Little Red wasn't the first in Faeond that took up investigation, and she wasn't the only one. She wasn't the youngest, despite being twelve, and she wasn't the only female in investigation. She wasn't the only investigator going through school at the same time. In fact, Red would've been just another investigator in Faeond in every way, if not for what happened during what she thought was just a simple task in her small, unknown town of Eastbourne.

And it all started with the old man with the pocket watch.

He had walked into Little Red's home uninvited while she was doing homework in her room, her mother's blood turning cold as she greeted the stranger. This man was not one of the town, as seen by his ornate white and gold robe and stiff mannerisms, walking as if any shift in his clothing would bring pain. Little Red's mother knew this, and knew that she could not trust this old man. The people of Eastbourne did not trust strangers.

But as the two spoke, something drew Little Red from her studies, though she did not know of the old man's arrival. She just felt the need to get food, despite it not being dinner time quite yet. She stayed quiet as she walked to the kitchen, hearing the whispers of her mother, knowing her mother would likely reprove her decision to eat at the moment, for dinner was cooking as her mother answered the old man. As if just wind, Little Red slipped over to the shelf where a few apples laid, reaching slowly for one.

But a strange ticking started to ring in her head. It stopped her in her tracks, for it was too loud to just be her imagination, but there was no grandfather clock in the small house to be making it. And it sounded like the ticking was coming from where her mother was talking. Pushing aside the apple idea, curiosity came over her like the night conquers day, and she walked over to the living room where her mother was.

The old man looked up with a twinkle in his eye as Little Red walked up behind her mother. Little Red was covering her ears, for the sound had gotten louder. But her mother couldn't have been buying a grandfather clock, the house was too small, and there was no clock in sight. The old man then stood up, and spoke.

"Good evening, young miss. You're the exact person I wanted to see." The old man said. To Little Red's surprise, the ticking stopped after the man spoke, though she did see him fiddling with his pocket watch. She didn't think she would have been able to hear the tiny watch from so far away, but she couldn't think of any other explanation for the ticking noise. Little Red's mother, now just noticing Little Red's presence in the room, tensed up at the old man's words, as did Little Red herself. After all, this man was obviously a stranger, and the people of Eastbourne did not trust strangers. Little Red's mother stood up, trying to take charge of the situation.

"You still have not told me anything about yourself, who you are, where you come from, or where your manners are." She said sternly, being quite annoyed by the old man at this point.

"Who I am does not matter, dear. Nor where from which I came." The old man gave a laugh. "All I have is a tip for our young investigator here. I have heard that the poor Bear family has had a break in, maybe you should go try and figure it out."

And with that, the old man walked away, leaving two very confused and very annoyed Eastbourners in his wake. Little Red was then the first to speak.

"Mother, do you think I should check on the three of them. If that man did something to Baby Bear," Little Red began, thinking for a moment. "Then someone has to make sure that he gets payback!"

Little Red's mother just smiled softly, for she had always been nervous of Little Red's investigation dreams, for she knew that the curious young girl could get easily hurt when poking into the wrong business. After all, the people of Eastbourne did not trust strangers.

"I think they're fine dear, if anything did happen, we will probably get alerted by someone else. This isn't our business, dear." Little Red's mother tucked a light blonde strand of hair behind Little Red's ear, before going and heading to the kitchen. "Let's go eat dinner, sweetie."

They ate dinner and Little Red was sent off to bed, but nothing could curb the curiosity that was growing in her stomach. Little Red laid in her bed, eyes open wide like the full moon outside of her window. After a while, she got up, looking out of her window. Little Red could see the Bears' house from her room. The lights were on, and all seemed peaceful.

But then why would that old man ask her to go to the house?

She grabbed her signature cloak from her desk chair, not being able to resist the urge to check on the Bear family any longer. She snuck out of her room and through the quiet hallways of the house, careful not to wake her mother up. After she got out of the house, she sprinted across the town as fast as she could, nervous of each passing moment she was outside of the house. She didn't know if it was a trap, but what worried her more was the idea that any inaction could possibly hurt the Bear family.

But as Little Red, out of breath, got to the door, she felt as if she made the right decision. She stood at the door for a few seconds, breathing slowly as she ran through what the old man told her, wondering if there was anything that she could figure out from his tone.

But alas, the only thing the young girl could think to do was go in. So she knocked on the door.