Fenrir's Journey : I Shall Devour The Heavens!

Every time something good seemed to happen, it was always followed by a very long period of darkness, or loneliness. The Kobold had never known what it was to be 'lonely' but, after experiencing the kindness of its Master, the Kobold truly missed his presence. It knew the scary woman didn't like it, even going so far as the 'try and drown' it inside of a small bath. Since that time, the Kobold had done its best to avoid her, sleeping outside under the starless sky. Fortunately, though the Kobold was certain the young girl hated it, she still gave it food to eat a few times a day. This food was better than anything it had ever eaten before so, while it was still sad and lonely, the Kobold still held hope that it's Master would someday day return...no matter how many days passed...Then, one day, he did. Even without being about to see him directly, the Kobold knew its Master and returned for it, hopefully to take it away from this sad and lonely place. When the Kobold saw its Master approaching with a concerned and apologetic expression on his face, it felt happy, another emotion it wasn't quite sure how to express. Trusting its instincts, the Kobold began to weakly wag its tail while the familiar warm energy spread through its tired body. Though it hadn't given up hope that he would return, the Kobold had started to eat a lot less than before. The food had begun to taste bland and, other than the memory of it's Master's warm and gentle hands, the Kobold stopped caring about everything else...Just as before, the Kobold's Master treated it very well, always saying kind words and petting it. Unlike how other people looked toward it, often with fear, hatred, or disgust, it's Master always had a kind and warm aura. Before, the Kobold didn't even know what a smile was but, seeing it's Master smile, it believed it was something precious...something worth protecting. When it's Master smiled, the Kobold also felt the urge to smile but, unable to, decided wagging its tail was a good alternative. This seemed to please the Master even more, making the Kobold feel vindicated, especially when it got more petting for its efforts...Though it harbored hope that the happy times would continue forever, reality proved otherwise. Once again, the Kobold's Master vanished from the space, leaving only the scary and cruel girl behind. This time, the girl just ignored it, something the Kobold was very grateful for, so it went off to busy itself within the recently formed garden. Though its instincts told it that this would be another long wait, the Kobold hoped that its Master would return sooner. It didn't like being separated from its Master, not one bit...Believing that time would pass faster if it slept, the Kobold found an area in the garden and dug a cozy hole for itself to sleep in. Doing its best to hold onto the warm memories of its Master, the Kobold curled up into a ball and began waiting...(Fenrir's Commentary: 'Those were very lonely days...')

Other than the warmth of its Master, loneliness seemed to be the only emotion the Kobold could feel. It was almost like the emotion completely encompassed its body, threatening to consume what little self-awareness it had. Unable to deal with the loneliness any longer, the Kobold began scratching at the trees in the garden, digging holes, and pulling up grass. It 'needed' to do something, anything, to keep it distracted from the loneliness. The only thing that kept it going was the 'trust' it had towards the only existence that had ever treated it kindly, it's Master...It hurt...everything hurt...its stomach, muscles, bones, everything. The Kobold felt like the pain of loneliness had completely soaked through its existence. If not for the 'promise' of it's Master, the Kobold felt like the pain would have been unbearable. It would be 'so easy' to just simply end everything...it just had to make the scary girl angry...but it didn't. It 'couldn't' betray its Master like that, not after everything that had happened...not after it waited so long. It wanted to be 'good', just like it's Master always told it to be...Just as the pain seemed completely unbearable, the Kobold sensed the presence of its Master once again. If it had tear ducts, the Kobold would have cried as it weakly tried to lift its body and go to its Master. Then, just as before, its Master came to it with a face full of concern and the happy times began again. This time, knowing that this moment wasn't likely to last, the Kobold did its utmost to spend as much time as possible with its Master. Even when he was hard at work in the warm and cozy 'workshop' that he had built, the Kobold stayed nearby. Just watching its Master hard at work made it feel content and, whenever he would take a break, the Kobold wanted to be nearby to show its support...As it expected, the sad and lonely times came once again, this time in what felt like a very short period of time. Everything was so much better whenever its Master was around so, seeing him leave this space, the Kobold felt dread. However, just at it had done both times before, the Kobold resolved itself to wait patiently. Its Master had done so much for it, all without ever asking for anything in return. Thus, trusting in the 'promise' its Master had made, the Kobold waited once again, no matter how painful and lonely things became...It hurt...it hurt...it hurt...it hurt...it hurt...it hurt...it hurt...it hurt...it hurt...it hurt...it hurt...it hurt...it hurt...it hurt...it hurt...it hurt...it hurt...it hurt...it hurt...it hurt...it hurt...it hurt...it hurt...it hurt...it hurt...it hurt...it hurt...it hurt...it hurt...Feeling as though something inside of itself had broken, the Kobold could only repeat the same thought over and over within its small mind. It didn't truly understand the seed that had formed but, on an instinctual level, it knew what it was feeling was an emotional pain that was beyond tolerance...(Fenrir's Commentary: 'It is painful being lonely...')

For a period of time, much longer than it had lived in the physical world, the Kobold waited patiently, hoping that it would one day be liberated from the darkness. Fortunately, just as all hope seemed lost, the Kobold felt the warm energy flowing from the young boy's hand and, before it realized what had happened, it was once again a Kobold. Looking up, it saw that the boy had changed a lot, now looking more like a young man. Even so, there was the same kind and gentle look in his eyes, almost as if the tyrannical might the boy possessed was an illusion.Believing it finally had the opportunity to serve the boy, now its Master, the Kobold patiently awaited its first orders. With what little intelligence it possessed, the Kobold swore it would work hard to please its Master. Since he was already so strong, the Kobold believed it would be able to become much stronger at his side. Unfortunately, it didn't seem like it would have the opportunity to grow any time soon as there were no enemies present at all. In fact, the Kobold felt like the space around it, though clearly visible, wasn't really 'real'. It couldn't make sense of this feeling, but the Kobold felt this to be the case...Just as it began to worry about its future, the Kobold was surprised when its Master suddenly reached his hand out. Flinching in expectation of pain, the Kobold was surprised when, instead of its fears holding true, the complete opposite happened. Against all expectations, its Master began to stroke the mangy fur atop its head, affectionately stroking its ears in the process. In a calming voice, unlike anything the Kobold had ever heard, its Master suddenly said, "I can't name you now, but I promise to grant you a proper name in the future. One day, you will be able to become much stronger...I promise."It couldn't really understand his words, but the Kobold felt the 'intent' behind them through a link it never knew existed. Nodding its head, the Kobold simply enjoyed the unfamiliar and comfortable feeling of being petted instead of attacked. Even if it never became stronger, the Kobold felt an existence where it could receive it's Master's affection was enough. It was far more pleasant to feel the warm energy flowing from it's Master's hand than it was to fight a desperate battle for survival...Unfortunately, the unexpectedly happy times, came to an abrupt end. The Kobold's Master suddenly vanished into small particles that slowly disappeared into the sky. A profound sense of dread filled the Kobold's tiny heart but it was nowhere near as scary as the instinctual fear it possessed towards the small woman it's Master had previously been talking with. She was very small, almost child-like in appearance, with golden-blond hair that nearly reached the ground. Her icy-blue eyes seemed like they could pierce straight through the Kobold's flesh, freezing it to the bone. Then, though it couldn't understand what the girl was saying, the Kobold lowered its head. Though it didn't know why, hearing the girl say the words, "How ugly..." made it feel resentful and sad...(Fenrir's Commentary: 'When I first met Eva, she was very scary...')

Chapter 3: Loneliness