-drip drip-

He ran.
He felt like he never ran like this before.
Panting and shaking.
It was cold and yet he felt so terribly warm.
The heat rose from his chest to his head, choking him, suffocating him.

Panting blocked out all the other sounds.
Occasionally, it would give way to a soft whimper.
His face began to sting.
He wanted it all to stop.

His limbs were trembling,
Protesting against him.
As he tried to run just a bit faster, his leg suddenly gave up.
He fell to the ground, hard.

-drip drip-

Why are you even here?

It´s not like anyone needs you.

You´re a waste of space, really.

I don´t understand. If I´m here, it must mean that I have a purpose here...
Or is it wrong of me to think that way?
Am I just a burden?
I want to be of use...
I want to serve...

I don´t need their approval.

But what does he think of me?
Am I useless in his eyes as well?

-drip drip-

He felt terribly warm and yet it was so cold.
The coldness began to seep into his body.
He got up, shaking, and started running again.
He didn´t want them to follow him.
He didn´t want anyone to find him.

But eventually he just couldn´t run anymore.
So he sat down behind a rock,
hoping that no one would see him there.

How far did he run?
It must have been many miles.
Did he know yet?

He felt so cold...

-drip drip-

"There you are...!"

The little child was pulled out of his day-dreaming and looked up at the one that had followed him all the way here.

"Ahh...You are soaking wet..."

He came closer and stretched out one of his large wings above him, shielding him from the rain. The child looked up. His father was watching him with a concerned expression on his face.

"Why did you run away...? What happened..?"

He listened to the drumming sound of the raindrops on his father´s wing. Only now that he was protected from them, he realized how strongly they had been hammering down on him this whole time.
He felt his face contort.
Something warm, trickling from his cheeks again.
Something hot, streaming down his face again.

"Cole..."

He tried to keep back his sobs. Little treacherous proofs of weakness. The urge to cover his face build up within him, but he tried to fight it. His father, of all people, shouldn´t see him like this...

-drip drip-

"You really shouldn´t run away like this, you know... "

His father let out a heavy sigh.

"I was so worried about you..."

The little child looked up. "You were?", he asked, his eyes wide with surprise.
"Of course I was.", his father responded.
"I suddenly got told that my son ran away and no one knows where is.", his father sighed, "Naturally I was worried."
Hearing this made him suddenly feel ashamed for what he had done. "I am sorry..."
His father offered him a smile. "Well...I am glad I found you, at least."
The little child couldn´t help but return the smile. His father always seemed to put him into a good mood with his presence.
He got up, a bit wobbly, and huddled up against his father. It was all so familiar to him.
The scent of his father´s coat, the warmth of his father´s body and the continuous rhythm of his father´s breathing.
It didn´t feel like they were out in the rain anymore. To him it felt like they were back at their home.
Just the two of them.

"Now...could you tell me about what happened...?"
The child knew that his father wasn´t going to press him on it if he didn´t respond.
Was it even necessary to explain? "I bet you know why..."
"Ah...is it about that...?", his father frowned and looked down, as if in thought.
For a little while, neither of them said anything.
"Was it...that bad that you felt the need to run away...?", his father finally asked.
He wondered about it for a bit. "I don´t know...I wanted to run away then...but now I don´t want to anymore...but...",
he grew angry at the memory, "I don´t want to play with them anymore...! I don´t want to see them anymore...!"
His father watched him closely.
"You know...you always could...ahh...", his father looked down again, suddenly seeming rather upset,
"I am not sure if...I should even say but...If you want to..."
His father took a deep breath and looked at him.
"If you really want to, you can leave this place. You always can...considering..."
Before his father could say anything else, he was cut short by the child´s shrill voice.
"No!", he cried out, "No, no, no, no...! I don´t want to leave...! I want to stay here with you...!"
His eyes began to fill with tears and he started sobbing.
"I w-want to serve...just l-like you...o-or...", he choked, "...or do y-you think...I c-can´t...?"
His father frowned, "No...", he picked him up and held him close to himself, "That is not what I was suggesting...Don´t worry..."
His father began to gently wipe away his tears with the sleeve of his coat.
"It´s just that I feel like it´s a choice you have the right to make. You can choose whatever you want."
He nuzzled into his father´s coat. "I never want to leave. I want to stay here.", he said firmly.

He raised his head and met his father´s gaze.
"I want to-"
He was interrupted by a tiny sneeze.

"Oh, that doesn´t sound good...", his father stood up, still carrying him, "We´d better get you out of this rain and warm you up, no?"
The little child sniffled and nodded.

"Alright, let´s go home then."

Author Note:

I hope you enjoyed this little thing I wrote.

This is, as one might be able to tell, little snippet of Chancellor Cole´s childhood. I feel like there is too little fanfictions about him, so I tried my best to put some of my own backstory for him into written form.

Please consider that the last time I wrote anything non-school related was about 7 or 8 years ago.Also english isn´t my native language, so I may or may not have made some mistakes related to that.