Everyday after lunch, 7 year old Sabre spends his time outside, playing in the forest on the outskirts of his family home. His parents always described him to their friends as a curious child, one who always needed to be learning new things no matter the dangers that may come with it.
They recalled several times their little tumbleweed, a nickname given to Sabre due to his wild, chaotic movement, had brought home many different trinkets ranging from buttons to bottle caps to even some really old and fascinating coins, which his parents had no idea how he got his hands on.
They held onto these trinkets however, Sabre's father keeping them stored in a box labeled 'Collektion' on the top of a dresser in Sabre's room that he could not reach.
(Sabre really wanted to be the one to name the box and misspelt it; his parents however kept it this way because they found it cute and as a personal touch.)
They didn't mind Sabre being out during the day, they had trust in him that he would stay relatively close to the house or would be able to get back by himself. In the case that he couldn't, his parents gave him a phone that had service, only to be used in case of emergencies, such as getting lost and being unable to get home.
The only rule that was put in place was that their son was not allowed to be out past 9:00 pm. They explained that it would be too dark for him to be out that late and they were worried for his safety, which while true, was not the complete truth.
Sabre knew this wasn't the full truth, not that he was told it, but because even at his age, he could easily pick up tones on when people were lying or not, especially when it comes to his parents.
However, as to not get in trouble, he followed what they wished, no matter how much he so desperately wanted to find out what they were hiding. In the mean time, he spend his days gathering trinkets, spending time with his parents, and his little brother, Ryan.
Ryan is two years younger than Sabre, however despite this slight age difference, the two of them get together perfectly. Ryan is actually the one who got Sabre into collecting trinkets, as originally Sabre was only out to explore.
The two made a wonderful duo, or an awful one sometimes. They would constantly prank their parents; move things to spots they weren't meant to be in, make "potions" (they would mix whatever liquids together they could), and several other things that would drive their parents insane.
However, at the end of the day, the children's parents loved them and they loved their parents back, they were a happy family.
One night, after dinner, Ryan approached Sabre in his room, who was in the middle of sorting through his box of trinkets, trying his best to organize them.
"Sabry?"
Sabre looked up from his box, Ryan standing at his door way, holding a stuffed monkey in his arms, one that he got for his 5th birthday not long ago.
"RyRy."
Ryan smiled for a moment before it fell almost immediately after, walking into his brother's room, sitting down on his bed.
"Why don't mommy and daddy let us leave after dindin..?" Ryan asked, holding the stuffed toy a bit closer to him.
"Mommy said it was bad out there after dinner, but I think something else is up." Sabre looked down at the trinkets, closing the box and pushing it away from him, moving to facing Ryan.
Ryan tilted his head to the side in confusion. "Why do you think that..? Mommy wouldn't lie to us would she?"
Sabre shook his head no, patting Ryan's head. "I don't think she's lying to us, just don't think it's the full truth.."
Ryan's mouth formed into an 'o' shape, thinking for a moment.
"Why don't we figure out what they hiding from us then?" He finally asked, looking up into Sabre's gray-green eyes which always fascinated him as they heavily contrasted his own bright blue ones.
The older of the two paused, returning Ryan's stare.
"I don't think that's a good idea RyRy, mommy said we could get hurt and I don't wanna make mommy or daddy mad."
Ryan pouted, putting a sad look on his face and in his eyes, which Sabre immediately picked up on.
"But I wanna know! Mommy and daddy never hide things from us!" He whined, still pouting.
Sabre had to admit, he had a point. Their parents never hid anything from them, they were always up front with what was happening, it was rather odd that they would keep anything from them.
"Okay, here, we'll go figure out what they're hiding tonight, alright? We wait for mommy and daddy to go to sleep, we meet in the living room with flashlights, Dart and Cluckers, and we go out to see what they're hiding. But you have to promise me you're gonna be quiet, okay?"
Ryan took a few moments to understand all what Sabre said before his eyes lit up and he nodded excitedly, moving forward and hugging his older brother, squishing his monkey stuffed animal, Dart, between them.
Sabre welcomed the hug, returning it not long after before both pulled back from it, the older of the two ruffling on Ryan's hair.
"Go get ready champ, alright? I'll see you soon." Ryan gave a thumbs up, getting off the bed and leaving Sabre's room, closing the door behind him.
Sabre sighed once he left. He was nervous to say the least. Since the day he could walk, he was mommy and daddy's good boy, always living up to their expectations, never getting in trouble outside of his and Ryan's pranks.
This was going to be new, if his parents found out about what he was planning, there was no doubt in his mind that not only would he get in trouble, but so would Ryan, and if anything Sabre would get in more trouble even though it was Ryan's idea, since he's meant to be the older, more responsible brother.
Sabre shook off these thoughts, going to his closet and looking through it for an outfit to wear on his adventure out with Ryan, needing to start preparing.
-
A few hours passed, Sabre and Ryan both patiently waiting in their rooms, pretending to be asleep when their parents came in to check on them. After what felt like forever, the house was completely silent, signalling that the siblings parents had finally gone to sleep.
They took this as their opportunity to go.
They both got changed into outfits that would be more suited for exploring, leaving their pajamas on their beds for when they got back.
Sabre picked up his flashlight, which was a forest green, his favourite colour, and Cluckers, a chicken stuffed animal that he got on his 6th birthday.
Ryan picked up his flashlight, which was half blue, half red, a combination of both of his favourite colours since he couldn't decide between the two, and Dart, his stuffed monkey.
The two seemed almost completely coordinated in their movements because they both left their rooms at the same time, meeting in the hallway. This removed the need to meet in the living room, so they both just left the house together.
Once outside, the atmosphere immediately seemed to shift. It was calm before, filled with silent excitement, however now it seemed anxiety producing, it didn't feel right.
At least to Sabre, Ryan still seemed extremely bounce-y and excited, flicking on his flashlight and scanning it around, his older brother following suit almost immediately after.
They walked towards the woods, planning on taking their normal route through just to make sure everything was normal before returning home and going to sleep, which both were sure they would do as soon as they got back.
The beginning of the route was the exact same, except for the occasional owl hooting or sound from a nearby bush, both which immediately caught both of the siblings attention everytime they heard one of them, frantically moving their flashlights around until they were sure there wasn't anything after them.
They eventually reached an opening in their normal path, one they were both familiar with, it's where a calming pond sat surrounded by a small patch of flowers here and there.
However, there was one massive difference now.
Sitting in the pond was a massive structure made out of some black stone that seemed jagged, a pinkish purple something in the middle of it, a small path leading into the something.
Sabre and Ryan stared at in awe, walking towards it and examining it, picking at the outter structure, trying to get some of the jagged stone but it proving to be difficult, impossible even.
"This is so cool..what is it though?" Ryan asked, knocking on the structure.
Sabre just shrugged, he had never seen anything similar to it in his life, thought he hadn't been living for long so there was a lot he hadn't seen.
They both walked towards the front of it, staring at the swirling pinkish-purple thing in the center of the structure.
"I wanna touch it." Ryan say, gesturing his flashlight towards the thing.
Sabre held his hand out in front of Ryan, keeping him from moving forward, even though he wasn't planning on it in the moment.
"I don't think that's a good idea RyRy, it doesn't look safe.." At least what their parents had said was most likely true, it wasn't safe out here at night.
"But we don't know that! What if it gives us like, a billion dollars!?" Ryan excitedly asked, starting to bounce a bit in place again, something he did when he was extremely happy.
"Or it could hurt us, you never know.." Sabre was starting to have his doubts about this, worrying that this could be something bad.
Before either of them could make a decision, a voice rang in their ears.
"ᖻᓍᑘ ᕼᗩᐺᘿ ᘻᗩᕲᘿ ᗩ ᘜᖇᗩᐺᘿ ᘻᓰSᖶᗩkᘿ ᑢᕼᓰᒪᕲ, ᗩᘉᕲ ᖻᓍᑘ Sᕼᗩᒪᒪ Sᑘᖴᖴᘿᖇ ᖶᕼᘿ ᑢᓍᘉSᘿᕴᑘᘿᘉᑢᘿS."
Their fight or flight reflexes immediately kicked in however before either of them could run, something shoot out of the structure at light speed, grabbing Sabre around his chest and pulling him into purple-pinkish thing in the middle of the structure.
"SABRE!?"
Sabre was pulled into it before he could respond, the structure vanishing immediately after so Ryan had no hope of following after.
He stared at where the portal was, too many emotions flooding his mind at once, his entire body shaking, he couldn't breathe, could only gasp after several moments of not breathing.
Ryan eventually spotted all that was left of his older brother; his chicken stuffed animal laying the ground. He cautiously moved to pick it up, fearful that he may collapse at a wrong movement.
Eventually both stuffed animals were in his arms, and that's when he broke. Ryan started uncontrollably sobbing into both of them, shaking so much he was barely able to keep on his feet.
With what little strength he still had in his body, he ran out of the forest, going towards his parents house in hopes they would know what to do in this situation.
...
The next day came around and there was nothing they could do.
Sabre was gone, taken, and all that remained of him was his room, his trinkets, and Cluckers.
Or, at least in this world.