A/N: After marathoning Aphmau's Minecraft Diaries for 5 days straight, I was a bit disappointed at the lack of MD fanfiction so, being intrigued by Zenix and Garroth's past, I decided this was a good thing to write about.

I really liked the two from the beginning and this is going to delve more into the start of their relationship and the years leading up to episode 1, through Garroth's point of view and perhaps Zenix's at some point. This also might take on more mature themes later on (swearing, violence/gore, etc), but I'll post any warnings for each chapter under the author's note.

The plot is undetermined and I don't know when the story might end; this was written purely for fun and to satisfy my need for more Zenix and Garroth. It also should be noted in this chapter, Garroth is around 20-22 years old and is only a trainee guard.

Special thanks to little-miss-gardevoir for being my proofreader!

I hope you enjoy!

Warnings: None

The air was frigid. The wool coat under his armor was doing little good; it was rare the temperature dropped this low here. The sky was a dull grey and looked seconds from releasing a flurry of snow onto the town. Garroth could see his breath in front of his face and he cast a look up before continuing his trek over the small, uneven hills.

After the rain last night, the slopes were slick with mud and on several occasions, he found himself suddenly having to reach for the nearest tree to avoid a nasty fall. The last thing he needed to do was break a leg this far from the village, where no one could hear him.

Normally, he didn't patrol out this far; but there had been complaints from some villagers that while they were out hunting, they had heard screaming in the forest. Had Phoenix Drop's guard regime had more members, maybe Garroth wouldn't have been sent to investigate alone. But there was no use complaining; he was out here now and there was nothing he could do about it.

He didn't expect to hear screaming. He didn't even believe the villagers in the first place. Perhaps an animal had made the sound they had heard; why would a person be screaming in the forest?

No, he was convinced he wouldn't hear screaming and he would eventually turn around and go back with no new information, then the whole thing would be over. He could finally go back to his house and warm up. He was so set on that, he froze completely when he did hear something. Crying. Very high-pitched crying echoing between the trees.

He blinked in the direction it was coming from, unsure if it was real or not, but the more he listened, he could rule out the idea of it being an animal. The crying was that of a human, but it sounded like a child. He had to be several miles from the village now. What if someone was living out here?

In that case, whoever lived there might not take kindly to a stranger coming up to their home and poking around. Starting off toward the sound, he kept his hand on the hilt of his sword, ready to pull it out of its sheath at any moment should he need it.

He came to a small clearing and was shocked to find a hut with a thatched roof and a fire pit out front. There was a clothesline with several shirts and coats hanging from it and a washboard and pail of water on the ground beside it. He kicked the ashes in the fire pit with his boot as he passed, confirming the fire had gone out long ago.

The crying was definitely that of a child and Garroth felt fear crawl up his spine, making his hair stand on end as he approached the hut. The door was open and slightly offset its hinges. He had no idea what he would find.

Standing in the doorway, he found the hut to be impossibly small. How more than one person could live here was beyond him; there was barely enough room to walk and the clutter inside didn't help. There was a large stuffed pallet on the floor, many crates and boxes lining the room and on the far wall was a crib.

The crying was loud. There was a baby in the crib. Garroth looked over his shoulder to make sure no angry parent was going to come up behind him and crack him over the head with something before he drew closer to the crib.

Inside was indeed a baby; a very small baby with curly brown hair and dark eyes. Its crying didn't cease when Garroth peered in at it. He assumed the child was only a couple months old, but its skin was turning blue from being exposed to the winter air. There were no blankets in the crib and he felt a stab of sympathy. Despite not being good with children, he reached in and picked it up.

Hushing the child under his breath, he carefully bounced it in his arms as he searched for a blanket or some material that could be used as one. The infant would certainly freeze to death if he didn't warm it up soon. What parent would leave their child like this? He would think about it later. If the baby's parents got upset, then he reasoned they shouldn't have left their child unattended.

Pulling an old moth-eaten blanket from between two crates, he swaddled the baby in it and held it close to his chest. The crying continued for a while longer before the child reduced to whimpering and sniffling, looking up at Garroth with big curious eyes.

While Garroth wanted to wait around to see if the parents would come back for their child, he knew he needed to head back to the village now that he had located the source of the screaming. He had been freezing himself and he didn't want to think about how the baby felt.

He told the head guard what he had found and showed the infant to the others. Some regarded the child with disinterest while a few made baby talk to it and asked to hold it. Garroth had no qualms with handing the child off to the first person that would take it now that he knew they were in a place the baby would be warm.

The head guard sent another trainee off to a couple in the village that had recently had a child to beg for milk to feed the new baby. One of the other guards observed the baby was male and hadn't seemed to have eaten in a couple days.

Garroth found a seat in the small house while the others fawned over the baby boy. Despite being glad to be rid of him, he was happy the child was warm and fed now. But he had no idea who would care for him.

The couple with their own baby would find it too stressful to care for two and would decline. Their village had shrunk so much, there weren't any other couples. While the guards seemed happy to play with and feed the baby now, Garroth knew none of them would properly adopt him. What would they even call him?

"Who will be taking care of the child from now on then?" The head guard spoke the question before Garroth had the opportunity to.

"I suppose Garroth will, as he found it," someone spoke up. Garroth's eyes widened behind his helm and he leapt to his feet from the chair.

"I can't take care of a baby!" No, but he might just throw a fit like one. The taller man stared at him with hard eyes and his mouth twitched into a frown.

"It'll only be temporary. I'm sure everyone here will help you. In the meantime, we need to send out patrols to find its parents. It's possible that they died or became lost. Judging by the child being malnourished, they hadn't been back for some time."

Garroth slumped back into his chair with a frustrated, but defeated sigh. He wouldn't argue with his superior, even if he really didn't want to follow his orders. The baby sneezed from his makeshift crib in the corner, but fell silent afterwards, apparently asleep again.

"Garroth, you'll take the child?" the guard questioned. He hesitated, turning his head to stare at the infant, before he sighed once more and nodded.

"Yes, I will."