Author's Note: "Lullabyes" is a fic I started writing back around Christmastime of 2006. It's a Naaza backstory based on some small bits of canon character things, my own theories, research of 16th century Japan and other fitting things. It will be posted in really small bits I'm calling "clips." I'm not sure if I'll ever actually finish it, but enjoy anyway.
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It was a terrified shriek that roused him for the first time, the high pitched yell that came with the discovery of a child's bloody body on the forest floor.
Of course, he never knew he was the cause of that shriek because he was the body, beaten and bruised and left for dead.
A woman's trembling voice asked if he was alive. He couldn't answer even if he wanted to; his jaw ached. Couldn't turn his head and open his eyes to look at the person who'd found him, either. One eye was swollen shut, the other so bruised it would be a miracle if he could ever see again.
The voice asked again if he was alive, growing a little more shrill with each passing second.
He tried to move, but his fragile body protested; every tiny movement was agony. A small mewl of pain slipped through his blood-crusted lips and the voice gasped in surprise. Or maybe it was horror; he had no way of telling. Footsteps scuffled through the leaves as the girl who'd found him paced, assessing the situation and how to handle it.
The footsteps retreated after a little while and he was certain he'd been left to die a second time.
He had no way of knowing how much time passed, but it felt like an eternity before the steps returned, accompanied by a heavier footfall. Two voices were talking now, but he was too young and tired to understand everything they were speaking of.
His body screamed in agony as he was suddenly lifted from the ground without warning. A pathetic whimper was all he could manage at the jarring movement, but it was lost among the voices of the big people who'd found him. The pain continued as he was jostled about, intensifying until the world faded away to nothing.