Dark Haven: Beginning

The Bastard

Ages later, we catch another glimpse of the boy that had stood on the hill. He is much older now, no longer the scrappy child he had been. Of course, as fate has always decided, things aren't looking well for him. Not well at all.

"You vile, filthy bastard," a hag spat as she tried, in vain, to catch the afore metioned bastard as he ran off with a significant amount of her coins and a loaf of bread. Her movements were stiff and slow, sad in comparison to the man's. He ran the way only a man with experince could.

As it turned out, the screeching only managed to make the man run faster than before. Taking a left, he scaled a wall, glancing back for just a moment before jumping. He caught a final glimpse of the hag as he threw down a small stone. In a burst of shadow, the man seemed to fade away, reappearing in a tall tree a great distance from the humans.

"Well, now it is just too easy. Where's the fun in it?" He mused to himself. He took the brief period of calmness to scan the area. It wasn't often that he got a moment alone like this.

He took in the clearing that seemed devoid of life. It was silent, not even the wind stirring. It made him smile and close his eyes, truly enjoying the moment.

"Alex!" A bright voice shattered the calm. Of course. Alex looked down to the scource of the voice. It had come from a blonde haired male who was practically sprinting to the tree Alex was now sitting in.

"Hello Solar," Alex greeted, unable to suppress the fondness in his smile. He jumped down, bag in one hand and bread in the other.

"Raivus found a place for us to sleep tonight," Solar chirped, seeming pleased with the news he had brought. Alex hummed at the words, also pleased. Shelter was very much so a good thing.

"Perfect, I found money." Alex raised the bag, pleasant smile turning into a smug grin. Solar took one look at it and rolled his eyes, grinning widely.

"Now Mister Nightingale, I don't suppose those were stolen, were they?" The blonde feingned shock, clutching a hand to his chest. Oh so they were playing that game.

"Of course not! Why in the world would you ever think that?" Alex followed the act by pretending to be hurt by the accusation.

"Well, history shows that you, Sir," Solar pointed at Alex, "are right criminal!"

"Well, I suppose you caught me," Alex laughed, giving up the act and tossing the bag to the amused Solar. Alex took a smile bite of the bread, once again enjoying the peace. It felt nice to eat something that wasn't as hard and grey as a river stone. Thinking back now, it might have been a stone.

So the two sat in comfortable silence for a moment. Alex passed Solar some bread, knowing the blonde was just as hungry as he was. The other took it gratefully and Alex watched him eat, quickly growing bored.

"Let's go see what Raivus managed to find. Hopefully it is better than the cave," Solar suggested, breaking the silence.

"Lead the way, Sunshine," Alex replied with a roll of his eyes. With that, Solar took off, Alex momentarily struggling to keep up. As always.

It wasn't too long before they came upon a fairly small, rundown house. Clearly left behind long ago. By the front of the home were two men. The taller of the two standing patiently while the other was pacing. Spotting the anxious male, Solar attempted to tackle him, causing a minor argument.

Alex shook his head and made his way to the taller male. He smiled kindly and raised a hand in greeting, "Raivus."

"Alex," Raivus nodded slightly in return. Both made light conversation about the house, ignoring the fight happening beside them. This went on for a while before Alex grew irritated and decided to put an end to it.

"Solar, Lunar," Alex snapped his fingers to get their attention. They looked at him, going quiet for the moment. Lunar still having a grip on the front of Solar's shirt, other fist raised.

"You can fight later, we have a house to clean. I want to be able to sleep without fear tonight." Without looking back, Alex walked in. Sure enough, the other three trailed behind him. Two muttering and shoving, one following in the back.

None of them aware of the figure watching from a distant tree.