Gray Silence

It's been so long since I've written any Fanfiction. I put up a 100 line poem for D. Gray Man up, so please check it out. It feels good to be writing again. Oh yeah, this is gonna be really long. I'm going with shorter chapters which means, you're gonna get over 20 chapters. Know that now!

Note: Cosimo is mentioned in the Manga. I'm merely using his name to my advantage. Also, send me a message or ask in a review if you have any questions about my story. Chances are I will answer them quickly and to the best of my ability.

The name of my story, Gray Silence, is also the name I use for my D. Gray Man forum. Go to my profile for the link.

SPOILERS FOR LATER CHAPTERS

Null & Void

t.A.T.u.

-

"Mana, why do people lock up animals?" The question surprised the clown, so he turned slightly to look down at the arrogant brown-haired boy besides him. As usual, he had a scowl on his face, saying; 'I don't care. I don't care. Ah, screw it, I care.'

"Because mankind doesn't realize that our very presence is destroying this world. We're far too ignorant to understand this. We hurt other living creatures because we think we're gods." Mana said this slowly, as if speaking to a mere child. In truth, he was only speaking to a child.

"If we're too ignorant, then how do you know?" The boy retorted, shooting a glare to the man.

"I don't. It's a guess. But I'd say it's a pretty darn good one." He stood, stretching slightly. It was nearly time for him to go on. Cosimo would be angry if he came onstage late.

"Stupid clown," the boy looked away and scowled at nothing in particular. Mana smiled; the boy knew his name but never called him by it. It was always; 'stupid clown.'

"Oh, I'm so sad. A child hates me. I want to die." He pretended to stab himself with a flimsy, rubbery knife. The man acted as if he were dying slowly and painfully because of what the boy said, but he ignored the clown.

"I'm used to you pulling that crap already, so knock it out!" The boy scoffed at Mana's pathetic show and the clown frowned slightly.

"Little children shouldn't curse." When there was no response, he hit the boy with a newspaper on the head. "You hear me, Allen?"

Allen held his head and glared up at the clown for the umpteenth time. "Screw off." He snapped.

"I have to go on. Please try to change your devious ways before I come back." Mana waved his pale hand as he walked towards the 'Big Top', not stopping to see if Allen responded.

Behind, the boy leaned against the dead tree and sighed. "I hate clowns."

-

"Allen?" Leaning over a small wall, he looked down at the mousy boy below. He sniffled quietly in response. Mana walked around – hard as it may be, with his clown outfit still on – to the other side of the wall and slid down next to him. He glanced over with deep, brown, intelligent eyes. Bruises and even some small cuts lined the boy's arms and face, which meant there was bound to be even more on the rest of him.

"Go away." The venom in Allen's voice was flat; he was defeated, and he accepted it.

"Cosimo did quite a number on you, didn't he?" Allen sniffled again.

"Don't get so down about it. He's just angry that a kid like you is better then him. You're golden, ma' boy." Mana offered a smile, but his red-and-white painted face made him look like a clown, instead of a man offering a child a kind smile.

Silence enveloped the two and Mana breathed deeply. This boy was tougher then a rock and sharper then a knife. Cosimo may have been the 'Manager', the 'Head Honcho' and such of his wonderful – hint sarcasm here – circus, but he got nowhere with the fans. They merely booed him and asked for someone better. It was always the good performers that got beaten, instead of the bad. Cosimo was just a jealous old man.

"Hey, about your question…earlier…about caged animals…why'd ya bring it up?" While Allen chewed it over about if he should tell the clown or not, Mana began to wipe the paint off of his face. It annoyed him and it always irritated his skin. Normally he was pale, but it always made his skin red and itchy.

"Because of the wolf," he said flatly.

Mana paused. "The black wolf he basically dragged in off the streets?"

"Yeah. She's nice. I don't get why he beats her more then anyone else here. She's only been here for a week, too." Allen's tears had stilled and he finally had that annoyed/stubborn look on his face again.

"That wolf follows orders to the 'T'. She performs her moves perfectly and the crowd loves her. She's a special creature, I'll say." Both were referring to a black wolf that was half human. There were once hundreds of humans like this, but now, news was that there was only two left. The one penned up in a cage, and one that was God knows where.

"It's unfair," Allen then said firmly.

"Life's not fair, kid." And then there was silence again.

"He hasn't even allowed her any food or clean water. I try to sneak her whatever I can." Allen's statement surprised Mana. Cosimo was cruel, but he always gave them food and water – given that it wasn't the best in the world.

"Really?" Mana sighed, running a hand through his near non-existent hair. "Cosimo has fallen to a new low, it looks like."

"I'd love to just-" Allen mad a punching motion with his hands and the clown chuckled.

"You couldn't beat him up; he's three times as tall as you, shrimp."

"I'm not short!" Allen stood, puffing up indignantly. His grey eyes stared at the man with mock fury. He was angry, but he couldn't do anything. Suddenly, he slid back down to the cold ground. "I can't do anything. Not a single thing." He raised his left hand and stared at it. He had been abandoned because of it.

"You can act. You do hard work. You're bright…albeit a crude child…you have promise!" Allen's mouth was open slightly in shock, and Mana laughed as he snapped the boy's lower jaw upwards.

"Keep your mouth open like that and a bug will take up residence on your tongue!"

"Shut it, stupid clown." Allen flushed red, angry at himself but also angry at Mana, Cosimo…the entire world. It was an unfair, cruel place to live in. And the clown was right – Man was destroying the place God had given them. Or, had he given it to the animals, originally? But then again, did such an entity like God actually exist? Allen doubted it greatly. If God was so good, why did people suffer?

"'Heart stained but never weak,'" Mana quoted from a song he had heard long ago. Allen tilted his head and looked up at him curiously.

"What does that mean?"

"It means that you may have troubles in your life, but you're not weak. That also means," here the clown paused to poke Allen's nose, "that you're strong. You'll make something great out of yourself, trust me."

Allen's grey eyes stared at him earnestly, with a large smile plastered on his face. Above, clouds surrounded the full moon but did not cover it. Soft, cold snowflakes began to drift down and both clown and child looked up. They smiled and laughed at the snow in delight. Mana stood, pulling up Allen. They began to twirl around, ignorant of the rest of the world. All that mattered was that they had someone to be with this cold, yet beautiful, December night…

-

"You stupid mutt! I'm going to get rid of you as soon as I can! I don't care if you are pulling in loads of cash! You're annoying every other actor here!" A black wolf was flung into a cage. It hit the other side of the cage bars and it flopped down to the hard, steel floor.

"You'd better shape up or we'll dump you in a ditch when we leave this town!" Cosimo snarled as he flung the cage door shut. His grey-white hair was hung in wisps around his head as he removed his top hat. His light brown eyes stared furiously from behind thin glasses.

"Better then be stuck here. I said let me go! I don't belong here." The wolf stood on shaky legs and bared her sharp teeth at the man.

"Oh no, you're going to rake in as much money as you possibly can. If we don't find you necessary any more, we'll skin you and take your fur and claws to sell in the market!" Cosimo turned on his heel sharply and walked away towards a small 'trailer' on the other side of their make-shift camp.

"If I weren't locked up-" The wolf snapped after him. When all was silent again, she sat down and began to look at her wounds. Cuts and bruises covered her. Annoyed as she was, she was in even worse pain. Sighing, she strode over to a corner of the cage and curled up for sleep. Suddenly a rustle had her lift her head back up.

"Who's there?" Standing, she moved towards the very bars she had crashed against. She grimaced at the blood that covered the bars but her attention was stolen when she heard yet another rustle. "Well?" She growled.

Suddenly a boy appeared from behind an empty cage. His brown hair was tied up into a messy stack on top of his head. His hands were shoved into his pants pockets. A black vest covered a dirty shirt. The wolf realized the shirt was probably once white. He had a scowl on his face as his narrowed grey eyes stared at nothing particular.

"Come to gawk at a wolf?" She growled, turning away irritably.

"So you're a real wolf? One of those wolves who are half-wolf, half-human?" His question made her turn back.

"Yeah." She responded suspiciously.

"Ah," he kicked a rock next to foot and acted like he could care less.

"See?" He looked back up as the wolf turned into a girl. Her long brown hair was tangled and matted, but it still held a silver glow from the light of the moon above. Deep brown eyes stared out at him. That was when it dawned on him that they were the same exact age.

"You're my age, aren't you?" He asked in awe.

"Depends. How old are you?" She asked with a slight smile on her face.

"I don't know. I don't know my birthday. I guess I'm around 12." He shrugged, not really caring about his date of birth.

"Don't you have parents?" The girl asked quietly.

"They abandoned me because of my left arm." He lifted it to show her. In the moonlight, it shined blood red and the girl stared at it with sharp eyes.

"Because of your arm? That's really stupid." Snorting, she put her right hand outside the bars and lightly touched his arm.

The boy's eyes widened with shock at the contact. No one but Mana's dog had ever touched his arm…and the dog licked it, not touch it softly. He looked up from his hand to her as she pulled back her arm.

"It means you're special." She whispered.

"Well, adults are stupid. And what about your parents? Did they abandon you because you're half-wolf?" He then snapped.

Her eyes softened. "They're both dead. My mother was exactly like me. There were once hundreds of us, after all. In a big battle last spring, my Pack – about 50 like me – were wiped out except for me and my friend."

The boy now felt guilty for bringing up painful memories. He looked away, trying to give off an annoyed attitude. He was about to ask her what her name was, but suddenly a hand touched his shoulder. Jumping slightly, he turned to glare at Mana who was still in his complete clown outfit.

"Talking to this lovely wolf, Allen?" He teased.

"Shut up." Allen muttered.

The wolf girl stared at the clown, wondering how she hadn't sensed him when he walked up. It was odd for someone to get past her senses. Had she really been so engrossed in talking with Allen? Growling softly, she transformed into her wolf form and turned to go back to her sleeping corner.

"Would you like out?" She turned in shock, staring in shock at the keys that dangled from the clown's hands.

"How did you…?"

"I'm leaving tonight anyways, so I figured I'd help you out." Mana shrugged slightly as he began to fiddle with the lock. It finally came undone so he opened the cage door.

"Thank you," the wolf jumped down and looked up at him. Flicking her tail, she nodded to him.

"I owe you." Mana smiled as he laid an arm around Allen's shoulders. The boy looked up in confusion.

"For what?" The wolf's eyes had changed to bright blue and they blinked at him.

"Actually, I owe your father." He smiled and dipped his head, the ball on his head threatening to fall off. "Off you go. And Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas to the both of you." The wolf allowed a toothy grin and launched herself away from the cage and the circus itself. She ran down the hill at top speed and disappeared into the streets of London.

"How do you owe her father?" Allen finally piqued.

"He's my brother." Mana then pulled away. "Come on, let's go. If Cosimo finds us here and realizes what we've done, we're dead." He faked hanging himself, as he did yesterday when he was talking to Allen about the dead dog.

"Who said I was going with you?" Allen asked, crossing his arms over his thin chest.

"I already knew you were going to." Mana leaned down and poked him on the nose. Allen gave him a disdainful look but smiled lightly. "So come on." The clown bent down and let Allen get onto his back. And with that, clown and child began their long journey to wherever the road took them. Meanwhile, a wolf ran back to her home. Little did the two children know was that they would one day be fighting on each other's side…

Okay, I'll admit, that was a little long. All well. It measured 5 pages for the 'prologue'. Chapter 1 will be out next week. Then chapter 2 the week after that. So on and so forth. Sorry if anyone was OOC.

-PA