Disclaimer: I neither own nor profit from any of the characters portrayed within this story. With the sole exception of Ken and Baheal, all characters are property of Kosuke Fujishima etc, etc, etc, on with the show.
Chapter One: Step into the Light
Darkness.
Shadow. Sometimes it seemed that was all he had ever known in the eleven short years he had dwelt on this septic orb we so proudly call Earth.
A darkness of the heart and mind coloured life in grey hues, monotone and unimaginative. There was also a shadow that lingered on his young soul, but thinking of that just brought back the painful cycle that had left him stranded in this place, in a much less figurative darkness.
The young boy brushed back his long, thick black hair with one dirty hand and cast a wary glance around the sordid confines of the alley in which he found himself seeking sustenance.
He sniffed at the dumpster in an almost feral way, flipping its lid aside and clambering up to peer over its edge at the bounty within.
Funny to think that just a over a year ago the very idea of doing this would have brought on a bout of childish disgust, but back then he wouldn't have had reason to do this.
Quashing down the memories of happier times that stung his eyes with remorseful tears, he continued his search, grabbing and eating anything that looked halfway edible, knowing instinctively that there was nothing that could kill him in here.
Hunger rather grudgingly satisfied, he let himself slump down against the dumpster, his green eyes staring up at the summer sky still visible through mass of concrete and wires above, vacantly.
He'd loved to stare up at the sky and dream of being up there, flying free like a bird, leaving the tragedy that should not have stained his young life far behind.
Feeling tired after gorging himself on spoiled food products; he pulled the remains of a sodden cardboard box over himself and got as comfortable as possible.
From the pocket of his tattered blue jeans he removed the dog-eared photograph he kept secreted there. It showed a woman with long raven hair and soft hazel eyes smiling brilliantly out from where she sat on an old park bench, a green eyed toddler at her feet, looking at the camera curiously.
He ran a dirty finger over the picture, murmuring a sad, "Goodnight", and returning it to his pocket.
As he closed his eyes he could feel a familiar tightness in his chest and his body seemed suddenly colder than it should, shivering like he was scared.
In a very real sense he was. This meant that he would dream again while he slept, and his dreams were never pleasant.
A single tear traced a salty path down his cheek as he screwed up his eyes tighter. He knew from experience that it was no use trying to fight sleep; the dreams would simply come when he was finally to exhausted to fight them anymore.
He lay there, shivering and dreading unconsciousness, when something very unusual happened. He heard laughter.
That was not how his dreams went. Did this mean he was to be spared?
No, he could still feel the damp 'mattress' on which he lay, so that probably meant he was still awake.
The laughter again. Happy and carefree, like his should have been had he laughed anymore.
Cautiously he opened one eye. The laughter seemed to echo all around him, like it was mocking him, but there was no edge of maliciousness. The closer he listened, the more inviting it sounded.
He frowned slightly. There were two sets. Just one person wasn't making that beautiful noise.
He pushed his makeshift shelter aside and rose into a crouch, trying to pinpoint the sound.
Behind him he heard a screech and spun as a boy, perhaps a few years older than him, hurtled into the alleyway atop a chrome BMX, legs pumping the pedals furiously to regain the speed lost by braking into the alley. His short black hair was spiked up and fluttering as he continued to look over his shoulder at the mouth of the alley.
"You'll have to be faster than that slow-poke", he shouted, his voice definitely one of the sources of the earlier laughter.
"I am not slow Sentaro!", a voice shouted from somewhere in the distance, the higher pitch probably meaning it belonged to a girl. Hers was the other voice he had heard earlier, he was sure.
"Damn it", he heard the boy called Sentaro curse under his breath as he drew closer, a note of admiration clear in his voice, "She's still close enough to hear? I was sure I left her eating dust this time".
Sentaro whipped his head around, body hunching forward, if Skuld thought she'd seen anything yet he was going to show her what he could really do.
His eyes widened in horror as he saw a boy in ragged jeans and a dirty white shirt step out in front of him from behind a dumpster, his head cocked to the side curiously.
"Whoa!", Sentaro said hauling on the brakes for all he was worth. He was still getting closer. He closed his eyes, waiting for the dreaded impact.
Blam!
He was tossed over the handlebars as he bike hit an obstruction and landed with a dull thud, a few meters away.
Sentaro groaned softly, working his way slowly to his hands and knees, wincing as he put pressure on his skinned knees and looking disdainfully at the abrasions on his palms.
Note to self, buy knee-pads next time you go riding in shorts, he thought, sitting back and rubbing his groggy head.
His head spun around when his reason for braking finally surfaced, and he scrambled over to where the boy he had spotted lay, sprawled next to his bike.
"Geez, I'm really sorry about that, you ok?", he asked nervously, trotting over and leaning his bike up against a wall before turning his attention back his 'victim'.
The young boy didn't reply, he just lay there, staring up at the sky with vacant green eyes.
Sentaro felt the stirrings of fear. Had he killed the boy?
"Yo, are you ok?", he asked again, crouching next to the kid, and reaching out to shake his shoulder.
"I'm fine", the stranger said without looking over at Sentaro or trying to sit up, "You can go now if you want".
The older boy was a little taken aback by that statement, "Hey, I'm no hit and run driver".
As gently as he could he helped the younger boy sit up, propping him against the dumpster he had appeared from behind and briefly looking him over for any injuries, "You sure you're ok?".
The stranger nodded mutely, looking surprised that Sentaro was still here. The bike enthusiast wondered why this was. He looked at the boy again. Shabby clothes, dirty, not very talkative… a street kid?
Sentaro was a little shocked by that notion, he didn't think countries like Japan had those. Sure you'd see the occasional hobo if you looked in the right places, but those were out on luck men or dregs of society. This kid shouldn't be out here like this.
He looked down and noticed the scrap visible in the torn jeans of the other boy, running across his knee.
"Hey", Sentaro said, going onto one knee to show his own injuries, "Snap. Cool huh?".
The green-eyed boy's mouth twitched in what might have been a faint smile and he nodded. He was not used to such kindness. Not from strangers, not from anyone.
"I'm Sentaro by the way", the elder boy introduced himself, "What's your name?".
"…Ken", he replied after a pause, still wondering if this was part of his dream, "….Nice to meet you".
Sentaro smiled and then looked over his shoulder at his bike sheepishly, "Sorry bout knocking you down, but you kinda took me by surprise stepping out like that. What were you doing there anyway?".
"I could hear you laughing", Ken replied quietly.
"Oh", Sentaro said, not sure what to make of that response.
"I live here…", Ken added, answering the real purpose of Sentaro's question.
The older boy frowned at this information. So he really is a street kid.
He opened his mouth to say something when he heard a screeching of tires from the mouth of the alley and Skuld, her long raven hair billowing out behind her and legs working like mad to recover from deceleration, let out a triumphant yell.
"Ha! You knew…you…could get…away", she panted, riding closer slowly, "So you decided to give up".
"Not exactly-", he began to explain when she got close enough to see the cuts on his palms and knees. Skuld was off her bike in a flash and crouched next to him, looking at the minor grazes like they were fractures.
"You fell off again didn't you, you big dummy", she chided, her tone as always in contrast to her seemingly insulting words.
"Yeah", he said, fighting a blush as she began inspecting his 'wounds'.
"But I was trying to avoid hitting Ken here and…", he trailed off as he looked around. The green-eyed boy was nowhere to be seen.
"Who's Ken?", she asked looking confused and concerned at the same time. She hoped Sentaro hadn't landed on his head this time, "How many fingers am I holding up?".
"Three", Sentaro said, feeling a little annoyed, "I'm not concussed…not this time anyway, he was here a second ago I swear, I hit him with my bike".
"You hit someone?"
"Yeah, but he's ok, I was talking to him just", Sentaro watched as Skuld's expression became dubious.
"You sure you're alright?"
"Yes, but….ah forget it", he said, standing up and taking the handlebars of his bike, leading it away with Skuld in tow.
"You better be alright", Skuld said, worry still tingeing her voice but slowly fading, "Cause you promised we could get ice-cream after this".
Sentaro almost stumbled, "You've got to be kidding, I just face planted and you wanna go get ice-cream?".
"You promised", she said pouting.
"Er, well, I, you see…fine…", he said hanging his head in shame of how easily he had given in.
Skuld smiled happily. Big sister Urd wasn't always wrong it seemed.
Skuld looked around suspiciously, half expecting Urd to be lurking somewhere nearby to catch that thought, but there was no sign of the platinum haired Goddess.
She hummed a tune to herself, unaware that they were being watched, just not by the eldest Norn.
Ken peered out at the pair from behind the dumpster he had previously fed from.
The girl…she was so like her…she was very pretty.
Ken felt his face heat up a little at that thought and prayed that they couldn't see him.
Sentaro, the boy who had knocked him down and then helped him, was walking next to her with his head down for some reason.
Ken wondered about his strange kindness as he felt sleep pulling at his mind. He hadn't had a friend in so long, perhaps the bike boy would be his friend…him and the pretty girl.
With warm thoughts ken drifted away from consciousness.
The nightmares came.
They always did.
----Author Notes----
This fic will expand to include a large variety of themes centring on abandonment and self-discovery, not just of Ken. Early chapters may seem to focus only on Skuld, Sentaro and Ken, but this will change as things progress. Urd will play an important part in this later.
Till next time, Betweenheavenandhell