Journey's True Start

"Come on! We've got to find Derek!" Jenna said, running down the streets of Old Town as her brothers, and the dog of the same name as the sheriff followed her.

"Your not the one carrying Joseph." Thomas remarked, lugging his one year old brother over his shoulder.

"Come on, there he is!" Jenna said, recognizing the signature white coat of the local sheriff of the borough. "Derek! Derek!" The young girl cried out.

Thomas soon joined his sister, but when he looked at the sheriff, it was a man he did not recognize. his body was way too small for the oversized coat he wore, most of it covered his entire body easily, making him look thinner overall when you saw him from the front, his hands were covered in a dirty pair of fingerless gloves, and the man's face was a deep, pitted one, sparse hairs grew all around his chin and neck, partially covered by a thin, raggedy scarf, and he had yellow crooked teeth in his smile, his eyes were thin and beady, looking at the children as if they were a rather nasty stain, and greasy, slicked back hair adorning his head, covered by the decorative sheriff's hat.

"Well, well, well," He said with a sneer. " what do we have here?" Derek the Dog started growling at this point. "Oh stuff it you mutt."

"Who are you?" Jenna asked with a tremble in her voice. "Where's Derek?"

"Derek's been, oh... shall we say, reassigned. Last I heard, he was on 'pub patrol', heh-heh." The man chuckled. "Me, I'm the Sheriff. I was reassigned last week."

"Look we need help!" Thomas said. "This woman leading a gang of bandits stole our parents! Kidnapped them!"

"So, am I to understand that you have no legal guardian at the moment?" The man asked.

"No, but we have to hurry! Before it's too-" Jenna started.

"Any and all unattended children must be in the hands of a capable legal guardian, or they must be sent to an orphanage immediately." The man said, ruffly grabbing Thomas' wrist, at which point the Dog started barking loudly.

"Hey let go of my brother!" Jenna said, grabbing the man's thin wrist. The man in response, smacked her face, and kept a tight grip on Thomas' wrist, who was now having difficulty keeping a grip on his little brother.

"Excuse me, but I don't think the children appreciate what you're doing." An aged voice said. The guard turned around to see a blind old woman in a red and white dress.

"Oh, and what're you going to do about it?" The guard asked, letting go of Thomas who landed on the ground with a thump.

"I'm not sure. Here's hoping you won't tempt me." The woman said, with the lightest hint of a smirk.

"Come on, let's get out of here!" Jenna whispered to Thomas.

"And what, leave this woman here?" Thomas asked.

"Come on, who cares, we've got enough problems right now, we've got to go." Jenna grabbed Derek's collar, the dog who was now cowering slightly at the woman's presence, and dragged him down another alleyway, Thomas taking one last look at the scene, before following suit.

"Daniel! Open up!" Jenna said, pounding on the door.

"Oh, hello." Said a thirteen year old boy, who opened the door. "I was just about to come over-" the boy was interrupted as Jenna trodded inside, pushing him aside, who was quickly followed by Derek the dog, and Thomas, still carrying his little brother.

"Hey, what's going on?" The boy known as Daniel asked, closing the door as Thomas put down his little brother on a sofa.

"A lot of things have happened." Thomas said, walking to Daniel, and giving him a hug, something that Thomas embraced. "It's good to see you... you can let go now."

"Oh, right, sorry." Daniel said, letting go of Thomas.

"Danni, were are your folks?" Jenna asked.

"I told you, there were taking a vacation in Gaulia." Daniel said plainly.

"They've already left?" Jenna asked. "Sacre bleu!"

"Yeah, I was just about to head over to your guys' place. What's happened?" Daniel asked. Derek rubbed his head against Daniel's leg, and in return Daniel rubbed his head gently.

"Our parents, they've been kidnapped." Thomas said, collapsing on the sofa.

"What?! But I thought your dad was the Hero!" Daniel said.

"Sparrow is a Hero," Jenna said. "but the bandits came in, led by this woman, they grabbed Mum from behind, and he gave himself up on the condition we wouldn't be hurt. They took him, and Mum."

"We had this girl over, Rose was her name, she was gone when we woke up and got down there. I hope she's all right." Thomas said.

"Yeah," Jenna said distractedly, sitting down on a chair. "yeah, that wouldn't be good." 'A girl walks past the one bad pub in Old Town, and I'm there when it happens? And she says she's missing her parents, and brother? Beginning to sound a lot like crap to me.'

"Well what are you guys gonna do?" Daniel asked.

"Well we tried to find the Sheriff, after all, he's a good friend with Dad, but someone else is Sheriff, and I'm sure he's up to no good." Thomas said.

"Said there's some law that's gonna place us in some rundown orphanage." Jenna said, almost spitting out the words with disdain.

"Since when?"

"I don't know! All I know, is that Sparrow would never sign some stupid law like that!" Jenna lashed out.

Little Baby Joseph began to whimper, then cry at his sister's outburst and Derek whimpered slightly, and trotted over to Thomas for comfort. "Calm down Jenna, your scaring Derek Joseph." Thomas said, picking up his brother, and calming him down.

"I'm sorry, it's just this whole situation bites." Jenna said angrily.

"... I think we need to find Barnum." Thomas said.

"The man with the Picture Box?" Daniel asked, remembering the stories the two had told him.

"Yeah, he's the mayor of Westcliff, he's really well off." Thomas said. "We've been there before, I mean, it's a long ways away-"

"It's through the bloody Bandit Coast." Jenna said. "The only safe way is by caravan."

"Then we get a caravan." Thomas said plainly. "It's not much of a plan, but it's better than nothing."

"I promise, I'll do whatever I can to help you guy's." Daniel said.

Rose woke to a trundling motion. She slowly took off the thick blanket that had covered her, and looked through the window. She saw for one thing, that the snow had stopped, and now Bowerstone had a picturesque look of a frosted village, with people still going about their businesses. But thing she noticed the most, was she was MOVING.

"I must have been really tired." Rose thought aloud. "Just goes to show, I should have snuck in their room at midnight, not six in the bloody morning."

Suddenly the Caravan stopped.

"Oh my, if it isn't you." She heard Theresa said.

"How did you see us?" A girl asked.

"I didn't, the horse did, and I could hear you muttering underneath your breath." Theresa said. "I hope that guard didn't give you any trouble."

"No, no more trouble..." Rose could here the girl mutter something under her breath, but she couldn't make it out.

"I heard what he said, you have no legal guardian?"

"We were planning on going to Westcliff." A male voice said, followed by a short "Ow."

"Westcliff? I was heading there myself." Theresa said. 'Was she going to take me with her?' Rose wondered.

"We were planning on hiring a caravan." The boy said.

"At this time of year?" Theresa asked. "You'll have a hard time finding one. I could take you there if you wanted."

"Oh we wouldn't want to bother you." Another voice said. Rose looking through the window noticed a guard with a shifty look in his eyes.

"But since your offering-" The girl said, heading around the back.

The doorknob turned, and when it opened, Rose's looked at the face of Jenna.

'And so the next two cards have been played.' Theresa thought as her caravan slowly trundled through the frosted woodland. 'Rose's path is unfolding rather quickly. It's good to see my friends children are still safe. Though I wonder, which of those three are the Star and the Lovers?'

The Woman smirked slightly, as the horse kept pulling the caravan though the fresh snow that covered the path.

No words passed through the cabin. None.

Rose looked out the window, her hand propping up her head as she watched the barren snow covered tree's pass by. The Dog known as Derek rested it's head on her lap, keep it's head down, almost sulking.

Thomas was content to read a book, one titled The Modern Heroes, while the other boy, one a little older than the other two, but younger than herself, was left holding a small bundle, looking around the cabin uneasily.

Jenna just stared at a wall with utter contempt.

Rose turned to look at the new guy. She hadn't seen him before. He had blond hair that came down to his shoulders, looking like it could be tied into a ponytail if he wanted. He had a rounded face, but it had outgrown a lot of features you would deem childlike. He had blue eyes focused on the bundle before him, which he fiddled with every now and again, causing a gurgle from the bundle. His clothes were likely expensive, going through the same change that had gripped all of Bowerstone. Probably not as expensive as her new coat though, she thought to herself. She glanced around the cabin, and her eyes briefly met Jenna's, at which point they stopped.

"So... you've given up on finding your parents?" Jenna asked. At this point Thomas looked up from his book, and the other kid stopped fiddling with the little baby.

"Let's just say, I'm not going to find them here, or anything else I'm looking for." Rose said.

"Why'd you leave this morning?" She asked.

"...personal issues." Rose said, looking back through the window.

"Do you know what happened this morning?" Jenna asked, sitting up straight.

"What happened?" Rose asked.

"Our parents were kidnapped." Jenna said coldly.

"They- what?" Rose asked, snapping her head around to look at Jenna again.

"Yeah, this morning, Bandits stormed in, took them from us, and just left us there." Jenna said.

"Oh, I feel so sorry for you!" Rose said. "Do you think they're okay?"

"I don't know." Jenna said, shifting her gaze towards the door.

Jenna was still supsicious of Rose, and Rose was still leery of the two children's father.

Needless to say, it was going to be a long journey.

*Knock-Knock-Knock*

"I'll be just a minute!" A man said. What someone wanted from him at five in the morning he didn't know.

*Knock-Knock-Knock*

"Keep your Pantalons on! I vocalated ya didn't I!"

The door to the large mansion on the hill opened up revealing a man wearing a red and orange pinstripe suit opened the door. He had a gray muggy face, but his eyes had a unique look of honesty and naivety, on top of his head he wore a round brown hat on his head with a pair of goggles on it, one lens green and one blue.

"I believe your name is Barnum, no?" A woman in a white and red dress asked.

"Why yes, that would be myself." The man asked. "Eh, uh, what do acquire this unlordly hour?"

"I've brought some children in need of care." She said plainly.

"Uh, ma'am, the orphanage is on the other hemisphere of the town." Barnum said, trying to rub some of the sleep dust from his eyes.

"Come, I believe you know some of them." The woman turned and slowly walked towards a gypsy caravan. Barnum, nothing better to do at five a.m. grabbed his cane, and stepped outside into the freezing cold to follow her.

The woman opened the back doors to the caravan, and lit a candle illuminating it, and revealing it's occupants, four kids, a dog, and one sleeping baby.

"Oh my... Tommy and Jenna! And Derek! And, and little baby Joseph?" Barnum exclaimed. "I have to say, I was anticipating a sudden invacation of these guys... hey who are the other two? And wheres their Mum and Dad?"

"That, I believe, they will be able to tell you themselves. For now, simply give them a warm bed to sleep in in."

Rose stretched slowly in bed. It felt so nice. It was so cozy. She had gotten to the point where her body had warmed the bed until it was the absolute warmest. Nothing felt better than a warm bed on a cold winter morning. She was very tempted to simply drift back to sleep. Then she remembered she didn't fall asleep in a bed as nice as this one, or with blankets as thick as the ones on her now.

Relunctantly, she slowly shifted the large duvet covers from off of her, and sat upright, rubbing the sleep dust from her eyes. Still sleepy, she turned to look outside. Outside was a snow covered town. In the middle was a frozen duck pond, surrounded by freshly cleared walkways. Further on was a port with, filled with ships in large white sails. On the right side of the window was a cliff face with an occasional chunk of snow and ice dotting it's face, before being interrupted from a great building built into the living rock, now covered with ice and icicles. On the horizon was a great sea extending to the west, and possibly to the new colonies, and in the clear sky was a light pink color that surrounded the horizon, and beyond that was an amazing light blue, with a half moon still prominent in the sky, and in the center of the sky was a deep blue.

"Alright. I'll bite." Rose muttered. "Where am I?" She got out of the bed and looked around her new surroundings. On the shelves and on the walls where all types of these strange paintings, except they weren't paintings, they were all put on this type of paper, and all them had an incredible accuracy to them, so lifelike they where, were as a painting is usually made to be perfect, and is romanticized, the paintings here were so accurate that they included every single detail, gritty, pleasant or not, including the things you would expect or not.

She heard a muffled conversation coming from outside her door, so with nothing to lose, she slowly shuffled outside her door, and peered over a balcony. Downstairs where two men fussing over a table that had some sort of schematics, as well as an old flintlock rifle.

"Now the only complifications I visuate is how much gunpowder our thingamajig fasicitates." One of them said, pointing to a certain part of the schematics.

"Of course, I have a contact in Allemand, he is constructing some type of explosive device, meant to destroy an entire city, he may know a thing or two." Another man said, one with a blue suit and a watch in his hand said.

"Oh my that sounds devacatastrating!" The first man said. "Still though, it's a good thing I have you to know everyone, ain't it?"

Just then someone walked in on the two. Rose recognized the boy as Thomas. "Uncle Barnum!" The boy said rushing to the first man, and giving him a big hug.

"Oh-ho! Easy there Tommy!" The man said, sitting on a stool. "Easy! I still got that old Blamgong wound you know."

"It's great to see you." Tommy said. "Who are you?" He asked upon seeing the other man.

"Michael Clockman." The man said, putting the watch in his pocket, and extending his hand, which Thomas shook. "I'm Barnum's current Business Partner."

"Nice to meet you." Thomas said.

"And you are?" The man asked.

"Oh, this is Thomas, he's a son of an old Business Partner O' mine." Barnum said.

"Um, about that-" Thomas said. "Um, do you think we could talk in private?"

"Oh, that's fine, I was going to leave soon anyway." The man picked up the schematics, and rolled them up, and tucked them under his arm. "I'll see if I can't come to an understanding with Mr. Alberstein."

"So what is it you need to vocalate with in private?" Barnum asked.

"I think we should wake Jenna first." Thomas said, heading back to his room, to retrieve his sister. Meanwhile, Barnum took a pencil from behind his ear, and started writing down notes, muttering calculation under his breath.

Rose was honestly confused about Barnum. When she had last seen him, he had given her and her little Sparrow his last gold piece so they could buy that damn music box that never worked. After that her memory was rather fuzzy, the last thing she remembered was waking up in the forest during the fall. And then she was greeted by that stupid old man. Now it was winter, so it had only been a year. Not only had Old Town been transformed, but Barnum had somehow made his fortune, apparently his picture taking business had taken off of something. Remembering that letter from yesterday, he'd also become mayor of this town, Westcliff.

Rose looked around the house she was in. It was definitely a big one. She slowly walked around the balcony that surrounded the balcony Barnum was in. She then spotted, to her right, was a study area, with a desk no doubt made of an expensive wood. In it were more of those super accurate pictures, tons of them. Then she spotted it.

It was picture of her and little Sparrow, that day in Old Town. The day before she woke up in the forest. It was when she met Barnum, that, again, must have been a year ago. Goes to show, you can go from rags to riches real soon.

"Oh, if it isn't Jenna!" She heard Barnum said downstairs.

Looking around as if someone might catch her, she took the picture from the case, and folded it up in her pocket.

"Hey Barnum." Rose could hear her say. "Things have been real... bad, lately."

Rose returned to the balcony and saw Thomas and Jenna standing next to Barnum, still sitting on his stool.

"Yes, yes, that veressel she-lady last night didn't chose to exorbate too much on the situation." Barnum said.

'So that old lady just left me here?' Rose thought. 'And after she brought me here without saying a thing anyway. Can't seem to find anyone you can trust these days.'

"Where to begin?" Jenna mused. "Mum and Sparrow are gone."

"What? Your Mum and Dad?" Barnum asked, shocked.

'SPARROW!?' Rose screamed in her head, she leaned over the railing so much she would fall over if she moved an inch closer.

"It was Bandits." Thomas said.

"Oh, that's preposturous! Why I remember in Oakfield-"

"Yeah, well they took them anyway." Jenna said, cutting him off. "They just- stormed in, led by this woman in black, woke everyone up, they went and kicked Derek, scared the living daylights out of us, Sparrow went and yelled for them to get out, but they got behind Mum and grabbed her from behind. Threatened to hurt her- and us- if he didn't surrender. Then they took them to parts unknown."

"Well, when did this occur?" Barnum asked, his face aghast.

"Yesterday morning." Thomas said. "We tried finding the Sheriff, but he was... reassigned. We found someone else, said he was going to put us in an orphanage."

Rose had had enough. This was crazy, things weren't making sense, she thought the kids were nice enough, but now... she needed to get out, she needed to time to think. She headed back to the room she woke up in, spied her new coat on top of the head board, put it on, opened the window that lead to the bitter cold, and stepped outside, climbing down the slippery wall, before slipping and landing in the thick snow. Begrudgingly, she climbed back to the surface, and headed toward the port.