The bit of culling went off without a hitch. Lero-Ro could not help but smile at the startled shouts of the participants as they were forcefully shoved back by his shinsu blast. A few of the more resilient members tried to hold their ground and even managed to do so for a few precious seconds, but it was a fruitless effort. In the end, everyone was shoved back behind a barrier of shinsu.

His work now done, Lero-Ro only had to wait it out and see who passed. The outcries of the participants were to be expected once they found out that their success hinged on the fact that all team-members needed to possess a high amount of shinsu restraint. In the end, it all boiled down to luck.

A startled cry pulled Lero-Ro' attention to a corner of the room, and his eyes widened. A boy, perhaps a child, was searching the room frantically. Lero-Ro narrowed his eyes. Had the boy already passed the shinsu barrier and he had not noticed?

He dismissed the thought as quickly as it had come. No, impossible. Unless the boy was extremely fast, there was no way he had broken through the barrier without anyone else, including himself, from knowing. But when no other options presented itself, Lero-Ro had to concede that it might have been the case.

He did not entertain the idea that the shinsu barrier had no effect on the boy.

The boy let out another distressed cry, looking around with desperation. Lero-Ro took a moment to observe him. He was filthy. Even from a distance Lero-Ro could see the dirt caking the boy's face. His hair, if it could even be called that, was so long and tangled that Lero was impressed that the hair-tie holding it up was able to accomplish its job. The dirty cloth covering his body was oversized and torn. Lero-Ro worried for a moment that the cloth might slip over the boy's thin shoulders.

How had a kid like this even made it this far?

In the boy's frantic haste, he tripped over his two legs and went crashing to the ground with a pained cry. Lero-Ro instinctively took a step forward before he remembered where he was and who was watching. He ignored the stirring in his chest at the sight boy's pained expression, tear-stained trails running down his cheeks.

An ear splitting roar tore through the air. Lero-Ro looked up with an interested glance. Regulars were running from a large gator creature that was tearing through the space. He thundered forward with a determined look, shouting, "move turtles!" Like bowling pins, Regulars were tossed out of the gator's way.

One man in a hideous purple tracksuit was not so lucky. His feet moved, but did not take him anywhere, and as a result, he was smashed through the shinsu barrier. Lero-Ro was momentarily concerned by the amount of blood trailing through the track-suit man's face, but based on his "I passed? I passed! Beat that hag!" statement, Lero-Ro deduced that he must be fine.

The gator had rushed towards the frantic golden eyed boy. In all the commotion, Lero-Ro had failed to see the tell-tale sign of blue-hair emerge from the shinsu in response to the boy's cries until it was too late.

He immediately identified the blue-haired man as a son of Khun. He watched with interest as the Khun boy kneeled next to the golden eyed child. His interest increased when he watched how the boy seemed to snuggle into the embrace of his two companions and how the son of Khun watched everything with wariness, his arm possessively around the boy.

Hm, interesting.

xXx

Thanks to the commotion that the gator had caused, no one had noticed the odd occurrence with Khun's companion. It had startled him at first when he found out that his companion was not by his side anymore. His initial worry was that the boy would attract attention from the others once it was realized that the shinsu barrier had no effect on him.

But then he had looked so hopeless, so lost, and his mournful cry had spurred Khun into running forward.

Rak had also charged forward, bowling over anyone in his way. In mere seconds, they were by the boy's side. Khun had immediately worried that people might have picked up on the uniqueness that radiated off of this boy. The Black March was one thing, but to wear a hair tie with the symbol of Jahad only incurred Khun's curiosity.

Finding him in the field and teaming up with him had been a stroke of luck. This boy was interesting and peculiar. Khun didn't want to think about what could have happened should anyone else have found the boy before he had.

Khun found himself with a little shadow. Wherever he went, the boy always held on to the hem of Khun's shirt. He didn't mind too much; it allowed him to keep an eye on him.

As of now, they were sitting in the lounge area, waiting to take the next test. Khun took to watching the small child, his golden eyes observing everything with what could only be wonder. Not for the first time, Khun had questions he desired answers to.

The line to take the next test was long. Khun liked to hang back to observe. Calculating the time it would take for their turn to be up, Khun decided that he had enough time to take a personal break.

Standing up, he gently grabbed the boy's hand. "Hey gator, we'll be back." Rak barely acknowledged them as he chowed down on the chocolate bars Khun had offered.

The boy obediently followed him, still clutching on to the hidden Black March. His free hand gripped Khun's as if he were afraid to let go. Glancing down, Khun gave him what he hoped was a reassuring smile.

Leading him into the bathroom, Khun was relieved to find that they were the only ones there. "Here," Khun stated, withdrawing an extra pair of pants and shirt along with underwear. "They might be a bit big on you, but they'll make you more comfortable than what you're wearing now." During the first test when they had attempted to escape from the gator, the boy had tripped several times over the torn cloth. Preferably, he would have liked to have given the boy a bath before giving him new clothes, but they were not in the residential area yet and there were no baths or showers provided.

The boy blinked and gingerly handled the new article of clothing. His eyes were alight with awe as he touched the soft fabric. He looked up with shining eyes.

"Hey, don't cry," Khun started with slight concern. Tears were something he was uncomfortable to deal with. How did one handle tears anyway? He couldn't ignore him, which is what Khun would have done with anyone else. "You don't like it? I think I have something else-"

But the boy shook his head and held the clothing close. Hesitantly, he drew closer and held Khun's hand. His thumb rubbed against Khun's hand, and Khun understood the silent 'thank-you.'

Khun smiled. "It's alright." He nodded to one of the bathroom stalls. "Go in there and get changed. I have a rag I can use to wash your face when you're done."

It took a bit longer than Khun expected for the boy to emerge from the stall. He could hear the boy moving around, most likely examining the articles of clothing with awe and curiosity. Khun couldn't find himself to be impatient, especially when he heard the gasps of awe.

The boy finally emerged, the dirty cloth clutched in his hand. The dark pants, Khun was relieved to see, fit. The blue shirt was a bit long and Khun helped with rolling the sleeves up.

"Here," Khun started, leading him to the sink. "Wash your hands with soap." He demonstrated and watched as the boy did the same. A laugh emerged from the boy when the soap turned into bubbly foam, but there was not as much dirt on him as Khun had expected. He wondered, based on wherever the boy was from, if there had been a water system that he would frequent to clean himself.

Khun took the liberty to wash the boy's face. The dirt came away to reveal pale skin. He was gentle wherever there would be cuts. Khun also noticed small white scarring where old wounds had healed. In the end, when his face was clean and the rag was soiled, did Khun see how the golden eyes stood out, highlighting an array of innocence.

Khun slowly pulled away. "I know I've asked you this before, but what are you called?" Something inside of him recoiled at the idea of addressing this child as an object.

The boy blinked and shook his head, his hand resting on his throat.

"Can't speak?" Khun sighed. "That's alright. We'll find a name for you in the end. But enough of that for now, I think the gator is waiting for us and we don't want to miss our turn for the test." He turned to lead the way and found himself holding the boy's hand once more.

As it turned out, there was still a large waiting line. Khun didn't mind the wait, as it allowed him to fulfill another desire. He had the boy sit down, and Khun withdrew a pair of scissors.

"You're going to cut his hair?" Rak asked with a snort. "Black Turtle is fine with long hair."

"It's going to become a hindrance," Khun sighed. "Besides, carrying all of that weight can't be good for his neck." He stepped in front of the boy, showing him the scissors. "Listen, I'm going to try and cut your hair, if that is alright with you." When the boy blinked and slowly nodded, Khun smiled. "Great."

He did not touch the Jahad hair tie that held the boy's hair up. He understood that it held some sort of personal importance. Instead, he snipped at the bottom of the hair. The crusty mess fell to the ground with each satisfying 'snip.' As Khun's hands expertly moved, he wondered how the boy came to acquire not only the Black March, but also an authentic Jahad hair tie. This boy seemed oblivious to everything, barley following simple sentences, indicating that language was a new concept to him. His bearings also indicated isolation and lack of care. So who had found him, and where was he from?

When the boy's neck was exposed to the cold air, he had gasped, his hand coming up to touch the base of his neck. Khun paused. "You okay?"

But the boy turned to him with a smile. His long hair was now pooling at their feet, but Khun was not bothered by the mess. The boy gestured to the scissors, then patted at his hair.

Khun grinned. "Want me to keep going? Well," he carefully touched the hair tie. "I will have to remove this first so I don't accidentally damage it." To put his words into action, he gently undid the tie. The boy was still, eyes watching him, but the stiffness left his shoulders as soon as Khun gave the tie for him to hold.

"Wear the mark of your strength on your wrist, Black Turtle," Rak grunted. He moved forward, carefully taking the hair tie. Khun was surprised that such a large being could handle something so small with ease. "Here, the great leader will show you." He took the boy's wrist and slid the hair tie on, like a bracelet.

The boy's face lit up and he looked at Rak with gratitude. Like he had done with Khun, he held Rak's hand, his thumb rubbing against his palm. His small hand was dwarfed by the large claw.

Rak blinked before pulling away, his large head lowered. "Silly turtle," he muttered. Khun had never known that a gator could look sheepish until now.

Khun smiled. "Does the gator have a heart?" he teased.

"You won't be laughing when I hunt you both! So get stronger quicker!"

"Yeah yeah," Khun muttered as he continued snipping at Bam's hair. "Can you at least hold off until his hair is done?"

"Maybe...if you give me chocolates as a payment."

Khun sighed and put the scissors away. "Alright, give me a minute."

He paused when someone tugged on his sleeve. He looked up to see the boy staring at him. His mouth opened and closed, small sounds emerging from him. Khun blinked. "What's wrong?"

"Ch...cho…" the boy struggled to form words, his throat raw from lack of use. His face was tight with concentration. "Cho-chocolate."

Khun blinked. Rak straightened up. "Did he just…?" Khun trailed off.

"The Black Turtle speaks!" Rak bellowed. "He said chocolate!"

Khun was so stunned that he could only continue staring. Who knew that this boy's first word was 'chocolate'?

"See? Black Turtle learned to speak because of me!"

That snapped Khun out of it. "How is that possible?" he demanded. "You had nothing to do with it!"

"I'm the one who always eats the chocolate bars. Naturally, he took after me, the leader."

"And who gives you the chocolate bars, hm?" Khun managed to, while arguing with Rak, fulfill the boy's request and give him another candy bar. The boy happily munched on his gift while watching his two teammates argue loudly.

xXx

Hansung watched everything with interest. While the gator was making a loud ruckus, storming through the room as if he would be granted the answers with his loud tantrum, the Khun boy stayed rooted to one spot, his gaze focused on nothing in particular.

He could not help but smirk as the son of the almighty Khun experienced a mental breakdown. He could not deny the satisfaction he felt when a child of a family member was brought to their knees in defeat. How sad that a few choice words could so easily lead to the undoing of one so talented.

His gaze flickered over to the golden-eyed boy frantically following after the rampaging gator. Hansung's eyes narrowed ever so slightly. Should this team actually fail, steps would have to be made to ensure that the Irregular did not perish but was in fact taken into...capable hands. Based on what Hansung had seen, and the information he had gathered, this boy was as innocent as a newborn baby. He was incapable of speech, knew nothing of the world, and had no solid foundation.

It was like the boy was gift-wrapped to him.

He sipped his coffee. Hm, this would be very interesting indeed.

The gator busted down the door with one minute left to spare. This team had passed the test, and Hansung watched as the boy turned to look at his companions with adoring eyes. He watched as the Khun boy's gaze softened, his hand holding the child's. The large gator was a towering protective presence over his companions, and Hansung's lip curled downward with slight dissatisfaction.

The adoration the golden-eyed child had for the son of Khun and his reptilian friend, how he relied on them and would not wish to be anywhere but in their presence, was of slight concern. They would not be able to manipulate Khun to their advantage, and the gator appeared unpredictable. Getting the boy away from them would be troublesome. Hansung did not miss the cold parting glance Khun sent his way, but Hansung smiled nevertheless.

This team might be problematic, but he was certain it would not be a roadblock.

Alone in the silence of the room, Hansung grinned. "Welcome to the Tower, Viole."

xXx

He had not known that he could cry, yet still feel happiness.

The ache in his heart was appeased. The loneliness that relentlessly haunted him was nonexistent. In place of his pain, there was a new warmth, a warmth he was comforted by. He learned what it felt like to hold the hand of another, to feel protected, wanted.

To not be alone.

In addition to Lady Yuri and Evan, he now had Khun Aguero Agnis and Rak Wraithraiser. To have someone so tenderly take care of him, to clothe him and have his best interest at heart filled him with such an overflowing warmth that he began to cry.

These tests were terrifying, and he did not understand what was happening, but Khun and Rak were so sure in their ways that he felt no fear. Moreover, they showed no intention of leaving him.

He wasn't alone. Not anymore. He had someone waiting for him, and companions by his side surrounding him with warmth and comfort.

His life in the cave was nothing but a distant memory. A bad dream he had finally woken up from.

In response to the review Stitches had left, I like the idea of playing around with a kidKhun! story. That is something I will play around with :) Thanks for all of your reviews!