The summer had passed and everyone was readying themselves for winter, men and women hard at work, children preparing themselves for the test they would have to take, barns and stalls storing as much food as they could, but somewhere out of town sat the large home for the parent-less children, and from where Sin sat down playing with a few rocks he could hear laughter and singing coming from inside, he couldn't understand much of it but knew that they were very happy.

That's right everyone had successfully lived through another summer and as tradition they were each given a present, whether it was dresses for the older girls, toys for the younger children, weapons for the older boys or maybe even things they would need for school, they were all getting something everyone but little Sin who tried his best to ignore the happy sounds that left the building, even the godly smells of roasted meat and finely cooked food with precious baked cakes and pies, he wouldn't taste any so he didn't get his hopes up.

He turned so his back was to the house as his stomach let out a loud growl, he hadn't eaten anything since maybe two day's ago, he thought that maybe the house mother had forgotten to feed him when he in actuality he was being punished. Just the two days ago a carriage carrying many boxes had arrived and he had been forced to help carry some inside along with the older boys, one of the boxes proved too heavy for him and he accidentally dropped it spilling out what looked like dough.

He had worked as quickly as he could to pack them all back but the house mother had seen him and one of the older boys had collected the crate, when the people that brought the crates left, he was dragged to the back of the house and beaten with a wooden cane until he was screaming loudly, then sent to get more logs and because everything hurt he had taken longer to get them and was beaten again and left in the yard to cry himself to sleep.

He could still feel some of the bruises on his skin every time he moved and one of his legs pained the most which left him walking with an odd limp, he had now been living for seven years and had barely grown. His hair was long and scruffy, he had gotten a bit of a tan and his green eyes that used to shine brightly had dulled out, he wasn't afraid any more no he didn't feel anything much about what was happening to him, it was just the way his life was and he had grown to accept it, at least that was what he tried to tell himself.

He was so focused on blocking out the sounds he didn't notice when the back door for the house had opened and Da-ye who was now sixteen years old walked out. She was a kind girl and helped to look after the other children as best as she could but she was always told by the house mother and many other of the children not to extend her kindness to the little boy that slept in the yard, she had asked why but was never given a proper reason, so whenever no one was looking she would be as kind as she could to him.

She carried a large bowl that held some of the roasted chicken, beef and pork, with a few buns and vegetables, with one fried meat bun, she knew he used to like it, but as of last summer the happy smile he gave her whenever she had given him one had vanished, he just collected whatever she gave him with a look of indifference and would somewhere far away from the house to eat sometimes even climbing the tree's and the branches were often too high for someone even as tall as Guiren to reach.

She smiled when he jumped as she placed the bowl down next to him, he had scrambled back and looked up at her with his eyes swirling but the minute he spotted her it was like the light had been drained form them and she frowned down at him as he moved quickly to collect the food and then left going way out of sight. She wanted to tell him a happy summer because she didn't think it was right for everyone else to get something but him, but he had been gone in an instant so she sighed and nearly jumped out of her skirt when she saw Guiren leaning against the door.

"I wondered where you were going off to." he spoke in a dull voice as he leaned off the door frame and came over to her stopping and looking over at where the boy had been sitting before looking back at her "Mother said you shouldn't feed him, especially seeing that she's punishing him for dropping the dough, if she saw you, you would be in trouble y'know."

Da-ye sighed and turned her head away folding her arms over her chest as she did "he is just a child Guiren and I don't see the need to punish him because it was clearly an accident and the dough was wrapped tightly, none of it touched the floor and plus she already beat him within an inch of his life does she need to starve him too?"

Guiren shook his head "you just don't understand and that is gonna cost you?"

"So suddenly being kind to an innocent child is something bad, it's not his fault he was born a half breed, it's the fault of his parents who clearly didn't care what he would face throughout his life, I don't care what any one says I'll look after him and in two years time when I'm able to leave I'm taking him with me, and you just try and stop me!" she stomped past him slamming her shoulder into his arm and headed inside, Guiren shook his head and gave one last look at where the half breed had scampered off to before following after her.

________

The next day found the small child as he was being dragged from under his shed, he tried to grab for anything to keep him in place but there was nothing so he was soon brought face to face with the house mother who scowled down at him. She grabbed the front of his worn and dirty shirt and pulled him onto his feet, she didn't say anything as she lead him to the back of the house but he saw a large tub that was filled with water there and tried to pull away to no avail.

The house mother knelt down and grabbed the hem for his shirt pulling it off of him, she yanked his pants down and forced him to step out of them, when she was finished she grabbed the boys arm and stood pulling him the rest of the way to the tub and then shoving him into it. The small body was covered in water and when he managed to pull himself up he was gasping for air, the house mother rolled her eyes and reached for the bottle of liquid for scrubbing his skin along with a rough cloth.

She squeezed the liquid on his head and shoulders and then soaked the cloth before scrubbing his skin, the child made some pitiful sounds as he tried to get out of her grip but had no chance to even with the slippery substance on his skin. She scrubbed his skin until it was slightly pink and then gripped his shoulders submerging him in the water before pulling him up, she started scrubbing his hair and picked up a brush and ran it through his hair, he whimpered as his head was yanked back with each stroke, she only stopped when the brush was able to pass through smoothly.

She pulled him out the water placing him to stand on a sheet off clean wood, the boy could barely stand and was shivering all over, she clicked her tongue at the pathetic sight and then picked up a mug and dipped it into a smaller tube that held clean water and poured it over his head while rubbing his hair. She rinsed off his skin until she was pleased with her work, and then left him standing there, she picked up a different brush and shears running it through his hair and clipped off the set that was hanging a bit too longer than the rest, rinsing him off again when she was done.

She emptied the tubs and then took his hand leading him inside the house she heard a bit of laughter coming from the children as she walked him through the hall and up the stairs, she pulled him into her son's room and used a cloth to dry his skin down. She could see the blank look on the child's face, she arched her brow at this, before the child used to look frightened of every little thing but now it was as if nothing bothered him, she decided to ignore it, this meant that the half breed was finally going to be strong and maybe of some better use in the future.

She picked up a pristine shirt that had arrived a few days ago, it was for one of the younger children but she needed to put it on him because they had some guest coming today and she didn't need the seeing him in his usual state. When she was finished she pulled on some brown pants on him and left the shirt out and placed a a large leather belt around his hips, then helped him to put on some leather ankle boots, when she was finished she tied back his hair with a string and let it hang over his left shoulder.

She stood up and lead him down to the kitchen where she put him to sit at the table and gave him some beef stew and a glass of water, she leaned against the counter and watched as he slowly eat. There was no enthusiasm, well she did give him a few stale buns about four days ago and he ate it savagely, maybe he was afraid he would mess up the clothes she had just put on him, she nodded at least he had some amount of common sense.

When he was finished she called Da-ye to collect him and keep him from going outside, while she started preparing food for her guest hopefully they won't stay too long and maybe even take a child or two when they left.

*

Sin quietly in the corner looking around the room, he saw the other children all talking, playing and laughing with each other and wondered why he was even sitting here, he didn't want to be around any of them, he knew none of them liked him or wanted to be next to him this morning, of course he would know all they did when he was pulled through them this morning, naked and shivering was laugh, although it didn't really hurt him it made him not want to be here even more.

He got up so he could go back outside but as he reached the door someone roughly grabbed his shoulders and he looked up to see the beast child glaring down at him. With out saying a word he lead him back to the small chair in the corner of the room and placed him to sit down, the boy stooped down in front of him and handed him what looked like a blue stone "eat this, don't get it on your clothes and don't move."

The boy watched the older boy as he walked away and then looked down at his hand which held the strange looking stone, he tilted his head, he was told to eat it, he shrugged and licked the stone, he jolted back it was really sweet, it was even sweeter than the red thing he had eaten two years ago. So he stuck it in his mouth and sucked on it, it exploded in his mouth and he made a strange noise, he looked up to see some of the children looking at him, they all broke out into laughter and suddenly the stone wasn't so sweet anymore.

He lowered his gaze and focused on his lap as he ate it, when he was finished he made sure it didn't get on his clothes and kept his eyes down, and didn't make another sound, he really hated being here.