"S-Stop! Please!"

No matter how much I cried and pleaded...

...It never stopped.

I can still remember the pain of getting kicked in the gut.

Countless voices laughed at me, as tears poured down my face like miniature waterfalls. Every day, almost as if it were a routine, I had been beaten.

I had no significance to anyone in this village. I had no meaning. I was treated like punching bag to the people of the village-- No, I was their punching bag.

Over time, I started to think that I had no worth, no place in this world.

Then on one rainy evening, I had met her.

She had changed my life, given me hope...

9 years ago...

I was sitting against a tree, wiping my tears from my eyes, and the blood off of my chin. I stared up at the sky, almost like I was begging for a God to save me.

"Hey... You okay?" A soft voice whispered. I turned my head to the left, and saw a girl with a cheerful smile. She had white-grey horns, sky blue hair and luminous blue eyes. Upon closer inspection, she had bruises and scars like I had. "Does it look like I'll ever be okay?" I asked her, as she shrugged, and sat down next to me.

"What's your name?" She asked, as I stared at the ground. "Dante..." I mumbled. "How about you? What's your name?" I asked, as she smiled. "Don't have one!" She said, looking up at the gray blanket of clouds covering the sky. "Don't... Have one?" I asked, puzzled, as she nodded. "Hm..." I said, looking at her.

"I'm from the village not too far from this one, just a small stroll west from here." She said, rocking side to side, like a metronome, as she hummed. "Do you get beat up everyday?" I asked, as she looked down. "Sadly. But, I'm excited!" She shot me a grin again. "Why?" I asked, shocked as to how someone like me could ever be excited. "Because I managed to escape. I ran as fast as I could, though I knew no one would notice because they were all asleep." She smirked. "Though, my escape did have a bad side effect." She pointed to her feet. Her feet weren't bleeding, but they were close to it. Covered in what looked like blisters.

"Why are you here if you ran away?" I asked, as I sat up. "Because, I wanted to see if I could find anyone else like me. I wanted to help others escape. Luckily, I found you!" She said, pointing at me. "You can... help me?" I asked, as she nodded. "Yep, I sure can!" She grinned.

The girl stood up, and held out her hand to me. "Well, what are you waiting for, Dante? Let's get out of here!" She said, as I slowly stood up and nodded, grabbing her hand.

The warmth of someone safe... Someone who cared...

There was nothing like it.

We escaped the village almost too easily, with her leading the way. She held my hand tightly, as she ran with her battered feet. "That's it!" I said, as she stopped. "What?" She raised an eyebrow at me. "Haruka. Haruka Sora!" I spoke a name. "Who's that?" She asked. "You." I smiled. "You've traveled a long way, And your hair is the color of the sky. Haruka means Distant, and Sora means Sky!" I said, as she stood there speechless. "I..." Her eyes began to build up tears. "I... I love it!" She smiled, wiping her eyes.

This girl from a distant town, with sky colored hair...

...Was my savior.

2 Years Later...

"Hey Dante, Before we go to other towns, I want to show you something." Haruka smiled, as we sat on a bench in a small town. "Show me what?" I asked, as she smiled. "It's a surprise, you doof!" She lightly punched my arm.

"It's a place I stopped at before I met you. I think you'll love it!" She smiled, as I yawned, crossing my arms. "Ugh... You look sooooo excited." She rolled her eyes. "Hey, I'm tired. Give me a break." I shrugged. "I know, just picking on ya." She grinned.

As time passed, we traveled far, and visited many villages with lots of nice people.

So, I wasn't really expecting much of this "surprise", since I had already seen so many cool places.

"Let's go!" She stood up and grabbed my arm, trying to pull me off of the bench. I groaned, before standing up.

"Alright, alright... I'll go see this 'surprise' with you." I sighed, as we began to walk out of the town. After a few minutes, we arrived at a forest.

"Right through here!" She led me through some trees. She walked behind me, and covered my eyes-- or, attempted to.

"Damn you and your height!" She grumbled. She gave up on covering my eyes, and simply grabbed my hand and led me over to a cliff. "Look!" She pointed. "...."

The surprise she was talking about...

I had never seen anything like it.

"W-wow..." I said. The view was fantastic. There was a single tree on this cliff, and it was bearing vivid leaves of green. Haruka walked up to the edge, and looked out at the land and the sky, hands on her hips confidently. The clouds were like streaks of white paint, against a canvas of multiple shades of light blue. The sun shone brighter than ever, it seemed.

But I wasn't staring at the view.

I was staring at her.

"So!" She turned around, which startled me. "Whatcha think?" She smiled. "It's... awesome." I smiled. "Hah, that's a rare sight!" She pointed at me. "What?" I raised an eyebrow.

"YOU SMILED!" She laughed, as my face reddened with embarrassment. "Yes, I'm capable of smiling." I rolled my eyes, as we laughed.

"Well, now that this is out of the way... Let's get going! We have all of Azarya to venture through!" Haruka grabbed my hand, and pointed to the view, before we left the forest.

That day, I had realized something...

Slowly, but surely, I had been falling for her.

And....

I didn't have a problem with it.

She had saved my life, and she was always positive, never even thinking twice about negativity.

She was a true hero.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
HEYA MY DUDES!

It's me, Waffles!

I busted my ass writing this chapter...

(Not really, I was listening to Vocaloid covers and alt-tabbed out of either Starbound, or Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn(both are awesome games that you should totally check out! <3) the WHOLE time...)

But it's finally done!

Special thanks to ShyFenn for the spectacular art of Haruka! Go give him a follow, he's a great guy! <3

I certainly hope that you've enjoyed the first chapter, and that you will stick around 'till the end! :D

You guys are awesome! <3

Alright, enough from me.

See you all in the next chapter! Bye-bye! o7