A cry of pain echoed through the house, making the small boy flinch with fear in his bed. He sat up and looked over at the door, hearing the voices yelling louder with each blow. He knew what was happening- it happened nearly every night since he could remember.
He silently crept over to the door, opening it just a crack to try and look at what was going on. He knew he shouldn't- last time he had done it, he had been punished.
"No- please!" A woman shouted at a man's feet, his stance wobbling with drunkenness. The boy flinched as the man hit her again with a large bottle, the cry sounding again as the woman whimpered in pain. She looked up and saw him, her green eyes widening with fear. She begged him silently to go back to his room- go back before he notices you.
The boy shut his door silently, knowing he wasn't strong enough to do anything. He had tried before. He glanced down at the large scar on his arm, running from his elbow to his shoulder. He had many reminders of things not to do- all over his body.
He flinched as another cry sounded from down the hall, knowing he couldn't sleep with that happening. He was always scared- not for himself, but for her. She always protected him- why didn't she protect herself?
He laid down on his bed, turning away from the doorway in case the man should look in on him- he would pretend to be asleep so he would leave him alone.
He covered his ears as a piercing cry sounded out, telling him that she had really gotten hurt that time. He would check on her in the morning. For now, all he could do was hope she would be okay tonight.

When he woke back up, he looked around his room at the toys on his floor. Sometimes when the man came into his room, he broke things. It didn't seem like he had this time.
He jumped from his bed and ran down the hall, opening her door silently and peeking inside. She was sitting on her bed, holding her arm and crying softly. His chest twisted in pain at the sight of her crying and didn't see the man in the room, so walked in carefully.
"Are you okay?" He asked, looking up at her.
"Oh sweetie." The woman smiled softly down at him, holding out her good arm toward him as she held back her tears. "It'll be okay. Come here."
The boy climbed onto the bed, hardly tall enough to hoist himself onto the sheets. He crawled over to her, resting his head against her shoulder as he looked down at her arm. It was black and blue, and not looking very healthy.
"Are we going to the doctor again?" He looked up at her, not really asking, but telling her to do it.
"I think we might have to. How about we see your cousin on the way back?" She smiled gently, ruffling the boy's black curly hair.
"Yeah!" The boy said excitedly, hardly able to contain his joy. His cousin lived in a keep- he hardly got to see creatures in the city, but Avalon was filled with more animals than he could count. The woman smiled happily and stood up, flinching suddenly as she moved her arm. "Don't tell your father though, okay? It'll be our secret that we went to see them."
Rynu ran a cross over his chest with his finger in promise, jumping off the side of the bed. He knew what to do by heart by now. He ran over to his dresser in his room and packed his own clothes in a bag before running back into his mother's room and packing her clothes as well. He dragged the heavy bag on the ground, the package almost as big as he was.
"What a good boy." His mother said, her voice cracking as tears welled up in her eyes again. "My little Rynu is so good to his mother, isn't he?"
Rynu smiled up at her, trying to cheer her up. "Let's get momma better." He said, grunting with effort as he dragged the bag toward the door. His mother smiled and picked up the bag in her one good arm, swinging it over her shoulder as she walked out the door with Rynu.

"Does it hurt?" Rynu looked at the cloth holding his mother's arm to her chest.
"Not anymore. The healer said it should take a while for my arm to be back to normal, but mommy will be fine." She smiled down at Rynu as they walked through the forest to Avalon. A phoenix flew through the trees overhead, screeching once in greeting before flying over to the others, who were on the ground around a man with black hair. A little girl tugged on the man's red and gold robes, pointing toward Rynu and his mother.
"Serena." The man said in pity when he saw her condition. He jogged over to her, inspecting her with a solemn expression. "Did he do this to you?"
Serena could only look at the ground, fighting back her emotions.
"You have to get out of that place, Serena. Why don't you leave?" The man looked to his sister in concern, glancing down at Rynu and seeing with relief that he was untouched.
"I-I don't know where else to go." She whispered.
"Nonsense. You can stay here, if you need to." The man said softly, hoping he could get through to her this time.
"No, I don't want to burden you. You already have Pheona to take care of, and a whole flock of phoenix."
The man looked back at the phoenix chirping at each other on the ground and sighed. "You know I have enough room for you, Serena. Just please- think about it, okay?"
She nodded, hugging her brother with her good arm, looking down at Rynu as he watched silently.
"Why don't you go play with Pheona while your uncle and I talk?" She said softly, watching Rynu run off with Pheona to play in the forest.