A boy was sitting in the corner, curled up into a ball to keep warm, as he was wearing but rags. Not too far away, his parents were talking. "Look at the weak thing! He isn't even fit to be food!"

"Perhaps we should at least put him in an orphanage."

"No! It would be better off to everybody if we threw him to the streets! He might be able to distract a beast for the good hunters!" He turned to the child in the corner, sneering at the boy. "But probably not, damn waste of skin."

The woman sighed. "Fine."

The man grinned and walked to the child, grabbing the mop of hair a=on his head and wrenching the child to his feet. The man dragged him to the door, unlocked it, and threw him out, slamming the door and locking it back up. It was colder outside, but even worse, it was night. And the boy knew what happened at night. He got to his feet and ran to the nearest alleyway. As soon as he reached it, he froze.

A man covered in bandages was trying and failing to catch the scurrying rats around the alleyway. "Bloody rats! Why do they have to be so quick!?" The boy thought for a moment. He was quick. Perhaps he could be useful! A rat was close enough, and the boy snatched it by the tail. The rat looked rotten, with gnarled hide and teeth, but it couldn't bite him. He tried to call out to the man, but since he didn't know any words, he only made a simple, yet effective sound.

"Bah!" The boy exclaimed, the arm holding the rat extended towards the man. The man spun around, and seeing the rat, beckoned the child over.

"Hey kid, if you give me that rat, I'll give you something in return." The kid went to him and dropped the rat in his outstretched hands. The man snapped it's neck, and reached behind him, pulling out a small piece of cloth wrapped around a tiny red ball. "There. One rat for one pellet. Maybe you can trade it for food or something." The boy didn't know what 'trade' was. Perhaps if he gave to someone, they would give him food? Was that what trading was? Perhaps it was good to have a few more. After all, having one one of something sounds and feels better then just one. He caught a few rats with ease, and was given another ball for each one. He tried again, but the man didn't have any more balls. "Come again later, kid. Thanks though." The kid gave him the rat anyways, he didn't have any use for it, and left to find a source of heat.

The boy was walking around, looking for someone to 'trade' the balls to. Then he heard a roar and spun to see a beast charging towards him! He was frozen with fear as the beast ran straight for him! Only....to run past him and around a corner. The boy fell backwards. Shouldn't the beast have snacked on him? He recalled his dad's words about him being too useless to even be beast food. A 'Waste of skin', whatever that meant. He realized that the beasts wouldn't attack him. Sure, they were still scary, but he was safe! He got himself to his feet and ran to look around the corner. There he saw the beast laying dead, a hunter hitting it with something. He looked down at the 'pellets' he held in his hands, all one one one of them. Maybe the good hunter would give him something for them. He made his way towards the hunter before it left. The hunter noticed, and pointed it's weapon at him. When he got close enough, he stopped, the hunter staring at him, that scary white face following his movement. He held up the pellets towards it. "Pellahs!" He exclaimed. The hunter, after a few seconds, lowered it's weapon and walked up to him and gently took the pellets. The boy kept his hands up, and after a few more seconds, the hunter dropped weird red things in his hand. The hunter then, realized that he was scarcely older then a toddler, crouched down onto one knee.

"What are you doing out here, little one?" The boy cast his eyes down, and looking closer, the hunter noticed the bruises and bloody scalp. "Oh, you poor little thing, let's get you to shelter. It's called the Oedon Chapel, and it'll be nice and safe for you." It, now she, offered her hand to him, and he took it. She stood up, holding his hand like other mothers did with their kids. She looked at him. "I'm Eileen. A hoonter, as you can tell." The boy nodded. "Now let's get you to safety, little one."

He was lead through the streets by the hunter. He trusted her fully. She hadn't beat him, and that meant that she could be trusted in his mind. As they made their way through, she had to fight a few beasts, and when they got to the Chapel, he was brought inside. She then said goodbye and left. The boy smiled. He had a friend!

Author's Note

This is just a character I wanted to make. I like making innocent yet tragic characters.

Next chapter, we go back to Hunter, as he meets Ellie for the first time.