As Olive flew over the forest and down the coast of the big island, she came across a small village on the peninsula. It was an old village, streets made of cobblestone and were lined with lamp posts. Houses were made of a mixture of clay, stone, and wood.
Olive landed near the coast of the island on a dirt path. As she got closer to the town, she could see people were out and about, getting ready for the day, adults heading to work, children heading to school. Olive walked uncomfortably though the streets as people stared at her. She was not dressed for the time period. But she keeped her head high looking for her next gift. Eventually she noticed something out of the ordinary, a wooden boy.
"Pinocchio?" She questioned herself. The boy was sitting outside of a small house, as if he were waiting for someone. Could that person possibly be olive? Unsure what to do, she walked over to the boy.
"Hello, you must be pinocchio?" Olive asked, standing in front of the boy.
The wooden boy looked up at Olive with a smile. He then stood and greeted her "sure am, but I don't believe I've seen you before, who are you?"
"My name is Olive, I'm here to collect my next gift because I'm the true believer."
Pinocchio's eyes widened, surprised it was her. "So soon, I thought you wouldn't come for a few more hours. That trail is long from the dwarfs' cottage. How did you get here so fast?"
"Pixie dust." Olive stated.
Pinocchio then let out a small sigh, his smile faded. "Alright, come on in. Your next gift is waiting inside." He gestured for Olive to follow and she did. She was a bit confused at the change in his mood but shrugged it off. Pinocchio opened the door and let Olive enter first.
The inside of the little cottage was full of colorful clocks. There were cuckoo clocks, grandfather clocks, wall clocks, mantel clocks, even pendulum clocks. It was amazing to Olive, as she always admired the cute easter eggs some of the clocks represented. There was even a man who looked to be working at a workbench.
"Father she's here!" Pinocchio shouted as he shut the door.
The man at the workbench turned to face them. Sure enough it was Pinocchio's creator himself, gepetto. "The true believer has finally made her way here!" He said with a smile and he dried his hands off on a towel. He then crossed over to them and reached out his hand. "Hello, my name is Gepetto."
Olive took his hand in return. "Nice to meet you, my name is Olive."
"Father, must he really go?" Pinocchio interrupted.
"Now Pinocchio we talked about this, besides it only till the kingdom is saved." Gepetto let go of Olive and placed a hand on his son's shoulder. "Now go up and say your goodbyes." The boy nodded and rushed upstairs.
"So how long have you been on the island?" Gepetto asked, changing the subject while they waited.
"Just a few hours, so far I've received my outfit from Yensid and the whistle from Snow White, then I came here." She explained.
Pinochio then came down with a small cricket on his shoulder. He came up to Olive and introduced him, though he seemed rather upset with the introduction . "Olive, this is jiminy cricket, my conscience and best friend." His voice deftly sounded on the verge of tears.
"Is everything alright pinocchio?" Olive questioned.
Pinocchio tried to hold back his tears. "He- he's- he's" Eventually tears rolled down his wooden face. He then grabbed onto his father all upset. Jiminy also looked like he was trying to hold back his own.
"What's going on?" Olive asked, unsure why everyone was upset.
Jiminy looked over at Olive, "your gift in this world is me Olive."
Olive's eyes wided at this. Those two have been friends for Pinocchio's whole life, and now they are parting ways after who knows how long. "I can't do that, I can't take you away from him!" She exclaimed.
"But you don't know this world Olive, we think it's best to have someone who you, who can guide you through our strange world." Gepetto explained.
Pinocchio sniffed as he calmed himself, drying his eyes he turned back to Olive. "It's ok, I'll see him again" his eyes then averted to the ground as he muttered "I hope."
Olive felt bad for taking Jiminy away from Pinocchio. But she knew this world was going to be hard to navigate as it is. With Jiminy, she'll know every land, every short cut, and maybe every gift she will need to defeat the villains. "Alright, I'll take him. And I promise to look after him the best I can. Now where is the next closest kingdom?"
Pinocchio's face then lit up "I'll show you, at least as far as I'm allowed to go." He then looked down at jiminy "it will also give me one last chance to say goodbye." With that said and done, they waved goodbye to gepetto and walked out into the bustling town. They walked side by side as Pinocchio led them through the streets.
It was then that Olive realized something was off about pinocchio. If his movie ended with him becoming a real boy, then why was he still a wooden one? "I've got a question, if your story ended with you as a real boy, why are you still a wooden boy?"
Pinocchio lowered his head. "It's a long story, but to make it short, I was cursed."
Olive was surprised by his response. "By who?"
Pinocchio lowered his head so Jiminy took over. "He went out late into town one night. Little did he know there were a few villains plotting revenge. Stromboli had Sean the boy from a distance when he soused a vile at Pinocchio turning him into a wooden boy once again. We don't know where he got the vile from, but it couldn't have been from anyone good. But that was months ago and so far he's keeping his distance."
"What about the blue fairy, can't she just turn him back?"
"We haven't seen her for a good year now, no one knows where she is." Pinocchio responded.
Olive lowered her head, she felt back for the wooden boy. She was taking his only friend and there was no one to turn him back. Maybe once she defeats the villains, she will find a way to turn pinocchio back into a real boy.
They continued walking in silence though town, that is until they came up on a big crowd. "What's going on?" Olive asked, confused by all the excitement.
"Come one, come all." An Italian accent spoke to the crowd, "Come see the finest show in all of the village." Curious, the trio adventured their way into the crowd.
"Guys, I think we should turn around." Jiminy suggested.
"Come on jiminy, it's just a quick look." Pinocchio said as they pushed past people, inching their way closer till they could see a stage with a man in a green shirt and a purple vest.
"Gather round, gather round, come and see the amazing stromboli, master showman perform!" The group's eyes widened as they let out small gasps and looked at one another.
"What's he doing back here?" Pinocchio wispered.
"I don't know, but would rather not find out!" Olive said and grabbed Pinocchio's hand before pushing back through the crowd. She tried to be polite about it by saying "pardon us, excuse us, coming though." They Eventually made their way out no problem.
"We better take the shortcut to the road, Pinoc!" Jiminy suggested revising the sun almost at midday.
They nodded and Olive followed Pinocchio as they raced through the streets. Eventually they came to a back alleyway. "Not too much longer, and will be out of the village!" Pinocchio stated.
They rounded a Corner and there, in their way, stood a fox and cat, both standing on two legs and wearing clothes. Olive recognised them and honest John and Gideon.
"Why hello again Pinocchio, what a mighty fine coincidence meeting you here?" Honest asked sarcastically as he leaned on his Cain. Gideon max his way behind them as if to box them in.
"Honest John, what are you doing back here?" Pinocchio asked with confusion.
"Why I haven't gone anywhere, I've just been living on a small boat down by the docks, along with Gideon." He gestured to his partner in crime who gave a smile and quick wave.
"What do you want, Honest?" Olive asked, rolling up her sleeves as if she was getting ready for a fight.
"Feisty one aren't you, you must be a crazy girl. That's it you must be a crazy girl, we must diagnose this case at once!" With that said Honest pulled Olive close with his cane. Gideion pulled out a notepad and pencil, ready to take notes. First thing honest did was grab Olive's wrist and checked her pulse. "My, my, just as I thought." He began spilling random words from his mouth to which none of them understood. He then let go of Olive.
"Honest, we don't have time for any of your doctor games, now if you'll please excuse us!" She grabbed Pinocchio's hand and pushed honest John aside. She only made it a few steps before she felt something hook onto her belt, making her unable to move forward.
"Oh but we haven't prescribed your medication yet!" She was then yanked back causing her to lose her grip on pinocchio and was forced into honest John's arms. "I believe a trip to pleasure island is the cure you need!"
"What?!" The trio exclaimed. They all know very well what pleasure island did, and there was no way they would be going.
"Listen John, just let us go and maybe I'll spare you from the magic I'll bestow upon the rest of the villains." Olive shouted at the fox, trying to lessen his grip on her.
He thought for a moment before choosing his words. "Na, I'd rather get paid for your capture." He then wrapped his Cain in front of Olive, grasping it with both hands, trapping her.
Olive rollers her eyes. "You're forgetting something, John."
Honest looked down at olive with a confused look "and that is?"
Olive then jumped in the air hitting John's snout, which made him stumble back a bit as he couched his face. They all gasped as she did a backflip in the air befor landing safely next to Pinocchio.
"What? How?" Were the only words that left John's mouth.
"Pixie dust, now scram before I use my other magic on you!" Olive shouted, crossing her arms in triumph.
Honest snarled at the trip. "This isn't the last you've seen of Honest John, young lady!" He then turned and brushed past Gideon "come gideon, we got other matters to attend to." With that, the two walked off in the opposite direction.
Olive then relaxed, letting her arms drip back to her sides. "That was close."
"Quick, let's go before they come back. There's not much path left before the next kingdom." Jiminy said and they all headed off down the road. It wasn't long till they reached the end, where it turned into a dirt road. Beyond it layed a dark spooky forest.
"This path will wake you to a castle down the road." Pinochio said before looking down at his shoulder. He lifted his hand and jiminy jumped on it. He then held it close to his chest, as if to give him a hug. "I'm gonna miss you jiminy!"
"Me to Pinoc, me to." They both sniffed, trying to hold in their tears. Eventually they let go and Pinocchio lifted his hand so jiminy could jump on olives shoulder.
"You ready?" Olive asked.
"As I'll ever be." He wiped his eyes and looked into the dark forest. They both waved goodbye to Pinoc before heading off into the dark forest.
