1 Prologue

He ran into the forest, the mob behind him with pistols and torches, covered head to toe in clothes to counter the cold. The trees were stripped bare of its leaves, so he couldn't use it to cloak himself. Things were surely looking his way.

He felt bullets graze him, and held back his groans of pain. He started to regenerate the places where the bullets had hit him. "Monster! Your a threat to society!" One of the men in the mob yelled.

"Shut up!" The boy yelled. He stopped running abruptly, when the forest came to a stop. He looked down and saw a river. There were only two options. He jumped from this cliff or he faced the filthy mob. He jumped.

The mob looked down, as the boy was practically falling to his death. "Good riddance." One of them said, as they all walked away.

When the boy hit the ground, pain unfurled throughout his entire body. The heavy coat of snow on the ground did nothing for him. His body was bathed in blood. The young boy was only 6. A 6 year old, seen as a monster. A 6 year old forced to jump off a cliff to live. A 6 year old.

He only felt worse, when he started to regenerate his wounds. He tucked his knees to his chest. "I'm still human. I'm still human. I'm still human." He chanted to himself for hours. It was night until his lips were so chapped,his lips were smeared with blood and he couldn't even speak anymore.

Hunger consumed him. He missed the ones he could've called parents. He had been through alot since he was a foster child. Always alone. Alone and cold. The world was so cold. All of his wounds were gone, but nothing changed the wound inside of him.

"What are you doing down there? It's cold isn't it?" He heard a voice said. He looked up and saw another child, that couldn't be much older than him, standing on top of the cliff. He had shiny jet black hair, his bangs covering his face like a mop. He had on a white jacket with a picture of a black silhouette of a zebra, and a white silhouette of a lion, fighting with each other. The lion whimpers, the zebra with a vicious look on its face. He was wearing a black v-neck t-shirt under his jacket , with ripped jeans. He honestly, looked like a child model.

He jumped down from the cliff.

"Wait —don't…" he said hoarsely. He didn't have enough energy to tell him not to jump.

The boy jumped from the cliff, and landed on his two feet. He seemed… unhurt? Not a single scratch on him, or even a yell of pain. "My name is Xalrik. What's yours?" He asked.

"Quil." He said weakly. Quil looked up at Xalrix. "I'm not human. I'm not safe. I'm a monster." Quil said quietly. He didn't want to harm Xalrix, if he truly was a monster.

For a second, Xalrix just stood there, as if he were pondering about whether to stay or run. After a few moments, he grinned. "That's fine! I'm a monster too," He said earnestly, with a smile on his face. "Let's get out of here, I have a much better place for us to go to."

Quil stood up and mustered all the strength he could. But the cold crippled him. "Cold…" He said quietly. Xalrix took off his jacket and threw it towards Quil.

"Don't need it. The cold doesn't really bother me. Keep it. It'll be a symbol of how we met." Xalrix said.

"Thank you…." Quil said, quietly. Xalrix said nothing in response. They walked through the snow, unwavering. Drawing their own path.