The boy's dark blue eyes grow wider. Now, there is a sparkle in them that isn't from the soft glow illuminating from Nai's sword. The boy unclenches his fists and takes a step towards Nai, pure happiness filling his filthy face as he vigorously nods his head. Nai can't help but smile. 'What an adorable child.'
Nai rubs his bottom lip with his finger, deep in thought. "Alright, how about Marvin? Hmm, on second thought, I don't like that one. Seamus? Ew, that one's even worse … Xavi- nope! What am I thinking? I can't call you that. Umm, how about you give yourself a name? It's too much stress deciding."
The boy shakes his head. "You."
With a sigh, Nai tries again. "Alright, how about I say random names and you decide which one you would like?"
The boy gives a hesitant nod. It seems this is the only compromise that will work.
"Oliver?" Nai starts thinking of names he thinks would suit the boy.
The latter shakes his head.
"Jerim?"
Another head shake.
"Madsen?"
No.
"Freid?"
No.
"Ooh, how about Noah?"
"…" The boy ponders for a moment, staring at Nai with eyes full of hope and happiness. He nods his head, slowly at first, then, as he gets excited, it becomes intense and lively. Nai lets out a small laugh and Noah stops his nodding and quickly closes the distance between the two of them, on shaky legs. He grabs Nai's arm and holds it tight against his tiny body, nuzzling his arm and leaving traces of blood.
"Pretty," Noah mutters, closing his eyes as the fatigue kicks in. It turns out all that head shaking and nodding was causing the wound on his head to bleed profusely. Nai cradles the young child in his arms as he collapses, his breathing short and sharp. Nai lets out a tsk, gently lowers Noah onto the ground, and grabs his sword, unsheathing it a little more, until the whole clearing is lit up as if it were day. Nai rests the unsheathed portion of the blade gently on Noah's forehead, careful not to cut his skin. Then, he mutters "sun as my guide, sun as my savior, heal this young child's wounds and I will pay with my life." And thus, the healing ritual began.
Nai had no idea what he was doing; the words just slipped from his mouth, without any warning, and without knowing. But, as he had found out a few months earlier on the battlefield, he could heal from even the deadliest of wounds. So, isn't it only fair that he can also heal others since he is supposedly the savior of mankind?
Just as he had suspected, the boy's large wound ceases its bleeding, and after a few moments, the skin around it starts to peel over the cut, closing it up. The other, smaller stabs and gashes scattered across his body also start to clear. After less than a minute had passed, it was as if the boy had never been cut. A searing pain hits Noah's forehead, making him double over in pain. He drops his sword and cradles his head, letting out a small cry as warm blood rolls down his face and his hands. With a shaky hand, Nai feels around his forehead and finds a large gash has opened up above his left eyebrow, the same size and placement as Noah's now long-gone cut. Small gashes open up over his arms and legs, sending small stinging sensations across his body.
Then, as soon as the pain came, it stopped. Nai's ragged breathing evens out, and when he feels around his forehead, the cut has disappeared. Just as he had suspected, the wound he had, had healed itself.
'How strange', Nai thought, rubbing his temples, and wiping away the blood on Noah's face with the scrap cloth. It seems Noah's wound had transferred onto his own body, but as it was still just a wound, he had healed almost instantly.
Nai frowns as he wipes at the blood on Noah's face, which has dried out and stubbornly refuses to come off. Instead of rubbing the poor boys skin raw, he shoves the cloth back into his pocket and lifts Noah into his arms, cradling him against his body. He then sheathes his sword, enveloping himself in darkness once again as he wanders off to find a river or stream.
After close to an hour of walking, Nai finally came across a stream, lowering the still unconscious Noah alongside it and dunking the cloth into the cold water. He wrings out the cloth before gently wiping away at Noah's face, this time, the blood comes off.
Once Noah's arms and face have been cleaned of his blood, Nai tends to his own face, wiping it in haste, afraid of scaring the young child if he awoke and saw the crimson blood all over himself.
In good timing, Noah's eyes flutter open as soon as Nai has finished wiping himself down. The young child bolts upright, eyes wide as he touches the spot above his right brow. Nai gives the child a soft smile and plants himself on the ground right beside him.
"You should be feeling better now that your cut has healed. If you're hurt anywhere else, make sure to let me know, okay?" Although, if Noah had been hurt elsewhere, it probably would have transferred to Nai's own body, too.
Noah gives a small nod, black eyes wide and unblinking. He points to his forehead. "You?"
Nai's smile grows as he nods. "That's right, I told you I was here to help. But since I've helped you, it's your turn to help me, alright?"
Noah gives another small nod.
"I've just got a few questions I'd like you to answer if you are feeling up to it. First, could you tell me where your parents are?" Although, if he didn't have a name, Nai couldn't imagine he had parents.
Unsurprisingly, Noah shakes his head. "None."
"Alright. Then, how did you get hurt?"
Noah hesitates, and for the first time since their meeting, he peeled his eyes away from Nai's, his tiny fists clenching again. "Bad people," he grumbles. "Ugly people."
Nai tilts his head and recalls the dozens of bodies strewn across the ground in front of the burning village. "Where's your family?"
The small child says reluctantly, "none."
Of course.
The two sit in silence for a few moments, Nai pondering over what questions he can ask next. It seems this kid can only speak a few words at a time. Or perhaps it's only his shyness holding back his words. Either way, this wasn't Nai's biggest problem. Noah had no parents, which meant it was up to him to decide this child's fate. If he left him alone again, he'd surely die. And who knows just how many of these 'bad people' were? If they ran into Noah again … It wasn't like Nai could take him along with him. He would come across numerous humans who only keep him alive because he's their so-called 'savior', and the Demons he comes across try to kill him because they don't want the humans ruling over them again. His side isn't a place for a battered, scrawny human kid.
Nai really was in a pickle.
"Name?" Noah is the first to break the silence, flexing and unflexing his tiny hands.
Nai tilts his head. "Hmm?"
"Name," Noah repeats.
"I'm Nai," he says with a smile. "And I have another question if you don't mind answering. But … Why did those bad people hurt you?"
Noah brings his knees up to his chest and wraps his arms around his legs. His words were stiff and blocky as he spoke. "Bad place, bad time."
A small pain shot Nai in his chest. "How did you get away?"
"… They got distracted. I ran. They died."
Nai pats Noah's head with a gentle hand, before shaking his jacket from his shoulders and wrapping it around the child. He pushes Noah gently to the ground and gives him another gentle pat. "You've been through a lot. You should sleep."
Noah shakes his head. "No."
"It's okay, you can sleep," Nai gives a warm smile. "I'll stay up to make sure those bad people don't come back. I'll protect you, don't worry."
The boy still shakes his head, before grabbing Nai's arm and pressing it against his body as he curls into a ball, squeezing it with all his might. "Leave?"
"Hmm?"
"Leave?" Noah asks again, his voice quieter than the last time.
Nai gives the string tied at the back of Noah's head a small tug and it unravels, letting go of the bushy hair that hadn't yet fallen out. He tried brushing the hair with his fingers, but it only made it messier, so he leaves it alone. "No, I won't leave you," the words tumble out of his mouth before he can catch them. "I promise."
With a small nod, Noah lays unmoving, the little sleep he had gotten earlier not nearly enough to quench his fatigue. Nai sighs and sits with one hand on the hilt of his sword. 'I guess I'm his new caregiver … I never thought I'd become a dad this easily.'
Nai doesn't yet realize that they were quite close to a village, where surely, someone would take in this child.
Nai has a soft spot for cute kids ... They make him lose all of his, usually morally good senses. In other words, they make him fucking stupid.