The young boy opened his eyes to find himself next to a fire in a cave outside of the city. On the other side of the fire was what appeared to be a cat his size with a cloak and an eyepatch. "Ah, yer finally awake," the cat said. "You almost died out there in the snow storm, kid. You're real lucky, you know that?"

"Who are you?"

"Name's Jubei, kid. Nice to meetcha."

The boy got closer to the fire, hoping to warm up faster. Being out in the cold would have been one thing to a human, but to a cold-blooded reptilian Beastkin like him, it was much worse. "Well, thank you for saving me, Mr. Jubei, sir, but you shouldn't have helped me. I don't have anywhere to go anymore."

"Just as I thought. I knew a kid your age wouldn't be out there unless you were homeless. I take it those ashen ruins were once your home? The burned wood and ash certainly smelled fresh."
Jacky nodded his head lowering his gaze to the ground at the memory.

"What about friends or family?"

"My mom and dad were the only family I had..."

"What about friends?"

Jacky remained silent, not wanting to discuss the situation Makoto and her family were in. When Jubei finally realized he wasn't going to get an answer, he groaned under his breath. "Well, I think I can give you a place to stay for a while. You gotta promise you won't cause too much trouble, though." All the cat would get in response was a simple nod in agreement. "Then we'll get going in the morning. Hopefully this damn snow storm will end by then."

Jacky laid back down on the cave floor and turned over, away from Jubei. It didn't take long for him to fall asleep. The cold air outside was still ever-present, even with a fire built only two feet away. His nightmares were horrifying. His mother and father being lit up in flames right in front of him, their screams ringing out without end. The only reason it had ever come to an end was because of Jubei shaking him awake when the morning came.

"Hey, kid, the snows stopped. Let's get going."

Jacky followed Jubei through the snow, the gruff feline using heat Ars to keep them warm while they shuffled through the snow on the ground. "Cheer up, kid, it won't take us long to get there." With no answer still from the lizard-tailed young child, Jubei let out a heavy sigh, demanding Jacky's attention. "Come on, kid. Let's give you something to distract you with."

"Like what?" he asked.

"Ars Magus," the cat answered. "Heat and fire Ars, to be specific. You need the use of it more than I do. I'll teach ya while we walk." The heat Ars was simple and easy to use and Jacky managed to learn it within a couple of days, but fire Ars was much more difficult. On the third night, the two checked into an inn for the night. It wasn't exactly the best, but a bed was certainly better than the ground.

"Yer really getting the hang of that Ars Magus, kid." Jacky allowed himself a small smile as he nodded in response, but no words were outright spoken. He's barely ever said a thing for all the time he's been with Jubei. "Don't worry, you'll get the hang of fire Ars soon enough. Just keep practicing, but be careful with it, alright?" Another nod of agreement.

"Good night," Jacky said before climbing into one of the beds in the room they rented.

The next morning, Jacky tried to use fire Ars, but only managed to pull off heat Ars instead. The snow was starting to melt outside as Jubei noticed, while they were finally approaching their destination. A church out in the open was seen off in the distance. "Say hi to your new home, kid." The two made it to the front doors and Jubei opened up the church and entered with Jacky following close behind.

Inside was a young woman and three kids around his age. All of them had blond hair and green eyes and they were all staring at him. Nervous and unsure how to interact with them, he moved over to an empty corner of the room, curled up, and buried his face in his arms.

"Wait, brother, don't go. Just leave him be. If he doesn't talk to us on his own, he may as well just stay there." Jacky could hear one of them talking. It hurt to hear those words, but he did choose to move away from them rather than talk. However, it seemed as though he wouldn't be alone for long.

"Hey, what's up?"

Jacky looked up to find one of them standing in front of him. This one had more spiky hair and seemed a bit older than the other two. Possibly just by a year or two, though. Unsure of how he should respond, he simply nodded in response.

"Come on, guy, talk to me. You can't leave me hanging here," he continued.

What came next just slipped out. "Why are you even bothering with me?" Jacky asked him. "I heard what your brother said and he obviously doesn't want you to talk to me. I won't keep you."

The boy shrugged his shoulders and said, "Eh, Jin can wait. He's always been kinda whiny anyways. Always complaining about one thing or another."

"But I-!" The young boy had more to say, blatantly interrupting what Jacky was going to say.

"You can't just sit in this corner all silent and stuff, man. And quit moaning too. Jeez, if you didn't have that huge tail, I could swear I was talking to Jin!"

Jacky didn't mean to, but his tail smacked the boy in the side. "I don't whine!" he insisted. Immediately after realizing what he did, he spazzed. "I'm sorry! I'm so, so sorry!"

"Hey, hey, it's fine! Don't worry about it. Now come on and get outta that corner and let's do something."

This boy was so persistent, but he was really nice too. Jacky looked down for a moment before asking, "Like what?"

"You could play with us," he suggested. He offered his hand. "Now come on and get off that hard floor."

Jacky reluctantly took the boy's hand and got on his feet before promptly following the blonde over to his siblings. By the look on the younger brother's face, he could tell he didn't approve. The little sister, on the other hand didn't seem disappointed or bummed, she just seemed shy.

"Alright, so, he's Jin, that's our sister, Saya, and I'm Ragna. What's your name?"

Jacky twiddled his fingers and shifted his gaze left and right as he gave them his answer. "Jacky...Ray..."

"Nice to meet you."

X-X-X-X

"It's perfectly fine if he stays here. I really don't mind, Jubei," the sister said before turning her attention to Jacky, now playing with Ragna and the others. "He looks just like-." she started.

"I think he is," Jubei said. "If so, he's just like Ragna over there. Well, I guess time will tell. I betcha my next meal that he is."

Author's Note:

And now we start with this. Jacky's now a resident of the church. Oh and guess what? I'm thinking of putting in a gag reel between certain parts of the story. If you have any ideas, go ahead and let me know. You can even request to have an OC in it. Of course, I will credit you at the chapter's end in the Author's Notes, as well as give my thanks.

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this part and are looking forward to the next one.

Reploid7,

Signing Off!