Naniko of the Redemption
Prologue
Not even quite a year ago, he had been chained up, severly beaten to near death, and raped. Yet, here he was, sitting in the darkness almost by himself -In the security of his old bedroom.
He was shaking as he recalled the horrors he had faced inside the dungeon of the most molevolent man to ever exist. The nightmares never ceased to plague him, even when his eyes were wide open. The tears never stopped falling fromhis aching eyes, either. He could feel ever scar that was burned into his skin as if they were being forged all over again, and the hands were running all over him again. He squeezed his fists tight around his knees as he drew them to his chest, but it didn't seem to calm him.
No amount of coaxing from his friends and family seemed to make the pain go away -Their attempts at comfort only seemed to remind him of his ordeal. It was this very reason that he kept them at bay, staying far from them as he took to his pain alone. Almost alone. There was a single soul in the world that managed to take his mind off the agony.
A small cry echoed in the wooden house. He peeked up from his knees and peered towards the source. Across from him, laying on the middle of the dull carpet on his floor, was a small infant wriggling around in its blankets. He sniffed and slowly crawled over to the baby, sitting beside it as he smoothed his hand over the child's face to calm it. The tiny creature leaned into his touch giving a small giggle. A small, weak smile rose on his face as he petted it. Then, the baby reached its tiny hands out for him -His fingers were so small they swam in his hand as he wrapped his own around them. He gently took the infant's small frame into his arms, nestling its head against his chest.
"Why was I given you, huh?" He whispered. "I don't deserve you... You're too perfect." He placed a loving kiss on the younger's cheek. The baby's large blue eyes stared up at him with such innocence, such cheer, he was almost convinced everything was fine. "Why, huh?" It smacked its lips as it giggled up at him. He gave a teary-eyed laugh. "Nani is Hylain for why, right? Alright, my little it... I've decided to call you Nani... How does that sound?" He asked. The child giggled. He gave it a warm embrace and peeked up from the child's thin red hair at the mirror in front of him.
His blonde hair was somehow darker than before he began his journey, and his eyes as well. His eyes were almost black, days of starvation and sleepless night hanging on to him. His green tunic was battered and torn -Just as much as his bruised and scarred skin. Yet, with the child pulled to his chest and a loving smile on his face, he felt as if there was peace on the other side of the mirror, that there was-
Suddenly, there was a knock on his door. He turned his head to see the arched door passed the table across from him and then glanced down at the baby. He gulped. He'd almost forgotten... The battered teen stood from the floor and ambled to the door. With each stephe took, he could feel a heaviness in his heart, and doubt began to pull his beating metronome from the door. He wrapped a shaky hand around the knob and pulled open the door, holding the mini human in his hand with one arm. On the other side of the doorway was a middle-aged man with a receding blonde hairline and a grimace etched on his wrinkled face.
"Rusle..." He mumbled. The man took a deep breath and looked down at the wooden floors.
"A woman in Termina Country has offered to care for him," The man muttered lowly. The teen gasped and backed away, holding his child protectivly on impulse.
"Termina? No... That's... That's too..." He protested. Lately, it had been hard for him to find his voice, and for a while it had been too hoarse from screaming to even whisper a sound.
"Why does that matter? You said that you had no intention of raising him, didn't you?" Rusle huffed.
"But... But..." Why he felt like crying, he wasn't quite sure, but the very thought of never seeing the child again scared him. "I..." He looked around franticly for something to help him find his words, to help him understand his words. There was nothing. His eyes fell upon his tiny creature. He stilled. "I change my mind..." He finally said.
Rusle seemed shocked, almost outraged, at the news. He stepped forward and finally looked the blonde in his eyes. His blue eyes almost seemed to redden, a dark color that almost threatened the younger, and a certain deathly warning took the forefront of his countanence. The blonde gulped; He'd never been glared at this way by the man before.
"Link... I know you've grown to accept this... Thing, but it has no right to live, and especially not here," Rusle hissed. The teen felt as if a blade had ripped through his ribcage and pierced his heart. No right to live? Even if he was the product of light and dark, of sin and lust, of evil -He looked down at the child as it looked up at him with blithe blue eyes, full of good will and innocence. His chest fluttered. "Link..." He sighed. "Don't forget what was done to you." The teen shot him a deadly look.
"How could I ever forget?" He seethed. Then, a thought swatted him. "No... Even after that... This baby... My baby, he was given to me... As... As a... Blessing... A coping..." A long silence prevailed as they stared at eachother, when Rusle shook his head.
"No matter how much you sugar coat it, that thing is his offspring, and he will follow his tread in the desert sand of blood," He grumbled, turning away. "I think it's best if you leave..." He added, saying nothing more as he leaped off the porch area and stomped back to the village ahead.
Link looked down at the tiny red-head in his arms and gave a soft sigh. "I guess it's just you and me now..." He sighed. The child gurgled happily. A chuckled slid from its mother's mouth. "That's just fine with me."
