a word one day, the girl having hoped to become unofficially adopted and go on the road with them. It had been a heartbreaking two weeks of her crying herself to sleep every night.
If only we could find some secret passage into the Castle... We're small enough that no one would notice us. We'd be like ghosts, or mice; hiding in the walls. We'd tiptoes out when everyone goes to bed and raid the larder. I bet they have so much in there we could eat our own weight in food and they wouldn't even notice.
Bah, useless day-dreaming. Come on Rose, you have to think of something. You're a big sister, remember?
Resolve hardening even further, Sparrow promised himself he would do his duty too. He wasn't useless, he promised himself and every deity listening he was going to do right by his sister, even more than before. She was upset and stressed, so clearly he wasn't trying hard enough. He'd need to get even more sneaky and underhanded about getting supplies for them; he already stole the wooden balls and primers for his popgun, which he used to hunt the occasional bird for them when he could hit them. There were plenty of chickens wandering around town, and his wooden practice sword, long enough that it actually scraped the ground if he slouched, was sharpened enough he could probably cut their heads off with enough hits...
He shook his head and shut his sister's journal, placing it back exactly where he found it with practiced ease and hurried out to where he'd seen his sister go.
He turned the corner only for his teeth to clench as he saw his sister glaring at a filthy man he'd unfortunately grown used to seeing around.
"Hello, there young Rose, you look hungry. Have you reconsidered my offer?" Arfur the pickpocket said with a slimy smile.
Rose was about to respond when she felt a small hand fit itself into hers and squeeze comfortingly. She glanced down to see her brother glaring angrily at the thief before them, his free hand held behind his back, his trusty popgun clasped tightly within it. It couldn't kill, like a real firearm could, but it still fired a wooden ball hard enough to bruise. Emboldened by his presence, she snapped at the man, "We'll never be that hungry. The answer is no!"
The filthy man sneered, "You'll be back, and I'll be waitin' for ya!" He lewdly rubbed at his crotch before turning on his heel and skulking back into the alley that housed the entrance to his home.
Sparrow growled quietly to himself. The hairs on the back of his neck bristling at the way the filthy man talked to his sister. He wasn't quite sure what the man meant, but he knew whatever it was disgusted and even somewhat terrified his older sister deep down.
He looked down at the popgun clasped tightly in his hand. The wooden bullets couldn't kill, that was true. But the handle was made from a rather thick piece of carved wood that would do a lot of damage if used properly. Sparrow watched the seedy man leave, his eyes narrowed in rage. He could honestly barely hold himself back from jumping the man from behind and bashing his filthy disgusting head in. He may have been very young, but despite his small stature he was very strong. He needed to be to protect his sister from the other unsavory people on the streets. Arfur's chances were rapidly running down. Sparrow swore to himself if the seedy man attempted to bribe his sister into anything she didn't want to do again he'd kill the filthy piece of shit.
"That filthy creep, I hate him." Rose muttered, squeezing her brothers hand again before walking towards the crowd of people gathered a short distance away. Sparrow held her hand gently, trying to comfort her in any way he could. He wished so bad that he could speak properly so that he could reassure her that nothing would happen to her as long as he was around, he wouldn't allow it.
"Oh, just a trader..." She said, feeling slightly disappointed when they arrived just behind the gathered crowd of townsfolk. "Can't see anything from back here."
Sparrow took his sword off his back and started poking people in the backside with it, thankfully it was just with the handle, so it garnered simply very surprised reactions, instead of pained ones, but it got the job done as the young boy and his giggling sister were at the front of the crowd in no time.
Just in time, too, as the salesman started up his pitch.
"A-ladies, and a-gentlemen!" The man declared with an accent neither could place or recognize." I have traveled the land, accumulating wondrous and mysterious objects - which I now offer to you for the modest price of five gold each!" The large man smiled winningly at his audience before, with a flourish, announcing, "Consider this!"
He flung his arm to the side, pointing at a full body mirror at his side with very decorative wooden trim. "This is a truly magic mirror. For as long as you look in it, it will make you beautiful!"
A man in the crowd instantly yelled, "I'll take it!"
The trader didn't bat an eye at the fast sell, showing his experience, and immediately jumped in to clap his hands, "Very wise good sir! Now just remember, the magic of the mirror only works in total darkness." He instructed quietly, like he was admitting a great secret.
Rose didn't believe it for a second though and gave her brother a sideways look, eyebrow raised. "Is he daft? That's complete nonsense!" She whispered so they weren't overheard. Sparrow actually thought it was quite amusing. The man was rather ugly, so looking at it in complete darkness would make him more appealing in his own humble opinion.
Unmindful of this, the portly trader threw out his other hand, pointing to a cylindrical metal box with a rounded top and a key sticking out of the side of it. "Now this, is truly a marvel!" He declared grandiosely.
"This small, unassuming box is actually a device created by the Ancients themselves! Used by the old kingdom rulers personally! Turn the handle three times. That's three, not two, not four, exactly three times, and you shall be granted a single wish!"
Rose once more had issue with what was being displayed, and apparently so did other people, because she wasn't the only one to insist, "But there's no such thing as magic!"
Unlike everyone else in the crowd though, she was heard by someone who reacted to what she said. A tall, thin woman wearing thick red robes turned to the two and said "We live in grim times indeed, if the young are too world weary to believe in magic. Most children your age believe eagerly."
Feeling like she was being talked down to, Rose got defensive and snippy, "Look, I can see your eyes are bad, but I'm telling you that magic box is utter rubbish!"
The woman raised her head, revealing not only her solid white eyes, but a sly smile, that of a chesire cat, her thin lips turned upwards almost unnaturally. Both Rose and Sparrow were set on edge, and neither were quite sure why. "That's what the seller thinks. He has no idea what he's stumbled upon. But you have an inkling, don't you?" The woman said with complete confidence. "Some part of you wants to believe in magic."
"What? You... you really think it could be?" Rose asked, resolve in her previous declaration faltering. Could such a thing really be true...?
The woman turned, looking over her shoulder to reply, "For five gold coins, you could have your answer."
Rose snorted, the corners of her mouth turning down. "For five gold coins we could eat for a week." She said dryly, crossing her arms.
With a shake of her head, the woman began walking away. Despite the growing distance though, her voice never changed volume, or sounded any more distant than before. "Listen to me Rose; at the end of that week you and little Sparrow would be no closer to your dream, no closer to the inside of that beautiful castle."
"What if it is real?" Rose wondered quietly.
Sparrow was for more concerned at that moment as to how the woman knew their names to care, but dismissed it for now and turned his attention to his sister when she looked at him with some measure of determination and said slowly, "We could scrounge up five gold, I've been hearing a lot of people asking for help with things. Maybe we could get out of here after all? What's there to lose little Sparrow?" She asked rhetorically, eyes growing distant before she shook her head. "Come on then, I'm sure there's someone around her willing to pay us gold to do... something." She finished lamely.
It proved to only take about four seconds before a job basically fell in their lap. "Oi, kid, c'mere a minute!" A nearby guard called from his box.
The two walked over, being familiar with the guard in question enough to answer without suspicion. "'Ello Derek, lose something?" Rose asked.
The man nodded, "Yeah, me arrest warrants!" He replied, accent thicker in his heightened state. "Blew right outta me hands they did! They could be in all corners of Bowerstone with this weather – and I can't leave me post!" He looked them over with a dawning expression. "Hey... why don't you get em for me? You could be like," He floundered for a moment. "Like little Constables! Sounds fun, right?"
Rose sent him a flat look and crossed her bandaged arms. "And how much do 'little constables' get paid?" She demanded, in no mood to accept his slightly insulting approach to getting them to help.
The guard puffed out his chest, looking affronted. "Paid? Listen kids, these are the five most wanted criminals in Bowerstone!"
Rose wasn't fazed at all. "Yeh, well how badly you want 'em?" She pressed.
Derek deflated, "Fine! One gold for all five warrants."
Seeing Rose about to accept, and remembering his earlier resolution, Sparrow made a sound in the back of his throat, getting the other two's attention. He held up a hand, holding out all five fingers. No way in hell was he scouring all over town for the arrest warrant's of dangerous men for a measly one gold piece. If it was just him? Maybe, but Rose insisted on coming and he wasn't about to risk her getting injured for such a paltry amount.
"F-five?! You're barmy lad, I can only spare the one!" The uniformed man insisted.
"..." Sparrow stared into the man's eyes intently, not back down or moving at all.
"C'mon, these are some bad blokes we're talking about, I need your help to bring 'em to justice!"
"..."
Sweat beading his brow, Derek finally caved. "Well, okay, I guess I could spare two-but no more!" He insisted.
The boy smiled radiantly, holding out his small hand, shaking the guard's hand to seal the deal. That would have to do he supposed. Every gold piece counted when it helped keep his older sister from being hungry. It was too bad he supposed that that he let Arfur get away. That sleazy twit always had quite a bit of gold jingling in his pockets.
...Now there was an idea if this music box thing didn't work out. He didn't really want to murder someone, but he'd do it to someone like Arfur in a heartbeat if it meant keeping Rose from being hungry. He doubted anyone would mind if they moved into the man's house after he died. He'd just need a proper weapon...
Pulling his hand back the muscled man said, "The warrants blew off into that alley, near the bloke with the picture box." And pointed them in the right direction.
They took two steps away before Rose smiled proudly at her brother, messing his hair affectionately. "Excellent work little Sparrow, I didn't even think to haggle. So, we'll look out for those warrants, but for now let's find some more money." She declared.
They took a whole half a dozen steps before the 'bloke with the picture box' spotted them and called, "Hello children!"
Rose took the lead as always and returned the greeting, "Hello, what's that?" She pointed to whatever the 'picture box' was.
The man looked wondrously at his device and smiled widely. "This? Why it's the most amazing device every conceived! It grabs your very likeness, and transfiddles it onto a magic piece of paper. It's going to make me very rich!" He cheered.
He deflated slightly, "If only I could find someone to modellify it for me!"
Rose perked up, We'll do it, for-" She glanced down at her brother, who extended three fingers behind his back, "Three gold coins."
The man threw up his hands in a gesture of surrender, "Oh now now, I don't have a lot of start up money!" He insisted, only to relax into a deep thinking pose. "Well... It would be a great investalizement, but I can only go as high as two!" He bargained.
Rose held out her hand with a satisfied look, eagerly taking the two coins he dropped into her hand. "You got yourself a deal. So we just stand there?"
The man nodded, getting into place behind his picture box and turning a few dials. "That's correcto! All you have to do is strike a pose for my device. You'll be positively betwazzled by the results!"
The two took the first step onto the raised platform and froze, turning to look at him, "Be-what?" Rose demanded.
The man waved his hand dismissively, his chest puffing out proudly and his chin raising. "Ah yes, I've been improving my vocabularium with a wonderful book! Bought it from Murgo the Trader; a thesaurus!"
"Riiight..." Rose said slowly, ushering her brother onto the stage with her she whispered, "He's a bit silly, isn't he? But... this could be fun?" She said uncertainly.
Sparrow gave a thumbs up with a genuinely excited smile. They got on the stage and both glanced at eachother, unsure as to what pose to take. Two gold pieces just for standing in a few poses? What wasn't there to be excited about.
Sparrow took out his popgun and flicked it around so it was handle first towards his sister. Once she took it he got slightly in front of her and took out his sword. He'd practiced enough not to stumble from the weight, which was good because they were a good five feet off the ground and such a fall wouldn't have been fun.
The man's eyes sparkled as his two test customer's got into position, the boy in a guard stance in front of his sister with a fairly savage looking grin, who was pointing her weapon at him (and thus his device) with a cocky look. "Marvelous, absolutely marvelous!" He gushed as he squeezed the trigger.
The siblings were blinded by a sudden flash of light, and wound up rubbing the dots out of their eyes for quite a while as the inventor breathed, "Wondrous... this thing is going to be more popular than the pox!"
Rose got a funny look on her face as that line registered in her head. "Just... uh just so you know you may not want to use that line for advertisement." She suggested.
The man seemed to ignore her as he continued, in a world of his own. "Now I just have to wait three months for the pictures to develify, and I can start showing it around! Ooh I can already smell the gold!"
The small crowd off to the side laughed at the man's spoken thoughts, "Three months he says?! Told you it was a swindle!" They heckled.
Hopping off the stage and giving her brother his gun back Rose smiled and patted her pocket. "Easy money for us!" She sent the photographer a worried look as he lovingly caressed his invention, making cooing sounds. "He's a bit scatty, hope he's all right."
Sparrow honestly couldn't care less about the crazy man. His loss was their gain, and they were due a bit of it with all the bad luck they'd had as of late.
The two slipped into the alley, as was their original intention, and were halfway through the path when they heard whimpering.
Curious, the two hurried ahead. The alley opened up into a fairly large area filled with cellar doors built into the backsides of the buildings walling them in. In one of the corners was a group of a dozen children, with a much taller teen standing head and shoulders above them, who was crouched down and swiping at something with a stick.
"C'mon boy, I got a treat for ya!" He laughed cruelly.
The two rushed over and saw the whimpering was coming from a small puppy, no more than a few months old.
Rose was immediately enraged by the entire scenario and jumped into the fray. "HEY, what the hell are you doin'?!" She snapped.
The older teen turned to her, dressed in much the same rags as everyone else was, but with a black bandanna that marked him as a member of the local gang that plagued the streets. "Havin' a bit o' fun, what's it to you?! He bumped his chest against hers, using his size as an intimidation tool.
Rose pushed right back, not about to be cowed by some simpleton, but she never saw the vicious headbutt coming.
"AGH!" She cried out as she crumpled to the ground, holding her aching forehead.
"He hit a girl!" One of the children with families exclaimed, having some inkling of morals that found something wrong with that, unlike the rest.
Sparrow saw red. Something in him snapped and he struggled to even think, much less direct the sudden, all encompassing rage that nearly consumed him
How dare that pansy arse queer hit his sister! He'd tear that ruddy poofter a new one!
The bandanna wearing boy put his hands on his hips and laughed, turning to Sparrow. "Yeah! And now I'm gonna hit another on-
He never saw the heavy training sword coming until it had already crushed his nose. If it was a real sword, it would have cleaved the top half of his head clean off. As it was, it broke his nose in such a way it would probably never heal properly without high quality health potions.
Stumbling back, screaming and clutching at his bloody face, he didn't hear the click of the popgun before a wooden ball the size of an egg buried itself in his crotch.
With a long squeal Rose's assaulter dropped to the snow covered ground and went limp, blacking out from the pain.
The girl in question finally took her hands away from her forehead and sat up. "OW! Did you see that? That lunatic socked me right in the fa-oh..." She trailed off as she eyed her brother's furious look at the unconscious boy, gun still held in a tight grip while his wooden sword was buried in the ground beside him, blood visible on it's 'blade'.
Rose felt her eyes widen slightly. She knew her little brother was pretty strong for his young age, and because they were so close he was mighty protective of her. But that boy was positively giant in comparison to her small brother. That was quite the feat for him to take down such a big guy so easily.
She stood up and patted his shoulder, causing him to relax instantly and snap out of his haze. Reaching into his pouch he dropped another wooden ball into the popgun before flipping open the back panel and putting in a fresh primer, tossing the old one onto the ground.
"Thanks your your help, I could have taken him though." She insisted before she felt something warm pressing against her leg. She looked down to see the puppy looking up at her with wide, innocent eyes. "Oh, you poor thing. You've had a horrible time..."
She reached down, only for it to flinch away. She frowned over at the boy who hurt both her and the pup before looking back at the furry creature and smiling gently. "Don't be scared, I won't hurt you." She urged. "What you need is someone nice to look after you."
The puppy barked, tail wagging as he stared up at her.
Rose pulled her hand back. "Oh... We can't keep you. We barely have enough food for ourselves!" She insisted.
The four legged creature whined, eyes growing even wider.
She almost caved, but her brother and her own well being were more important, even if the pup was incredibly cute. "Well I'm sorry, but we just can't. Now you just rest, okay?" She said as she pushed it back away from her before hurrying over to grab her brother's wrist.
"Come on little Sparrow, let's go." She urged as she marched them towards the warehouse district at the end of the next alley.
They stopped as they passed a yellowed piece of paper. She cocked her head as she looked down at it. "Looks like a warrant doesn't it?" She asked, having seen them a few times before when they'd talked with Derek in the past.
Sparrow shrugged and picked it up.
Ronnie 'Rhymes With' Parsonist
Wanted for: 19 counts of setting fire to public property or an officer of the peace.
Rose, having read over his shoulder, smiled and announced, "Well, we have our first warrant." She looked up as something caught her eye, and just caught another yellowed piece of parchment as it flew through the air after a steam vent tossed it upwards.
She flipped it over to check.
Leroy 'Unremarkable' Stone
Known Aliases: Leroy Ten-Fingers, Leroy One-Nose, Leroy Two-Eyes, Leroy Has-Hair, and Leroy Is-Alive.
Wanted for: Suspicious though otherwise unremarkable behavior.
She laughed, "Yes! Two already, this'll be a snap!" She made a thoughtful noise as she looked over the latest warrant. "Hmm, I don't think they'll miss Leroy if they see him." She commented wryly.
The two entered the warehouse district, only to stop at the last house before the alley opened up as two people were arguing. A unwashed, smelly man was insisting he needed something back, while what could be his wife, or maybe just friend, was arguing that he didn't need it.
Upon noticing the two, the man, who revealed himself to be fairly drunk, slurred out, "Hey, look at that Betty! Two sets of twins! They'll help me get my booze back! Won't yeh?"
"You can barely stand as it is Liam." The now named Betty replied in deadpan.
Not to be deterred, the lush exclaimed, "But they can! Bet they can even walk straight too!" He gave a drunken giggle and did what could possibly be a little jig, only he wound up flailing drunkenly and nearly falling over backwards. He recovered with the grace you'd expect with someone of his sobriety level and continued. "Get my booze back from that git Magpie and I'll give ya a gold piece for it! He's not even a proper beggar; has piles of stuff, boxes upon boxes! And worst of all it's all stolen, from bona fide tramps like me good self!"
His proud declaration and attempt at a matching pose was ruined as Betty shook her head beside him. "Let it go Pete, save your money for important things."
"It is his money, can't he decide how to spend it?" Rose pointed out, seeing a job slipping from their hands.
Liam pointed at her and whined, "See, she's making all kinds of sense!"
Betty sighed deeply before she turned to the kids. "Well then let's talk about my money. You find that bottle, and I'll pay you to keep it out of his hands. Two gold."
Liam sputtered and looked at her in shock, feeling betrayed. "Wha-well I'll pay three!" He exclaimed.
Betty send him an incredulous look. "That's more than what you paid for the bottle to begin with! You could just buy more with that much." She tried to reason.
Liam was adamant though, stubbornly set into his decision. "It's the principle o' the thing! Man's gotta get back his property!" He turned to Rose, "C'mon, help an old man out..."
"Fine, alright then." Rose said with a shrug. Three gold was way more than they could hope for, and was enough to get the music box already.
"So you'll bring me back my bottle?" Liam asked again, nearly teary eyed.
Betty cut in though, "No, you'll find it and give it to me, right children?"
Rose was unwilling to decide now, so she settled with a neutral, "We'll see, let's just find this Magpie guy first."
"YES!" Liam cheered with an even less successful jig as the siblings walked away.
"Boxes of stuff, eh?" Rose mused as she looked around. She looked down as she felt him tapping her hip. "What's that Sparrow?" She followed his hand and saw another alleyway, this one much smaller than the true passageways they'd gone through, only about ten feet deep. The place was covered in boxes and crates. A light was visible behind the boxes from a lantern of some kind. "Oh, yeah, guess that would be a good place to look..." She said lamely
The two walked closer and saw a pile of rags, which revealed itself to be a person as it snored, the sound audible from even outside the shelter of boxes. "That must be Magpie," Rose commented, eyes narrowing as she caught sight of something glinting in the light. "and there's the bottle! Alright, get it little Sparrow, just don't wake him up." She urged, knowing he was sneakier than she was, or at least less likely to knock something over.
Sparrow didn't seem to sneak at all, he just strolled forward at a slightly slower pace than usual, swerving around boxes and other rubbish.
"Careful, careful!" She whispered loudly.
When he got close Sparrow heard Magpie talking in his sleep. "Stupid Pete. You snooze, I take your booze." He giggled sleepily.
Sparrow continued his pace, simply walking in, snatching the bottle, before walking back out. The apparently fake bum was so fast asleep he didn't even stir.
"Well done!" Rose complimented as she took the bottle from him, once more ruffling his hair. "Alright, let's go collect our gold from the lady and the tramp."
They wandered over to the couple, and once again the drunk announced their arrival. "Heeeey, the quadruplets are back! You got me booze, I can smell it!"
"Are you sure it's not your breath?" Betty sniped.
Liam was far too focused on the bottle to care. "Here ya are, three gold, as promised." He said, holding out a hand with three shiny coins in it.
Betty grabbed his wrist. "No, don't fall off the wagon! You promised to stay sober!"
The man shook his arm free, looking around in genuine panic. "Wagon, what wagon?! Kids, look out for the wagon!"
The woman turned to look at the children. "Does he sound like he needs that? Here's the gold I promised." She held out a hand, mirrored by Liam.
Sparrow nodded and made to hand the bottle over to Liam, since he was offering more money, and more money meant they could maybe have extra left over after the box to keep Rose happy and fed with, but Rose herself bit her lip as morals sprang up in her that simply didn't exist in her brother. Just before Liam could snatch the bottle she deftly took it from her brother's hand and placed it in Betty's.
She looked down at her brother and sent him a look saying that they would talk later. Sparrow sighed but relented. Couldn't she see that the man was intent on ruining his own life? Why bother trying to save his when hers was in danger of starvation and frostbite each and every day? Hers was much more important than some old drunkard's.
"Thank you very much, dear." Betty said warmly as she gladly dropped the two coins into the teenage girl's hands, ignoring her friend's groan at being denied his booze.
"Oh, what's this?" The woman said, eying the bottle and yanked out the stopper, revealing it to be a piece of parchment.
"May I see that?" Rose asked, recognizing the type of parchment, despite the purple stains on it from the wine.
"Hm? Oh sure, here, it looks like something the guards carry around in those pouches of theirs." Betty said as she handed it over.
Rose accepted it and turned it over, smiling widely as her suspicions were confirmed.
Allan 'alliteration' Altamont
Wanted for: Breaking and entering. Breaking and smashing. Breaking and repeatedly stomping upon. Breaking, gluing back together, and trying to pass off as not ever having been broken in the first place.
"Yes! Another warrant. Just two more." Rose cheered. "Derek the guard asked us to find the warrants that blew away in the wind." She explained to Betty, who made an understanding noise and smiled.
"Well I'm happy to help, dear. Run along now, I have to get this lush back inside."
"You ever drink a drop of booze and I'm tanning your hide, you hear me?" Rose told her brother firmly.
Sparrow nodded easily. For one it would mean he'd be too out of it to make sure Rose was safe, and secondly, the taste of alcohol just in the air made his throat burn. He shuddered to imagine what actually imbibing the stuff would do. Granted it did look like a good deal of fun at times, but that just wasn't worth the risk of being too out of his nut to protect his older sister.
The siblings took two steps before they heard a crinkling of paper. They looked down to see a piece of parchment stuck to Sparrow's foot. He chuckled - which held just a hint of nervousness as it always did, as the fear of throat pain always sprang up when he made any sound.
Andrew 'The Stammer' M-M-Miller
Wanted for: Assault with a firearm. Stealing glances at a firearm. Whispering sweet nothings to a firearm. Proposal of marriage to a firearm. Hurling a firearm into the public waterway in betrayal and anger. Also, one count of public intoxication.
They both blinked slowly twice as they finished reading. "Well... that's... something." Rose flailed about, trying and failing to explain what they'd just read. "One more warrant left to find though!" She moved on quickly.
Rose turned to her brother. "I know we could have made an extra coin back there, but it sounds like she's trying her best to help him recover. It isn't right to help him piss away his health."
Sparrow nodded, pretending to understand. This was one of those moral dilemmas, wasn't it? Those always made his head spin. Rose was happy with the result though, so he would just assume she was right. That was all that really mattered anyway.
The two perked up as they heard a cry of fear and anguish from a ledge above them. Hooking around the stairs they marched up them and found a fretting merchant standing in front of the firmly closed door to what was probably his warehouse full of stock.
"Need help with something?" Rose asked.
The man jumped, looking shifty. "Er... sort of, yes. You kids aren't afraid of... beetles, are you?" He asked slowly.
Rose snorted, "No, that would be silly!"
"Yes! Silly..." He released a loud, nervous laugh. "No one's afraid of loathsome, evil, conniving beetles...!" He muttered darkly before brightening, managing a somewhat less disturbing looking smile, "Well since you're not afraid, how would you like to ruthlessly exterminate a few that are in my warehouse?"
Rose crossed her arms, being traveled enough to know a bad setup. "How many beetles?"
"Er, six?" He responded with a large fake smile.
She raised a skeptical eyebrow, "… How big are they?"
His smile grew even more forced. "Ah... about the size o' yer brother."
"… That's gonna be a gold coin for every beetle." She demanded with narrowed eyes.
"That'll drive me out of business it will!" The owner exclaimed loudly.
Rose wasn't backing down though, this could actually get dangerous. "One for every two then, and that's the best you're gonna get! We've got a popgun and a stick, we're putting ourselves in a lot of danger here!"
The owner caved as he accepted the situation. It was too petty a problem for the guards and an adult would charge more. "Oh alright, alright... I hope you can make em suffer. If those hideous vermin and can suffer..." He muttered lowly to himself again, wringing his hands.
Rose once more ushered her brother along, sliding open the warehouse door before slipping inside.
"We'll, ah, try our best? C'mon Sparrow, into the warehouse, quickly now..."
"Shoot the beetles, shoot to kill! And while you're breaking their hateful little heads open, try not to break any of my stuff." The man warned.
They barely closed the thick sliding wooden before they were accosted again by someone offering them an alternate choice. A dirty looking man leaned into the open serving counter window and called, "Hey kids! Balthazar here owes some protection money to Nicky The Nickname." He revealed, "So how's about you smash up the stock instead of the beetles, and I'll give you a shiny gold coin in return, straight from Nicky himself!"
He wasn't quite prepared for both of them to completely ignore him as they walked up the stairs, Sparrow once more handing Rose his popgun, as well as a small pack holding all of his spare ammo and primers. Meanwhile, he got his sword ready.
Sparrow remained in the front as the beetles dropped form the ceiling when they approached, one by one. The insects didn't seem particularly hostile until they got close, so they had plenty of time to prepare. The upper floors of the warehouse were soon filled with small pops and the crunches of insect exoskeleton. Rose's popgun proved to be capable of breaking their outer shell, dazing them, while Sparrow's heavy wooden sword was enough to finish them off. It was quick and methodical, making their first taste of combat as a team rather anticlimactic.
Rose laughed happily as the last bug fell, entirely by her hand as she managed to crush it's small skull with a well placed shot. "We make a pretty good team in a fight! Told ya I could have taken that ruddy bastard from earlier." She said, blowing away imaginary smoke from her gun before she deftly reloaded it.
She made to hand it back, but he waved it off, gesturing for her to keep it.
"Well alright, I'll admit I've taken a bit for a liking to it." She said before something caught her eye. "What are those?" She asked as she pointed to size little green orbs of... something. They rolled about, eventually finding eachother and combining into an even bigger orb.
Sparrow walked over and went to pick it up, only for it to pop as his hand came into contact with it. He felt a strange surge of strength settle within him, but the feeling passed quickly. He looked up at his sister and shrugged.
She shook off the strange event easily and put it out of her mind, face slitting in a pleased smile as she thought about how well they'd done as they made their way down the stairs.
"Ah, crap! Do you know what had to do to get those beetles?!" The thug exclaimed, still being ignored, as Sparrow opened the door for his sister, closing it behind them. "I'll remember this kids!"
The warehouse owner, Balthazar, all but had stars in his eyes as he breathed, "That, was, a, massacre! No mercy for the buggers, that's what I like to see! And all my stock is intact, genius!" He calmed down only slightly as he stroked his chin. "Now that I think about it, I wonder how those beetles got in there...?"
Having actually ignored the thug's existence, neither sibling had an answer, settling for a shrug.
Balthazar ultimately decided it didn't matter as he shrugged too. "Ah well, a deal is a deal though, here's your payment." He said blithely as he handed over three gold coins.
Rose took the coins, only to turn around and hand them, and all the one's they'd gathered already, to her brother. "Here, keep hold of these. The sash I'm using to hold them is too flimsy for something that heavy." She explained.
Reaching the bottom of the stairs the two were prepared to head back towards the trader to see if the last warrant hadn't blown back in the direction of their shelter, only to stop as they heard a familiar barking.
They turned to find the puppy from earlier sitting on it's haunches with a rolled up paper in it's mouth. It leaned down and placed it on the ground before barking twice and looking at them with a wagging tail.
"Hey, there's that dog again. Wonder what it's got here?" Sparrow reached down and picked up the 'gift' from their furry friend.
Nicky 'The Nickname' Chalmers.
Wanted for: Assault with a deadly weapon, assault with a potentially deadly weapon, and assault with a weapon we can't believe could possibly be deadly but unfortunately was.
Wanted Dead or Mortally Wounded.
Rose gasped, "Hey, he found one for us. Good boy!" She reached down to pet it, only to giggle as it started prancing around her legs in a figure 8, very much like a needy cat would, "Oh I know, you're sweet, but I told you before we can't keep you." She insisted gently as she pushed it away again.
Straightening, she started walking back towards the guard's outpost. "Come on little Sparrow, that's all the warrants, we should get back to Derek."
They walked by the same group of children from before, who were now poking at the still unconscious bully from before, giggling as the teen groaned but never woke up.
"Stop right there ya little brats!" A loud voice suddenly demanded from in front of them.
Rose was immediately on edge as Arfur stepped out from the next clearing into the alley. "Listen creep, I told you no this morning!"
Sparrow felt his ire rise again. This man was going to die if he didn't learn his god damn place!
The failed pimp sneered at her, "This isn't about that ya teasing harlot! Those warrants you're collectin', I want 'em." He demanded.
"So does our friend the guard." Rose said, crossing her arms.
"Yeah, but you're gonna give 'em to me, see? Otherwise there'll be trouble!" The man growled, taking a threatening step forward.
Rose nearly punched her brother on reflex as he grabbed a handful of her backside. She knew she and her brother were close, but this was pushing it a little. She was sure it was by mistake, just doing what he'd told her to do – tap or pull at her clothes – but he was just more focused on Arfur to notice where his hand was or why it was a bad place. Either way though, she refrained from striking him and turned to look down at him. He first pointed to himself, then Arfur, then her, and then made a sort of straight cutting line with his hand before bending it left.
Sparrow felt a rather strange thrill settle in the pit of his stomach when he felt his hand sink into the clothed flesh of his sister's – warm and soft feeling beneath his fingers – bum. And for some other reason it thrilled him all the more that it was his sister. But he shook it off and continued to convey his plan to her. He'd think on the strange thrill later, for now Arfur was quite a big threat.
Despite being strong for his age. Arfur was still a grown man in comparison and would be much stronger than him. He'd have to just hold on though and keep him distracted until his sister got to Derek. He'd return whatever Arfur done to him two-fold before he killed him sometime soon when he could get the drop on him.
Never let it be said he wasn't dutiful when it came to his sister. He gave the filthy twit the chance to walk away before. There was no second chances for him, especially when it came to his sister's health.
It only took her a moment to get the plan and she nodded once.
She fought to urge to tell him to stop as, the second she finished nodding, Sparrow sprinted forward and hurled himself at Arfur, sending them both to the ground. She had a job to do though and she ran as fast as she could out of the alley, making a hard left and heading for Derek.
Sparrow grunted as Arfur shoved him off. He'd already reached back and started swing by the time he recovered from his backwards stumble.
The sword was just long enough the end just clipped Arfur's hand, leaving behind an angry red line of broken skin and some very rattled bones.
The very same weight that ended up causing the weapon to do some much damage also ended up being Sparrow' downfall as, unbalanced, he could do nothing as the furious man reared back his leg before launching it forward, driving the foot of his boot into the boy's gut.
Sparrow coughed up spittle and what would have been vomit, had there actually been anything in his stomach, before collapsing in a heap.
Instead of the kick he knew was coming he instead heard signs of a struggle. Taking deep breaths he looked up just in time to see Arfur bring pushed completely to the ground and shackled.
He felt himself being picked up by a familiar and welcome pair of warm arms. "Oh little brother, you brave little idiot." Rose said gently.
Derek made his presence known as he declared. "Arfur the pickpocket, you're under arrest. You may have been able to weasel out of those thievery charges, but assaulting a minor is different. You'll be spending quite a while in jail." He said with a pleased air, happy to finally have something to nail the criminal scum with.
He turned his attention to the children, reaching down to pick up the boy's wooden sword before handing it back to him handle first. "You did good lad, that was a brave thing you did." He complimented as the boy shakily took the handle, only to find three glittering bits of metal also transferring over.
Seeing the boy's curious look he winked. "That's on me, for helping with this one an getting those warrants. Get some ginger snaps, they'll help settle that stomach right quick." He suggested, having had personal experience with gut-shots in his career.
Sparrow nodded, fist clasping around the coins and sending a grateful look towards the man he was growing to look up to.
Derek sent them one last salute before grabbing Arfur and marching off with him.
Sparrow dumped the new coins into his pocket, the clink of coins against even more coins doing more to snap him out of his nauseous and dizzy state than ginger snaps ever would. They had so much money, they would be able to buy the box and plenty of food. He would be able to sleep tonight without forcing himself to ignore his sister's growling belly; it was a very good day.
Not to mention they had enough to get the music box too. He was skeptical, personally, but it presented just a glimmer of hope for something better, so he wanted to believe in it, and he would, with everything he had.
He smiled up at his sister, who got the hint and smiled too, actually looking hopeful for the first time in who knew how long. "Let's go get that box." She said.
They made for the trader's cart just around the corner slowly, no need to rush, Sparrow still with his arms around her waist, his legs not entirely steady yet.
The two actually groaned when, just as they were about to open their mouths to get the portly trader's attention, they heard a woman sigh longingly. "Oh Monty..."
They looked over to see a man standing outside a two story window, looking up at a woman, the same one who had apparently sighed before.
Rose looked down at Sparrow. "Should we?" She asked, sounding rather tired of helping people by this point.
He looked up at her and shrugged, jingling the coins in his pocket, as if to say, 'Eh, they might have something they can pay us to do.'
She sighed, asking flatly, "That does seem to be the theme of things today, isn't it? Alright then, let's go see if we can't go make some gold."
They walked over to the pair just in time for the man to finished saying something, apparently too loud at that, because the woman on the second floor suddenly shushed him.
"Shh! I think mother heard us!" She said in a panic.
She proved to be correct, as a shrewd looking woman burst from the door behind her and instantly looked down at the man beside the siblings. Her eyes narrowed hatefully before she cried, "You again! Thought I told you I don't want you sniffing around my daughter! Now push off before I call the guards, you animal!" She turned to her daughter, not lowering her voice at all, and screamed right at her, "Get in the house Belinda! And clean those floors! They're as filthy as that no-good delinquent Monty down there!"
"Yes mother..." Belinda said sadly, sparing her love down below one last look before she trudged inside.
"Well that probably could have gone better." Rose snarked, smiling as her brother snorted beside her. She turned to look at the round man beside them as her hung his head. "Whats'a matter with you?" She asked with less energy than intended.
The man looked up at them and sighed dramatically. "Oh... little ones, my situation is unbearable! Words can't even begin to describe it..." He pressed his wrist to his forehead.
She rolled her eyes, "Looks to me like you fancy that girl who lives there, but her mum's a right bitch and thinks you're rubbish, so she locked her daughter away to keep you two apart."
The man's act seemed to drop at the frank statement and her nervously replied. "Uh... I suppose that's the gist of it, yeh. Why'd you ask me then?"
"Because maybe we could help?" Rose hinted.
"Oh..." Monty said slowly before he suddenly perked up. "Yes! You could take my proposal letter to the fair maiden! Oh my heart soars in my chest like... like..."
She interrupted him before he could think of something. She really didn't like flowery poetry and he seemed like the type to recite the stuff, and badly at that. "We'll do it for a gold piece." She said flatly.
"Oh-ah..." He rubbed the back of his head. "I'm... uh, a bit strapped right at the moment." He raised a finger suddenly, "BUT, Belinda's good for it. I'm sure she'll pay you when she receives my letter."
"Well alright then, give us the letter."
The excitable man took a letter from his shirt pocket with a flourish, handing it over to Sparrow delicately, like it was made from both diamonds and glass at the same time. "Here you are." He once more pressed a wrist to his forehead as he dramatically declared, "Fate is a cruel and fickle mistress... and so is Belinda's mother. Get that letter straight to Belinda-DON'T let her mum get it."
"We got it, we got it." Rose said as he walked away to stand out of sight.
She suddenly turned to her brother and extended her hand. "Okay I'm curious, let me see that."
She flipped open the parchment and began reading quickly. A second later she brought up a hand to cover her mouth and smother her giggles. "Oh, this letter's awful!" She said under her breath to him. She began reading aloud.
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.
Your beloved Monty
"Okay, there's being romanticly cheesy and then there's that. If I ever get that sappy shoot me in the foot with the popgun... Just, EWWW." She squealed.
Monty, off to the side, heard her loud exclamation, but not really what she said and asked, "What?"
She jumped at being potentially caught. "O-oh, I said, awww..." She corrected herself, making a heartfelt sound.
She hurriedly put the letter in her pocket and turned to her brother. "Anyway, it's a bit over the top, innit?" She asked, getting a solid nod from Sparrow, which was followed as he took it a step further and opened his mouth, pointing at his throat and making gagging sounds, drawing a giggle from her before she put on a serious face and turned to the house.
"Right then, knock on the door and see who answers." She urged.
Sparrow did as she said, banging his little fist against the door three times.
The door opened quickly, "What do you want?!" The old woman demanded.
Thrown off by the quick response, Rose floundered for a few seconds. "Oh... um, we..." She cleared her throat. "We've got a letter. We need one gold for the postage."
The woman's entire demeanor changed, taking on a disgusting fake air of friendliness. "Oh well, why didn't you just say so? Come on in!" She turned and wandered over to a cabinet. "Right then, wait a tick while I get the money-and don't you touch anything!"
Sparrow gestured for the stairs silently, jerking his head back towards the door when she sent him a asking look. Rose nodded at the plan and ran up the stairs silently.
She quickly found Belinda, who was on her knees scrubbing at the floor. Knowing she didn't have much time she didn't try and introduce herself as she said, "Here, from Monty."
Confused but pleased to hear her beau had gotten past her mother, at least in a sense, Belinda took the letter and opened it. Her eyes misted over as she pressed it against her chest. "This is wonderful!" She breathed. She reached into the sash around her waist and pulled out several coins. "Here, have this, I've been hiding it away but you deserve it for your trouble. Oh Monty, my little love-dove..."
Rose followed the woman as she all but floated over to the balcony on cloud nine.
Downstairs, Sparrow made a silent dash for the still open door. He skidded to a halt outside just in time to see Belinda open the balcony door and take her previous position against the wooden railing, followed by Rose.
"Belinda! I heard that door open, you better not be out there making eyes at that ruffian!" Everyone heard. Even Sparrow heard the following stomping of footsteps.
Catching his sister's panicked eyes as she realized she had nowhere to go he held out his arms.
Rose hesitated for only a second before hurling herself off the balcony as the furious mother crested the top of the stairs.
Sparrow braced himself and grunted loudly as his sister's larger body landed in his arms. His legs shook hard and his arm muscles trembled and ached, but he managed to keep her from landing painfully on the ground.
The same could not be said for Belinda, who followed Rose's example and jumped into Monty's arms. The romanticist just didn't have the same kind of single minded resolve Sparrow did to keeping his catch safe, but in the end it didn't matter. He was knocked to the ground, but his belly managed to cushion her fall.
"My hero~!" Rose declared dramatically, an amused smile on her face as she wrapped her arms around her brother's neck and kissed him on the cheek. She slipped the coins given to her by Belinda into his pocket as she did so.
Sparrow felt it again rising in the pit of his stomach when his sister hugged him close and planted a kiss on his cheek with her soft pink lips. Whatever the feeling was. It felt really good.
They looked over to see the two they'd just helped running away, the shrewd older woman yelling at them from the balcony the whole way.
"I guess some people's dreams do come true." Rose said wistfully.
Since his hands were busy holding her, Sparrow resorted to nustling his cheek against hers to reassure her.
"Yeah, you're right, let's go get that music box." Rose said with a warm smile as she stepped out of his arms and righted herself.
The two wandered over to the merchant, who perked up instantly at the potential customer. He could smell the gold on them, so despite their appearance he treated them with a friendly greeting, "Hello children!"
Rose didn't let the act ruin her mood, well used to people treating her and her brother like vermin. It was refreshing to have someone put so much effort into it, really. "Hello, we'd like to buy the music box." She said politely.
"Very wise, little ones." The merchant said as he scooped up the box. He waited until the boy had placed five gold coins on his counter top before he handed it over.
To the boy's credit he didn't sag under the sudden weight of the heavy metal music box, but he did get a strange look on his face.
He ignored that and winked at them, instructing, "Go ahead and turn the handle-but mind you go somewhere quiet-loike."
The two nodded, already having planned on doing that.
Rose turned to her brother, grinning happily as she started jogging back towards their shelter. "Let's go make our wish little Sparrow!"
Sparrow released an affirmative noise, fairly excited himself, before following after. He spared the box one last wary look at it trembled in his hands once more. He could feel... something, radiating from it. So much of that something was held within the box that it seemed to struggle to contain it all.
He looked up in time to see his sister stop in front of a large box with a red tablecloth on it. "This looks good, just set it on the box here." She announced.
He did so, and they just sat there and looked at it for several long seconds. This was the moment that could very well change their lives, and both wanted to believe in the music box's power so very hard.
Rose reached forward with a hesitant hand and cranked the key sticking out of the side of the box.
"I wish..." One turn. She felt dizzy.
"I wish..." Her hand trembled even more, joined by her knees. She couldn't do it, she couldn't turn it a third time...
"...I wish..." She looked down in alarm to see Sparrow's teeth clenched hard, free hand reaching up to grab at his throat, agonized from even just the quiet whisper, while his other was placed over hers, helping her turn the key the final time.
The two jumped back as the rounded top of the box suddenly bent backwards, the metal warping and bending, splaying open like a flower. Golden light spilled forth from the opening as gentle music began playing. It was peaceful, calming, but then the box itself began spinning, and the music sped up.
Both children took another step back as the music changed, becoming twisted and tainted as red sparks began to shoot from the box, the gentle golden light darkening to a sickening red.
It spun faster and faster, the music growing louder and louder, as if mirroring their thundering hearts-
And then it was gone.
In a blink the entire box just disappeared like it was never there.
It was an entire minute they sat there, just staring at where the box had been, not quite comprehending what had just happened.
Rose was the first to react as she shook her head, "But... where did it go? Why are we still here?!" She demanded before deflating with a sad sigh. "Five gold pieces, just gone... Let's just... let's just go home..."
Sparrow tried to get her attention, but she was too busy with her own moment of self pity. "I was so sure this was it! I had this feeling like... like we weren't going to be stuck in Old Town anymore! Why didn't the box take us with it?" She ranted.
He almost got her attention when something else stole it away. The puppy from before came bounding out of their shelter when they turned the corner, running over with the bouncy sort of energy only a dog could have.
"Hey-what are you doin' here, I'm sure I didn't wish for you." Rose grumped, though her bad mood was lifting in the face of such exuberance. She sighed in defeat. "Alright, fine, welcome to our little paradise, I guess."
Sparrow growled as he flailed his arms. Rose was once again looking at the ground, now just as much out of self pity as it was so the dog didn't trip her as it once again danced around her legs, barking happily. In his annoyed state he didn't think and took a deep breath.
"ROSE!" He yelled, only to instantly regret it as blinding pain clawed at his vocal chords. Trembling hands latched at his throat, as if they could soothe away the pain, and he stumbled sideways to lean against the stone railing.
Rose jumped at the sudden shout, immediately turning and wincing at her brother's pain. "Sparrow! I told you not to speak, just pull at my clothes or tap me or something." She chastised gently.
Her brother ignored her as he pushed off the wall and grinned at her. A hand reached into a pouch sewed into his pants and pulled something out.
Rose's breath caught as she eyes the seven – SEVEN! - glinting coins in his hand.
The sudden rush of happiness, joy, and relief couldn't be described with words. Barely managing to be careful not to throw the coins around, she hugged her brother tightly, kissing at his face repeatedly, a wide grin on her own face. "The box doesn't matter, we can eat tonight! We can eat for the next week, two if we-no, we're going to splurge a bit. We deserve it after that." She said firmly. They needed a boost after such a let down, and a week of going to bed with full bellies sounded like an amazing pick me up.
She grabbed his hand and began pulling him towards the market. "Come on, come on! We don't have long before the stalls close for the night!"
Sparrow barely heard her. He'd done good, his sister was beyond happy, his smarts and haggling had paid off perfectly. The lingering soreness in his throat was completely forgotten in the face of it all.
And once again the thrill at the pit of his stomach flared. He could still feel the warmth of her lips on his face as she kissed him repeatedly. And it felt almost as good as the first time it flared up when he had grabbed her bum.
They ended up just finishing as the Town Crier called that the stalls would be closing soon. They had a good, filling meal on atop the bridge, and carried the rest of their food back to their home, to be placed In the ell hidden cellar they had beneath the extra bedroll Sparrow so very rarely used. Best of all, they'd only spent two gold and they had enough food to eat for another two days.
They were on the way back when Sparrow remembered something he'd wanted to ask. Tapping on his sister's hip he turned and grabbed a stick, writing someone in the snow. Once he was done he turned to her and sent her a curious look.
"Fancy?" She asked, wondering if he meant high quality food. It suddenly clicked when her mind rewound back to the incident with Monty. "Oh, you mean that kind of- okay. Fancy is when a guy likes a girl, or the other way around, and they want to be together with that other person, possibly forever. Sometimes it can be a petty sort of fancy, the guy just wanting to do... things, with the girl, not caring for her feelings. But the other kind is much better, like Monty before, he fancied Belinda and wanted to be with her forever, just spending time with her and being happy together in love." She explained. "It's kinda cheesy, but it's... nice, in a way, having someone there for you." She shook her head. "Well, I imagine anyway. Don't have someone like that."
Sparrow begged to differ, proudly pointing at himself. He matched that description perfectly!
Rose giggled, "No, no, you can't fancy me, I'm your sister."
He stared at her curiously, not seeing her train of logic.
She rubbed the inside of her elbow as she struggled to explain it. "Well... it's not right I guess." Her morals, what few she had, weren't exactly very strong and she really couldn't find the words to properly explain it.
Sparrow blinked slowly. Who cared what other people thought? Most people already treated them like dirt anyway.
Rose lightly pulled at one of her pigtails. She straightened as she thought of a good answer. "You're too young!" She blurted. "Yeah, too young to fancy someone, just wait till your older." She turned and continued walking, content that she wouldn't have to deal with that moral issue again for a long time, if ever.
Sparrow nodded slowly to himself as he followed her. He would just do what he was doing at the moment for now, and then fancy her later. It made perfect sense to him.
The two were woken up by their new pet barking loudly, growling in a way that would probably be threatening if the puppy wasn't the size of a large cat.
The two crawled out of their sleeping back, shivering at the cold that hit them when they weren't covered by blankets insulated with their combined body heat.
"Settle down, that's a nice... angry stray dog." A familiar voice said in a placating, nervous way.
"Quiet boy!" Rose hissed before she turned to the guard, blinking the sleep out of her eyes. "Derek? What do you want?"
The man looked exceedingly happy, causing the children to relax, assured they weren't in trouble. "I'm here on behalf of Lord Lucien, Rose, Sparrow, and he would very much like to see you in his Castle. I've been asked to collect you, since I'm familiar with the two of you." He explained.
It took several seconds for the news to sink in, but when it did their eyes lit up and Rose turned to her brother. "It did work! Our wish came true! Full bellies and now we get to go to the castle! Oh Sparrow, things are going to be okay!" She hugged him tightly, laughing at the weightless feeling that enveloped her. They were going to be okay, their hardships were going to come to an end soon! It was like a huge weight had been lifted.
They made to move and follow the contingent of guards waiting outside for them, but stopped when the puppy made a curious sound.
Rose knelt down and rubbed it's head. "It's all right doggie, we're going to Lord Lucien's Castle!"
Instead of barking and wagging it's tail the dog whined, running back over to their beds and pawing at them.
Dogs, and animals in general, could sometimes sense things humans could not, and right now it was getting a very bad feeling. It didn't want it's two new owners to get hurt, they needed to stay!
"We'll come back for you, I promise." Rose said consolingly.
She ignored the louder whining from the dog as she grabbed Sparrow's hand and joined the guards. "Let's go to the Castle!" She announced excitedly.
The walk through the royal gardens was amazing, and they would have loved to have lingered more, but the guards were insistent Lord Lucien wanted to see them as soon as possible.
Sooner than they thought possible they had crossed the huge courtyard of the castle and began climbing a spiral staircase upward. A dozen stories up they were greeted at the door by a crisp looking older man in a suit.
"Evening Jeeves, here are the kids Lord Lucien asked for." Derek said with a bow.
"Excellent." The butler said, very pleased at how fast the job had gotten done. His voice was just as cultured as his appearance would suggest. "Your quick response has been noted Derek, I expect you'll be hearing from your superiors soon about a promotion."
He made a shooing gesture with his hand, dismissing the excited guard back to his post before turning to the children. "Hello young masters."
"Hello, sir." Rose responded politely with a curtsey.
Sparrow waved, giving a bow a second later, mirroring the one Derek had done.
"He can't speak." Rose said quickly, not wanting Jeeves to get the wrong idea.
The man didn't seem to bat an eye at the news, but there was a momentary pause before he spoke, "I see, thank you for telling me, young miss. I shall make lord Lucien aware so he can direct all question towards you. For now, if you'd follow me please?"
He turned and began walking down the hall.
The children were utterly amazed by everything. The carpet was perfectly clean beneath their feet, the walls were covered in tasteful wallpaper, beautiful works of art, well polished but clearly used sets of armor, and best of all the entire place was heated! It was like going from winter to a cool summer day, a wall of warmth that just hit them all at once the second they entered the interior of the castle, like magic.
"We look up at this castle every day and think how nice it is; we both do! But inside it's even more beautiful than I'd imagined." Rose said breathlessly.
Jeeves chuckled, "It is quite wonderful isn't it?" He paused momentarily as a dark skinned man walked past wearing thick clothes with several tomes strapped to him, his body covered in glowing blue tattoo's. "Ah, hello Master Garth."
"…" Garth didn't even look up from his book as he walked past.
"Huh, man of... few words." Jeeves muttered.
Rose, despite having eaten her fill just a few hours ago, suddenly blurted. "Where is the Grand Dining Hall?"
Jeeves, thankfully, took it as simply curiosity about the castle layout. "Oh in the North Wing. Lord Lucien hasn't been there since... since the tragic deaths of lady Fairfax and little Amelia..." He grew quiet.
Rose gasped, "Oh, I heard. That was so awful."
"Yes he... misses them terribly."
"So... where does he eat?" Rose said, changing the subject.
"Actually, he takes most of his meals in his study. He's in there working all hours, doing research."
"What does he research?" She inquired, actually curious what a Lord would be researching.
"History mostly. " Jeeves replied brightly. "Lord Lucien is quite keen on antiques of all sort, but he is chiefly interesting in things related to the Old Kingdom."
"There was a trader in town who said some of his stuff was from the Old Kingdom!" Rose said helpfully.
"Yes... Yes. I believe Lord Lucien... heard about that." He said, suddenly sounding uncomfortable. His Master had been quite... insistent, on getting that box, growing even more manic once he'd heard someone had purchase it.
"We bought a piece of it, made a wish, and now we're here."
"That's wonderful." He said, not quite flatly or meanly, but there was an air of dismissal about it. "Now, when you meet Lord Lucien you must show respect at all times. Address him as 'My Lord', speak only when spoken to, and DO NOT mention Lady Fairfax or miss Amelia." He said sternly, looking at them seriously.
Rose ducked her head. "O-of course, sir. We might be street urchins, but we know how to behave."
Jeeves smiled a small smile, "I have no doubt, you have shown yourselves to be refreshingly polite." He complimented just as they reached another large double door. "Here we are." He opened the door, leaning in to announce, "Lord Lucien, the children you asked for are here. Also, sir, it appears the boy is mute." Jeeves explained.
"Splendid, send them in." Was the distracted sounding reply.
The children were ushered into a large round room covered in bookshelves and tables. Everything was covered in candles, illuminating the room well, but the largest source of light was the moonlight shining through the large stained glass window depicting a being made from both dark and light, one half wearing a heavenly robe and possessing a halo, while the other was dressed in some form of dark hide with horns.
The Lord of the castle turned to greet them, his face aged prematurely from the loss of his wife and child. His hair was a solid shock of white, but his eyes looked even older. Despite all this, his voice was rather upbeat and happy. "Children, it's come to my attention that you've acquired some sort of magic box. May I see it?" He asked all at once. He seemed to talk very quickly, not because he was in a rush, but rather that was just how he talked.
The pair glanced at eachother before Rose turned back to look at him and answer slowly, "It vanished m'Lord. We were winding it up, and we made a wish... and then it started to glow and just vanished."
Lucien's gaze grew intense. "After you used it?"
The girl shrank back a little at the scrutiny but answered, "Y-yes m'Lord, the man who sold it to us said it was magic."
"The box is of no interest to me, but what's remarkable is that you were able to use it." Lucien mused aloud, "What was your wish?
Rose blushed, squirming in place at being put on the spot like she was.
"Well speak up – what did you wish for?" Lucien asked more intently.
Rose looked down as a hand slipped into hers and was reassured by Sparrow's supportive smile. "To... to live in a castle, like this one." She said with confidence.
"Perhaps that could be arranged." Lucien mused as he turned and went back to the table he was working at before they came in. He looked over his shoulder and began explaining. "You see, I'm working to rebuild – well, I'm working on something wonderful, for which I need individuals with... particular talents. Let us find out if you possess them." He pointed to the stone circle with a unique design carved into it on the right in front of the window. "Would you kindly step into the circle, please?
"Erm..." Rose was suddenly very uncomfortable for some reason she couldn't explain.
"I promise, it won't hurt you." The older man said, though it was completely clear his request was anything but.
Rose stepped into the circle slowly and was immediately pulled in, her body being manipulated like a puppet and turned around roughly to stand straight and look back at her brother and Lucien. "What's this?!" She exclaimed.
"Nothing to worry about, nothing to worry about." Lucien muttered, eyes glinting and mind whirling.
Sparrow stepped into the circle next and the grow grew even brighter. The boy was also pulled into position on the other side of the circle. It took less than a second for panic to sink in as he tried to move, only to find himself stuck in place. He was trapped, he couldn't get to Rose.
"It's true! Your blood–you're Heroes!" Lucien gasped.
He began hyperventilating as he struggle against the circle with all his might. This was wrong, he needed to move, needed to get over to her.
"Heroes? You mean like in those old stories?" Rose asked, voice wavering.
Sparrow struggled ever harder. He didn't like this, he hated it, the circle and whatever was keeping him from his sister needed to disappear!
It was at that moment Lucien tried to touch the circle. The magic, already taxed from Sparrow's struggles, grew even more strained at the foreign magic of Lucien trying to invade it and began glowing red in warning.
The Lord yelped and pulled back his hand, finding the skin of his index finger outright gone, charred straight to the bone. "What are you?" He breathed before he rushed back over to his table, rummaging through his documents. "Wait, there was something here..."
"M'Lord, what happened? What's that light?" An increasingly worried Rose asked.
"Quiet!" The man snapped, veneer of friendliness gone. "You're Heroes, but you're not any of the three. One of you, or maybe both of you is... the fourth."
The glow from the circle grew even brighter as Sparrow fought against it and managed to get his feet to move. Rose couldn't see him though, locked in position, and cried, "What's happening!"
"Aha!" Lucien said in triumph as he pulled out a very expensive looking pistol, trimmed with gold and embedded with several Augmentation Gems. "This isn't what I wanted, but nothing must stand in my way!" Lucien said grimly.
Weakened as the magic was, Rose was able to take a scared step back. "No, wait! Don't!"
Sparrow's heart stopped as he took in the scene. Just as before something snapped within him, but this time the strength he'd felt from the motes of light back in the warehouse came to the front and powered... something. The world blurred before him and-
PTWANG!
Everyone present stopped to stare as Sparrow appeared in front of Rose and blocked the bullet with his wooden sword, which was glowing red and sizzling. The bullet ricocheted sideways, off the floor in a shower of sparks, and embedded itself halfway into a large tome with the same seal on it the two were standing on.
"What-how did?" Lucien sputtered, only to take a deep breath, smirking lightly as he saw the red glow leave the wooden sword, leaving behind a thin, charred husk that fell apart just a moment later under it's own weight. "No matter, your abilities won't work twice."
Sparrow dropped the blackened handle of his trusty wooden sword and spread his arms wide. He knew the type of pistol Lucien had, having seen an advertisement for it in a magazine that had floated into his lap one day. The man had three shots left. All he had to do was take three shots and Rose could escape.
'Just three.' He thought to himself as he set his resolve, tensing his muscles to make a hard a target as possible.
There was no magically glowing sword to block the second shot, and the ball of lead buried itself into Sparrow's small abdomen, drawing a cry of pain from him and a shout of alarm from the girl behind him.
They stumbled back, blood bubbling from Sparrow's lips, and only stopped when they were pressed against the large stained glass window.
"Sparrow stop! I'm your older sister, I'm supposed to protect you. Move out of the way!" Rose cried, trying to shake his shoulder, but he wasn't budging. 'Two more. Two more. Two more.' Was all that ran through his head.
Hand shaking, Lucien growled at the little brats, "Just die! I can't allow either of you to live!"
His next shot went wild due to his shaking hand, clipping Sparrow's shoulder, narrowly missing Rose's chest as it slipped through the gap between her arm and ribcage, and cracked the window behind them.
Sparrow was sent stumbling back from the hit, and Rose wasn't about to let go of him, sending them both over and out the window as it finally shattered under their weight. The siblings had one final moment to look at Lucien's grim but triumphant face before they began falling rapidly landward.
Sparrow blacked out midway through the fall towards the city. Rose, on the other hand, was not so lucky, and only passed out after she'd slammed into the roof of a house thigh first, barely hearing the stomach churning snap of her leg bone suddenly splitting into two pieces.
They lay in a pile, Rose's head laying on Sparrow's upper right arm, while he was laying the other way around, his forehead pressed against her side. Neither moved until the newest and third member of their family came running, skidding to a halt as it whined and licked at their faces. They twitched, but both remained unconscious.
The puppy was followed by the blind woman in red, walking at a sedate, seemingly uncaring pace. She looked down at the two children and smiled her thin, cheshire smile. "Oh my, changing fate already? Such power you two house. Truly, we live in interesting times..." She chuckled under her breath.
"But death is not your destiny today, Heroes."
First off, huge thanks to Jordinio, who added a load of scene additions that made this feel less... thin, I guess would be a good word.
As with everything I write this is up for adoption. I'm mostly stopping this here because the next part is when my personal kinks kick in and I know not everyone is into that. So instead of making a potential adopter hack off the last bit, may as well have him/her the trouble.
This is Sparrow/Rose, for the record, that's what I'm pointlessly dancing around.
Also, seriously, if anybody has a good name for this please don't hesitate to tell me. I am utterly terrible at naming things and I know there's a good title out there. It was either the one it has now, Rose Petal Sparrow, suggested by Jordinio because literally no reason, or The Gardener's Rose – since a gardener would be protective of a beautiful rose, like Sparrow is.