Meaningless love

Prologue

"This storm ain't letting up any time soon it seems." A short mustached man whispers to himself as he drives his horse drawn wagon through the dark rain.

Nothing could be heard as the wagon drove slowly across the vast green field but the sounds of hooves splashing in puddles, wooden wheels creaking and shaking, and the pattering sound the failing water made when colliding with the already wet ground.

The man slowly whipped the reigns in attempt to get the horse to move faster through the sheets of falling water. Only a moment later did he change his mind and pulled the reigns back to stop the horse as he listened closing to his surroundings.

The unholy offspring of the undead have been known to appear in any condition except for when the sun was present in the large field and they have been known to stir up trouble wherever they appeared. The sounds of clattering bones and disturbing chuckles from a child where all you needed to hear to be aware of their presence. However, this isn't what the man heard. It was the sound of a child, yes. But not the sound of laughter.

He quickly pulled a leaver next to his seat to activate a locking mechanism on the wagon to prevent it from rolling as he stood up in his seat to get a better view on his surroundings.

The sound of a child screaming in fear was heard as it echoed through the hills of the field. Although this time, it was much closer than when he heard it last.

The man quickly sat down and unlocked the wheels before cracking the reigns and directing the horse through the rain and towards the source of the scream. The quickened pace of movement gave the illusion of the rain falling more heavily on the man's face as he raced across the wet field.

A look of horror came across his face as he across a scene of death. A child was hugging a tree for security as a lone stalchild made its way towards the living. The man quickly pulled up next to the undead child and leaped off the wagon and onto the undead monster, completely crushing its weak defense under his weight. The man quickly got up and with all his might, stomped onto the empty skull, making sure the undead was once again dead.

The man cautiously looked over at the now weeping child and began to observe his surroundings. All he saw was the lone child, the remains of two stalchildren, and what appears to be an adult sprawled across the ground. He slowly made his way towards the larger human and began to inspect the robed person. He slowly pulled the robe away to reveal a woman with many bite marks and very deep claw shaped cuts. Next to her was a basket of flowers and a knife she must have used in self-defense.

After a moment to assess what had happened, the man turned and made his way to the scared child slowly, making sure not to scare him away.

"Hey there little one." He says with the most calming tone he could muster as he bent down to meet with the boy at eye level.

"W-where I-is m-my mommy?" The small boy managed to say between sobs.

The short man froze for a moment as he was hit with memories from his past. The thought of a small child being abandoned and alone after losing his mother reminded him of his own daughter and the pain and suffering she went through when the man's wife died in an accident while he was away.

"U-um... Y-your mother will be back soon. She had to lead the bad monsters away." The man managed to lie as he regained his thoughts.

"W-when will she be back?" The boy asked as more tears formed in his eyes.

"She will be back soon. But she told me to take care of you until she returned. Alright?" the man replied with another lie.

The boy began to hug the tree more upon hearing this, unsure whether or not he could trust the strange man.

"My name is Talon. What is yours?" the man asked, realizing the boy didn't trust him.

"M-my name is K-kace." The boy replied.

After replying, the man quickly stood up and looked around as he remembered the stalchildren worked in waves of packs.

"Alright. Listen Kace, more of those monsters are going to show up soon. I need you to come with me so I can keep you safe. Okay?" The man asked quickly as he turned back to the boy. "You can come back with me to my home and have a yummy Lon Lon milk. How does that sound?" The man added.

Talon knew that everyone has heard of Lon Lon milk. It was the most popular drink across the land. He hopped the boy had heard of it and would follow him without struggle. As luck would have it, Talon was right.

Hearing his favorite drink being mentioned, the boy slowly let go of the tree and slowly walked across the wet ground and into the man's now opened arms. Talon quickly picked the boy up and began to head towards the wagon as more stalchildren began to work their way out of the ground.

Talon quickly got up onto the driving seat of the wagon and cracked the reigns to get the horse moving. After getting the horse up to speed and the boy away from danger, talon slowly reached to the back of the wagon and pulled out a small blanket and placed it over the boy to keep him dry.

After a while the boy had fallen asleep in Talon's arms and the horse pulled wagon crossed under a large sign with the words 'Lon Lon ranch' imprinted on it. Talon parked the wagon and quickly carried the boy inside to get him out of the rain.

"What the hell took you so long?!" A taller mustached man yelled as Talon entered the warm house.

"Shut up Ingo!" Talon replied harshly in a whispering voice.

Talon quickly sat the sleeping boy down on his couch carefully and covered him up with a new dry blanket.

"What is the meaning of this?! Where did he come from?!" The man named Ingo began to argue in a hushed tone.

"His name is Kace! I found him alone in the rain. His mother was killed by a stalchild." Talon replied.

"So you brought him here?!" Ingo replied.

"Ingo! I was not about to leave a small child alone in the rain doomed to be killed by the undead!" Talon answered with shock in his voice.

"What do you plan on doing? Keep him? He probably has a father somewhere out there!" Ingp continued to argue.

"I don't know yet. I'll ask him about his family tomorrow. Until then, he'll sleep in your room." Talon replied as if he had already thought this through. Which he hasn't.

"Great. So not only is there another mouth to feed, I get demoted to the couch." The taller man grumbled.

"I ought to deduct your pay for a comment like that. Now go get the wagon and horse put up properly." Talon ordered the ranch hand.

Ingo gave Talon an angered look of disapproval before turning to go out into the rain as ordered.

Talon let out a sigh and turned to the now orphaned boy as the taller man left the house. He wasn't sure what to do. Ingo was half right. He did not necessarily have the means of feeding this child. He barely had enough to feed his own daughter after he had paid Ingo his share at the end of the week. But turning this child away was not an option. He may not even have a father.

"Daddy? Is Ingo being mean again?" He heard.

He turned around to see a short red haired girl no older than five dressed in a small night gown, rub her tired eyes as she walk down the stairs from her room.

"No sweet heart. He and daddy where just having an issue. Go on back to bed." He replied.

"Can I sleep with you tonight?" she asked in the most innocent voice he could ever hear.

"Absolutely. Go on to bed. I'll be there soon." He replied as she reached the bottom of the stairs.

"Alright... Good night daddy..." She said as she slowly walked back up to her father's room.

"Good night Malon." Talon said.