Chapter 1

The morning sun rose above the tall castle walls into a vibrant blue sky. Sounds of birds could be heard flapping and tweeting for many a mile over the peace that lay upon the Corranda settlement. The market place met barter with banter, as the castle walls stood high and proud, towering over a nearby forest. The warm, crisp scent of fresh bread wafted through, briefly followed by the sweet tang of oranges. Townspeople would casually walk by one another, greeting with a cheerful "good day," as though they were the best of friends.

All of this goodwill and happiness was soon to be shattered with the boisterous crashing and banging noises that came from a nearby house. Inside, a young boy was running from one room to the next, tossing things aside in a frantic search. The dinky, overturned boots concealing his ankles carried him softly to the kitchen. His blue hooded t-shirt jerked up and down through the pace. Though it was small, it still seemed a little long on him. The short Blonde strands of his hair jerked in all directions atop vivid blue pools of delight of which he saw through.

"Oh, where is it? I can’t find it anywhere," the boy grumbled as he terminated yet another area of the living quarters.

His search continued, brushing past a gathering of wooden chairs, to raid a concealed cupboard below the sink. He forcefully tossed pots and pans over his head. Metal collided piercingly with the long wooden floor boards.  The sound echoed around the room, causing a Mexican wave from metal cutlery and plates.

A woman prepared the family’s morning nutrition. She leant over the cooker spatula in hand beside a sizzling pan, which gave off the yearning scent of bacon. Below her, a child mounted on tip-toes in attempt to see what was causing a snaked fog to mesmerize his round eyes. The woman’s head turned steadily towards the chaos behind her, leaving a delicate smile.

"I’m gonna be late. I left it right in here last time I had it! You haven’t had it have you?" He snapped. His gaze darted towards his fresher peer.

Connor’s head shook back and forth as he shrouded himself behind Beth’s practical dress. Rex’s glare sustained as though he could see straight through Beth’s crossed arms.

He noticed the long, timber table in the middle of the room and all was forgotten. Speeding over, he crawled below on his hands and knees, and rolled onto his back once fully submerged.

Beth could see that the conflict was over-with, so returned to the hob. As she turned, a trace of petroleum raided her nostrils. She sighted a long, metal cone, with a cage on top, sat beside an aluminium flask. She took in a throat full of air sending it straight back out as she exposed the shaft to the room.

Rex’s thoughts seemed distant. He was still spread across the floor under the table, so he didn’t notice Beth’s gesture and continued the incessant waving of his knees. An unavailing second or two passed until a sudden inspiration hit him, causing him to leave the room full throttle.

Just as his trailing foot left the room, bright eyes crept around the arched doorway, closely followed by a tooth-filled grin that stretched from one ear to the other.  

"Tar ma’am," Rex chirped as he clambered across the room to collect his torch.

“Breakfast will be ready soon. Go and wash your hands."

"But they’re already sparkly."

"After crawling around on the floor for the past 30 minutes, I would beg to differ. Young Sir."

Rex’s eyebrows raised, his forehead creased. Words were close to leaving his mouth, but got shut off as quickly as they started. He groaned as his hands entered the sink, under running water.

Small talk started for a moment or two as Mike entered the room. The Quartz of his Irises were half hidden behind heavy eyelids, the light invaded his sight. The bite-sized, creamy leather of his shoes dragged along the floors, the laces hung open. His Red shirt draped down, one side caught in the elastic of his dark shorts. Even one of his socks had not been pulled up.

Rex took sight of Mike, which gave him a sudden realization, causing him to rush out of the room… again. "Rex still getting ready then? He’s never ready for anything," Mike asks. A yorn escaped in the process revealing the pink of his teeny tongue.

A few chuckles left Beth’s throat, though her attention stayed with the hob. The maroon of the bacon had finally browned at the edges, and the darkened regions of the sausages gave off a morning smell, as bubbles eased out of hidden crevices.

"So, where is your teacher taking you this time? The forest? Mountain? Lake?" Beth questioned as the plates found their way to the table.

"Not a clue, all I know is that we are going for a couple of days."

"So are you all packed? Have you got everything you need? Are you looking forwards to going?”

Mike looked back at Beth like a confused pup. After a moment or two in thought, he took a deep breath and began. "Ave got all me thingies packed up an’ ready to go. I recon I got everything, but who knows. An’ I’ll probably be looking forwards for most of it but I may need to look backwards sometimes. A bit of a weird question though don’t you think?"

Beth giggled to herself, and then explained what she meant by 'looking forwards.' That it meant if he wanted to go or if he’d rather stay at home. Laughter left Mike’s tummy before he apologized and nodded his head vigorously.

At this moment, Rex returned. His head raised high, and his chest stretched out, as though he had conquered a mountain and achieved the impossible.

Mike revelled towards Rex. "Hey, what’s up? You finally done? Only 20 hours behind, you’re getting better."

Rex strutted to the fried food on the table, and picked at his plate before being told to sit down.  "Hey, say what you want dude. Am totally finished and there’s nothing you can do about it."

Right on cue, Beth’s chair tipped back so her arms could access the kitchen counter. She clutched a compass and a square piece of blue material off the counter and laid them out neatly in front of her. "You forget anything, Mr. Organized?"

Rex took little notice. He persisted in forcing food into his mouth, giving his lips a nice coating of grease. When his eyebrows finally rose, the rest of his head followed in a flash. He leapt up from his seat, and across the table.

Beth grabbed his things. She lifted them to her chest. "What is it worth," She asked, winking at Mike.

Rex stood on his chair with one hand on his heart. "Sun, rain, sleet or snow, I will fight and battle the evil bad guys of this country. Nay, this uniworld. I will kick diseases arses and smack darkness with a cold, wet salmon across the face. I will not stop. I will not go to the place where some people go when they do something heroish. I will not go to school until I achieve the impossible and re-get my compass and scarf from the evil clutches of injustice."

"So I am evil am I?"

"Jus’ a little." Rex teased. He gestured a small amount with his thumb and one of his fingers. A toothy smile grew across his face.

Chuckling started around the table whist Rex stood, statue like, in his patriotic position. His enthusiasm seemed to pay off as Beth passed him his things.

Breakfast continued after Rex’s excessive shenanigans with the kitchen still a mess. Plates, dishes, and cutlery lay in piles all over the place, but Beth shrugged it off long ago.  Mike chatted casually with Rex about the 'exciting trip to the outer walls' whilst Connor sat swinging his legs and Beth leisurely tucked into her meal.

At this moment, a man entered the room, his footsteps as formidable as an earthquake. He powered his way to the breakfast table with great authority. Clinking of silver plates could be heard from his shiny armor as his boots crashed to the ground upon impact. The town’s emblem was proudly stitched onto the leather garments he wore over the top. His hands smashed down on the table’s surface, leaving the room silent with a slight echo. His head rotated slowly in Rex’s direction as serious as a lion eyeing up his dinner. "Why are you not packed?" he commanded, his voice no more than a whisper.

 "It’s all done Cappy. Been packed all week," Rex purred. His focus never changed.

Looking far from content, Robert shuffled around the table to slump next to his wife Beth, replacing the serious look on his face with a calmer, more well-mannered look. "All week," Robert repeated as he sniggered to himself. "You mean to say that I have been telling you to pack all week but you dossed it off and had to rush it last minute."

“What makes you think that?" He retorted. The blues of his eyes grew wide and innocent.  Mike, who sat next to him, giggled along.

"Well young sir," Robert began with a sausage on his metallic fork. "Upon my arrival of this fine establishment I noticed not one… but two things that could give away this great mystery." He imitated an intellectual inspector, waving his sausage as though he was casting a spell. "Evidence comes in many forms Young Sir. The first? I entered the room to find a table full of food. It could only have been made by the most beautiful of all queens." He seized Beth in his arms, as the two of them giggled to share a kiss.

"That doesn't prove anything. You Good Sir are a fraud!" Rex announced hopping from his seat. His accent mimicked the ‘intelligent guy’ charade that Robert started.

Robert stood. He put a hand behind his back, and continued waving a sausage with the other. "Is that so…" He paused to build tension.

"Then I suppose I must bring my second piece of evidence to the table," he bellowed, crashing his hands down onto the table for the second time.

Rex, Mike and Connor all gaped at the table. Their faces twisted and turned, trying to look around the plates and cups but still nothing. "Erm… dude." Rex started out of character. "There’s nothing there.”

Beth placed a hand on her forehead and sighed deeply, all the while smiling away. "Don’t worry its coming."

Robert continued his act. "Upon entering this very room… as well as seeing the most beautiful woman in the world…"

"You already said that," Mike interrupted hoping not to see anymore hugs and kisses.

"I noticed something very different," Robert again paused for dramatic effect.

Rex took this opportunity to try and get ahead of the game. "I bet he’s talking about your hair," he whispered to Mike.

"But my hair is just as it was yesterday," Mike replied, also in whisper.

This turned into a little scuffle which neither one would win. "It is. It’s more… poofy." "My hair isn’t poofy." "I wasn’t the one that said it. Robert did." "He never, he said that something was different, maybe it’s your hair." "What could be wrong with my hair?" "I don’t know. It does look a little different." "Ahh, maybe it’s because I washed it last night." "Why did you wash your hair?" "I got forced to. I don’t wanna wash my hair." "Well, that must be it." "I still say that yours looks different though…” This continued for a minute or so. Beth and Robert glanced in each other’s direction, bewildered.

Robert tactically cut in; this could have lasted much longer than it needed to. "The difference that I noticed…” He paused again for drama; he always knew how to play to the crowd. The boys edged closer, almost out of their seats. Breaths almost stopped, eyes refused to blink. "That this room is a tip. Rex, What were you thinking when you decided to pull everything out from the cupboards!?"

Rex quickly surveyed the room to notice, for the first time, the mess that he had made. He shrugged naively and his trademark grin took over. "I needed to find my torch."

Robert sat back at the table dismissing the mess. "No worries. Just promise me you won’t get into any trouble when you’re on the trip."

Rex nodded passionately, though crossed his fingers under the table.

"By the way, what time are you meant to be leaving?" Robert hinted making a start on his cooled breakfast.

Knowing that he managed to escape getting into trouble, Rex went back to picking at his plate, almost missing Robert’s discrete tip-off. "oh… erm… ‘bout 10ish maybe," Rex replied, passively.

Beth grasped behind her to produce a calendar from the kitchen top. It shown todays date, with minor details including the time. "Oh. It’s at 9.30… this-morning," Rex followed.

"Good, good…" Robert commenced, again in another role, this time a quiz master. "And Mike, for bonus points, what time is it now?"

Mike was half way through swallowing some food. He began his answer with a mouth-full "it’s…" He quickly looked up at the clock as he managed to gulp, his eyes widened, the Quarts concentrated, his pupils narrow. "It’s quarter past nine, we gotta go".

They both shot up from the table. Within seconds, they had grabbed their rucksacks and sleeping bags.

Mike wrapped his Belt tightly around his waist with a katana sword in its sheath, and then attached a smaller belt around his right leg, that held a small knife.  

Rex’s belt only seemed to attach on one side, hanging down on the left. His swords crossed each other behind his waistline. After, he folded the squared piece of material into a triangle, to tie it around his slender neck so it pointed down the middle of his ribs.

Once ready, they hoisted their things to their backs and departed, shouting “bye!” at the door.

Just as the madness had passed, Rex crept back in. “By the way, what was on the table?" He harmlessly asked to quickly be dismissed by both Beth and Robert "Rex, go!"