He ran.

It seemed like all he did now was run.

But he knew he couldn't fight.

The only one who ever protected him was dead.

And with her death he lost his home and the only family he had ever known.

He never met his father. He was dead before memories began.

He heard he had a brother, but had never actually seen him. And his mother warned him that he might not help him. Though he didn't understand why.

Actually maybe he did. He was beginning to understand a lot of things.

The villagers had always been cold to him, but they were never cruel.

But when his mother died, everything changed.

They drove him out of the village. Chased him into the forest that he had once feared.

Now it was his refuge. They could never run as fast as him. They could never fit into all the places he could hide. He was different, and this was the first time he embraced it.

He was in a forest now. Not the same forest. For he had wanted to get as far from the village as he could.

But everywhere he went it was the same.

He understood that he was different.

It had saved his life, but it had also doomed his to a life filled with danger and prejudice.

Humans were afraid.

And the few demons he had met (that had the ability to speak) were disgusted with him.

They told him he was an abomination, a hanyou.

He had heard that word before, from the villagers when he lived with his mother. He didn't know what it meant then, but now he understood.

Half-breed.

Mongrel.

Mutt.

Disgrace.

Evil.

Worthless.

Hanyou.

They were all the same to him.

Whether it was humans or demons they said basically the same thing.

That he deserved to die; they said he was evil or that he was a disgrace to either kind.

Half human, half demon.

He was nothing. Not one or the other.

But he would never give up.

His mother told him, You are my son, and your father would be proud. I love you.

That one sentence has stuck with him.

He knew his mother loved him.

But how could his father be proud of a hanyou that always ran away?

Then he realized.

He would show them.

He would survive. And he would fight back.

He wasn't strong enough yet.

So for now he would run.

Run and become stronger than any demon.

He would prove them all wrong.

He wasn't worthless!

He would make his father proud.

He understood enough of himself to know that this was important.

He looked behind him at the demon sneaking towards him. It was strong but not fast.

So he ran, and lived to become stronger.

Someday he would show them all.

He ran.