Chapter 1

On a dark night, far somewhere in the ocean, there is a treacherous storm. It's fierce that the water makes giant waves that turn large walls of water, and crashes frequently. The storm is so awful, that many sea creatures prefer to remain under the sea.

While the storm is processing, there is a large cruise ship that is being rapidly and roughly rocked by the harsh storm, as the rain pours down harder than a faucet, and thunder and lightning appears. The sirens ring loudly as many human men, women, and children are running on to the deck wearing life jackets. The crew are helping the people on to the deck and on to lifeboats that are hanging on the side of the ship.

One of the crew members says, "One at a time! One at a time!"

Another crew member shouts, "Women, children, and elderly first!"

One even shouts, "There are rubber lifeboats and extra life jackets!"

The storm continues to rock as many people are doing their best to get into the lifeboat. Because of the storm, the ship has been called to an emergency evacuation and are doing their best to get all the passengers into the lifeboats. Over time, many of the lifeboats are either full or already in the sea to take them back to the mainlands.

Among the passengers, there is a young teenage girl around fifteen years old who has a one and a half year old boy.

The teenage girl has fair skin with long light blonde hair in a ponytail and tied with a blue ribbon and blue eyes. She is wearing a long sleeve pink nightgown with blue slippers and a small purse.

The baby boy in her arms, has light brown hair and his eyes reveal to be green eyes. He is wearing a blue one piece footie pajama that has cars on it. The baby boy is clutching to the nightgown of his sister and is frightened. They both are wearing life jackets for protection.

Rocks the baby and says, "It's okay. We're almost to the lifeboats. We'll soon be with mom and dad in no time."

The little boy is still scared as he presses his face against his sister's face.

"Don't worry, your big sister will protect you," The girl says.

The teenage girl continues to rush through the crowd to get to the lifeboats. She knows that she needs to get herself and her brother to the lifeboats and off the ship, and hopes to see them meet with their parents soon.

Suddenly, a giant wave knocks the ship over hard and begins to tip over. People who are already in the lifeboats are knocked into the sea and they are able to escape to safety. Those who are on the boat are thrown into the water, including the teenage girl and her baby brother. The girl screams as she hugs her little brother in her arms tight. The two siblings soon slash into the water, and quickly rise up because of the life jackets.

As soon as they rise up on the surface, the stormy sea begins to rock them back and forth.

The girl cries out, "Help! Help! Mom! Dad! Someone! Anyone! Please! Help!""

The water soon splashes at them, swallowing them, but they quickly rise up thanks to the life vests.

The girl cries out, "Mom! Dad!"

The waves splashes at them and moves rapidly as they carry the girl who has the little brother in her arms away from the sinking ship and any possible lifeboats with the passengers inside. The waves continue to move them left and right as they are being swiped farther out to sea. The girl holds on to her brother with all her might and feels that she needs to get herself and brother to safety. The girl feels something tapping her head and turns around to see a small empty lifeboat. The girl quickly grabs the lifeboat and places her little brother inside. Then she climbs into the lifeboat.

The sister turns her head to see the lifeboat is floating away from the ship and away from any people. The girl hugs her little brother as she fears that this might be the last time she and her brother will be seeing her parents.

The next day, after the harsh storm, early in the morning, the teenage girl and the baby boy's continue to gently drift on the ocean. Now that the storm is over, the waves are calmer.

In the lifeboat, the teenage girl opens her eyes to feel the sun shining down her face. She groans as she feels something or someone is on her chest. She opens her eyes to see her baby brother is sleeping on her. The girl slowly sits up as she places her hand on her brother's back. The baby wakes wakes up with a yawn and opens his eyes to see his big sister.

The girl calmly smiles and says, "It's okay Johnathan, I think we're safe now."

The baby, Jonathan giggles and days, "Se. Se. Se. Ren. I. Ty. Se. Ren. I. Ty."

The girl smiles and says, "That's right, your big sister, Serenity will take care of you."

The baby boy giggles as Serenity shows a calm smile on her face. Serenity looks around to see the ocean is now calm, and the lifeboat is still drifting out to sea. She soon looks to notice the lifeboat is drifting towards a beach. From the looks of it, the beach is a public beach that has a lifeguard stand, and some staircases close by. Soon enough, the lifeboat drifts on to the beach and comes to a stop.

Serenity looks around and wonders, "Hmm, I wonder where we are. It doesn't look like any beach I've seen."

She then gently places Johnathan down in the lifeboat and says, "You stay here and I'll get it back on to shore."

Serenity then takes off her life jacket and climbs out of the boat. She then pulls the lifeboat out of the water and further on to the sandy beach with Johnathan who is enjoying the small ride as he smiles and claps his hands. Serenity can't help but giggle to see her brother happy. Once she's done pulling the lifeboat on the beach, she sighs and rubs her forehead with her hand. Serenity then removes Johnathan's life jacket and picks him up in her arms.

The teenager then walks along the beach to notice a bus stop that is on top of the staircase. She then walks up the stairs and finds the bus stop. Luckily, it has a bench so she is able to place her baby brother on it, and she can sit for a bit.

"If there's a bus stop, then it must lead to a town. But... I'm not sure where we are. They might use different money in this place," Serenity says, opening her purse.

She then takes out her phone to see that it's soaked to the bone so it's no longer working.

"I guess I won't be calling anyone on this anytime soon," Serenity says to herself.

Then takes out her wallet to see the cash drenched and even if they aren't, she isn't sure it will work at her current location.

She sighs and says, "I guess we're on our own."

Serenity picks up her little brother and begins her long walk to find a nearby town. She doesn't know how long it will be to find a town, but hopes she'll find one very soon. Time has gone by, and Serenity is starting to get very tired. Her pajamas feel cripple after drying in the sun after being soaked in ocean water. Her brother looks around his surroundings as he feels a little sleepy.

Serenity sighs and says, "Maybe I should have tried taking a bus. My feet are starting to get very tired."

Suddenly, Jonathan says, "Hungy."

"Hmm?" Serenity says, confused and looks down to see her brother.

She asks, "What's wrong John?"

"Hungy hungy," Jonathan says.

Serenity says, "You're hungry huh. I'm getting hungry too. I hope we'll find a town soon, then we can get something to eat."

Serenity soon begins to hear strange sounds, and it's coming from close by.

"What's that?" Serenity wonders.

Serenity begins to look around to find the source. She then looks ahead to notice the top of buildings and knows that when there's buildings, there's a city. Serenity hurries as fast as she can feel that she finally reaches civilization. When she reaches the top of the hill, Serenity gasps in surprise to see the city is... different.

Shocked, Serenity asks, "What in the world?"

The city does have buildings, houses, and other kinds of structure a city has, but there aren't humans, not all of them. Most of the citizens are creatures like animals like humanoids, designs with unique appearance and more, even bug-like beings as well.

Surprised, Serenity says, "Oh my. It doesn't look like we're in California anymore."

She turns to her baby brother, "What do you think? Think we should check it out?"

The baby boy looks at the city and is a little nervous, but curious as well. He nods his head in reply.

"I guess we're going to go sightseeing and see if we can find anything to eat," Serenity says.

Serenity begins to walk down the hill to see the city up close. Serenity is a little nervous that she has Jonathan close to her chest as they walk down the sidewalk. They see very large creatures of animals, some of them look human, but not exactly human.

"This is a strange place," Serenity says, and nervously laughs.

Then says in her thoughts, "This place is a bit scary. I have never seen a place full of animals and human-like beings. I haven't seen many humans at all."

Suddenly, she hears the sound of a bell ringing. She turns her head to see a large and yet very colorful dome. Part of it is like made of stone while they are glass windows. It's painted like an ocean scene with fishes, and glowing lights. There is a stone road with a fence between the road as they lead to the building. Curious, Serenity walks over to the building with the baby in her arms.

"Wow! That's a very pretty building," Serenity says.

Then looks at Jonathan, "It's very pretty, don't you think John."

The baby simply looks at the building with curious eyes.

Jonathan says, "Pretty pretty."

Serenity giggles and says, "Maybe someone here can help us."

Serenity then walks to the building and opens the door. She walks inside to find herself in a most astonishing sight. The inside of the building has a large staircase and the wall looks like a glowing light blue aquarium. She walks closer to the wall and is shocked to see fishes on it are moving.

"Wow!" Serenity says, astonished.

Jonathan places his small hands on the glass and looks at the fishes. Serenity turns around to the main lobby of the building with curiosity. She has to wonder what this building is.

"Hmm, this place sure looks interesting. From the bell I heard and the look of the building, this place seems to look like a school," Serenity says.

Her question is answered with the bell rings and many different creatures begin to walk around with backpacks, books, supplies, and other needs. Serenity is in a panic as she is trying to get around. She tries to get past the creatures walking around in all different directions, but she is being pushed from left and right. She then falls down to the ground. Serenity holds on to her brother as she begins to crawl from the crowd.

Serenity struggles as she mutters, "This is a school alright. Didn't realize there were a lot of different creatures... And so many of them. I wonder what they are."

Serenity is able to get out of the crows and hurries into the hall. She then speed walks hoping to find her way around this building. Suddenly, she bumps into someone and falls to the ground.

"Woah," Someone reacts in surprise.

Serenity looks up to see that she has bump into a boy, but the boy looks very different. He has an anthropomorphic deer appearance. A deer-like face, a tail, even ears, and fur that is orange. He also has dark brown fingertips and the fur of his arms matches his original skin closely. He also appears to have had his legs shortened making him closer to to the height of the main five. He is also wearing brown trousers, and an orange shirt.

The deer boy holds out his hand to her and asks, "Are you okay?"

Serenity is unsure about accepting his help. Not to be rude, she places her hand on his and the boy helps her back on his feet. She simply nods her head in reply, and the deer boy walks off with his backpack. Serenity turns her head to where the deer boy walks off with a confused look on her face.

Confused, Serenity wonders, "What kind of place is this?"

She shakes her head to clear her thoughts, "Alright Serenity, calm down. He's just a boy and he looks a lot like a deer. But now, let's focus on the matter right now. I'm guessing that this is a school, so I'm willing to guess that there must be a principal office, nurse office, or a counselor office for me to ask for help... or at least a teacher."

"I think I'll find the principal's office first," Serenity says to herself.

Serenity begins to walk down the hall to see if she can find the principal's office to ask for help. Luckily, she is able to find a map of the school and that it's in English. So, it's easy for her to find the principal's office. She finds herself in front of the principal's office and is looking really nervous. She isn't exactly dressed to see the principal.

Serenity knocks on the door and hears a calm male voice, "Come in."

Serenity opens the door and walks inside with her baby brother in her arms. She walks inside to see the office is kind of normal, but what she sees really catches her by surprise. She sees two different creatures sitting in different desks. The first has a head of a small yellowish orange squid and orange-brown stripes, and wears a black suit. The second is a very large Cheetah, around as tall as a human adult, maybe larger. His fur is yellow with black spots and he has black fur on his legs and tail which is capped with a white tip.

The cheetah asks, "How may I help you?"

Serenity is still shocked to see that there is an actual Cheetah in the office, more than that, he can actually talk.

"Um... well... uh..." Serenity says, and sounds nervous.

The Cheetah looks at her calmly and uses his paw to gesture for her to speak up.

Serenity shakes her head and says, "Hello um sir, my name is Serenity Holmes and this is my baby brother, Jonathan. And well, we're actually looking for help."

"What kind of help?" The cheetah asks, arching his eyebrow.

Serenity sighs and says, "It's kind of a long story. But in short, my brother and I escaped from the cruise ship we were on when it sank and we don't know where our parents are, or where we are for that matter. We woke up at a beach and walked all the way here. We're very tired and hungry and we don't have a place to stay... And well... and..."

Serenity's vision begins to get blurry and soon she collapses on her knees to the ground as she places her brother down. The cheetah shows concern as he notices how tired and weak the girl is and the boy looks sleepy too.

The cheetah walks over and asks, "Miss, are you okay?"

Serenity leans back against the cheetah's chest as she weakly says, "I'm sorry... feeling tired... weak... and hungry... I… need to rest."

Soon, the girl shuts her eyes and falls asleep.

"Oh dear," The Cheetah says.

He can tell that Serenity has passed out, and little Johnathan lets out a yawn and begins to fall asleep as well.