Journey: Lost and Forgotten

This is the beginning of the story...just the first few chapters...mmmm, don't know if Meow likes it or not...



The boy stared up at the sky, wondering. Who am I? He had wondered about this so often, that he had forgotten the meaning of the question. Who am I?
He lived with the Priest and his family. The Priest was basically royalty in the village. He was considered a king of sorts. The Priest made all the big decisions, and took care of most matters. It was a big responsibility that was passed down to the eldest son of the current Priest’s family. And that meant that the boy was going to be the next Priest, since he was the eldest.

The boy had no name, so everyone just called him “boy”. The Priest said that the boy was his own child, but the boy knew that that couldn’t, and wasn’t, true. Because, for one thing, he looked nothing like the Priest’s family. He bore no resemblance in any way to his red-haired, green-eyed foster parents. He had black hair, thin, sharp features, and dark blue eyes that told of things that no boy his age should know or have to deal with. They were horrible things. Things that hardly anyone would dare to imagine.

The boy watched the sun sink below the horizon as he sat on the wall of the bridge that spanned the gap of the raging waters below. He was wearing a black robe, as befitted the eldest son of the Priest. He would have preferred to have worn something a little less extravagant, but since his entire wardrobe consisted only of black robes exactly like this one, he had no choice but to wear what he had and make the best of it.

Suddenly, the boy heard footsteps behind him. He didn’t even have to look to know it was the Priest’s only daughter, Rebecca, trying to sneak up on him again. He didn’t particularly mind her doing it, for he knew that she was just trying to have a little fun, but he also knew that it was her life’s ambition to scare the wits off of him. Even so, he had to admit that he liked her a lot more then was normal, and in a way that was not exactly allowed amongst family members. But then, Rebecca wasn't his blood relation or anything, they were just "family". Just family.

"Got you!" she said, jumping out suddenly from the shadows where he knew she had been all along.

"Hello Rebecca." He gave her a small smile. Then he looked past her, down the lane, thinking that if Rebecca was here at this hour, that it must be time to go home. Sighing, he swung his legs back over the wall of the bridge to stand beside her. He was a couple of inches taller than her, which made him feel slightly more comfortable. Feeling slightly embarrassed, he took her hand in his and started walking purposefully back towards home. Rebecca walked along beside him, quiet and happy, and completely impervious to his slight awkwardness.

Rebecca hummed a tune as she walked next to her brother, swinging their joined hands gently. Father had wanted them both home a while ago but it wouldn't have made a difference. As long as her older brother was looking over her she could stay out as long as she wanted. "Hey," she pulled on his hand, "let's go over to the river. Father said he wanted some fresh water!" She pulled her brother over to the river, grabbing a bucket on the way, and stood on the banks as her brother fetched the water. While he was busy Rebecca climbed the nearby tree that hung over the river and inched closer to where he was standing. Once she was postioned to drop right in front of him Rebecca flipped over the branch and landed in front of her brother with a shout.

"Rebecca, Father will get angry if you get wet, get out of the water." He didn't even jump! Not even an inch! Seeing her plan as yet another failure, Rebecca groaned and clambered out of the water, her brother soon behind her with a bucket of fresh water. Rebecca smiled again as her brother took her hand and began to walk towards the house yet again.

When they got home Father started off angry, but brightened at the sight of fresh water. "Come on in then Rebecca. You too, boy." Father pulled both of them in and took the bucket of water. He set it on the floor next to a woman that was breathing heavily and sweating.

"Is Mother going to be okay Father?" Rebecca questioned and looked down at the sickly pale woman.

"Yes, yes. She'll be fine. Just a fever. She should be up and well in a few days. Do me a favor and put the youngsters to bed. After that wash up and go to bed yourself." Rebecca nodded and walked further into her home, smiling at the young kids that were pummeling each other with pillows. She broke it up easily and sent them to bed with a harsh warning.

"You can take a bath first Brother. I can wait. You've been outside all day, and in all truth... you stink," she teased with a light laugh and batted her eyelashes innocently.

He swatted her arm, then made his way to the bathroom. He decided that he would have a cold bath so that his sister would have more hot water, and, quickly getting undressed, he got into the tub and washed himself thoroughly before getting out and drying off. As he got dressed in an extra pair of clothes that he had brought in, he thought again about the question that had so often been on his mind: Who am !?

Slowly, his thoughts wondered over to his sister as he made his way to the bedroom that all of the children of the household shared. There were six beds all together, four very small ones and two reasonably big ones. He looked over to his sister's bed and a picture of her laughing with him flashed through his mind. Someday, he realized, he would have to tell her how he felt. But not now. Definately not now.

Rebecca came bouncing into the room soon afterward, her hair hanging in wet ringlets that bounced on her back as she walked. She had obviously just washed her hair, for the boy could smell a soft lilac sent coming from her. He longed to take a huge whiff of it, but quickly decided not to.

"Rebecca, can I ask you something?"The boy frowned as he paused while trying to open the drawer in his bedside table.

"Sure, knock yourself out. I'm all ears," she said, turning to stare at him while in the middle of changing a *lightbulb.*

"You've been wanting that charm bracelet that was in the antique shop in town for quite sometime, right?"

"Yes."

"Well, then." He got up off the floor, having finally opened the drawer and extracted the small box inside it, and walked silently over to his sister. He handed her the box.

"Whats this?" Rebecca took the box and stared at it for a moment before looking at her brother. He merely nodded towards it, indicating that he wanted her to open it. The moment she did, she gave a gasp of a mazement, then flung her arms around the boy next to her, sobbing.

The boy had no idea what to do. Finally, instinct drove him to wrap his arms around the crying girl and hold her close. After a while, Rebecca pulled away from the touch and wiped her eyes. She sniffled a couple of times, then looked away from the boy.

"...Are you okay? You had me worried when you suddenly burst into tears like that," said the boy softly, moving a little closer to the girl.

"I'm okay. But, oh, I'm so happy. Soooooo happy. Thank you so much Brother. Your the best brother in the world, you know that? I'm going to pay you back for this, I promise you. So what do you want? Anything? You name it, and I'll give it to you on a silver platter overflowing with other goodies." Rebecca was starting to sound like her usual self again. The boy was relieved. Rebecca stared up at him expectantly.

"...All I want...is for you to be happy. Your laughter makes everything worth it." The boy walked silently back to his bed and got in, murmuring a quiet good night.

Note: *lightbulbs* - Meow did this because Meow wasn't sure whether or not it should be "lightbulbs" or "gaslights". Meow was thinking that maybe it should be gaslights, but Meow wanted to wait for your opinion before doing anything about it.

**Either is fine I guess haha**

"Goodnight," Rebecca smiled lightly as her brother's breathing joined in sync with her other siblings. She latched the bracelet onto her wrist, admiring each little charms. It was beautiful. Simply beautiful. Not being one that went to bed fairly early, Rebecca stood and walked to the balcony that was closed off by two glass doors. She opened one of the doors and silently slipped out, perching herself on the railing.

After a while of sitting outside, staring up at the black, sparkling abyss above her, both doors opened, giving Rebecca a fright. "Rebecca, what are you doing out here?" She looked back into her brother's eyes with a small smile.

"I just needed some... fresh air."

*short sorry... i'm about to go to church though.. sorry!*

**Don't worry about it**

"I guess everybody needs some fresh air every once in a while," said the boy. "Well, I'm going back to bed. I have school tomarrow. You should go to bed too, since tomarrow's your first day."

"Well...okay. But only because you asked me to." They both walked back inside and got into bed. They were instantly asleep.

Well before morning, Rebecca heard the sound of her brother getting ready for school. What is he doing that for at this time? The sun hasn't even risen yet! thought Rebecca incredudously. But soon she heard her brother walk out the door, so she went back to bed, thinking to ask him after school.


*sorry short, too...just about to go to the library*