A dream. We all as humans share the capability of one. All share one desire. Content. Whatever makes up happy. Be it peace or violence, we as humans do all we can for the sake of dreams, be it ours or another's. It is the idea of dreams that drives man to do what he will. To do what he does and must become. As if by some transcendental law outside of his will dictated as gospel. An otherworldly hand that hovers above us all. A Hand of God that guides man towards his destiny, whether he wishes to or not...
In this world, a startling vison is shared among all, an awe inspiring message from beyond such a world. A great fire. A warm and loving flame that burns furiously, that burns radiantly, sacred and cryptic in all it's being...
Under a crimson evening sky. Within a choked and barren wasteland. A lone crooked tree stands with hung corpses in place of leaves. Few had rotted away, some had began to decompose, and one was a fresh woman. From this woman, underneath her stiff body, a baby lies I the mix of mud and her blood. A child born to die in this world cries out. What was destined to be his last breath, would be the first of many he would take for others...
"Aaaah... Aaagh... Aaaahn...!"
A woman in a camp groans in quiet agony as her diseased body dies away. She reaches out, her vision nearly gone as one eye was taken away by the grotesque infestation. A few nurses do what little they can to comfort her.
"Shizu, please hang in there... Oh, where is that awful man of hers!"
"At a castle, of all places, right when his woman's suffering the most!"
"Someone get me a fresh towel, this one is filthy!"
"We have to be careful. We could get this awful illness too."
One of the nurses went to hold Shizu's hand, but it was smacked away by the sickly woman, her head turned to the side as she looked past the nurses. The same one turned and saw a small child.
"Guts! Don't come near, you could get killed! Go outside and wai-"
Shizu gasped as she reached her hand out desperately.
"N-No...! Guts... Guts...!"
The child was mortified by the hideous visage on Shizu's face. It had looked like half her face had melted, yet he walked over to her, and held her hand tightly. Even in her immense pain, her body rapidly growing numb as her vision left her, she gave a weak smile to the teary toddler.
"Guts! This is your first fight! Don't choke up and get someone killed!"
A mercenary leader snarled at a boy in thin leather armor behind him. A scar across his nose and eager fire in his eyes. He only nodded before he drew a sword two times his size as they charged at a castle into battle. That night at camp, a victorious night, the child heard the movements of his tent. Someone had just entered.
"Who's there? It's too late for me to fetch water."
There was no response. He turned and sat up from the ground as he saw one of the soldiers he fought with.
"Donavan? What're you...?"
"Heh. Don't worry, it won't take long."
"Won't take, what...?"
The larger man chuckled as he reached down to pin the boy down. Guts began to panic and shout as his arms were held down. His knee shot into Donavan's groin and was momentarily released.
"Ugh! Y-You little fuck!"
"Augh! Ahh!"
Guts scrambled to get away, crawling on the floor, clawing at the grass and dirt to escape his assailant.
"Ain't no point of screaming!"
Donavan punched the back of Guts' skull. The boy's head swirled in aching pain, even his vison blurred slightly before he felt something around his face. A cloth was tied around his mouth as Donavan giggled.
"That's better... Now the-"
Guts thrashed around wildly and elbowed the man in the nose on accident, but fully intended to get away. Donavan growled as he held him down through the pain.
"Goddammit you little shit! Just sit still, I paid good for this!"
Guts looked back at him shocked as Donavan struck him again.
"That got you huh? Hee hee hee hee... Yeah. I bought you, and only for tonight. So don't fight it kid. I'll even be gentle, after all this."
"Mhf! Mmph! MMPH! MMHNPFF!"
Guts pitifully tried to wrestle himself out of this as he shouted from under the cloth. Only muffled cries came out as tears welled in his eyes. The morning sun barely began to rise as Guts laid there by himself. A whole mix of emotions in thoughts, apathy, grief, self-hatred, and even regret. He saw his sword that was just across from him. Just within arms reach. It'd be so easy. It'd just be so damn easy. To fall on it would be a simple task. He'd never have to worry about a thing. He reached for it with these thoughts in his heart and mind, leaking out of his fragile soul, and used it as a crutch for a moment to stand up before he left the tent to clean himself. He'd use this sword to make himself stronger, this sword too heavy for him to swing correctly, the sword that nearly got him killed instead. It'd be his new source of strength. In the next battle, it was another victory over a small fortress. Within a nearby forest, Donavan chased after the stragglers who ran.
"Hyeh hyeh hyeh!~ What's the matter?! No fight left!?"
He cackled as he chased after them on horse before he found an arrow in his chest.
"W-What...?"
He glanced up in the direction of the arrow and saw Guts. The boy had a crossbow in hand and a bloodied sword. He fired another bolt into the stomach and launched the larger man off of his horse. With a viscous breath, Guts leapt off of his horse and drew the blade at Donavan's throat.
"Who did it? Who sold me to you?!"
"... I-It was... G-Gambi-"
Guts shoved the sword into his mouth.
"WHO?!"
"G...Gaugh... Gamgh..."
*SHINK*
The sword had plunged itself through the mouth and out the neck, killing Donavan instantly. Only a few years passed for this band of hired soldiers, the leader crippled with the loss of his leg sat atop a hill with his dog. Guts ran up to him with a hopeful smile.
"Look what I got today! Look at this big bag of silver, some of it's gold too! I got a bonus for killing the general!"
The leader merely smiled as he ruffled the fur of his canine.
"Hey, go get me a drink."
"I-I can do tha-"
"And something to eat for him."
"... Th-The dog?"
He smirked, not even glancing at Guts.
"Did I stutter?"
"But what about me? T-This is my money!"
"Are you still standing there talking?"
"... B-But... Ga-"
Guts was struck with the crutch before he nearly dropped the sack of coins.
"WHAT THE FUCK DID I SAY BOY?! GO GET ME SOMETHING TO DRINK!"
Guts shook as he nodded.
"Yes, sir."
Guts only returned to his tent and threw the bag down. Furious, depressed, neglected and held below a dog of all things. The thoughts began to return. They always came at these times. It was time for him do something about this. He'd have no choice. He'd make his decision tomorrow, but fate did not plan for that. A storm began to roll in that night. The thunder and lightning woke Guts up for him to see the man he admired stand over him with a crazed face.
"You bastard... Fucking bastard!"
Guts saw the sword in his hand and reached for his own as his surrogate father raised it at him.
"You... You killed her!"
"A-Aah!"
Guts dodged a swipe as he held his own sword out.
"Y-You're drunk! Stop it, stop it now!"
"Yeah.~ Beg for it, I know you want this blade up your filthy ass... I bet you enjoyed it that night."
Guts parried the blows away as the man flashed a cruel sneer.
"I bet that's all you ever wanted...! Donavan probably didn't even have to struggle, you didn't even fight back!"
"... what...?"
He was caught off guard and sent to the ground by a blow to his nose from the hilt.
"Augh!"
"YOU ENJOY THIS SHIT! THAT'S WHY I SOLD YOU TO HIM!"
"N-NO!"
"You should've died at that tree, under your mother's corpse."
"H-Ha... Haa... AAAAAAAHHHH!"
Guts leapt to his feet, but was kneed in the stomach and sent back down, a sword raised for the killing blow.
"You killed my dreams..."
The boy looked up at the madman with only a saddened face. Perhaps this was it. This was the moment that decided his end. Where else could he go? What else could he do...
"G-Gambino..."
Guts couldn't even blink as everything happened so fast. When his mind caught up to his body, his was sword in a fresh corpse's throat that had fell on top of him. Did he kill him? Did he simply fall on the blade? Either way, a number of his comrades ran into the tent with shocked gasps.
"W-What... What is this? What the fuck is this, Guts?!"
He'd only have a moment to explain. Right? These men helped raised him they knew him better than this. Right?
"I-I-"
"You twisted fucking devil!" "I knew you were a goddamn curse!" "This draws the line! Kill him!"
One man ran at Guts with a knife. Instinct kicked in as Guts pulled out his sword and slashed under the man's arm. He cut his way out of the tent before he began to run. Even after all he had been through, things only continued to get worse as he broke a hung lantern, and started a fire on the camp before rain could even start. He stole a horse from the stables before anyone could know why he was running. Soon a mob of men with swords, bows and arrows, even spears and lances chased after him. All calling for his death. The projectiles flew by, grazing the flesh on his body and horse, yet one hit him directly on the shoulder. He was fell from his horse on off the side of a steep cliff. He awoke to the ambience of night. The brightness of a full pale moon shone in his eyes as crickets sounded off.
"I'm... Not dead."
He looked to this side and saw his eyes in the reflection of his sword, stabbed into the ground only a few centimeters from his skull.
"Why didn't you just... End it?"
He hissed as he pushed himself up. The arrow bolt still in his shoulder as blood continued to leak out. He lifted the sword out of the ground and began to walk. Swaying side to side, his head held up as he gazed at the sky full of shooting stars. One even came right at him. He wasn't sure if to be afraid or not. He wasn't. The star nearly hit him as he was blinded by the light. There was no impact, but rather a strange cry, a baby's cry. Guts looked down at his feet to find an infant wrapped in a swaddling cloth.
"What...?"
He felt pulled to the child. A sudden attachment, an odd warmth that allured him.
"What are you...?"
He reached down for the baby until he heard a howl. A pack of wolves stalked up to Guts and the star child with slathering jaws. Guts wanted this. Maybe this was the only good thing for him. As the wolves lunged for them both, he awaited the jaws sink into his throat.
"It's gonna be okay... We can go together..."
Guts smiled in the face of death.
*SHINK*
"... What?"
Guts' sword had been stabbed through a wolf's throat by his own hand. The baby cried louder as he stared down at the wolf's corpse.
"W-Why...?"
He saw one strafe to the side and leap for them. Guts severed the muzzle of the wolf as he stood between the pack and the crying child.
"Why...?!"
Three more came and three more died by his blade as he defended himself and the baby.
"WHY?!"
The few remaining wolves ran away from Guts. He stood there muddled, bloodied, and muddied. Tears began to fall.
"... Why can't I just die...?"
His head turned to the enigmatic child cry. He hovered over it and glared.
"Stop it..."
It continued.
"Shut up...!"
It did not.
"What the hell are you, huh? You don't have anything to worry about! You're just a goddamn baby! WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO CRY ABOUT?!"
Guts reached down for the baby with a snarl. However his emotions subsided at the child opening its eyes and smiled. Giggled as it laid in wolf's blood and mud, some even his own blood. Smiling at him, for him. He nearly wrapped a hand around the baby's throat, and yet all he could feel was peace. A sense of security in this one smile. He lifted the baby up and began to walk with them in his arms...
A dark beast, a horrible hound, selfishly keeps the flame from all who seek it. This flame that heals, this flame that loves and knows only hope in despair, this flame that soothes the beast. It looks up to a light in the heavens, far beyond his reach, and seethes in fury of the light. The light that burns him...
