Chapter Text
The town was bustling as always, vendors trading goods in the name of the common good. The horses kicked up dirt where they roamed, but it bothered no one; it was simply another Tuesday afternoon.
A small child, no bigger than 4ft, ran along the dirt path. He was chasing something, his pet dog, Oscar. "Oscar! Oscar wait up!", the little boy cried.
A crash from behind him caught his attention, and he ran face first into something solid. The boy looked up, a man no shorter than 6ft was staring down at him.
The man also happened to be carrying the aforementioned dog, Oscar.
"I told you not to run off, yet here you are", the man scolded. "It's dangerous to run off on your own, what if you get lost? How would your parents feel?".
The boy began to tear up, "I-i didn't mean to- Oscar ran after a cat and..." the boy began.
"NO excuses. If Oscar runs off, you come get me, no exceptions. Do you understand me?" The man asks.
"Yes..." before he could finish, a shriek from a woman cuts him off
"Oh my, wha-what's going on? Th-the sun, it's losing its color"
The boy and man respectively looked up towards the sky. Nothing could prepare them for what they saw.
The sun, usually a bright golden light, was losing its color. The golden light turned white, the heat from the sun was quickly dissipating.
The boy shivered at the temperature drop before beginning to wail. People panicked, stands were knocked over and goods trampled.
The boy was oblivious to all the chaos, lost in the sound of his own cries. The man quickly scooped the boy off the ground, before bursting into a sprint. He weaved through the crowd, knocking several people out of his way. He took a sharp left at an intersection towards a less populated sector of the town.
Through the forest he ran, he glimpsed to the sun. The white glow that once accompanied the sun now filled the entire sky. As they encroached on a lone cabin, he watched as a man stumbled out of the bushes.
It was the boy's father, blood spewing from his mouth, his left arm melting from his body. The man quickly covered the boy's eyes before he could witness such a sight. "S-sir", the man called out quietly. The father looked at man, "K-yo-ko, g-go to herrrr-" the boy's father collapsed after that.
The man stood still, his eyes wide in horror, the world went silent. A small tug snapping him out of it. "Da-da, I want my dada". The man opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. Should he tell him, but how could he. How could he tell a little boy, that his father is gone. "H-he he's- we will see him soon, okay?" The man asks. The boy nods, "mhmm", fading into the dream world.
The man shifts the sleeping boy, before looking down at the now lifeless corpse. He stares at the body before remembering the man's final words; "Kyoko, go to her". With that, the man began racing towards the cabin. His legs quivered and his lungs cried but he wouldn't slow down, not until he reached his madam.
He burst into the cabin loudly, causing the boy to stir. He quickly realized his mistake, rocking the boy gently to sooth him back to sleep. He placed the child onto the wooden table, before walking deeper into the home. He checked the restroom, along side the kitchen, and bedroom but nothing. Walking back to the front of the house, he saw Kyoko holding the sleeping child.
"Ma-madam, are you alright" the man asked quietly. The woman slowly turned towards him, revealing her bloody appearance and melting face. "My son- take care of my son" she slowly approached the man, who took a cautious step back. The women sped up, quickly covering the distance between them. She handed him the child and a bag, before lifting her hand to touch his face.
Her hand hadn't decayed like the rest of her body, yet it felt cold and lifeless. She pressed her forehead onto his own, the blood was cold against his skin. "Please, protect my son and his protector. Allow no harm to befall them as they journey throughout this world".
Blood dripped down his head onto the boy. Kyoko swiped it off the child, before looking back up at the man. "Fare...well", those were her last words. Her body going limp as she collapsed to the floor.
The man stepped over her body, once again placing the boy -and now the bag- onto the table. He carried her body outside, back to the woods where her husband lies. He placed her down, directly beside her husband.
Blood covered his clothes, even whilst he carried her, she decayed. The man stripped himself of the bloody vest, washing most of the remaining blood in the river.
He was washing his face when he heard it, loud barking origination from the cabin. 'Oscar!' he thought, running towards the cabin.
As he approached, he saw someone standing in front of the door. The man was attempting to enter the house but Oscar stood in his path. The visitor got impatient, kicking Oscar aside. The dog landed with a loud yelp, whimpering when it couldn't stand. Tap tap tap tap tap!, the vistor looked over and wham! The man had crossed the distance between them, decking the unknown assailant in the face.
His fist dug into the flesh, deforming the side of it's head. The vistor fell to the ground, before its head snapped up revealing its corroding face. The man took a step back as the creature lifted off the ground.
"GAh grarrrrrrrrrrr" the creature growled at the man. It lunged forwards, it's fangs narrowly missing his throat; instead, it bit into his shoulder. "Ahhhh" the man cried out in pain and shock. He began bashing the head of the creature, trying to get it to release its jaws to no avail.
He reached into his pocket, withdrawing a small blade. He then stabbed the creature in the head over and over and over. He hadn't registered that the creature had long since let go, or that the boy had waken up from the commotion, or that the creature he was stabbing was formerly his master.
"D-d-dada?" The boy called out tearfully. The man looked over, gazing down into those teary eyes. He noticed the boy wasn't looking at him but instead he was looking towards the ground.
Finally, the man's eyes readjusted onto corpse, realizing that it was the boy's father. He turned slowly towards the child, unbeknownst to him, blood splattered all over his face. The child's tears spilled over as he ran into the forest. "Wait", he cried after the boy, picking himself up off the ground. He tried to run but his legs collapsed, the adrenaline that keep him going had finally faded. As he slowly lost consciousness, he watched Ocsar run after the boy... 'I'm sorry, master'.