The Fatherhood of Kain Highwind.
A series of stories starring Kain and a young girl he's forced to adopt.
Story 1: Adoption and Moving in.
Kain Highwind was Relaxing in the courtyard of Castle Baron. It had been a long day and all he wanted to right now was relax and watch the clouds roll by overhead. Unfortunately, Fate has a way of screwing people over.
"GET BACK HERE YOU LITTLE BRAT!" He heard Cid yell, causing him to stand up and see what was going on. Jumping in the direction of where the yell had come from, Kain was soon at the scene as he saw two of his men fall of the castle wall as a little girl with green hair started attacking them.
"You're joking." He said as he jumped to the top of the wall just as one of his men, an unlucky man named Johnson, was kicked off the wall by the little girl. Who he soon learned was barefoot, and dressed in animal skin, with a leather band on her head with an orange feather sticking out of it. He saw a dragoon helmet on the ground and Cid kept yelling thief and pointed to the girl.
"Well, what do we have here? A little thief trying to become a Dragoon?" he said, only to get kicked in the head by the girl. Sensing hostility, he and the girl fought, and after a few minutes, he won. A couple of normal soldiers came to tie her up as she struggled to break free from being held back by the head Dragoon.
Later in the throne room, Kain and the tied up child stood before the King of Baron, Cecil, his wife, Rosa, and his son, the blue haired prince, Cyrus.
"Kain, why is there a child tied up?" the king said, raising an eyebrow at the sight.
"She was caught stealing a Dragoon Helmet according to Cid, and she is tied up because she put up a fight trying to escape. Johnson will be in the infirmary for at least a month from the beating he got." The Dragoon answered, saying what he knew.
"I see. And you little girl, were you stealing that helmet?" Cecil asked, only to be met with silence as the girl ,who he deemed to be about ten from her height, glared at him and stuck out her tongue.
"Daddy! She's a thief! She needs to be punished!" Cyrus said, glaring back at the girl.
"Cyrus, a good king listens to all sides of a story." Cecil said to his son, facepalming in the process. His wife, Rosa however, looked at the little girl and smiled gently.
"I'm sure you have a reason, right?" she said, while Kain smiled. The little girl then spoke up, and judging by her dialect, was definitely not a city child.
"Kokiri found the Hell-mutt when a Dragon Head came to Kokiri's cave injured during Star Rain. Dragon Head wished Kokiri to take Hell-mutt to Castle and Tell Alpha Dragon Head Kain That Dragon Head Died and give Hell-mutt to Alpha Dragon Head. Kokiri came here and met with Bear Man and Bear Man accused Kokiri of taking Hell-mutt. Kokiri No Thief!" She said, in very broken English.
"Kokiri, correct? You realize the man you are looking for was standing next to you this whole time, right?" Cecil said, smiling a little.
"No."
"Kain, it seems this girl was raised by animals, I think it's best you take her in and raise her. Especially since she defeated your dragoons."
"Cecil! She is a ten year old girl! She probably won't even adapt easily to castle life!"
"Kokiri eight summers old. Kokiri just tall." The girl deadpanned, while Cecil chuckled.
"Sorry. I just assumed. Anyway, Kain, as Baron's King, I order you to adopt kokiri and raise her to be a citizen of Baron."
"This is over what happened with your brother, isn't it?"
"Maybe."
"Cecil, You may be a paladin, but you can be pretty evil sometimes. Also,I'm giving her English lessons. "
With that, Kain's adventures into fatherhood began. After the Adoption by royal decree took place, Kain and Kokiri entered the forest near Baron so he could gather her things to mover her into the castle. On the way there, Kain had taught her basic Grammar and soon saw she was a quick learner.
"So Kokiri, who took care of you for the past eight years? And answer using what I taught you."
"Ko—I was raised by the white wolf Silver Claw. She took care of me since I was born."
"I see. And during the meteor shower last month, the 'star rain' as you called it, a dragoon came to your cave, mortally wounded, and asked you to take his helmet to me. Anything else he asked you to do?"
"Yes. He also asked me to train as a dragoon and become the best, like he wanted to be."
"I see. What was this man's name?"
"I think he said he was called Vin-sent? He was a very sad man."
"Yep, that was Vincent alright. If he's ever reborn, he'd probably be stuck in a coffin somewhere." Kain thought.
Neibielheim, Final Fantasy 7 world.
Vincent sneezed as he slept in his coffin, waking him up for a moment.
"Who could be talking about me?" he said, and went back to sleep.
Kain and Kokiri soon made it to the cave, and were met with a White she-wolf. Kokiri hugged the beast, who licked her adopted cub's face, and soon saw Kain. Dipping her head, the wolf looked at Kain and went into the cave, indicating that they follow them. Kain went inside, and soon saw a pile of leaves with a crude spear with the head made of a strange green mineral, a small bag, and a red and blue instrument carved to look like a bird of some kind. Picking up the objects, Kain wondered who made them, and how, but something else caught his eye. Picking it up, he saw a necklace with stone charms, each one resembling an animal. A wolf, a deer, a bear, and a dragon were carved into the charms, and the Dragoon looked at Kokiri.
"What is this?" he asked, while Kokiri took the necklace and held it close.
"Silverclaw said it belonged to my real mother, She said she saw her wandering the forest looking for someone before she gave birth to me. Silverclaw took me in and raised me while she took my mother's necklace. I guess she hid it and wanted to give it to me when I was old enough."
"I see. What about your father? Where was he?"
"I don't know. My mother was probably looking for him since she didn't look like someone from Baron."
Kain decided to keep quiet as he looked at the wolf. She seemed to be strangely understanding about Kokiri being raised by humans, and the way she looked at him now seemed to indicate that if he didn't take care of Kokiri and protect her, she would hunt him down, kill him and eat his organs.
"Is this everything Kokiri?" He asked, hiding his fear.
"Yes." She said, and hugged the wolf goodbye.
"We could bring Silverclaw with us, I'm sure Cecil wouldn't mind if she didn't hurt anyone."
The little girl smiled, and in the language of beasts asked the wolf if she wanted to come. Silverclaw nodded, causing Kokiri to smile even more.
"Silver Claw said that she'll come with us to Baron, and if Cecil agrees to it, she'll stay!"
An hour later, the trio arrived at Baron, the wolf scaring the hell out of the soldiers as she looked around with Kokiri. When they arrived at the throne room, Cecil looked at the wolf, and then to Kain.
"Kain, tell me this is her pet, right?"
"Sorry Cecil, This is who raised Kokiri for the past eight years. I told Kokiri that if you allowed it, she could stay with us while I raised Kokiri."
"Well, she didn't seem to attack the guards, or me, but if she attacks a civilian, or a soldier, she will have to be put down. But, I don't see any problem with her staying. Er, what is the wolf's name anyway?"
"Silverclaw." Both Kain and Kokiri said, while the wolf went over to Cecil and placed a paw on his hand in acceptance of the terms.
"She's more intelligent than she looks." He said, raising an eyebrow at this show of diplomacy. The wolf however, seemingly smirked as she went back to her family.
"So Kain, what else did you find in Kokiri's home?"
"A spear, a flute, a bag, and a necklace belonging to her birthmother Cecil, According to Kokiri, Silverclaw took her in after her mother died giving birth."
"I see. Any sign of the father?"
"No."
"Very well. Kain, I want you to take Kokiri and Silverclaw to your home. We have something to discuss in the morning."
Kain nodded and followed orders, despite his best friend being King, he still had to follow orders. Arriving to his home in the castle's south eastern corner, He looked at his new daughter and smiled as he showed her what things were for a person raised in the town. While he was out, his dragoons had decorated a spare room for Kokiri to sleep in, putting together a bed, a bookshelf, a wardrobe, and putting in some stuffed toys for her to play with. Looking in the wardrobe, Kain saw that the men had gone out and bought some clothes for her to wear, and imagined how people reacted to a group of Dragoons walked around town getting things for a little girl, and hearing about his adoption.
"I wouldn't be surprised if Biggs and Wedge headed this. Those two maybe normal soldiers, but they are seriously unable to keep quiet about things." He said, and chuckled. He then put Kokiri in her new bed, and smiled as he left for his own room while the wolf watched over her sleeping charge. He knew that this was only the beginning, and that from this point forward, things would probably get interesting, especially since he would be raising a wild child.
I can't believe I'm doing this. The Dragoon's Reputation is probably Chocobo dung because of this, not to mention Johnson will have to catch up in his training, again. Now I have to tell Vincent's family that he's dead, and there's also the others when they visit. I'm not sure I can handle this! But, orders are orders, and as I dragoon serving the king, even if he is an ass sometimes, I have to follow orders.
And so, Kain's trials as a dad begin. Now, before people get on to me for this, yes, I know about Final Fantasy IV: The After Years. I know about Ceodore. But I actually thought up Kokiri and Cyrus, and other characters that have yet to show up, before I even knew about it. So consider this an alternate universe, okay?
Anyway, I'd like to Thank an author called Selfish Vampire Mint, an excellent writer, and her fic, From Cerberus to Persephone, inspired me to get the brain working and pull this story out and write it. So Thank you Minty, and I hope Alyssa causes a little trouble for her guardian in case she and Kokiri ever meet.
No then, Fun Fact Time!
Silverclaw would have been able to talk, and give back story to Kokiri before never being seen again. But I guess I didn't have the heart to do it. So, I sacrified the talking wolf to keep the two together for now.
Kokiri's mom is a Troian who got knocked up, and went on a journey to find the daddy, she obviously didn't make it.
Kainand Cecil's exchange over the adoption, and Johnson being mentioned, as well as Cyrus' comment, were all in the original idea, and remain unchanged.
The dragoon who died originally didn't have a name, and was buriedby Kokiri and Silverclaw. Cause of death: Lots and lots of Spinerats.
Well, that's all for now! Seeya when I seeya, and here's a little trivia question you can answer in your comments:
Where do you find Vincent in FFVII, and what do you have to do to get him to join your party?